佛說佛醫經

The human body inherently has four kinds of illness: illness pertaining to earth, illness pertaining to water, illness pertaining to fire, and illness pertaining to wind. When the wind element increases, the breath-energy flourishes; when the fire element increases, the body becomes hot and feverish; when the water element increases, the body becomes cold; when the earth element increases, the body's strength becomes powerful. From these four illnesses arise four hundred and four illnesses. Earth pertains to the body, water pertains to the mouth, fire pertains to the eyes, and wind pertains to the ears. When the fire element decreases, the body weakens and the eyes grow dim.

In the three months of spring, cold increases; in the three months of summer, wind is abundant; in the three months of autumn, heat increases; in the three months of winter, there is wind and cold air.

Why does cold increase in spring? Because all things are sprouting and growing, therefore there is cold, therefore cold increases.

Why is wind abundant in summer? Because all things blossom and bear fruit, and yin and yang converge, therefore wind is abundant.

Why does heat increase in autumn? Because all things reach the time of ripening, therefore heat increases.

Why is there wind and cold in winter? Because all things in the end decline and wither, the heat is no more, therefore there is wind and cold.

Why should one lie down during the period from the third month to the seventh month? Because wind is abundant, therefore the body expands. Why should one not lie down during the period from the eighth month to the second month of the following year? Because cold increases, therefore the body contracts.

In the three months of spring there is a chill; one should not eat wheat or beans, but should eat cooked foods such as rice and cheese. In the three months of summer wind is abundant; one should not eat wheat, beans, or taro, but should eat rice, drink milk and cream. In the three months of autumn there is a slight heat; one should not eat rice or cheese, but should eat parched grain, honey, and glutinous rice. In the three months of winter there is wind and cold, and yin and yang are in harmony; one should eat rice, broad beans, soup, and cheese. When lying down, there are times when wind arises or ceases, when heat arises or ceases, when cold arises or ceases.

There are ten causes and conditions that give rise to illness: first, sitting long without eating; second, eating and drinking without digesting; third, worry and sorrow; fourth, fatigue; fifth, lust; sixth, anger and hatred; seventh, holding back defecation; eighth, holding back urination; ninth, suppressing belching; tenth, restraining the passing of wind.

The Buddha taught: "There are nine causes that make a person die an untimely, unjust death before their time has come: eating food one should not eat, eating without knowing moderation, eating and drinking what one is unaccustomed to, not expelling what should be expelled, holding back and suppressing, not keeping the precepts, associating with bad friends, entering villages at improper times, not practicing in accord with the Dharma, and not avoiding what should be avoided.

1. Eating food one should not eat: That is, food that does not suit one, also food that does not accord with the four seasons, and eating more even when already full.

2. Eating without knowing moderation means not knowing restraint, eating to excess.

3. Eating and drinking what one is unaccustomed to is also called eating at improper times, such as arriving in another land without knowing its customs, being unaccustomed to its food, and eating and drinking without digesting.

4. Not expelling what should be expelled: Old food has not been digested, yet one eats more. Or one drinks medicine to vomit but has not vomited it all out, yet one continues to eat.

5. Holding back and suppressing: When needing to defecate or urinate, one is unwilling to go at once. When one wishes to belch or pass wind below, one holds it back and suppresses it.

6. Not keeping the precepts: Violating the five lay precepts—stealing, violating another's wife—and being seized and imprisoned by officials and soldiers, or being harmed, or killed, or beaten, or coerced to death, or dying of hunger and thirst, or being released but then killed by an enemy who bears a grudge, or dying from fear, worry, and sorrow.

7. Associating with bad friends: When others do evil, one goes to be near them. Why? Because one is unwilling to part from bad friends. One does not consider the evil mind of an evil acquaintance and yet draws near to them.

8. Entering villages at improper times, not practicing in accord with the Dharma: That is, going out in the morning or evening, one is contended over by demons and sprites; encountering a time when officials are pursuing and arresting criminals one does not avoid it; entering another's house one sees what should not be seen, hears what should not be heard, commits what should not be committed, and recalls what should not be recalled.

9. Not avoiding what should be avoided, such as fierce oxen, fierce horses, mad dogs, venomous snakes, insects, floodwaters, blazing fires, pits and ditches, carts and carriages, knives and clubs, drunken people, evil people...

These are the nine causes that make a person die an untimely, unjust death before their time has come. The wise should recognize these causes and should keep far from them. By keeping far from them, one will obtain two blessings: first, long life; second, hearing precious words of the Dharma and also practicing the Way for a long time."

The Buddha taught: "There are four kinds of food: tử phạn (the food of death), tam bá mâu chước phạn (the food of the three hundred spear-stabs), bì cách trùng sinh xuất phạn (the food from which worms are born and emerge through the skin), and tai phạn (the food of calamity).

1. Tử phạn (the food of death): A person who craves flavor, when eating meat should reflect thus: 'This meat is all the flesh of my father and mother, brothers, wife and children, kinsmen and relations of my former lives; and it is precisely because of this that I cannot escape from birth and death!' Understanding this meaning, one then ceases craving."

