Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche presents a Buddhist approach to healing illness through reframing disease via compassion. He illustrates this through a striking example: a student with AIDS who lay unable to move, but after Rinpoche recontextualized the illness as an opportunity to develop compassion for all suffering beings, suddenly sat up unaided. Rinpoche emphasizes that while medical treatment has value, mental training—cultivating genuine concern for others—addresses the root cause of disease in the mind itself. He traces why this matters: without transforming the mind, physical recovery remains incomplete and treatment cycles endless. The teaching culminates in a radical reframing of life’s purpose: true wellbeing comes not from chasing health, wealth, or fame for oneself, but from dedicating whatever circumstances arise—sickness, poverty, even death—to benefiting all beings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 1996 10 09 HW.mp3
UUID: 4aacd9b9-2b68-4d1e-a021-f911fb33ea2a
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Healing Workshop (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1996-10-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 43.9 minutes
Words: ~3,933
Those who have studied, have heard teachings on the guide to bodhisattva’s life, first chapter benefits of bodhicitta, the altruistic mind, the cherishing other sentient beings. Renounce the ones who cherish other sentient beings. But the first chapter is only the benefits of that. So those who have received teachings on that who studied this, as you can remember, there says how powerful it is, the bodhicitta, to purify all the cause of the suffering, the defilements, the need to purify. I think only he did meditation, he did meditation only for three months, not three months.
Three minutes—or was it, say, four minutes, you know, each day. But compassion is so strong. So, you see, how that meditation, the meditation is taking up. It’s not easy. The meditation is actually very surprising because here the meditation is taking other sentient beings’ AIDS or whatever, you know, within you, just the meditation.
Other sentient beings’ AIDS and their suffering, but that’s the meditation. But what happened, the result is that—you’re doing this with compassion sincerely. What happened? The result is that, you know, you are—see the person is purified. So that’s a proof, as a sign of how compassion is so powerful for purification.
So it purifies the cause of the disease, the negative karma. You see, which is in the mind. So because of that, because of that, the result, the sickness is purified. So I also heard in Spain, there have been people, people recovered their AIDS by meditation. I haven’t seen but I heard this—well, one quite well-known singer who met—I think maybe France and Spain, I think.
Some countries become known, but not all countries, I think. Somebody said something. Mecano. He’s quite, I think, known. No question in Spain, his own country, but also France and some of that.
So he mentioned that in Spain, there happened three people, because AIDS was cured by meditation. Generally, to my experience, people who practice, people who practice hard, do meditation, purification, do much purification every day, practice quite strongly. They live longer. They live longer. Maybe ten years or fifteen years, they live longer than the people who do not practice meditation among the people who have AIDS.
But this is so far, this is according to my knowledge. But there have been some students who have AIDS. So—I don’t remember his name—one who used to live at Chenrezig Institute, one student had—when he stayed at the center, then because of the environment, you know, everything makes him to practice. Stay at the center, see the environment, makes him practice, you know. So he was able to continue his life everyday, practicing very strongly, purification and a few other deity practices.
So his health is very good, shining, radiating, very good. Life has no—I think his spirit is high because of the practice. Hope and encouragement and things that, you see, a lot of positive. Lot of positive, you know.
So therefore I think he doesn’t appear as a person with AIDS. But whenever he gets better, then I think, you know, then he goes away to the city to help men, you know, to help others. Then to help others in the city. Then I think he’s unable to—maybe then his life is not trained, not organized—unable to practice as he was at the center, meditation center. As he was at the Chenrezig Institute. I think then his health goes down, unable to practice and all the distractions like that.
So then after some time, then he comes back to Chenrezig Institute and then again he does practice. He gets better, hope in all this and gets better. Then once he gets a bit better then he goes back to the city again to help others. So I think he did a few times like that.
So the last time I met him in Brisbane, so he was brought by his friend, being held by his friend. But you see the thing with this, it’s a lot to do with the mind. It’s a lot to do with the way of thinking. It’s a lot to how much you think positive and how much you think negative. Health is a lot to do with that.
How much you think negative, how much you think positive. So he came down, you know, he had to lay down, lay on the chair like this. Then as I was talking to him about total transformation, about how to look at everything positive, how to look at his disease, that’s a very good thing—This is so—He’s so fortunate to have this disease. Having AIDS, he is so fortunate to have this. So many positive things about it, having AIDS. Because then he can develop compassion to all the living beings and he can use this to achieve enlightenment as quick as possible.
