Medicine and Compassion: a tibetan lama and an American doctor on how to provide care with compassion and wisdom
Medicine and Compassion: a tibetan lama and an American doctor on how to provide care with compassion and wisdom
$35.95
In stock, will ship in 2 – 3 business days
ISBN / SKU
9781614292258
Format
Paperback
Category/ies
Description
t is estimated that nearly one-third of the U.S. adult population acts as informal caregivers for ill or disabled loved ones. We can add to these countless workers in the fields of health and human service, and yet there is still not enough help to go around.
Sure to be welcomed by caregivers of all types, this new edition of the groundbreaking Medicine and Compassion can help anyone reconnect with the true spirit of their caregiving task. In a clear and very modern voice, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Dr. David R. Shlim use the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to present practical tools for revitalizing the caring spirit.
Offering practical advice on dealing with people who are angry at their medical conditions or their care providers, people who are dying, or the families of those who are critically ill, Medicine and Compassion provides needed inspiration to any who wish to reenergize their patience, kindness, and effectiveness. The warmth and care in these pages is sure to strike a resonant chord with medical professionals, hospice workers, teachers and parents of children with special needs, and those caring for aging and infirm loved ones.
PRAISE
A simple and well-written introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. In folksy English, the book explains the basics of the belief system, including the concepts of impermanence, attachment, suffering, and emptiness. There are plenty of insights that will be worthwhile for caregivers. Medicine and Compassion is most interesting when it touches on Tibet's unique cultural traditions. For example, it provides a dramatic glimpse into another conceptual world in its descriptions of the process of dying, during which, according to Tibetan beliefs, the spirit moves through various bardo realms, where mind-consciousness is reincarnated. A delightful book."
—Ted Kaptchuk, in the New England Journal of Medicine
"I was dumbfounded by how much Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche comprehends the emotional challenges facing doctors in relationship to their patients. He nails it time and time again. Magnificent! I shall continue to reread it just for the pleasure of the teachings, for the clarity of his mind, and for the purity of his heart. This is a very worthy project."
—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living
"Medicine and Compassion is a wonderful guide for caregivers to develop compassion and skill in helping others from their deepest heart. A very practical, easy to read, and much needed book."
—Judith Orloff, M.D., author of Positive Energy
"In Medicine and Compassion, Chokyi Nyima pairs homespun advice for providing the best possible care for patients with expositions on Buddhist understandings on suffering and embodiment. Interesting adaptations of Buddhist principles are offered on such subjects as the art of healing and how to assist patients through the dying process."
—Buddhadharma
"This book will be of value to any health worker who has a sincere wish to help his or her patients and who wants to nurture that wish without burning out. It will also be of value to any health worker who once had this wish and would like to recover a deep sense of caring and compassion. There is also much of value here for those who care for the terminally ill. The book should also be read by anyone involved in the teaching of health workers, especially those who provide clinical care."
—Journal of Travel Medicine
"Medicine and Compassion is full of wisdom for any doctor whose well of medical empathy has at some time run dry. It represents the collaboration of a Tibetan Buddhist monk from Nepal and a Western-trained doctor, David Shlim. Medicine and Compassion is easy to recommend, because it squarely confronts one of medicine's perennial challenges—namely, how to grow in wisdom and kindness, as well as in knowledge, and how to care for patients with all of the above."
—Clinical Infectious Diseases
Sure to be welcomed by caregivers of all types, this new edition of the groundbreaking Medicine and Compassion can help anyone reconnect with the true spirit of their caregiving task. In a clear and very modern voice, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Dr. David R. Shlim use the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to present practical tools for revitalizing the caring spirit.
Offering practical advice on dealing with people who are angry at their medical conditions or their care providers, people who are dying, or the families of those who are critically ill, Medicine and Compassion provides needed inspiration to any who wish to reenergize their patience, kindness, and effectiveness. The warmth and care in these pages is sure to strike a resonant chord with medical professionals, hospice workers, teachers and parents of children with special needs, and those caring for aging and infirm loved ones.
