“I believe meditation has helped
with my work and allowed me to have
empathy with other people. I feel that,
by meditating, I have been able to
more fully understand myself. This has
allowed me to fully relate with patients,
many of whom have problems which go
beyond disease, and enter into the realm
of the mind.”
I first found out about the Dhammakaya
Meditation Center in Seattle, Washington State,
while working at the hospital in a clinic. The
person who invited me to the center was Sunan
Yesuwan, who worked at the front desk. She
invited me to come and teach English to the
monks that stayed at the meditation center she
attended. I agreed, and first came to the center
in October, 2002. One of the staff at the center
kept telling me I should meditate.
The most noticeable effect that meditation had on me when
I started, was that I became calmer and relaxed in
every day life and it also contributed to a general
decrease in my anxiety level, So, I decided that
this was the most worthwhile activity. I continued
meditating, and started coming to meditate with
Luang Phaw Dhammajayo at the center every Saturday evening.
In the past, I used to have some personality
characteristics that were maladaptive. I used
to be much more irritable, easily angered, badtempered
and moody. Meditation has helped to improve these problems.
My parents first noted
that I was a much nicer person to be with after
I had been meditating for some time. Because of
meditation, I started to avoid drinking alcohol,
even before I understood the five precepts. I felt
that drinking alcohol made my meditation less
clear, which led me to decrease and eventually
stop drinking alcohol, after I learned more about
Buddhist morality.
Another way in which meditation has helped
me is that I have become less impulsive. In the
past, I used to make decisions without thinking
very much, or make reckless monetary purchases,
without fully considering whether I needed them
or not. Additionally, I would choose to spend
time with friends at bars or concerts, even though
I didn’t want to go. After having meditated for
some period of time, I have become less impulsive,
and more careful about the decisions I make. In
a word, I would say that I have become more
mindful of what I am doing.
Meditation has also supported me in meeting
good friends. Prior to coming to the meditation
center, I had many friends who engaged in poor
behaviors. Often, simply because I had known
nothing else, I would spend time with these people
and followed them drinking, going out late at night
and engaging in other deleterious activities. When
I started to meditate, I have been able to come to
the center more often and this has brought me
into contact with good friends and people who
encouraged me to behave in the right way. I truly
feel that meditation has allowed much of this to occur.
I strongly feel that meditation supports a
healthier, lower stress life for people in the world
today. It can help people feel less stressed and
more relaxed in everyday life. Meditation can
improve one’s confidence in the world, because we
can discover our own nature and ourselves better,.
In my own experience, meditation has helped me
to quit drinking alcohol, avoid bad friends and
attain both personal and career achievements. I
feel like I would not be in the position I am now,
had I not started to practice meditation.
Meditation has also helped in my work. I
am currently a medical student at the University
of Washington in Seattle, Washington State, USA.
Often times, when I am working with
patients, the sufferings they must endure and the
diseases they have affect us emotionally. When I
take time to meditate, I am able to decrease this
stress and not feel so sad anymore. As a doctor, it
is important to be very aware of what is going on,
and to pay attention to what is happening. I feel
that meditation supports awareness, and helps me
to better focus on details of a patient’s appearance
and case. I have noticed before that if I have not
taken sufficient time for meditation, my thinking
is less clear and work becomes harder.
One thing in particular that meditation has
helped me with is my long working hours that
sometimes pass without any breaks. Sometimes, I
go to a quiet place, close my eyes, and imagine a
crystal ball or a Buddha image at the center of my
body. I do this until I feel peaceful, and then go
back to work. It’s truly amazing how rejuvenating
and helpful this simple procedure is. I started
to do this while on surgery, which, of all my
“rotations” has the longest hours, and many times
no sleep for long periods of time. Sometimes,
I would want to sleep so much, but still had several
hours of work to do before I could go home. I feel
that my meditation practice helped me to endure those times.
In addition, one important aspect of working
in surgery is being in the operating room. In the
operating room, one very important concept is
keeping “a sterile field”. Basically, this means that
once you have cleaned your arms and hands, and
have put on gowns and gloves, you are “sterile”.
The patient is also sterile. Thus, one cannot “break
the sterile field” by touching non-sterile objects,
including your face, legs, or anything else but the
patient. I feel that the sort of concentration and
focus necessary to prevent breaking the sterile
field is something which can be enhanced with
meditation. Meditation practice helped me stay
mindful while I am in the operating room, and
not needlessly endanger the lives of patients by
contaminating the sterile field.
Another thing that I believe meditation
has helped with at my work is being able to
have empathy with other people. I feel that,
by meditating, I have been able to more fully
understand myself. This has allowed me to fully
relate with patients, many of whom have problems
which go beyond disease, and enter into the realm
of the mind. A large percentage of people who are
at hospitals have co-existing mental illness. Thus,
neither their minds nor their bodies are in good
health. It’s sometimes difficult to pick up on this
subtlety, but I feel that my meditation practice has
given me insight into this aspect of health care.
My current goal is to finish medical school
and enter the field of surgery. Surgery is a tough
and demanding field of medicine, and the hours
are long and hard. However, the amount of good
surgeons can do for people is amazing. I’m excited
to enter this field of medicine, but still feel like
something is missing from it. As a future doctor,
I intend not only to treat the patient’s diseases,
but also to take care of their minds as well. I will
incorporate this sort of theme, comprising mind
and body health, into my future practice as a doctor.
As far as my own meditation experience goes,
I have had some very good experiences during my
meditation. On a couple of occasions, I’ve seen a
bright light, brighter than the sun, at the center of
my body. While this experience only lasted briefly,
the feeling I had at the time was something which
I can’t describe. On other occasions, I’ve been able
to clearly visualize a crystal ball at my center, and
have felt very peaceful. One important aspect, for
me, in my meditation, is that it has helped me
to gain wisdom about situations in life. In many
instances, I think that meditation has improved
my wisdom about certain events and helped me
to make better decisions regarding them.
If I could tell the people of the world
anything, it is that meditation is one of the best
activities for mental and physical health.
I would also say that meditation is for everybody – not
just for monks or Buddhists. Every religious
background can experience the benefits of
meditation. Meditation can help us deal with
the stress of everyday life, and can also help us
endure difficulties that we may encounter. More
importantly, it can help us find a goal for our
lives, and to better understand the true nature of things.
We Are One With Meditation
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