Lately I’ve had some powerful insights that are related to what I called the Great Mystery. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts here.

I started spontaneously experiencing that state of heightened awareness a few weeks ago. It has persisted, off and on, though it’s easily obliterated by stress and diluted by my many responsibilities. I have, up until now, tried to cultivate it directly.

It has felt world- and mind-expanding. It has allowed me a glimpse into a different world, one that is more vibrant, magical, and alive. The energy in my body flows more openly sometimes; I feel like there is more space between my joints than I am accustomed to. I think that these experiences are windows into the world, allowing me to see it more as it really is, as a place where there is much beauty, much subtle and intimate power.

But there was a dark side to that.

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Regarding the topic of elections and politics, I just came across Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (via Fantastic Planet). Ellul has some very interesting things to say about the role of the individual in modern democracy:

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There’s a shift in the balance of power in our national politics.

Does that mean anything?

I chose not to vote on Election Day. I know, I know, many fine soldiers fought and died for my freedom, so that I would have the right to vote. Yet somehow I found it impossible to shake off the deep cynicism I have about corruption in our political systems, not to mention in our civilization.

The seeds of the future are, I think, not to be found in the dominant power structures of today.

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I’ve found it more and more difficult to write about my education in Chinese medicine, not because there is nothing to say, but because there is too much. The theoretical intricacies of this “alternative” model of the body are profoundly different from the commonly accepted Western view that it’s difficult to make correlations. Even the very definitions of the same English words are at odds with Western medical terms. The spleen in Western medicine filters the blood; the Spleen in Chinese medicine is responsible for transforming food into energy and making blood.

The more I learn, the vaster the ocean of Chinese medicine seems, and the more bewildered I sometimes find myself. I can’t, at this stage, even think of translating into Western medical terms. I can only present what I’ve learned as I’ve learned it.

For now, I’ll just mention a few things that I’m finding valuable.

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