Life consists of two main components, namely mind and body. They are closely related to each other and thereby depend on and affect each other. To develop life, in essence, is to keep both of them growing together. In other words, they need to be kept in balance in order to meet physical needs and spiritual needs. If each of them undergoes a disorder, it can easily lead to some conflicts and then to unexpected problems.
Due to their close relationship, mind and body are compared to the two buddies. One is the blind with strong legs, and the other the lame with healthy eyes. To live happily, they agree to help each other in all situations. So, to go anywhere safely, the blind take full responsibility in firmly walking along the pathway. As the lame, sitting on the blind's shoulders serves as a good navigator and guides the direction. In this way, they can live happily.
All human beings who want to find happiness and success in life need to keep their mind and body in balance, allowing them to work in harmony, and taking care of them equally. It is therefore true to say that a healthy mind can be achieved only in a healthy body and a healthy body is importantly influenced by a healthy mind.
The BODY (Pali: Rupa) consists of four elements; earth, water, heat, and wind. Each of them supports and contradicts each other. Water and earth are complementary to each other while heat and wind do the same. At the same time, the earth element which is static contradicts the wind which is always dynamic. While water becomes the opponent of heat.
This is the true nature of all conditioned things, including human life, which are subject to change. This fact presents the natural law: all things come into being by the law of Unity and Conflict of the Opposites, Yin-Yang in Chinese doctrine.
To keep the body healthy means to keep four elements in balance. Whenever they become imbalanced, some sickness will certainly happen. In addition, keeping four positions of the body: standing, sitting, walking, and lying, in balance is also necessary for physical health.
The MIND (Pali: Nama) is something that thinks, plans, imagines, feels, etc. which plays an important role in interacting with the outside world. It consists of two main parts; feeling and thinking. They always counteract each other; negative thoughts cause negative feelings and negative feelings always condition negative thoughts, and vice versa. To keep the mind healthy therefore requires the balance of emotion and reason.
To sum up, the human body is like the hardware of a computer and the mind a software. They therefore require good connection and fixation to function effectively. To experience joy and happiness in daily life, a challenging exercise for all is to train mind and body in a balanced system in which a healthy mind and healthy body can be achieved.
I dedicate this blog to Monk Prasan who owns the original contents of the series "The Truth of Life" He shared sets of his work with me when I met him a few years before he passed. So I will use this space to share his unfinished work to honor him and benefit others.
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