qi as spirit

[Guest guest]

I don't see qi as it was used in the medical classics a having any

resemblance to any western concept of spirituality. The neo-confucian

idea of qi being the finest influences that permeate the universe did

not seem to have any influence on medicine. I think that because qi is

such a flexible term with so many different contexts, there has been a

tendency even amongst the chinese themselves, to play mix and match

with these ideas. Just cause certain qi gong practitioners, alchemists

and meditators used the same terms as those used in medicine and even

believed these terms to be cross disciplinary does not make it so.

Ironically, the application of neoconfucian ideas, such as the one

above, to healing by some fringe groups in ancient china is very

similar to the tendency of uneducated natural health enthusiasts today

to equate quantum physics with healing. But just as no trained

scientist takes this metaphysical position seriously today, it does not

seem to have been a standard position amongst literate chinese docs in

their own culture in any era.

 

And even in the context of taoist metaphysics amongst many chinese qi

gong practitioners, there is nothing spiritual going on. We see the

term shen and immediately read into it. But taoist ideas about the

three treasures of jing, qi and shen could just as easily refer to

psychological and developmental processes. In fact, the evidence

suggests, as Bob Flaws has put it in chinese medical psychiatry, that

there has never been anything spiritual at all connoted about the word

shen in CM literature, past or present. So the concept of balancing

body, mind and spirit that people throw about so cavalierly as the core

of our medicine, really has no foundation in CM. The closest the

chinese texts come is when referring to jing-shen or the tripartite

divisions of heaven, human and earth. but in each case, I believe what

is meant is consciousness in the mundane sense of human mental

processes. When taoists talk about conserving jing to produce more qi

and then transforming that qi to shen ming or spirit brilliance, I

believe they are talking about a psychophysiological process that

allows the expression of hitherto unexpressed aspects of our genetic

code (jing). This is accomplished by a mental discipline that

redirects the functional capacity of the body (qi) to increased mental

development (shen). This mental discipline may lead to changes in

hormones and neurotransmitter levels that create new neural connections

that alter body function in many ways (greater, health, speed,

strength, cognition), but all within the realm of physiology.

 

I think the chinese themselves steered clear of spirit and we should do

likewise. As Brian Carter points out on his website,

www.christianacupuncture.com, 75% of americans are self-described

christians. And unlike other christian countries, america has a lot of

true believers who actually attend church regularly. In other words,

the religious sentiment is deep, not superficial. Whether you agree

with my position here or not is not really the only or even main issue.

It is also about what strategy is best to mainstream CM. It has been

suggested several times recently that we are doomed if we do not stick

to our " faith " . I say we are doomed if we do. Brian and I share very

different spiritual views, but we do agree that medicine and mysticism

should not be part of the same conversation

 

 

 

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