If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything!

This has always been one of my favourite ever sayings, along with 'Don't get bitter, get better!'; 'You know it really doesn't matter at all cause life's a gas'; and 'Justice is the new Religion'.

I always find it so funny where we find these favourite sayings too. The quote, and title, of this post came from a very dodgy movie called 'Sucker Punch' which apart from the great quote, the only other redeeming feature was that the main actresses were not wearing very much clothing (yes, i am a typical boy!!).

'Don't get bitter, get better' was from the hilarious 12th man series of comedy CD's, when Richie Benaud gets told to man up by a dead Kerry Packer.

The next quote above comes from an old T-Rex song called, not too surprisingly, 'Life's a gas'. Love your work Marc Bolan!!!

And the last quote was also from a song, but not by T-Rex, but by a band called Skid Row.

So why have i mentioned these quotes and what is this post going to be about anyway? Well basically it's being written for two reasons. 

The first is i am going to be doing some philosophical musings that i hope lends itself to plenty of discussion among us because this is going to be what i call a 'Loaded Topic', but more on that shortly. The other reason is because i don't know how to post a blog that has a PDF/Power Point attachment, and since my wife is away (and she knows how to do it) i can't post a TCM topic with slides.

So be on the look out for some TCM posts in the near future. I really want to get this blog going places. I want it big, bold, varied, and interesting, and most of all, something i actually engage with more than once every 6-9 months.

So, let's go back to the quote, and title, of this post. I feel it is a loaded topic because it instantly engages the reader. Immediately they either agree or disagree (or are on the fence), and then actually begin to process why they feel the way they do. I feel so strongly in the affirmative on this quote that i am using it (in part) as the title of my philosophical adventure novel (Title: 'Stand or Fall'), and will also be the first sentence in the book.

In order for the reader to understand why i agree with the statement requires some back-story. Like a lot of you i am sure, my life hasn't been easy. I was born into a family that was part Church of England and part Catholic faith. We didn't go to church though, and didn't practice any aspects of these faiths at home.

Mum and Dad separated when i was about 10, and my parents started to explore New Age and American Indian culture or Born Again Christian, perhaps as a means of grasping onto something.

Regardless, I became enchanted by the New Age and American Indian ideals, and was repelled by the Born Again Christian faith. This was primarily because I was given the choice with the New Age and American Indian ideals, but I had the Born Again Christian faith bashed into me. What i mean by bashed, is having to go to church on Sundays and then being sat down for hour upon hour while certain individuals filled my head full of this belief system, all the while telling me i was an evil little child that was going to hell because i had a rat's tail (type of haircut), because i masturbated, because i was gay (news to me seeing as i was completely heterosexual), and because certain important people in my life were Devil worshipers (which they were not). Now if these individuals were decent human beings that upheld a high moral stance then maybe i would have accepted the Born Again faith, but because they were terrible humans, i didn't attach myself to this faith, and never have. 

There is no doubt that life molds and shapes you into who you become and for a long time i figured that all Born Again Christians were evil human beings, but fortunately i have met a lot of decent Christians in the last few years and this has shown me that i was very wrong, and i am man enough to admit that to you all. Interestingly, for all of the other New Age ideals that i engaged more positively with over the years, i have found that most of them have moved more into the background of my life also.

I imagine that all the shitty things that have happened to me over the years have contributed to me exploring different faiths/religions/philosophies. I want to be able to hang my hat on something so that when the shit hits the fan i have a fall back that i can use in order to feel better about the situation, and about myself.

In the end i have accepted that i am a 'bits and pieces' kind of guy. What i mean here is that i like some aspects (but not all) of lots of different faiths/religions/philosophies. But what does that mean if we were to explore some of the different defining features of religions such as?

1) Heaven - i don't believe there is a Heaven. I don't have a replacement theory mind you.

2) Hell - obviously i don't believe in a Hell per say, but i do feel that at times life is hell.

3) Death is the end - i am unsure as to what i think here. Do we end up in a box (coffin) in the ground for the rest of eternity? I'm not sure. Does this bother me? Nope!

4) Reincarnation - similar to the previous point, i just don't really know. I find the idea fascinating but that doesn't mean i believe it.

5) God - i don't believe that something in the sky created the world in 7 days.

6) Jesus - yes i am comfortable that he did exist, but he was just a really amazing human being, like Gandhi was, and like Confucius was. I could clearly go on and on with examples of incredible humans but we should try and stay to task here.

