NAMDROLING MONASTERY

January 1, 2023

While visiting the Namdroling Monastary, located almost two hours west of Mysore city, I came across a young monk named Sangay Lama. Sangay is a 20-year old religious student attending sacred school at Karnataka’s “Golden Temple”. Eager to answer my questions, Sangay has taught me many things about his religion, culture, and beliefs.

            Sangay grew up in Darjeeling, near west Bengal India, and chose to become a monk at age 12. “My father is a monk and I decided to follow his decision, even though my mother did not want me to” he mentioned.  His scheduled is mainly filled with range of activities. Sangay starts his day at five in the morning and end his schooling at 11 at night. Sangay sits through four three-hour courses a day. His favorite class is debate class. When asked what his favorite this to debate is he described impermanence and emptiness.

            Sangay enjoys his life as a monk as he describes it as “peaceful and great”. When asked about health issues, he believes in avoiding hospitals or other types of medical facilities at all times. Sangay does not enjoy waiting at hospitals and he has a fear of finding out that he has an incurable disease. Although he explained that he would receive much support from his instructors as they would arrange for medical help if needed.

            What I found most interesting about my conversation with Sangay were his views on mental health. When asked about view on mental illnesses he had difficulty understanding what I was asking. After restructuring my question few times, Sangay gave me an interesting answer.

            “Mental pain can be fixed with love and patience” he said. Sangay explained he did not believe it was necessary to seek professional help for mental distress. He felt it was best to address such issues with meditation. “I think others must know that the things we cling to like it’s never going to it’s end, like it’s forever… will end” he explained, “nothing is permanent so if you cling instead of knowing this you will experience great mental pain”. He continued by describing “peace of mind” and “discipline” are the most important for overall health. Sangay believes actively practicing mindfulness meditation is the best way to reduce mental illness symptoms. Although there has not been a study conducted that supports the claim that is the “best” way to appease symptoms, many studies have successfully supported the claim that meditation can reduce the level of symptoms experienced. Specifically, a few studies have shown that meditation can aid with the reduction of anxiety (Bogels 2006; Burns, Lee, & Brown 2011), stress (Grossmana, Niemannb, Schmidtc, & Walach, 2004), and depression (Broderick, 2005).  Yet most studies argue that the best way to approach symptoms is using this technique in conjunction with other clinical approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Psychotherapy (Burns et. al., 2011). 

            Sangay’s values and beliefs system are unique compared to Indian Society. He is greatly influenced by his Buddhist religion which is distinct because of the large majority of people practicing Hinduism in India. Although there may be individuals who practice Hinduism that might believe mental illness is best resolved through spiritual practice, I have not had the chance to have a conversation with anyone to support this claim.

            When asked what he is doing to benefit those experiencing mental pain Sangay answered: “I hope to teach those around me about self-discipline through meditation”. Sangay mentioned he respected my career path as an aspiring psychologist, but believes I should implement Buddhist ideals of compassion and patience to my line of work. Research has shown this may be beneficial, especially if integrating evidence-based practices with this traditional practice.

Works Cited

Bögels, S.M. (2006). Task concentration training versus applied relaxation, in combination with

cognitive therapy, for social phobia patients with fear of blushing, trembling, andsweating.

Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(8), 1199–1210.

Broderick, P.C. (2005). Mindfulness and coping with dysphoric mood: Contrasts with rumination

and distraction. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29(5), 501–510.

Burns, J. L., Lee, R. M., & Brown, L. J. (2011). The Effect of Meditation on Self-Reported Measures of Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Perfectionism in a College Population. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 25(2), 132-144. 

Grossmana, P., Niemannb, P., Schmidtc, S., & Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57, 35–43.