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Volume 2, No. 1: October, 2008
Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions
Chapter One
Liver: Anger, Love, and Redemption #8
巻土重来未可知
----杜牧「題鳥江亭」
There is always hope. Tragedy lies in not trying or doing. We do not know the outcome of a war unless we try till the end. When a doctor says that a symptom will be permanent, or there is no cure, people tend to swallow the words and fall into despair. Yes, pain is real and it seems impossible to get rid of. But, unless you are about to die any minute, the universe provides you with alternatives if you have the will to pursue.
Anyone who can read the above Chinese poem understands that life is full of ups and downs, glories and defeats, but we do not know the outcome unless we try. The poem is a lamentation for a famous Chinese general (項羽) who was defeated in battle and had a second chance to win by crossing the river to a neighboring country to regroup. At the edge of river, he decided not to, perhaps thinking about the dishonor and shame he carried. He committed suicide to present himself as a war prize to a good friend who had become a general of the enemy. Had he crossed the river, his new army might have defeated the enemy and thereby changed history.
Hope can change history. It always does. What you must do is to find courage in pain, joy in dying, and bliss in living. Sticking with the agony of pain or lamenting on death that certainly comes would not produce any change. It only propagates the situation.
How do we improve? Clear your mind. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Relax the muscles around your eyes. Relax your forehead, your cheek and chin. Relax your fingers and toes. Relax your abdomen. Let go. Tell yourself, that it is dark here, but comfortable and relaxing. Your eyelids are now heavy, and you try to open them but cannot. Tell yourself that you are in a comfort zone; may it be a favorite room, at the beach, etc, and you are safe and relaxed. At this moment, take yourself back to your childhood. Remember what made you really happy when you were a child. Was it your mother's voice or an apple pie? Was it your birthday party, a Christmas morning, going to Disneyland? Whatever it may be, your healing starts from this point. Identify the happiness and pursue it once more in your life. Put aside pain: make it a secondary importance and a nuisance. Your goal now is to attain happiness. You had it once before, and there is no reason whatsoever that you cannot have it again.
Try not to classify what comes to you. Do not judge and shut down. Experience it as it comes. Let go of your ego, and you can let go of your pain. Face the experience of life, and in the redemption you will find happiness and bliss.
There is a Zen story. A young man wanted to become an apprentice to a respected Zen master. The master invited him to his room, and asked him to look at an image painted on a scroll hanging on wall. He then asked the young man to tell him what it meant. The image was of a poor and worn out old man sitting on a tree stump, looking vainly into space.
Not wanting to give an answer in haste, he carefully thought about it, and thought about it for four days. On the fifth day the master walked into the room and asked him if he had an answer. The young man replied that he really did not understand the meaning of the picture, but he surely could understand how hungry and miserable the old man was. Upon hearing, the master accepted him as an apprentice.
It is the experience that matters. Unless we experience, we do not know what the universe provides. Ego and intellect do not provide answers. We need to open up a doorway to bliss.
How do we open up a doorway to bliss in acupuncture?
In Oriental Medicine, we have the Five Element Theory (五行: Wu Xing)*. It is a system in which natural phenomena are categorized in five basic elements: the Water, the Wood, the Fire, the Earth, and the Metal. Five Element Theory has a cycle. Its proper movement* is from the Wood (Liver) to the Fire (Heart), the Fire to the Earth (Spleen), the Earth to the Metal (Lungs), the Metal to the Water (Kidneys), and the Water back to the Wood.
*Five Element: Eastern Indian has a similar idea of the Five: the Five Koshas of Vedanta which encloses the Atman (the Self). For an acupuncturist, the numbers, 1, 3, 5, and 9 are important. My Hopi friend once told me that the numbers 4, 7 and 11 are important for the people.
*Sheng Cycle (相生, aka: Harmonious Cycle): the cycle of health and living.
Each transition between the Elements of the Five Element Theory is a realization. It is the point where the dynamic process of being connects with the consciousness.Every acupuncturist knows what points to take for each Element, but not many know what points to take for the space between two Elements. For example, what points do you take for the transition of the Wood (Liver) transforming to the Fire (Heart)?
Well then, how does acupuncture guide the immense process of consciousness? The answer, I think, is to have the Tai Chi Treatment. Here, I do not mean the whole body balancing of the Tai Chi treatment I mentioned in my past newsletters, but an ultimate treatment that works for every symptom for all people. An acupuncturist should have a set of Tai Chi Treatment protocol points.*
*Effectiveness of the points entirely depends on the skill level of a practitioner and not on selected points.
Mine is based on the transitional spaces between the Elements. I have chosen Du-9* (至陽 Zhi Yang: Reaching Yang) for the transitional space between the Wood (Liver) and the Fire (Heart). The word 至 (Zhi) means arriving, spread through, gathering, final, maximum or apex. Therefore, this is the point where Yang Qi (energy) is at its maximum. What happens when the Yang Qi becomes maximum? It flips to the Yin. This is the point where Yin and Yang consciousness meets. A minor note: since acupuncture is conceived of Yin and Yang, there is a point exactly opposite to this point, namely, UB-67 (至陰 Zhi Yin: Reaching Yin)*. Together, the three (there is UB-67 on each small toe) make a triangle covering the front of the body (Yin) and the back of the body (Yang).
* Du-9 (至陽 Zhi Yang: Reaching Yang = depression on the spinous process of the 7th* thoracic vertebra)
*Ub-67 (至陰): This is the famous point for a breech baby to turn to the right position, so we tend to forget that the Kidney Meridian actually starts from here.
*According to the Five Element, the Earth Number 7 belongs to the Fire (Heart) Element and the Number 9 belongs to the Metal (Lung) Element.
Du-9 is at the diaphragm. It opens up the diaphragm and activates the Zong Qi (宗気 = Qi of the Chest ). It is the source of Post-natal Qi (energy you get from eating and breathing).
* Zong Qi [宗気 = Qi of the Chest = comes from Jing Qi (精気) between the Heaven and the Earth = the source of Ying Qi (営 = Nutritive Qi) and Wei Qi (衛 = Defensive Qi)].
Du-9 connects with the Ming Men*(Du-4, 命門, The Gate of Life). The Ming Men is the source of Pre-natal Qi (energy you are born with.). Therefore, Du-9 is the center of the transformational Qi. Furthermore, the Ming Men Fire* is the source of the Heart Qi (Fire Element). It is part of the "I Am-ness."
* Ming Men (Du-4, 命門, The Gate of Life, depression on the spinous process of the 2nd lumbar vertebra). If you divide the vertebrae into one third, you count seven vertebrae in each segment. The upper segment lies on Du-9, and the lower segment is at Du-4.
*Ming Men is the Kidney Qi which belongs to the Water (Kidney) Element. Each Element has Yin and Yang. Without the warmth (Yang Qi) of the Kidney, the Heart does not function well and leads to death (Death is the extinguishment of the Ming Men Fire). I need to explain the function of the Ming Men and its Fire in detail in another chapter.
As you can see, Du-9 is the pivotal point where Yin and Yang transform themselves into each other. It is backed by two fundamental energy sources: the Pre- and the Post-natal Qi. The maximum Yang Qi can be attained here, and at the same time, it is the beginning of Yin Qi. The emotions, therefore, flip too. It is a doorway to redemption and leads you to the Heart Element of hope and love.
One caution in clinical practice: Du-9 and Du-8 (筋縮, on the depression of the spinous process of the 9th vertebra) must be treated gently and cautiously. Strong manipulation or dispersion will bring about exact opposite results, such as severe anger or depression. Be extremely careful!
Now, my questions are:
What do you do when you come to the edge of river?
Where does your redemption lie?
Can you find a doorway?
© 2008 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi/Japanese Acupuncture
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