To my readers: my most popular post seems to be the one on the Lung from a Chinese Medicine Perspective. I’m grateful that it has proved useful to many. I often feel as I’m learning Chinese Medicine that if some of this stuff were put in a way that was more accessible to those who don’t study Chinese Medicine, they might get it and find much usefullness on a daily basis from it. Too much in this world is held hostage from regular folks, claiming that only years of practice and expertise will unlock secrets, mysteries or powers. While that’s empirically true based soley on the natural world, there’s no reason that we have to exacerbate it by keeping people from improving their lives incrementally with really useful things. Sadly, our educational system prepares us to be memorizers and functional cogs in larger mechanisms. They don’t put much effort into teaching us to manage, design or change those mechanisms, which keeps us forever employees, and they don’t teach us much about maintaining or refining ourselves. I’m convinced that we could all be more productive, effective and happy if we just learned to manage our selves, our bodies, minds, emotions, social lives, psyches and spirits, with more consciousness and clarity. I hope to be able to grow that idea in those with whom I have contact, by making what I’ve come to understand so far available to them for their review.
Most blogs publish with few, if any, conversation resulting. I’m afraid I’m not yet the kind of writer that has found his coffee shop, or opium den, where he can communicate with like-minded philosophers and experts. I do have friends and colleagues in fields in which I have some knowledge, and I do talk with them, but I often find that in general, I’m a community of one. I’m therefore very thankful for those who at least take a moment to comment on my blogs, even if only to say “nice post,” or “I still don’t get it.” When they post more, I take up the conversation as best I can, because this is ultimately the goal—to pass it on fully to someone who would like to use it. Doris is an example, and her questions were sufficiently provocative that I wanted to address them fully. This made it difficult to deal with them in a comments stream, so I’m posting them as a new post for anyone who might find the questions and answers useful.
Dear Doris,
“First of all thank you so much for this blog.”
You’re most welcome. Thank you for reading.
“You described my metal state in a way that made me feel as though you yourself, have been a witness to the experience that only I, have ever had the privilege of being. I honestly felt exposed and relieved all at the same time. You described it EXACTLY!”
It’s an honor to have shared a similar experience to yours. You’re correct that I’ve born witness to the experience—in my own life. You weren’t alone in how you were feeling, and what you were experiencing. You were not the first, and we won’t be the last. In this way, we all share human experience. We only think that we’re alone, and strange, and we think so particularly in that state. Thinking that way is a functional component of the state of sorrow. I’m sorry, sister, that you felt alone, and didn’t know I was there, feeling the same way.
“If I understood you correctly, it’s like my lungs are a kind Heaven Qi parasite robbing the rest of my organs their fair share?”
When I finished reading all your comments, I found that I wanted to suggest you re-read the article. It’s long, I know, and the detail can cause a person to get a little lost. I find that particularly when the information resounds within you as true, that we can read past good information without registering it. It’s as though we need a certain story so much, that we read only those parts that support the internal story, and miss the parts that seem secondary to it. Much of what you’re asking is really addressed, I think. One of the reasons my articles are so long is that I have an internal argument always underway, trying to convince me that someone, somewhere, will misunderstand what I just said. The desire to be clear, therefore, makes me verbose and perhaps repetative. However, I will answer your questions on the assumption that, despite my best efforts, the message is not palatable to you in its current form.
Please allow me to offer a correction to your paraphrase of the Lung function, as it is accurate in a limited way, but might still cause you problems down the line. It is accurate to say that the Lung “robs” the rest of the organs of Heaven Qi only insofar as the lungs are the physical manifestation of the aspect of the Self that captures and distributes Heaven Qi. It is inaccurate, however, to say that the organs have a “fair share,” as though they deserve qi as an inalienable right of their mere existence. By what measure do you determine that the organs get a share? My article purports that it is, in fact, part of the Lung’s function to determine what in the body deserves Heaven Qi, and what doesn’t. The Lung, in this capacity, acts as the soul’s enforcer.
The soul doesn’t want the earthly ego (the artificial concoction of habits and tendencies that develops naturally from being alive, but starts to think it is the centerpiece of the life, and tries to rob the life away from the soul) to pull the life off-track. The Lung is its (the soul’s) way of reigning in activity that is “off-track” from the perspective of the soul intent. Characterizing the Lung as a parasite in general is therefore inaccurate. Another reason it is inaccurate, is that it may be malfunctioning because the body weakened its supply of Yin qi that it requires to function optimally. How is the Lung’s passive failure to function when it is deprived of its necessary fuel a parasitic behavior?
