Energetic Medicine
To explain what I mean by "modern medical science has no underlying
theoretical basis," let me offer an example of a non-modern medical
system that has such basis. Not to prove that it's a "right"
or "wrong" theory, just to give anyone interested an idea
of what a "theoretical basis of medical science" CAN be like
when it's there, as opposed to what it's like when it is non-existent.
The theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine is the concept
of energy transformations. It postulates that we live in a world of
manifest phenomena that share a common origin, and that everything
that happens in this world
a) happens in rhythmical cycles -- be it planetary rotations around
the sun or seasonal changes on this planet or blood circulation cycles
in the human body or circadian and monthly hormonal changes, etc.;
b) these cyclic changes work due to waxing and waning of the basic
types of energies of the world. For convenience, the two opposite and
complementary types of energies interacting in the universe are given
verbal labels that point towards the nature and quality of a particular
phenomenon under scrutiny. The waxing-increase-speed-up-opening type
phenomena are dubbed "yang" and the waning-decrease-closing-slow-down
type, "yin";
c) increasing yin-type manifestations of any phenomenon or entity
decreases its yang-type manifestations, and vice versa;
d) energies of the world, whether "material" or "immaterial" (i.e.
"pattern- or tendency-forming," function-related) manifest as
"vitality, energy, spirit" (Chinese jing, qi, shen) and undergo
transformations, vitality to energy to spirit, or the other way
around, in certain orderly patterns which, when disrupted, cause
stagnation, blockage or "entanglement" of these energies;
e) the basis for smooth operations of the transformations in the body
is memory, which is part of jing and consists of the body's inherent
idea of what it is and how it must go about being what it is (e.g., a
tree knows how to be a tree and not a mouse due to jing, the nature of
its original vitality; this knowledge includes expertise in dynamic
homeostasis -- how to be a functioning, living organism of a
particular kind, and what to do and what not to do on every level at
every step of any and all transformations that the whole entity will
undergo during its lifetime);
f) there are five types of energy involved in all transformations;
they are known as the Five Phases, and operate cyclically, via one
nourishing the next, the next decreasing the former, and each
controlling the one derived from the one it nourishes. The cycles go
on smoothly in a healthy body, get disrupted in an unhealthy body.
Because the process is cyclic, disrupting one "phase" of energy will
affect the next and this one, the next, and ultimately all;
g) transformations of energies are directional in space and time, and
are reversible in space and time;
h) the factors influencing the nature and quality of transformations
are known as "resonance" (Chinese gan ying) -- meaning phenomena of
the outside world "resonate" with those inside the human being and
prompt transformations of a certain kind going in a certain direction.
Example: the setting sun and advancing darkness will cause a shift in
the yin-yang balance (hormonal, metabolic,
sympathetic-parasympathetic, etc.) from daytime "more yang" to
nighttime "more yin" dynamic equilibrium in the human body, following
("in synch with, resonating with") similar developments in the ambient
medium;
g) there's no absolutes, nothing is "pure this" or "pure that,"
phenomena of the manifest world and the human body alike are
meaningful only in comparisons; thus, nothing is "yin" and nothing is
"yang," one can talk only of "more yin" vs. "more yang." Example: a
healthy male has a preponderance of male "yang" hormones
(testosterone) but also, invariably, some "yin" female hormones
(estrogen) at every step of his live functioning; and vice versa;
h) a trained medical practitioner learns multiple methods of
discerning disruptions of normal smooth cyclic operations in the body.
These, when present, affect all organs and systems, some more
explicitly and others, in a more "hidden" fashion; however, there's
clusters of manifestations where they can be discerned quite clearly
by an appropriately trained professional;
and so on. This is the tip of the iceberg, of course, but from the
above you can see that the whole system is tightly consistent with its
underlying basic principles, and doesn't leave any phenomena outside
its overall power to discern, understand, classify, address, "know the
reasons why" and "know what can be done about."
Which is more than can be said about the Western scientific models, of
which there are scores, all of them at odds and/or in conflict with
scores of other Western scientific models.
Which is one reason I read two-thousand-year-old medical books in
order to "get it" on the conceptual level, with subjectively better
overall cognitive results than I derive from any "cutting edge
research," whether "alternative" or "orthodox." Maybe I'm just not
smart enough to "get it" when it is as fragmented as Western science
is. Or maybe I'm just an integration junkie...
Elena
|
Friendly
Pain
Relief Programs
