Acquiring CM Knowledge

[Guest guest]

Hi Matt, Godfrey, Z'ev et. al,

 

>I feel the truth of the matter is found in a dynamic balance between

>the opposing (opposite) points.

 

I have found that I acquire knowledge rom many sources - all filtered

through my own Mind, my own Experiences, my own Biases, my own Life's

Lessons. I do not see how it is possible to divorce Knowledge from the

pattern it creates and is created by one's own Mind - one and at the

same time.

 

My knowledge is acquired from books (I am an avid reader), from

hearing (my wife translates what my teacher teaches me, since he only

speaks Chinese - so this is " indirect " hearing :-)), touch (when I

practice anmo/tuina/shiatsu), seeing (through all " eyes " :-)) ,

smelling (blind people are well known for the anmo/shiatsu/acupunture

capabilities, even though they cannot read), and Listening. Listening

to others and to myself - each are equally valid. It is the way my

Mind works.

 

The issue of knowledge acquisition, I believe, is not one that only

Chinese medicine faces. Western science believes that " double-blind "

studies form " objective " knowledge acquisition, but studies have shown

that they do not. In fact, there is prima facie proof. Double-blind

studies have quite often permitted drugs to be introduced into the

marketplace that eventually had to be curtailed or totally withdrawn.

There seems to be no way to get at " objective " interpretations of

knowledge, so I have just become very comfortable with different

interpretations and work within this framework. :-)

 

At the end, each one of us makes our own decisions in our own way.

Some may rely on experts, some may rely on their own experiences, some

may take a poll. Everyone is different. :-) So the truth probably lies

not only " in the middle " but all along the spectrum. Life, I do not

think is a " balance point " in the middle. I think it is a pendulum

that goes from here to there, up and down, left to right. :-)

 

Regards,

Rich

[Guest guest]

Hey Rich

Good to see that you are still around!

I accept most of what you say but just want to add something from my own

personal experiences.

For a while now I have been thinking about intuition,abstraction,essence etc

My observations and thoughts are that before one can abstract something one

first has to know it really well.

Before we can start " adapting " we have to know just what we

are adapting as such as small amount of original writing and knowledge is

available to us in the west.This IS going to take some time so TOO much

adapting may be premature.

I always smile wryly when I see a practitioner offering

KinoShiatsuKampoacuology(you know what i mean!) which " apparently " they

claim takes the " essence " of these traditions and comes up with something

better!When their credentials are scrutinized often a very basic certificate

level of training is apparent,there are lots of such therapies trying

impossible short cuts and " skimming rudimentary and then

adapting " it. Obviously some will be very talented and make it work for them

but this free for all does bother me at times as the claims for what they

can treat are not always based on fact.

At an art gallery a while ago I saw an exhibition by Picasso which showed

his development,the guide pointed out how his art was very " photographic " in

the early days,he was able to draw and paint things with such precision and

had an amazing talent for capturing light and perspective from a very early

age.This gift was honed by YEARS and YEARS of repetitive practice.Some

people (including myself)when looking at his later work only see weird

shapes and colours but artists knew exactly what they were seeing-someone

expressing something in a very different way BUT based on an intimate

knowledge of what he was doing(thrugh practice and experience)

I think that this is how WE can achive artistic expression in our practice

by becoming as intimate with our subject as we can AND then our creative

part can give full expression if we are free enough and trusting enough to

let it flow.

Ray Ford

 

----

 

Chinese Medicine

Friday, 24 September 2004 5:12:58 AM

Chinese Medicine

Acquiring CM Knowledge

 

Hi Matt, Godfrey, Z'ev et. al,

 

>I feel the truth of the matter is found in a dynamic balance between

>the opposing (opposite) points.

 

I have found that I acquire knowledge rom many sources - all filtered

through my own Mind, my own Experiences, my own Biases, my own Life's

Lessons. I do not see how it is possible to divorce Knowledge from the

pattern it creates and is created by one's own Mind - one and at the

same time.

 

My knowledge is acquired from books (I am an avid reader), from

hearing (my wife translates what my teacher teaches me, since he only

speaks Chinese - so this is " indirect " hearing :-)), touch (when I

practice anmo/tuina/shiatsu), seeing (through all " eyes " :-)) ,

smelling (blind people are well known for the anmo/shiatsu/acupunture

capabilities, even though they cannot read), and Listening. Listening

to others and to myself - each are equally valid. It is the way my

Mind works.

 

The issue of knowledge acquisition, I believe, is not one that only

Chinese medicine faces. Western science believes that " double-blind "

studies form " objective " knowledge acquisition, but studies have shown

that they do not. In fact, there is prima facie proof. Double-blind

studies have quite often permitted drugs to be introduced into the

marketplace that eventually had to be curtailed or totally withdrawn.

There seems to be no way to get at " objective " interpretations of

knowledge, so I have just become very comfortable with different

interpretations and work within this framework. :-)

 

At the end, each one of us makes our own decisions in our own way.

Some may rely on experts, some may rely on their own experiences, some

may take a poll. Everyone is different. :-) So the truth probably lies

not only " in the middle " but all along the spectrum. Life, I do not

think is a " balance point " in the middle. I think it is a pendulum

that goes from here to there, up and down, left to right. :-)

 

Regards,

Rich

[Guest guest]

Hi Ray,

 

> Before we can start " adapting " we have to know just

what we

> are adapting as such as small amount of original writing and

knowledge is

> available to us in the west.

 

Yes, and what's more only a tiny percentage of the totality of what

has been written throughout history is still available for us to read

today. :-)

 

As I survey life, I recognize that not all that is relevant to any

subject has necessarily been " written down " . I know that my teachers

have never written down anything and they have taught me things that I

could never find in books. How many other people throughout history

have know things that were never written down - ideas, thoughts,

senses, that are quite relevant but never included in any texts?

 

I think that it is possible to become too enslaved to the notion of

" Classics " . Classics are one point of view - written by one or more

people. There is no reason to believe that they are complete or

comprehensive. They actually may only touch the surface. They are part

of the Pattern - but only a part. I found this to be so in the

practice of Taiji and other activities I have in life. I found it true

for singing and dancing. What is on paper is only part of the story. :-)

 

So, I go around acquiring knowledge using all of my senses (including

the " 6th " ), and trust Myself as much as I trust translations of books.

For me, they are all part of the pattern of Life - the Quilt - that I

am weaving. I am where I am today, and I will be something else

tomorrow. We all start somewhere - and we Change as we learn (or earn)

more. :-)

 

If you have any other comments or thoughts, I would be very

interested. It is a tricky subject.

 

Sincerely,

Rich