Formless Qi Gong Preface - Why not Western Medicine or other Holistic Medicine?
By the time I was eight years old, we had pretty much exhausted all avenues of treatment for my allergies and asthma. I had been treated by the best dermatologists in the U.S., the best acupuncturalists, and the best Traditional chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors. Eventually they all gave up as my condition steadily grew worse regardless of the treatment. It was then, only eight years old but already low on hope, that my grandfather suggested I try a type of Qigong. The stocks of failed needles and medicine over the years accumulated in me as a fear of any new treatment. Only when they said that this type of Qi Gong did not use needles, medicine, and a minimal amount of body contact did I agree to meet the Qi Gong master.
So, Why not Western Medicine, other alternative medicine, or other types of Qi Gong? It was made clear in the introductory paragraph that Im done with those types of treatment because they didnt work and often made things worse. To be truly capable of treating all illnesses, doctors must completely understand the human body. Aside from the human anatomy and a few simple processes that Western doctors have observed, Western doctors actually know very little of the human body. Its undoubtable that Western medicine has treated many illnesses, but tell me how many illnesses has Western medicine actually cured? By cured I mean no side effects when you take medication, not having to take medicine for some other medicine youre taking for some illness. By cured I mean not having to take the same allergy pills every spring or old people not having to take pills for high bloodpressure for the rest of their lives.
With all the commercials of new medication on TV, the strongest impression people get is usually not what these drugs do but how many side effects these medication have. Would you say that the Auto Garage has fixed your car if you take it in to fix your door and they simply removed the door and said its fixed? Obviously no. So why would you say that removing a body part because it has cancer is curing cancer?
In the same way, my allergies and asthma werent curable because the doctors didnt know what was ACTUALLY wrong with my body, only speculated. They arent even able to make an educated guess because they do not have the right knowledge to do so.
Having just bashed Western Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) isnt much better. Formless Qi Gong does use the same basic TCM conceps such as the Five Elements, Meridians, and Acupuncture points. Yet almost everything else in TCM are misconceptions accumulated over the five thousand year history of the Chinese culture. Thoughout history, too many wars were faught during which knowledge of true TCM was lost and too many incompetent students of TCM handed down the concepts and knowledge of TCM incorrectly.
Take the idea of the Five Elements for example. Organizing the whole TCM around the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth (Soil actually), Gold, and Water makes the Five Elements seem like no more scientific Medieval Alchemy. Yet, taking a closer look, the Five Elements is actually a very scientific method of categorization. Just as Western science uses Greek and Latin words to describe and organize, TCM uses the Five Elements. Qi behaves in a cycle with particular characteristics at each stage of the cycle, the ancient Chinese scholars simply chose elements that best described each stage and the relationship between the stages.
My friend Jackie asked if believing in Qi is part of my spiritual belief. Well, you believe in something if you have some hints of its existence and someone you trust is more knowledgeable than you guides you towards an explanation for it. Thats a belief. As a self-proclaimed scientist and engineer, nothing is acceptable without first hand proof by the senses (such as experimental proof.) Would you say you believe you ate a sandwich or you know you ate a sandwich? Would you say you believe you drive a red car or you know you drive a red car? Same with Qi, I dont believe- I know.
