Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona (日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 1:  January, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #1

In a Buddhist mandala, the Buddha of the East is Aksobhya who represents the integrity of illuminating experience.  The Buddha of the South is Ratnasambhava who represents the radiance of beauty of illumination.  The Buddha of the West is Amitabha who is the symbol of great compassion.  The Buddha of the North is Amoghasiddhi who represents directed effort.  Vairocana, the Illuminator, sits in the center. Together, the mandala points to the way of releasing fear and desire and to harmonize our individual life. 

In Five Element Theory, the Spleen Element, also called the Earth Element*1, contains the Stomach and the Spleen.  Implication of the Earth Element is quite important since the acupuncture meridian line starts from the center of the Stomach.  Most acupuncturists belong to the Stomach School which regards the digestive system is the key to balance the other Elements and the whole body.  The last words of Master Nagano in Japan were I-no-Ki (胃の気:  Wei-Qi in Chinese).  Master Sawada dedicated Ren-12 (the point directly above the stomach) as the primary protocol treatment point.  Settlement of Stomach Qi is for all ailments.  Without proper stomach functions, there will be no recovery.  For example, weak absorption rate of foods makes us susceptible to many illnesses. Proper digestive functions must be restored and the process must start from the Stomach.  When the Stomach is restored, the energy moves and settles at the Dantien (丹田), about an inch below the navel.  This is an important physiological fact that not only acupuncturists should understand but all of us.  Anyone who practices martial arts, Tai-Qi, yoga, or meditation knows that the area of the lower abdomen is the center of concentrated energy.  The life force comes from here, and the skin tone of the area must be taut and supple.  Softness, droopiness, and weakness of the area indicate a weak body function and a sickness (life span maybe limited in a certain case).

Regarding major acupuncture points on the center of the abdomen, Ren-4, 6 and 12 (plus Ren-10 and Ren-13), Master Sawada said when we “Open” the area, “it becomes San Jiao, and (properly) Store, it becomes the Three Guans. *2”  The sentence only comes from an experienced practitioner who has practiced the art of acupuncture for years.  You may not understand what I write here, but the center of the abdomen is quite important in treating people, especially for the Tai Qi Treatment (whole body treatment).  Like the real estate slogan, “location, location, location,” the same is said of acupuncture:  stomach, stomach, and stomach (or digestion, digestion, digestion). Arguably, the Stomach is the center of Five Element and it is the harmonic Element.

As the name of the Element suggests an Earth personality is grounded and gentle.  However, an Earth type is susceptible to worry.  We all experience, a second after we start to worry, we feel queasiness in our stomach.  As if our thought in the brain has a direct connection to the stomach.*3　　Emotion and illness are inseparable, and attachment to worry will result in a chronic digestive problem. 

How we detach ourselves from emotions and bring the whole body in balance is the subject of this chapter.  It is interesting to know that Buddha had a chronic digestive issue, yet he attained illumination and realization.　　Let us hope we can all do the same.

*1 Earth Element:  the paired combination of Spleen and Stomach Elements.  It is said in a certain school, when a baby drinks the first milk from mother, the meridian lines start to function from the moment on.

*2:  開けば三焦、納むれば三完

*3:  I believe western science is considering the stomach or the intestine as the second brain.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona, 日本鍼灸アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 10:  September, 2010

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #10

I would like to end the Heart Element with the following simple poem by Wang Wei.

独坐幽篁裏                        sitting alone in quiet bamboo forest

弾琴復長嘯                        playing an instrument, breathing deeply 

                                            (Qi Gong)

深林人不知                        in the forest, nobody knows my presence

明月来相照                        only the luminescent moon light shines upon

      at the Bamboo Lodge (竹里館)          王維 (Wang Wei)

Unlike Du Fu (杜甫) I wrote about in my last newsletter, Wang Wei was talented in being a bureaucrat.  Common to the both is that they were once arrested in the turbulent time and almost died.  Wang Wei loved the quietude of nature and he left many master poems praising mountains and waters (山水).

I like this poem because of its simplicity and the realization:  deeply in meditation, reflecting on his life, accepting AS-IS-ness.  It tells us that the transcendence is an acceptance:  very simple. 

Through out this chapter, I mentioned about the nature of emotions and how to overcome and transcend beyond.  However, when come down to the core, we understand that it is the simple lifetime wisdom of acceptance with a pure heart.  Trick here is how do we achieve the pure heart? We need to let go everything we hold dear and be content in the instance of this realization.  Namaste.

Epilogue:  What is the sound of one-hand clapping?  Zen Koan

My answer:  the sound of the wind

What is yours?

© 2010 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona 日本鍼灸アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 9:  September, 2010

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th 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

I Am The

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC:  480-246-0624

Y. Frank Aoi, L.Acu (AZ)

What I Am

I am the bringer of health, happiness, and hope.

