Short Abstract
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The evidence of healing traditions in India comes from its Earlier discernible time i.e. Vedic Age. Atharvaveda is the oldest text in the world which talks about healing. All the primary sects of India have a rich history of healing. Buddhism, however, has a very distinct place in the history of healing. Seven in the time of lord Buddha, Jivaka, was his personal physician. So, Buddhism’s connection with health goes as far back as the Pali canon. Tangential reference to medical knowledge has been found in the Pali canons. A number of parables and narratives involve doctors, surgery, medicines, and other health matters, such as the famous “parable of the poisoned arrow,” in which the Buddha discourages questioning that would distract a person from dealing with the existential problem at hand. Meditation texts such as the influential Satipatthana Sutta describe the physical components of the body—the organs, fluids, and elements (earth, water, fire, wind, and so on)—in ways that are strikingly similar to lists appearing in Indian Ayurvedic medical treatises from around the same period. Additionally, the Pali Vinaya, or monastic code, lists numerous contemporary medicines and procedures, and specifies whether the Buddha approved or disapproved of each one in turn. This paper, therefore will attempt to go into this ancient connection of healing with Buddhism. All the principal sects of Buddhism viz. Hinayan, Mahayana and Vajrayana have rich history of healing. Vajrayanism, in fact, gave birth to the Tibetan system of healings. Buddhist monasteries and mahaviharas, just like Shaiva Mathas of ancient and early medieval India, were the major centre of healing. The author will look into this ancient Buddhist healing practices and attempt to showcase the dominant Buddhist healing practices from Buddha’s time to 8th c. AD. The paper will also draw parallels as well as contrasts between the Buddhist and Hindu system of healing viz. Ayurveda.
