Finding Peace During Your Cancer Battle: Buddhist Perspectives

A cancer diagnosis can be a difficult and confusing experience. Although modern cancer treatments have saved the lives of countless people, it is still necessary to confront the possibility that you will die. Confronting one’s mortality is not easy, but many people find solace and strength in their faith. As a Buddhist, there are a number of steps you can take to prepare you and your family for the road ahead, no matter what the final result.

Gautama Buddha emphasized the impermanence of the physical world: everything we know, including our bodies, must eventually come to an end. The anguish of facing our mortality is caused by attachment to our bodies, but we can relieve this suffering by coming to terms with impermanence. This should not be taken to mean you should give up hope after a diagnosis and forgo treatment. Rather it means you and your family should prepare to face the inevitable, even if you recover fully.

The guidance of a priest can help you find strength through meditation and contemplation, but you should give weight to “practical” considerations as well, such as near-death preparations. Most traditions encourage constant prayer during a dying person’s final days and in the days following to ensure the soul is prepared to move closer to nirvana, even as your body is left behind. If you defeat your cancer entirely, readying yourself spiritually can help you take life peacefully, one day at a time.

Even though money and property are impermanent, they can lead to legal and financial difficulties after a person’s passing. You can lessen the burden of medical bills and other expenses on you and your family now by seeking compensation from the companies responsible for your asbestos diagnosis, allowing you to focus on your spiritual and psychological wellbeing during your treatment.

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