Experiencing the AIDS—by explaining to him the teachings, the positive thoughts towards his life, AIDS. By having AIDS then you can experience the AIDS. This gives the opportunity to experience AIDS on behalf of all the innumerable living beings who have AIDS now and who have potential to get AIDS in the future, who have karma to experience AIDS in the future. So this gives opportunity for you to do very strong, say, develop strong compassion and strong bodhicitta practice. So with bodhicitta there’s full enlightenment.
With bodhicitta, one practice bodhicitta there’s a full enlightenment, cease all the mistakes of mind, all the defilements and then achieve all the qualities of realizations and then able to do perfect work. Perfect work—free all the living beings from all the sufferings, cause of suffering—then bring, you see, able to obtain all the happiness, temporary and ultimate, temporary happiness, then liberation from the whole entire suffering and causes, and highest enlightenment. So can offer all the happiness, can do all this work without an effort. Simultaneously, without motivation, without effort, simultaneously. So, you see, can benefit extensively towards innumerable beings.
This, you know, you have an incredible opportunity for the best practice at that time. Give your happiness to all of them and then you take all their AIDS and those who have come to experience AIDS in the future also. So how this is fantastic, this. So I said many positive—I said many things, how having AIDS is very positive. It’s a very positive thing.
So then while I was talking to him this, and he was—before he was laying like this, he couldn’t—he was, you know, he couldn’t get up. Then while I was talking to him, he was able to lift up himself. He was able to, you know, without help, he was able to get up and he said, look, look, now I got better. Before that completely, you know, flat or down. So that’s just one example. You see, that’s what I’m saying before. It’s a lot to do with the thinking. It’s a lot—your health has a lot to do with your thinking. The attitude of daily life, what kind of attitude you have, one has. The more positive you have, you see, then you are stronger, you have strength, you know, you have encouragement, you see, you don’t get overwhelmed by that, see.
So and you can overcome, you know, that, you see, overcome the fear, worry, even the death, even able to overcome fear of death, so everything. I think for the meditation, especially meditation using the life problems generally, you see. Using—especially when one has sickness, see, using this sickness, when one has a cancer or AIDS, you see, compassion towards all other living beings. Towards all other living beings. To develop loving kindness—using the sickness to develop loving kindness, compassion towards all other living beings.
I think this is the most important. Okay. This is the most important meditation. Most powerful—quickest way to purify—that means quickest to purify the cause of disease which is in the mind. The negative thoughts in the mind.
The quickest way to purify is more powerful, therefore quickest way of healing—the result is sicknesses. Even though there are many other meditations for healing, I would say, as I mentioned just before, the person, the Chinese person who did this meditation and after four days it’s gone. The same thing is—not only this sickness. I think we should use any problem of life, any life problem. We use to develop compassion, love and kindness, and bodhicitta.
The altruistic mind cherishing all other living beings which is the source of all the happiness, peace for oneself and which is the source of peace, happiness of innumerable other living beings. So then this is the best psychology and this is the best, deepest psychology or meditation. Deepest, deepest, and most beneficial. Here I want to emphasize something. You see now, there are many different ways of healing.
Healing sicknesses. You see, through exercise, through exercise. Yeah. Through medicine, exercise, others. There’s many different ways to heal.
Now, my emphasis here is healing—time to heal your disease with your meditation, with your positive mind. I think this is so crucial. This is very important. This is so important. Even though there may be different treatment that can cure the disease, that is why the meditation, why you be positive, why meditation is so important. You see even though there are other techniques that can heal your disease, still the meditation is very important. That which means transforming your mind positive, healthy, happy, peaceful, you see, satisfied, free mind, warm heart, constantly in the warm heart towards other beings. You see, a very satisfied, fulfilling, altruistic mind. Now, see, my reason is this.
Why it’s so important? The meditation, healing by meditation is quite important. Now, you see, especially healing, not just any meditation, but meditation of the compassion, this bodhicitta, the altruistic mind, cherishing other living beings. Especially this one.
The good heart. Now, you see. So now here. Now without peace, even your disease, even your AIDS is gone, cancer is gone. You see? But your mind has no peace.
Still your mind has no peace. No satisfaction, no fulfillment. See? There’s no warm heart. Not only in order to take care of oneself for one’s own benefit, but especially for the benefit of all other human beings.
So, you know, without peace, without this meditation, healing with the meditation of compassion, the body is okay. No AIDS, no cancer. But you see, the mind is still full of ego and anger, dissatisfied mind, desire and so forth. So you see now, again, that means again, one’s mind is uncontrolled and one’s life is uncontrolled, so one can do the same thing, the unvirtuous action, making the—again, see, again creating the condition or creating the cause of disease again, you see, and troubling to oneself and troubling to others, giving problem to other sentient beings. And this goes on.
So instead of giving peace, peace and happiness to one another. So therefore, even though the AIDS can be recovered, the mind could create a problem, you know, you see, the mind could create a problem. For that, you see, again, unhealthy. Again, doing the same thing. So therefore, again one needs treatment, you know, medicine, all these things.
You see, again, again. So as we do not take care of the mind, do not watch the mind, do not take care of the mind, do not develop good heart, you know. The medicine has no end. So it makes the treatment has no end. Operation has no end.
One after another. One operation, another operation, another operation, another operation. So taking medicine, it makes endless taking medicine, no end. There’s no end this life, no end future lives. As long as we don’t change our mind, there’s no end for the problems, no end for going to hospital, operation, X-rays, this treatment, all these—no end for acupuncture, no end for acupuncture, no end for those, anyway all those things.
So therefore, even though there are other treatments to cure, I think it’s extremely essential, extremely essential, healing with the meditation especially with the good heart. Your mind—you transform your own mind into loving kindness, compassion, you see, then to heal. I think that’s because this not only helps the present sicknesses, it very deeply purifies the cause of all this which is in the mind. So by purifying the cause which is in the mind, then that makes, you see, deeper, deeper—as that much we purify the inner cause of the disease, you know, then you see, in this way, less and less we experience sicknesses. The more we purify the cause.
You see. So I thought otherwise, you know, otherwise, the more we purify the cause and the more we stop—by transforming the mind into good heart and then we change our actions and we do not create the cause of disease again, you see. So this way there’s an end, less and less, then there’s an end for the suffering. There’s a limit for sickness, limit for the problems, limit for all the—there’s a limit, there’s an end for all the expenses, you know, for all the money expenses, you know, say thousands and billions of dollars, you see, for health, you know, all through the year, you see, in the life, you see. So there’s an end, there’s a limit for that.
Otherwise, there’s no limit. So I think you see, so this way, the healing meditation is really transforming the mind into compassion and good heart. So this is not only for sicknesses, see it takes care of whole life, long life, health—long life, obviously don’t harm others, so you have long life, you know, don’t harm others’ long life and you have health. See, one to one—stop doing harm to others, you know, and benefit others’ health. Also because of that, you make charity to others with this good heart.
You make your body, speech, and mind make useful for others and things, you know, to help bring happiness for others. You make—if one has wealth, you know, one makes charity, one makes useful for others, you know. And see, one helps others. So therefore, then that brings—that causes you to have wealth, to have a good job, wealth, external prosperity. Inside there’s inner prosperity, good heart.
Outside—there’s inner prosperity, wisdom and compassion, the good heart. The outside then is the enjoyment as a result. Then good heart—the meditation of good heart brings harmony—brings oneself to be harmonious with others. Others become harmonious to you. So it helps, it takes care of very peaceful, warm-hearted relationship in the family or as a couple in the life, you see, caring for each other.
And so that’s—then with this warm good heart, you know, then you become friend to everybody and everyone becomes your friend. Everyone, you see everybody close to you, you see, to your heart and you feel as you have such a warm heart. You feel everyone in your heart. So like this, so that takes care of everything. Takes care, makes this life so beautiful, makes this life so wonderful, beautiful, so fulfilling and the most enjoyment.
Then this is the best way to take care of the death. It’s the best way—so then this way, we have very happy death. When the death comes, then one can have happy death. You know? Not suffering. You see, very happy death.
Then successful, very happy death. You end the life with very happy, fulfilling mind. Then with happy death, you have very good rebirth. With happy death, successful death, also, that results in a very successful, happy rebirth in the Pure Land or in a higher realm. So one thing what I want to emphasize: though you are receiving other treatment, even they can cure the disease, but the meditation, your mind healing yourself with the meditation especially. This meditation is extremely important.