7) Paradise and 72 virgins - give me a break! And for those that kill others believing this is where they are going when they go all 'suicide bomber', well that just sends my 'Justice Metre' through the roof (more on that later). If they don't go to paradise do they go to hell? No, because there is no hell.

8) Karma - just not sure about this one. What i do believe though is that you don't do something good solely for the sake of getting something good in return. If karma existed, then that attitude is not going to generate any extra karma for you in my view. I do good things for myself and for others because it feels good to do nice things. I don't expect anything in return except for the 'feel good' feeling i get.

So if we use the suicide bomber as another case in point; do i believe that he will get bad karma, if he somehow did a shit-ass job of killing himself and survives, but others still die? Well i am undecided on that too. Does he deserve to get punished for what he did? Probably! But i feel that attitude is flawed. For starters, that attitude is based on believing that people will do the wrong thing and should therefore be punished. And this is a very negative attitude to send out into Universal energy (see below). I much prefer to look at it from a different angle. As in, let's assume that people are inherently good at heart, and are in fact born good. Let's instead put that out into Universal energy thereby creating a positive energy, rather than a negative one. Like attracts like after all (Law of Attraction)!

9) Universal energy - i do believe that the Universe, and the souls in it, provide both positive and negatively charged energy that can aid, or hinder, all of us on a day to day basis. Do i believe this Universal energy is a form of Heaven? I'm undecided on this. But i do feel we should try and put more positive feelings out into the world for reasons already mentioned above.

10) Agnosticism - i have considered myself to be in this category for probably the past 20 years of my life until just recently. Now i am unsure about this too.

11) Atheism - this is more in line with where i am at in this present moment. The word came from an ancient Greek word 'Atheos' which essentially means 'without God(s)'. 

Anyway you get the idea!

But what does that mean for me? If i am an atheist then i can't stand for something that is religious and that has a deity associated with it. Or can i?

Two of my favourite atheist authors are Alain De Botton and Corey Taylor. If you know of these two guys then you will also know that i couldn't have chosen two authors any more different if i had tried. Alain De Botton lives in London and writes philosophy novels for a living. He uses philosophy and religion in all his books, and discusses topics that trouble us on a daily basis, such as love, anxiety, employment, etcetera. 

Corey Taylor, on the other hand, is the singer of the death metal bad 'Slipknot' (which i don't like) and the hard rock band 'Stone Sour' (which is one of my favourite bands of all-time). He also writes in his spare time, but unless you are someone that has strong intestinal fortitude, and can handle a minimum of one swear word every sentence, then perhaps give his novels a miss. Regardless, both Alain and Corey have been able to show that you can believe in something that is not God based. Meaning, you can be an atheist that has beliefs, thereby allowing you to stand for something.

For me, religions and philosophical beliefs are an opportunity to learn and grow as a human, and the more varied the better. One day i might be reading about Confucianism and the next day, Marxism. I'm sure most of you have heard the name Niccolo Machiavelli, or if not, perhaps the term Machiavellian? I have no issues that he had some very strong views that i certainly didn't agree with but i was still glad to have read about him and his works. Every book i read will be filtered through my 'Moral Fibre' and my 'Justice Metre' (discussed shortly) and i keep the bits i like and throw out the stuff i don't. I honestly believe this makes me a better person, even though on quite a few occasions i have been told that i worship the Devil. That would be a neat trick considering i don't believe there is an actual living and breathing Devil; having said that, i do believe there are humans that display devilish behaviour. I am simply a person that tries his best to be a good person and to be good to others and if that means i worship the Devil, then maybe the Devil isn't such a bad thing after all? In fact, let's take it a step further and be bold because we can: if that previous statement is true then the Devil is actually a deity (if either of these things actually existed of course). Process that hey? Haha!!

My 'Justice Metre' is something that has ebbs and flows attached to it. When good things happen in the world and this makes me feel good inside (for me and for the people that were positively affected) then the metre sits on a nice low reading. But when the world, and the people in it, are cruel and mean and heartless, my justice metre blows it's top, and so do i for a brief period. I do the typical thing - 'Why me?', 'Why them?', 'Why can’t the world be a better place?' etc. I consider this justice metre to be a good thing, even if i haven't thought so in the past. What it gives me is the desire (and sometimes the fortitude) to try and be a good person always, and to encourage others to do the same. I have this commitment to the belief that everyone should be able to get along, even if the getting along part means not always associating with certain people. If you want the best for yourself and for others then that's a great attitude to have in my view!

