Question: When a doctor heals a patient, does the doctor personally create negative karma, by not allowing the patient’s negative karma to ripen naturally?
Answer: No. As the doctor’s intention is to restore the patient’s well-being, this creates positive karma for him instead. Also, if the patient’s negative karma is supposed to ripen by remaining sick, healing by any doctor would be impossible. Thus, being able to be healed means the patient has positive karma to deserve healing.
Question: If there are karmic creditors conditioning the sickness, will they punish the doctor?
Answer: If there are karmic creditors involved, who become displeased and punish the doctor, this is because of the doctor’s personal past negative karma ripening through this incident; not directly because of his healing work. In other words, the karmic creditors are the doctor’s own in the first place, who can also punish him through other incidents. Thus, what asked about should not be a concern at all.
Question: Is it safer not to heal?
Answer: It is not only not physically safe, but dangerous for the patient who needs help. It is also not spiritually safe for the doctor to not help, as to turn away from those whom one can help is to lack compassion, and even be cruel. This wilful rejection creates negative karma.
Even as non-doctors, if you see a confused child’s hand on a hot stove, will you not immediately move his hand away to prevent further burning, instead of wondering if it might be the child’s karmic ‘destiny’ to burn it to a crisp? Only if it cannot be removed even after action and advice, is it truly negative karma’s inevitable ripening.
It is always reasonable to take reasonable care of one another. Only when approaching the end of life, and facing the option of whether to take up physically painful and mentally disturbing treatment (that can no longer heal), is it alright to be refused… if this is likely to impair the ability to depart peacefully – ideally with sincere Nianfo (practice of mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha’s name: ‘Amituofo’) for reaching his Pure Land, for complete and lasting healing.
Related Article:
Should I Let Karma Take Its Course When Sick?
https://purelanders.com/2016/06/01/should-i-let-karma-take-its-course-when-sick
