Nourish the spirit, invigorate the mind, set aspirations, and cultivate virtue

Mental health preservation is a major method for longevity and health preservation. Its content is very rich and the methods are also diverse. Zhang Zhongjing tended to adopt the method of regulating the mind by nourishing the spirit and invigorating the will, and by setting aspirations and cultivating virtue. He believes that nourishing the mind and invigorating the will are the foundation of mental health preservation and the basis for setting aspirations and cultivating virtue. Regulating the mind and soothing the emotions can maintain the psychological balance of the human body, which is conducive to setting aspirations and cultivating virtue, keeping the spirit within, and enabling people to enjoy good health and a long life. Throughout his life, Zhang Zhongjing restrained his own desires and paid attention to eliminating jealousy. He was particularly outstanding when he served as the governor of Changsha. At that time, he acted impartially, with clean sleeves and no personal gains or losses. He regarded power, influence and money as if they were clear water, but devoted himself to studying medical books and practicing the virtue of saving lives and healing the wounded. Every day, he uses his spare time to treat the common people. He treats all the patients who come for medical treatment equally, regardless of their closeness or social status. For poor patients who have no money to buy medicine, he still offers his help from time to time. Because he often did this, it once aroused his wife's dissatisfaction. One day, she complained, "We didn't expect you to get promoted and become rich so that you could enjoy yourself. But you are so busy every day. Not only do your family keep you busy, but you also have to invest money. We are not so rich that we can't even use up all our money!" Look at your colleagues. None of them are as busy as you. But while others are getting promoted step by step, if you keep going like this, you won't even be able to hold onto your official position! Zhang Zhongjing smiled calmly and said, "This is just a trivial matter in life. There's no need to think too much about it." His colleagues were also puzzled by his approach. Many of them kindly advised him, saying, "As an official, one should act like an official and do the work of an official..." One should always strive for higher goals in life. If you are talented and do a good job in your official position, your future is immeasurable. Zhang Zhongjing, however, believed that the pursuit of medicine was also for the purpose of valuing and cherishing life. If a scholar does not value and cherish life but only focuses on external things, then even if he becomes an official, he will not be able to care for others, understand others, or care about others' hardships, let alone truly care for himself. Such an official position is merely a superficial honor. Not caring about others' hardships, racking one's brains for power, fame and fortune, or even disregarding one's own health and risking one's life for fame, fortune and power, is as dangerous as walking on thin ice or standing in a deep valley. It is truly not advisable. Everyone, upon hearing this, found it incomprehensible and began to discuss it vigorously. After many people talked about it, Zhang Zhongjing simply resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown to practice medicine. Since Zhang Zhongjing returned to his hometown to practice medicine, it aroused the dissatisfaction of a doctor not far from his home. It turned out that patients were all willing to go to Zhang Zhongjing's clinic for treatment because they saw that Zhang Zhongjing was not only highly skilled in medicine and could bring about miraculous cures, but also had a kind attitude and low charges. This made the doctor extremely jealous and angry. So he often spread malicious words to Zhang Zhongjing behind his back, saying things like: "This man failed to become an official outside and returned home to become a doctor. What diseases can he treat?" Look! When he treats patients, doesn't he just know how to ask this and that? Isn't it all about pleasing the patients with a soft voice and a smile? He is not a patient won by real skills. When these unpleasant words reached Zhang Zhongjing's ears, he just smiled. However, this doctor felt that doing so was still not satisfying. Sometimes, he would simply go to the front of Zhang Zhongjing's clinic to gossip and stir up trouble for no reason, causing some patients who came for his reputation to hesitate and linger in front of the clinic. Many people thought that the doctor had gone too far and suggested that Zhang Zhongjing seek justice from him or take him to court. They were all willing to testify in court for this matter. The servants of his family were also so angry that they often wanted to beat the doctor up, but all of this was dissuaded by Zhang Zhongjing. Zhang Zhongjing said, "Since I returned to my hometown to practice medicine, the number of patients coming to him for treatment has been decreasing day by day, which has affected his good reputation. It is understandable for him to get angry and curse. Cursing is just a way to vent his anger. Besides, he has never said anything excessive. We should be tolerant and understanding. We should not hold onto any reasonable matters and not let go of those who have done wrong. We should also respect them." Later, one time, the doctor fell into a deep sleep for several days due to illness. Just when his entire family was extremely anxious, Zhang Zhongjing rushed to his home. Without a word, he took his pulse, prescribed a prescription, gave him acupuncture, and personally took and decocted the medicine, feeding him the decoction mouthful by mouthful. Afterwards, Zhang Zhongjing visited him three times a day. When he learned that his family was short of food and vegetables recently, he asked his servants to bring some of their own food and vegetables to help them cook without rice... When the doctor regained consciousness and learned everything, he was so ashamed that tears streamed down his face. After he recovered from his illness, Zhang Zhongjing often sat down with him to have heart-to-heart talks, exchanging medical skills and suggesting that he make full use of his strengths to focus on acupuncture and combine it with massage. At the same time, he would also introduce patients in need of acupuncture, massage and manipulation to his clinic. After that, the number of patients of this fellow townsman doctor gradually increased, and the two thus became good friends in the same field. Throughout Zhang Zhongjing's life, there were countless such incidents, all of which were the result of his persistence in nurturing his spirit and aspiration, and his determination to cultivate virtue. Nourishing the spirit and invigorating the mind can keep the spirit and emotions from being disturbed by the outside world, maintaining optimism and joy. Modern medical research holds that a good mood is one of the most health-promoting forces within the human body. When a person is in a good mood, the central nervous system is excited and its command function is strengthened. The normal digestion, absorption, secretion and excretion adjustments in the human body will maintain a vigorous metabolism, thus making the person's mind sharp and energetic, and enhancing the body's immune function. Modern scientific research also holds that since human beings are organisms with inherent laws, a person's moral and ethical concepts must have a significant impact on their psychological state. People of high moral character, with their yearning for a better life and pursuit of their careers, always keep their spirits in a vigorous and upward state. They always have a healthy and noble mood towards people and things around them, and thus always gain great spiritual satisfaction. The ancients said, "Virtue brings blessings," which is exactly what it means. Doing more good deeds that benefit others and things will bring us spiritual pleasure, endless joy in life, and provide us with abundant energy and a strong body for the pursuit of our careers. On the contrary, if one is selfish and evil, harms others for personal gain, lacks clear life goals and noble moral sentiments, all these can become triggers for mental disorders and diseases of other organs.