Correct conduct.

Daily conduct

Daily conduct includes activities which prolong the lifespan, those associated with mundane human customs, and those asso-ciated with Buddhism. First those wishing to live a long and prosperous life should take supreme medicines such as chebulic myrobalan, frankin-cense, and precious medicines, compounded of diamond, beryl, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Protective cords blessed by realized tantric adepts should also be worn around the neck.

Negativity of body, speech and mind including dangerous pursuits, should be abandoned and there are certain rules of conduct to be observed in relation to sleep. Insomniacs who are subject to the harsh attributes of excessive wind should sleep at will. Those who have been unable to sleep at night should miss breakfast and recuperate by making up half the period of missed sleep. Those who are subject to drunken intoxication, depression, exhaustion, old age, fear or the shortness of the night in summer are weakened, and subjected to an excess of wind, for which reasons they should sleep a little during the daytime. For healthy persons, however, daytime sleep is counter-indicative because it increases phlegm, which may cause swelling, oedemata, headaches, colds and contagious fevers. In cases of excessive drowsiness it is helpful to take an emeticto fast or engage in sexual intercourse. In cases of insomnia the patient should be given warm milk, curd, wine or meat broth; the head should be massaged with sesame butter and the ears lightly waxed with oil.

Seasonal conduct

Seasonal conduct. Each year is said to consist of the following six seasons, each lasting two months: early winter, late winter, spring, dry summer, wet summer, and autumn. At the mid-summer and mid-winter solstices, the sun changes direction moving southwards as the days become longer and northwards as the days become shorter. Also eighteen days after the vernal equinox, the period of thunder begins and this is said to cease eighteen days after the autumnal equinox.

Each season has conditions to which human behaviour or conduct should adapt. In early winter, when severe cold weather occurs and especially in late winter when the weather becomes even colder the organism loses strength and needs a nourishing diet in which sweet sour and salty food should prevail. It is helpful to massage the body with sesame oil, to drink milk or broth made of good quality meat, to eat rich oily foods or sweet molasses, and to drink wine. One should also wear furhide clothing and high boots that retain warmth, and keep warm on the second storey of a heated house. In springtime, through the warming influence of the sun, the phlegm which had concentrated in the internal organism during the winter begins to rise, and may cause indigestion. Hence, one should partake of foods with bitter, pungent and astringent taste. It is healthy to eat aged barley, roasted meat of animals from arid regions and honey; while one should drink hot boiled water and ginger decoctions. Physical exercise, massage and rubbing of the body with pea flour will also promote the healthy condition of phlegm; and it is desirable to stay under shady trees in a fragrant garden or sylvan grove.

During the dry summer season when the hot sun reduces bodily vigour, one should eat sweet, oily, light and cooling foods, such as honey, rice and beef, while rejecting salty, hot and sour things. One should avoid direct sunlight and take up bathing in cool water, drink wine only when mixed with water, and wear fine silk or cotton, live in a cool, clean house, and occasionally enjoy cool shady breezes.

During the wet summer season, the wind, dampness, and coolness harm the body's inner warmth. One should partake of sweet, sour and salty foods conducive to the regeneration of bodily heat, such as fresh buttermilk, mutton, strong wine prepared from grains grown in arid regions, and one should avoid the cold by staying on the warm rooftop of a house.

In autumn, the bile which had accumulated during the summer season begins to rise. Consequently, one should partake of sweet, bitter and astringent foods, wear clothes scented with camphor and white sandalwood, and frequent fragrant meadows.

Sexual conduct

Rules of conduct also apply to sexual intercourse - one should not copulate with animals or with women who are married, unpleasant, frail, emaciated, pregnant or menstruating. In intimate relations one should know that in winter when sexual desire increases the quantity of sperm in the adult male, there are no restrictions on the number of coituses; in spring and autumn intercourse is allowed every two days; and in summer, once a fortnight. If these rules are not followed the sensory organs become weak and dizziness develops, along with other unhealthy symptoms.

Those of adult maturity who wish for long life should also perform regular oil massage and ablution which slow down aging and increase vigour. The vigorous massage of the body with pea flour counteracts phlegm diseases and obesity, gives lustre to skin, and strengthens the limbs. Regular ablutions increase sexual potency, strengthen the organism, improve skin complexion, eliminate dirt, perspiration, and bad odour. However, those suffering from feverish diarrhoea, abdominal spasm, common cold, indigestion, or disorders of olfactory and visual functions, and also those who have just eaten, are recommended to avoid washing entirely. Running eyes should be treated with eye drops of yellow barberry once a week throughout the winter season or longer.

