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Chapter I

Curing Mental Anxiety to Prevent Physical Disease

In the early years of my medical practice, I was involved in the building of many rehabilitation centers in the US, Germany, and Canada. My pursuit of fame and wealth reached its peak when I was invited to give lectures there. My vanity grew immensely when I saw the large audiences that gathered.

Only after my gradual recovery from cancer did I begin to realize that position and wealth do not belong to us, no matter how much they seem to. When one’s life ends, what can he bring with him? We are but passing visitors in this world, and our journey lasts just dozens of years. There is no reason for stubbornness. We must let go. We can only have all these things when the heart is empty enough to hold all.

According to modern scientific research, one’s health is determined by many factors, such as heredity, food and drink, emotion, medical care, balance between work and rest, and one’s living environment. Among these, heredity makes up 15%, food 10%, emotion 60%, medical care 10%, and others 5%. Obviously, emotion, or state of mind, is key to our health.

This is in line with pulse-taking in traditional Chinese medicine, in which changes in one’s emotional state, however small, affect the vital energy and state of the blood, which is displayed in the condition of the pulse. This proves that human emotions and psychology are closely related to disease, as many diseases come from inside. Therefore, one who is mentally ill is physically ill as well. That’s why we often hear of someone who falls sick due to anger, anxiety, worry, or annoyance.

One’s state of mind affects his health as much as any medical treatment. All diseases are due to one’s mental state, and they will be cured once the mental state is properly aligned. According to traditional Chinese medicine, a disease is cured more through general healthcare than through medical treatment, and the key to general healthcare is adjusting the patient’s state of mind. In many people’s eyes, cancer is incurable. While it is true that many cancer patients die one to two months after a diagnosis is made, there are also many who continue to live a normal life. The moment I was diagnosed with cancer, I thought I should diligently fight it, but I later discovered that I was wrong. Instead of beating my brains out to kill the cancer cells in my body, I assumed a calm, fearless attitude toward the disease. I let it be and kept myself happy and carefree. In this way, my state of mind improved, and so did health.

1. Maintaining Good Spirits

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the essence of life, vital energy, and spirit represent the three aspects of life respectively, i.e. the principle and material basis, the dynamics and energy movement, and the dominator and external symptoms. Being closely linked, even indispensable, to life, they are invaluable to human beings, as they are the prime mover of one’s life, the basis for one’s health, and the prerequisite for one’s career development. Consider whether you have ever seen a successful person looking listless or sighing in despair in public. Of course not! When you are in good spirits, you naturally look sunny and positive, and this mental state will also affect others, such as your business partner, and will pave the way for fruitful conversation. By contrast, a lagging spirit is often associated with negativity, which will attract other negative things, including disease.

How then, can we maintain a good spirit? The most important thing is to present our best state of mind to others. When I was seriously ill, I was all skin and bones and had little physical strength. However, when there were visitors, I did not hold back when receiving them. Even though I often wept at the afflictions afterwards, I told myself not to impose my own pains and troubles on others.

The second thing one must do to maintain good spirits is to get moving. The human body consists of two kinds of energy, i.e. yin and yang. If we stay inert in the daytime, the yang energy will not be generated. How can we be strong and healthy then? If we keep active at night, the yang energy will not change into the yin energy, and how can we fall asleep that state? Look at the children around you. They scamper around in the day and sleep like a log at night, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. Some children don’t wake up even if they fall from the bed. This is a perfect example of the balance between yin and yang.

Receiving others with vigor and spirit benefits our body and soul. It also prepares us for a brighter future.

2. Not Enslaved by Material Gain

Mr. Liu, a wealthy lay Buddhist, was diagnosed with liver cancer. He asked me, “I’ve converted to Buddhism for five or six years now and have chanted Buddhist scriptures each day for about half an hour. How have I contracted cancer? Does Buddha really exist?”

I knew that he was walking the same path I once walked. What he felt was exactly what I felt. I believed that he might have pondered over these questions for some time. When I was in good condition, I devoted myself wholeheartedly to winning personal fame and material comforts everywhere I went, but when I came down with cancer and was confined to bed, I was awakened to the fact that money could not save my life, no matter how much of it I had.

