Happy New Year

Here is a thought for the New Year coming up.

The greatest tragedy about the human race is that we all think we are different.*1  About 3000 BC ago, something went wrong with the course of human race:   our ancestors started to invade other tribal communities and that has made what we are today, divided and conflicting.  However, no matter how different we “think” we are from others, we cannot avoid the inner feeling that we are one and the same as a human.  This is because we are intrinsically one.*2  When you become aware of the Awareness, you know it is to be true.  What we are is always the Experience experiencing itself. There are billions of consciousness on the Earth, and we are all experiencing what we feel.  Yet most of us do not realize what is feeling the feelings. 

In the realm of the Awareness, the self does not exist.  This means that you do not exist.  All senses are first memorized by the brain, and then the recognition comes in the mind.  But the brain is not trustworthy.  It is, as you know, notorious about memories.  We don’t remember all the details even from yesterday.  Our sense of smell, touch, vision, taste, and hearing are all in the faulty brain.  We cannot trust them.*3

What does this lead us to?  First drop your given names.  You did not choose them.  Let go your mind.*4  The worst case of the mind is either suicidal or homicidal.  Let it go.  Empty your mind.  Let go your self and ego.  Experience who you truly are.  Then the funny thing is that once you now who you are, you completely drop it and start address your self to be what you are.

So, I say this to all of you.  I am the evil and the good.  I am sorrow and happiness.  I am all the miseries on the Earth and I am love.  I am all these and beyond.  Kiss my forehead and you know it is to be true.

“Siddhartha silently looked at him with his still and unchanging smile.  Govinda stared into Siddhartha’s face with fear, with yearning.  Sorrow and eternal seeking were written in his gaze, eternal failure to find.  Siddhartha saw it and smiled. ‘Lean toward me!’ he whispered in Govinda’s ear.  ‘Lean toward me here!  Right, a bit closer!  Very close!  Kiss my forehead, Govinda.’  …He no longer saw his friend Siddhartha’s face; instead he saw other faces, many, a long row, a streaming river of faces, hundreds, thousands, ...He saw the face of a fish, a carp…he saw gods, saw Krishna, saw Agni…Govinda saw that his smile of the mask, this smile of the oneness…kind, perhaps, quizzical, wise, thousandfold smile of Gautama, the Buddha, as he himself…, no longer knowing whether a Siddhartha existed, or a Gautama, or I and Thou, …Govinda stood for a brief while, leaning over Siddhartha’s silent face, which he had just kissed, which had just been the setting of all formations, all Becoming, all Being…Govinda bowed low.  Tears ran over his old face, but he was unaware of them; the feeling of deepest love, of humblest veneration burned in his heart like a fire.  He bowed low, down to the ground, bowed to the motionless sitter, whose smile reminded him of everything that he had ever loved in his life, that had ever been valuable and holy to him in his life.”
                                                               Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse  

*1:  Those of us who believe in individualism and the free will might want to ponder upon the fact we did not consciously choose our  birthday dates when we were fetuses.

*2:  That we all came from Africa, perhaps from the Lucy lineage.  That we are made out of cosmic dusts.  That we came from the Big Bang.

*3:  Like Rene Descartes did:  once deceived, cannot trust the deceiver.  Like the Heart Sutra correctly chants.

*4:  The mind and the body are not enough.  There has to be spirituality in between them.

Zen & Acupuncture

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

By this time, many of my readers understand that all dualistic questions can only be answered by the silence and cannot be answered by any word.  Immediately after you utter yes or no, you are no longer a Zen master:  fallen to our ordinary life where all sufferings are.  Remember, the most important part of AUM or OM is the silence after the “M.”

Zen is everywhere and at any time.  For example, you face “a mute” person everyday.  Let me ask you that what is a good worker to you?  A good worker is the one who does a job before you even ask.  He or she already knows what you want or your habit:  “Oh, I already bought that for you.  It is coming next week.”  “Honey, here is your favorite breakfast.” etc., etc.  Spiritual level is the same.  When Buddha raises a flower, if you are at the same level as his, then you would say, “Ah, I get it, Buddha!”*  It is the empathy you attain.  A good disciple knows what a Zen master is truly asking (You must read his mind, behind his intention, not only one step back, but two, or three steps back).  Knowing that you cannot answer with any word but must answer, all Zen disciples are asked to break the dilemma.**

Here is an absolute dilemma for you.  What if a Zen master asks you to climb up a tree and asks you to hang from a tree branch by just biting.  Your hands and feet are dangling in the air.  Then, the master asks you what is the meaning of Dharma coming to the East? (What is Buddha?)  What would you do in this situation?  If you open your mouth and answer, you fall to your death.  If you mean the silence by keep on biting, soon or later, your jaw gets tired and would fall.  If you don’t answer, you go nowhere, and the master is waiting.  Remind you that you don’t have a flower in your hand.  Whoever can break through this gate is the next Buddha.

