I’ve been feeling physically out-of-sorts today: it was a struggle waking up (which isn’t usual for me), and my nose and ears were blocked when I did get up.

And that has definitely affected my energy levels, and consequently my mood. It takes some effort to remember the Buddha’s teachings:

So you should train like this: ‘Though my body is ailing, my mind will be healthy.’ That’s how you should train.”SN 22.1 Nakula’s Father

…

And how is a person ailing in body and healthy in mind? It’s when a learned noble disciple has seen the noble ones, and is skilled and trained in the teaching of the noble ones. They’ve seen true persons, and are skilled and trained in the teaching of the true persons. They don’t regard form as self, self as having form, form in self, or self in form. They’re not obsessed with the thought: ‘I am form, form is mine!’ So when that form of theirs decays and perishes, it doesn’t give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress.

It takes effort to remind myself that my body isn’t ‘mine’: it belongs to nature, which is bound to destroy it eventually.

It also takes effort to remind myself not to let my mind get drawn into negativity and pessimism. Just earlier this afternoon, I was thinking about the impact of AI on programming, and wondering if I might have made the wrong decision to go into software development as a midcareer switch.

I still don’t know if it is the right decision or not, but I am pretty sure that I shouldn’t trust my thoughts and emotions that arise when I’m physically unwell. So I’m just focusing on working on my project (get next line), meditating (maybe more than usual), and just making good kamma by recollecting what good I did before, just like in this talk by Ajahn Brahm.

Ajahn Brahm's talk to the monks, 2008 Rains Retreat: Not My Kamma

Then, hopefully, my mind can remain healthy while my body is ailing and sick.

Tags #health

Written on: 15 Jan 24 at 17:47
Finished on: 15 Jan 24 at 21:57