Many of us are concerned about our well-being, and mainly focus on our physical health, as can be seen from the number health clubs and gyms everywhere you look. It is true that we should all be health-conscious due to the amount of chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis in our food supply and environment. For example, the moment we get step out our front doors, we might inhale dangerous air pollution. Although it is important to take care of our physical health, many of us overlook one of the most critical components of well-being, which is protecting ourselves against the inner pollution of our negative emotions. We can safeguard ourselves by first maintaining mindfulness so that we can immediately recognize any negative emotions that arise, such as anger, attachment, jealousy, pride, and malicious intent, all of which gradually eat away at our happiness and well-being. The next step is to apply an effective antidote to diminish the power of these afflictions. Unfortunately, many people fail to notice the hidden danger of toxic emotions which inflict tremendous pain, anxiety, and worry in our everyday lives. These poisons might look innocent at first, but as time goes by, we will doubtlessly see their ill-effects grow, like a cat transforming into tiger. In fact, Asian medicine explains the root cause of illnesses are the three poisons. Therefore, I sincerely request you all to be watchful for the presence of any such toxic emotions and try your level best to recognize and eliminate them. It is important to not only be health conscious when it comes to our physical well-being, but more importantly to raise our awareness of these inner poisons, which are destructive, dangerous, and harmful to our peace of mind and our successful journey to spiritual development.
我們大部分的人都很在乎自己的幸福安樂，尤其最關心的往往是身體健康與否，這點可以從健康俱樂部和健身房隨處可見而得到印證。由於我們每天都會從食物和環境中接觸到大量的化學物質，因此我們所有人都應該要保有健康意識。舉例來說，當我們踏出大門的那一刻，我們可能就會呼吸到危險的空氣污染。雖然把自己身體健康顧好很重要，但是，「保護自己遠離負面情緒的內在污染」的這件事，卻被許多人所忽略，儘管它是幸福生活不可或缺的一環。保護自己，首先我們可以從保持正念開始，當任何負面情緒升起時，我們可以立即將它們辨認出來，諸如憤怒、執著、嫉妒、驕傲和惡意等等。否則所有的這些負面情緒都會將我們的幸福安樂給蠶食殆盡。下一步，則是以有效的解藥，來減少這些煩惱的負面力量。不幸的是，許多人並沒有意識到負面情緒的隱患，而這將會帶給我們日常生活巨大的痛苦、焦慮和憂愁。這些毒素起初看似無害，但隨著時間流逝，我們必然會看到它們的負面影響逐漸增長，就像從小貓蛻變成老虎一樣。實際上，從亞洲醫學的觀點來看，造成疾病的根本原因就是貪嗔痴三毒。因此，我誠摯地要求大家，要小心避免任何此類的負面情緒存在，並且盡最大努力去辨識和消滅它們。很重要的是，不僅要關心身體的健康狀態，更重要的是，要提高我們對這些內在毒素的警覺心，因為這些內在毒素具有破壞性及危險性，並且對我們內在的平靜以及靈性的發展之道，都會造成危害。
苏曼迦旺
