To
UNDERSTAND any system of healing it is necessary to understand the cultural context within which it developed. Culture articulates the philosophy
and the worldview that together define the way the system operates.
The healer, the patient, and the techniques used in medicine are intimately
tied up with the view
that the culture takes of life.
The Western scientific worldview is
based on a reductionist ideology - that is, it seeks to understand a
system by breaking it down into its constituent parts. This has meant
that the science and practice of medicine are essentially reductionist
too. Analytical specificity is emphasized, and holism - the view that
approaches the person as a "whole" being, comprising body,
mind, and spirit - is underplayed. This analytical emphasis has brought
many marvelous insights to the treatment of disease, but it still lacks
the overview that ties all aspects of the human condition together.
Chinese medicine has the potential to help redress this balance. The
worldview that underpins the principles and practices of Chinese medicine
is based on the Taoist understanding of a universe where everything
is interdependent and mutually interactive. Nothing is excluded; nothing
is analyzed or interpreted without reference to the whole. When it comes
to medical theory and practice, this view requires a set of assumptions
and parameters quite different from those operating in Western medicine.
As human beings we exist as an integral part of an energetic - energy
filled - universe. Within this universe our mind, body, and spirit are
merely different manifestations of the same life force and consequently
cannot be considered separately.
Thus, practitioners of Chinese medicine define their patients' difficulties in terms that naturally emerge from the Taoist philosophical traditions. The diagnosis will place the signs and symptoms into an interdependent tapestry where physical symptoms, emotional reactions, and spiritual beliefs are set alongside social and environmental factors in order to understand how the energy dynamics of the individual lead to health or disharmony.
The
treatments used in Chinese medicine are also energetic interventions
that seek to reestablish harmony and equilibrium for each individual
within his or her unique environment. Thus, whether the practitioner
uses acupuncture, suggests Qigong exercises, recommends meditation practices, or, indeed, proposes a Feng Shui reading to balance the energetics of
the patient's environment at work or at home, there is an overarching
commonality of purpose that will see these interventions as mutually
interdependent and reinforcing. The principles of Chinese medicine do not have to await the arrival of illness. Indeed, to understand these principles and to apply them in daily life is as much a part of the Chinese system of health as are the treatment specialisms applied. Thus, prevention and cure are not simply good practices in operation - there is no other way that such a system could operate.