相約在禪修 最美不過夕陽紅
騰福 騰禧 加拿大溫哥華 圖文由加拿大溫哥華藥師禪院提供他們是一對年邁的老夫婦，一年前因為74歲的妻子騰福患上抑鬱症，80歲的丈夫騰禧陪同她一起走進菩提。走進菩提後，夫婦倆紛紛收穫著身心的健康和快樂，並將這份收穫傳遞給了更多的有緣人。在絢麗的夕陽裡，他們就這樣一起詮釋著感恩的真諦，執手共剪一段幸福的時光……
2013年3月份，騰禧的太太騰福患上了嚴重的抑鬱症，那段時間裡她終日夜不能寐，心情抑鬱痛苦，大腦裡總是無法控制地像放電影般一幕幕地出現負面的景象。不僅如此她還常覺得全身無力，走路時兩腿像棉花一樣軟綿綿的，坐立難安，茶飯不香。看過醫生吃了6個月的藥以後，也沒見一絲好轉。那時候面對每日飽受著病苦折磨的太太，騰禧是看在眼裡疼在心上，除了整天在身邊照顧她之外，也只是束手無策，唯有默默地嘆息…… 然而天無絕人之路，一個偶然的機會，騰禧在超市拿到了一本《禪修與健康》雜誌，這本雜誌深深地吸引了他。抱著一線希望，回到家後他說服了太太去試一試禪修。就這樣2013年8月底，他陪着太太一起來到禪堂參加了菩提禪修的能量調理。緊接著又參加了9月份的菩提禪修健身班。沒想到才初次體驗禪修，他的太太就驚喜地發現自己的身體竟然漸漸地輕鬆了很多，胃口變得好起來, 睡眠也有了改善！為了繼續康復身體，他們又繼續參加了多個健身班和念佛班。兩個月後，太太已從嚴重憂鬱症中完全解脫了出來！過去她每晚只能睡1個小時，而現在每天卻能睡 6小時，飯也吃得香，不僅如此她的心情變得快樂開朗了許多，經常與旁人有說又有笑。看著太太一天天的變化，騰禧也開心不已！ 在太太生病時，騰禧把注意力都放在了她身上，也從來沒有心思顧及自己的健康。然而沒想到來陪太太禪修這一年多，除了太太的抑鬱症得到康復，通過「大光明」及走「八卦」，他的身體狀況竟然也得到了改善。十多年來，由於血液不通暢，騰禧一直都有手冰凍的毛病，尤其是在冬天經常生凍瘡。不僅如此，他的鼻子過敏超過十年，經常打噴嚏流鼻水。禪修後，他發現自己過去手冰凍和鼻子的過敏竟然全部都好了！更神奇的是原先他有一頭的銀白髮，自從禪修後竟然開始漸生出黑髮來！現在的他每天的禪修時間都在2－3個小時之間，精力也越來越充沛。 對於他們夫婦而言，菩提禪修就好像是一道溫暖的陽光照進他們的世界裡。它不僅讓太太騰福從嚴重抑鬱症的痛苦中解脫出來，不再飽受病苦的折磨，而且也讓騰禧品嚐到健康的喜悅。他們的生活因禪修的出現再次回歸到幸福快樂的彼岸。為此，他們內心對金菩提宗師充滿了深深的感恩！ 除了帶給他們健康，禪修也讓他們的晚年生活充滿了無限的幸福。怀揣一份感恩之心，如今騰禧與太太騰福每天都來到禪堂做義工。在做義工的過程裡他們受益良多，感受到一種前所未有的充實和快樂。在這裡，他們希望自己可以永遠成為感恩的傳遞者，將宗師給予他們的健康和快樂，傳遞給與更多的有緣人！
Sunlight
By Adrian Chang
I woke up in pain; tossed and turned till sleep overtook me once more. Dreams came one after another… My mind was restless and the slightest sound or movement roused me… It had been twenty years since my last night of undisturbed rest.
I Once Lost Hope
Over the years, I’d tried many kinds of sleeping pills, but they didn’t work. Each time, I woke up in the morning to a crippling migraine – a familiar and terrible visitor. Unfortunately, sleeping pills or no, the migraines were constant, even in spite of doctors’ prescriptions. As time passed, they had grown steadily worse.
When my condition was at its most severe, I suffered from two outbreaks a week. I’d take one or two strong painkillers and shut myself inside a completely darkened room. There, I’d just lie in bed – literally in agony – waiting for it to end. With my kids all grown up, I started thinking my time might be done: there seemed to be no point in continuing with the pain.
During one mild migraine episode, I was still able to read, and flipped through a copy of Meditation & Health magazine that I’d picked up a few days before: for obvious reasons, the stories of people overcoming illness spoke to me strongly. Also, an article featuring a meditation master, JinBodhi, raised my curiosity; there was an unnamable quality that radiated from his image – a beauty in his gentle expression. The article claimed that his teachings had helped many people. Quite suddenly, I became excited at the possibility of a new therapy.
