Reaching out to patients with Dhamma, the ‘mindful’ doctor
“Those who attend on the sick, attend on me,” professed Lord Buddha who Himself set the example by ministering to those who were sick and others who were left destitute. Lord Buddha’s approach to health care and ministering to the sick encompassing both physical and spiritual wellbeing becomes even more relevant in the modern context where a holistic approach to health is advocated.
Offering such a spiritual solace through Dhamma within a medical setting of the UK is the Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy Group (BHCG). Founded in 2005, BHCG, offers guidance on ‘mindfulness’ shaped by the Dhamma to patients and health care staff. The facility also offers palliative care.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, BHCG Group Chairman Keith Munnings, who was in Colombo recently, noted that Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy is in its infancy in the UK. Munnings, who was on his fifth visit to Sri Lanka, had been an authorized meditation teacher practising at the Samatha Trust Meditation School, UK since 1976 and a Buddhist chaplain for the past 12 years, offering pastoral, spiritual and religious care to staff and patients in a number of National Health Services Trusts. While in Sri Lanka, he gave public talks on Buddhist approaches and practices to healthcare and also engaged in a retreat in Ambuluwala. The visit was facilitated by the Damrivi Foundation. Presently Munnings is also developing a Trust policy and a programme of mindfulness mediation with the Hospital Chaplaincy Services back home.
What is most rewarding about Buddhist health care chaplaincy is the ability to ‘integrate within diversity’, says Munnings. “Today we live in a melting pot of diversity and UK is one of the best examples. Buddhist health care chaplaincy has given a lot of opportunities to work together across diversity and most importantly, it is not about who we are but about meeting the needs of the ill and the vulnerable – those who are on a roller coaster of emotions,” reflects the chaplain. He cites the words of Ven. Seelawimala, Abbot of the London Buddhist Vihara who describes Buddhist chaplaincy as ‘a real opportunity to see the Dhamma.’ As Munnings asserts, Buddhist chaplaincy too is a means of finding freedom from or within sickness, ageing and death, in the same way as the Buddha did.
The need for Buddhist health care chaplaincy within a national health system is becoming more pressing globally, especially in the realms of mental health and cancer care, points out Munnings who is presently working inWythenshawe Hospital in South Manchester.
The community and monastic support in this process cannot be underpinned, he adds. To become an ‘Endorsed Buddhist Healthcare Chaplain’, a potential candidate should go through a process stipulated by the Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy Group (BHCG) The endorsing group consists of Buddhists from a number of different Buddhist traditions and endorsement is open to individuals willing to minister to Buddhists of any tradition, explains Munnings. The endorsing body for Buddhists mirrors similar bodies formed by members of other faiths.
The preparatory path towards Buddhist health care chaplaincy is a systematic one where potential chaplains need to train within the BHCG and abide by the five chaplaincy principles. “The mentor system plays a huge role in this process and quite a lot of time is given for reflective practice,” points out Munnings. While maintaining a spiritual life, a chaplain should not proselytize. “A chaplain should never seek to convert or recommend others to one’s faith. However this principle does not forbid an individual from witnessing to his/her own faith or confidence in the Dhamma. Working across faiths while respecting boundaries is fundamental.”
The principles also articulate that the chaplain will also aspire to ‘ecumenism’ which are initiatives aimed at greater understanding or cooperation among diverse Buddhist schools, traditions or ethnic groups. Working across faiths and updating his/her skills are also fundamentals a chaplain should abide by.
For Munnings, the most rewarding aspect of being a Buddhist healthcare chaplain is the human interaction it offers- both with patients and staff. “Offering a new lease of life whenever possible is just overwhelming. For the hospital staff who are under enormous stress, the experience of meditation is very therapeutic,” adds the chaplain with a smile. Sharing the story of a patient who after a heart transplant had urged Munnings to ‘show him the way’ to come to terms with the ‘hardest thing which ever befell him’, he asserts that mindfulness practice helped him brave his crisis and ultimately brought a new perspective of life. “He was about 40 and a director of an electronics research company and when I met him two years later, his comment was that the experience took his relationship with his staff to a complete different footing where he is fully engaged in their development.” Healthcare chaplaincy also entails numerous challenges and as the chaplain points out, assessing the needs of a patient and imparting mindfulness within a context of sickness and dying means a lot.
Raised as a Christian, Munnings’ interest in Buddhism was kindled when he came across a Buddhist meditation class conducted by the celebrated meditation guru and academic, Dr. Lance Cousins who founded the Samatha Trust. The Trust also shares ‘strong historical links with Sri Lanka’ he says. As a 22-year-old Munnings discovered meditation which brought him clarity in life which ‘nothing else could have made possible’ he says. A teacher of mathematics and physics by profession, Munnings now finds more time to devote himself to Buddhist healthcare chaplaincy in his retirement. “My mentor Dr. Cousins helped me find the keys to the path of life in the Buddhist tradition as he did for so many others and I’m humbled to help several more find keys for themselves,” notes the chaplain with a smile.