Namaste.

*Story is that only one disciple understood what Buddha meant with a flower.

**Quantum physic dilemma:  two different particles, say, A and B, are separating from each other to the opposite direction with the speed of light, yet when A turns to B, B turns to A at the same time.  We all know that this is impossible (with Einstein’s theory), yet it happens everyday (ask any physicist).  However, we are coming closer to answering (passing and communicating without a space).***  When we do, “Scotty, beam me up” could be possible.

***Quantum Leap, New York Times, Aug. 20, 2013
"Because the bits were 'entangled,' to use quantum physics term, what happened to one happened to the other.  So, when data was written to the sender side of the chip, it would leap to the receiving side without passing through the space between."

Why We Make Bad Decisions by Noreena Hertz

New York Times, October 20, 2013

“Physicians do get things wrong, remarkably often.  Studies have shown that up to one in five patients are misdiagnosed.  In the United States and Canada it is estimated that 50,000 hospital deaths each year could have been prevented if the real cause of illness had been correctly identified…Yet people are loath to challenge experts…When we find data that supports our hopes we appear to get a dopamine rush similar to the one we get if we eat chocolate, have sex or fall in love.  But it’s often information that challenges our existing opinions or wishful desires that yields the greatest insights.  I was lucky that my boyfriend alerted me to my most dopamined drugged moments.  The dangerous allure of the information we want to hear is something we need to be more vigilant about, in the medical consulting room and beyond…I chose a surgeon who wasn’t overly confident.  I’d learned in my research that the super-confident, doctor-as-god types did not always perform well.  One study of radiologists, for example, reveals that those who perform poorly on diagnostic tests are also those most confident in their diagnostic prowess.”

A Glut of Antidepressants:  Overdiagnosis of Depression Is A Factor In Rise Of Prescriptions by Roni Caryn Rabin

New York Times, Aug 13, 2013

“Over the past two-decades, the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed.  One in ten Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four.  Experts have offered numerous reasons…But a recent study suggests another explanation:  that the condition is being overdiagnosed on a remarkable scale…The study, published in April in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, found that nearly two-thirds of a sample of more than 5,000 patients who had been given a diagnosis of depression within the previous 12 months did not meet the criteria for major depressive episode as described by the psychiatrists’ bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or D.S.M.)…Most people stay on the drugs, which can have a variety of side effects, for at least two years.  Some take them for a decade or more…But Americans have become more and more willing to use medication…Ironically…many who actually have it suffer without treatment…it takes Americans eight years on average to seek care…According to the D.S.M., a diagnosis of major depressive episode is appropriate if the patient has been in a depressed mood and felt no interest in activities for at least two weeks, and also has at least five symptoms that impair function almost everyday.  These include unintentional weight gain or loss, problems sleeping, agitation or slowed reactions noticed by others, fatigue and low energy, feeling of excessive guilt or worthlessness, difficulty concentrating and recurrent thoughts of death…Many doctors have long prescribed antidepressant soon after the death of a family member, even though the D.S.M. urges clinicians to differentiate between normal grief and pathological bereavement…Doctors need to improve their diagnostic skills, Dr. Mojtabai said, and must resist the temptation 'to take out the prescription pad and write down an antidepressant and hand it to the patient.'”