2. Tam bá mâu chước phạn (the food of the three hundred spear-stabs): When eating and thinking of the delicious taste, one then thinks of countless calamities. If one does not dwell on the flavor, one is then liberated. Just as a person stabbed by a spear loses their life, so by thinking again and again, there then arise immeasurable sufferings and afflictions.

3. Bì cách trùng sinh xuất phạn (the food from which worms are born and emerge through the skin): A person who thinks of the delicious taste also thinks of all the worries and sorrows in the household, recalls all the myriad things, and, penetrating into the minds of others, gives rise to myriad thoughts.

4. Tai phạn (the food of calamity): Every single act of birth and death is the food of calamity. Like a fire that burns up the myriad things. The acts of human beings all bring harm to the body of the next life. Just as a fierce fire burns up the myriad things, it is therefore called calamity. Thinking of others is called food.

Eating the flesh of sentient beings is just like eating the flesh of one's own child. The animals of the past were all my father and mother, brothers, wife and children, so many they cannot be reckoned in full. There are also six cases in which one may not eat meat: killing it oneself, instructing another to kill it, conspiring with the killer, seeing it killed, hearing it killed, suspecting it was killed for one's sake. If one does not fall into these six cases, then one may eat the meat. If one suspects it falls into these six cases, then one also may not eat it. A person who does not eat meat obtains the blessed reward of fearlessness.

The Buddha taught: "Eating much commits five faults: sleeping much, much illness, much lust, being unable to recite the sutras, and clinging in craving to the world. Why? Because a person of craving and lust knows only the enjoyment of beautiful forms. A person of anger and hatred knows only being domineering and perverse. A person of delusion and folly knows only the flavor of food."

The Vinaya sutra records: "A person who craves flavor savors the taste endlessly yet never obtains the delicious taste."

The Buddha taught: "Once one eats, it is in order to cut off birth and death; but if, in accord with this, one gives rise to a mind of craving, then one cannot practice the Way. If one wishes to attain the divine eye, one must know from where things are born and to where they go. Ordinary people do not think of death; they know only to eat much and to think longingly of women, and so they all fall into the one hundred and forty evil afflictions.

Those who die young all do so on account of food. Whoever commits the ten evil deeds will not, in the next life, obtain a human birth, but will fall into the animal realm. When they become human, they suffer hunger and thirst, their bodies constantly bleed, and there is in addition anger, hatred, craving, and attachment." The Buddha said that to have great blessings, one must oneself endure hunger so as to yield one's food to others, wishing for them to preserve their lives; in the next life one will then obtain abundant food.

A person who is poor and lowly, and prone to anger, does not give in charity either; even wishing to give, they cannot, knowing only to give free rein to their mind and thoughts. A person of craving and lust likewise does not know how to give in charity, knowing only to indulge their mind and thoughts unrestrained. What is not one's own property, even a single coin, one may not take.

A person who gives rise to a mind of greedy desire vainly endures suffering and creates sins. One who cultivates the Way does not worry or grieve; worry follows along with fury, and grief follows along with greedy desire. Death comes upon us year by year, month by month, day by day, hour by hour, yet we do not know it, are not afraid, neither practice the Way nor keep the precepts, but run east and run west, busy with this matter and that—such as houses, servants and maids...—only increasing suffering and affliction, which is to say perfuming and accumulating the seeds of the animal realm.

The Buddha taught: "Human enterprise is like the bee making honey, drawing in the nectar of flowers, toiling diligently and bitterly for a long time before it is accomplished. Afterward it is again seized away by people, and one has vainly endured so much hardship without being able to provide for oneself. A person with the thought of seeking and longing, having already worried, adds yet more worry; knowing nothing of hunger and thirst, they know only to toil bitterly at hoarding wealth.

Yet while still alive they must worry that the five houses will divide it, or that they will meet with what does not suit their wishes, such as water, fire, theft, government officials, and disease. The moment they pass away, the wealth belongs to others. The body, meanwhile, suffers punishment in hell, in agony that cannot be told.

The five portions: swept away by water, burned by fire, theft, government officials, and impoverished brothers. This being so, why should one not worry? A person who does not recognize these five worries suffers agony forever.

These sorrows and sufferings have ten thousand threads, knotted together within the heart, causing one to depart from the Way and grow distant from the Dharma. The way human beings make their living is buying and selling; but when one gains profit one should not rejoice, and when one suffers loss one should not grieve. For it is all the fruit and retribution brought about by the karma of former lives.

People of the world, whenever they have craving, do not gain profit. Suppose one obtained wealth enough to fill an entire world; even exerting oneself alone one could not use it all, and at death one cannot take it along—it only increases the fetters, only brings suffering and affliction, only plants the evil causes and conditions of the next life. Evil causes and conditions are like a fire that burns up everything.

As long as we are not awakened and enlightened, we dare not recklessly engage in actions; for to knowingly act is to commit sins and add to suffering."