RE: News from the PRC

[Guest guest]

Thank you. It is interesting to see that as the many traditional

forms of medicine emerge from older civilizations around the world, as part

of the globalization of society, that western science becomes the " second

language " that integrates into the practice of these medical arts in a

similar way that English is becoming the dominant second language for most

of these cultures. I expect this will happen to traditional Tibetan

medicine as well.

Stephen

 

 

there are several books that lay out the basic ideas in a fashion

similar to the earliest books on CM (mann, etc.). It appears

much closer in its execution to ayurveda, based upon the limited

material I have seen. But it would be erroneous to generalize,

even moreso than in TCM. But this is what the current english

texts tell us. It does use a point system and moxa (borrowed

from the chinese), but acupuncture and zang fu balance are not

paramount. The main focus is on the three constitutions, known

in ayurveda as vata, pitta and kapha. It's not surprisng that

ayurveda has the larger influence as Indian style buddhism had

such a transforming effect on the tibetan culture. They use

pulse, tongue for dx and herbal meds for tx. Though they also

have a well developed psychiatry that involves various

techniques and practices. They like large formulas, use many

hot ingredients (the weather). Bob Flaws knows more about this

and Subhuti has written on it quite a bit (he is still a practicing

tibetan style buddhist).

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Stephen,

 

 

Thank you. It is interesting to see that as the many traditionalforms of medicine emerge from older civilizations around the world, as partof the globalisation of society, that western science becomes the "secondlanguage" that integrates into the practice of these medical arts in asimilar way that English is becoming the dominant second language for mostof these cultures. I expect this will happen to traditional Tibetanmedicine as well.Stephen

Marco:

 

As part of the colonization-imposition-invasion (now term globalisation) you may be right that Western cosmo vision and the English language becomes "the second language" of Traditional medical systems. However, some "reasons" will probably be due to "safety" and "articulation".

 

Safety an oddity that I have not thought about in this particular manner. Of course safety per say is an gold standard for the practice of any medical system, but only presently it has down on me how this term is used politically to favour a interpretation of Traditional medicine and to impose set believes rather then values (since really any medical system by default must surely be involved in the aspect what is good practice?

 

i.e. Here in Guatemala for some odd reason people talk in terms that the Ajq'iij needs to be "trained" to a certain level in Western medicine although it was not necessary before (as to not make a long e-mail I am not elaborating).

 

Also people speak in terms of articulation that in order for Western medicine to understand Maya medicine "They" the Ajq'iijab (plural) needs to be "trained" to a certain standard in Western medicine. This is really a one sided implementation of such noble and important aspects of safety and articulation; "simply" due to paternalisms and ignoranism and cultural bound syndrome", this by the way is obviously a two way tire but one is never allowed to be expressed honestly in the first place; a aspect that I think is now changing with regard to Chinese medicine.

 

Since most books on Tibetan medicine can comparatively speaking be related to "Mann" style of layout one could also say that as far as Tibetan medical paradigm there probably are as many misunderstandings and distortions about what it is can and does as some people including my self have about Chinese medicine. This due to the fairly humane factor that people are always more keen to feel that they know rather then to try to go through the process of understanding.

 

But what we have learnt from The Chinese medical experience is that language and awareness of above social phenomena one can possibly reduce the time of imagination based on prompting personal gains with disregards both for the medical system in question and by extension for the patients.

 

Ajq'iij is a Maya Kichee word and from what I have gather it is sometime translated as:

 

Guía espiritual Maya - Maya spiritual guide

Maya priest

Maya shaman

Maya medicine man.

 

The word Maya is not a constitute of the term Ajq'iij nor historically and contemporary are all Ajq'iijab' of the male gender, thus at least 50% of the potential and possibly current Ajq'iijab' are not represented in the translated term whilst the source term makes no exclusive distinction.

 

Q'iij is the term for sun day and peculiar as it may sound The Maya languages had no need for the term "time" as an abstract constitute but Q'iij comes the closes to the term time in Kichee.

 

Hence one thing we now know after centuries of repression (now labelled progress in the form of globalisation) and hence an rooted ignorance of the repressed culture that is hard to verbalise, that Aj'qiij involved something to do with "time" and since the term is also denoting someone that practice some form of Maya healing-treatment of(?-we do not exactly know although there have been many studies but few that simply present the words of the Ajq'iijab').

 

This then is a letter of "word of caution" but also a new q'iij; time in the since of something interconnected with you and I and something functional and cyclical; since from the view point of Maya the cycle of "[more] understanding" has began.

 

 

Personally I do not know if that is the case however there probably are untold distortions in most but not all books on Tibetan medicine in a western language.

 

 

Obviously I am not against Ajq'iijab' learning western standard medicine but it should not be done against the pretence of safety and as for articulation between medical paradigms it is a two way dialogue.

 

This letter is not directed at or to Stephen rather that his interesting observation made the impulse to yet again write to the list.

 

By the way I really would like to thank Todd for having the impulse and the qi, Shen1 body-persona to create and maintain CHA it has been a blessing-cheers...

 

 

Marco Bergh