Zen Medicine for Mind and Body - Shi Xinggui

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      Similarly, people may fall ill because of sorrow or overexcitement. Human beings possess seven emotions, joy, anger, worry, anxiety, grief, fear, and surprise, all of which are closely linked with their internal organs. For example, extreme grief injuries the lungs, extreme fear harms the kidney, and extreme joy taxes the heart. Our health is, therefore, directly determined by our emotional state, and extreme emotions do harm to our physical and psychological health.

      The Buddha says, “To follow the path of the Bodhisattva, one must be able to endure humiliations.” This indicates that we must remain clam in the face of both setbacks and heavy blows, as well as in success and joy. The Buddha teaches us to control our emotions, neither pleased by external gains nor saddened by personal losses.

      Some people become nervous the moment they fall ill, turning in desperation to any doctor they can. In consequence, a minor illness develops into a major one, often as a result of misdiagnosis. Other people, dizzy with their success, immediately become outspoken and reckless, bringing disaster to themselves by hurting others or causing jealousy. Such outcomes grow out of extreme emotion and a chaotic heart. As the most crucial of all organs, if it is in trouble, the heart will fail to control the other internal and external organs, and disaster will naturally ensue.

      When I was young, my teacher told me a story. Once there was a farmer whose field was beside an expanse of reeds. Since wild beasts often frequented the reeds, he always patrolled the border area between his field and the reeds with his bow and arrows, to prevent the beasts from destroying his crops.

      One day, the farmer went to protect his field again, but the whole day, nothing happened. Towards evening, he was tired. Seeing that nothing would happen, he sat down at the edge of his field for a rest.

      Suddenly, he noticed reed catkins flying up into the air from among the reeds. He couldn’t help wondering, “I didn’t shake the reeds and there’s no wind now, so what has made the catkins fly up? There must be some beasts moving among the reed.”

      Alarmed by this thought, the farmer stood up and looked carefully into the reeds. Only after a long while did he find a tiger scampering around excitedly. Oblivious to the danger nearby, it jumped out of the reeds, exposing itself to the farmer’s sight.

      “Why is the tiger so excited?” thought the farmer, “it must have captured its prey.” Hiding himself, the farmer aimed at where the tiger stood. He shot the arrow as soon as the tiger jumped out again. With a shrilling scream, it fell back among the reeds.

      When he went over to see what had happened, the farmer found a tiger with an arrow in its chest and a dead river deer beneath it.

      This is exactly the sort of disaster brought on when one gets carried away by extreme joy. Of course, just as extreme joy is not a good thing, neither are extreme grief, anger, anxiety, and fear. Extreme grief can impair the lungs. A Chinese idiom which refers to a state in which ones is “choked with sobs.” This serves as a good example. Why does a sobbing person easily become choked? Because his grief leads to depression, which in turn may block his smooth breathing.

      In a similar way, extreme anxiety, impairs the spleen. For example, when you anxiously wait for your partner to return home, you are not in the mood to eat. Even if you do eat several mouthfuls, the food seems bland. What’s worse, anxiety results in a gloomy mood, which, if it carries on too long, will cause nervous disorders and a decrease in the secretion of digestive juice. This, in turn, will lead to other symptoms, such as a loss of appetite, panting, weariness, fatigue, and depression. In addition, overanxiety is another reason for poor blood circulation, slowness of thought, or even thoughts of suicide.

      Extreme fear injures the kidney. When frightened, one’s legs may shake or he may urinate frequently. Some may even wet their pants. All these conditions have to do with kidney function.

      In order to maintain our health, we must maintain a peaceful state of mind. My secret lies in just two words: keep smiling. Whatever we encounter, we must face it with a smile. There is no need to take things too seriously, whether good or bad. What we need is to take a deep breath, adjust our mood, and be calm. If we are open-minded, tolerant, composed, and benevolent in our handling of worldly matters, we will get fewer diseases and more blessings.

      Being ill need not be terrifying. What’s terrifying is one’s attitude toward the illness.

      Once, I came across a patient suffering from heart disease and mental anxiety. A little over 60, she said to me the moment she saw me, “Master, with this heart disease, I could leave the world any time.”

      I led her to the southwest corner of the Temple, where there was a pile of sand that had been left after a building was completed.

      I asked her to take a handful of the sand. Somewhat confused, she did as I said. I instructed her to hold on tightly so that the sand would not flow out.

      However, the more tightly she tried to close her fist, the more the sand escaped through her fingers.

      “You see the sand?” I said, hoping to inspire her. “It is your illness. The tighter you hold it, or the more you want to control it, the faster it escapes you. Similarly, the more attention you pay to your illness, the more serious it will become.”

      Suddenly enlightened, the woman thanked me profusely and left.

      Unexpectedly, she came to me again three months later to update me on her story. She said that when she heard what I said the previous time, she felt a bang of enlightenment, but mental anxieties are rarely healed all at once. Sometimes, she just could not help but think about her illness. Then, one day, she went to that pile of sand again, collected some of it in a paper bag, kowtowed to the Buddha, and went back home.

      At home, she put the sand into several smaller paper bags and brought one wherever she went. Every time she thought of her illness and felt pessimistic about life, she would hold the sand in her hand, watching it flow through her fingers, pondering my words.

      Later, she did not need the sand anymore. When she was faced with unpleasant things in life, including her illness, my words would come to her unprompted, and she would immediately tell herself not to be bothered by excessive worry. As a result, she felt happy from then on. Some time later, she told others about her story during morning exercises, and many elderly people benefitted from her experience.

      Therefore, falling need not be scary at all. As long as we adopt a correct attitude toward it, we can enjoy our work and life unimpeded.

      A farmer opened a store on a city street. Before long, he found that business was bad at this location, and the street was potholed and dotted with broken bricks and stones. Puzzled, he consulted the neighboring shopkeeper, who told him that poor road conditions would slow down the pedestrians and vehicles, which would in turn increase business opportunities, since more people would enter the stores. Disapproving of this logic, the farmer removed the bricks and stones on the roads and had the surface leveled. As a result, the once deserted street now became busy and prosperous, and business opportunities increased dramatically. When asked how this had happened, the farmer explained, “When the road is poor, people will bypass it. With fewer people coming, how can business opportunities increase?”

      It is always wise to treat others well, which will lead to oneself being treated well. Concern for others is the biggest investment in one’s own interests.

      Another story demonstrates the opposite side of this principle. An old carpenter was retiring soon. Feeling reluctant to part with him, his boss asked him to build one more house before he left. Though he agreed, the carpenter was not happy, thinking that he did not need to obey his boss anymore. He was careless with his work, using poor materials and muddling through his work. To his surprise, when the house was finally built, the boss told him that it was a retirement gift for him. The carpenter was ashamed and regretful. He did not realize that he had been building his own house, but it was too late.

      In fact, all the good

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