Volume 3, No. 4, November, 2013

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Four

Lung:  Sadness, Courage, and Dissolution No. 4

In my last newsletter, I pointed out the importance of Ren-4, Ren-6, Ren-12 and Ren-17 acupuncture points, all on the abdomen, for treatment and diagnosis.  Sadness (the Lung element) does not turn to courage as long as the lung functions are weak.  Courage is the mother of the Will (the Kidney element:  please read my last newsletter.  If you have not received them, they are all in my website under “newsletter.”).  I also mention that the Ren-4 (about an inch above the pubic symphysis, on the centerline) is my chosen point for between the Spleem/Earth and the Lung/Metal elements.  For between the Lung/Metal and the Kid/Water is Ren-9, just a quarter inch above the navel on the centerline.  This point has a simple name:  the Water Point.  It relates to all fluid related symptoms such as ascites (accumulation of fluid – water bloated-ness), toxic body fluid, urination problems, etc.  This point connects with Du-4 (Ming Men:  the Gate of Life:  on the centerline of the spine, at the second lumber vertebrae).  Du-4 is one of the most important points, for it is the Gate of Life.  The point is exactly opposite in location to the Tantien (on the centerline of the abdomen, about an inch below the navel).  Marshal artists know that the Tantien is the power source.  The physical power comes from here.  Without the stability and firmness in the area, the legs feel wobbly, cannot control the upper torso because the pelvis is unstable, and feel weak and not focused.  Once Ren-9 is restored, it sends the energy downward to Ren-6 (about an inch below the navel on the centerline).  This is the true connecting point to the Gate of Life (Du-4).  When Ren-6 is firm and has good energy, my treatment is over. 

Once all pains on the abdomen are gone, a seed of the Will starts to spring up: a sense of wellbeing is increased, self-awareness kicks in, and a person is on the road to recovery.  No other medicines can compete with our own Will to live, and this is what acupuncture is all about.  Just like a Zen master asks to search for the ultimate affirmation (drop all illusions and know what is truly real), acupuncture asks you to find your will.  The harmony of the Five Elements, along with the mind, the body, and the spirituality, can take you there.

So, can you convert sadness to courage at “this moment”, here and now?

Namaste

© 2013 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Zen & Satori: Conclusion

これは何か。

（少し間を置いて）私は唖です。

何を言うか、実際に口で話しているではないか。

はい私は唖です。

ならば、なぜそのように言う。

拈華微笑 (お言葉の前にすでに答えております。）

合掌

What is this?

"…"  I am a mute.

What do you mean?  You are speaking!

Yes, I am the mute.

All right, why do you say that? (or, what is  the “The”?)
(What is the mute who speaks?)

The Buddha’s flower.*

            Namaste

*One of the last lectures by Buddha was to simply raising a flower (Tathagata).
"I am a mute.":  Of course, the right answer to all dualistic questions is the silence.  In this case, it transcends a little further, and it really means that "I answered already even before you asked because I am the Buddha."

Zen & Satori: Part II

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

October, 2013

Zen & Satori:  Part II (if you have not read the first part, please do read)

空手把鋤頭                        歩行騎水牛

人従橋上過                        橋流水不流

                                                            傅大士 (Fu Da Shi)

Not carrying anything in hand, yet carrying a shovel (plough).

Walking, yet, riding an ox.

As a person passes over a bridge,

The bridge is washed away, yet the water is not running.

Most of you think that this is a crazy poem.  Therefore, first, I need to define what Zen is not.  Zen is not metaphysic.  Zen is not a religion, nor a philosophy.  Zen stands on the sharpest edge of a samurai sword, asking you to realize what is not.  When you see a pencil and you confirm it as a pencil, then, Zen is no longer there.

So, what is this crazy poem about?  This poem is perhaps the most revealing poem on Zen of all times.  It could only be written by a person who has “realized” which Zen calls, “satori” or the Realization.  To cut short, this poem is all about the true freedom.  Master Fu is absolutely free in the Realization, standing alone in his total clarity.  Remind you that many of us have it, and yet not carrying it.  You may call it conviction or faith (Zen does not seek these and in a different realm).  You cannot touch and carry these, yet you are carrying them, each of us, every day.  So what Master Fu carrying, yet not carrying?   A plough of the Absolute Affirmation that destroys the duality.  It is a very formidable weapon.  What kind of state is he in when he is carrying?  “Walking” here implies the Way, the Dao (aka:  Tao).  Physically, riding an ox is easier and comfortable especially for a long journey.  What he implies by riding an ox is that he is comfortable; meaning he is at peace.  With a plough of the Absolute Affirmation, he has woken and is experiencing the eternal peace (常楽). 

A person on the bridge is none other than himself.  The bridge is the dualism.  He was on it, but he broke it with the plough.  What did he attain?  Not even a drop of water remains in his clarity.  The Absolute Clarity (Freedom) which is the Realization.  He is no longer in our realm of:  1 +1 = 2, or A is not B.  He has understood that A is not A, therefore, it is A and went beyond (all encompassing).  Nothing binds him, for he is to none (我浄).  Do you still call a pencil a pencil*?  

