This is a forum dedicated to Sun Simiao quotations and discussions. In particular I love the aspects Sun Simiao expresses when he talks of ethical practice & professionalism, as well as YangSheng: nourishing life, how a doctor should take care of oneself.
Guys,
last night was great, many great ideas. If I may I'd like to quote Sun Simiao with his appreciation (Yi Fang 26th scroll "Acupuncture and moxabustion part I " chapter 1 "Using the acupuncture points")
醫ç€æ„也ï¹å–„於用æ„å³ç‚ºè‰¯é†«ã€‚良醫之é“ï¹å¿…先診脈處方ï¹æ¬¡å³é‡ç¸ï¹å…§å¤–相扶ï¹ç—…必當愈。何則﹖ 湯藥攻其內ï¹é‡ç¸æ”»å…¶å¤–。
"The art of medicine is the art of ideas. The one who is good with using his ideas is called an excellent Doctor. The Dao of the excellent doctor must start with diagnosing the pulse and writing a prescription, only thereafter he uses acupuncture and moxa. The support then comes from the inside as well as the outside and the disease must reach a recovery. How come? Herbal decoctions can defeat the (disease) inside, while acupuncture can defeat the (disease) outside."
The converstaion last night definitly had many ideas, helping all of us practitioners become excellent doctors.
cheers!
Yaron Seidman
Hunyuan Research Institute for Chinese Classics
We will have to get all three of you on again at TCMTV or Pro D in the future. I see Sabine Wilms is also teaching a class in your Certification course... very exciting.
I look forward to your 3 hour webinar on March 21st. You mentioned that you prefer those attending read your book first so we can go deeper rather than taking questions and time that are easily answered in your book. Do they order it on Amazon or do you have link to post here so they can order it through you (if cheaper and quicker and delivery than amazon)
By the way, all 3 have some CEU approved courses on Pro D. Yaron on March 21st, sabine Wilms on May 2 and Z'ev Rosenberg Pulse course in vancouver on June 18, 2010. http://www.prodseminars.net/
Whomever want to get a copy of my book, the best and fastest option is to get the Advanced Reader's Edition on www.curinginfertility.org
with 60% discount it is only $7, and shipping includes priority mail shipping.
Yaron Seidman
The following quotation from Sun Simiao's official biography in the Tang dynastic history (my translation) is the only mentioning in the entire biography on anything related to medicine:
Zhaolin had a malignant illness that physicians were unable to cure, so he went and asked Simiao, “What principles do the famous physicians employ to cure illness?” Simiao answered, “I have heard that if one is skilled at talking about Heaven, one must substantiate it in the human realm; if one is skilled at talking about humans, one must also root it in Heaven. In Heaven, there are four seasons and five phases; winter cold and summer heat alternate with each other. When this cyclical revolution is harmonious, it forms rain; when it is angry, wind; when it congeals, frost and snow; when it stretches out, rainbows. These are the constancies of Heaven and Earth. Humans have four limbs and five internal organs. They alternate between being awake and sleeping. In exhaling and inhaling and spitting out and sucking in, essence and qi leave and come. In their flow, they constitute the constructive and protective [influences of the body], they manifest as facial color, and they erupt as sound. These are the constancies of humanity. Yang employs the form, yin employs the essence. This is where Heaven and humanity are identical.
When [the constancies] are lost, if [qi and essence] steam upward, they cause heat [in the body]; if they are blocked, they cause cold; if they are bound, tumors and excrescences; if they sink, abscesses; if they scatter wildly, panting and shortness of breath; and if they are exhausted, scorching and withering. Their symptoms arise on the face, and their transformations move around in the body.
When one extends this analogy to apply to Heaven and Earth, it is also likewise. Thus the waxing and waning of the Five Planets, the irregular motions of the constellations, the eclipses of the sun and moon, the flight of shooting stars, these are Heaven and Earth’s symptoms of danger. Unseasonable winter cold and summer heat are the ascent or blockage [of qi and essence] in Heaven and Earth. Uprighted boulders and thrust-up earth are the tumors and excrescences of Heaven and Earth. Collapsing mountains and caved-in ground are the abscesses of Heaven and Earth. Scattered winds and violent rain are the panting and shortness of breath of Heaven and Earth. Dried-up streams and parched marshes are the scorching and withering of Heaven and Earth.
An excellent physician guides [qi and essence] with medicinals and [lancing] stones and rescues with needles and prescriptions. A sage[ly ruler] harmonizes [qi and essence] in order to perfect his power and uses them for support in order to manage the affairs of humanity. Thus, the human body has illnesses that can be cured, and Heaven and Earth have calamities that can be dispersed.”
