Fw: forwarding email

[Guest guest]

And yet again, it's my pleasure to bring you the redoubtable and intrepid

Ken Rose.

Emmanuel Segmen

 

-

" Ken Rose "

 

> Joseph,

>

> What are yin and yang? Or what is yin and yang?

> Darn good question. The status and meanings of

> these two words rank among the most commonly

> misunderstood terms in Chinese medicine...not

> to mention the whole Chinese language.

>

> Originally referring to the advance and retreat

> of sunlight on the slopes of a hill, the terms

> evoke a primitive understanding of the relentless

> change of nature. All you have to do is stand still

> on a hill on a sunny day for a few hours to

> experience and understand the basic relationship

> between yin and yang.

>

> And of course there is no meaning of yin and yang

> except within this basic relationship.

>

> The term that signifies this basic relationship

> is qi. Qi is the basic relationship of yin and yang.

> It is what connects, communicates, changes, and moves

> everything that we know (or don't) as the universe.

>

> Thirty years ago I heard the great American poet

> Robert Kelly talk about the sources or aspect of

> understanding as flesh, dream, and book. These

> various creeks of data can vie for attention

> but ideally they are comprehended as currents

> in a single stream. Which is to say that I agree

> with your requirement that students come to terms

> with the cultivation and refinement of qi in

> their own flesh while they are grappling with

> the materials they must master in various books.

>

> And as for tapping the river of dreams

> as a dynamic in Chinese medical education,

> well, seems to me that this is a strength

> that has already been extensively over

> strengthened to the point where it becomes,

> naturally enough, one of our most challenging

> weaknesses.

>

> Ken