PRAISE
A simple and well-written introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. In folksy English, the book explains the basics of the belief system, including the concepts of impermanence, attachment, suffering, and emptiness. There are plenty of insights that will be worthwhile for caregivers. Medicine and Compassion is most interesting when it touches on Tibet's unique cultural traditions. For example, it provides a dramatic glimpse into another conceptual world in its descriptions of the process of dying, during which, according to Tibetan beliefs, the spirit moves through various bardo realms, where mind-consciousness is reincarnated. A delightful book."
—Ted Kaptchuk, in the New England Journal of Medicine
"I was dumbfounded by how much Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche comprehends the emotional challenges facing doctors in relationship to their patients. He nails it time and time again. Magnificent! I shall continue to reread it just for the pleasure of the teachings, for the clarity of his mind, and for the purity of his heart. This is a very worthy project."
—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living
"Medicine and Compassion is a wonderful guide for caregivers to develop compassion and skill in helping others from their deepest heart. A very practical, easy to read, and much needed book."
—Judith Orloff, M.D., author of Positive Energy
"In Medicine and Compassion, Chokyi Nyima pairs homespun advice for providing the best possible care for patients with expositions on Buddhist understandings on suffering and embodiment. Interesting adaptations of Buddhist principles are offered on such subjects as the art of healing and how to assist patients through the dying process."
—Buddhadharma
"This book will be of value to any health worker who has a sincere wish to help his or her patients and who wants to nurture that wish without burning out. It will also be of value to any health worker who once had this wish and would like to recover a deep sense of caring and compassion. There is also much of value here for those who care for the terminally ill. The book should also be read by anyone involved in the teaching of health workers, especially those who provide clinical care."
—Journal of Travel Medicine
"Medicine and Compassion is full of wisdom for any doctor whose well of medical empathy has at some time run dry. It represents the collaboration of a Tibetan Buddhist monk from Nepal and a Western-trained doctor, David Shlim. Medicine and Compassion is easy to recommend, because it squarely confronts one of medicine's perennial challenges—namely, how to grow in wisdom and kindness, as well as in knowledge, and how to care for patients with all of the above."
—Clinical Infectious Diseases
Contents
OVERVIEW
1 Human Nature
2 The Causes of Suffering
3 What Patients Are Looking For
4 Combining Wisdom and Compassion
5 Impermanence, the Body, and the Senses
6 Dualistic Thinking and Why It Is Important
7 Conceptual and Nonconceptual Compassion
TRAINING
8 What Does It Mean to Be a Spiritual Practitioner?
9 Developing a Compassionate Attitude
10 The Key to Compassion
11 Learning to Meditate
12 Learning to Monitor Our Mental State
13 The Qualities of an Authentic Teacher
14 Examples of Enlightened Resolve
15 The Need for a Teacher
16 Different Kinds of Teachers
17 Cultivating a Calm Mind
PRACTICAL ADVICE
18 The Best Possible Care
19 Coping with Difficult Patients and Situations
20 Easing the Process of Dying
21 The True Meaning of Death with Dignity
22 Tibetan Medicine
1 Human Nature
2 The Causes of Suffering
3 What Patients Are Looking For
4 Combining Wisdom and Compassion
5 Impermanence, the Body, and the Senses
6 Dualistic Thinking and Why It Is Important
7 Conceptual and Nonconceptual Compassion
TRAINING
8 What Does It Mean to Be a Spiritual Practitioner?
9 Developing a Compassionate Attitude
10 The Key to Compassion
11 Learning to Meditate
12 Learning to Monitor Our Mental State
13 The Qualities of an Authentic Teacher
14 Examples of Enlightened Resolve
15 The Need for a Teacher
16 Different Kinds of Teachers
17 Cultivating a Calm Mind
PRACTICAL ADVICE
18 The Best Possible Care
19 Coping with Difficult Patients and Situations
20 Easing the Process of Dying
21 The True Meaning of Death with Dignity
22 Tibetan Medicine
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