Philosophical view and various fundamental questions related to diseases and life

Describe about the Christianity and Buddhism perspective, Spirituality in Health Care?

In the modern health science the whole medicine dependent system is now focused on management based structure to healing oriented pattern. And after several research and and applying the various propaganda, modern physician as well as researches try to attempting the proper spiritual root of the concern medicine. This recent study is relating to a brief comparison of the religious perspective of Christianity and Buddhism healthcare. Both the religious beliefs focus on the well being of health of the people. The healing techniques have been studied. The importance of faith for an individual for their spiritual well being has been analyzed. It also emphasizes on the importance of the health care providers to treat the patients with equal care having different religious views.

To manage people in the suffering pathway or in extreme critical physical condition followed by some particular philosophical complication is one of the significant challenges for health care provider like physician, nurse or other medical stuff. Along with various physiological disorder of patient, they have other sufferings which could  probably not cured by so called biological medicine.

Those particular pain are associated with some unsolved fundamental question which may be philosophical or about ultimate pathway, destination of life. The question may be for which proper reason a particular patient suffered? Another one of the most debated question is what is the fundamental future of the every life after death? or is there really any parallel like our present day life. Besides these, there are some question related to personal point of view such as is his or family or close person will remember him or her. Another ancient question which is frequently came into the mind of patient specially when it suffering from some critical diseases which also much arguemented from the very first beginning of human civilization, that is  there any existent of god? if god is there then where he particularly exists and various such question relating to life, reality, surrealism etc.

 It is obviously very much difficult to answer as well as explain for physician or any health care stuff who are actually attend the patient at that time of these phylosophical queries. From a clinical study by a  psychologist chromed in 2003 which conducted on 150 critically ill patient who ere able to express their feelings in any way shows that out of total number of under trial patient 85% are concerning with these psychological or non-materialistic queries. So the study suggested that most of the time  patient specially who are associated with complex physiological condition or who are suffering form fatal disease for prolong period of time are much worried about these matter. And the explanation based on spirituality concerning various religion would be the best and much more appropriate. 

According to the Christianity, there is existence of God in three forms. They are father, son and the Holy Spirit. The concept of existence of God in three forms was adopted in 325 AD. The religion of Buddhism is centered on the teachings of Gautam Buddha. The master of the Buddhism religion is Lord Buddha (Cioccolanti, 2007). The religion does not believe that the world has been created and ruled by God. According to Buddhism the purpose of life is to build compassion for all human beings without discrimination and develop wisdom so that ultimate truth can be realized. The preaching of Buddha leads to the path of enlightenment. According to Christianity Jesus and Mosses are the messengers and prophets sent by God. The prophets have carnal existence, and they are not holy spirits that should be worshiped either directly or indirectly. There is the difference of religious opinion and practice of Christianity and Buddhism (Wallace, 2009). The are religious views towards the health care vary. But similarities have been noticed in the health care practices of Christianity and Buddhism (Hamlin, 2009).

Various religious values in the prospective of Buddhism and Christianity

The patients admitted in the health care organizations belonged to different religion and countries. The key purpose of the health care organizations across nations is to provide best possible care to the patients. In this regard, spirituality and faith are very important for the patients. Various definitions consider faith to be equivalent to belief in value and trustworthiness. Faith finds out the truth in an idea. Faith does not rest on logical evidence. The healing patients, faith, and spirituality play a major role. Spiritual healing refers to the practices of spirituality has will help in curing the illness. The healing process is very significant. Spiritual healing achieved when the providers of healthcare tend to understand the physical, religious and spiritual needs of the patient. However, there may be contradictions in the beliefs.

From the beginning of Christianity concern well being of poor , care for underprivileged or ill patient is  always is in primary focus. From Bible it is often obtained that Jesus Christ get himself busy numerous time in the primary treatment of poor, abnormal patient. In the Bible, the first chapter states the real health in action. The view on health is well furnished, and they must manipulate the ways and try to find reforms in the system. The health-related discussions according to Christianity comprise areas of spiritual, emotional and mental health.  In the Christian genesis, it is disclosed that the dignity of being created in the image of God has been attributed to only mankind. Humans are valuable beings as God has given this value to them. The stages of growth and intellectual awareness of people see whether the idea has been worthy. Thus, the protection of maintaining the human beings has started at the very beginning of the human life at the initial stage of her life (Hamlin, 2009).

The early beliefs of Christianity included ways that resulted in miraculous healing and demonic possession. At the very beginning of evolution, the Christians made natural assumptions regarding disease and took care of the sick from the Roman and Greek medical treatment. The Christians believed that apart from medical assistance to the patients they also required compassion (Chministries.org, 2015). Care was provided to individuals who had faith in the Christian community as well as for those people who didn’t belong to the community.

In the case of Buddhism perspective we have to go to the its original base. Thye fundamental concern of this religion is to journey of purification of  mind throughout the life process in order to healing of patient. In this context  the philosophy of  lord Buddha about the sufferings which can be transformed in the peace and beauty and what are the spiritual ways .The Buddhist practices focus on the development of mind to its full potential involving the perfection of compassion and wisdom. Practicing spirituality can develop compassionate mind. Spiritual well-being can reduce the suffering from illness and death in a maximally optimal way. According to Buddhism ideology, it can also be practiced in the hospital before one gets sick. Hospital isn’t the place to find Buddhist practice, but it is the place to find Buddhism. The practice will start by practicing Buddhism. The concept of Buddhism is based on skillful karma and cultivation of the mind that requires mental training. The health care service according to Buddhism is based on three perspectives. They are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. There are certain guidelines for Buddhism to the various issues of health. There are certain guidelines for diet, fasting, and ablutions or toilet. Various guidelines provided towards building attitude to medicine, and there is a spectrum of Buddhist opinion on transplantation.

