..续本文上一页rmful to their body. Modern medical research shows that the amount of sleep is closely related to a person”s life expectancy. David Hayward, an American heart expert, conducted a study of this topic by issuing eight hundred thousand copies of a questionnaire to men and women between the ages of forty and eighty. Two years later, through analysis and comparison, he found that oversleeping can cause sudden heart attack or stroke. Therefore, more than eight hours of sleep a day is actually not conducive to good health.

　　If we want to be healthy, we should have an adequate amount of sleep. In Buddhism, the early hours of the night and the early hours of the morning are generally used for practicing Dharma, and only the middle of the night is for sleeping. Most people living in cities, however, behave almost completely opposite to this: they are very active during the early and middle parts of the night, go to sleep late at night, and only wake up at nine or ten o”clock in the morning. This reversed order of sleep is especially bad for your health.

　　In fact, the best time to sleep is from 10 pm to 5 am. If you sleep well during this period, not only do you get enough rest, but it is also conducive for your practice. Why

　　 Because the movement of the sun and the moon have a certain relationship with the movement of the winds in the channels (qimai). If you reverse your day- and night-lives for a long time, and are overworked, this will inevitably undermine the qimai. If you can put aside all your work and stress before the middle of the night, sleep without any worries, and try to get up early in the morning, your health will benefit tremendously. However, it is quite difficult for people in cities to achieve this nowadays.

　　4. Adjusting your breathing

　　Appropriate adjustment of your breathing can cure illnesses, strengthen your body, and prolong life. Tibetan Buddhism has many methods using the breath , for example, visualizing a word (Tibetan AH or SHE), then visualizing it, following your out breath slowly, and then inhaling again. Practicing this repeatedly is very good for your physical health. An especially good time to do this is when you wake up in the morning: exhale slowly from your nostrils, and then slowly inhale, or repeatedly say “ha ha” to exhale the stale air. Doing this frequently is very beneficial for the regulation of body and mind. In the Yellow Emperor”s Inner Canon it says: “When useful qi is inside our body，harmful interferences have no opportunities.” Indeed, if the mind is settled, useful qi is stored inside our body, and, with the qimai operating normally, this will then support the body”s immune system, and diseases will not have a chance to get a hold.

　　5. Balancing your body

　　Balancing your body refers to correct body posture. Either meditation or exercise can promote this. People often say “life is an exercise,” but Buddhists do not think this, because if you only have “movement” without “stillness,” you will not necessarily live longer. In fact, silent meditation, calming the mind, and concentration can also greatly promote the innate potential of the mind and body. An example of this is the old monk Xu Yun, and Master Qing Ding, who, despite having a simple life, and even spending much of it in rough and inhospitable conditions, enjoyed a long life thanks to frequently performing silent sitting meditation. Therefore, only by integrating “movement” and “silent stillness” can we be considered to have harnessed Buddhist ways of prolonging life.

　　Of all such exercises, prostrations are the best method. Prostrations involve both the mind and body. Not only do they have incredible virtue, but if you can perform one hundred prostrations a day, your body will gradually become fit, and aging will be slowed down …

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