Life consists of two main components: mind and body. They are closely related 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 to meet physical and spiritual needs. If each of them undergoes a disorder, it can easily lead to conflicts and 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, allow them to work in harmony, and take care of them equally. It is, therefore, true that a healthy mind can be achieved only in a healthy body, and a healthy body is influenced by a healthy mind.
The body consists of four elements: earth, water, heat, and wind. Each supports and contradicts the other. Water and earth complement each other, while heat and wind do the same. At the same time, the earth element, which is static, contradicts the wind element, which is always dynamic. 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 is something that thinks, plans, imagines, feels, etc., and 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. Therefore, keeping the mind healthy requires a balance of emotion and reason.
To sum up, the human body is like computer hardware, and the mind is software. Therefore, it requires good connection and fixation to function effectively. Challenging exercise for all to achieve a healthy mind and healthy body is to train the mind and body in a balanced way.
I dedicate this blog to Monk Prasan, who owns the original draft of the series "The Truth of Life." I met him in Thailand in 2019, only a few years before his peaceful death. He gave me sets of his teachings(drafts) that he was working on at the time with the hope that more people would benefit from his wisdom. I am inspired by his beautiful heart and I will continue his unfinished work to honor him and benefit others.
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