Stone Medicine: A Chinese Medical Guide to Healing with Gems and Minerals

To my mother, and all my female ancestry, for giving me strong Jing/Essence and a model for graceful aging

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, to Marc Gerstein, my partner in all things, who gracefully accommodated the radical lifestyle changes that emerged as this project moved to completion. He was incredibly helpful with the late-stage readings and editing, bringing his sharp eye and keen intellect to the process. His involvement has made for a much more polished book. I couldn’t have done it without him.

To Linda Leatherman, my fellow massage therapist and Jeffrey student. She diligently typed and generously shared her notes from Dr. Yuen’s 2013 Healing with Gems and Stones class, which allowed me to stay up to date with Jeffrey’s presentation of the material. Her help with the quick reference chart following the materia medica is much appreciated, as is her sharing of stones from her collection for photographs. Linda has been my steadfast cheerleader throughout this project.

To Margery Gerard, my Chen taiji colleague, who read every page (!) of an early stage of the manuscript, as well as a more recent version. Her careful reading and thoughtful comments were invaluable in making the information clearer and more accessible to the general reader.

To Kathleen St. John, who was my sounding board as I worked to make intellectual concepts more real in the early stages of this project.

To Donna Ford, who helped with the practicalities of manuscript submission and formatting and who spurred me on to completion!

To Ian Coupal, who helped with translations of some of the Chinese names of stones and for being such a consistent taiji student, despite the vicissitudes of life!

To Mark Meunier, for his great enthusiasm for stones, and his generosity in loaning his collection for photographs.

To the many patients who read early versions of the primer and pointed out the parts that were obscure or downright unintelligible.

To my family and friends (especially Tom and Saffiyah), who have been supportive throughout this process.

To Vicki Thaler, friend and jeweler, who so freely and trustingly loaned her collection of gem-quality stones for the purposes of the photographs in this book. She loves her tourmaline!

To Kevin Downey, photographer and mineralogist, who shared not only his collection of mineral specimens for the photographs but also his wealth of mineralogical knowledge.

To the staff at Inner Traditions, especially the project editor, Jamaica Burns Griffin, and the copy editor, Susan Davidson, who have worked long and hard on this very large text. Their effort has propelled this book through a process of further separation of the clear from the turbid, allowing for more purification and refinement, to its ultimate completion. I appreciate the decisions they have made. Their work conveys intelligence, maturity, and sensitivity, and I am deeply grateful that they were on my team!

To my taiji teacher, Master Wang Haijun, whose generous, hands-on teaching style and emphasis on the fundamental principles has significantly deepened my practice of taiji. My foundation in taiji body understanding has made this a better book, and working on the book has made my taiji better.

And finally to Jeffrey, whose bighearted, inspirational presence has positively influenced the personal transformation of so many. His faith in our potential never falters.

Thank you, everyone, for your energy and enthusiasm for this project.

Contents

Cover Image

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Preface

To the Professional Chinese Medical Practitioner

To the Layperson

Why Stones?

The Law of Signatures

Part 1: A Primer of Classical Chinese Medicine

Chapter 1: The Basics

The Vocabulary

The Pathogenic Factors—Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat

The Anatomy

The Modern Challenges to Health—Staying Healthy

Chapter 2: The Big Picture

A Philosophical View

Prerequisites of Life

How to Work with Evolution

Chapter 3: Paradigms of Chinese Medicine

Qi—Energetic Medicine

The Humours of Chinese Medicine

The Energetic Anatomical Terrains—Wei Qi, Ying Qi, and Yuan Qi

Chapter 4: The Numbers

Yin and Yang—The One Begets the Two

The Trinities—The Two Beget the Three

The Four Principles of Yin and Yang

The Four Transformations of Yin and Yang

The Five Elements—Phases of Transformation

The Six Divisions or Stages

The Seven Stars

The Bagua—The Eight Trigrams

The Nine Palaces

Chapter 5: Zang-Fu—The Internal Organs

The Level of Survival—Lung/Large Intestine and Stomach/Spleen

The Level of Interaction—Heart/Small Intestine and Urinary Bladder/Kidney

The Level of Differentiation—Pericardium/Triple Heater and Gall Bladder/Liver

Chapter 6: The Souls of the Organs

The Spirit/Big Shen and the Soul/Ling

The Obstacles to Freedom

A Path to Freedom

Chapter 7: The Curious Organs

Brain

Bones

Marrow

Vessels

Uterus

Gall Bladder

Chapter 8: The Emotions and Temperaments

Defensive/Wei Qi—Mood

Nourishing/Ying Qi—Emotion

Source/Yuan Qi—Temperament

Chapter 9: The Channel Systems

The Meridian System—Highways and Byways of Life

The Process of Latency—Hiding Our Pathology

The Healing Crisis

The Points—Landmarks along the Way

Living a Long and Healthy Life

Part 2: Introduction to the Materia Medica

Chapter 10: The Criteria for Stone Selection—Choosing the Right Stone

Color and Light

Chemical Composition

The Five Qis—The Nature, or Yang Aspect, of the Stone

The Five Tastes—The Yin Aspect of the Stone

Affinities

Hardness

 Crystal Structure and Sacred Geometry

Stone Groups

Level of Formation—Earth’s Energetic Dynamics

Chapter 11: Methods of Application—Entering the Stone Gate

Determining a Strategy

Developing a Formula

Formula Examples

Topical Application

Internal Application

Intentional Application

Duration of Treatment

Chapter 12: Cleaning, Cleansing, and Recharging

Cleaning/San (to Dissipate, Discharge)

Cleansing/Qing (to Clear)

Recharging the Stone

Part 3: The Materia Medica

Notes on Using the Materia Medica

Chapter 13: Quartz Crystals

Enhancing Stones

Colored Crystals

Fundamental Qi of the Earth

Form and Function

Clear Quartz Crystal

Blue Quartz

Green Quartz

Lithium Quartz

Purple Quartz/Amethyst

Chevron Amethyst

Rose Quartz

Rutilated Quartz

Smoky Quartz

Tangerine Quartz

Titanium Quartz

Tourmalinated Quartz

White/Milky Quartz

Yellow Quartz/Citrine

Yellow and Purple Quartz/Ametrine

Herkimer Diamond

Chapter 14: Transformative Stones

The Evolutionary Process

Treatment Considerations

Agate

Blue Lace Agate

Dendritic Agate

Fire Agate

Green Agate/Moss Agate

Mookaite Jasper

Ocean Agate-Jasper/Orbicular Quartz

Picasso Stone/Marble Agate-Jasper

Pink or Red Agate

Rhyolite/Leopardskin/Rainforest Agate-Jasper

Tiger Eye

Blue Tiger Eye

Hawk Eye

Pietersite

Red Tiger Eye

Tree Agate-Jasper

Zebra/Dalmation Agate-Jasper

Jasper

Bloodstone/Heliotrope

Brown Jasper

Green Jasper

Red Jasper/Silex

Sandy Jasper

Yellow Jasper

Flint/Strike Flint

Chalcedony

Blue Chalcedony

Green Chalcedony

Pink Chalcedony

Red Chalcedony/Carnelian

White Chalcedony

Onyx

Jade/Jadeite

Black/Grayish Jade

Green Jade

Lavender Jade

White Jade

Yellow Jade

Nephrite Jade

Chapter 15: Defensive/Wei Qi Stones

Therapeutic Qualities

Treatment Considerations

Evolutionary Transformation of Sedimentary Stones

Accessing the Defensive/Wei Qi Level—The Sinew and Divergent Channels

Amazonite

Amber (Fossilized)

Angelite

Apophyllite

Aragonite

Barite

Biotite

Calcite

Black Calcite

Blue Calcite

Emerald Calcite

Green Calcite

Honey Calcite

Icelandic Spar/Optical Calcite

Mangano/Pink Calcite

Orange/Yellow Calcite

Red Calcite

WhiteCalcite

Celestite/Celestine

Danburite

Fluorite

Blue Fluorite

Brown Fluorite

Clear Fluorite

Green Fluorite

Purple Fluorite

Yellow Fluorite

Gypsum

Alabaster

Desert Rose (Gypsum)

Selenite

Jet (Lignite)

Marcasite Nodules/Boji Stones/Moqui Balls

Obsidian

Apache Tears

Black Obsidian

Gold Sheen Obsidian

Mahogany Obsidian

Rainbow Obsidian

Silver Sheen Obsidian

Snowflake Obsidian

Petrified Wood

Scolecite

Septarian Nodules/Dragon’s Egg

Stalactite/Stalagmite

Stilbite

Talc

Tourmaline

Black Tourmaline/Schorl

Blue Tourmaline/Indicolite

Brown Tourmaline/Dravite/Uvite

Green Tourmaline/Verdilite

Red or Pink Tourmaline/Rubellite

Watermelon Tourmaline

Yellow Tourmaline

Chapter 16: Nourishing/Ying Qi Stones

Blood and Fluids

Therapeutic Qualities

Accessing the Ying Qi Level: The Primary and Luo Channels

Aventurine

Blue Aventurine

Brown Aventurine

Green Aventurine

Orange/Peach Aventurine

Red Aventurine

Azurite

Azurite-Malachite

Bronzite

Cavansite

Chalcopyrite

Charoite

Chiastolite

Chrysoberyl/Cat’s Eye (Cymophane)

Chrysocolla

Dioptase

Dolomite

Dumortierite

Garnet

Black Garnet/Melanite

Green Garnet—Tsavorite, Uvarovite, Demantoid

Red Garnet—Almandine, Pyrope (and Grossular)

Yellow, Brown, Orange Garnet—Hessonite, Spessartine, Topazolite

Hematite

Goethite

Hemimorphite

Hiddenite (Green Spodumene)

Howlite

Iolite/Water Sapphire

Kunzite (Pink Spodumene)

Kyanite

Lapis Lazuli

Magnesite

Magnetite/Lodestone

Malachite

Peridot/Olivine

Prehnite

Pyrite/Fool’s Gold

Rhodochrosite

Rhodonite

Seraphinite

Serpentine

Sodalite

Staurolite

Turquoise

Variscite

Zincite

Zoisite

Chapter 17: Source/Yuan Qi Stones

Therapeutic Qualities

Accessing the Essence/Yuan Qi Level: The Eight Extraordinary Vessels

Other Energetic Mechanisms at Play

Alexandrite

Apatite

Beryl

Blue Beryl/Aquamarine

Clear Beryl/Goshenite

Green Beryl/Emerald

Pink Beryl/Morganite

Red Beryl/Bixbite

Yellow or Golden Beryl/Heliodor

Chrysoprase

Coral

Diamond

Diopside

Epidote

Labradorite

Larimar/Pectolite

Lepidolite

Meteorite (Iron)

Moonstone

Muscovite/Fuchsite

Opal

Blue-Green Andean Opal

Fire Opal

Pink Andean Opal

Rainbow/Precious/Boulder Opal

Pearl

Ruby

Sapphire

Pink/Red Sapphire

Yellow Sapphire

Spinel

Sugilite

Sunstone

Tanzanite

Tektite

Moldavite

Topaz (Golden or Imperial)

Blue Topaz

Clear Topaz

Pink Topaz

Unakite

Zircon

Chapter 18: Alchemical Stones

External Alchemy

Internal Alchemy

Internal Alchemy in the Modern World

The Safer Stones for the Process of Personal Transformation

Alchemy versus Mysticism

Stones and the Mystical Process

Yin and Yang Give Birth to the One—Union

Stones to Address Difficulties during Personal Transformation

Antimony

Stibnite

Cinnabar

Orpiment

Realgar

Sulfur

Appendix 1: Charts of Therapeutic Qualities and Actions

Appendix 2: Locations for Acupuncture Points Commonly Used in Stone Medicine

Points on the Back of the Body

Points on the Front of the Body

Points on the Extremities, Including the Head

Appendix 3: Glossary of Terms

Footnotes

References

About the Author

About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company

Books of Related Interest

Copyright & Permissions

Index

Author’s Note

An oral tradition is an evolving body of knowledge and wisdom. It is influenced by the quality of consciousness of the speaker and the listener, and by the ethos of the time.

The risk of putting an oral tradition to the page is that it will be pointed to as fact, that it will stop evolving and potentially become only a collection of dry, lifeless concepts. My teacher Dr. Jeffrey C. Yuen, eighty-eighth-generation lineage holder of the Jade Purity school of Daoism, frequently reminds his students that he reserves the right to contradict himself, changing the information he presents depending on the context of the lecture.

This work is a distillation of knowledge that I personally received from Dr. Yuen. To claim authorship for such material would be hubris. I have, nevertheless, worked diligently to incorporate this knowledge into my own life experience. My hope is that the reading of this text will serve as a basis to inspire personal transformation and further exploration of the vast repository of ancient Chinese medical knowledge, and that the process will prove as meaningful and valuable to the reader as it has been for me.

Stone Medicine is offered as my humble and respectful digestion of Dr. Yuen’s teaching.

Preface

Stone Medicine uses the rocks and minerals naturally created by the Earth for healing purposes. These substances have long offered their qualities to humanity. They have been used as raw materials to make the practical tools needed for survival and as precious adornments to denote the spiritual and secular leaders of a tribal group. We have no records that provide us with details of how our earliest ancestors might have used stones as medicine, but we know that they were used as tools in shamanic traditions to empower and heal members of the community.

The technological needs of Stone Age people were fulfilled almost exclusively by stones. Bones and shells were certainly elements of their toolbox, but the weight and durability of stones made them superior for the essential tasks these early people performed. We can imagine that as the ancient people worked with their stones, relying on their intuition and ingenuity to discover that the edge of a knapped obsidian blade was extremely sharp (and we now know that it has a cleaner, sharper edge than high-quality surgical steel), or that when flint was struck with a stone containing pyrite it gave off sparks to make fire, they must have also discovered other useful properties. Whatever their experience with their stone technology, it was transmitted down through the centuries from generation to generation, offering an ever-expanding base of knowledge. The wealth of knowledge and experience acquired in this way would have been a part of the world in which the earliest health practitioners began experimenting with stones, and the minerals they contain, to use as tools in healing.

This book has as its source a series of classes taught by Jeffrey C. Yuen in 2006 and 2007 on utilizing stones for healing based on classical Chinese medical principles.*1 Dr. Yuen is the eighty-eighth-generation lineage holder of the Jade Purity school of Daoism, Yu Qing Pai. This school, which dates to the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), is one of two outgrowths of the original school of Daoism, Shang Qing, which had its roots in the high antiquity of ancient China. Other members of Dr. Yuen’s lineage include Sun Simiao (581–682 CE, considered a god of Chinese medicine) and Gehong (283–343 CE, most well known for his contributions to alchemy, both internal and external, which will be discussed in greater detail in a later section). Dr. Yuen teaches from the oral tradition of his lineage as well as from the classics of Chinese medicine, which he mastered as a child under the guidance of his adoptive grandfather, the Daoist priest Yu Wen, eighty-seventh-generation lineage holder of Jade Purity.

The information included in this book is drawn from Dr. Yuen’s oral tradition; his own clinical experience; Shen Nong’s Ben Cao (Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica), the earliest documented materia medica (and itself an oral tradition ultimately compiled before 220 CE); and the writings of Li Shizhen, the great naturalist and physician of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE), whose Compendium of Materia Medica listed 1,892 medicinal substances, including 355 entries for minerals.

Many of the stones included in this book’s materia medica have been used in China for centuries, and practitioners have recorded their healing properties, giving us a solid base from which to work. Other stones are more recent additions to the repertoire, providing us the opportunity to do our own exploration of their therapeutic properties.

I have had the good fortune to study with Dr. Yuen since 1995. His teaching goes far beyond mere intellection. He profoundly describes the energetic workings of the body, inviting his students to engage actively in an experiential involvement with the material rather than simply learning protocols for treating particular signs and symptoms. Jeffrey has enriched the practice of Chinese medicine in the West by reintroducing knowledge that had begun to be eroded from Chinese medical practice even as far back as the twelfth century, and was further lost during the Cultural Revolution.

Like all disciplines of traditional Chinese culture, Chinese medicine is, at its root, applied philosophy. A statement in the Ling Shu, one of the earliest extant texts of Chinese medicine, is that all illness is the result of separation from Spirit, and that the superior practitioner helps guide the patient to rediscover this connection. One of Dr. Yuen’s major contributions to the field is the return of its philosophical and spiritual roots to the practice of Chinese medicine. Obviously, the goal of any medical system is to alleviate suffering, whether physical or emotional. Classical Chinese medicine additionally recognizes the spiritual component, as understood by the tradition from which the system evolved.

As I worked on the materia medica section of this book, I realized that what distinguishes this material from the many informative sources on stones that incorporate either the Western intuitive or scientific perspective is the profound philosophical principles and energetic understanding offered by Chinese medicine. I also realized that without exposure to these principles, the audience for this materia medica would be limited to practitioners who have had contact with Dr. Yuen’s teaching. Because stones have become so popular, I wanted to make the information accessible to a wider audience. Therefore, in addition to presenting the healing properties of stones, I have included a primer to introduce and contextualize the fundamental philosophic principles of Chinese medicine.