The following is a summary of scroll one of Sun Simiao's Essential Prescriptions from the chapter "The Great Physician's Professional Practice," listing the education requirements of a "great physician":
first: familiarity with the major medical classics (theoretical treatises; books on acupuncture, moxibustion, and pulse diagnosis; materia medica; and formularies)
second: master the various techniques of divination for predicting people’s fate (such as calendrical and numerological techniques, astrology, physiognomy, plastromancy (i.e. turtle shell divination), the Classic of Changes (Yi Jing 易經), etc., to avoid being “like a traveler at night without eyesight, blindly stumbling to your death.”
third: study the prescriptions contained in the Essential Prescriptions, “fixing your mind on them, pinching them tightly as if with tweezers, and grinding them down like ink stones.”
fourth:
“Moreover, [you must] wade and hunt through the general literature. Why is that? If you have not studied the five [Confucian] classics, you do not know the way of humaneness and righteousness; if you have not studied the three [dynastic] histories, you do not know the affairs of the past and present; if you have not studied the masters of [Warring States] philosophy, you will be unable to observe matters and silently know them; if you have not studied the Inner Classics [of Buddhism], you do not know the virtues of compassion, sympathy, joy and abandonment; if you have not studied the Zhuangzi and Laozi, you are unable to allow perfection in the movements of the body. As a result, in good and bad fortune, you will be held in the grip of [religious] avoidances and will encounter violations [of taboos] on your path.
Lastly, arriving at the waxing and waning of the five phases and the heavenly patterns in the seven luminaries, you must also explore their subtleties. If you are able to learn all these, there will be no obstacles in your way of medicine, and it will be characterized by the utmost in both skill and beauty.”
The following is just a short quotation from the second chapter on "The Great Physician's Absolute Sincerety" in scroll One of the Essential Prescriptions:
Nowadays, there are diseases that are identical on the inside but different on the outside, as well as diseases that are different on the inside but identical on the outside. Therefore, abundance or deficiency in the five viscera and six bowels and the free flow or blockage of blood in the vessels and of construction and defense is certainly not something that can be observed [merely] by eyes and ears. They must first be examined by diagnosing signs: at [the three positions of pulse diagnosis] cunkou (inch opening), guan (bar), and chi (cubit), for the presence of disorder in terms of a floating or sunken, stringlike or tight [pulse]; in the flow at the transport points, for differences in whether it is high or low, shallow or deep; and in the flesh, sinews, and bones, for differences in whether they are thick or thin, hard or soft. Only somebody who concentrates their mind with refinement and subtlety can even begin to talk about this. Nowadays, however, affairs of the utmost refinement and subtlety are being pursued with a coarse and shallow mind. Is this not dangerous indeed?
To add to what is already full or to decrease what is already deficient, to penetrate further into what is already flowing freely or to congest what is already blocked, to cool what is already cold or to warm what is already hot, this is only doubling the disorder, and where there was still hope for the patient’s life, I now see their death!
Therefore, the difficulty and sophistication of the technical skills required for medicinal prescriptions and divination by means of tortoise shell or yarrow stalks is not something that is acquired from the spirits. So how does one obtain their secrets and subtlety?
The fools of the world study formulas for three years and yet it is said [of them] that there is not a single disease under heaven that they are able to treat. After treating disease for three years, they finally become aware that no formula under heaven exists that they are able to use. For this reason, students must absolutely acquaint themselves to the greatest extent with the origins of medicine, studying tirelessly with absolute diligence. They may not recklessly repeat rumors and then claim that this is all there is to the Way of Medicine! Deep indeed is their self-delusion!
Whenever a physician treats an illness, he must quiet his spirit and settle his will, he must be free of wants and desires, and he must first develop a heart full of great compassion and empathy. He must pledge to devote himself completely to relieving the suffering of all sentient beings. If patients suffering from disease come to him seeking help, he may not inquire whether they are nobility or low class or poor or wealthy, [or consider their] old age or youth, beauty or ugliness, or whether he detests or likes them or whether they are his friend, whether they are Chinese or barbarian, a fool or a sage. He must treat all of them exactly the same as if they were his closest relative.
An excerpt from the chapter on "Nurturing One's Nature" (yang xing 養性) in the Essential Prescriptions:
"To be skilled at nurturing one’s nature is to treat disease before it arises.”
“If a person’s virtue in actions is not abundant, even if they constantly take elixirs of jade and pills of gold, they will be unable to extend their longevity.”
“A person who is skilled at preserving life will not encounter ferocious tigers. This is heaven’s reward for having morality (dao de é“å¾·).”
“The ancients, in their knowledge of the Dao, followed the pattern of yin and yang, harmonized [their actions] with skills and calculations, were moderate in their food and drink and regular in their living habits, and did not recklessly overexert themselves. Therefore they were able to keep their body and spirit complete and live out their heavenly years to the fullest, only leaving after a hundred years had passed.”
“Even if you constantly ingest alchemical preparations but do not know the art of nurturing life, it will still be difficult to extend your lifespan. The way of nurturing life is to constantly strive for minor exertion but never become greatly fatigued and force what you cannot endure! Moreover, running water does not grow stale, the door post does not get wormy. The reason for this is that they move.
The Way of nurturing life consists of never moving nor standing for a long time, never sitting nor lying for a long time, never looking nor hearing for a long time. Extended looking damages the blood, extended lying down damages the qi, extended standing damages the bones, extended sitting damages the flesh, and extended moving damages the sinews. Avoid overeating, overdrinking, and heavy lifting. Avoid anxiety and worrying, great anger, sorrow and grief, great fear, jumping about, too many words, and great laughter. Avoid eagerly jumping at your desires and avoid holding on to hatred. All of these are harmful to longevity. If you are able not to go against these [warnings], then you will be able to extend your life.