So, have i loaded the blog up enough for you all? Surely by now some of you are ready to reply, and that's the point of this blog today. Let's engage and discuss what everyone thinks. We are a community after all and this blog is an opportunity for us to get to know each other better, because a lot of my future posts won't give us that opportunity.

To close though, i would like to say the following:

1) If i was to be forced to provide a name for my beliefs then i wouldn't term it atheism, and instead would call it 'Justice'. I might try that on for size the next time i get a religious dude knocking on my front door trying to make 'disciples of men'. Saying i'm an atheist has always worked in the past. They can't leave quickly enough; not doing a very good job of making me a disciple then are they? You would think if i was an atheist they would try harder to convert me, rather than run away? 

2) I believe the world, and the people in it, can be saved. And i feel that one of the simplest ways to make a positive change is to be good and to do good, with others in mind and not always just yourselves.

3) The worst word in the English language is 'Competition'. That word produces a negative Universal energy rather than a positive one. If we try to adhere to the idea that 'there is enough for everyone' then this will shift the negative energy to a positive one.

Well if you made it this far then i am totally humbled. If you feel like commenting then please do so. Really I am just a guy trying to make sense of his life, and the world he lives in. I love myself and the people in the world and I believe in all of us. We are/can be good people that will help others purely because it helps the ‘greater good’; plus it feels good to be good!!

Most of all i wish all of you the best with Universal love and light guiding your way. Please also be on the look-out for some TCM flavoured posts in coming days/weeks

...And Justice for All

David Hartmann

ANCIENT CHINESE, GREEK AND ROMAN VIEW ON HEALTH

Today I wanted to post a discussion that relates to early Greek, Roman and Chinese medicine. It includes Greek and Roman Gods/Goddesses and Chinese Demons.

I’m unsure as to what most of you know about ancient history, in particular health, sickness, and healing? So this post is a brief look at some different deities in ancient times and how they were used to maintain health and for curing diseases. I am going to barely touch the surface here but the hope is that it will engage conversation between us all.

In ancient China, in particular pre-Han dynasty (earlier than 206BCE) the Chinese believed that staying healthy meant one had to worship their ancestors plus try to protect themselves from demons as well as sorcerers that wielded black magic (contact or homeopathic magic). This was considered the extent of staying healthy. There was no ownership on looking after your health; as in, if an ancestor considered your worship inadequate they could still make you sick. Alternatively a demon could invade your body for ‘shits and giggles’, or a sorcerer could gain access to a piece of you (for example, some of your hair) which could then be used to injure your whole self/being.

One particularly interesting demon was called Tai Yi (pronounced Tie Eeee). He was a demon that travelled through the sky at incredible speed. This haste stirred up a lot of wind which he could use to benefit, or injure, individual people or large populations. He wasn’t picky! In this way he could aid you in war by swinging the direction of wind to your advantage; he could also change his mind and swing the wind back against you for no specific reason. You could win wars with Tai Yi assisting you or you could lose wars because he supported the opposition soldiers. Tai Yi didn’t have to have a say in wars necessarily, he could also use wind to favour or hinder crop production; he could blow you off a mountain or help blow you up a mountain (I’ve been told it’s always nicer when climbing mountains if the wind is at your back).

In addition, if he was particularly bored he could invade your body, but this could only happen whilst you were sleeping. You see when you sleep the Chinese believe that your Hun (Ethereal/Heavenly Soul) leaves your body to travel the world, thereby leaving space for some other maleficent being (either a demon or someone else’s Hun) to enter your body. Essentially you wake up and you are a completely different person. You are then under their control until a healing sorcerer/soothsayer rocks up and does his exorcism thing, thereby allowing the evil influence to leave so your Hun can come back into your body.

Interestingly one of the ways this was done was to use moxibustion smudging. Demons, including Tai Yi, were considered anthropomorphic, and mugwort/artemisia vulgaris/moxa was abhorrent to demons. Not only did they hate the smell, but they couldn’t see where they were going because they were blinded by the smoke. Moxa smudging could be used both as a preventative as well as a purgative when maleficent beings were near.

Pepper corns were another popular item used to keep demons at bay. Sprinkled around your sleeping body it acted in a similar manner to moxa. Please note that different sources dispute the claim that pepper was known to (and used by) the Chinese in pre-Han times.

Regardless, it wasn’t until the Han dynasty (206BCE-220CE), and specifically after the Yellow Emperor text (Huang Di Nei Jing) was written, that there was a definite shift to more of a personal ownership on health. This discussion is for another time however. Let’s now shift to ancient Greek times.

