THE MIND AS THE FOUNDATION OF HEALING: FROM MINDFULNESS TO FASTING FOR LIGHT

Dear friends and practitioners,

When looking into the roots of all suffering or happiness, the Buddha and wise masters across generations have always pointed to a single core: the Mind.

Precepts, rules, or natural healing methods are ultimately not heavy chains that bind us, but skillful means to nurture awareness. When the mind is firmly anchored in the present moment—supported by Right Mindfulness—every action of body and speech naturally becomes pure and harmonious with the universal order.

1. Transcending Attachment to Forms

Worldly minds easily get caught in external forms: anxieties about illness, attachments to excessive consumption, or rigid dogmas regarding medical concepts. True healing requires us to let go of such attachments.

When facing illness or the fluctuations of life, instead of panicking or clinging to negative external conditions, we turn our gaze inward. As a natural law: If in this very moment our mind is truly peaceful and awake, we have no problems left to fear.

2. Dry Fasting & Fasting for Light: Natural Laws & Human Wisdom

Bringing this spirit of awareness into the natural healing practices of Rừng Gọi, the practice of fasting (Fasting for Light / Fasting Day) — especially Dry Fasting — is a return to timeless natural laws:

• The Instinct of All Living Beings: Observing nature, when an animal in the forest is injured or sick, its first instinct is not to search for food, but to retreat into quiet solitude and abstain completely from food and water (dry fasting), channeling its entire life force into self-repair. Fasting is an innate healing mechanism hardwired into the genetic code of all creatures.

• The Wisdom of Human Traditions: Human history across millennia records the immense power of abstinence. In Islamic tradition, Ramadan is a period where millions abstain entirely from food and water from sunrise to sunset to purify body and mind, nurturing compassion and self-mastery. Many ancient cultures and spiritual traditions have always viewed dry fasting as a sacred path to commune with the energy of Earth and Sky.

• Activating the Inner Physician: At Rừng Gọi, scientific dry fasting allows the digestive system to rest completely, triggering the deepest cellular self-cleaning mechanism known as Autophagy (awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine). The body automatically clears out debris, damaged cells, and regenerates vitality from its core.

3. Living Mindfully in Every Breath

Every Fasting Day and every moment of stillness deep within the forest serves as a gentle reminder: We do not need to search for healing in distant places. The ultimate treasure of health and happiness resides right here, within this very body and mind.

When the mind is undisturbed by cravings or anxiety, every cell, every water molecule, and our very DNA are naturally bathed in the purest energy of awakening. This is the shortest path to return body and mind to the tranquil home of Mother Nature.

May all beings remain steadfast in mindfulness, embracing each day as an awakened flower, and each breath and period of fasting as an opportunity for complete transformation and renewal.

Warmly,

Bhikkhu Tuệ Đức (Ppaññāguṇa) & The Rừng Gọi Community