A healthy spiritual diet is as important as healthy food diet since mind and body are one.
Depression leads to a multitude of somatic complaints. Physical illness leads to depression. The joy of the Law and having the same faith and practice as Nichiren is highly salutary.
Indeed, indeed Mark. Nowhere is the interconnectedness of life more evident than in the example you have chosen. I defer to your greater medical knowledge and experience but I take an interest in such things and try to seek out scholarly articals based on sound research. What i note over the last couple of years, is several studies making a link between depression and inflammation and also several making links with the health and diversity of an induvidual's microbiome, particularly in relation to gut flora. The latter seems to have a wider role in cognitive function amd mood more generally. I can't help noting thay oneness of mind and body and the oneness of life and its enviroment are reflected quite clearly in these links. Numerous other studies have noted the links between mood and social engagement.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Nichiren's teachings on faith & practice have much to add in all these areas and indeed, I witnessed remarkable changes amd transformations in people through the simple act of chanting with faith, in line with what Nichiren taught.
Would I be here without having been able to do this? No. Salutary indeed...