Still, a moment of improbable hope can’t erase years of frustration – I reined in my thoughts and asked myself, “What good would meditation do me, when even the most advanced medicine offers no cure?” My doctor once said that mine was one of the worst migraine cases he’d ever encountered.
My father is a famous doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, often invited to give lectures in the US, but he was unable to cure me either. In his opinion, though not fatal, my migraines were unlikely to ever allow for a normal life. It may seem ironic that a famous doctor couldn’t cure his own daughter; nor could my Western-trained brother, a doctor of conventional medicine, who recommended new medications all the time. I appreciated his help, and yet it saddened me too, feeling I was a burden to so many people.
During a particularly bad episode, I thought again of the meditation master I’d read about and made up my mind to try his style of meditation. “This is my last chance,” I told myself – I was jaded and lost. So much time had passed, and it was the last hope I could muster: my horizon had darkened.
The Sunlight was Beautiful
I registered for the February, 2006 Bodhi Meditation and Fitness Retreat.
On the second day of the Retreat, I stopped taking my preventive medication. I’d tried abstaining before, but the results had always been horrible migraine recurrences of greater strength, frequency and longer duration.
The first and second days passed successfully, as did the third, but on the fourth day things look a bad turn: the pain started at 5am.
At first, I didn’t want to go to class; then, I decided that since I was there to meditate, maybe that was the best thing for me – maybe it would help. I went to the class.
While the students were practicing, I covered my eyes with a cloth to protect them from the light, and lay on the floor. Even so, it was torture – so much so that I had to fight the impulse to strike my head against the wall.
I was taken to a separate room, where I was treated with a form of meditative therapy. To this day, I’m unsure of how it worked, but the migraine eased during the treatment.
Just before the end of morning class, I was encouraged to remove the cloth from my head. I hesitated, knowing that the pain was likely to last another twenty-four hours, and that exposure to light would only add fuel to the flames. Nonetheless, I committed fully to this new possibility, and uncovered my head.
The moment I opened my eyes, I started to cry. For the first time light did not worsen the pain. The sunlight was beautiful!
From that moment to the last day of the twelve-day Retreat, I was filled with feelings of happiness that were new to me. Everyone commented on my easy laughter – after twenty years of struggle, I was laughing out loud.
Though a migraine hit on the tenth day of class, I was sure I could defeat it. I did, too – unexpectedly, the migraine was gone by noon without any special therapy or meditation. I had taken a pill-and-a-half of preventive medicine on the very first morning, and nothing more.
My Life is Bright Again
After the February Retreat, I took another risk – I decided to visit Hong Kong for family reasons.
I love it and I have a home there; however, because of the migraines, I was afraid to go – the hot and humid weather can instigate horrible episodes. Though my health had improved greatly by the end of the Bodhi Retreat, I was still worried about what might happen – I brought all the medicine I could in case things went badly.
During the month I spent there, I didn’t take a single pill. Well aware of how miserable migraines had made my life, my husband was highly sensitive to my state. He was amazed to see me so healthy, particularly without any medicine. It was very difficult for him to accept how much I credited my recovery to meditation, which is understandable – it is incredible that a twelve-day meditation retreat can make a crippling illness of twenty years suddenly manageable. Had I not lived this experience myself, I wouldn’t take it at face value. I am fully aware of how unbelievable it sounds.
My husband encouraged me to continue learning and practicing Bodhi Meditation, and I signed up for an April Retreat in Hong Kong. During the Retreat, I dealt with one migraine episode, but it resolved itself quickly.
I was told that outbreaks may still occur every once in a while: “Don’t worry about the occasional recurrence. As long as you keep practicing meditation, you will get healthier and healthier,” the meditation instructors said.
My life is now full of sunlight. Day and night, there’s a brilliance inside me. Everything has changed! I used to fear the light and was unable to stay in it for long; if I did, a migraine would strike. Even during the occasional episode, light simply isn’t my enemy anymore.
After witnessing the extent of my recovery, my brother invited me to Hawaii for a vacation in July of 2006, where I enjoyed sun and sand without worry for the first time in ages. In my mid-fifties then, it was as though I was returning to the health and energy of my youth, both physically and mentally.
For that, I will always be grateful.
Follow up
Two years after Winnie embarked on her Bodhi path at Vancouver Center, she moved to Hong Kong. In November of 2008, she started to organize public drop-in meditation sessions. Many of the attending students also took Bodhi classes in Taiwan.
By July of 2009, the number of students was increasing monthly. Winnie was a key member of the team that facilitated the development of Hong Kong Center.
