A casual conversation over drinks at Coffee Club with Ryan, Lorine and Cecilia after watching Unmistaken Child on Saturday night at Cathay. During the short coffee chat, Lorine mentioned how one of her friends regained much better health after constantly generating merits.
The approach taken by the friend to generate merits includes setting captivated animals free and reciting a specific buddhist mantra frequently, consistently. Although some may have felt that there were unseen forces at work such as devas (heavenly beings) surrounding the person with blessings when they commit such meritorious acts, i like to take it in a very logical approach ~ to make it more commonplace and how buddhism can be seen in a very practical light with no mysticism surrounding it, how it can relate and be incorporated into our daily lives.
First of all, i do not refute the existence of devas and other unseen, unknown karmic forces can be at work but i cannot explain or answer to others what i do not know or have no experience in. A zen master once answered his student when his student enquired about afterlife events that he honestly does not know what lies beyond death and can only know on the day of his own passing and this is the kind of earnest answers that we can truly rely on for guiding us towards our own insights.
Secondly, we have to bear in mind the spirit of Kalama Sutta when Buddha taught that any sensible person can decide what teachings can be accepted as true, and not to believe religious teachings just because they claimed to be true, or even through the application of various techniques. Direct knowledge grounded in one's own experience can be called upon. He advised that the words of the wise should be heeded and considered. Not passively accepting but rather, constant questioning and personal testing to identify those truths which we are able to demonstrate to ourselves that it actually reduces our own sufferings and bring about love and happiness.
So let's discern for ourselves and see how committing meritorious acts such as releasing captivated animals, doing donations, reciting mantras, etc can help to promote good health.
In Buddhism, we can find texts on Buddha speaking about the 4 sublime states of mind which is essential for liberation, the sorrow-less bliss, unconditioned happiness. What are these 4 sublime states of mind? They are metta (loving kindness), karuna (compassion), mudita (altrustic joy) and upekkha (equanimity). Medical studies over years have proven time again and again that if our mindset is healthy and positive, our general well being will likely be positive as well. A healthy mental state allows the body to build its immune system, contributing to better overall health and also recover faster when the body is not well. And without a doubt, these 4 sublime states of mind are some of the most positive states of mind a person can cultivate.
So what does meritorious acts have got to do with these states of minds and our well being? Let's consider the facts and motives behind such acts. Take example, releasing of captivated animals, donations of food or medicine for the poor. All these acts stem from the fact that people have an innate wish to do good, a wish rooted in metta (loving kindness) and karuna (compassion) for these examples. And so when participating in such acts, the person's mind naturally rejoice in the thought of the good done for the less fortunate sentient beings. The mind will smile at this on its own accord and a smiling mind promotes happier cells and in turn translating into better well being.
So what about reciting mantra? For some buddhists, they believe that mantra contains powerful transformation powers and can do wondrous things such as generating miracles. Some skeptics will probably think that mantra has no such effects and they are simply words. Let's investigate what a mantra truly is and means.
Mantra can be defined as a word or group of words that are capable of creating transformation, generating miracles. In most cases when an effort is made to chant a mantra continuously, it can help to calm and focus the mind which is in line with the Buddhist teachings to master the mind. It can assist the practitioner to reach equanimity, one of the four sublime states. And a miracle does not have to be something beyond this world, it can be something most ordinary. Sometimes, the most ordinary miracles are truly the ones that are worth treasuring. Especially if reciting the mantra helps to transform the mind of a person from negativity to calmness, that's a miracle in itself. A quote from Ven. Thich Nhat Han that thoroughly illustrate how miracles are found here and now, in each present moment of our daily lives.
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
So have you taken a moment today to reside in one of the four sublime mind states to transform your mind, your body with better health and create a miracle for yourself? If you have not, take this opportunity now to just reside in the present moment and enjoy the simplicity of breathing for 3 minutes =)
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