Afflictions and Diseases Are All Projections of the Mind

By carefully contemplating the illusory nature of our consciousness and meticulously observing the arising and ceasing, the illusory nature of all phenomena in the world, the mind will reduce its clinging, lessen fantasies and chaotic thoughts. Consequently, mental illnesses among people will decrease, conditions like neurasthenia and insomnia will lessen, and various ailments will diminish. Where do diseases come from? One source is the karmic retribution from past actions, and another is the afflictions and deluded thoughts generated in the present life. Sentient beings bring suffering upon themselves. When the principle is understood, the mind is free from afflictions; when the principle is not understood, afflictions pile up, suffering is immeasurable—all self-inflicted, not given by others. All diseases are illusory, unreal; they have no origin, and when they cease, they have no place of cessation, because they are illusory. Understanding these principles thoroughly can cure all illnesses—no need for any physicians, whether physical or psychological. All disease hindrances arise and cease illusorily. When the Buddhadharma is understood, all dharmas are understood. By mastering the Buddhadharma, all worldly dharmas are mastered.

The physical diseases, mental illnesses, all family troubles, work and career worries—all such sufferings experienced by worldly people are the result of being bound by their own ignorance and karmic obstacles. Those who haven't studied the Dharma do not understand these principles; those who have studied the Dharma but haven't comprehended it deeply, haven't engaged in profound contemplation and observation, are still obscured by their own ignorance. To truly understand the truth of the world, one must first understand oneself; thereafter, all dharmas will be understood. Therefore, the failure to comprehend worldly dharmas stems from knots and bonds within the mind. What needs to be untied are one's own mental knots, not the resolution of external circumstances.

We should not complain that external sense objects are so troublesome, insisting on disturbing our minds. Instead, we should reflect on why our own minds are attracted by external forms, why they are seized by them. Why do we insist on clinging to external states? Is it that external states seek to bind us, to cling to us? No, it is our own minds that insist on grasping or rejecting them, resulting in being stuck by the states. Originally, we intended to grasp the states, but instead, we end up being grasped by them. The five desires and six dusts bind us, causing us to suffer the pains of poverty and rebirth throughout lifetimes. Thus, we are bound by all dharmas within the six realms of rebirth, bound within this vast ocean of suffering, this sea of birth and death.