The Foundation of Oriental Medicine

Qi (in Chinese)/Ki (in Japanese) is a relationship.  It is the relationship of polar opposites, creating the Universal Harmony of the Yin and the Yang (positive vs negative, male vs female, matter vs anti-matter, etc.).  All diseases are caused by the imbalance and the stagnation of the two energies.*1

The Yin and Yang concept has never changed over millennia, therefore Oriental Medicine has the strong foundation to base its medicine (whereas Western Medicine, because of a modern scientific approach, appears to have a strong background but it is always changing as a new discovery unfolds). 

Essence of Acupuncture

Ancient Chinese observed the body and the natural and cosmic phenomena and applied and incorporate them in treatments.  They started out by following the natural cycle of seasons and the human life growth and life span.  They knew that the menstrual cycle and the moon cycle were not merely coincidence.  To observe the cosmos was to observe the micro cosmos of the body.  They cannot be separated.*2  They also knew that our emotions greatly influence our health and wellbeing.  An attachment to a certain emotion would manifest in the body physiology:  for example, worry gives you queasiness in the stomach; sorrow makes the lungs weaker, excessive fear makes you neurotic, etc.  Since acupuncture deals with energy and its field by incorporating emotional components, as in yoga, the ultimate goal is to awaken the body and mind to spirituality.*3 

*1:  Scientifically, we are made of vibrating atoms with certain frequencies.  Sickness is the state of    desynchronization of the energy.

*2:  Nuclear physicist would agree.

*3:  Acupuncture is not a religion.  It makes you aware and attune to the bliss and the happiness of being alive by realigning body functions.

Treatment Prices

Adult:  $95/first session  $70/second time on

Senior Age 75 or Over:  $65/first session  $50/second time on

Child Age Between 16 and 10:  $65/first session  $50/second time on

Child Under 10: 

  Parent must experience my acupuncture first.  First session is free, $40/session
Short sessions are available on the third or fourth Sunday:  $55/first session, $40/second time on

Occasionally, I give a special discounted offer:  please inquire

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona, 日本鍼灸, アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 8: September, 2009

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC (480) 246-0624: 

600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #8

My spiritual teacher, Zeerahk Khan, has made me realized that the transcendence is in the "breathing."

Breathing without consciousness, living through here and now in our truest form, and permeating Love through us and to be one with the Creation.

Acupuncture

How do we perform acupuncture when we are in the state? There are no forms, styles, or accumulated knowledge. No more measurements and technics. No more teachers. One senses where deficiency or

excess is. One also senses the Evil Qi (malady) and knows exactly what to do. There will be no set points.

This will be my life time endeavor.

Namaste.

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona, 日本鍼灸, アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 7: August, 2009

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC (480) 246-0624: 

600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Must Check This Website

I urge everyone to check out the Zeerahk Khan's website. Zee is almost ready completing her first book. Once it comes out, I am certain that she makes a great contribution to our world. She truly walks her words and also her life. Every word comes out of her mouth is the manifestation of her experience and from the deepest and purest love. All I can say is that she is really really REAL.

Her website: www.zeerahkkhan.com

Namaste.

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #7

"The bliss of the heart cannot be stated in words." Upanishad

Joy is a part of love, and Love is transcendental. Love exists before the Creation. Love is causeless. Love is always Is and always will Be. Love is the Before and the After. It just exists. It is the fundamental energy, the vibration, and the cause of All. Joy and arrogance are just the parts of or the transitions of Love.

We must be careful here using the word love, for it contradicts as long as we use it as a word, and the contradiction is an illusion. Speaking about love is not Love, but only in living and in experience, do we understand it. Only then, Love becomes sublime.

To transcend, first, we must get rid of words, or learn not to rely on them. Words cannot describe the ultimate truth. Words are second rated compared to Nirvana. Seeking words of wisdom may give you an eternal wondering and longing for salvation. Wisdom is in experience. May it come in a zen moment, in a silent prayer, in a near death experience, or by the sound and the smell, but not with words. Words make us think, and the thought is an illusion. An experience is spontaneous. Remember, the word aum contains the silence as the fourth word.

The ending paragraphs of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse read:

"Give me, my honored friend, another word, give me something that I can grasp, that I can understand! Give me something to take along on my way. My way is often arduous, it is often dark, Siddhartha.

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'........................

Govinda bowed low. Tears ran over his old face, but he was unaware of them; the feeling of deepest love, of humbling 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."