Why are so many people today afflicted by depression, anxiety, and delusional disorders? Why do they sleep badly at night and lose interest in food? The reason is simple. Their hearts are fatigued and they persist too firmly in their pursuit of material gain. They feel jealous at others’ achievements, wishing to grab whatever they like for themselves. They are reluctant to give up smaller benefits, but never fail to chase after and compete for bigger benefits. They are highly emotional, allowing no mistakes on the part of their subordinates. Blinded by anger, they can hardly see their own true nature. According to the traditional Chinese medicine, anger impairs the liver, causing diseases.

Most of the people in this world have lost their true nature, abandoning themselves to the pursuit of fame and material gain. Some, even after converting to Buddhism for many years, remain sallow and emaciated, lacking in strength from a young age. This shows that their worldly nature has remained unchanged. What they worship and pursue are position, wealth, and fame, which are precisely the sources of disease. Only when they find their true selves and live a natural, clean life can they gain physical health.

3. Being Yourself

Su Shi (1037–1101), an important literary figure in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), once held a post in Guazhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which stood across from the Jinshan Temple, where his friend, the erudite Buddhist monk Foyin lived. One day, having achieved some new understanding of Buddhism through meditation, he composed the following verse to express what he felt:

I bow in worship to the mightiest of the mighty,

Whose light shines over the whole universe.

Against the winds from eight directions,

I sit undisturbed on the purple lotus.

Joyfully, he asked his servant to send the verse to his friend, expecting some praise from him.

Bold and unrestrained, the verse is indeed well-written. The first two lines indicate that one prostrates himself in worship to the Buddha, the most powerful existence in the universe, whose radiance is felt by all. “Winds from eight directions,” in the third line refers to the winds of praise, of ridicule, of slander, of extolment, of material gains, of poverty, of suffering, and of satisfaction, which can disturb the state of mind of Buddhist practitioners. The last two lines, therefore, indicate that one sits on the purple lotus like the Buddha, calm and composed, undisturbed by either praise or ridicule.

After reading the verse, the monk wrote only two words on the same piece of paper, then asked the servant to bring it back. Confident of receiving high praise from the monk, Su Shi hastily read the comment. He flew into a rage when he saw the two words “break wind.”

Furious, he took a boat to the other side of the river to reason with his friend, who was waiting for him at the riverside. The moment he saw the monk, Su asked indignantly, “Master, we are good friends. Why did you insult me?”

The monk laughed and answered, “You say you are undisturbed by the eight winds. Why have you been driven to this side of the river by my ‘wind’?” Ashamed, Su was speechless.

After some time, Su went to visit the monk again. When they met each other, he asked, “Master, what do I look like?”

“You look like a Buddha,” the monk answered. Then the monk asked Su, “What do you think I look like?”

“You look like a pile of shit,” replied Su.

Thinking that he had avenged himself, Su was walking on air as he left. Back at home, he lost no time telling this story to his younger sister Su Xiaomei, who after some thought, said that he had lost again this time. Confused, he asked for an explanation. “You’re what you think,” said his sister. “Since you thought of a pile of shit, you are that shit.”

This story indicates that we should not be led by others or affected by what others think of us. We should not feel elated when others praise us, complacent when they flatter us, or irritated when they insult us. We should follow our hearts and not be troubled by external things.

In our daily life, it is not difficult to notice that when we talk about others, we are composed and cheerful, but much less so when we hear others talk about us. This shows that many of us are too mindful of others’ opinions and worry that others might laugh at us. We do not know, however, that this can only trouble our minds, which can lead to disease.

But who on earth hasn’t done anything laughable, and who on earth is not ridiculous? When have you seen the merciful Buddha laugh at all living things? Then why don’t we treat others with mercy and accept them with kindness? Only in this way can we be our true selves, not the self reflected in others’ eyes. When our state of mind does not fluctuate with external circumstances, we can rid ourselves of trouble and disease.

4. Prevention Is the Best Cure

I often give lectures in the Temple, sometimes on Buddhism, and other times on disease prevention. The lectures are heartily welcomed. Many of the people who attended my lectures are seriously ill. They arrive on wheelchairs or supported by their families, seeking for comfort. They often asked me directly, “Master, why did I get this disease?”

