Secrets of Health and Longevity

By K.S.Chow

Introduction

The Okinama Porgram,  written by Dr. Makoto Suzuki, Drs. Bradley and Dr. Craig Willcox, reveals that the inhabitants of Okinawa Island in southern Japan are the healthiest, longest-lived people in the world.  This breakthrough documents reveals the well-planned diet, regular physical exercises and the lifestyle practices  of the people of Okinawa.  Their habitual practice of health hygience helps minimize their risks for heart diseases, strokes, cancers, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease as well as maintaining healthy body weight, reduce stresses and strains of modern life, and developing more harmonious  human relationships with others. Their health hygience has helped preserve excellent health and wellness. It slows the aging process and prolongs longevity. Their health hygience  plan incorporates not only balanced, healthy diet but also cognitive and spiritual practices. Cognitive and spiritual practices  promote psychological well-being. Their health hygience strategy is evidently balanced and holistic. The enhanced health is the harmony of the combination of all the essential conditions mentality and spirituality. The Buddhist Law of Dependent Co-arising  teaches that when all contigent primary cause and  various secondary conditions are conglomerated, perfect fruit is expected. The balanced diet comprise cereals, vegetables, fruits, fish, chicken and others without cattle, lamb or pork. Their regular physical exercise habits or physical  fitness include martial arts. Their psychological well- being includes spiritual practices,such as  ritualism. The key point to note is that their health hygience includes religious or spiritual practice.The spiritual element in  the strategy of health hygience of the Japanese people of Okinama set them apart from the general health hygience program devoid of spiritual dimension. Their health programme is praiseworthy as it is holistically comprehensive. The people of the world should emulate them. 

Accessible

 The Okinawa health hygience programme is not only accessible to the Okinawans but can also be universally applied by anyone who cares about his or her health, wellness and longevity. From Buddhist perspective, sound  health is not the sole biological property of the Japanese people of Okinawa. A Buddhist perceives sound health as empty of inherent existence  and thus can be conditioned and eventuated through the harmony of conditions conglomerated.  Health, wellness and longevity are not the self-natures or intrinsic natures confined merely to  the Okinawan people of Japan. It is the health hygience wisdom of the Okinawans who have discerned the contigent conditions of their health, wellness and longevity. Anyone, who applies the same health hygience strategy, can be similarly conditioned to engender health, wellness  and longevity. May I repeat: Sound health and longevity  are not the natural inheritances  or self-natures confined exclusively  to the Japanese people of Okinawa. If anyone is conscious about health hygience  and applies their health programme on the basis of Dependent Co-arising, a similar result will emerged. At this juncture, may I remind you of the teaching of the Buddha that if one frequently transgressed or transgresses the first item of the Five Precept of restraint from destructions of lives in one’s past lives as well as in one’s present life, sound health and longevity may not be assured. The  kammic fruit of killing other creatures is short life. No one can escape from the evil effect from one’s evil kammas. Gotama Buddha expounded the Dhamma from his supernormal knowledge (abhiññā) of directly perceiving the ceasing and arising of sentient beings according to their kammas. Any meditator or yogi who has developed deep mental concentration can perceive the phenomenon of rebirth in others. The knowledge of rebirth is not a superstition but a religious reality. Watch out that they are saints who are watching your activities without being aware by you. They can hear you from the distant. They can see through your hearts or read your minds. 

The Health programme is merely a phenomenon of conditionality governed by the Law of Dependent Co-arising (Paṭiccasamuppāda), Impermanence (Anicca)  and Insubstantiality (Anattā).The Buddha promulgates that nothing is substantial nor permanent. When wholesome conditions are conglomerated by the Law of Dependent Co-arising, a wholesome fruit  results. The phenomenon of good health, wellness and longevity is impermanent as it is alterable or mutable in dependence on conditions applied or unapplied and present or absent . Health, wellness and longevity are also not substantial as they embody no permanent  , immutable substances. Modern genetic engineering  reveals that genes can be modified by human will and efforts. Heredity does not predetermine life span as it was conceived formerly by heredity scientists. Modern genetic engineering has unveiled that that genes are not permanent substances which cannot be changed. This genetic discovery testifies and certifies the Buddhist Law of Impermanence (Anicca)  and Insubstantiality (Anattā). Health hygience practices are  variable conditions of lifestyle. They can help prolong lifespan. Health hygience is the  lifestyle of habitual practices which promotes the phenomena of health, wellness and longevity. Health hygience is dependently co-arisen from various supporting or contigent conditions provided or unprovided. The teaching of Gotama Buddha is not merely used to explain spiritual dimension of Man but also it can be used to explain the physical well-being of human beings. Dharma is comprehensive and all-inclusive.

