When speaking of human experience of health and illness we are generally speaking of experiences in the body, energy winds (prana/qi), and mind.
The experiences of illness or symptoms are often described as branches and the actual cause of illness are described as the roots.
In my experience problems in the mind affect the balance of the energy system which in turn manifest as symptoms in the body.
It seems to be this way round since problems in the body may or may not affect the mind but problems in the mind seem to always affect the body mediated via the energy system.
For instance whether an injury to our body affects our mind or not depends on the state of our mind. Some people have a very high pain threshold and so can bear a lot of physical injury without it adversely affecting their mind.
However problems in the mind always manifest in imbalances in the energy winds and the physical body. There is a term that is called 'psychosomatic' and is looked upon badly in Western medicine, which deals purely with observable symptoms in the body and lab results.
It is the collective experience of older world systems of medicine (such as Classical Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine, and Ayurveda) that problems in the mind manifest in problems in the body mediated by invisible energy winds.
These systems are much more developed and sophisticated, and in well trained and experienced hands, much more sensitive than Western medicine can ever hope to be. This is not to say that these older systems of medicine are superior to Western medicine or vice versa. However Western medicine can achieve it's goal of helping others cure themselves of sickness by learning and integrating these ways of thinking.
We need to maintain equanimity by keeping an open mind and a good heart that wishes to alleviate the ailments of others. This good heart and open mind shall guide us to a deeper appreciation and understanding of how best to use medicines for the benefit of others.
Western medicine detects illness which is manifest (visible) whereas energetic medicine detects illness that is hidden (invisible).
This is not so surprising or mysterious as it may seem since most of the things that help us function are invisible, yet most vital to our survival such gravity, oxygen, radiowaves, etc...
Combining these ways of looking will help us to understand how best to help heal ourselves and others that is balanced and free from extreme views.
The illnesses that we are likely to experience arise from causes within the body and mind. We may blame external things and people as causes but this is not quiet precise.
For example if pollen were the actual cause of hayfever then everybody in the world would be affected by pollen and develop exactly the same severity of symptoms (Immunoglobulin E mediate histamine release). This is clearly not the case.
Pollen is only an outer trigger, merely an external condition, which upon meeting the inner potentialities (causes) in a particular person, begins a cascade of responses resulting in the bodily and mental experience of hayfever.
So it is with all illnesses in today's society. Outer events are merely conditions, which trigger off symptoms of illness within individuals who are prone to such a response.
In Western medicine, that only deals with the physical/chemical world, we can say that the immune or endocrine system are to blame, but again, this is part of the person, and so is just a part within the cascade of responses. This is why blocking the immune system only temporarily stops the symptoms (a fix)but does not permanently solve the problem.
Then we can get a little deeper and blame the DNA or genetics for the problem. However if we block this level we still do not cure the problem for as soon as we take the block away the problem returns or worsens.
We can even blame our parents or inheritance - however not all children born to the same parents get the same illnesses.
If we look at the medicines that deal with imbalances in the elements and energy winds of the body such as Ayurveda, acupuncture, homeopathy etc... we can say that illnesses are arising due to an imbalance of the delicate energetic systems within the body.
However all these levels of medicine are still dealing with the effects and not the cause. The symptoms manifested in the energetic system are still merely the effects.
This is why we do not see much success beyond the control of symptoms for today's illnesses using pharmaceutical or alternative medicines. These medicines do have an important role in helping to alleviate illness, they are not able to take the illness away.
It is simple to see, for example, that if you expose 1000 people to the same set of living conditions, foods, exercise and noxious stimulants etc... you will not get 1000 people developing the exact same physical, molecular, energetic, or mental health problems.
So what is the missing link in our understanding of the cause of our illnesses? For this we need to look at another kind of medicine developed by a Buddha Shakyamuni in his capacity as a doctor called in Sangye Menla in Tibetan, or Medicine Buddha.
This medicine deals entirely with the mind. Problems in the mind are the root cause of illness which manifest as imbalances of the energy winds, which in turn, manifest as symptoms in the physical body.
The reason why these things can't be proved by conventional instruments is due to the mind's being a formless continuum, thus it is a hidden object which can only be known through direct experience, a part of mind.
The teachings that this Buddha doctor gave explains that everything we experience is merely an appearance to mind, since all functioning things are impermanent and are thus subject to change moment on moment. As the causes and conditions that give rise to the existence of an object are assembled they also disappear.
We can understand this when we sleep - everything we experience in this world disappears and another experience in our dreams develops suddenly and all at once - arising from the very subtle state of mind called the clear light mind.
Other than appearances to different levels of mind there is no difference between the dream world and the waking world. The waking world is an appearance to the waking mind (the grossest level of mind) and the dream world is an appearance to the dream mind (a subtler level of mind). We cannot say that the dream world is false and the waking world is real since both are merely appearances to our mind.
The only reason that our current experience tells us otherwise is due to our grasping at a truly existent, permanent, solid, unchanging world, ourself and others.
In reality there is nothing in this universe that is a permanent, unchanging entity. All functioning things are subject to change - both at the gross (manifest to our sense awarenesses) and subtle (hidden from our sense awarenesses)- moment on moment.
If one thing were permanent then everything would be in a state on non-change.
What one person experiences when exposed to certain outer conditions depends entirely upon the potentialities assembled within their mind.
This helps to explain why, for example, not everyone experiences hayfever when exposed to pollens. Those who develop symptoms have the potentiality to do so within their mental continuum arisen from various causes which they placed upon their mind previously.
In my experience, there is no other reason, not even genetics, to explain as to why we develop the illnesses that we experience. Otherwise there would be a cure for all illnesses arisen from either conventional or alternative medicines.
Therefore the missing link is that of the potentialities lying within the mind. This is known in Buddhist medicine as the cause of all the sickness that we experience within the body and mind.
Medicine Buddha revealed many precise and effective antidotes to remove these negative potentialities from our mental continuum.
We have faith in the temporary relief that physical, energetic medicines because we have taken them and experienced the effects.
If we were to experience the profound and long lasting effects on our body and mind of taking Medicine Buddha's medicine we would have no doubt that they work. We would then develop believing faith in the power of these medicines and develop the wish to experience permanent and complete eradication of all illnesses in the body and mind.
We should use physical and/or energetic medicines to alleviate the symptoms, but we should be aware that these provide only temporary respite from illness and cannot completely remove our experience pain and suffering permanently.
Only by combining outer (pharmaceutical, energetic) medicine with inner medicines for removing the negative potentialities from our mind, can we truly say that we have an effective strategy for a completely permanent cure to our physical and mental illnesses.