I usually tell them that the Bodhisattva fears the cause, but not the result, while man fears the result, but not the cause. Knowing that doing evil is the cause of retribution, the Bodhisattva does her best to avoid wrongdoings, however small they might be. By contrast, we consider wrongdoings, especially smaller ones, nothing important, often committing them at will. If we are not fearful of the cause, we must then bear the result when it comes. However, when the result does come, many of us do not choose to bear it, instead complaining and pretending not to know the cause. For instance, to satisfy our appetites, we choose food that is spicy and salty, or meaty and greasy. When we do this, how can we avoid falling ill? It is important, then, to learn to fear the cause. When we find it hard to control our appetites or emotions, we should try to think of its result, which might make us more watchful in the future.

On the other hand, there is no need for us to be so pessimistic when we do fall ill. We should also fear no result, because when we suffer, it means that suffering will soon be over. When we enjoy happiness, it means our happiness is reduced overall. Therefore, we must realize that being ill is a threshold. We are agonized now only because we are trying to cross the threshold. When we do cross it, we are blessed.

5. Keeping Fit through Exercise

Laziness is the source of all disease. When we are in motion, no disease will catch up with us, but when we are lazy, many “diseases of the rich” will find us, such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Lü’s Commentaries of History, a Taoist masterpiece from China’s Warring States period (475–221 BC) contains such the famous saying, “Being in constant motion, running water is never stale, and a door hinge is never worm-eaten.” If a person does not exercise often, his vital energy and blood will not circulate well, and his health will be at risk.

Why are there so many diseases of the rich in modern society? In the final analysis, it is because of the lack of exercise and the comfortable life to common today. We have sofas to rest on at home and cars to drive when we are out, but our muscles don’t get enough exercise. Like grass at the foot of the wall that is kept from sunshine, our bodies are soft and weak, lacking reactiveness and a healthy immune system. And disease is sure to take this opportunity to attack. Therefore, people who are reluctant to exercise or who exercise very little are unlikely to enjoy good health. To keep fit and healthy, we need to formulate an exercise plan as early as possible and stick to it every day, making exercising a habit.

6. Avoiding Anger

A woman in her sixties had often listened to my lectures at the Temple, but it had been some time I had seen her. When I did see her again, she was wheelchair bound, pushed to the Temple by her daughter. She did not look well. It turned out that she had just recovered from a serious illness. One day when she was buying vegetables, she had been given a fake 50-yuan note. After discovering that it was a fake, she rushed to find the peddler in the vegetable market, but he had left without a trace. Furious, the woman began to feel dizzy. She had a stroke and was hospitalized. What she ultimately lost was not only 50 yuan, but more than 10,000 yuan in medical charges.

Anger is the source of many diseases. No one likes getting angry, but living in today’s complicated society, it is inevitable that we become irritated, resentful, or even hostile because of the unpleasant things we come across.

Anger is not a good thing. Throughout history, many people have died of anger. According to the teaching of traditional Chinese medicine, anger impairs the liver, because it causes liver yang hyperactivity and makes the patient feel dizzy or even spit up blood. Sadly, many patients with heart disease or high blood pressure become angry over trivial things and finally die in an uncontrollable fury.

In fact, to get angry is to get sick. We often say that it is anger that causes illness. If we are so angry, we lose our appetite, we may have stomach troubles. If we feel fidgety or suffer from insomnia, we may develop mental anxiety. If we feel like throwing things, insulting others, or even dying, it may be a sign of liver-related liver depression. If our blood pressure rises and our heartbeat increases, we may develop high blood pressure, heart disease, or cerebrovascular diseases. If a woman gets angry easily, she may develop gynecological diseases such as mastitis and breast lumps.

What’s worse, anger also destroys our interpersonal relationship. Once, an older woman came to me saying that her husband had said very ugly things to her. I asked, “Why didn’t you answer?”

She said, “If I did, he would have become even angrier. Then both of us would be angry. Why bother doing that? Instead, I come to the Temple to relax.”

“You’ve made the right choice,” I said, “because getting angry only makes things more difficult for yourself. If you don’t get angry, anger will not find you. If you are angry with your colleagues, you won’t be able to do your work. If you get angry with your family, your life will become a mess. The Buddha teaches us several methods of self-adjustment. The first is to step away for a moment, and the second to tell ourselves that if we get angry with others, we are trapped. Finally, we should try to think of what we look like when we get angry. You have instinctively used the first method, so you’re quite enlightened.”

She was elated when she heard these words, which, though few, had filled her with joy.

7. Controlling Your Emotions

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.

8. Not Focusing on Your Illness

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.

