Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Rise of Greed Obscures Wisdom (貪起淨迷智慧失)
The Four Cravings may cause all wrongdoings. The Four Cravings: Craving for food, Craving for clothing, Craving for sleep, Craving for medicine.
Life is truly full of wonder! Yet life exists only in the space between breaths, so we should carefully reflect on our lives. In our daily lives, the ability to breathe smoothly usually indicates we are healthy. Yet, even in a state of health, our boodles are full of unclean things. The nine Orifices of the body are filled with and often discharge impurities.
In fact, our bodies are full of unclean things. As soon as we stop breathing, things begin to decay very rapidly. The entire body begins to rot and can no longer be kept at home. Very soon, it must be sent off to be buried or cremated. What is the value of such a body then?
In the Da Lin and Hualien Tzu Chi Hospitals there are cases where young people have died in accidents. Nowadays, their families make more open-minded and wise decisions, and opt to donate the body and organs. They can remove a patient’s non-functioning liver, and use a functioning liver to replace it. Same with kidneys, they can also be used in transplants.
Advanced modern medical technology can extract functional organs from a healthy person who died and transplant them into other people. Seeing the recipients walk around within days of the operation, sit up in bed, and have conversations, I feel conflicted.
Think about it: originally, their heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys could no longer function.
Witnessing all this, we understand that being ill is very exhausting and tough. Now doctors take the organs from the deceased person, and distribute them to others. I think these organs, all need to adjust to the new environment. Most importantly, the recipients need to get used to their new organs.
If adjustments can be made accordingly, then the new organ from the other person can be used in the body. Otherwise, the new organ will be rejected. The Four Elements need to be harmonized. If they are not harmonized, even if someone else gives us (a new organ) our bodies will reject it, despite the other person’s willingness. When we see patients’ bodies accept the new organs and see them sit up and talk, we are very happy. For those who can walk and re-engage in their lives, we wish them the best. But as time passes, even with the new parts in their body, how long do they still have?
According to the doctors, some people are genetically vulnerable. Hepatitis B, or Hepatitis C, or Hepatitis A are all common liver diseases people contract. Some babies contract it during childbirth, some contract it by eating contaminated food, or from blood transfusions, or an (infected) needle. We cannot do much about congenital diseases. Those genes existed in the parents’ lineage. But what is the source of those genes? Maybe an initial infection and mutation turned them into carriers. It is hard to say who will actually contract the disease. But if it is genetic, modern science can prevent it early. If it comes from food and drink we need to be more vigilant, since this is easier to prevent.
For instance, if every household can promote the use of serving utensils, then we can improve public hygiene around eating. If everyone dips their chopsticks into a bowl of soup it is like washing the chopsticks in the soup. The chopsticks come out of the mouth where viruses and bacteria live, so putting chopsticks in the mouth and then dipping them into the soup, turns it into a bowl of germs. Different people, different chopsticks sharing the same dishes on the table, means we exchange bacteria and viruses with each other.
It is said, “diseases enter through the mouth” and many diseases do enter the body that way.
Every household can promote better hygiene at the dining table; it should not be too difficult to do at home. What if we eat out? It should not be difficult, either. We can bring our own chopsticks, and even our own bowls. Like Tzu Chic “eating utensils kit” a bowl, chopsticks and a cup. When we anticipate eating out, bringing our own bowls and chopsticks will be the safest. When we go to public places, or eat at street vendors, there is even more need to bring utensils. This good hygiene will prevent diseases from entering our bodies.
Use serving utensils at home and bring bowls and chopsticks while traveling. This not only prevents the spread of diseases, it shows love for yourself and others.
Some people need transfusions when they get sick. We should carefully take good care of our bodies. Some practitioners say the precepts do not allow them to eat past noon, so they eat irregularly, leading to malnutrition or low hemoglobin, etc. Therefore they need supplements. Sometimes, it is too late to take supplements, so they need a blood transfusion. This is quite dangerous!
Why can we not just take good care f our bodies? The environment for cultivation now is totally different from when Buddha was alive. We should live in accordance with the flow of time, to function smoothly. Whether it is 2000 years age or now, we should follow the cycle of the day. As long as we eat in moderation we do not need to cling to the precept of not eating past noon.
Modern people have smaller appetites, so we have to absorb enough nutrients in 3 meals. Once our bodies have enough nutrients, we do not have to worry about anemia, so we should not need a transfusion every time we get sick.
To summarize, observing transplants and gross anatomy reminds us to contemplate the body as impure. A person can be healthy, but unknown viruses can invade the body, anywhere from the brain down to blood vessels all over the body, which are thinner than hair. Illnesses can reside within those blood vessels, down to the finest, tiniest blood vessels.
During the doctors’ report, there was an image, so I asked them, “You said those black spots in the blood vessels are all cancer cells. How thick are these vessels?” They answered, “As thick as a single hair.” Through a microscope, we can see these hair-thin blood vessels. Some are even thinner than hair. Within these thin blood vessels, viruses and cancer cells completely cover the vessel like little dots. They are not just in the brain or the lungs; they are also in the liver, kidneys, even the pores in the skin.
The autopsy showed that the cancer cells had spread all over body. They searched in the world’s medical literature and identified it as vascular cancer. It spread extensively, the cancer cells invading even the tiniest blood vessels. Things like this give us a better understanding of why Buddha said to contemplate the body as impure. In our daily lives, things may look youthful on the surface. Youth is so beautiful and full of life. But their bodies are similar to ours on the inside. They have the same organs and the Nine Orifices that often discharge impurities. Similarly, they do not know when their bodies are invaded by bacteria.
So in our lives, why do we not realize this? All we see is external beauty that we desire. We see something tasty, and we seek out the flavor; the better the taste, the more we seek. In fact, there may be higher risks. A lot of bacteria and viruses come from the bodies of animals. We often hear Deputy Director Wang report on strange and bizarre viral infections. They all originate from animals. In conclusion, desires cause us to lose our way in modern society.
Desire is the root of innumerable afflictions. Once a single desire arises, the pure mind will be lost, and our innate wisdom will also disappear.
All of this is because of food. Not only are people greedy for food, to satisfy their desires they need to raise much livestock. The land is so polluted, that grains cannot be planted and harvested successfully based on the four seasons. It cannot happen, because the earth has been continuously polluted, piece by piece. Not only is the land polluted, so are the water sources. Think about how damaging the excrement from all these animals is to the land and water. Then there is the population increase.
Think about the expansion of the human population and all the impurities coming out of our bodies. When we are happy, we laugh. When we are upset, we cry. Tears, snot, phlegm, or ear wax, are all from orifices we can see. There are seven orifices between the five sense organs. So there are seven on our head, let us count. Two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and one mouth. Yee see! We often see people spit on the ground, not only does it cause pollution, droplets in the air will also infect others. So if we have a cold, we should quickly put on a mask. If we do not do so, we can infect others simply by breathing and talking, causing airborne infection. Spitting on the ground is worse. When the sun warms it, bacteria multiply quickly.
So between people there is great potential for invisible dangers, aside from the obvious ones. It is not surprising that as medicine advances, we find humans are the source of more problems. Based on what we eat everyday, we have crated so much killing karma. For food alone, we have generated so much pollution. So we must be constantly vigilant. In our lives, there is no need for dispute, no cause to be egotistical or arrogant. A little bacterium can rapidly replicate and invade the body down to the tiniest pore. We need to make good use of our time. When we are healthy, we should hurry up and practice while we still can, do things while we still can, adjust and correct our thinking while we can. We cannot deviate in our thinking. So I urge you to make good use of your time and reflect often.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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