Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona
Volume 3, No. 6: December #2., 2011
Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624
600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions
Chapter Three
Spleen: Worry, Harmony, and Illumination #6
As I wrote in my last newsletter, it is quite important to know who we are by knowing an exact sentence that follows “I am.” However, as you are aware, the usage of “I” is a dualism. “No sooner had he defined and delineated himself-then he was afraid. Fear is the first response to being something, to imagining yourself…he wishes that there were someone else in the world. So now comes desire. First fear and then desire come right out of having said “I.” (Joseph Campbell: Myths of Light). Transcendence is the realm of non-dualism, free from differentiations and meanings. We must go beyond concepts and symbols. Unfortunately, transcendence cannot be taught. We can only learn to walk on a right pass toward it (hence, the Dao – 道).
Each person has his/her own reality and experience. Since intellectual is in the domain of dualism, only thing we have is an experience. It is an experience of “This,” “It,” “Is,” and “Being.” The universe does not have a meaning or a purpose, it only has This moment at the present time*1. We fail to understand This because we use will and were, forgetting to live in the moment of now. Worry is a great example. If you are worrying about finance, change all your verbal sentences to the present tense, then money happens because you create possibilities of the future today. Creativeness doe not happen in the future. It only happens in the moment of now. Worrying is procrastination, it only gives us future troubles and sorrows. Since we are higher consciousness beings, we must strive to achieve This moment. Ignorance is our worst enemy.
Since the Spleen is the Element of digestion, here are some psychosomatic symptoms associating with it. Bear in mind, these are my own assessments.
Diarrhea: fear*2, worry
IBS: rejection, abandonment
Constipation: holding pattern (fear, worry)
Ulcer: fear and anger (strong anger or hysteria)
Worrying reduces the digestive function and weakens the absorption rate of nutrients. We feel weak and depressed since not much nutrients are absorbed. My primary protocol for acupuncture is to increase the absorption rate and smooth out the digestive function. For the purpose, I usually start from the front side (supine position).
My suggestion for all of you is to have natural herb supplements for the digestion in your medicine cabinet. There are many Chinese herb formulas that are superior to any chemical medication. If you have a weak constitution, you should also have digestive enzymes.*3
Since is it is now almost at the end of 2011, I would like to end this newsletter with a famous Buddhist story. When Buddha was a young man still straining to seek out the truth, he went to a high mountain (the Himalayas) where he met a ferocious demon that ate human flesh. The demon was reciting holy verses. Young Buddha was given the first half about all things were impermanent and the truth was the cause of suffering. In order to hear the second half, the demon demanded that young Buddha threw himself from a cliff so he could eat him. Young Buddha obliged and was given the second half about an obliteration of endless cycle of life and death was the way to non-suffering, nirvana. Upon hear this, young Buddha went up a cliff and fell. But the demon was actually Indra in disguise, caught him in the air, and brought him down to the ground. Upon confirming the seriousness of young Buddha, Indra bowed and asked to be illuminated.
諸行無常 是生滅法
生滅滅已 寂滅為楽 『大般涅槃経』 Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
All existence is in a state of flux: impermanence.
The endless cycle of birth (life) and extinction (death) is the law (truth, view) = suffering
Obliterate the endless cycle (no life, no death),
The obliteration is nirvana: non-suffering
Note:
It is not that we suffer because the flux exists. Suffering rises from our perception (or belief) that the permanence exists (a bondage).
Namaste, and have a great new year!
*1 Of course, quantum physics has many dimensions.
*2 Fear shows up mostly in the neck and the shoulder. Anger shows up in the lower back.
*3 Certain foods such as diakon have a large amount of digestive enzymes.
© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC
