How to "Be Ill in a Healthy Manner"?
Question: As people age, they are more prone to illness and physical decline. However, a master once said, “One should be healthy even when ill.” How can this be achieved?
Answer: Our bodily functions deteriorate with age, and our tissues age naturally. This is a normal process. Regardless of whether it’s animals or plants, all matter undergoes aging. During this aging process, we become less agile and may experience discomfort and pain, which is normal.
It’s okay to be ill, but one should be healthy even when ill. What does it mean to be healthy when ill? Being ill is always uncomfortable and unpleasant. Throughout my life, I’ve had frequent minor illnesses and a major illness every few years. The most painful part is when my whole body aches and I can’t move. At such times, I need assistance for everything, including eating and personal hygiene. I’m essentially immobile. It’s a very helpless situation, and the only thing that functions is my mind. I seem to become useless.
But is it really true that I’m useless? Not necessarily! For instance, during my hospitalization, although I couldn’t do much physically, all the doctors and nurses became good friends with me. Some of them even became my Dharma followers, and those who cared for me embraced Buddhism. Why? It’s because my attitude influenced them.
These individuals helped me with bathing, feeding, and other tasks, and they were deeply moved by the experience. At that time, I couldn’t even speak due to lack of energy, and I couldn’t do much, but my attitude was optimistic and positive. I felt gratitude towards them and accepted my illness as a karmic result. I also felt thankful for having the time to stay in the hospital, experiencing such a process in life, and understanding the suffering of sentient beings when they are ill. After experiencing this, I felt good. This is my attitude towards aging, and my attitude has influenced these people.
So, even when I’m ill, I’m actually benefiting sentient beings. Although this wasn’t my intention, it has been beneficial for those people and has helped them. Therefore, even though I’m ill, I am ill in a healthy manner and have influenced others through my actions, making my mind healthy and vibrant.
Question: Is being healthy when ill influenced by one’s mindset? If one’s mindset is unhealthy, does it affect the body’s recovery?
Answer: When ill, one should not blame others, lament, or lose control of one’s emotions. However, typically, when people are ill, their emotions are negative, which is due to insufficient cultivation. Those who have cultivation, sincere religious faith, and practice Buddhism will naturally be different in such circumstances, and that is being healthy when ill.
Can everyone achieve being healthy when ill? If one starts preparing from middle age, they can face illness in old age with a healthier mindset. Former Premier Sun Yun-suan was a person of great cultivation from a young age. When he was hospitalized, although he was being cared for, he deeply moved the doctors and nurses, who were very grateful to him and reluctant to part with him. This way, both he and those around him benefited.
If one lacks cultivation, they may shout, curse, or even resort to physical violence in the hospital due to being unable to endure the physical pain. This is because the patient can’t release the pain, the physical pain can’t be alleviated, and others can’t help. As a result, the patient feels that those around them are unwilling to help, leading to negative emotions. Since they can’t release the pain, not only do they suffer, but those who care for them suffer as well. Therefore, I say that being healthy when ill is a result of mental cultivation and practice.
Question: What kind of mindset should one maintain to face the possibility of death calmly in old age?
Answer: In old age, one should learn to face death calmly.
Death is like finishing a day of work, needing rest and sleep, taking a shower, and then going to sleep. If one can view death and sleep as similar states, it becomes natural and there’s no need to fear it.
The difference between the two is that after sleep, we know we will wake up the next day. When we wake up, we are still ourselves, have breakfast, go to work, and have many other plans. But after death, where do we go? It can be said that after waking up, we are reborn. But where do we go after being reborn? This is where religious faith comes in.
For those without religious faith who believe that there is nothing after death, it is indeed nothingness. This is materialism. Some ask me if materialism is good. If one has no regrets or deficiencies in this life, and believes that death is the end, this life is simply a phase, and only a few philosophers can accept this. Most people feel lost and think that after death, everything is over, which is very regretful. This includes many friends, relatives, and everything one has dedicated in this life, all of which will be gone. It’s truly empty. If there’s no other choice but to leave this world, then one has to face it. However, there will inevitably be some sadness and helplessness.
This is the state of being lost in death. For religious believers, after death, there is somewhere to go, and it’s not so aimless. After death, a different realm appears, and a different life is experienced. For ordinary individuals, it is rebirth. Rebirth is based on our karma, the good or bad deeds we have done in this life. If we have done more good deeds, we enter the realm of goodness; if we have committed many bad deeds, through repentance, we can still enter the realm of goodness. If we don’t repent, we will enter the realm of suffering.
With religious faith, one will not fear death, because they know that life is a continuous process, always moving forward. Therefore, when this life ends, it’s not a feeling of helplessness or emptiness, but one of hope. There is a new hope ahead, a new environment. One should not only face death calmly but also joyfully accept it.
Question: If one can joyfully accept death psychologically, but suffers greatly from physical pain before passing away, how can they accept the physical suffering and depart peacefully?
Answer: Cultivated individuals will surrender their bodies to death and illness and will not think, “This is my body! This is my body!” When one is about to die, is it necessary to be attached to this physical body? It’s already broken and about to die, so let it suffer! See how much it can endure.
When I was hospitalized and the anesthesia wore off, the doctor told me, “When it hurts, press this button for more anesthesia.” I never pressed it. What’s the point of pressing for anesthesia? Even if I press it, the pain will return shortly. So I didn’t press it; I let it hurt, although it was extremely painful, I made it through. At such times, one should think, “It’s not me who is in pain, it’s my body. Instead of enduring the pain, let it hurt. This is the best approach.”
In reality, this is also a form of practice. When we meditate, our legs and backs may ache, and I often tell people that it’s the legs and back that hurt, not me, and the pain will soon pass.
