Entering the Flow
Whither Sagely Living?
Across a divide of space spanning a continent, a partnership in exploration has opened whose wellsprings lie removed further still across a span of centuries and oceans. I am speaking, of course, of this latest project that Eric and I have conceived in the course of our conversations over the last few months and weeks. If this is the new development of the Year of Sagely Living, then I count that undertaking a success. I perceive a greater alignment with the operating principles of that concept becoming active in our new pursuit. Or, rather, we have awakened to its possibilities, and take seriously the precepts of the Classical view we hold dear. Above all we are entering a flow. Let me explain.
A Story
I’ve been inspired almost as much by the College of Mythic Cartography as I have been entranced by Deepest Health. Willem Larsen, who is the genius behind CoMC, and is another resident of Cascadia, articulates what he terms “invisible technologies” that underlie his practice of rewilding: that is, decolonizing the mind from the non-indigenous. Another way to put this, is that he recognizes that some of the most important aspects of indigenous cultures, critical components of any definition of sustainability, lie in the cultivation of relationships based on mutual trust and support, and in story as an expression of those relationships to one’s land-base and greater family. He writes eloquently, and if I may borrow a phrase, appears to “live deliberately,” or as I am wont to say, with rigor. His explication of associative reasoning, and t
he role of riddles and story in enlivening knowledge struck me as deeply resonant with the conversations that Eric and I have shared, and with my entire orientation to practicing Chinese medicine.
Further back it correlates with what I’ve learned through many years of association with Leon Hammer. I read his first book, Dragon Rises, Red Bird Flies
The next insight, a thrill, to be honest, a thrumming indication of things to come, came at an interesting time. After years of practice I had decided to pursue further training in medical school, with the intention of seeking a psychiatric residency. The Baker Act places an acupuncturist in a unique bind. I’ve had patients whom I knew required 24-hour evaluation and supervision -in crisis- but was faced with the certainty that appropriate herbal medicine and acupuncture could resolve the condition more rapidly and with less trauma to the patient. So I conceived of enrollment in medical school as a means of surmounting institutional barriers. I enrolled in courses to prepare for the MCAT, and contemplated at length the options, when suddenly, in an intensely liberating flash of realization, I abandoned the plan resolutely. I felt renewed. I felt like I had been handed $200, 000 in cash and been given a reprieve that granted me 15 years of my life back. I went from being amongst the oldest of potential med students to being again among the youngest teachers in the Chinese Medicine field. Above all, I realized that the plan amounted to a digression that was perhaps the world’s greatest attempt at procrastination. In other words, my work had already begun and there was more to do.
Literally the first thing I did was sign up for the Associates program at Heiner Fruehauf’s site. And then it happened. The article and videos related to Wang Fengyi, the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century founder of a unique lineage of storytelling healers curing with their stories, chants and humble, ethical behavior gave me back the feeling that had enlivened me in Leon’s book, and in every subsequent, often wordless, intimation of the realities laid out before me. It also unleashed a period of intense creativity that led to new insights into everything from the underlying structures of Dr. John Shen’s herbal formulas, to aspects of Dr. Hammer’s methodology and model, and even provided the impetus for the Year of Sagely Living. I discovered Rewilding not long after that.
Rewilding is ultimately predicated on awareness, just like the others practices that inform my life. As a Muslim, I cannot endorse the animist beliefs, and according to some this would indicate that I do not understand the movement. Where awareness is the focus I am fully in accord. I would even argue that awareness is the crux of the critique of modern civilization.
Through a Dark Wood
So this is where our project unfolds: from these disparate elements, we intend to construct an experiment in awareness. Not in terms of normative practices, but in terms of opening ourselves to the symbolic fields articulated by Chinese medicine, and with a commitment to document our findings and chart our exploration. We are saying, “Yes! And…” to the implications a symbolism rooted in antiquity, as a method for creating new symbolic content that is appropriate to the times and places where we are. It is not enough to rehearse old mythologies. That is not to disparage the Classics in any way. Rather, it follows Basho’s admonition to seek what the master’s sought. Where else are these patterns to be articulated if not in our lives?
Another very significant element is our engagement with the concept together. We hypothesize that by allowing the conversation to publicly unfold, much as it has in private, and also to avoid setting arbitrary limits upon it, we will create a free-wheeling and unfettered mode of expression about Chinese medicine. I am the control group in this particular experiment; because like all-too-many clinicians I am not as steeped in the Han Dynasty symbolism that informs the pristine logic of NCNM’s program. And this with having studied Classical Chinese at UC Berkeley! And my estimation is that the conversation will enrich us. After all, dialogue is the form that the Classics assume, both in structure, and in the rich legacy of commentaries that exist. In fact, I’ve dubbed it: Han Dynasty 2.0.
Improvisational Classical Scholarship
This is also not to suggest a mere modernization or even urbanization of an alien cosmology. Every patient encounter is an opportunity to approach the unknown. What mysteries are in each of us? What stories? Riddles? In the meeting of microcosm and macrocosm, there is a grain of sand. If there’s a universe in a grain of sand, then what of the pearl produced by its slow gestation?