Daily conduct associated with mundane doctrines, includes virtuous and humani-tarian actions which benefit society. One should be impartial, keep one's word, refrain from misbehaviour, speak out thoughtfully, look after the elderly and relatives, and live in harmony with friends, and neighbours. One should work diligently, withouthumiliating inferiors or envying superiors and without relying on evil-doers.

Regarding conduct for Buddhist practitioners: teachings should be requested from an ordained monk a white-robed mantrin, or a realized yogin. One should avoid those who disparage or wrongly interpret the doctrine, including those with a tartar-like mentality who disrespect the sacred texts and willfully destroy sacred images or shrines. Moreover, one should completely refrain from the ten non-virtuous actions of body, speech and mind u; . In keeping with bodhisattva conduct, one should assist those afflicted by sorrow and mental suffering invalids, destitute beggars, and all living creatures, especially one's enemies.

Occasional conduct indicates that one should avoid suppression of natural functions. Suppression of the pangs of hun-ger will weaken the organism, causing vertigo. The condition will be alleviated if the patient is gradually given light, oily and warm food in small quantities.

Suppression of thirst causes dryness in the mouth, vertigo, cardiac ailments, deliri-ousness, and amnesia. The condition improves when the patient is given refreshing food and drink. Suppression of the urge to vomit causes loss of appetite, uncomfortable breathing, anemia or morbid pallor, erysipelas, coughing, and sight disorders. The patient is advised to fast, and to inhale the fumes of sandalwood and aloeswood, or to gargle using a decoction of these medicines. Suppression of sneezing causes dullness of senses headaches, rigidity of the cervical muscles, and lockjaw. The recommended antidotes are fumigation, nasal medications, and gazing at the sun.

The suppression of yawning causes similar disorders and is alleviated by those remedies which subdue ailments associated with wind. Suppression of breathlessness following energetic activity may lead to internal tumours, heart disorders, deliriousness and fainting or amnesia. The condition is alleviated by rest and therapies which remove excessive wind. Suppression of sleep causes yawning, general debility, weariness, heaviness in the head, dimness in the eyes and indigestion. The remedy is to drink broth and wine, or to have a massage and fall asleep.

Suppression of the urge to cough out expectoration leads to its accumulation in the organism, to uncomfortable breathing, loss of weight, heart ailments, hiccup, and loss of appetite. Expectorant medicines or compounds of ginger and pepper with molasses are recommended. Suppression of salivation leads to pains in the heart, headaches, excessive nasal mucus, vertigo and loss of appetite. The condition is alleviated by drinking wine, sleeping and conversing with an agreeable friend.

Suppression of intestinal gases impedes the natural movement of the bowels, causing swelling, constipation, colic, dimness of sight decrease of bodily heat and heart disorders. Suppression of defecation results in the vomiting of impurities, cranial pains, and cramp of the limbs. Suppression of urination leads to urolithiasis, infection of the urethral area and genitals. Recommended treatments for such conditions include mild enemata, submersion in waters from hot springs or medicinal sources, as well as massage, compress and medicinal butter.

Lastly, suppression of the ejaculation of semen causes spermatorrhea, pain of the genitalia, retention of urine, urolithiasis, impotence, and other forms of infertility. The condition is alleviated by sexual intercourse, as well as by enemata and fomentation, and the consumption of sesame oil, milk, chicken and good wine.

Proper life-sustaining diet.

To live a long and sound life, one should have some knowledge of dietetics, dietary restrictions concerning poisoning and incompatability, and moderation in the quantity of food intake. Overeating, under-nourishment, and inadequate diet cause illness, and shorten life-span. There are two aspects - knowledge of food and knowledge of drink.

All food products are divided into five categories: grains, meat sils and fats, aromatic herbs or vegetables, and assorted cooked dishes.

Grains include those which develop bristling awns and those which are leguminous or podded. The former include rice, millet, Chinese buckwheat, wheat and barley, and the latter comprise peas, Himalayan beans and red beans, Chinese broadbeans, and lentils. Grains are supplemented by sesame, linseed and polygonum.

In general, grains with bristling awns are of cool nature, nutritious, conducive to virility, and capable of curing disorders of wind and of producing an excess imbalance of phlegm. Rice, mild and light in potency, helps against diarrhoea and vomiting. Millet, heavy in potency, helps to heal wounds and fractured bones. Common barley replen-ishes physical vigour, and increases the amount of faeces.

