3 Wisdom-Packed Teachings From Buddhism for the Chronically Ill

#2. Broken Glass Practice

We don’t have to look too deeply into Buddhism to find tenets that explore the true nature of the human condition.

In Buddhism’s first noble truth, for instance, Buddha describes experiences that all humans share.

His list consists of birth, aging, illness, death, pain, grief, getting what we want, not getting what we want, and losing what we cherish.

The common theme is that none of the experiences are pleasant. In fact, they are mostly unpleasant and painful.

You may wonder why. It’s because Buddha wanted us to accept the reality of human suffering. He was being honest and realistic with us.

Buddha understood it is our relentless desire to change the things we cannot — to run away from the possibility of suffering, for example — that causes our dissatisfaction in this life.

The main takeaway from this noble truth is that as much as illness makes life unpleasant, it is a natural part of our human experience.

Given that we are born, we are subject to illness.

Let’s now turn to 3 Buddhist teachings that can aid the chronically ill in their journey.

I want to mention that I draw all teachings mentioned from Toni Bernhard’s book: How To Be Sick. I encourage you to check it out for more Buddhist inspiration on dealing with chronic illness.

Compassion Practice: speaking kindly to ourselves.

Compassion is described as the act of reaching out to alleviate suffering in others as well as ourselves.

Though we act compassionately towards the suffering of others, we usually have a harder time being compassionate towards our own.

This stems from the fact that we tend to speak harshly to ourselves, even when we aren’t sick.

Think of how many times you may have spoken harshly to yourself today. Here is a sample of what I’ve said to myself so far:

“I’m so lazy for sleeping in.” “I’m not productive enough.” “My writing isn't even that good.”

If we have a natural tendency to speak like this to ourselves, it only makes sense that when we fall ill, we have a hard time with self-compassion.

Of course, the truly compassionate person is compassionate even to her own suffering, as she recognizes that her illness is just an illness and not a personal failing on her part.

But to develop self-compassion, we can look a step back.

We can begin by catching ourselves each time we speak harshly to ourselves (even when we're not sick) and reminding ourselves that we wouldn’t speak like that to others.

When we catch ourselves, we can turn our negative, harsh words into more loving and compassionate ones. We can learn to engage with ourselves in the same way we engage with those we love and care about.

Broken Glass Practice: what is, was always broken.

This second teaching is inspired by Thai Buddhist monk Ajahn Chah. Chah has had a strong influence on the way Buddhism has taken its form in Western society.

Chah says the following about a glass in a collection of his teachings entitled Food for the Heart:

Can you prevent something that’s breakable from breaking?…Penetrating the truth of these things, [we see] that this glass is already broken. Whenever you use this glass, you should reflect that it’s already broken … Use the glass, look after it, until the day it slips out of your hand and shatters.

He goes on to say:

No problem. Why not? Because you saw it’s brokenness before it broke!

Just as Chah sees the brokenness of the glass before it breaks, we can also see the breakability of our bodies before they break.

When we acknowledge that our bodies were already broken even when healthy, we can find comfort in accepting illness as part of our existence.

We can more calmly bear the natural quality of impermanence that permeates reality, especially when it comes to our bodily and physical health.

No one can fully defy the laws of nature and stay young or healthy forever. This is what is at the heart of this teaching.

Equanimity Practice: it’s okay if…

This last teaching is built around cultivating the sublime state of equanimity.

Equanimity is best described as the state of “having mental calmness and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.”

We can see why cultivating such a state can be particularly challenging for the chronically ill.

For one: they have to learn to deal with feeling misunderstood due to insensitive and inaccurate comments made about their illness, even if such comments are directed at them with good intention.

And two: they have to adapt to the uncertainty and unpredictability associated with having a chronic illness. Things can get worse at any time; and sometimes, things never get better.

An important practice for developing equanimity is to commit to “It’s okay if…” style statements.

For example, on a day when you are especially fed up by the condition of your illness due to an increase in symptoms, you can say to yourself: “It’s okay if I feel extra sick today, I have a chronic illness, and this is how it sometimes is.”

The more we commit to such statements, the braver we become in what we formulate. Eventually, the chronically ill can someday state something along the lines of: “It’s okay if I have my illness for the rest of my life.”

Yes, you read that right: “…for the rest of my life.”

The more we can accept such statements, the happier and calmer we will be.

From this state of equanimity, we can seek to lead fulfilling lives by accepting our limitations while at the same time turning to whatever else it is still within our power to do.

I.e., we can bow down to our limitations, accept them, and still see what else life has to offer.

Summary

Buddhism's first teaching acknowledges the true nature of the human condition. It reminds us that sickness and suffering are natural parts of our human experience.

This article highlights 3 Buddhist teachings that can support the chronically ill in their life journeys. Below is a quick recap.

Compassion Practice: We have a harder time being compassionate towards our own suffering than the suffering of others. Self-compassion can be developed by catching ourselves each time we speak harshly to ourselves and learning instead to engage with ourselves in the same way we engage with loved ones.

Broken-Glass Practice: When we see things that exist as already broken, we become more comfortable accepting illness as part of our human experience. We can more calmly bear the quality of impermanence that our physical bodies cannot evade.

Equanimity Practice: The more we can accept “it’s okay if …” statements, the happier and calmer we will be. Eventually, we can come to accept our limitations and seek whatever else life has to offer so we can lead fulfilling lives.