Christian Perspective on Health and Health Providers

The Buddhist aim of eliminating the suffering of the individuals coincides with the objectives of medicine. Buddhism emphasizes on compassion that finds a natural expression in the care for the sick (Ratanakul, 2015). Buddhism has played a major role in the evolution of various traditional medicines. Redmond, (1992) has discussed the relationship of Buddhism to medicine. The holistic understanding of Buddhism of human nature has encouraged the psychosomatic approach towards the pathology of the disease. The Buddhist philosophy towards medicine has encouraged a preventive approach towards health care (Koenig, King  & Carson, 2011).

The spiritual aspect of healing occurs by connecting to the consciousness by God’s grace. Spiritual healing is not a phenomenon that is supernatural or an act that is miraculous. People perform sometimes healing without knowing about it. Spirituality can be achieved on a regular basis by performing prayers. The health awareness will increase by meditation. In several cases, it is seen that the healing of highly spiritual person is higher than a low spiritual person. It also depends on the willingness of a person to recover. The body will support fast recovery if the spirit has the tendency to recover fast. But if the spirit has not recovered then even with the recovery of the body it has the tendency to fall back. The medical conventions have agreed to the healing of the body spiritually. There will be positive outlook and increases in the energy level if the person practices positive actions via meditation and prayers. Therefore, this will lead to the reduction of the level of depression with improvement in the efficiency level. There will be the increase in the immunity level, and the person will have elevated the mood (Krebs, 2001).

The religious views might vary, but there are common components of spiritual healing in every religion. The tools such as health care, meditation, compassionate attitude by helping others and self-confidence are the basic components of that has been practiced in every belief. Every religion believes that prayer help the soul to heal and prevent itself from the negative effects. Prayer does not mean to ask for what one wants, but it is thanking the creator and praying him for support during times of woe (Kristjanson, 2006).

Religion has been created to bring a system into living by punishing the guilty and rewarding the brave. The maker protects the religious beliefs. The exploitation of the people in the name of religion has to be prevented by the religious preachers. The religious practices have always imbibed the principle of caring human and being compassionate towards mankind (A cross-cultural study of spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs as components of quality of life, 2006).

The religious and spiritual beliefs of the individuals are the important part of their life. Often it is difficult for the medical practitioners to find difficulty in addressing the religious issues of the patients. The medical practitioners cannot impose their religious belief on the patients. The patients are vulnerable at the times that seek help from the doctors (Ellis et al., 2012). The patients have to cooperate with the doctor and keep aside their religious beliefs while getting treatment in the hospitals. In Hospital, there are certain rules and regulations that have to be maintained. In Christianity, the patient’s request for scapula at the time of treatment behind their head. But it might affect the patient during their treatment. The patient must keep the spiritual aspect aside while getting treated by the doctor (GRIFFITH, 2009).

Conclusion

The study provided a brief perspective of the religious views towards healthcare. The perspective of Christianity has been compared with Buddhist perspective of religion.  The health care in Christianity is base on three major perspectives. They are spiritual, mental and emotional health. On the other hand, Buddhism is based on Dharma, Sangha, and Buddha. Both the religious perspective has given importance to the healing to the human beings. The religious beliefs in the health care system not only focuses on improving the physical well-being of the individual, but it also focuses on mental well-being of the individual. The patient must be given utmost importance to the well-being of the patient. The patient should also remove his spiritual beliefs while getting treatment. The patient has to accept the help that has been received from the health care provider. Irrespective of religious inclination towards Christianity or Buddhism the spiritual cure has been effective. The belief of every religion is based on three major perspectives i.e. helping mankind, meditation and compassion towards others. The emotion of the patients has to be taken into consideration, and it has to be looked after even if the health care provider does not belong to the same religious belief.

References

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Chministries.org,. (2015). Christian Healthcare Ministries: Home. Retrieved 28 February 2015, from https://www.chministries.org/

Cioccolanti, S. (2007). From Buddha to Jesus: An Insider’s View of Buddhism and Christianity (pp. 28-50).

Ellis, M., Thomlinson, P., Gemmill, C., & Harris, W. (2012). The Spiritual Needs and Resources of Hospitalized Primary Care Patients. Journal Of Religion And Health, 52(4), 1306-1318. doi:10.1007/s10943-012-9575-z

GRIFFITH, J. (2009). The Religious Aspects Of Nursing Care (1st ed., pp. 5-15). Retrieved from https://www.nursing.ubc.ca/AboutUs/documents/ReligiousAspectsofNursingCareEEdition.pdf

Hamlin, C. (2009). Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity. JAMA, 302(24), 2707. doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1923

Koenig, H., King, D., & Carson, V. (2011). Handbook of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press.

Krebs, K. (2001). The Spiritual Aspect of Caring—An Integral Part of Health and Healing. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 25(3), 55-60. doi:10.1097/00006216-200104000-00009

Kristjanson, L. (2006). A Palliative Approach to Spirituality in Residential Aged Care. Journal Of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 18(4), 189-205. doi:10.1300/j496v18n04_01

Ratanakul, P. (2015). Buddhism, Health and Disease. crs.mahidol.ac.th. Retrieved  February28,2015, from https://www.crs.mahidol.ac.th/news/article/Buddhism%20Health%20and%20Disease.pdf

Wallace, B. (2009). Mind in the Balance. New York: Columbia University Press.