If one seeks to end suffering or misery by attempting to change the environment (or external factors) to sooth his pain; his efforts would be futile! It can be said that man can change the environment to suit his needs, much like turning on the air-conditioning when the weather is hot. It is not applicable to a person who is suffering mentality. Any attempt of ridding the person(s), thing or environment that caused his misery in the first place, would be useless or would at most alleviate the pain momentarily. The pain will resurface when similar person(s), situation or environment arises again and thus the pain 'returns'.
As such, the only way to truly eradicate suffering should be that of a mental level. Change your mind, change your reality! Simple, right? Recently I came to realize that it is easier said than done. After weeks of coughing and visits to the doctor, I finally found out that I had contracted a lung infection which although wasn't life-threatening but nonetheless gave me a chance to rethink how much "wisdom" or truly "enlightened" I thought I was. Even after medication, the nights were "nightmare-ish" as sudden coughing or a swallow of saliva could send me to a frantic cough that seemed very asthmatic while I tried to catch my breath of life. I kept a bottle of warm water to drink handy when such event happened, but it was not always effective. The feeling was as if I had residues of tea-leaves stuck in my dry throat that caused it, but I could not cough out any phlegm much less tea-leaves...haha...fortunately I recovered somewhat.
This episode had shown me that we humans are 'fragile' beings and we can trash our ego into the bin. So what if we are a CEO of a big company or the president, in the face of illness or death, we are but weak twigs. When you are ill, nothing seems to be important anymore. Your aspirations, desires, hatred, jealousy, money, power, status etc can step aside. My self-confidence was quite shaken.
We are trapped in our own illusion and desire. Now is the time to rethink our life and life purpose. You should ask yourself this question, "Is my life just the acronym for "ESSP" (Eat-Sleep-Shit-Procreate)?" I would hope that your answer is "NO", otherwise we would be no better than mere animals who can do ESSP much better than us.
早在两千五百多年前，佛陀明白了生老病死为四大苦海，万事万物多变且无常，而立志寻访明师了脱生死之法。在旅途中，他发现参禅打坐不是究竟，而放弃苦行。
一般上，人们通常会从改变外在的“人、事、物或环境”来改善或减轻痛苦。但这只是治标不治本的做法。当同样的“人、事、物或环境”又再出现时，我们的苦又神奇的出现了！所以说“心境的改变，环境才会随之而改。所谓“一真一切真，一善一切善”， 心念一改，一切都平静了。心的不舒服（病）是由我们自己结下的，心病还需心药医。
此话说得简单，做起来不易啊！还记得上回自己得了肺感染，连续咳了好几个星期，连看三次医生方知病因。连夜的咳嗽，整夜难眠。有时连吞口水也会触发不停的咳嗽，犹如喉咙里有茶渣，甚至有时会咳得像要窒息一般。偶尔喝喝温水，方可缓解。辛亏数日后好转，感恩上天！
这个经历让我再深思，人生真的太脆弱了!无论您的身份、地位、贫或富等等；在病魔和死亡面前，人人平等。以往的憧憬，怨恨，恩爱情仇等；在您病着时，都得闪一边去，您也没精神或心情理会这些“以前如数家珍的仇恨，嫉妒，埋怨”了，一心只想病快点好起来。这时我们应当问问自己“我的人生是否唯有“吃、睡和繁衍下一代”而已?" 希望您的答案是“不是”，要不我们不能自称“万物之灵”了。因为 “吃、睡和繁衍下一代"是动物也能做的，甚至做得比我们更好呢。
