The Human Brain – How Does It Work? – Documentary
We are all living with our bodies twenty-four hours a day, every day of our lives. But how well do we know our bodies? Do we have to be doctors to understand what is going on? Do we need to hand over our bodies to a professional every time we get a symptom or rely on a prescription to put the problem right?
If you don’t understand your body, seeing your doctor is the sensible thing to do. But the first step is working with the medicine that is right there in your own home-the natural medicine of the body. The Yijing was the first systematic account of the workings of the cosmos according to the principle of yin and yang. With the Yijing came the cultivation of the esoteric art of qigong and the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Archaeological findings from the New Stone Age reveal that originally stone needles were used in the treatment of disease with acupuncture.
Later, some four thousand years ago, the practice of applying burning herbs to the acupuncture points (now called moxibustion) was developed. By the fifth century bc, in the Chunqiu Zhanguo period, stone needles had been supplanted by metal needles. This was a remarkable period. The framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine was now established, culminating in The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine. The sage Laozi (Lao Tsu) summarized the spiritual essence of the Daoist way of life in the short but profound text of the Daodejing (Dao De Ching), while in India Buddhism was taking root.
Many centuries later, when Buddhism spread to China, a rich synthesis of Buddhism, the Yijing, Daoism, and Traditional Chinese Medicine took place that continues to the present day. The illustrious Wei Boyang, for example, who lived in the Han dynasty, wrote Zhouyi cantongqi (Kinship of the three and the book of changes), which describes the human body as a miniature cosmos, na understanding Wei Boyang reached through his integration of the Yijing with qigong and Daoist alchemical practice. Ge Hong, living in the Jin dynasty, gave detailed instructions on health care in Baopuzi neipian (Preservation-of-solidarity master). Sun Simiao, from the Tang dynasty, is honored for Qianjinfang (A thousand golden remedies).
Later, in the Ming dynasty, books such as Leixiuyaojue (Collective aphorisms of qigong healthcare) brought together the teachings of many great masters on the law of the Dao, which means “the Way of Nature.” Such books are still widely read in China. The more visible aspect of the Daoist tradition, as in the art of fengshui, has readily caught the attention of the western mind. But for a real understanding of the Dao, the innermost principles of this wisdom need to be grasped. Modern society has profoundly alienated man from nature, and the cost to human health and happiness is only now beginning to be recognized.
The Cosmos as a Living Organism
The beginning of the universe
Is the mother of all things.
Knowing the mother, one also knows the sons.
Knowing the sons, yet remain in touch with the mother.
-Laozi, Daodejing
We usually think of our bodies as complete in themselves, separate from the air we breathe and the ground we walk on. It is true that the body is a whole universe in itself. But it is part and parcel of the total universe in which we live and to which we are connected every minute of our lives.
When we look at a clear night sky, we see thousands of stars all suspended in space in our own galaxy, and we know that our galaxy is just one of millions reaching to infinity. Within our own bodies, we too have galaxy upon galaxy. The energy of the stars we see outside exists inside us, so that the internal space of the body is organized on the same principles that govern the whole universe. (Imagine an infinite set of Russian dolls, each one having a smaller, identical doll inside it.) The galaxies all spin.
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is like a giant dinner plate spiraling round and round. Positioned near its edge, our own solar system is itself revolving. Our planet also spins around its geographic axis, having a geomagnetic field with a north and South Pole. The same magnetic force field is present in every living cell, each with its positive and negative pole. The human body as a whole similarly has its own force field. In China it is called qi (pronounced “chee”). Qi is made up of energy that is in constant motion, though mostly we are not paying attention to it. But qi is more than energy as we usually think of it.
Have you ever stopped to wonder how a galaxy keeps its shape? It isn’t just a mass of stars haphazardly floating around in space. Rather, it is a gigantic system composed of millions of stars all moving together through the operation of the invisible force of gravity, which maintains its existence.
In the miniature universe of the human body, the unseen force that maintains us is the qi. It is a remarkable information system. It doesn’t communicate in words, but we can learn how to read the messages it sends and find out what is going on inside us. Qi possesses another striking characteristic: Inside each part can be found a reflection of the whole. Such structures are known as holograms. Scientists discovered how to create holograms in the 1960s when using coherent beams of light (lasers). Some scientists now describe the universe as a “holoverse.”
To explain further, if you were to look at your face in a mirror that had a crack down the middle, you would normally expect to see half your face reflected back on each side of the crack. But in the case of a hologram, even if the mirror shattered, every piece, however small, would still contain a miniature reflection of your whole face. The principle of the hologram lies at the heart of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Just as the cycle of the year contains 365 days, so within our body there are 365 acupuncture points.
The calendar year has 12 months and our bodies have 12 major meridians, or energy channels. Within the body itself, the hand, foot, face, eye, and ear, for instance, all have maps of the whole body imprinted on them. Not only do these “living maps” allow us to get a picture of the whole body by looking at just one small part, such as the ear, but also inspecting the ear closely reveals what is wrong with the body as a whole. Thus treatment can be given to the whole body through the acupuncture points of the ear.
The tongue is also essential to diagnosis in TCM. Looking at the condition of the tongue is like turning on the television for the latest weather report. The color, size, coating, and presence of cracks all indicate very precisely the condition of the body. The tongue coating reflects the energy level and in good health shows a thin white coating. In fact, the tongue is a very sensitive organ and will look completely different after a successful acupuncture treatment. Even thoughts and emotions will change its appearance within seconds. Think how rapidly the weather can change, from hour to hour and even from minute to minute. The wind, the clouds, the sun, and the temperature all combine to produce the climate surrounding us.
Likewise, according to TCM, inside the body we have a climate of our own changing from minute to minute, with a balance of water and ¤re, dampness and dryness, heat and cold, and circulation and stagnation in the different organs. How does this internal climate of continual change balance out? Nature has found a way that allows for endless fluctuations of energy and yet gives stability to the living system. When we get overheated, for instance, we need water to cool us down. After heavy physical work, we need to take a rest. When we get too emotional, we need to find peace.
These simple examples show that we live with rhythms that shape our lives. They are found everywhere in nature, too; night follows day, the tides flow with the phases of the moon, the seasons come and go. All life on earth depends on such rhythms. If we listen to our bodily rhythms, we will soon detect the ebb and flow of many subtle changes that are going on all the time within us. We won’t notice unless we pay special attention because the pace of life today is not geared to these biorhythms.
Have you ever had the experience of lying in bed at night with your mind racing, unable to switch it off, and then finding that when you do sleep, you wake during the night with disturbing dreams, or in a sweat? Enjoying deep and restful sleep is essential to good health. We know from medical research that if we don’t get enough sleep, the stress on the body leads to lasting hormonal and chemical changes that can cause disease.
The natural rhythm of the body is to rest at least twice during the twenty-four hour cycle, not just at night but also in the middle of the day. Consider some of the ancient civilizations of the world-China, India, and Greece-which all developed a tradition of midday rest. By contrast in modern industrialized societies, we tend to work nonstop till evening; then we rest. In fact, most of us are overtired, though not always conscious of it. To keep going, we take caffeine or alcohol and watch stimulating programs on television while “relaxing.” By the time we go to bed, our bodies are profoundly out of balance.
To understand the fundamental principle of nature’s energy balance, we will next examine the taiji, the Chinese symbol of yin and yang, to see how body rhythms work day and night.
