If you are of the persuasion, as I am, that there is something out there as yet unconsummated in our range of knowledge, it can be a little disheartening to be seen this way...
Qi Notes
This column will explore the finer points of Qi in a Chinese medical context. Short sections with contents as simple as possible will highlight key concepts regarding Qi, its nature and proper functioning.
Walking Back to Health: An Ancient Chinese Secret
It’s 6 o’clock in the morning; my eyes have not yet adjusted to the hour, and I can still hear the call of my warm bed luring me back to sleep. But Heaven Park in Beijing is already alive and I am about to enter a different world.
The Commercialization of Qigong?
I recently read an article in the New York Times about a controversy rocking the yoga world. In an essay posted on the website of the Hindu-American Foundation, Dr. Aseem Shukla laments what he perceives as a disconnect between the modern yoga culture and its Hindu roots. The author didn’t ask that yoga practitioners...
Selfhood
In very simple terms Qigong is one of the antidotes to selfhood. It is hard for our modern ears to even hear such sounds let alone seem them as music. But selfhood, contrary to our teachings and our society, is not a guaranteed panacea. The core of our being does not reside in selfhood...
Intention not Tension
Here’s a great little exercise. What’s so effective about it is that all you need is a little imagination. This exercise is about “intent”, that is bringing your attention to a specific task and then continuing to focus your mind while you accomplish this task.
The Real and the True
One of the most persistent confusions in medicine and health care is the idea of normative reality. In truth normative information is only generally true, not always useful in specific cases and sometimes quite misleading in application.
Can You Become Smaller?
We do it in some circumstances and then forget that we do it at all. My wife thinks I am like a dog because...
Some Happiness
Happiness has many approaches. Some of them take us far away from the happiness we feel into a land of speculation, almost like gambling. There are some paths to happiness that are shorter, more direct. To see these more direct ways it is often helpful to look at our present life, our real life....
October Warning: Don’t Sweat the Negative
There's an expression making the rounds lately among beginning Qigong practitioners. Some times you will hear, "Wow, he just like dumped his negative qi all over me." ...
Where is Consciousness?
Is there mind without consciousness? If you say yes you will be wrong. If you say no you will be wrong.
“The Picture of Health”
Such a nice phrase, really a compliment we bestow on those who seem to us to be emblematic of perfect health. But is our picture clear, or as foggy as snow on an old black and white tv?
The Black Box
I’ve been reading a book by Michael S. Behe entitled “Darwin’s Black Box, The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution“. David Berlinski, who authored the wonderful A Tour of the Calculus, states that understanding the defense of Darwin necessitates knowing the material in this book and I humbly agree. This challenge is the exact opposite of...