A Brief Introduction to Mahayana Medicine

A Brief Introduction to Mahayana Medicine

“Come kneel in front of the statue,” the kindly old monk says to me as he grabs some implements from inside a small cabinet. I follow him over to the main altar, curious about what’s coming next. I’m visiting a small Vietnamese temple in downtown Philadelphia, on a mission to photograph Buddhist institutions across the city. Having just recovered from a severe cold, I ask him how someone in his community might deal with an illness using Buddhist…