by Tulku Thondup

Book Specifications
Paperback, 224 pages
Published: 2001
Dimensions: 6" by 9"
ISBN: 1-57062-878-5
Shambhala Publications

PURCHASE

Description
Esteemed author and teacher Tulku Thondup offers this convincing guidebook on healing the mind, body, and spirit through meditation. Although Thondup relies on the principles of Buddhism to explain the intimate connection between the mind and body, readers won't feel pressured to become budding Buddhists in order to learn these meditation techniques. In fact, what makes Boundless Healing so effective is Thondup's very detailed and nondogmatic style of teaching meditations. For example, when speaking to a meditation for healing sick cells, he stays focused on the physical and mental sensations, rather than flittering into ungrounded spiritual metaphors: "As your breath is moving through your body, think and feel that all the cells of your body are also breathing. All the trillions of cells of light and blissful heat are breathing from the top of your head to the soles of your feet."

Devout Buddhists will find nourishing soul food in his one section devoted to specific Buddhist healing meditations. As for everyone else, Thondup has written an accessible, information-packed book that covers it all—from “Avoiding Expectations” to “Creating a Healing Aura While Sleeping” to “Meditations for the Dead or Dying” to “How Helpers and Survivors Should Behave.” Regardless of the disease, discomfort, or desire, Thondup has a meditation up his sleeve, making this one of the most practical handbooks on healing meditations available.

--Courtesy of Amazon.com. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: HOW WE CAN HEAL

HEALING THE MIND AND BODY

The Peaceful Mind
The Mind can create Negativity
Opening a Path to Peaceful Feeling
Noticing the Peaceful Mind
Positive Perception
To Be Happier
Mind and Body Together
Sometimes the Body can Lead the Mind
A Meditative View of the Body

A POSITIVE APPROACH TO MEDITATION

The Four Healing Powers of Mind
Two Ways to Apply the Four Healing Powers
Healing Sources
Healing the Whole Body

ENCOURAGING OUR MEDITATION

Some Preparations
Some tips for Meditation
Duration of Meditation
Make No Excuses
Feel Good About Meditation
Making It Simple
No Expectation of Results
Stay With It
Rejoice in Progress

PART TWO: HEALING MEDITATIONS ON THE BODY

INTRODUCTION TO THE EXERCISES

1. The Mind Is Called Back to the Body
2. Seeing the Anatomical Details of the Body
3. A Body Made of Infinite Cells
4. Each Cell is Made of Light
5. Each Cell is Vast
6. Healing Energies Fill the Body
7. Healing Waves
    (a) A Special Meditation for Sick Cells (optional)
8. The Sound of Ah
9. A Healing Gesture
    (a) Healing Movements (optional)
10. Sharing Healing with Others
11. Sharing Healing with the Universe
     (a) A Protective Aura (optional)
12. Resting in Oneness with the Healing Experience

THE 12 STAGES OF GUIDED MEDITATION

First, Bring Your Mind Back to Your Body
Second, Scan the Anatomical Details of Your Body
Third, See Your Body as Made of Infinite Cells
Fourth, See Each Cell as Filled with Healing Light
Fifth, See Each Cell as Vast as the Universe
Sixth, Feel that Each Cell is Filled with Healing Energies
Seventh, Heal Your Body with Waves of Light and Energy
      (a) Meditation to Heal Proliferating Sick Cells (Optional)
Eighth, Hear the Healing Sound of Ah
Ninth, Open to Healing with the Blossoming Lotus Gesture
      (a) Open to Healing Movements (Optional)
Tenth, Share the Healing Waves with Others
Eleventh, Share the Healing Waves with the Whole Universe
      (a) Protect Yourself with a Healing Aura (Optional)
Twelfth, Rest in Oneness with the Healing Experience
Twelve Stages of Meditation in Brief
Some Specific Healing Remedies

HEALING MEDITATIONS FOR SLEEPING AND WAKING

(a) Meditation for Falling Asleep
(b) Meditation for Waking Up
(c) Dispelling Anxieties upon Sleeping or Waking
(d) Merging in Oneness can Dissolve Anxiety
(e) A Healing Aura for Sleeping and Waking
Waking to the Energy of Healing Movement
There are Many Meditations to Welcome the Day

PART THREE: BUDDHIST MEDITATIONS TO HEAL BODY AND MIND

INTRODUCTION TO THE EXERCISES

Devotional Meditation
Power of the Healing Buddhas
Visualizing and Praying to the Healing Buddha
Receiving Blessings from the Healing Buddhas
Merging in Oneness
The Right Attitude in Meditating

THE 12 STAGES OF MEDITATION ON THE HEALING BUDDHA

First, Bring Your Mind Back to Your Body
Second, Visualize the Healing Buddhas with Devotion
Third, with Prayers, Invoke the Blessings of the Healing Buddhas
Fourth, Receive the Healing Blessings
Fifth, Transform Your Body into a Body of Blessing Light and Energy
Sixth, Your Body is Made of Infinite Cells of Light and Energy
Seventh, Each Cell is a Boundless Pure Land of Healing Buddhas
Eighth, Heal with the Waves of Blessing Light and Energy
Ninth, Ah, the Sound of Blessing Light and Energy Waves
Tenth, Blossoming Lotus Movements with Blessing Waves
      (a) Healing Movements that Bring Blessings (optional)
Eleventh, Share the Blessing Waves with the Whole Universe
Twelfth, Rest in Oneness with the Healing Experience
Dedication, Aspiration, and Benediction
The Healing Buddha Meditation in Brief

PART FOUR: A FIRM PATH OF HEALING

BENEFITS OF HEALING MEDITATIONS

General Benefits of Healing
Spiritual Benefits of Healing
Physical Benefits of Healing
Benefits Come in Different Forms at Different Times

REALIZING THE POTENTIAL TO HEAL

Three States of Health
Four Healing Objects
Two Healing Power: External and Oneself
Three Ways of Facing a Problem
The Importance of a Focal Point
Our True Nature is Enlightened

PART FIVE: HEALING MEDITATIONS FOR THE DYING AND DEAD

A Buddhist Approach to Dying
Meditations for the Dead or Dying
Instructions for the Dead and Dying
How Helper and Survivors Should Behave

PART SIX: BUDDHIST SOURCES OF THE HEALING MEDITATIONS

Physical Healing Depends on Mental and Emotional Conditions
Healing is a Traditional Buddhist Teaching
Guided Meditation is Not a Modern Invention
Teachings from Many Sources Can Be Combined into
      One Meditative
Training
Teachings of Common (Sutric) and Esoteric (Tantric) Buddhism
Sources of Healing
      (a) All Phenomena and Beings are Pure and have the Buddha
            Nature and Buddha Qualities
      (b) Visualization of the Divine Presence
      (c) Seeing One’s Own Body As a Pure Body
      (d) Heat or Warmth
      (e) Bliss or Joy
      (f) Air or Breathing
      (g) Light and Nectar as the Means of Healing
      (h) The Sound of Ah
      (i) Teachings on the Healing Buddha
      (j) Mantra and Dharani
      (k) Oneness
      (l) The Means of Healing are Interdependent
Common Buddhist Meditations are Open to All Who are Open
The Elements of Nature As the Means of Healing
Healing the Mind is a Way to Heal Our Problems
Cultivating a Peaceful Mind
Turning any Positive Activity into a Buddhist Discipline

APPENDIX I: Answers to Some Frequent Questions
APPENDIX II: Some Important Terms