Let me (my humble being) ask you a question.  When you see an ink drawing scroll (a calligraphy) by a Zen master of a circle, what do you see?  And when I ask you what this is, how do you answer?  Satori is at between the “whiteness” of the paper and the “emptiness” of it (白と空の間).  For English speaking people, satori is at between the “The” and the “a”:  The Circle is not a circle (円は円でない).  Again, for Zen, representation does not mean anything.  Discerning what is illusional and real is lifetime endeavor.  But once broken, you see no water left in its clarity.

Let me expand my question further.  When a Zen master points at a pencil and asks:  What is this?  How do you answer if you were mute?  Another dilemma?  I bet you can figure out yourself.  If not, “30 hits by a Zen master’s staff…”:  namaste.

Epilogue:  Some people think that I am a Buddhist or a Zen-ist.  Or, at worse, preaching something.  I am neither and don’t belong to any religion, temple, or church.  If, … I am forced to say, …then, I am a do-er. 

Namaste

*:  For example, the color brown does not exist in the light spectrum.  It is always within the yellow, but we see as brown.  And what of other optical illusions?  We simply cannot trust the brain, especially for vision.  Nuclear physicist always questioning what is real and not real.

© 2013 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Zen & Satori

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

October, 2013

空手把鋤頭                        歩行騎水牛

人従橋上過                        橋流水不流

                                                            傅大士 (Fu Da Shi)

Not carrying anything in hand, yet carrying a shovel (plough).

Walking, yet, riding an ox.

As a person passes over a bridge,

The bridge is washed away, yet the water is not running.

This poem comes close to one of the most famous Koan questions:  What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Thought On Zen:  What Is This?  Part I

When a Zen master asks “What is this?", say, he is pointing at a pencil, how would you answer?  Knowing that you want to say something profound in front of a master and simply saying it is a pencil is not, and knowing Zen denies affirmation and negation and words all together, how do you answer this simple question?  If you say it is a pencil, he will slap you.  If you negate, he will still slap you; asking you to wake up.  Knowing the dilemma, how do you dissolve it and be able to give a Right answer?  The answer lies in the master’s deepest compassion, and knowing why he asks you of this.  Shall I rewrite this question to:  What is This?

When I was young, occasionally, I dreamt about coming to a huge wall after a walk.  The wall extended to infinity, and it was so tall, jumping over it was impossible.  I wanted to see the other side but for a few years, I could not.  But one day I became bit creative.  I imaged the wall would be soft and permeable, so that I could push my body into the wall and reach the other side.  Ever since, the dream has never come back.  My problem was that I had a concept that a wall was hard.  It was preventing me to see the real reality:  that a wall is only hard compared to others (In spiritual realm/reality, it does not exit:  perhaps, I can explain on some other days.).  A child could have solved the dilemma instantly with his innocence.  He would say to me:  “How about a wall was made of candies and cakes, so that you could eat them and made a hole?”  Marvelous.  This is Zen at its best.  We need to drop all concepts and constricts that we have been taught, and start seeing things from a child’s pure innocent point of view.  When we do, we are one step closer to a Zen master’s question.  So how do you answer?  Let me phrase the question this way:  What are you?

“What is this?”  “What is This?”  “What are you?”  If you see a pencil as a pencil, then you need to ask what “Is” a pencil?  Pencil is made out of wood and carbon matters.  But, does the word “pencil” really describe the true nature of its compositions?  No.  A word “pencil” is just a word.  We made it up to expedite smoother and easier communication.  By answering with “yes” or “no,” you prove to the master that you are stuck in the dualistic conceptual thinking mind:  that a pencil must be “this.”  Just like I thought of a wall as always hard.  The master is asking you to drop all preconditioned concepts and see the real for the first time.  When he asks “what is this?”, what he really asking is:  “What are you?”  “Who- and what-you-are,” may be just concepts, not really the true self?  Are you awake enough (or aware enough) to know that you are free of concepts?  An Indian guru may command to cut your head off and ask the same question.  Without a head (or a symbol), what are you really? 

