You have probably been suffering for a long time.
I am sure that many of you have seen doctors but have not been able to improve your condition.
It is important to treat the body with modern medicine, but why don't you change your point of view and learn how to regain your health by using the power of your mind?

From the teachings of Master Ryuho Okawa, we have selected some mental prescriptions to brighten your heart during your illness.

Illness is part of life

Since the time of the Buddha, there has been a teaching on the "four sufferings" of birth, aging, illness, and death, which teaches that "human beings cannot escape the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death."

In this sense, there is a view that suffering is the truth of the life in this world.

Diseases have existed since ancient times, and people grow old and eventually die.

Some people get sick and commit suicide because of it, but it is normal for people to get sick. Therefore, to some extent, getting sick must be factored into one's life.

However, people die when they die, whether they are sick or not.

When you become ill, you may have a difficult time fighting the disease, lose your job, or have trouble with your work. I know that you are going through many things, but as long as you are alive, please think, "I still have a mission in this world," and finish what you can do. That is important.

When you commit suicide, you will drive your bereaved family members to more grief.

You will then not be able to rest in peace and rely on your families and relatives.

When you are alive, you may think that you are causing trouble, but even after you die, you will become a lost spirit that will haunt your family and relatives, causing obstacles and tormenting them.

Thus, I ask you to fight for as long as you have life, because after you commit suicide, you will cause more trouble for your family and others.

You may think, "I am finished," but you are not. There are still things you can do.

 

From "The Laws of Life" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

In some ways, suffering in life serves to repay “debts” from past lives

 

When a serious illness is involved, there is usually a life scenario behind it, and it is something that cannot be avoided. As I explained earlier, if you want to change that scenario, you need to think deeply about why this is happening, and resolve your own problems given in this lifetime. By constructing possible assumptions and trying to correct your life based on these, you may be able to alter the scenario.

Nevertheless, even if you cannot change your life scenario, in many cases, becoming ill and dying will serve as a form of atonement. It is something that had to be experienced, or otherwise you would have to carry that issue over into the next life.

For this reason, if you have treated people with extreme cruelty, committed atrocities, acted inhumanely or caused suffering in your previous life, your act of repaying your “debt” will be included in the pain you will experience in this lifetime. There are cases when your life issues contain these challenges.

However, although you may be suffering now, it is in fact something to be grateful of, because you are actually repaying your “debt.” You are being told, “Your suffering may continue for years or decades, but that is because you did something that caused it in your past life. So, do your best to pay that debt in full, no matter how tough it is.”

Sometimes poverty, illness, or conflicts in personal relationships, may cause you to suffer. Through this, however, you are actually “re-experimenting” due to your karma being carried over from a previous life, or you may be making atonements. Seen from a long-term perspective, the seeds of happiness for a greater span of life can be found in that suffering. Therefore, it is important that you try to perceive God's Will or Buddha's Will in your current suffering, and make sure to repay your “debts.”

What is more, you need to accumulate “savings,” and plant seeds of happiness for the future. It is not enough simply to repay your debts. You must lead a better life this time. Contrary to your previous life, you need to create “gains” and live in a way that will make other people happy. Lead a life that accumulates happiness this time.

In this sense, it is important to be aware that you are being given a huge opportunity.

 

From "Healing Power" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

Your Body Reflects Your Own Self-Image

 

 

We human beings weigh a mere 3,000 grams or so when we are born; as we grow and age over the course of several decades, though, absolutely no part of our physical selves remain from the body that our parents gave to us when we came out of the womb.

The true nature of the physical body is like a flowing stream; every cell in our bodies is replaced. Our bone matter is changed out - even our skulls are renewed with the passing of time. The organs we have within us now are completely different from what we originally had. Not only are we not the same now as when we were born - we are still in the process of changing.

Your body today is not the same as your body last month. A great portion of it is different. The body you had a year ago has been almost completely traded in for a new one. Every day, old cells are dying off and new cells are taking their place. This is the reality.

You may feel like saying, “I was born with a weak body,” or, “It's all in the genes.” However, if your body is still in the same poor condition as when you were born, it only means that you have continuously reproduced the same body. So how is it that you are able to maintain the same form even if your body is constantly changing?

The fact is that you have, within your own mind, a conception of who you are which is the blueprint your body follows. Your self-image is producing your body.

