Tam

[Guest guest]

Pamela,

 

My intent was not to assume anything,

and I certainly do not wish to be

or to appear to be unfair or unflattering

to the memory of a great teacher such

as Tam. Although I met him on only

a few occasions, he impressed me as

a superior tai4 ji2 boxer and a

wonderful teacher.

 

His death, nevertheless, contains an important

message, which is what I meant to evoke.

Tam died of the results of a burst

appendix. It was an avoidable death.

 

I believe that had the Professor been

alive, Tam would not have died needlessly

as the old man would have counseled him

to have the surgery that Tam was bound

and determined to avoid.

 

I learned a similar lessson when a close

friend and student of mine died a couple

of years ago from a rare kidney disease.

This person was diagnosed many years

earlier and could have, as a man in

his thirties, received a kidney transplant

and probably lived a healthy life. As it

was he manage to keep himself alive and

marginally well for several years using

various " alternatives " to the conventional

therapy that his doctors advised, i.e.

the transplant.

 

You no doubt know of situations that confirm

that there are positive benefits to be

experienced from the judicious use of

modern medical techniques. All Tam would

have had to do to survive his health

crisis, which he told me the Professor

had predicted years earlier, was to

go under the knife and have an appendectomy.

 

I know Chinese doctors who have

successfully treated appendicitis with

herbs and acupuncture alone, but as

I understand it, even the Chinese

doctor who saw Tam before he died

warned him that he needed to go to

the hospital for surgery.

 

Again, my point in bringing this

up is its relevance to those who

provide " alternatives " to modern

medical care. There are times when

survival hinges on life saving

measures, and those seeking longevity

should be aware of how to assess

and respond to such circumstances.

 

I don't mean to and don't believe

I do in any way demean Tam's memory

by using the untimely occasion of his

death to bring the point to this

group's attention. In fact, from my

own perspective I see it as an opportunity

to invest in loss. If even one

life is someday saved because one

person reads this exchange and decides

at one crucial moment to accept a

treatment that they would otherwise

have rejected, then it will have been

a wise investment.

 

Ken

 

, Pamela Zilavy <yinyang@i...> wrote:

> I appreciate your respect for the Professor, but I think it unfair

to

> assume Tam's youthful age at death had any relationship whatsoever

to his

> embodiment, or not, of the Professor's teaching.

> -pz

>

> >>It is out of respect for the Professor and his teaching, which

he

> himself summed up as all about longevity through softness, that I

think

> it's appropriate for us to contemplate the fact that even someone

as close

> as Tam found that teaching elusive. Ken

[Guest guest]

I appreciate your respect for the Professor, but I think it unfair to

assume Tam's youthful age at death had any relationship whatsoever to his

embodiment, or not, of the Professor's teaching.

-pz

 

>>It is out of respect for the Professor and his teaching, which he

himself summed up as all about longevity through softness, that I think

it's appropriate for us to contemplate the fact that even someone as close

as Tam found that teaching elusive. Ken