Source: starsidehealingarts.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Chinese saying goes that upper-level medicine treats state affairs while lower-level medicine cures illness (下医治病，上医治国)，the philosophy underlying traditional Chinese medicine and that underlying traditional Chinese political economy has been one and the same. This brief introductory essay has got to the very heart of the matter and should be very helpful to the understanding of the situation in the present U.S. healthcare practice in particular and that of its political-economic situation in general.

THE TEXT

Medicine in the Western world is primarily concerned with curing illness after it has already taken hold, and it works extremely well in curing many types of disease and injury. But interest in health now goes beyond that. People are becoming more and more interested in preventative medicine that works to preserve health and help avoid illness before it begins. Chinese Medicine is uniquely positioned to do this.

Unlike much of Western Medicine, Chinese Medicine is holistic and is based on the understanding that mind and body are not separate, but one. By careful observation of nature and humankind’s relationship to it, Chinese and other Asian physicians established thousands of years ago that the natural functions of the human body are interrelated and in constant interaction with the environment. Mind, body and spirit all seen as different aspects of a complete person. Similarly, individual human beings also function on the same principles that govern the rest of the universe. We are, in other words, each one of us complete universes in ourselves.

Health and balance is our natural state, and disease is a sign of disharmony and imbalance. By observing the signs of disharmony, a practitioner of Chinese medicine organizes them into a coherent pattern that reveals the nature of the imbalance. He or she then treats the entire person, rather than just the illness, thereby restoring balance and health.

Even better, Chinese Medicine is very effective at supporting harmony and balance in everyday life. This is indeed a higher form of medicine that transcends curing illness and injury.

This may all sound very abstract and even mystical, but in reality Chinese Medicine is a pragmatic healing system, based on hundreds of years of diligent observation and practical application. You don’t have to believe any of the theory for it to work. Personal experience will tell you that it does.