How Buddhism Prepares Us for Illness and Trauma

When Dominique Side wrote a series on her Substack, The Softer Gaze, about her recent encounter with cancer and the resulting surgery, I thought that would make a great subject for her second From the Pure Land video interview. An expert on Buddhist philosophy, Dominique is a delight to talk with, as I learned in our first discussion.

I wanted to hear how her decades of Buddhist experience prepared her for illness and other traumas and share some observations on my own. While we were at it, I learned that she has a timely book, A New Way of Seeing, scheduled to come out in August, shortly before the planned September launch of my The New Middle Way. They both aim to help Westerners learn about and benefit from Buddhist teachings. If our books stick to their schedules, you’ll have just enough time to read hers before starting mine.

Among the concepts we discussed in the 37-minute video were:

* The need to fully grasp and internalize Buddhist teachings to change one's priorities and approach to suffering, including illness and trauma.

* How it takes years to overcome our ingrained patterns and transcend needless suffering.

* How the understanding of suffering and years of meditating helped Dominique face her cancer diagnosis with equanimity, and without a crippling fear of death.

* The importance of a positive attitude and the need for a holistic approach to healing.

* The failure of medicine to help patients with the long periods needed to recover from illness and trauma.

I hope you find the 37-minute helpful.

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