The Blessed One taught: “Attā hi attano nātho — oneself is indeed one’s own refuge.”
The most elementary foundation of a person’s health rests upon regularity — eating, sleeping, waking, and attending to bodily elimination at consistent and proper times.
Eating: When one is four or five mouthfuls away from fullness, stop. Follow with water, and one shall be satisfied just right.
Sleeping: One ought not to retire later than ten o’clock in the evening. When the hour of rest arrives, one must rest. The human body is akin to an engine — should it be driven at full exertion throughout the entire day without respite, it shall break down.
As one advances in age, one must keep oneself covered with a light blanket even when the air does not feel cold — for as the years increase, the circulation of blood that flows down to nourish the legs and returns upward becomes progressively less efficient.
In our climate, the early evening hours tend to be warm and humid, whilst the deep of night brings a degree of cooling. Therefore, whether or not one feels cold, one must keep covered. Cover from the waist downward over the legs first. If it is not excessively warm, cover from the waist up to the chest. If the heat is considerable, cover from the waist to just above the knees.
Preserve the warmth of the body in this manner, and robust health shall assuredly follow.
Waking and elimination: Attend to these at a regular and consistent time each day. Bathing: Likewise at a regular time — so that nothing stagnant or accumulative remains within the body.
Before retiring for the night: Sit in meditation and offer prayers and chanting, that the heart may be at ease. When the mind grows still — as still as undisturbed water — what is amiss shall be known, and what is right shall be clearly seen.
Should one have erred or lapsed, hasten to make correction without delay. And should one have succeeded in one’s endeavours, never forget to offer gratitude to all those who have rendered their assistance.
March 17th, 2020
