Healing the Body, Speech, and Mind: A Model of Buddhist Contemplative Medicine in the Unimpeded Sound Tantra (Sgra thal ‘gyur)

This paper explores a contemplative theory of medical healing found within the Great Perfection (Rdzogs chen) tantra, the Unimpeded Sound (Sgra thal ‘gyur), and its 12th-century commentary linked to Vimalamitra. Recasting traditional Buddhist theorizations of the person in terms of “body, speech, and mind,” as a model of disease pathology and treatment, this system proposes contemplative yogic techniques of body, mantric techniques of speech, and attentional practices of mind for treating physical illnesses. The paper considers the ways that Great Perfection Buddhist contemplative-scholarly communities in the 12th century drew upon conventional Buddhist doctrinal knowledge frameworks—such as body, speech, and mind—to address the decidedly this-worldly concern of healing the human suffering of illness.