As Eric quoted earlier: “it’s a way of effortlessly being with awareness and allowing Chinese philosophical and medical concepts to shape the perspective.”
Sapere Aude
How can this become a practice that is effortless and yet produces insights that will carry over into our clinical work? It is quite simple. In my estimation, the most integral question is a simple one: why? But that does not obviate the need for us to likewise attend to the what’s of our experience. In other words, our answers will be as good as our questions. Everything has its voice, and it may speak to us in a way that we can understand. One way that I describe pulse diagnosis is as a way of listening to the ever-communicating body. So, we will take the rich world of symbolism and metaphor that we’ve inherited from Chinese medicine, and simply frame our questions according to what we want to investigate. In the process we will learn to apply this method to anything that strikes us, and also begin to see the webs of meaning that inhere in the very messages that are being communicated in multivalent means by the body. And we can use all of our senses to seek our answers, and in so doing we will begin to inhabit our bodies and experience our lives in wholly new ways.
Abdallah
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Tags: abdallah stickley, classical-chinese-medicine, commitment, content, creativity, Cultivation, heiner fruehauf, imagination, patterns, scholar, symbolism, The Project, visionRelated posts
Using the imagination in Classical Chinese medicine
The importance of the role of pattern differentiation in Chinese medicine cannot be overstated. Some go so far as to say that Classical Chinese Medicine is “pattern medicine.” What on Earth can that mean? I think about it in a few ways. First, Chinese medicine takes patterns very seriously. I don’t think most Chinese medicine physicians have theoretical discussions about what constitutes causality. Nor do they seem to be interested in carrying out complex calculations about the distribution of particular disease states across space or time. Despite this apparent failure, Chinese medicine practitioners through history have been interested in the correlation between disease states and other features of the human environment. They have taken a keen interest in the rise and fall of particular conditions in particular places at particular times. Second, a strong feature of our medicine is the perception of subtle patterns in a seemingly hopelessly complex tangle of symptoms and subjective feelings. Where other medical systems throw out the pieces that don’t fit, good Chinese medicine practitioners are always mindful of the “stray” symptoms. They always seem to come into play at some point. Finally, Chinese medicine relies on patterning to allow relatively quick training of practitioners. This can go too far, as it has in many iterations of contemporary Chinese medicine.
Taking all of this into consideration, I find the idea of patterns to be an interesting one. Recently in a class about pharmacology, we began to discuss the role of the imagination in medicine. All human beings have imagination - though some of us are more skilled in using ours than others seem to be. Our professor began to get us thinking about imagination as being especially useful in becoming aware of patterns. How does that make sense to me? Well, let’s look briefly into the meaning of “imagination”:
imagination |iˌmajəˈnā sh ən|
the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses
ORIGIN Middle English : via Old French from Latin imaginatio(n-), from the verb imaginari ‘picture to oneself,’ from imago, imagin- ‘image.’
Taking this definition at face value, what my professor was saying makes lots of sense. The pattern is not present to the senses. Which is to say that I cannot point to anything that is, for instance, “Yang Ming disease.” I do take in a large amount of data (pulse, tongue, color, sound, odor, presenting emotion, symptoms, lab results, subtle information heretofore undefined) through my various senses, but this thing Yang Ming disease is never taken in. It is a concept, an organizing concept. In some real sense, Yang Ming disease is not there. It is an unbelievably useful structure that I can use to order the data I am taking in and craft a treatment that is a response to the disease state being presented by my patient. My ability to grasp this imaginative construct is crucial in my efficacy.
We can take this further, though I get a little weak in the knees as I depart from that relatively solid conceptual ground. We can use structures like Yang Ming disease in a way that is imaginative, or we can turn them into prisons from which no healing can escape. Let’s take Yang Ming disease as an example. The defining line of Yang Ming disease in the Shang Han Lun states:
In Yang Ming disease, the Stomach family is full.
Boy, talk about a range of possible interpretations. We can look deeply into the characters, we can look at all instances in the history of Chinese medical texts of those characters, we can look at all the Yang Ming formulas and see how they treat this “fullness” of the “Stomach family,” we can do many things in order to understand the statement. But, if we don’t let our imagination run free, our efforts may never bear fruit. Once we have obtained all of that data as I listed above, we must let our minds explore. What would the Stomach family being full do in terms of psycho-emotional disturbance? What images come to mind when we consider the Stomach family being full? What is our subjective experience of this disease state?
I believe this kind of activity, while perhaps not good material for scholarly publication, is crucial to my development as a Chinese medicine practitioner. It helps me to understand the formulas and point protocols more fully, not to mention nourishing me deeply as a human being. I also believe that the use of imaginative faculties is, at least in part, behind the brilliance of ancient Chinese medical theory.
I’m interested in hearing how others think about this issue. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but interesting to consider.
Eric
Tags: imagination, Learning, patternsRelated posts
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