When a Zen master asks you “What is This?”  He is asking you to know “what-you-are” at “This” moment, here and now.  What are you?  Who are you?  What is your true nature?  The dualistic mind can only be broken by the Absolute Affirmation* that we live only here and now, “This” moment.  There is no other time.  (*The Absolute Affirmation is not the dualism:  for it embraces  yes and no and goes beyond.  Perhaps, this, too, I need to explain later.)  How much are you truly aware at “This” moment?

“What is this/This?”  Without any concept of what a pencil ought to be or your self should be, what a Zen master asks is: what are you?  Answer to the question differs from person to person, day to day, and time to time.  But the answer must be spontaneous without any thinking (remember, if you think, he will slap you, and he knows that you have not dropped all concepts:  re-read the above poem and understand.  So, how do you answer?  Remember, your answer must be spontaneous:  there is no room for thinking.  One way to answer could be what you are impressed or attracted today before seeing the master.  If your heart is moved by red roses, an answer could be “red.”  When you see an interesting cloud pattern, it could be “clouds.”  By answering this way, a Zen master acknowledges that you are indeed living in here and now:  no past and future issues such as worries, disappointments, angers, etc. (free from dualism)  You are free from all sufferings because you are paying attention to and living in here and now “every instant.”

When you realize This Moment, then the mirror of the master’s compassion reflects upon your own mirror and becomes one.  Only then, you understand the master’s deepest and ardent compassion.

How do you keep up with this?  One Zen master said:  “Sitting along, on the top of the tallest and the biggest mountain, is this not enough?” (独坐大雄峰／百丈禅師).  Only thing you need to do is to reflect your own mirror to his, at the top of the mountain, unmovable, and you know how to answer:  what is this?

Namaste

© 2013 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

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

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 3, September, 2013

New Membership Available:

In case you didn’t know that we offer a new membership now.  $25/year fee entitles you to have $49.50/session after an initial session.  Please text or call for inquiry:  480-246-0624.

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Four

Lung:  Sadness, Courage, and Dissolution No. 3

The Lung Element is a transition (within the Harmonious Cycle*1) from the Earth Element, or in acupuncture terms, the Earth is a mother to the Lung.  In accordance to the Five Element Theory, we know which acupuncture points to take to either strengthen the Mother or the Child*2.  However, not many practitioners are aware which point lies in between the Earth and the Metal.  My acupuncture point for the in-between is Ren-4 (関元穴:  about two inches below the navel on the center line).  This was where most likely the intestine started to bend and twist in the evolutionary time.  It is also where the lower torso bends when we are in a fetus position.  The point activates all qi sources in the body, and, it is appropriately named the Gate of Origin.  As my reader may recall that Spleen, the Earth Element, carries Worry and Harmony as emotional elements, and this Lung chapter are about Sadness and Courage. The transition from Worry to Sadness, or Harmony to Courage is encompassed in the acupuncture point.  It is the gate of all fundamental emotions.  Open the point, we can treat negative emotions; close or restore the point, we can treat positive emotions.

In order to open, I treat Ren-4, and the action opens up Ren-6 (an inch below the navel, slightly above Ren-4).  Ren-6 connects with the kidneys and opens Ren-9 (about a quarter inch above the navel).  Ren-9 is called the Water Point.  The point deals with all water problems (ascites, pitting edema, watery diarrhea, etc).  It is also called the Carrier of Sadness.  However, sadness is stored at Ren-17 (壇中).  Ren-17 is called the Chest Center, aka the Receiver of Emotions.  It is on the sternum, at the fifth intercostal (on the sternum, between the nipples).  Pain here definitely indicates emotional trauma*3.  The point is not usually used for a treatment, but as a diagnostic point.  All points mentioned above, Ren-4, 6, and 9 ease the pain at the point.  Therefore, reduction of pain at Ren-17 is an indication that a trauma is easing.

The reason why sadness is stored at Ren-17 is explained by physiology.  When we are sad, we tend to slouch and bend our body at the navel line, compressing the diaphragm.  We tend to protract our shoulders and negate peripheral views, looking downward (emotions going inward with reduced oxygen intake).  With this posture, we don’t breathe well, and the lungs contract, and tears drop before we know.  The body and muscular contractions are centered on Ren-17. 

My reader will recall from the last newsletter that the anus is called the Gate of Po, and the perineum (the first chakra) connecting with the limbic system in the brain controls a life and death situation.  It is interesting to know that while energy such as chakra force travels along the spine when the anus is contracted, but the actual muscle contraction occurs on the anterior, along the centerline from the pubic symphysis up to Ren-17 (try experiment yourself).  When we master our body (tantric exercise for example), and when we are happy, and especially confident, Ren-17 becomes the fulcrum of emanation.  We walk, talk, and even dance as if energy flows outward from the area (posture straight, chest out with steady tone of voice).  The purpose of life and the will to live is stronger.

For Sadness to dissolute, it is crucial to reduce any pain, hard muscle, or congestion and stagnation, from the centerline of the abdomen.  When this is done well, energy actually goes down the centerline to Ren-6.  We can feel that Ren-6 becomes firm and supple (not soft, weak, fragile, or too tight).  When it is strong, the body has restored energy in the Kidney (Will) to live.  And if a person is spiritually attuned, he understands that sadness is nothing more than fragility of the will and the mind.  How we increase our will?  The explanation belongs to the next chapter, which is about the Kidney.  So, stay tuned.

Namaste.

*1:  Clock work direction from the Earth to the Metal, to the Water, to the Wood, and to the Fire is called the Harmonious Cycle:  it is the way supposed to circulate the Qi (Ki in Japanese).  Other cycle is called the Destructive (when we are sick).

*2:  Not enough pages to explain how these points are chosen and how they work.  Will be in other newsletters.

*3:  Also heart problems, but the problems will show up elsewhere before this point becomes very painful.  Used for breast pain, hysteria, nervousness, etc.

© 2013 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

I accept all sorrow. I accept all animosity. I accept all happiness and joy. I accept all the sufferings of past, present, and future: kiss my forehead, I am That……and I Am You.

From New York Times Science Times, May 14, 2013
The Traps of Treating Pain by Abigail Zuger, MD
"Doctors hate pain. Let me count the ways...we hate it because it is invisible, cannot be measured or monitored, and varies wildly and unpredictable from person to person. We hate it because it can drag us closer to the perilous zones of illegal practice than any other complaint...And we hate it most of all because unless we specifically seek out training in how to manage pain, we get virtually none at all...came the new statistics on the widespread abuse of prescription narcotics,...and cause more overdose fatalities than heroin and cocaine combined...you have nothing but instinct and experience to guide you." I did not know pain is such a big deal and traumatic to MDs, for I handle pain every single day.

On Mother's Day

To All Mothers:
Thank you for giving unconditional love.  You are fearless, nonjudgemental, and deny no one.  You who connect with the Heart are the Awaken.  Thank you.

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

Kissed by the Light from the inside!

Ahh what Joy when it shows up on the outside ♥

                                                                                                Zeerak Khan

People misuse the phrase “Let’s make love.”  It is easy and loving thing to say but what we do by saying it is more like “having sex.”  If we are about just having sex then we are stuck with notion that we separate ourselves with loved ones especially after death.  The essence or the consciousness of a loved one is there, in our body and mind, even though death separates us.  The word separation is a misnomer, for there is no separation.  It is an illusionary thought that creates a separation; and we suffer from the notion.  “Making love” is about making love with Life.  Yes, experience all the emotions come into your life, but how we go through with emotions with Life is what we need to be aware.

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

"Understand the subtle difference, what are you and what do you understand to be you?" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Definition of "truth" by Merriam Webster dictionary: constancy.
Our body decays and is not constant. So, what are we?
What is your true Self?

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

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Next time you see florescent light, I want you to take a moment.  Close your eyes for two minuets and open and look at the light.  It is light green, and you see, slowly, the green turns to white.  Our brain converts the green light wavelength to white.  What we see as white is actually “is not.”  Question is:  what is real and what is illusion?  Our suffering is based on not knowing exactly that.  Most of us are attached to emotions and past conditionings of what we think we are, but not knowing who we really are.

Using Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s metaphor, I would like to point out that an act of flickering of a lighter.  Fuel is the body or foods.  An act of flicking is a moment of experience:  either nonverbal or a profound wow moment.  It is an illumination.  Light produced is the consciousness awareness.  It shines as long as fuel is supplied.  When let go our finger from a trigger, light is gone……..or is it?  Light is there no matter what an action is.  Similarly, consciousness is there, before and after our so-called death.  Our true self, which is the consciousness, is unborn and undying. 

Let go yourself.  It does not exist, nor “I" exits.  Then, what are you?  Know what is truly real.

Last thing.  What if we are able to extinguish consciousness, then what are we?

Cut off your head and find out.

January 18, 2013

© 2013 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC