Volume 2, No. 9: September, 2010
Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624
600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004
This newsletter is dedicated to my good client and friend, Andrey Polischuk who really, really, and really knows how to live AS-IS with full happiness every single day. I admire you greatly.
Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions
Chapter Two
Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #9
鼓角緑辺群 川原欲夜時 秋聴殷地発 風散入雲悲
抱葉寒蝉静 帰山独鳥遅 万方声一概 吾道竟何之
杜甫
All of us once in a while loose who we are and what we are. Shall I say, a middle age crisis is one of them? Like the Chinese master poet above (Du Fu) who quitted a bureaucratic job (he was about 48 year-old) he never liked, an uncertain mind created a distant drum beat reverberating with the time, echoing his pessimism: no longer sure about His Way (Du Fu went on producing master pieces from this time on).
It is a terrible feeling not knowing what to do to be happy again. Self-criticism turns negative and the deep pessimism sets in. However, a difference between a person who hits the bottom and able to rise up and a person who cannot is, the Japanese calls it, paper-thin: flip a paper, one survives and an other does not. It is a mental constitution, either you have it or you don’t (although, definitely, you can train to possess it). How do we get out from all negative thoughts? I met quite a few people who could give me a dozen negative answers to each suggestion I gave: always can’t do this and don’t have that with certain disdain and anger. It is too bad that we are not taught in school how to unlearn all the mores and rules we were taught from childhood. Their negative thoughts were constructed with what other people said in the past, therefore, they thought they supposed to (behave negatively). Most of the time, we do not know how to differentiate the free will and what we are taught to behave and desire. When we filter out all the what-other-people-said syndrome, in a deep meditation, when the mind is clear, we can come close to the answer. In real life, it actually happens all the time: a painter who concentrates in painting can have a glimpse of so-called a zen-moment; musicians create the mysterious unison that is pure music (beyond descriptive words). Once you see the other side, we see the infinite possibilities and abundance (Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith calls it the abundance consciousness). This is because we discover once again our excellence and creativity. When we are depressed, not certain about the future, it is the best time to concentrate on creativities. However, one thing we must accept is that everything is AS-IS at the moment. Our life energy force is meant to be what it Is at this very moment, never meant to be otherwise, and that there is nothing wrong with us being depressed. We live in the moment (not in the past and not in the future), and only thing to do is to accept it as AS-IS and move on. Spend money on a wonderful meal or a chocolate paffe, feel the joy in being alive. There are many things available right now which give you the joy of life, find it out! (you might go back to your early childhood and rethink what really made you happy: an ice cream cone? riding bicycle?
Since Joy relates to the Heart Element, the opposite emotion will affect the heart functions. How do we change pessimism to joy and lead to creativity with acupuncture? My style calls for treating the Du-line. Du-9/12 are powerful points for creativity. Treat the liver with UB-19s. Since the Heart Element is affected, you need to palpate T-4 and 5 to see if there is any pain. If pain, needle UB-14 or UB-15. (remember UB-14 and DU-8 and UB-18 are related). If T-5 is tender, you need to treat the heart itself: left SI-11, left HT-7 and SJ-6 would be effective. Ren-12 is essential for neurosis.
© 2010 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC
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