The Cultural Practices Of Buddhism

Cultural diversity in the health care setting is increasing each year. Knowing how to care for patients of different religious and spiritual faiths is essential to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. The author of this paper will research three lesser-known religions; Taoism, Sikhism and Shamanism. Through this paper, she will provide a brief background on each of the three religions and present information regarding spiritual perspectives on healing, critical components of healing and health care considerations associated with each religion.

The world is diverse with different religious views, trying to quench the thirst of human spirituality needs. Knowing a different faith system will help a person to have a broader worldview and update their cultural competency. This paper compares the worldviews of Christianity and Buddhism based on “Sire’s Seven Worldview Questions”, to describe spiritual healing in both systems. It also explains the important factors to be considered when care is delivered by providers of different faith. The lessons learned from the study is also explained.

Buddhist patients believe that space has a great impact on their lives. They believe that the space they inhabit directly affects their health (Das,1997). Spatial interactions can be manifested as patients bringing items from home to the hospital in order to create a healing space for themselves, or it can simply be a patient meditating in their room in order to change the energy in the space. Each patient will have his or her own personal view on space, and the nurse should be sensitive to this.

Karma is a belief in which if you do good, the world will reward you, and if you do bad, it will punish you. Just like in physics where every action has a reaction, is how it is in real life. If you commit a good deed, then somehow, someway, the universe will repay you. Bad actions lead to consequences which is what the universe will be in charge of.

The United States has always been the symbol of freedom of religion and health care today has needed to increase its knowledge in incorporating the many different religions/spiritual beliefs in order to provide a more holistic approach to care. As health care providers we should not look in validating our own practice in regards to religion or spirituality but to comprehend and learn to see the patterns of similarities and differences in order to provide holistic care to our patients. As religious and spiritual beliefs are never permanent and are constantly changing and/or influenced by government, thinkers, historical events, technology and the shifting values of cultures the study of religions/spirituality should be continuous for all health care providers. The Native American, Buddhism, and Sikhism have some similar traits and values imbedded in their practiced religions that resemble the Christian Faith and medical providers needs to be aware and able to accommodate them in order to provide holistic care.

This paper provides a comprehensive look at the following faiths: Buddhism, Judaism, Baha’i, and Christianity. The reader will find that Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion that focuses on the mind as being the creator of illness and health. The reader will also find that Judaism, Baha’i, and Christianity are all religions that believe in one God, the creator of all. This paper lists various components that each of these faiths may use at one time or another to effect healing including prayer, meditation, chanting, the use of healers, etc. This paper also defines what is important to people

The third interview conducted was with a Chinese family (The Wang’s). The Wang family consists of the parents and 2 children that all play an active role in Buddhism. The Wang’s were all born in Chengdu, China and migrated to the United States 5 years ago. The Wang’s primary language is Mandarin. The father and two children also speak English. The Wang family doesn’t communicate much with their extended family. All extended family still reside in Chengdu, China. The Wang family is very private when dealing with or talking about their health. They express no current health concerns. The Wang family maintains good health through eating healthy; they eat large amounts of vegetables rice and fish. The Wang family uses health protection by positive thinking, and meditation. The Wang’s also state that they see a physician on a regular basis for check ups. As far as interviewing The Wang’s it was difficult to obtain specific information on their past or current health beliefs. The Wang’s appeared to be a private family (Wang, 2013).

쀀쀀e in become more evolved as a nation one of the problem that needs to be address is how to response to diverse faith within our healthcare practices. This essay serves to compare these three different religious philosophies: Yoruba, Hinduism (karma) and Buddhism, to a Christian’s perspective. These religions have wide perspectives but one will key in on health management and what to expect from healthcare point of view while caring for these patients. Yoruba religion is based on nature worshipping and is rooted deeply on respect for the environment. Their divinities is called Òrìsà, when it work is complete they become thunderstorm with lightning. Then the formation of the river adjoining into the ocean all of these actions are classified as divinities (Abimbola 2010). All living things are considered sacred and need to be reverenced. Religion cannot be free from the influence of the culture of the people where it is established, Gaiya substantiating this view wrote that culture and religion are two sides of the same coin and that a change in one affects the other (Awoniyi 2011).One will hear words such as Ori which is the soul or the unconscious mind, Èmí-the divine breathe enclosed in our heart and Òlódùmare, our High God.. (Awoniyi 2011).

In both Buddhism and Christianity, there are critical component of healing such as prayers, meditation, belief and yoga. In holistic medical care, the medical personnel must take care of all aspect of the patient which includes the body, the emotions and the spiritual. The doctors and nurses should ensure that that they offer all necessary support that is

There are many different religions with many different beliefs, traditions, practices, and rituals. These differences are a very important part of understanding and appreciating the culture and history behind the specific religion. However, the practices that certain religions have in common can aid even more in furthering the understanding of specific beliefs of other religions. Since most religions cultivate from the practices and beliefs of other religions, they use those core values and beliefs and transform them into what they believe is a better way practicing. Religions use similarities within each other and twist them into their own. There are certain beliefs within every religion that shape their practices such as their morals or their most essential or absolute value, their position on human beings’ problems and solutions, and their view on life and death within their religion. Pure Land Buddhism (a form of Mahayana Buddhism) and Vaishnavites (a group within Hinduism) are great examples of this very concept.

I chose to learn about the Buddhist culture for my project. I’ve always wondered how they believe and worship, and this gave me an opportunity to find out. I was bummed when I went to the Buddhist Temple in Murfreesboro to not be able to go in. I called several times and couldn’t get an answer to find out what times they held their services. I did get some pictures of the outside grounds, which were fascinating within themselves. I was surprised at how vivid and colorful the building was. When researching the culture, I stuck to questions that I’ve always had and found answers the best I could. I found out where Buddhism originated, who practices Buddhism, who, where and how they worship, their beliefs of the four noble truths and the

Karma is a central belief within Buddhism and is what incites the cycle of rebirth. You gain both good and bad karma from the deeds you commit and thoughts. Intent matters in Buddhism and thinking ill of others or remaining positive does contribute to your karma. Karma comes into effect later in life or in rebirth directly affecting the realm and major attributes within your

Tibetan medicine practices the belief that methods must be practiced as equally as they are learned academically. Misinterpretations of certain Buddhist aspects of Eastern medicine create difficulties in relating Eastern and Western principles. Some Westerners feel that all you need to practice medicine in the East is a strong sense of compassion to help people, without having any real knowledge of the medical practices: “A few weekend courses and all the good intentions in the world it would seem is all that is thought to be necessary.” (Dummer p. 11). This, however, is not the case at all. Eastern practitioners spend years learning medical procedures and techniques before going into practice. They are also fully educated in the spiritual aspects of medicine as well, as for religion plays a significant role in Eastern practices. Inadequate training may result in improper care and detrimental diagnosis to those who may be seriously ill or suffering from undiagnosed diseases.7

In the United States there are over four million buddhists, one thousand temples, study groups, or Buddhists associations (Monroe 108). This number has come from just one man searching to find happiness and eventually enlightenment. Buddha’s story is how buddhism became a religion all over the world. It teaches a peaceful manner, reveals the key to happiness for the mind, and eliminates the desire in life. Not just the history of buddhism is important, but how it has spread through the world and what it looks like today.

Every culture has its own views of health care, diseases, and medical interventions. The way people of a given culture view health care affects how they handle themselves when they fall ill. For instance, the Asian culture believes that illnesses are caused by supernatural phenomena, which should be diagnosed and treated by means of spiritual healing or traditional herbs. Physicians and other medical practitioners should try to understand the cultural beliefs of their patients to handle them appropriately.