My experience.

[Guest guest]

Acupuncture probably saved my life. I was getting psychological

counseling for excessive stress. This, along with medication, helped

a great deal. I hit a wall, however, I had tried acupuncture a couple

of times with mixed results. Then I came across a little Asian man

(probably 70ish) who had a foreign MD. He had a small practice in San

Jose, CA. He was treating little old ladies.

 

He was a wizard. Not only could he spot the problem in an instant,

but he had perfect technique. In his case it helped me a great deal

that this was electro-acupuncture.

 

He told me that amongst other things, principally my stomach was

blocked. After several sessions, I would wake up with a lot of pain

in my stomach. He told me to see a gastroenterologist. I did. It

appears that I probably had severe gastritis for many years and that

this consisted of my stomach folding over an ulcer(s). Now I could

heal with acid blockers.

 

It goes much deep than that. I think that there is an irrational

history in the West to allocate neurological function under the

umbrella of religion. This has to do with centuries of religious

domination of Western society and interference with the development

of Western science. Indeed, Rene Descartes had to strike a deal with

the church over 400 years ago in order to be allowed to study

cadavers to develop an understanding of the human condition. The deal

was his putting forward the concept of " duality " which states that

people are part physical and part spiritual and that these are

distinctly different parts. Modern psychiatrists and neurobiologists

try to fight the blocked mindset which this created and has been

largely maintained to this day.

 

My guess is that acupuncture reflects the empirical observation of

the stimulation of neurological and hormonal flow in the brain and

body. The NIH studying this is great, but in too little and terribly

belated a fashion.

 

I was recently thrown own of a religious Internet discussion group

for suggesting that much of what we experience as consciousness,

healing and enlightenment is biological in nature and that

acupuncture and massage were a way to such healing.

 

You are more expert than me, of course. I gather that through proper

stimulation of the meridians and, in the case of electro-acupuncture,

running of energy in the correct pathways coerces the mind and body

back to its balanced state. I still get treatment (I had a mess of

stress-related problems and had to travel outside of San Jose for the

last two years), but I thank God for properly practiced acupuncture.