If you have ill will or a negative mind and are constantly telling yourself that you are sick and unhappy, sure to die soon, and can only live as a parasite upon the sympathy of others, then these thoughts will become a reality.

Within the body, there is an astral body, a spiritual body that is very close to the material world. Within this astral body, there are a great bundle of spiritual bodies that exist in a manifold structure. The signals that you transmit from your own mind are picked up by this astral body.

Thus, whenever an abnormality takes place within the astral body, this abnormality appears in the physical body, as well. This is the root cause of diseases. Almost all illnesses are caused by our own minds.

This works in both directions, though. There is also a vicious circle in which the physical body is wounded, which hurts the astral body, which then influences the spiritual body.

In Buddhism it is said, “The mind and matter are one.” In other words, our physical bodies are in perfect accord with our minds. This is the way we are put together.

Ultimately, the star of the show is the mind; when the main character thinks to create a certain image, the astral body follows suit, and depending upon the degree of health of that body, different illnesses appear on the physical body.

When looked at in this way, every one of you has been given an enormous amount of possibility.

You may be sick now, you may be sick in the future, or you might have been sick for a long time, but you must come to the realization that the body you have now is not the same body that you received from your parents when you were born.

 

From "healing from within" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

Strong faith also increases the immunity

 

 

Humans have the ability to create disease.

It means, "The cells and other parts of the body that are beneficial to you are being destroyed. Consequently, the function to protect the body is no longer working, and the body is losing its ability to resist the damaging functions of the body and things that harm the body from the outside. In other words, the "power to live" is declining.

Therefore, we must strengthen our ability to live. That is important.

How can we strengthen our ability to live? As stated in "Healing Yourself," it is to have faith. What is said that "faith cures disease" is true in many religions around the world. Even thoughtful doctors say, "It is a real possibility."

The reason why faith can cure diseases is because when a person has strong faith and pious beliefs, the immune function in his/her body will be boosted.

That would be true.

For example, in school classrooms, if students are told by their homeroom teachers every day, "You are bad students. You are all delinquents. You will not become good people. When you grow up, you will all become criminals," they would all go wrong.

However, there are teachers who teach differently.

They say, "You are the children of Buddha and the children of God. Even if you cannot study well now, if you continue to work hard after you enter society, you will surely become great. Your fathers and mothers are also splendid.

Let's live our lives for the good of the world. We have the qualities to do so. Everyone has a chance. If we work hard, a path will surely open up for us."

If the teachers teach in this way, children will get better and better in many aspects, including sports and academics.

The same is true for faith.

Please do not think of the power of faith as an unscientific "illusion."

Even a single word from a school teacher can change a person. As a matter of fact, words have the power to change human beings. I am saying this not from the standpoint of religion or faith, but from a more common level, that words have the power to change the future of our children.

Likewise, the power of faith has the power to change your own future. Faith gives you the courage to live, the confidence to persevere, and the power to endure. When you do this, that power is added to every cell in your body, and your cells become activated, and your immune system becomes very strong.

 

From "Super Absolute Health Method" by Ryuho Okawa

 

 

For your own sake, it is important not to continue to hate others

 

 

If you have hate in your heart, you will most likely feel physically unwell. The person who is the object of your dislike will feel bad, but so will you.

Many people who suffer from mysterious illnesses often hold strong feelings of hatred. If you cannot forgive a person for something and form a strong hatred for him or her, through neurobiological processes this hatred can create some malformation inside your body. Destructive emotions or hatred may sometimes materialize as cancerous cells. In this way, illness can be generated from the most unexpected sources.

Therefore, you must forgive others for your own sake as well. While it is necessary to forgive yourself, you must also forgive others.

There may certainly be many people who have harmed you, embarrassed you, persecuted or insulted you, but you must forgive them. Surely it is enough for you to suffer for one year, three years or five years.

The people you hate may well have changed with the passage of time; they may regret what they did to you. They may think, “I insulted him at the time, but now I am sorry I did so.”

Perhaps someone made fun of you for having a religious belief but three years later, the very same person who mocked you may now be a religious believer himself. People can change in this way so you should not hold on to your hatred.

Even if someone may have treated you badly and brought you pain, do not continue to hate him or her; instead, tell yourself that the other person is also an imperfect human being.

 

From "The Laws of Great Enlightenment" by Ryuho Okawa