In ancient Greece, Hippocrates, Aristotle, and others, changed the face of Western medicine. This was around 400-200BCE, but even so, the vast majority of people still used the Gods as a means to staying healthy. The two Gods/Goddesses I want to briefly discuss here are the Goddess Tyche (pronounced Tie Key) and the God Asclepius.

Tyche was the Goddess of luck, fortune, and prosperity. Greeks would worship her to ensure they had good fortune in whatever it is that they asked for. In this particular discussion they would worship Tyche for continuing good health. Having said that she was a lot like the Chinese demon Tai Yi, in that she wasn’t picky, and worshipping her didn’t necessarily guarantee good health indefinitely.

She is often pictured blindfolded carrying a ‘Horn of Plenty’ (also called a cornucopia) in one hand and juggling a ball in the other. If she is not juggling a ball she is balancing a set of scales. She is depicted as blindfolded because she is indifferent towards anyone or anything (she doesn’t want to know who you are, what your fame/infamy is, how rich or poor you are). Her cornucopia is filled to overflowing with gifts which she could shower upon anyone at any time. Her ball or scales depict her weighing up of whether to give you something good or something bad. Similar to Tai Yi, she could positively or negatively impact on individuals or entire communities. And as previously mentioned, she didn’t care if you worshipped her or not; praying to her for good fortune didn’t guarantee that bad things wouldn’t happen to you.

Asclepius was the God of medicine and, similar to Tyche, Greeks would worship Asclepius as a means to ensuring good health, or a speedy recovery from disease. Interestingly he could also be worshipped to bring a loved one back from the dead. According to several sources he was gifted the blood of Medusa after she died (by Athena) and he was able to fashion a resurrection spell using his famous staff with the snake wrapped around it.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-snake-isolated-image7581975

Asclepius had anywhere from nine to eleven children depending on the source (regardless, he was a busy man!); 5 or 6 girls and 4 or 5 boys. His offspring were all worshipped for their connection with health (in their own right) by the ancient Greeks. Of particular interest is one of his daughters and one of his sons. Her name was Hygieia, and as you can probably guess she was the Goddess of hygiene and cleanliness; and the son worth mentioning was called Panacea, which again you can probably guess, made him the God of remedying difficult diseases.

Regardless of whether you prayed to the Gods/Goddesses, there was no guarantee of good health or of healing once sick/injured.

In ancient Roman times health and healing had come a long way, and would continue to evolve at a rapid rate, especially after Galen emerged (129CE-210CE). But for our discussion we need to remain in pre-Christian Rome (roughly before 50CE). Like the Greeks before them, the Romans had Gods/Goddesses for everything. And their equivalents to Tyche and Asclepius were the Goddess Fortuna, and the God Vejovis. Having said that, the Romans (and Greeks for that matter) had lots of different deities for health, healing and medicine!

Fortuna and Vejovis were venerated to ensure continuing good health, or a rapid recovery from disease. There were some minor differences such as the Goddess Fortuna was holding a ships rudder rather than a ball or scales; she still had the cornucopia in the other hand. However, short of repeating past comments, these Gods/Goddesses worked similar to their Greek equivalents.

The one extra item I would like to add within the Roman view is from my favourite Western philosopher of all time. His name was Seneca (4BCE-65CE) and lived during the tumultuous rule of the following Roman Emperors – Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Of particular interest here is the last three, and whilst Claudius himself isn’t supposed to have been a tyrant ruler, he did exile Seneca to a tiny island in the Mediterranean for eight long years before being recalled to Rome in 49CE to act as tutor of the then 12 year old Nero.

During Seneca’s life he ran into an incredibly large amount of injustice and misfortune, not always upon himself; in fact most of the time it was on people that he knew. He became so disgruntled about ‘The Lot’ of Romans that he grew immensely aggrieved and he laid all this resentment onto the Goddess Fortuna. So much so that he eventually created a daily meditation (not a worship or a prayer) that he would start every day saying. This is what he would say:

“The wise will start each day with the thought, ‘Fortune gives us nothing which we can really own.’ Nothing, whether public or private, is stable; the destinies of men, no less than those of cities, are in a whirl. Whatever structure has been reared by a long sequence of years, at the cost of great toil and through the great kindness of the gods, is scattered and dispersed in a single day. No, he who has said ‘a day’ has granted too long a postponement to swift misfortune; an hour, an instant of time, suffices for the overthrow of empires. How often have cities in Asia, how often in Achaia, been laid low by a single shock of earthquake? How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have been swallowed up? How often has this kind of devastation laid Cyprus in ruins? We live in the middle of things which have all been destined to die. Mortal have you been born, to mortals you have given birth. Reckon on everything, expect everything.