Therefore, a person who is good at preserving life constantly reduces thoughts, ideas, desires, business affairs, speaking, laughter, worrying, joy, happiness, anger, likes, and dislikes. If you can observe these twelve reductions, this is the essence of nurturing life. Excessive thought imperils the spirit, excessive thought scatters the will, excessive desires muddles the will, excessive business affairs exhaust the physical body, excessive speech wears out the qi, excessive laughter damages the viscera, excessive worry intimidates the heart, excessive joy makes the intentions spill over, excessive happiness makes you forget mistakes and become muddled and confused, excessive anger makes the hundred vessels unsettled, excessive likes make you lose your concentration, and excessive dislikes make you haggard and dismal. If you fail to eliminate these twelve excesses, construction and defense will lose their measure, and qi and blood will flow frenetically. This is the root to losing your life. Only a person who has neither too much nor too little [of these] is able to approximate the Way!...”
"When drinking alcohol, do not desire too much, but if you do drink too much, quickly vomiting it is best.”
Sun Simiao on sexual cultivation (part of the chapter on nurturing life from the Essential Prescriptions)
The following obviously requires a lengthy explanation but I am merely posting the literal quotations here as a start for a conversation. We'll have to do a whole webinar to make sense of some of this information.
“To cure a person by means of another person, this is true perfection indeed. As for the art of the bedchamber, its Way is extremely closeby and yet people are unable to practice it. There is nothing more to technique than mounting ten women in one night while blocking and securing (bi gu 閉固 i.e., without ejaculation).”
"If you are able to change women with great frequency, the benefits you will gain are numerous. When a person constantly mounts a single woman, [her] yin qi will turn weak and the [health] benefits [for the man] will also be reduced. The way of yang is modeled after fire and the house of yin is modeled after water. Water is able to control fire, and yin likewise disperses yang. If used for a long time without stopping, yin qi will surpass yang and yang will then be diminished instead. What you obtain does not supplement what you lose. Nevertheless, if you are able to mount 12 women and not ejaculate repeatedly, this causes the person to not grow old and to have a beautiful complexion. If a person can mount 93 women and keep himself secured, he will live for 10,000 years!
From the scroll titled "Healing with Food" (shi zhi 食治) some literally translated quotations - again, a webinar will hopefully follow to explain the significance of this material, especially in light of Materia Medica classification of medicinals:
When a person’s body is balanced and harmonious, you must merely nurture it well. Do not recklessly ingest medicinals because the power of medicinals assists only partially and causes the person’s visceral qi to become imbalanced, so that they easily contract external trouble. All substances that contain qi provide food and thereby preserve life. And yet, eating them unawares can mean success or failure. The common people today use them daily without awareness, and so they hardly recognize when water and fire draw near....
What people depend on is the physical body; what disorders harmonious qi is disease; what regulates vexing poisons is medicinals; what rescues life and provides support in crises is the physician. To secure the body at the root, you must provide it with food. To rescue from the speed of disease, you must rely on medicinals. A person who does not know the appropriateness of food is unable to preserve life. A person who does not understand the avoidances of medicinals is unable to use them to eliminate disease...
Food is able to expel evil and stabilize the viscera and bowels, and to please the spirit and clear the will, thereby protecting blood and qi. If you are able to use food to balance out chronic disorders, release emotions, and chase away disease, you can call yourself an outstanding craftsperson. This is the special method of lengthening the years and “eating for old age” and the utmost art of nurturing life....
People who practice medicine must first thoroughly understand the source of the disorder and know what has been violated. Then, use food to treat it, and if food will not cure it, afterwards apply drugs.
(sorry too tired to translate the whole intro)
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Scroll 29 “ Canonical Prohibitions”
The classics states: (At first) the clear and turbid didn’t separate and there was no night and day. Then heaven and earth began distinguishing and as a result cool and warmth were seen. The four seasons thus separated and cold and heat were born. The three celestial bodies (sun, moon and stars) illuminated with splendor. The shadow cast by the sun grew and waned. The human began receiving the five appropriate essences (of the five elements) and the skin and flesh began opening and closing (to receive the essences). Thus Lao Zi said: The reason why I can suffer a disaster is that I have a body. As soon as I have no (physical) body what disaster can I suffer? All sages of heaven and earth couldn’t escape illnesses......(to be continued)
Yaron Seidman
Hunyuan Research Institute for Chinese Classics
sabine, I think I heard you say there was more on the chapter of ethics as I am soaking that up, particularly the ethics and the personal yang sheng,...they are both such a great reminder of how off course we can get as modern practitioners (well, I speak for myself). Cutting back on all things we know indulgent, and all things we know are in excess leads us on a path toward more peace within. When this is sought after, there is more room for compassion & empathy, and more capacity to do what we as practitioners all want to do well, help people heal.
