Finding Health and Peace in Illness

Illness is the most direct reminder that life is impermanent. The body must face and endure the pain of illness, while the mind must learn to accept and let go of its suffering.
 
If we can view illness through the lens of the Dharma, seeing it as a practice examination in life, observing how pain changes, and experiencing how neither body nor mind is truly within one’s control, then we may come to realize impermanence and no-self.
 
In this way, illness can become like an intensive Chan retreat, an opportunity to practice with greater diligence, allowing us to find wisdom in illness, and to be healthy in the midst of illness.



Related articles: 

Finding Health and Peace in Illness

Wisdom in Illness

Buddha Teaches Us How to Care for the Sick: Five Practices for Tending to the Sick

Unconstrained by illness, the mind remains at ease

Receiving Karmic Results, Fulfilling Vows, and Vowing Anew

Illness: Guiding the Direction of Your Life


Resource: Issue 481 of Humanity Magazine, Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation
Photo: Venerable Chang Duo (常鐸法師)
Translation: Anne Yeow 姚麗萍
Editing: Keith Brown, Patricia Yang