Seneca

Wow! “Reckon on everything; expect everything!” Hop in the car to drive to work requires one to prepare for a HUGE crash where loved ones die; blood everywhere; expect worst case scenario. Definitely not what most ‘New Age’ authors would say that’s for sure! But in some ways, and this is the kicker, it prepares you if, in the unlikely event, that something bad does happen. This was his trick you see. By expecting the worst, if the worst happens you are prepared and therefore you will react with less of an emotional response, which allows you to get over the event faster. When the worst case scenario doesn’t happen then it’s been a bloody good day. What a fascinatingly disturbing way to look at life. 

Ultimately, Seneca didn’t just avoid worshipping the Goddess Fortuna, he ‘DARED HER’ to have a crack at him. And, whilst it took the Goddess Fortuna 69 years to do it, she eventually gave Seneca worst case scenario. He was ordered to commit suicide by order of the Emperor Nero, who believed, rightly or wrongly, that Seneca was conspiring against him to take the throne for himself. A guard shows up at Seneca’s mansion (he was incredibly rich) and orders him to immediately kill himself. He started to write a will but he was taking too long. His wife wanted to commit suicide alongside Seneca but she wasn’t allowed. So he slit his wrists but the blood didn’t flow fast enough for the centurion and he ordered him to cut more blood vessels so he opened up vessels in his ankles and then behind his knees. Still he wouldn’t die so Seneca ordered some hemlock (poisonous alkaloid of the parsley plant) to be brewed up, much to the guards disgust. Hemlock works in a similar manner to fly spray or strychnine poisoning; as in, it forces the muscles in the body (including the heart) to involuntarily contract and relax which looks a lot like the patient is suffering from severe seizures. Eventually the heart contracts and doesn’t relax again and the person dies. Alternatively the person dies of asphyxiation. It’s all rather unpleasant apparently but after two doses of hemlock Seneca still wasn’t dead. So the guards shoved him in a steam bath where, depending on differing reports, the heat increased the blood flow again from his slit vessels and he died of blood loss, or he suffocated. Worst case scenario death? You think?

So is it better to pray to the Gods/Goddesses/Demons/Ancestors or run the gamut like Seneca?

To close, what I find particularly interesting here is that the Chinese, Greeks, and Romans had a similar view on health, healing and medicine, with similar deities to represent this. Some of the Gods/Goddesses even had similar names and pronunciations. For example, the Chinese Demon Tai Yi (pronounced Tie Eeee) and the Greek Goddess Tyche (pronounced Tie Key).

This is not even remotely surprising when it comes to the Greeks and Romans because geographically they were near to one another, plus the Romans invaded the Greeks and became one of the biggest super-powers in ancient history. But it’s a very different story with the Chinese. For starters the ‘Silk Road’ which connected the East with the West hadn’t started operating during this era. In fact there is nothing that I have read that suggests the Greeks/Romans had ever had contact with the Chinese. The main reason for this was Persia, which sat between the two countries and was a super-power in its own right. So how/why did two completely different cultures share similar views on health?

In addition, the Chinese had Emperors and were Autocratic, whereas the Greeks had a Senate and were Democratic. So the citizens lived in very different societies which, for the most part, resulted in very different views on things. Further to this, the countries had different climates; relied on different means of transport; had different fruits/vegetables/herbs/domestic animals; and were prey to completely different diseases/enemies.

So what does this all result in? Well that’s where you all come in. I would love you to offer up your views on anything within this post, whether it is about the deities, or the comments on health. Whatever! You might like to agree with aspects of the post or disagree; the post might prompt you to ask further questions which is great; either way I would love to get us all talking about this topic. Constructive feedback is highly encouraged.

The idea here is that in the future I post on the next stage of Eastern and Western medical development, because there were significant changes made in a very short space of time in both cultures. But in the meantime this post lays the groundwork by exploring a period in history that is often neglected when one discusses healthcare.

Take care and talk soon.

David Hartmann

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*BCE = Before Current Era, CE = Current Era; secular/nonspiritual based

*BC = Before Christ, AD = Anno Domini (In the year of our Lord); Church/spiritual based

How the Back Shu points and Outer Run/Pathway of the Urinary Bladder channel regulates the Seven Emotions and Wu Shen

In this blog, I really wanted to post a presentation I did a few years ago at a Chinese medicine conference. It discusses the Urinary Bladder channel, in particular the ‘Back Shu’ points and the ‘Outer Run’ points, and their relationship to the ‘Wu Shen’ and the ‘Seven Emotions’.

