子夏和曾子都是孔子的学生。有一天，两个人在街上碰见。曾子上下打量着子夏，问：“你一向疾病缠身，骨瘦嶙峋，怎么最近胖了，精神状态也好啦？”子夏得意地说：“我最近打了一个胜仗，心情愉快，所以发胖了。”

“此话怎讲？”曾子不解地问。“我在书房里读书，当读了尧禹汤的道德仁义后，十分赞赏和羡慕，总是想做一个信守善道的人；可是走到街上看见世俗的荣华富贵，禁不起物欲的引诱，往往又想做一个待价而沽的哲人。这两种念头，日夜在我脑子里打架，一时也得不到平息。所以，我以前茶不思饭不想，人也瘦了，落了一身病。”

“那现在谁战胜了？”“先人的仁义道德战胜了。所以你看，”子夏摸着自己的双下巴，“我就发福了！”

其实，从古至今很多先贤圣人都能够认识到，人的私欲是一种物质，而且是一种非常不好的物质。它是导致人体疾病的最大因素。人越追求的时候，这种物质在体内积存的越多，因而人也就越容易得病。一个人如果能够战胜自己的各种私心杂念；看淡世俗的荣华富贵；不受物欲的诱惑；在各种利益面前能够做到随其自然，那么他就是顺应了宇宙规律。这时，人的境界提高了，思想升华了，那么他的物质身体也要随之而升华、而改变，达到无病或很少得病的状态。


Zixia and Zengzi were both students of Confucius. One day, they met each other on the street. Zengzi carefully looked Zixia over from head to toe, and then asked, "In the past you had many illnesses and were always thin and weak. You seem to have gained weight and look energetic too." Zixia happily said, "I have recently won a battle, so I feel very happy and have gained weight as a result."


Not understanding him Zengshi asked, "What do you mean?" Zixiao replied, "One day I was reading in my study books about Yao (2353 - 2234 BC) , Yu (21st century BC) and Tang (15th century BC). After reading their viewpoints on morality, friendship and loyalty, I found I appreciated their views and wanted to be a good person. However, when I walked down the street and saw so many tantalizing things and observed other people living in luxury, my desire for material things was stimulated and I wanted to make more money. These two opposing thoughts constantly fought inside my mind and I could not find any peace. I was not able to eat or rest well, lost weight and incurred many illnesses.


"Who won the battle?" Zengshi inquired. Zixiao quickly answered, "Yao, Yu and Tang's views on morality, friendship and loyalty won. As you can now see, I have gained weight."


Actually, from ancient times to today, there were many sages of virtue who realized that human beings' selfish desires are a form of material substance, a substance that is impure. This impure substance is a contributing cause to human illness. When human beings pursue personal gain, impurities continually accumulate in the body and cause illness. If a person can overcome selfishness and other bad thoughts, look lightly on money and material things, resist human temptation, and do things naturally instead of for personal gain, one will assimilate to the characteristics of the universe. One's realm and mind will elevate and the material of the body will elevate as well. One will be able reach a state free of illness or with few illnesses.