9. What You Do for Others Will Eventually Benefit Yourself

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 things you do for others will eventually benefit yourself. For example, if you are asked to do more work, don’t complain, because it is a chance for you to temper yourself, and in time, you’ll be entrusted with important tasks. While you might seem to have suffered loss in doing good deeds and helping others, you will be blessed in the end. Therefore, whatever you do for others, do your best, because you are doing it for yourself. Only in this way can you accumulate your own reward in heaven.

10. Living a Slower Life

Two monks, one old and the other young, were each carrying two buckets of water on a shoulder pole from the foot of a hill to their temple on the hilltop. Thinking that he could have more time for rest if he arrived at the destination earlier, the young monk quickened his steps and reached the temple in half an hour. The old monk, instead, remained unhurried, climbing the hill more gradually and reaching the top in an hour. “Master, why didn’t you ramp up your efforts like I did and arrive earlier so you could get rest?” the young monk asked.

“You were indeed faster,” answered his master, “but you’re just cooling down now, aren’t you? In this sense, aren’t we arriving at the hilltop at the same time?”

Similar examples can be seen in many areas of our life. Many people are always in a hurry on their way to work. Sometimes, they even cross the street when the light is red. But when they reach their workplaces, they sit panting heavily, and it takes them a long time to cool down. The same happens when they go home after work. While they may get home several minutes earlier, they but are often too exhausted to spend time with their families. So what difference is there whether they get home earlier and later? This being the case, why not walk slower?

Most of us have a similar approach to life. In our early years, we earn money at the cost of our health, and in the second half, we use that money to buy health. As a result, we are kept on the run all our lives. If you think about it, this sort of life is no more desirable than a long simple life. When they fall ill, many people eagerly look forward to an immediate recovery, but this is rarely possible, because haste makes waste.

I once came across a boy with recurrent fever. When I asked about its cause, his mother said, “Previously, he ran a fever of 39℃. He was hospitalized in the morning, but his fever had not dropped by evening. Worried and anxious, his father yelled at the nurse for not doing her work properly. At this, the doctor immediately wrote a prescription and asked the nurse to bring down the fever with the medicine prescribed. After more than one hour of intravenous drip, his fever abated. With two more days of infusion, his temperature was normal and he was discharged from hospital. But once he got home, the fever recurred, lingering for days.”

I knew the reason immediately. “How could you let his father yell at the nurse?” I said to the mother. “Fever is a self-protecting mechanism of the body. It shows that the immune system in the body is fighting the germs. Instead of doing harm to the child’s body, a controlled fever benefits it greatly. With antibiotics, it is easy to bring down the fever, but antibiotics are a double-edged sword, killing both good and bad cells in the body, and consequently, the patient becomes physically weaker. Your son could have overcome the fever without taking medicine, but because of your anxiety and yelling, the doctor had to use antibiotics instead. That’s why he is now plagued with this recurrent fever.”

We should slow down the pace of our life. When we are angry or impatient, or if our relatives are falling ill, we should tell ourselves, “I am now at the crossroads and the light is red. If I don’t slow down, I’m sure to encounter more serious trouble.”

11. Happiness in Contentment

The most fundamental human desires are wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. As mortal beings, we naturally have desires, and some of them are not bad at all. For example, the lack of desire for food will cause anorexia, and the lack of desire for sleep will lead to insomnia. If he is utterly pessimistic, a patient is unlikely to be healed. Therefore, an appropriate amount of desire is good, but too much desire will cause trouble, agony, and restlessness.

Mr. Wang originally ran several restaurants, but when he came to me, he had nothing left to his name. Wang was a common child from a common urban workers’ family, and his mother even lost her job. But he was smart even as a child, and very insightful. At 25, he married a woman who owned a small restaurant. With this foundation, he worked hard for ten years and became the owner of five large restaurants.

Last year, one of his good friends told him that by investing in a project, he could have his wealth doubled within a year. Impressed, he mortgaged all his restaurants and put the money into the project. Unfortunately, the investment failed and he lost several million yuan. He was so depressed he attempted suicide. His wife, who often came to the Temple to offer incense, asked me to give her husband some guidance.

