Mantras and meditation can do as much to heal the mind as medicine does in curing the body, says His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche of the KaNying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Kathmandu.
"The mantra is a kind of sound therapy," the 26-year-old master of vajra explains on his latest visit to Bangkok's Chulalongkorn Hospital.
"It must be chanted from the heart. Sound helps us to heal faster."
He believes that sound vibration affects the cells, citing the studies of Japanese researcher Masuru Imoto on how water molecules become "beautiful" at the sound of a mantra and "ugly" when a ritual curse is pronounced.
Phakchok is overseeing the development of the Vajravarahi Free Clinic, which provides free allopathic, Tibetan, Chinese and ayurvedic healthcare to disadvantaged people here.
The grandson of Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche, who is referred to as the great Dzongchen master, Phakchok says this mantra is useful: Teiatha denza denza maha denza sarva byidhi hana hana denza na zoha.
And meditation, he says, can reduce stress and even cure physical illness.
He suggests first freeing your mind of any blocks and visualising the letter ha - shown in the graphic - in white inside your stomach. See it spinning, and gradually turning black as it sucks the illness and toxins from your body.
Next, open your mouth to "release" the blackened letter ha.
Finally, "breathe in" the energy of the five elements of Buddhist belief - earth, wind, fire, water and space. If you have a fever, for example, imagine the coolness of water being drawn into every part of your body.
Scientific documentation of mantras' and meditation's ability to heal remains elusive, but Phakchok knows of a man who suffered from a skin allergy that modern medicine couldn't cure.
He began using herbal medicine, yoga, a mantra and meditation instead, as well as the gigong form of physical meditation, and was healed.
"However," Phakchok stressed, "the most important thing is be happy!"
Daily Xpress/Asia News Network
This story was first published in the Daily Xpress on Aug 3, 2008.