The inaugural Bodhi Meditation and Fitness Retreat was held in March of 2010. As one of the meditation instructors, Winnie has witnessed the rapid growth of the Center. The first class had less than twenty students, and now a class accommodates over two hundred.
In April of 2011, Winnie was interviewed during a visit to Vancouver and joyfully shared countless stories of students who have reaped radical benefits from the Bodhi path.
“The Retreats have brought so much health and happiness to students. It’s amazing to see it through an instructor’s eyes.”
Many of the Hong Kong Center’s students are from out of town, and Winnie and the other teachers make sure to meet them at the train or bus station and escort them to the Center. She not only teaches classes but also takes care of visiting meditators outside of class. She loves every student and expresses that love in the details of daily contact. Indeed, her students have all become her good friends as evidenced by the holiday greetings and constant outpouring of gratitude that she receives.
“I’ve learned a lot as a Bodhi student, however I’ve learnt more as a Bodhi instructor. From my students, I’ve learned sincerity and respect, and their faith strengthens mine,” she said, smiling.
A new Center is set to open this year in Hong Kong, and it’s keeping Winnie busy with joyous purpose.
相約在禪修 最美不過夕陽紅
騰福 騰禧 加拿大溫哥華 圖文由加拿大溫哥華藥師禪院提供他們是一對年邁的老夫婦，一年前因為74歲的妻子騰福患上抑鬱症，80歲的丈夫騰禧陪同她一起走進菩提。走進菩提後，夫婦倆紛紛收穫著身心的健康和快樂，並將這份收穫傳遞給了更多的有緣人。在絢麗的夕陽裡，他們就這樣一起詮釋著感恩的真諦，執手共剪一段幸福的時光……
2013年3月份，騰禧的太太騰福患上了嚴重的抑鬱症，那段時間裡她終日夜不能寐，心情抑鬱痛苦，大腦裡總是無法控制地像放電影般一幕幕地出現負面的景象。不僅如此她還常覺得全身無力，走路時兩腿像棉花一樣軟綿綿的，坐立難安，茶飯不香。看過醫生吃了6個月的藥以後，也沒見一絲好轉。那時候面對每日飽受著病苦折磨的太太，騰禧是看在眼裡疼在心上，除了整天在身邊照顧她之外，也只是束手無策，唯有默默地嘆息…… 然而天無絕人之路，一個偶然的機會，騰禧在超市拿到了一本《禪修與健康》雜誌，這本雜誌深深地吸引了他。抱著一線希望，回到家後他說服了太太去試一試禪修。就這樣2013年8月底，他陪着太太一起來到禪堂參加了菩提禪修的能量調理。緊接著又參加了9月份的菩提禪修健身班。沒想到才初次體驗禪修，他的太太就驚喜地發現自己的身體竟然漸漸地輕鬆了很多，胃口變得好起來, 睡眠也有了改善！為了繼續康復身體，他們又繼續參加了多個健身班和念佛班。兩個月後，太太已從嚴重憂鬱症中完全解脫了出來！過去她每晚只能睡1個小時，而現在每天卻能睡 6小時，飯也吃得香，不僅如此她的心情變得快樂開朗了許多，經常與旁人有說又有笑。看著太太一天天的變化，騰禧也開心不已！ 在太太生病時，騰禧把注意力都放在了她身上，也從來沒有心思顧及自己的健康。然而沒想到來陪太太禪修這一年多，除了太太的抑鬱症得到康復，通過「大光明」及走「八卦」，他的身體狀況竟然也得到了改善。十多年來，由於血液不通暢，騰禧一直都有手冰凍的毛病，尤其是在冬天經常生凍瘡。不僅如此，他的鼻子過敏超過十年，經常打噴嚏流鼻水。禪修後，他發現自己過去手冰凍和鼻子的過敏竟然全部都好了！更神奇的是原先他有一頭的銀白髮，自從禪修後竟然開始漸生出黑髮來！現在的他每天的禪修時間都在2－3個小時之間，精力也越來越充沛。 對於他們夫婦而言，菩提禪修就好像是一道溫暖的陽光照進他們的世界裡。它不僅讓太太騰福從嚴重抑鬱症的痛苦中解脫出來，不再飽受病苦的折磨，而且也讓騰禧品嚐到健康的喜悅。他們的生活因禪修的出現再次回歸到幸福快樂的彼岸。為此，他們內心對金菩提宗師充滿了深深的感恩！ 除了帶給他們健康，禪修也讓他們的晚年生活充滿了無限的幸福。怀揣一份感恩之心，如今騰禧與太太騰福每天都來到禪堂做義工。在做義工的過程裡他們受益良多，感受到一種前所未有的充實和快樂。在這裡，他們希望自己可以永遠成為感恩的傳遞者，將宗師給予他們的健康和快樂，傳遞給與更多的有緣人！
