Faith Diversity. Spiritual Healing - Assignment Example

? Health care providers in contemporary times and at all stages of practice have to confront patients from diverse religious traditions which makes it mandatory for them to acquire adequate knowledge about such religions and their cultures to endow with quality care. In the present healthcare stipulation, healthcare providers need to undoubtedly have a wonderful understanding, acceptance and appreciation of the varied religious systems their patients belong to, almost all of which will be different from their beliefs (Ketchell, Pyles, & Canda, n.d). In this paper, three religions that are often met in health care facilities – Baha’ism, Buddhism, and Hinduism will be discussed. All these three religions have many similarities as well as many distinctions. This paper will respond to the following questions about each of the three religions: ‘What is the spiritual perspective on healing of each religion?’ ‘What are the critical components of healing, such as prayer, meditation, belief, etc?’, ‘What is important to people of the particular faith when cared for by a health care provider whose spiritual beliefs differ from their own?’, and “How do patients view health care providers who are able to let go of their own beliefs in the interest of the beliefs and practices of the patient?” Furthermore, these religions will be compared with Christianity and its perspective on faith and healing. In the end, I shall share the knowledge that I gained after researching the spiritual healing perspectives of these three religions. A Research on Spiritual Healing in Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha’ism Spiritual healing is a healing in which the patient is cured through spiritual practices. The perspective of spiritual healing is wide but generally includes meditation and prayers. Spiritual healing is found in all of the world’s major religions though it varies from one religion to another. Most patients belong to different faiths in the health care institutes the world over. In recent times, the health care providers have to deal with patients with varied surroundings and faiths. In this essay, the spiritual concept of health will be explored from the perspective of three major religious perspectives – Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha’ism. Moreover, we shall discuss what is essential for people of all these three beliefs and how do these patients examine health care providers. The spiritual perspective of healing of the three faiths – Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha’ism The Buddhists believe in inner healing and consider their health as the most fundamental asset in their life. Their healing procedure conceptualizes the mind and body as one single element. For instance, the sickness of one’s body has an effect on one’s psychological wellbeing. Therefore, they believe that personal enlightenment is the best way of curing one’s health. Moreover, the principle of karma directs the Buddhist concept of physical health. In other words, they believe that a person’s undesirable acts of harming oneself or others lead to injury or ill heath in this life as well as in future embodiments, therefore one needs to rectify his karma for one’s wellbeing( Ketchell, Pyles & Canda, n.d). The second religion in discussion is one of the world’s most ancient religions – Hinduism. The Hindus are firm believers of God and religiously offer prayers every day. They too believe in termination of some essentials of human life that ensnares people in the continuous succession of birth and death thereby creating dissonance in life. According to the Hindus, this disharmony of health is the result of improper actions of the mind, body and speech; bad karma; or bad conduct. Furthermore, they believe that the soul has to pass through a series of births and deaths before finally attaining liberty from mortality. Therefore, prayers and meditation are absolutely necessary for healing oneself and for attaining mortality (Kakar, 1989, p.115). The third religion being explored is Baha’ism. Like Hindus, the Baha’is’ consider God as the Supreme Being. However, they don’t believe that illness is caused due to misdeeds of an individual rather to help him turn into a finer person and accept the reality of this temporary life. The Baha'i community follows the inscriptions of their initiator, Baha ‘u’ llah, ‘thou hast two rules, one of substantial curing, the other of religious curing so care for the ill with equally of these rule.’ In other words, they believe that healing not only has a spiritual component but physical component as well (Gammage, n.d). Critical components of healing The Buddhists follow the four noble truths for healing prescribed by Buddha as it acknowledges the reason behind bad health and the conduit that cures the cause. They consider health to be their biggest asset and truly believe that illness can be cured by enlightening oneself and realizing the truth of life through meditation. Meditation is the key practice of Buddhism and is a significant constituent of healing. Buddhists favor herbal remedies to antibiotics and other prescription medicines though they appreciate medical care to a great extent (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2012). Furthermore, Buddha had prescribed five major rules which one should follow for healing oneself: (1) One should incessantly display love and kindness and perfect the Buddha's moral principles, (2) one should abstain from the errant acts of the body, speech and mind like killing, stealing, infidelity, lying, bad language, flighty talk, materialism, malevolence and unruly views, (3) one's mind and body should be peaceful and quiescent (4) one should listen to the Mahayana and Theravada texts, and (5) lastly, one should believe in the perpetuity of the Buddha and the mind should incessantly flow towards the eventual truth. Moreover, according to them spiritual practices like performing meritorious acts to change one’s karma will result in improving one’s physical health in the future (Bell, 1996). Hindus firmly believe that there is only one being, God and compulsorily makes time for offering prayers every day. They truly believe that God is the ultimate power who can cure them of every disease and ailment. Hindus believe that every imbalance or illness in their life has occurred due to sinful acts committed by them in the present or past and can only be rectified by performing meaningful meditation, fasting and prayers. Traditional Hindus employ ayurvedic medicines to restore the body from any illness. However, they are open to contemporary medications and treatments as they believe the health care providers are the mediators who have been sent by God to cure them of every illness (Kakar, 1989, p.115). The Baha’i faith includes “prayer and meditation, participation in devotional gathering, and active service to their communities” (Baha'i International Community, 2012). According to prophets of Baha’i community, healing should be practiced and done through two ways – the physical and the spiritual way. The physical or the material way includes the remedies prescribed by physicians and the spiritual way includes prayers and immersing oneself into God. Illness that are caused by any physical accident needs to be cured through medical aid and those caused due to spiritual reasons needs to cured through spiritual practices. They believe that the physical remedies have also come from the mercy of god who himself has revealed the medicine of science to help cure his followers. According to them, absolute healing is only possible through a combination of physical and spiritual remedies (Gammage, n.d). What is important to the patients when cared for by health care providers whose beliefs differ from their own? The Buddhist, Baha’is and Hindus like the Christians are indifferent to health care providers whose beliefs differ from theirs as long as they are provided enough room to practice their spiritual beliefs during the medication process. However, they would like their health providers to understand and respect their beliefs as they do theirs. Also, there are many western treatments which may not be acceptable to the Hindus and Buddhists, and therefore it is necessary for the health care providers to understand and accept their wishes to ensure a speedy recovery. For instance, the Buddhists may try to avoid excess medication that dulls mental awareness (Ehman, 2007). In addition, most Hindus and Buddhists are strict vegetarians and may refuse to consume any meat or animal product or any medicine that has been made using animals. Buddhists may put precedence in lessening their pain for which they might request for their priest to come and pray for them, which the health care providers should arrange for even though they belong to a different belief (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2012). However, the Baha’i people are the most open minded of all as they believe that the physical ailments can only be cured through medications, and therefore they never interfere with the procedure of the health care providers. Moreover, they believe that the world's major religions have surfaced from one Supreme Being, and a healthcare provider's spiritual beliefs are insignificant since their respective holy books carry the same fundamental Divine teachings (Gammage, n.d). However, when cared for by health care providers, patients of all the three faiths may express the desire to keep pictures of their respective Gods or a holy object in their rooms such as the Baha’is’ may wish to have symbols like a nine-pointed star, a picture of ‘Abu’l-Baha’ or prayer books present in their hospital room, the Buddhists may want to keep a statue of Buddha and the Hindus, a picture of their deities. Moreover, all the three faiths may articulate firm and ethnically based concerns towards modesty, particularly regarding treatment by someone of the opposite gender (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2005). How do patients view health care providers who are able to let go of their own beliefs in the interest of the beliefs and practices of the patient? Health care providers who are able to let go of their belief in the interest of the beliefs and practices of the patients are seen as messiahs by the latter who can assist them in their journey to purity and balance. By respecting the beliefs of the patients, the health care providers enhance the patients’ pace of recovery. Therefore, it is considered to be a good practice in a health care institute, wherever the faith of the patient is different from the health care provider, to let the beliefs of the patients overrule. Patients are especially grateful to providers who are keen to forgo their own faith and assist the patients in practicing their individual religious beliefs (Ehman, 2007). In today’s contemporary world, health care providers have to come across patients from diverse faiths particularly in urban areas. Therefore it is deemed necessary that the health care providers understand and respect each patient’s personal beliefs and give them enough space to practice the same. Generally it has been seen that patients of all these faiths, whether Hindus, Buddhists or, Baha’is, are indifferent towards their health care providers’ spiritual preference provided these health caretakers put the patient’s concern at the forefront. Moreover, it has been observed that though the Buddhists and Hindus do look for some conservative healing to set off several practices in their faiths like fasting and medication, the Baha’is don’t interfere with the treatment of the health care providers as they believe that physical remedies and spiritual remedies are not an obstacle for each other rather they supplement each other (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2005; Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2012). Comparison of Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha’ism with Christianity A lot of similarities have been drawn between the three faiths –Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha’ism and Christianity. All the three faiths like Christianity believe in one Supreme Being, God who is the originator of all healings. Prayers, dedication and meditation are considered necessary throughout the curing process for a speedy recovery in all the four religions. In addition, all the religions like Christianity are open to healing through medications and thereby are extremely accessible to caregivers. They all believe that the health care providers are mediators of god who have been sent by Him to cure them. Both Hindus and Buddhists closely resemble Christians in the belief that the physical injury or illness one suffers is due to some sinful or undesirable act done by that person in the past and must be repented for through prayers, fasting and meditation. Moreover, patients of all the three religions may express the desire to place a picture of their respective deities or any holy object besides them which is also consistent with the Christian beliefs (Ketchell, Pyles & Canda, n.d; Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2005). However, certain differences have been observed between these three religions and Christianity. Meditation is considered to be the focal practice for healing in Buddhism whereas it is not the key component for Christians who put more emphasis on rituals for a speedy recovery. Also, Christians don’t believe that mind is the source of all illness as Buddhists do (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, 2012). As far as Baha’is’ are concerned, like the Christians they don’t believe that any physical injury or illness occurs due to any sinful act done in the past. Instead, Baha’is’ believe that illness occurs to help a person learn to detest this world and realize that there is no rest and composure in this temporary life. Moreover, like the Christians, Baha’is doesn’t believe that a person can be cured through miraculous occurrences rather they trust god for all their care and protection (Gammage, n.d). Furthermore, all the three faiths may express strong culturally based modesty especially regarding treatment by someone of the opposite sex unlike the Christians who are extremely open minded people (Ehman, 2007). However, after observing the three different faiths it can be concluded that the respect of individual faith differences is important to all the patients and their healing results which is consistent with the Christian beliefs. Conclusion As a health care provider I have learnt that one has to deal with a variety of faiths in daily work life, and knowing individual faith beliefs and respecting them is extremely important for people in my field. Moreover, every religion like Buddhism, Hinduism and Baha'ism have a different perspective on healing which a health care provider needs to keep in mind while taking care of these patients. This research has definitely enhanced my knowledge about the spiritual health beliefs of these three religions and the manner in which they would like to be treated in a health care facility. By making standardized plans according to each patient’s beliefs like allowing freedom and time for prayer and meditation, allowing visitors, accepting special foods and belief specific alternative remedies in concurrence with the western based medical practices, a health care provider can ensure complete care of the patients. Most importantly, this research has revealed that by broadening our horizons as caregivers, giving respect and understanding to individual faiths in a serene ambiance we can encourage individualism and spiritual healing for all our patients irrespective of how diverse they are from our faiths. In this way, we will be able to provide unprejudiced and empathetic care that assimilates each individual’s spiritual faith. References Bell, G. (1996). Healing in Buddhism. Retrieved from http://www.healing-touch.co.uk/pa- medb.htm Ehman, J. (2007, Apr. 20). Religious Diversity: Practical Points for Health Care Providers. In Penn Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/pastoral/resed/diversity_points.html Gammage, S. (n.d). Spiritual treatments for disease: A Baha'i perspective. Retrieved from http://susangammage.com/spiritual-causes-of-disease-a-bahai-perspective Kakar, S. (1989).  Health and medicine in the living traditions of Hinduism.  In L. Sullivan (Ed.), Healing and restoring: Health and medicine in the world’s religious traditions (pp. 115- 116). New York: Macmillan. Ketchell, A., Pyles, L., & Canda, E. (n.d). World Religious Views of Health and Healing. In Spiritual Diversity and Social Work Resource Center. Retrieved from http://www.socwel.ku.edu/candagrant/Papers/World.htm#Hindu Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council (2005, March 23). Quick Reference for Health Care Providers Interacting with Baha'i Patients and their Families [PDF document]. Retrieved from Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions: http://info.kyha.com/documents/QR-ALL.pdf Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council. (2012). Quick Reference for Health Care Providers Interacting with Buddhist Patients and their Families [PDF Document]. Retrieved from Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions: http://info.kyha.com/documents/QR- ALL.pdf Read More