It is, therefore, only mildy accurate to characterize the restrictive dissemination on the part of the Lung as parasitic in nature. Devoid of adequate connection with the soul, Lung serves its function with outdated information. That sounds and can seem active and selfish on its part. Even so, I resist the idea, because the term parasite contains some cultural anger and fear that I think gets in the way of healing the Lung.
It’s important to accept things the way they are before we try to change them. As my grandfather would say, you can’t plant if you don’t dig your hands into the soil. We must love that which we want to change. The Lung is more like a captain in the field trying to fight the war while its communication with its superiors has been cut off. It is doing the best it can without clarity or perspective. It just keeps fighting based on the last orders it received. What’s wrong isn’t the Lung, but rather the protocols of living that should be regularly re-informing the Lung with an updated pattern. Even if your lungs are filled with mucus, siezing bronchitically, your sinuses flowing allergically and what not, the toxicity that has built up is not the fault of the Lung, but rather representative of its losing battle. Without the soul, all organs lose the battle to stay alive.
I want to just briefly state, as well, that the problems that might be associated with the lungs, physically, and Lung in its larger capacity as a manifestation of the soul on earth, must be distinguished for proper healing. It’s possible that the problem originated somewhere in the self that isn’t entirely physical, and that the physical symptoms are later minifestations. The healing must eventually reach that original locus. Thus, if your Lung isn’t communing with your soul, because you’re active in your life but not doing what your soul intended for this life, then a little sleep or meditation isn’t going to cut it. Your Lung, in this situation, is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, which is back away from the life you’re leading, indirectly starving you. Your life must change to align with the soul. After all, what are you without the soul? On the other hand, if the problem began as an unappreciated opportunity that is now gone, leaving behind sorrow, then your healing must deal with the sorrow that has manifested. You must devote time to fully appreciating what has gone passed and coming to terms with its absense. The soul can’t make change when that kind of emotional haze is hanging over the form. It will want you to clean in up, either way.
So, as I said, the answer to your question is difficult for me, because I don’t have your particular situation in mind. My article attempted to address different types of situations, in hopes that they would put you in the right neighborhood, and your intuitions could take it from there. I recommend using mine, and any other, maps you can find to get as close as you can and then shift gears to listening to your own inner advisor. If your mind is overactive, as you suggest, give it the task of identifying and cataloguing every single intuitive message it detects. That’ll help to begin with.
Don’t underestimate the power to heal instantly. You are not less for having this problem. You never were. You are and have always been eternal; infinite. You’re an infinite being projecting into a limited universe. It is only natural that the projection, not the Self, encounters opposition, and swirls and eddies oddly. The swirls and eddies you recognize today are today’s tasks or challenges to overcome. They are not a limitation of you; they are only an example of this universe being essentially limited in its ability to express you. Your body isn’t you, it is this universe’s expression of you, given the materials that were at hand. Your problems don’t speak of you—they speak of this universe. You are not dimished. You can’t be. You’re unlimited.
If you have trouble believing this, then that may be a symptom of the cut-off with your source. Try forgiving yourself for being cut-off, and forgiving yourself for having this problem, and forgiving the universe for being limited, and forgiving the economy and your boss and the job and anything annoying, and forgive again and again and again with each passing second. The strain of so much forgiveness and compassion is too much for the limited self to bear without the unlimited Self interceding. The attempt has a tendency to leave you feeling exhausted, but it often results in a breakthrough in a relatively short time, depending on the source of your problems. If your body responds with another extreme emotion like anger or fear, then stop this exercise and look into my other articles. There’s more happening here, and there’s no need to have a psychotic event. You have time.
“It’s also my understanding that the mind and intestines are related and an overactive mind that doesn’t let things go…EVER…might also cause the intestines to ‘retain’ and choose to not cooperate with its ‘soul’s imprint’ and intention for it as well?”
Interesting interpretation. I had to check to see if I’ve written about Spleen separately, but I haven’t. Mental activity and particularly the tendency to obsess are, indeed, associated with Spleen, though not precisely the intestines. Lung is paired with the Large Intestines, but I didn’t deal in the article with this connection. There is a psycho-spiritual correlation between the Large Intestine activity of re-absorbing moisture from stool and “retention,” as you put it, but in Chinese Medicine retention, on any level (as in retaining thoughts) is largely dealt with as an issue of the Spleen.
