Sick in Body, Not Sick in Mind
This body is always sick; the mind is sick when lust, aversion and delusion crowd it. Wise attention, trust in the wholesome and wisdom keep the mind well.
Key points
- The Buddha taught that this body is always sick; it is just that we can still bear it.
- Cold, heat, hunger, thirst, passing stool and passing urine are the six bodily illnesses every being must face.
- A sick mind is one crowded by lust, aversion, delusion or defilements such as stinginess, envy, worry and stress.
- For the mind to stay well when the body is sick, think wisely (yoniso manasikāra), trust in giving, virtue and meditation, and develop wisdom.
- Material and mental phenomena arise and cease in succession; a self does not really exist, so lay down clinging.
This is an English translation of the Thai original. Where they differ, the Thai text is authoritative: อ่านต้นฉบับภาษาไทย
Illness of the Body
Many of us may think we are not sick right now, that our bodies are still strong and free of disease. But the Buddha taught that this body is always sick.
Cold, heat, hunger, thirst, passing stool and passing urine: in Buddhism these are considered the six bodily illnesses we must face. For all beings that are born, whether in the hair of the head, body hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, bone marrow, liver, kidneys, heart, lungs and so on, all are beset by disease. There is not a single moment when this body, the aggregate of form (rūpa-khandha), is not restless and uneasy. In truth our bodies are always sick; we can just still bear it. And one day, when bodily illness shows itself clearly as a sickness we can see, we may find it harder to bear, until finally one day we can bear it no longer, and in the end we die.
What Is a Sick Mind?
A sick mind is a mind crowded by lust (rāga), by sensual desire.
A sick mind is a mind crowded by aversion (dosa): anger, harming, oppressing.
A sick mind is a mind crowded by delusion (moha).
A sick mind is a mind with defilements: stinginess, envy, worry, doubt, stress, gloom, suffering, discouragement, depression and so on.
These symptoms are what a sick mind is.
How Can the Mind Stay Well When the Body Is Sick?
We must be wise in how we think (yoniso manasikāra, wise attention), not letting lust, aversion and delusion crowd in. Make the mind strong and steady, confident in wholesome goodness, in giving, virtue and meditation (dāna, sīla, bhāvanā), and then develop wisdom within yourself. See the stream of life as it really is. See that material form (rūpa), that is, hair of the head, body hair, nails, teeth, skin and so on, is breaking up all the time. All material form is made of earth, water, fire and air, which we cling to as “me”. The material form we once clung to has already ceased; new form arises and ceases in succession. The mental phenomena (nāma) we once clung to have already ceased; new mental phenomena arise and cease in succession. A self does not really exist. Make wisdom arise until you see into this truth of life, and lay down clinging.
Illness can act on the body, but we will not let illness act on our mind. The body is for illness to afflict; the mind is ours to look after. The body is sick, yet the mind will not be sick; the body is restless, yet the mind will be steady.
Source: ธรรมดี ชีวีมีสุข (Good Dhamma, Happy Life) by Phra Ajahn Somthop Parakkamo, First printing, February 2023, ISBN 978-616-8325-05-6, pp. 63–65.