Being Conditioned

Health, wellness and longevity are not permanent natures of any nationality or race. Health, wellness and longevity are phenomena which are empty of permanent, immutable self-natures or intrinsic natures. They can be improved or changed by altering the contigent conditions which govern their occurrences. Gotama Buddha promulgates that nothing in the world is eternal and immutable (that is insubstantial ). A phenomenon comes into being when all the necessary primary cause (hetu) and secondary conditions (paccayas)  are conglomerated into a wholeness or unity known as phenomenon(dhamma). Health is like any phenomenon which is holistic but not an  individual permanent substance.

The Okinawan people of Japan are wise enough to research, study and discern all the contigent or supporting conditions which give rise to the phenomena of  health, wellness and longevity. After having conglomerated all the positive or wholesome conditions, the resultant phenomenon is that the Okinawan people of Japan become the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world. Consequently, Okinawa has the highest density of the population of centenarians per 100,000 people  in the world. Centenarians are senior citizens who are 100 years old  or more. My father was a centenarian because he adopted a healthy lifestyle except smoking which did not seem to affect his health. Our family members were co-operative enough to prevent any bad news from reaching him so that he was never spiritually disturbed.  

Buddhist Psychology

 A meditative Buddhist is trained so that he would be able to  purify his  or her mind in all  times at all places when all sorts of stimuli assail him in mundane living. The expedient device or skillful means to purify the mind  is the application of four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna). This Buddhist mindfulness practice of meditation  purifies  the consciousness and silence the noisy mind. Mindfulness meditation reduces or removes stresses and strains of life. It is a powerful device of health hygience.

In terms of the  harmonious relationship, a Buddhist can even supplement the Okinawa Program through Buddhist culture from the perspective of  constructing and establishing harmonious relationships with others. A Buddhist practioner  enhances his health and wellness,  and prolongs his or her  longevity through Dhamma cultivation and practice in terms of wholesome, constructive, happy relationships with others. Relationships can be improved through non-transgression of the five moral injunctions of Gotama Buddha, that is, the Five Precepts (Pañcasīlas)  and the practice of the Ten Wholesome Course of Actions (Dasasīlas). The deontological ethics (duties and obligations) of the six reciprocal relations expounded in the Sigalovāda-sutta (DN) by the Buddha  are practices to maintain  mutual respect and harmonious reciprocal relationship. The tranquil and Insight meditation (Samatha-vipassanā-bhāvanā) will further invigorate the harmonious relationships through the practice of the four establishments of mindfulness. The absolute mindfulness and heedfulness supported by the wisdom of insight into the true nature of the five aggregates (pañcakkhandha)  will consummate the good relationships through the practice of four sublime or boundless virtues. These sublime or boundless virtues are the practice of lovingkindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity. The syncreticism of excellent physical and psychological or spiritual conditions will bring about  increased health, upgraded wellness and extended longevity. The Okinawa Program works well because the physical conditions synergize  with the psychological or spiritual conditions. The Buddhist principle of Dependent Co-arising brings about the synergy.

Conclusion

The phenomenon of success or failure is onditioned to occur. No phenomenon  is fatalistically or fortuitously  determined,  nor  uncaused. All worldly phenomena are conditioned except Nibbāna.

 Nāgārjuna in his Mūlamadhyamakārikā (MMK) expounds the Buddhist Doctrine of Conditionality or Emptiness  thus:

A thing is considered to be a phenomenon. To assert that  it is dependently arisen connotes that it is conditioned by various contigent factors or elements. In the Theravāda Abhidhamma, 24 conditional relations are mentioned.