*translated by Joachim Neugroschel

In acupuncture clinic, sometimes, if you listen to the words of a patient, your treatment may fail. It is very difficult to connect with our brain and the heart desire, especially when we are sick. However, the body does not lie. Illness and symptoms would manifest on the body as discoloration of the skin, pain upon pressure, weak muscles, abnormal pulse, etc. Mostly likely, if a patient tells you that he does not feel any progress, he has an alternate desire which he has not yet expressed. In this case, if you do not have a strong foundation of basic measurement, you will fall into his trap.

Basic aim for an acupuncturist is, of course, to treat and make one healthy. Ultimate aim is to recognize wisdom in each patient's experience, make peace and rejoice in the transition, and move to the higher consciousness.

How do we give a patient the higher level of consciousness with acupuncture? Here is one of the ways.

First, make a patient totally relaxed with deep abdominal breathing technique. Then, ask him to relax especially the muscles around the eyes. Carefully touch the neck, place fingers of both hands at the occiput, and pull the head gently superiorly (the occipital life). After a few minutes, go to his side, and with your thumb, gently but firmly press PC-8 (the center of the palm), making sure your energetic lasts longer for a patient. Do this on both hands. Come back to the head, place one finger of the weaker hand on DU-16 (at the occipital ridge), and place one finger of the dominant hand on Yin Tang (the Third Eye). Do not press, but gently touching. Pay attention to his breathing. If he takes a deep breath, this is a sign of the parasympathetic nervous activation. Keep the position as long as you like, but you must sense when to lift your finger (the body may reject you). Needle Ren-4 (the lower abdomen area) and moxa (kyu-toh-shin: above needle moxibustion). Needle Ren-12 (half way between the navel and the xiphoid process) an dmoxa. Needle HT-7 (on the crease of the wrist, at the small finger side). Needle DU-24 (on the head, at the hairline). Do the occipital lift again. All the while, pay attention to the emotional content of the body. For example, an anxiety issue always comes up as a zigzag energy pattern. Pay attention to the vibration of the body. Most of all, pay attention to your intuition, and follow whatever your intuition tells you to do.

Good luck.

© 2009 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi/Japanese Acupuncture

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona, 日本鍼灸, アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 6: July, 2009

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC (480) 246-0624: 

600 N. 4th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

New Fourth Beginning

I will be renewing myself again soon when the time comes. I believe that the reinvention is necessary to grow my acupuncture while remaining true to the fundamental of the Tai Chi Treatment. The Tai Chi Treatment differs from a practitioner to a practitioner. It is what we make up of it. I sincerely hope by the later years of my life, if I can reinvent myself as Beethoven did with the late piano sonatas, no more forms, free spirited, and transcendental, I would be very happy.

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #6

In my last newsletter, I talked about an Emily Dickinson’s poem, I heard a fly buzz when I died. Dickinson, in my perspective, was the most zen-ist of all American poets. Her poems are very close to my heart. From the deepest psyche of death to jubilant joy, she renews herself in each poem she writes: an each creative stage is the jubilation of experience.

When you are ready for change, no one can disturb your joy. In the creation, transcendence happens. It is an experience of profound. Nirmanakaya (Trikaya: The Three Bodies Doctrine, 三身, San Shen in Chinese, San Mi in Japanese), the human form (with time and space), Sambhogakaya (Body of Intense Joy/Bliss), and Dharmakaya (Body of Dharma, no limits and boundaries), are all experiences. The first is the experience of suffering, the second is the experience of spiritual, and the third is the experience of the absolute. Sukha is translated as happiness. It connotes the end of all suffering, therefore, it is a state of consciousness unaffected by pleasure and pain. It is intense abiding joy.*

*Eknath Easwaran: from The Dhammapanda

How can we direct people to joy (the Sukha) with acupuncture? If you are an acupuncturist, you may already aware that many things in Oriental Medicine come with three. A set of acupuncture points is no different. A formation of triangle is common and is important. For example, any triangle made by the following points is clinically important: Ren-9, Kid-16s, ST-25s and Ren-6, or upside down triangle made by, Ren-6, Kid-16s, ST-24s, and Ren-9.*

*Master Sawada’s triangles

I personally think Du-9 and UB-67s (Reaching Yang and Reaching Yin) are interesting points to conjure (UB-67s may not be clinically comfortable). Du-9 controls the entire spine*, so a combination with other two points will make an interesting result. Du-16, Ren-4, and Ren-12 are other important master points to consider. Since the Heart Element is Joy, any combination with heart points would be interesting. For example, HT-7s with Du-24 or Ren-15, and Du-11 with UB-45s, UB-47s, UB-49s, UB-52s, or even GB-25s would make some emotional changes. A triangle combination is endless and it all depends on how an acupuncturist proceeds. If you have found a good set, please share with others.

*Du-9 controls all Du points and also adjusts the scoliosis.

At the end of all possible set points, can we reach closer to the mind of Beethoven in his later years? Namaste.

© 2009 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi/Japanese Acupuncture