Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 80-minute talk, Ven Jamyang presents a Buddhist framework for disease and healing rooted in karma and delusion. She traces illness to the mind’s three main delusions—anger, attachment, and ignorance—which destabilize the body’s four elements (fire, wind, earth, water), making it susceptible to disease. Two people with identical symptoms experience them differently because of accumulated karma and habitual patterns in the mind. Healing, she argues, requires transforming the mind through understanding cause-and-effect and cultivating compassion for all beings—even those who harm us. She calls this “ultimate healing”: a gradual dissolution of the delusions that underlie both mental suffering and physical illness. Designed for both newcomers and experienced practitioners, the talk is interactive, with Jamyang encouraging critical questioning and personal verification rather than blind acceptance.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Jamyang – Ultinmate Healing.mp3
UUID: a182b6f2-f695-4936-8941-631cf903d51b
Teacher: Ven Jamyang
Collection: Ultimate Healing (Ven Jamyang)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 80.1 minutes
Words: ~3,916
Hello there. Everybody can hear me? But welcome, everybody. Thank you for coming. We’re gonna do a week end course and some of you only can come today and some maybe only in the morning and some but that’s all alright.
Some other people will join tomorrow so we just will have a ever changing group. My name is Jamyang for those who I haven’t met before. Some are, I think, new to Buddha House or quite new to Buddha House or I don’t know them from Buddha house. Is that right? I want to know if these people who are coming here for the first time if they are new to Buddhism or if they have some idea about Buddhist concepts, Buddhist ideas.
You have some ideas? Yeah, lots of ideas. Yes. That’s true. That’s true.
The Dalai Lama always says, please stick with your own religion and use the ideas wherever, you know. You feel it’s suitable for you to fit it in. You Andrew? Are you familiar? I used to come to the old Buddha house.
Alright. Yeah. But you so you know a little bit about Buddhist ideas. I you too. So we’re going to talk this weekend about ultimate healing.
Ultimate healing, if you listen to the words ultimate healing then you can hear two things. One is that we’re going to talk about healing, about what is healing, what does healing really mean, what is it when we talk about I feel healed. And then what is ultimate healing? Ultimate healing means that we are healed, you know, and that’s not just healing, that is a special way of healing. I think it is included in healing but it is not every healing is ultimate healing, but if you ultimately heal, everything is healed.
It’s like the ultimate thing that we can do and lots of healings are part of that, are fit into that but they do not cover that. So ultimate healing is like the highest thing that we could achieve according to Buddhism. So I want you to know that whatever I’m saying is according to Buddhism and if you hear something that you feel like, oh, but I think this is not right because you have that idea, put up your finger and tell me. Because I do not want you to accept whatever I’m saying. I want you to think and I want you to challenge what I’m saying.
And if you’re going to challenge it, try to challenge it with reasons like: Oh no, I think this is not right because I’ve read or I heard or I think or whatever and then you state your reason. Now we’re going to see how we can work with that. Buddhism is about recognising what is already in our own mind. Buddhism is not a theory that we put on top of our mind and then start to live in accord with that, without checking. Buddhism is about as a tool and you listen to it and you reflect in your own mind and you see if you can recognize it in your own mind.
And if you see, Oh yes, my mind works like that, then maybe it’s time to accept it. But not before that. You have to check. You have to be critical in that sense. Not critical in saying, Oh, I don’t believe it, but critical in saying, I think this cannot be true because And if you don’t believe it that’s fine too, but then you just leave it aside.
Then we just do nothing with it. When we talk about healing then we also talk about what has to be healed and that means that we feel that we have something or we feel that we suffer from something that is not right, that is not really part of us, that recognise I actually do not want to have this or I do not feel one hundred percent with this or I have something that I feel is not right and can be changed. Isn’t it? If we are looking for healing then we already have some space in our mind that says change is possible. We might not have found it yet, but somehow we know it is possible, otherwise we would not come here.
Is that true? Everyone have that feeling that there is change is possible even no matter how disastrous our situation might look like? Yes. Yes. True.
True. Yes, yes. There are many people walking around in life, they do not have a clue that they can change their situation. They have no clue. The doctor says, You have cancer, and they say, Oh, I have cancer.
I have to die. There are many people like that, to be like that, but I don’t think you have that otherwise you wouldn’t be here. But we have this, if we talk about disease or sickness or a condition in our body that we feel we cannot change, then looking for a change means that there is a possibility in your mind that it might be possible. You might not, isn’t it? And then sometimes situation can be so difficult that you say, Oh, if I really want to live my life, this has to change.
So these are two extremes but they’re both a reason to come. So I’ll say a little bit about where sickness comes from according to Buddhism and then I would like you to introduce yourself. That we know a little bit where we’re going to start or how we’re going to look at disease because, you know, I’m a Buddhist nun so I’m talking from that point of view, but if a doctor would be here he would tell you a different story about disease and if a naturopath would sit here he would tell a different story about disease and no matter if you have a very old wise woman who raised ten children she will tell you a different story about disease. So that whatever story you hear depends on the person who tells you the story. So I give you a certain angle on how to look at disease which can be the framework what we’re going to work with in the weekend.
We have to agree about a framework, like, oh, this is how we’re going to talk about disease. Otherwise, you know, can be very, very, very big. It is already very big, but then it becomes endless. So if you’re going to look in Buddhism, what is Shall I talk with disease? Start with disease or start with healing?
Which one do you like first? Anything. Anything. But you have to apply it a little bit to your own situation. Sometimes it might go more to the body and sometimes more to the mind, but they are very, very connected.
I think So according to Buddhism we have a body and we have a mind. And the body has a beginning and has an end. We know that one day we were born and before we were born we were in the womb of our mom and we started very, very tiny and then you grow out and after you’re born you grow bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger bigger and and at a certain point you stop growing in your height but then you grow maybe like this or you grow older and at a certain point the body is so old or tired or something happens to us and we die. That’s the body part. Then the mind part is that the mind, as long as we have this body, the mind is with the body.
But as soon as the body dies, the mind leaves the body. Or I should say, when we feel that we die or when we die the mind leaves the body. Dying is that these two are separated. According to Buddhism the mind has no beginning and no end. So the mind has existed many, many, many lifetimes, countless lifetimes.
It takes for a while this body and then after it leaves this body it will keep on existing countless lifetimes. We don’t know. We can’t see that. If you try to trace it back, we cannot find a beginning, we cannot find an end to the mind. That doesn’t mean there is no beginning or no end, it’s just we cannot posit a beginning and no end.
We cannot posit cannot posit it. With our rational mind we cannot say, It must have started here. We can only say, I can’t find it, you know. So then they say, Alright, that must mean that it has existed since the beginning of this time. We, so they say, Okay, when we die the mind leaves the body and starts looking for a new body.
What is going to determine what kind of body we have? How healthy we are, where we are born, how our environment will be? What is the determination of that? And according to Buddhism it is the last moment of our consciousness before we die. It’s going to determine where we’re going to end up in our next life.
If we die peacefully with a happy mind, with a stable mind, with a mind that feels I have done with my life what I wanted to do with it, I feel that my life has been worthwhile, then that will lead to a happy rebirth. If we die with a lot of regret, if we die with anger, if we die with a lot of attachment, then we, our rebirth will be less fortunate. So what that means is that the state of our mind determines where we’re going to end up. That means that if we have delusions in our mind at the time that we die these delusions determine how we’re going to end up. So in order to, and I’m not sure if I can explain that really really well but in medicine and in the Indian medicine and I think Chinese too they talk about that if you get ill your body is out of balance.
Your elements are out of balance. Sometimes your wind element has increased or decreased, sometimes it’s your fire element, sometimes your earth element, and they say that these elements are ruled by the delusions. So for instance our fire element that we use to digest, we use to for the burning process in every cell in our body is determined by our by, is connected to our anger element, to the delusion of anger. Our ignorance, which has to do with, no not our ignorance, wind element is connected to attachment, to craving. We all know that if we want something desperately we want it, we want it, we want it, our body starts to change isn’t it?
The heart goes faster, the blood pressure might go up, we feel things, we start sweating, it’s like there’s a whole chain of reactions that happens as soon as we want something. Reaction that happens is a disturbance in the wind element or a change in the wind element. The wind element is that which helps things to move in the body. So anything that has to do with movement can get disturbed, especially the movements through neurons, everything that has to do with nerve disease, everything that has to do with the blood is something that moves, the heart is something that constantly moves. In the cells there are movements, and we know when we get nervous we can feel it in our whole body, it’s like everything starts to vibrate in a certain way.
That means that the wind element has increased. So there is the connection between our delusions or our mind and our body. If we feel disturbed in our mind it will have effect on our body. We all know that. If we do not take care well of our body, will affect our mind.
We also know that. Isn’t it? So these two are very connected with each other. And Buddhism says they’re not just connected, but actually the only reason why we come into existence with a body like this is because of our karma and our delusions. If we have no delusions anymore in our mind and we cannot just get a body like this.
It’s not possible. So I don’t know how you are if I talk like this. That’s alright. That’s alright? Good.
In order to get a body we need a cause to get a body. If I want to have a glass of water I need to do something in order to get a glass of water. It doesn’t come naturally when I think water, it’s not just there. I have to do something. In order to a body there also has to be a cause.
And the cause of the body is, you know, it’s like when our mom and dad have intercourse, then the body comes into existence. But in order for the body to live and not to die before birth, there needs to be something in the body that makes it alive. Our consciousness has to go into the body. And for our consciousness to be able to go into a body we need causes for that. That doesn’t happen without a cause.
So that cause to go into the body is called karma and delusions. Do I go too fast? Yes, what about that? Because it’s floating around in my head. It’s like the consciousness is the brain, that’s what you’re saying.
Buddhism says consciousness is not the brain because when you die you still have a brain, isn’t it? It just doesn’t work. So if the consciousness was the brain, then even after death there should be something there. What happens at death if the brain is the consciousness? No, but it’s like can you see what I mean?
Is the brain and the brain works very, very close, connected to the consciousness. It’s a very, very, very strong connection, but it’s like the brain is like how do say that in English? It’s actually called material. Yeah, it makes it possible that our body can work. Without a brain our body cannot work.
But you need something that feeds the brain, you know, and if that stops the brain can’t function. It’s like where does life come from? It’s a question that, you know, I think scientists can’t really answer that question, where does life come from? They just say, Oh, it’s there. But if you’re going to look into it you can’t find really what life has to do with how we function.
We cannot trace back the source of why we are alive. We would, yeah, that’s what Buddhism says, if it would just be the brain then when you die what is the difference because the brain is still there? I guess most people think that it was just broken like a broken television so you don’t get a signal. So what is broken? I guess the brain.
The brain is broken when you die. Could I make it a bit more complicated? Oh yes, why not? Physical brain, and we don’t just divide this entity that we are into body and mind. We consider the brain instead not as the physical breaking with cells in it, but as intellect spirit.
And just a little thought and a little feeling, a little emotion, that also has a maybe an effect that can be recovered very easily, that can be, you know, go go back to the natural state very easily, but there is an effect. Doing this, but is that really giving me what I want? You know, I’m driven by I want to be happy, but is is that what drives me really bringing happiness? I am driven by not wanting to suffer. But do I really have a life now where I do not suffer?
So if you look at that, then we must And then one day, he leaves or he dies. You know, I’m in shock. Come. This cannot be true. Right.
But what I have created was the belief the mind works with exactly the same laws, but we do not know how to make happiness. We do not make know how to get rid of the suffering. We do not know that. But it’s the same kind of principle. We just haven’t figured out the pleasure.
I’ll drink more. More. More. More. But do that with ice cream or cake or somebody that we fall in love with or something that we wanna have, a beautiful car, or that gives me great feeling I wanna have more of them.
Or something gives me an unpleasant feeling, and we say, I don’t want that. That makes me suffer. Right? If somebody abuses me verbally So I create an action, for instance, a thought, and that will lead to a result. That can lead to a result in our own mind in the sense of, you know, one thought can lead to the other.
If I’m really upset with something and I keep on dwelling on it, then I get more and more and and more of some. But that’s not what I mean here. Yeah. I mean, the moment that my mind gets upset and starts to blame the other person, it’s like an action that is happening from my mind. What is gonna happen is that one day that result will come back in the same way or in a similar way.
So that result that comes from our actions is the feelings that we have. This whole thing is called karma. karma is called the law of cause and effect. Every feeling that I experience comes from my previous action. If I do not have created a cause for the water to relieve me of my thirst, no matter how much I drink, the thirst will not go.
You can see that with people. If you just if you look at food, you know, there are people who cannot bear a certain food. The body can just not bear. They have the same body as what we have. But something happens in the body.
Yes. There is a part of the body that works with it, but a lot has to do that there are causes in that person’s continuum that I cannot enjoy that food. Just as far as that of course in that other person’s continuum that I can completely enjoy that food. If we all go for an ice cream, we all pick different ones. And maybe some of you said, oh, no.
I actually do not like an ice cream. And someone you wanna have a little bit and someone have a lot. Nobody goes for the same ice cream. And even if we have the same ice cream, we will have all a different experience of that ice cream. Even we if we take take the same.
And then we’re gonna talk about it. Then you say, oh, wasn’t that ice cream? Like, isn’t it? No. I don’t.
I actually thought it was more like so even if we all do the same, we all have different feelings of myself. Why? Because we have different causes that are continuing for that particular thing. If you can start seeing the feelings are coming from things that we have done previously, you can take your power. You know?
And you can look into your mind. What is happening in my mind? Do I feel happy with this or not? And if not, what would I like to have? And if this works, to get the result, what would I need to do in order to get what I want?
What kind of actions are gonna give me the feelings that I want? You know, if as soon as the the pressure gets a little bit up because, you know, people tell us all these stories and the stories go wrong in our hand, if we can just express it, the pressures go on from our mind. You need an action to counteract our natural intent to just, you know, express it however it wants to come out. It’s an action. It needs a lot of strength.
It’s an action. You know? So if you see that as an action, it maybe changes in your mind. It’s not just, oh, I can’t do anything. No.
You do something. You make consciously the choice to keep it for you because you can see that damaging effect that will happen if you open your mouth. Mhmm. That’s an action. But it’s a very hard action.
It’s a very hard action, especially when it’s you know, maybe we go for a run, and then maybe we release attention right now. But we have to find a way how to work with the mind so that it doesn’t make exactly the right thing, there is no tension in it. You know? But there is maybe a doubt or there’s maybe our own self-cherishing mind that says, oh, I really wanna get rid of this tension because I wanna get rid of it. Mhmm.
You know? But if you yeah. That has to do with the compassion side. That’s the practice of the Bodhisattva. That’s one one thing.
Yeah. So if we’re do talk about ultimate healing, we talk about that ultimate healing that So if we wanna heal and if we wanna make sure that anything flows naturally and nicely, we have to make sure that we also have compassion for those who harm. We have to make sure that we can generate compassion for each and every sentient being that we encounter. Compassion, if we feel compassion, you. Can see that right now when you do that, So you say not everybody has this survival mechanism.
Some actually just have a different. Does it come from? Where does it come from if you if you hear the story about you know? In this lifetime or in many lifetimes, and maybe that’s different than a Christian tradition, there are many lifetimes where you can have have contact with the teachings, where you have thought about reality, where you have done meditation. There are many highly realized lamas.
Accustomed already to do that. Then there are also sentient beings, little children born from the beginning. They, you know, they see them and they see how do I get this thing done or what happens when I burn it. Oh, we know these children. From the beginning, they like to kill.
Where does it come from? So Buddhism has said that habituation from previous lives. If we have engaged in one action again and again and again, we are habituating now. I thought we’d go and but maybe we just go around that we at least know each other’s names. And I would actually like to know what made you come to this workshop and what you would like to learn from it.
Is that alright? We can do that in seven minutes. So what we what what made you decide? What is the trigger that made you decide to come, and what do you want to get out of it? Alright?
I just think it’s not useful to do that.