Chronic Fatigue and possible Gluten Sensitivity

[Guest guest]

> of what TCM says about it. I find out more

> and more all the time as do most PWC's (I'll adopt

> Victoria's term) who do the research.

 

I can't take credit for the term. It's been in widespread use in the

literature on CFS/ CFIDS since way before I was diagnosed.

 

" People with (fill-in-the-blank) " frequently is abbreviated as PW

(initial(s)). It saves a lot of typing and space.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

> 2. I see no reason why each of us cannot add our own

> experience and understanding to the monolithic CM

> literature and system, and participate in its

> /unfolding/, /self-recognition/ and advancement.

 

Hugo, you just summed up one of the biggest strengths of TCM. Its

ability to evolve and grow to meet new challenges while remaining

true to foundations that work. This is quite a balancing act, and

for the most part the Chinese have pulled it off beautifully

throughout the ages. Honor and respect the old while allowing for

expansion.

 

In general, TCM and the Chinese are not paradigm-rigid. Individual

Chinese can be as paradigm-rigid as the paradigm-rigid individuals of

any race, country, etc., but overall, this has not been the

predominate influence on TCM. At least not for long.

 

TCM is concerned with what is happening as opposed to what should be

happening according to some model. When they do encounter something

that doesn't fit the current model, instead of chucking the model

(like true believers in search of one holy grail), they expand the

model to be able to account for the situations that don't fit. The

classic example being the 6 Stages of Cold-Induced Illnesses. As the

Chinese started to suffer from infectious illnesses that the 6 Stages

could not explain and manage, instead of tossing the 6 Stages model,

they added a Virulent Heat model. Which was wise because some

infectious illnesses still are better explained and respond better to

the 6 Stages of Cold-Induced Illnesses model than to the Virulent

Heat model.

 

An analogy in the West is what happened once antibodies (and other

anti-drugs) became the " true " " magic bullet " model of how to treat

illness. Western medicine forgot about and no longer practiced many

of the basic, simple, and inexpensive healing techniques that had

helped so much in the past. They were at best " old-fashioned and not

important " to " superstition " at worst. The irony is that some of the

basic, simple, and inexpensive healing techiques often are the only

things that bring relief to some sufferers of some medical

conditions, and the " magic bullet " approach makes them sicker.

 

> 3. If you find there to be a limitation to CM, it is

> important to express it and discuss it rather than

> toss it out as an aside. If we toss that sort of

> comment off as an aside, it seems to me that we

> devalue the absolutely tremendous depth of

> understanding and

> cultural/emotional/physical/mental/spiritual cohesion

> which CM represents.

 

Which is a big part of the reason why TCM has been able to evolve,

grow, and remain so viable. The ability of so many practitioners of

TCM to recognize limitations and to seek solutions that do work. If

one is in the rigid framework of believing one has THE One True

answer, one is not going to be searching for something that does

work. One does not seek to improve that which one believes is already

perfect. Or even the only thing there is that could possibly help.

 

> Every TCM doctor (including those trained in western

> med) I've asked has stated that it is beneficial to

> learn both, but that CM should be learned first,

> because the thinking is so subtle and easily overcome

> by the brute force of modern science.

 

It is possible to learn the Western science and medicine first and

still be able to grasp the subtleties of TCM. But one has to be

willing to realize that Western medicine is not The One and Only

Truth and that something else is needed. One also must be willing

and able to adopt new frameworks and perspectives. I got forced into

it in a manner of speaking. It was a situation of Western medicine

not only not working and my getting steadily sicker, but of many of

the Western treatments making me sicker. Clearer something else was

needed. Long before I discovered TCM, I already had figured out the

magic bullet thing not only was not working, it was making me sicker

a lot of the time. I began to discover new ways of looking at healing

and alternative things that did help. By the time I discovered TCM,

the underlying concepts were not that alien to me and made perfect

sense. The treatment also got some dramatic results - even better

than I had hoped for.

 

I sometimes think I got a healing education the hard way - through

being sick! It doesn't have to be that way for others. If they will

just listen when their clients or patients say something is not

working and try to figure out why as well as figuring something that

does work, they too can appreciate and use TCM. When they are honest

enough to admit to themselves that the magic bullet approach (or any

other approach) does not always work (in fact the magic bullet

apprach does not work more times than it does work), they will start

to grasp at least some of those subtleties in a hurry.

 

> movement! (plus practice of course) CM is a

> compilation of human experience. It is so deep and

> vibrant, and we can easily recognise it if we can only

> do what the old ones did which is to pay extreeeemely

> close attention to ourselves. We have a ready-set

> system to stand on and guide us, so that each of us

> can a) achieve what our forebears did, and b) see and

> travel further. But we can't do that if we don't know

> how to use the system!

 

This sums it up very well, especially the achieving what our

forebears did and see and travel further than they did.

 

Thanks,

Victoria