If you are over-retaining, that can indicate a problem in Spleen, and the advice I give on qi circulation with regard to Lung must now be modified by this additional factor. It get’s complicated, though, which is why I would recommend under these conditions a full set of qigong practiced regularly that addresses either both the Lung and Spleen, or such other qigong combinations as Metal and Earth, Ren and Du channel ciculation, and balancing heaven and earth (these are the kinds of things that you’ll hear said or see in a title to indicate that the type of qigong you’re exploring may help address Spleen and Lung issues in combination). In general, when the Spleen is involved, or if you believe it is, I recommend beginning to involve a physician. The Spleen is a springboard in Chinese Medicine to too many maladies and problems to let it go unattended, and any organ combination problem, such as Lung and Spleen issues combined, represents a problem that has advanced sufficiently to make healing it more complicated than can be dealt with in a blog medium like this.
The Tibetans have a classification of insanity that translates loosely as an “excess of reason.” I like that. In other words, one can approach a conscious state in which our reasoning causes us to doubt our sensory input. Thus, our concieved world can no longer be verified through senses, and without that element, we can’t stay present or learn from our mistakes. It is, therefore, possible for reason to become excessive. Likewise, the role of the mind in our lives is one that functions best in balance with other aspects of our being and functioning. When it dominates, as it often does in people throughout known history, it can run into the situation in which it attempts to process something that doesn’t belong to its realm. You can use butcher’s tools to perform a surgery, but you’re probably going to make a mess. Just so, the mind isn’t the right tool for all things, and when it intervenes where it isn’t called for, it can do more harm than good. We’re not taught this culturally or in academia. On the contrary, we are drilled with the illusion of the all-importance of the mind.
In answer to your question, the Lung is a largely passive aspect, and if another aspect of the self is aggressive, it is only natural physics that the passive aspects will give way. Mechanically, that can be observed in many ways, not the least of which is heat build-up in the head and heart, damaging Lung qi.
I want to make sure that we don’t get into a more confusing situation here. My hope was that my article might simplify the complexities of Chinese Medicine so that we can help ourselves a little more. My focus was to take what we can know to help point to things we didn’t know. What we can know is different for everybody and in different situations. I believe that for the majority of the populous, the first real idea that something is wrong occurs when we are complaining about physical symptoms. So, my article begins with addressing the maladies of Western Colds, shortness of breath, cough, sputum and so on. That gives us a jumping off point. Those symptoms point to the lungs, and to the Chinese Medicine function of Lung. From there, we can hopefully observe other aspects of our lives for more clues. The clues point toward solutions.
Sometimes, a more esoteric source physicalizes, and then the physical vehicle reacts to it. For instance, perhaps you experience such a terrible tradgedy that you can’t get passed the sorrow. I call an overwhelm of sorrow, despair. Overwhelm means that the useful part of the experience is being interfered with, and creating a closed loop that allows almost not escape. So, despair could be said to be the state of sorrow in which sorrow becomes a way of life, rather than an opportunity to rebalance a situation of undervaluation. The persistence of despair might keep the Lung function so depressed that it eventually succumbs to disease, like a Western Cold. The Western Cold may involve various bacteria entering the body and the bloodstream. The infection could spread to another organ, like let’s say the heart. Now you have a bigger problem. The physical manifestation has caused a physical reaction. Is the solution in the esoteric aspects of the heart because the heart caught some of the bug? Perhaps, perhaps not. Certainly, the infection can and should now be dealt with on the physical level. The healing will still have to eventually deal with the sorrow that started the whole problem.
So my article should help point fingers, but the point isn’t to assign blame. In a complex biosystem like the body, blame can spread rather quickly and go back to genetic history and the toxicity of our environment. The question is can you do anything about your parents or the air quality in your city? If not, then let’s keep the finger pointing to areas in which we have some measure of control. If you believe your mind to be over-active, then meditation isn’t likely to be a good solution initially. You’ll be spending much of your time and energy just trying to muscle in on the mind’s activity, and getting little relief for the lungs. Seek options for turning the mind off, all-together, for periods of time, like sleep and naps. Explore also entraining the mind visually and auditorally. For instance, playing music (especially if you try to listen to it) can draw the mind into the sound and use up some of that activity in following and being played upon by the music. Combine that with music choice, that supports relaxation, reconnecting with the soul, or simply emphasizing a positive attitude, can prove effective. The same is true of visuals; art, movies, reading.
As far as “retention” being at issue, if it isn’t yet a physical symptom, I would deal with it at mostly in breathing exercises. Practice purging thought with the exhalation of the breath. Emphasize the exhallation in each breath, and try to feel the moment at the end of the breath in which everything is quiet. Higher teachings emphasize that the moment of stillness has a real, physical result. It catalizes the progress toward better states of balance and healing. The trick is that the catalyst isn’t always something pleasant. Sometimes, we need to break some eggs to get to the omlette, and stillness doesn’t discriminate in that way. At any rate, if you can reach any kind of moment of suspended quiet and pressence at the end of a breath, then you’ve made progress, and the more often you can achieve that, the more you will catalyze change that solidifies the acheivment.