Peas and Himalayan beans among leguminous grains are light and cooling in nature. They help to stop bleeding and vomiting and cure disorders of phlegm combined with fever. Chinese broadbeans are a remedy for coughing, dyspnaea or breathlessness, haemorrhoids, and seminal lithiasis. They increase blood and bile. Himalayan beans cure diseases of wind, increasing the power of phlegm, bile and semen. Lentil is helpful against erysipelas, podagra, and blood disorders.

Black and white sesame seeds are heavy and warming, hence they increase virility, and cure diseases of wind. Linseed is bitter-sweet, oily and helpful for disorders of wind. All varieties of buckwheat are cool, light, and capable of curing wounds, but increase all the three humours.

Meat. Animals are divided into eight groups: gallinaceous birds which dig for food with their claws; birds which dig for food with their beaks; small game animals; big-game animals; predatory wild beasts, birds of prey; domestic animals which are actually a supplement to the eight groups; underground animals; and aquatic creatures. The first three groups of animals inhabit dry areas, while the last two live in dampness, and the others may dwell anywhere. The meat of animals from dry areas is cooling, and owing to its light and rough potency, reduces heat in conjunction with the disorders of wind and phlegm. The meat of creatures from damp or wet regions is oily, heavy and warm. It is helpful against disorders of the stomach, lumbar region, and cold disorders of wind. The meat of animals who live in zones which are both dry and damp possess both warm and cold potencies.

Mutton, for example, is oily, warm, and therefore easily digested. It increases physical vigour helps against disorders of wind and phlegm and stimulates the appetite. Goat meat is heavy cool helps against venereal diseases, smallpox, and burns. Beef is oily and cool and it therefore reduces the heat in conjunction with disorders of wind. Meat of the horse - asiatic wild ass donkey and mule interrupts festering sores and alleviates cold diseases of the kidneys and diseases of serum. Pork is cooling, light and a remedy for ulcers. Buffalo meat improves sleep and produces muscle tissue. Yak meat is oily, warm, relieves cold disorders, and increases blood and bile. Poultry and sparrow flesh increases the amount of semen, while healing ulcers and wounds. Peacock flesh cures eye diseases and loss of voice, while cheese stimulate the appetite, produce dry faeces, and alleviate disorders of phlegm. The buttery sediment or residue from a milk churn counteracts disorders of phlegm and wind.

Oil. Sesame oil is sharp and warm in nature. It cures leanness and obesity, as well as healing disorders of phlegm and wind. Mustard oil depresses wind and generates phlegm and bile. Bone marrow also depresses wind, while invigorating semen and producing phlegm. Fat counteracts ailments of the bones and joints, as well as burns - disorders of wind and diseases of the brain, ears and womb.

By constantly consuming various oils, digestion is stimulated, the internal humours are cleansed, complexion is improved, physical vigour and the senses are strengthened and the lifespan may be prolonged up to one hundred years.

Aromatic herbs and vegetables may grow either in dry or damp places. In the first case they are light and warm in their potencies. In the second case, they are heavy and cool. According to these characteristics, they are used to counteract diseases of cold or heat. Vegetables and herbs may be consumed raw or cooked. Onion improves sleep, stimulates the appetite and cures disorders of phlegm and wind. Garlic is heavy and cool. It counteracts diseases of animalcules and heat in association with wind. New radish is light and warm, improving the digestion. Old radish which is heavy and cool produces phlegm. New and old turnip act respectively in the same way and also protect against poisoning. Rhubarb leaves stimulate the appetite and cure disorders of phlegm. It should be remembered that all greens cause obstruction of the channels and suppress the potencies of medicines.

Assorted Cooked Dishes benefit those who are thirsty or emaciated, while improving digestion, bringing the bodily constituents into balance and softening the channels. Rice dishes are particularly nutritious. Patients are recommended to eat boiled rice, starting with thin gruel and gradually changing to thicker puddings and porridges until dry boiled rice can be digested. Rice puddings increase heat but also alleviate constipation. Thick rice porridge increases the appetite, stops diarrhea and relieves thirst. Savoury rice, which is boiled with peppers and other spices is easily assimilated, but difficult to digest if boiled in milk or meat broth. Parched rice stops diarrhea and helps fractured bones to mend. Immature grain soup alleviates constipation. Cold barley dough however difficult to assimilate strengthens the body. Cooked barley is of course lighter and easier to digest.

Recommends that one adhere to a diet that is appropriate to the season of year.

All the seasonal recommendations would be adjusted depending on the persons humoral makeup and variations in the particular season. If one is young, in good health, with good digestion, then one should be able to eat improperly once and a while. Food in general should be eaten cooked and warm. Most foods should be eaten fresh. Left over foods are considered stale after 24 hours, even if refrigerated.

Back to menu tree