“Let me tell you a story,” I said to Mr. Wang. “Long, long ago, there was an old fisherman, who lived with his wife in a shabby hut on the seaside. Every day, he cast the net into the sea to catch fish while his wife wove yarn. But his luck was bad, and he did not catch any fish for several months. One day, he finally caught a small goldfish. Unexpectedly, the fish begged him to set it free and promised to grant him whatever wish he might imagine. The old fisherman said that he wanted nothing, and he freed the fish into the sea.”

“Master,” interrupted Mr. Wang, “I heard this story.”

I smiled. This was normal, since many people knew this story. But I asked him to finish it.

Mr. Wang continued, “Back at home, when the old fisherman told this to his wife, she started cursing and forced him to ask the fish for a new wooden basin, and it was granted. Then she asked for a wooden house and a noblewoman’s title, which also came true. Finally, the insatiable woman even wanted to be queen, waited on by the goldfish. Running out of patience, the fish ordered everything to return to what it had been. In the end, the old woman still lived on the seaside with her broken wooden basin in her shabby wooden hut.”

“Are you the old woman in the story?” I asked him when he finished the story. He seemed to be inspired by the story.

“I know everything about you.” I continued, “You were smart as a child. You saw through many worldly things, but not into your own heart. You couldn’t control your heart and, like a balloon, it grew bigger and bigger, until it finally burst. This is like climbing a mountain. Though you’re good enough to conquer the mountain, when you finally stand at its top, you don’t know to stop and appreciate the infinite views below, the sunrise the next morning, and the flowers and grass that cover the mountain. Instead, you walk ahead one more step, but unfortunately, that means you’re beginning to go down the mountain.”

Intelligent people know how to control their desire. After their normal desire is met, they are no longer affected by greed. When you are well-fed and well-clothed, you might as well consider how many beautiful things in this world have you missed while you kept yourself busy every day. Why not put down the things you are doing, calm down, and enjoy the beauty of this moment?

12. Cherishing What You Have

Many people, some of whom are successful in most people’s eyes, complain to me that they are not happy and that life is meaningless. Some young people even consider suicide.

Once, a man in his thirties came to me, saying that he was under great pressure and was unhappy. He said he came from the countryside and lived in the city after graduating from the university. I asked whether he had more money now than in his childhood. He answered that when he was young, his family was very poor. Then I pursued, “Do you think you had a happy childhood?”

He thought for a while and answered, “We were poor at that time, but when I recall those days, there are still many happy memories, such as catching fish in the river and climbing trees to catch cicadas.”

“You’re right,” I said. “When do people feel happy? It is today, this moment. However, many people do not know how to live their present lives well. When they are young, they think their childhood was happier, and when they are middle aged, they think they were happier in their youth. When they are old and riddled with disease, they think their middle-aged life was happier. Never wait until tomorrow to recall the happiness of today.”

“Master, this is very convincing,” the man said, relieved. Many people believe that “the poor have their worries, and so do the rich.” However, I often tell them that “the poor have their happiness, and so do the rich.” Happiness knows no class or border. It is deeply rooted in each of us, but we simply lack the eyes to see it.

According to a Buddhist scripture, there was once a wealthy person who was depressed every day and did not know what happiness was. One day, he decided to set out and look for happiness, carrying a bag of golden coins on his back. He said he would give the bag of coins to anyone who could tell him how to find happiness, but he could not find anything to make him happy.

Later, he was told to seek an eminent monk in a temple at the top of a mountain. He went to the temple and poured out his troubles to the monk, but the monk continued in his meditation and gave the man no regard. The man talked and talked until he finally fell asleep. When he awoke, he found both the monk and his bag of coins were gone. Greatly saddened, the man wept, thinking it was unfortunate to have lost the bag of golden coins before he had found happiness. Unwilling to give it up, he searched everywhere for the monk. Totally exhausted, he finally returned to temple, only to find that the monk and his bag were still there. Immediately, he was beside himself with joy.

Only then did the monk opened his eyes. “You already have happiness in yourself,” said he. “Why do you take such pains to find it?”

The reason many people do not experience happiness is that they do not know how to cherish what they already have. Aren’t our partners, friends, and children the source of our happiness? But too often, we choose to turn a blind eye to them, giving up the happiness we already have, and in this way, we are abandoned to groundless moaning and groaning. The Buddha says that what is lost is lost. Therefore, only when we learn to cherish what we already have now can we understand the meaning of life and the needs of the human nature, and then our lives can be filled with happiness and sunshine.