So now the last conclusion we were stopping at. Now, the next very important thing—that is—the purpose of life, the ultimate goal of our life is not—now here it’s very important. The foundation, your mind to heal your body and mind, you know, mind, the sicknesses or the problems. Now, the very important foundation of healing with your mind—now this understanding is very important to cut down the problem.
The motivation makes huge difference in the life, you know, for the happiness and for the problems. Makes huge differences. Like this now. If the motivation is—you know, the goal of our life, goal of our life, what one has in our heart is, you see, to feel comfort. You need to have comfort for oneself. Yeah. The goal of the life is only to just to have happiness just for oneself. So now if this is the goal of you, goal of one’s life, what you have in your heart, then you see it comes—then you see it brings many problems. It brings many problems that—unable to find the desirable object.
Even one finds, then it doesn’t give—one cannot get satisfaction. And so many problems. If this is the goal of the life, then we see that brings so many problems. One wants so many problems. So when I’m not satisfied with this, then—you see, for example, the friend or something, you see, the companion or material, something, not satisfied with it, then look for another one. Then not satisfied with that, then look for another one. So like that, that’s one example. Many problems. Now, if the goal of our life is this way, different from that, you know, to be—to just be wealthy, that alone is not the goal of the life.
To be just healthy, that’s not sufficient. That’s not just the goal of the life. To have long life for oneself—not just the goal of one’s life. That alone is not the purpose of life, living. See, and even being an educated person alone is not the purpose of living, is not the purpose of life. That’s not the ultimate goal of life. Even, you know, even alive, not being dead, you know, alive. Even that—even being alive—that’s not—that alone is not the ultimate goal of life. What now?
You see, to have power, to be famous—just this alone is not the ultimate goal of the life. It’s not the ultimate goal of one’s life. You see all these things. Just this alone, what I’m saying is alone, just alone is not the ultimate goal of one’s own life. Now the ultimate goal of one’s own life—that is—even one is poor, to be useful, beneficial for other sentient beings. You see, even one is rich, to be beneficial, useful for other sentient beings. Beneficial, useful to obtain happiness for other sentient beings. Even when sick, having cancer or AIDS—beneficial. Your life become useful to obtain happiness for other sentient beings. You see, becomes so beneficial to obtain happiness for other sentient beings.
See, even one is—yeah. So not healthy, no question, even unhealthy, you see, to be beneficial and useful for others’ happiness, you know, to free them from suffering, to obtain happiness for them. So even—no question about living, but even one is dying, even the death, you see, when one is dying, even that, you know, that experience, you see, become beneficial to free others from suffering and to obtain happiness for all other living beings. So now this is the most. This is the real purpose of life.
You know, to have—you see, this is the ultimate goal of what we should have in our heart. If you have this one, this ultimate goal, you see, to be useful, beneficial, the main aim is to benefit others. Whatever happens in your life, you see, whatever experiences, you know, say, difficult life or easy life, whatever happens. A relationship problem or no relationship problem, whatever happens. But everything to make it beneficial, useful for others.
So now if this happens, to be useful for others, if this happens then the purpose of life is achieved. Life is meaningful. Purpose of life is achieved. You see, even if it is for one person, your life become useful, beneficial even for one person, you see. One is—if one is able to sincerely from the heart, one was able to do this, then the purpose of life is achieved. So therefore now you can see now here—you can see now here you can see by having this ultimate goal in your heart.
So you see, so it doesn’t—you see, whatever is happening in the life, you know, becoming poor, becoming rich or somebody praising or even one has cancer, AIDS, whatever. That’s not—even is not healthy, that really doesn’t bother. Because to be healthy, just that is not your—it’s not purpose of your life, goal of your life. Goal of your life, whatever happens, to make it beneficial, useful, you know, your experience for other sentient beings. To achieve happiness for other sentient beings.
So now here, whatever happened to you doesn’t bother, you see. So, physically, psychologically makes huge differences, you know. It cuts—it cuts down, it cuts away—once you change your ultimate goal of life into this from just only happiness for myself, you know. Now you see, in the life so much problem is gone away. See?
You are liberated from depression, from loneliness, from frustration. All these things you can use, make beneficial for other sentient beings by using meditation. Experience the depression on the behalf of all the sentient beings who have depression now and who have karma to