If it is a physical symptom—if you’re expeirencing physical retention as a problem—then I recommend addressing the retention separately from the Lung and coming back to the Lung when that isn’t a problem anymore. Over-retention is a Spleen issue, and it will quickly become systemic. The Lung then can’t avoid being affected, even if it’s fine to begin with. Spleen, however, is a separate article I’m still working on. Spleen is an issue I’m dealing with, myself, and I don’t feel up to writing about it until I’ve resolved my own issues. I wouldn’t want to miss something important.
“You also said the lungs need to communication with the soul often. Is that achieved by meditation?”
Your question is really one of the fundamental questions of each of our lives: how do I, unique in being from all other entities, most efficiently and effectively connect with and communicate with the soul? Since its such a big, and individual inquiry, no answer I could give would suffice for someone else, much less for large audience, as I hope my blog can reach. My article is meant to propose a starting point, which stems from what I understand of Chinese Medicine, Qigong, and Medical Qigong, for answering those questions.
I mention in the article that one must first attend to Yin conditions, which are conditions that nourish Yin in the body and, indirectly, the Lung. Such conditions are “lowering of the body temperature, slowing of its processes, calmer deeper breathing, shade or darkness [with respect to physical exposure to luminesence], rest, and stationary or sedentary physicality.” Remember that the Lung is for the most part a passive entity. You don’t force it to convene with the soul. Rather, you create conditions in which its connectivity with the soul is encouraged, and then show patience. It is in their nature to communicate with each other. All we’re talking about, then, is getting out of their way.
I cannot overemphasize the power of simple sleep in this goal. People in the modern age keep seeking after more Yang solutions, something that forces or engineers a change, and relative to sleeping meditation is in fact more Yang in nature. Yes, absolutely, meditation can be an excellent way to intervene in your health. I like to advise meditation for those who do it, and for those who can’t, give other options. If you’re having trouble getting yourself to meditate, you could just try to emphasize sleep for a few weeks.
If you can meditate, and want to add it to your healing attempts, practice passive breathing and seeking absolute stillness. If you have no training in meditation to fall back on, think of stillness as a state in which the body doesn’t shake, adjust, or basically do anything beyond breathing. Even the movement of the breath should become so even that it doesn’t seem to you that breathing is disturbing the body at all. In the movie Jurassic Park, some of the character’s survive an encounter with a Tyranasaurus Rex by being absolutely still, because the dinosaur’s vision is supposed to be based soley on movement. It won’t help you much, though, to imagine being stared down by a hungry dinosaur; I just wanted to clarify that I’m not just talking about esoteric stillness, but real physical lack of movement. An internal imaging can be used of being a stone dropped into the middle of the ocean. You fall gently and slowly through miles of water, until the descent no longer feels like movement. There is only an increasing sense of pressure from all sides pressing inward, and an increasing sense of infinite space becoming available inside. (The last part has nothing to do with the rock or the ocean, but should be added into the imaging to relieve the increasing pressure and preserve stillness).
“Also, would you suggest acupuncture for my over active lungs?”
Absolutely. My articles are not meant in any way to substitute for medical intervention. Rather, my hope is to empower individuals to take part in their own healing with activity over which they have more control, and augment whatever other healing they’re receiving. Further, I hope that people can distinguish what might be available to them if they can’t afford acupuncture or can’t locate a capable acupuncturist. Most acupuncturists available in the US now that qigong is important, but many aren’t up to teaching any to patients help augment their treatments. Unfortunately, knowing that leg of treatment hasn’t been made important to acquiring licensure in the US. So, I try to add to your philosophy the notion that you could get treatment AND practice qigong to augment your results.
Acupuncture is often like getting pyschological or gynocological help; just any doctor won’t do. We need to vet our options and settle on a relationship that works. Among other things, the acpuncturist has to get used to how your body manifests its problems and what solutions work best for you. Acupuncture is not Western! It is not based on science, which works to establish truths statistically and in vacuous conditions, and for the largest possible groups, often ignoring the statistical minority. Chinese Medicine has as its precept that each patient is unique and suffused with their actual lives, and the system must be adapted each time to their special needs. Sometimes, even good Chinese Medicine physicians need time to perfect that. You need, therefore, to be comfortable with your doctor and have faith in them. If you don’t do either, then keep looking.
I want to thank Doris for her questions and comments.
Your friend in the Tao,
Lihai
Dealing with Fatigue as a First Symptom – #2