Here is the link to the slides of my presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/DieselDave8/urinary-bladder-back-shu-points-discussion

What I found of particular interest as I researched this area was two-fold:

1)      That there are Back Shu points for aspects of the human body separate to the twelve main Chinese medicine organs. For example, there are Back Shu points for the pancreas (not one of the twelve main Chinese medicine organs), the spine, the Dan Tian, just to name a few. There are even Back Shu points for points located on the front of the body, which I thought was super cool.

2)      That the Outer Run of the Urinary Bladder channel has points that treat the ‘Emotion’ and ‘Spirit’ of the organ they are related to. This applies in relation to the Back Shu point it lies further out from. For example, BL23 is the Back Shu point of the Kidneys. BL52 lies a further 1.5 cun lateral to BL23, therefore is effective at treating the emotion (Fear) and spirit (Zhi – Will) of the Kidneys. This will be discussed further in the actual slide presentation.

The hope with this blog is for us all to comment and discuss further. The Outer Run points are of particular interest. It’s what I call a ‘Loaded Topic’ in the sense that a lot of Chinese medicine practitioners/students seem to have a strong opinion about this topic, and these opinions are not always the same. This generally leads to some engaging debates where arguments are laid down to support your view. It’s a bit like if we had a conversation about childhood immunisation, or whether fluoride should be in our water supply. It’s bound to generate strong discussion.

I look forward to hearing from you. Take care!

David Hartmann

Introduction to my blog

Hello, my name is David Hartmann, and welcome to my first ever blog. I have been threatening to set up a blog ever since some lovely students of mine at a conference I was presenting at in Baltimore, USA, suggested I should. Over a few cleansing amber ales they outlined the benefits of such an endeavour, and I assured them that I would look into it more upon my return home to Australia. Well ladies, it might have taken the better part of 4 years but I’m finally ready. This hardly makes me the Road Runner or Speedy Gonzales of blog posts – ha!! More the slow turtle in the Tortoise and the Hare kids story.

The title of my blog address is designed to outline what it is I plan to do with my posts over the coming years. I want to be able to discuss topics that are outside the scope of Chinese medicine from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, Chinese medicine is the biggest love of my life outside of the family, but I also want to share my other passions, namely philosophy; and that is both Chinese philosophy throughout its thousands of years of evolution, as well as Western philosophy from its antiquity to modern day.

One of the really important things I have found whilst studying philosophy is that the reader should have a base knowledge of the history during the period that they are philosophising. This allows the reader a greater understanding of why that philosopher was thinking the things he was thinking. And yes, most philosophers over the centuries have been men!

So as I discuss and analyse the thoughts of a particular philosopher you will also get a brief look at what was happening in their world at the time; whether it be Kong Fu Zi (Confucius) and the tumultuous period he was alive called the Warring States (475-221BCE); or Seneca (4BCE-65CE) and his musings during the reign of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero; or perhaps Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679CE) and his view on the world being dog-eat-dog (actually he referred to it as ‘Social Contract Theory’) during a time when the catholic church lost its grip on England, thanks largely to King Henry VIII.

I hope to be able to simplify what these guys were trying to say; I want to essentially 'Aussie-fy' their thoughts in a passionate manner that engages the reader. My hope is also to insert the philosophical ideas into our world; as in, use a philosopher by discussing his views on anxiety or stress or relationship problems. And lastly, to then offer regular evening discussions on these philosophers for those that live near me.

 Lastly, I am aiming to post a blog every 2-3 weeks. The next three topics are as follows:

1. How the Back Shu points and the Outer Run/Pathway of the Urinary Bladder channel regulates the Seven Emotions and the Wu Shen (Five Spirits) - will be posted shortly.
2. A closer look at the medicine of ancient China, Greece, and Rome. Of particular interest is how people viewed health and healing, which was often in direct relationship to Gods/Goddesses/Demons. I find this topic particularly fascinating and I hope you will too. Please be on the lookout for that one in coming weeks.
3.  I will be throwing out a hypothetical about Kidney Jing, genetics and hereditary diseases/disorders, especially in the context of diseases and immunity. For example, does Kidney Jing provide you with a natural/genetic immunity, or in fact does it predispose you to ancestral diseases?

Can’t wait to hear from you all in the near future; take care.

David Hartmann