Expert: Alex Wilding - 4/8/2010

Question
how do Buddhist views beliefs on wellness/prevention?

Answer
Hi Miriam,
There is no specific teaching on "wellness" in the sense I think you mean it. One could argue that the whole of Buddhism is about exactly that, from a spiritual perspective - how to be happy and not suffer even when things go wrong, as they always do sooner or later. But that is probably not quite what you have in mind. (Is it?)
Of course, in all the cultures in which Buddhism has flourished there have been corresponding systems of medicine, and in a very general sense Buddhism looks on this as a *good thing*; medicine is highly regarded as a profession - whatever helps people avoid suffering, in the simple sense as well as the "spiritual", is a good thing. And many Buddhist teachers and practitioners also practice one form of medicine or another. But there is no general "Buddhist" teaching that says that wellness has to be achieved in one specific way rather than another. If it works, it's good.
Does that go to your question at all?