Changing Poison Into Medicine

Healing Conversations Reflections Series

In Nichiren Buddhism there’s a teaching about “changing poison into medicine.” It affirms that nothing and no one is beyond the possibility of redemption. Suffering can be turned into wisdom, and even happiness. They say the “process of changing poison into medicine begins when we approach difficult experiences as an opportunity to reflect on ourselves and to strengthen and develop our courage and compassion.” However, if we “respond to challenging circumstances in negative and destructive ways, the original ‘poison’ is not transformed but remains poison.” Value arises from the commitment to self-knowledge and growth.

This meaning-making and medicine-turning is a lot of what I do in my counseling work and with the people I mentor. I think of it as a kind of spiritual aikido. Established by Japanese martial artist Morihei Ueshiba in the early 20th century, aikido is a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. The word “aikido” is often translated as “the way of harmonizing energy.” The intent is not to harm the opponent, but to blend with their energy, redirecting the force of the attack rather than fighting it head-on. The victory in aikido, according to Ueshiba, is over oneself, rather than over any external entity.

I find it a helpful metaphor for healing and spiritual practice, where instead of meeting an affliction with the force of opposition, we yield to it in order to redirect its energy in a beneficial way. This shifts our relationship with the “opponents” of suffering and adversity, restoring agency and opening up an array of possible responses... and gifts. In my own life, for example, after many rounds of resisting and being knocked out by chronic autoimmune disease, I learned to listen to it, to yield to its demands for me to be still, and then used that stillness to deepen my spiritual life.

Malidoma Somé was an elder and healer from the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, West Africa, who often taught in the US. There’s something I heard him say at a conference many years ago that has always stayed with me: Adversity calls forth genius. It invites us to draw on inmost resources of the soul and develop qualities within ourselves that might otherwise go unrealized. He said the greatest blessing often sits behind that which we think is an ordeal, and we must constantly push ourselves to the edge—beyond our comfort zone. There’s a meme I’ve seen that makes the point. It’s a chalkboard drawing of a small circle with the words “Your Comfort Zone” written inside it. Outside the circle are the words “Where the Magic Happens.”  

Perhaps our personal passages through the terrain of suffering are what prepare us for the collective trials of apocalyptic times. Through our individual experiences of tribulation we tap into capacities we didn’t even know we had, and we are pushed to root ourselves in something larger and more enduring than the conditions of our pain. We beat a trail through the thicket as we find our way to that “something” again and again. We cultivate practices that keep the way open, and learn to live from the insights and power we discover.

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This post is an excerpt from my book in progress.

Photo above by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.