Japan Acupuncture, Phoenix, AZ （日本鍼灸、アリゾナ）

Basically, all sufferings come from three notions.

1: Belief that "I" exists

2: Belief that "You and I Are Different (dualism)."

3: Try to explain in words.

Greatest invention of the evolution is the separation of sexes that has brought on varieties of species, and it has insured the greatest survival chance on Earth. Therefore our ego is attached to survival issues. It clings on to our psychic mind and constantly telling us who we are according to our past conditioning responses to survival issues.  We are trained to think who we are by the factors. 

Evolutionary, we all came from Lucy in Africa and from the Big Bang. On the conscious level, when we take our ego, the "I," completely, only the consciousness exits. We were once one in evolutionary development. We have precluded the truce and educated in the way that "I" must exist.  Since we believe in the "I," next logical step is to think that "I" am different from "you" that creates a separation in our lives. The unity of the sexes is the connection, not the separation. 

Around 2000 BC, something went wrong on Earth. This is when a village or a tribe started to invade each other’s territories, killing people and pillaging, by thinking they were different from us. To this day, the first step in starting a war is to dehumanize enemies by calling them with derogatory words such as monkeys, gooks, etc.  Once we regard enemies are as nonhuman, we justify killing them. The notion of separation has created tremendous sufferings.

Last thing is that we think we can explain everything in words. Most profound experience cannot be explained in words. If we try, it becomes second rate, at worst, cheap.  For example, timelessness or bliss is just IS.  Thinking or thought is a perfect catalyst to move away from the consciousness awareness. It immediately disconnect with WHAT IS experienced. Buddha's last lecture was to raise a flower; no words were spoken, asking you to connect with the present moment. Remember, the most important word in AUM (or OM) is the silence after the "M."

Now the End of the World had passed, I wish there is a positive consciousness arises at this season of givings and reflections.  Happy Holidays!

Namaste.

Japan Acupuncture, Phoenix, AZ （日本鍼灸、アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 2, December 2012

Happy Holidays!

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Four

Lung:  Sadness, Courage, and Dissolution No. 2

In Asia, there is a proverb that if a person is drowned, check the anal sphincter muscle.  If it is loose and open, he does not survive.  If it is closed and tight, he will.  Ancient Chinese named the anus as the Gate of Po (魄門):  the gate of the corporeal soul (substantive soul that remains with the corpse when we die, the Yin part of the soul, as oppose to the Hun (魂), the Yang soul that departs the body).  The Chinese character of the Po has two parts.  One is the right side of the character, 鬼(gui).  It means Devil or Ghost.  It is a hieroglyph of a skull that still have a few white hairs.  The left side of the character means white (白:  bai).  Together the character symbolizes the white skeletal remains and signifies the appearance of the body, the skeletal system, and the inherited personal characters.  Importance is that the Po belongs to the Lung.  Since the Po represents the inherent personal character, when we face a life and death situation, to live or to die really depends on our character, and the lung function provides the power to choose:  thus the prana is equated with breathing. 

The perineum area (between the anus and the sexual organ) is one of the most sensitive area in our body.  First thing we learn in any marshal art is to protect the area (you can kill a man by hitting the area).  Since the pelvic girdle is a sensitive area, it is protected by strong muscles and ligaments.  Evolutionary, it makes sense to know that the anus to mouth connection is the most ancient of our body system (did you know that the heart emerged from the intestine?)  Other parts such as the eyes came much later.   The anal sphincter does not have antagonistic muscle (i.e., the hams and the quads of the leg), and can be greatly controlled by the will.  As many of you know that tantric and kundalini yoga exercise is based on the contraction of the perineum muscles.  The amount of orgasmic feeling, therefore, can be controlled by exercise.  The prana moves upward along the spine to the front of the body.  It is exactly the same in acupuncture energy movement. 

The first chakra is called muladhara, and it is the area connected with the limbic system of the brain, especially to the amygdala (processes emotions).  The limbic system is primordial and highly interconnected with the pleasure center of the brain. The amygdala relates to the pleasure but interestingly relates also to fear.  The connection brings back to the Gate of Po.  We know that we cannot control defecation and urination when we are scared to death, and at the moment of fear, it is the lung function that chooses life or death.

The Lung meridian starts from the stomach and moves down the arm.  It ends on the tip of the thumb.  As you know, our brain allocates a large space for the motor cortex especially for hands and fingers and they have highly concentrated sensory nerves.  Hands are used for all kinds of healing and spiritual modalities.  The energy emanates from hands and fingers.  Hands are the giver of energy and they are Yang.  Exact counter part of the hands are the feet.  They are Yin and are the receivers of energy.  The Earth energy goes up from the feet, meet with the muladhara chakra.  Once the chakra energy is brought upward, the energy in the hands is intensified.  Hands become healing tools.  When the connection with the hands and the feet is established, a whole body is in balance.  It is therefore the essence of tai chi. The dissolution of sadness (or any other emotion) depends on the awareness of the balance.  When the awareness comes in, we become more compassionate rather than judgmental.

Namaste.

© 2012 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC