Did Buddha heal people?

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smokey
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Did Buddha heal people?

Post by smokey »

I have not found any reference to my question in any of the suttas so far. So if anyone knows, please let me know.
Last edited by smokey on Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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acinteyyo
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by acinteyyo »

Not that I remember, except for healing the spiritual sickness of ignorance...
:thinking:
best wishes, acinteyyo
Thag 1.20. Ajita - I do not fear death; nor do I long for life. I’ll lay down this body, aware and mindful.
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smokey
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by smokey »

Thank you Acinteyyo.
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bodom
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by bodom »

The Buddha could not even heal himself, he still had to age, grow old and sick and eventually die. How could he heal anyone else?

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
Bankei
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by Bankei »

I can't think of any references to the Buddha healing people, but there is one reference I recall of him attending to a sick monk, cleaning him etc and chastising the local monks for not looking after the sick like they would to a family member.
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Bankei
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bodom
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by bodom »

Bankei wrote:I can't think of any references to the Buddha healing people, but there is one reference I recall of him attending to a sick monk, cleaning him etc and chastising the local monks for not looking after the sick like they would to a family member.
Kucchivikara-vatthu: The Monk with Dysentery
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Monks, you have no mother, you have no father, who might tend to you. If you don't tend to one another, who then will tend to you? Whoever would tend to me, should tend to the sick.


:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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Goofaholix
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by Goofaholix »

His teaching centered around fully experiencing and accepting suffering as a means of finding freedom from it, standing on your own two feet and finding the truth yourself, even if he could do it healing people would be counter productive in terms of his teaching don't you think.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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fig tree
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by fig tree »

The commentary says that the Ratana sutta was taught on the occasion of a famine and pestilence in Vesali, that was brought to an end by the Buddha and his monks.

This sutta, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html, describes a monk recovering from an illness while listening to a teaching.

I don't think mundane acts of kindness would conflict with teaching the dhamma at all if done at appropriate times.

Fig Tree
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Yes, at least in the case of Suppiyā.
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pilgrim
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by pilgrim »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:Yes, at least in the case of Suppiyā.
I think there are some errors in the article. I can't make our if Suppiya is the woman who offered her flesh or her husband. Some conflicting sentences:
Suppiya the man
Her husband was Suppiyā
When Suppiya returned and discovered what had happened he was overjoyed
Suppiya the woman
Suppiyā is given as an example of one whose good deeds bore fruit in this very life (Mil.115; cf.291). She was declared by the Buddha foremost among women...
...he asked for Suppiyā. On hearing that she was ill, he desired that she be brought to see him.
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by jcsuperstar »

oh and there's a story of a nun who plucks out her eye and then when the buddha knows why it comes back to her
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the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Dan74
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by Dan74 »

There have been some cases when the Buddha visited a sick monk and recommended reciting a sutta as a means of healing and also if I recall correctly an occasion when he himself was unwell and he asked a sutta to be recited (both times on the factors leading to enlightenment, I think) and got better. There were also other occasions when the Buddha perceived that the monk was going to die (it was his kamma for his life t end) and advised on the final practices.

There is a book called Healing Buddha which is mostly Mahayana but has some references to suttas (like the above). If I get hold of it, I will supply the references.
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Dhammanucara
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Re: Did Buddha heal people?

Post by Dhammanucara »

I remember reading a case where a boy who was supposed to die at a certain age, and his parents brought him to a priest who recommended them to go see Buddha. The Buddha also prophesized the same thing, and he called all the monks to chant suttas for the boy. On the final day, the Buddha himself came in to chant for the boy and he lived up to age 120. But i guess this is not exactly the healing you meant, for if I am not mistaken, the cause of the boy's death is because a demoness is chasing to kill him.
And yes, the Bojjhanga Sutta- The sutta of factors of enlightenment was originated when the Buddha chanted that sutta for his disciples (and later his disciples did that to Him as well) and they were all cured from their respective sickness.

With metta,
Dhammanucara :namaste:
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