釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 4.84

4.84

Furthermore, practitioners should know that contracting illness has three differences: first, illness due to the increase or decrease of the four great elements, as explained before; second, contracting illness caused by ghosts and spirits, or provoked by the workings of Māra; third, illness contracted as karmic retribution. For illnesses such as these, if treated as soon as they are contracted, recovery is very easy; if a long time passes, the illness becomes established and the body debilitated, making cure difficult.