Time

[Guest guest]

> I think its like everything else. Some will put the time and some

will not

 

 

Time may well be the crux of the

matter. How are we going to spend

what little time we have?

 

And what will we have gained for

all the time spent?

 

The notion of time and timing in

Chinese medicine came up recently,

and I must have lost track of that

thread or it just unraveled.

 

For those who aren't familiar with it,

there's a provactive bit in one of the

essays in the Needham book that contains

his 1981 Univ. of Hong Kong lectures.

I don't recall the title, but it's

something along the lines of science

in traditional China. Great stuff.

 

In one of the later talks he touches

on the concept of time in traditional

Chinese life and thought. For anyone

who wants to understand the traditional

Chinese character of traditional Chinese

medicine, it's worthwhile reading.

 

What he says, to the best of my recollection

is that the subject of time in traditional

Chinese awareness, is not congruent with

the sense of time in the (then) contemporary

world. Naturally, the timesense in today's

world is different from Needham's time,

although he died just a few years ago.

 

Beyond that he points out that not enough

research has been done into this disparity

between Chinese and Western notions and

experience of time. As Alon pointed out

some will spend the time to learn and

some won't. And when you come right down

to it, this is an expression of individual

values that are very much informed by the

sense of time that is abroad in an individual's

culture.

 

Another written source that just might

be pertinent to the exploration of the

importance of time and timing in the

practice of Chinese herbal medicine is

a curious little book called Synchronicity

by Allen Combs and Mark Holland, Marlowe

and Company, 1996.

 

How do you know when to do what?

 

Ken