To the Professional Chinese Medical Practitioner

Professional practitioners might look askance at a modality that can be considered new age-y and perhaps not worthy of their attention, but stone medicine has been an integral part of Chinese medicine since its development in ancient history. To a culture steeped in observation of nature, stones and minerals were held in high regard.

Insights into the body’s meridians evolved from studying the veins of minerals in the Earth. By the time of the Han dynasty, highly refined iron was being made into acupuncture needles. In a discussion of modalities appropriate to different regions of the country, the Su Wen, another of the earliest extant texts, suggests that the best treatment modality for people living in the eastern part of China was acupuncture with stone needles.

During the last several decades, the Chinese have researched the use of minerals in managing endemic diseases such as esophageal cancer and goiter. One method they have used is to place stones into remote village wells. A stone that has shown great efficacy in the treatment of qiye, a condition involving the inability to swallow, is jiangshi, a concretion from the Loess Plateau and a stone mentioned by the great Daoist physician Liu Wansu (1120–1200) of the Jin-Yuan period.*2

Many minerals still occupy an important place in the modern herbal pharmacy—for example, gypsum/shi gao, talcum/hua shi, magnetite/ci shi, and calcite/han shui shi, among others. Stones began to fall behind herbal therapy in popularity during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 CE). This was partly due to abuses by so-called alchemists peddling pills laced with toxic minerals, promising longevity but delivering illness or early death. A further decline in the popularity of stones as medicine occurred because of their relative expense and lack of availability to the common people. Today the opposite is true. High-quality herbs are becoming more expensive and difficult to obtain, and there exists the possibility of increased regulation of herbs and nutritional supplements. At the same time, stones are becoming more popular. Good-quality stone beaded jewelry is easily available at street fairs. The industry brings stones from all over the planet to local gem and mineral shows, raw from the mine or polished and shaped. True, some specimens are extremely expensive, but most of the small, tumbled stones used as medicine are very affordable. And there’s no expiration date—they last forever!

With regard to the explanations of energetic concepts and Chinese medical principles, I ask the indulgence of experienced practitioners. These explanations are included to help laypeople or professionals in other disciplines access and utilize this information.

To the Layperson

A full discussion of Chinese medical theory is not in the scope of this book. I have included the primer (part 1) to introduce fundamental philosophical principles and basic paradigms of classical Chinese medicine in order to give the reader some familiarity with the concepts and terminology used in the materia medica (part 3). My rule for the primer: if a concept is mentioned in the materia medica, it must be included in the primer.

The underlying philosophy of Chinese medicine recognizes that all physical manifestation emerges from a spiritual, nonphysical dimension. The Chinese medical terms used to describe the influences on our life and health are often very common, mundane words. Throughout this book the reader will encounter a capitalized form of familiar words such as Wind, Damp, Cold, Heat, Lung, Liver, Blood, and so forth. The capitalized terms are an attempt to convey philosophical concepts that communicate meaning beyond the mere physical; these concepts will be further described as the discussion unfolds. For example, when an organ name is capitalized, it refers to the broad philosophical function of that organ as it is understood in classical Chinese medicine; when the name is lowercased, the reference is solely to the organ’s physiological functioning as understood in Western medicine.

Where specific acupuncture points are listed, I have given a general anatomical location. Stones are bigger than needles, after all, and precise placement is not so critical. Many books and websites give point locations; you may want to reference those for more detailed information. While I have used Chinese medical language in the Functions and Uses sections in parts 2 and 3, common Western terms for symptoms and conditions often associated with the Chinese medical language are also included.

One of the biggest challenges new students encounter when they start studying with Dr. Yuen is that there doesn’t seem to be a beginning or an end to the material. We just keep spiraling around, gathering more and more breadth and depth of information and understanding. One of the challenges encountered in the writing of this book has been the question of where to start. I have tried to bring the same spiraling approach to my compiling of the information. Early mentions of concepts may seem too brief, too lacking in detail, but these concepts will be fleshed out in greater detail later in the text, hopefully encouraging deeper insight into the material.

Given that the Chinese medical information contained in this book comes almost exclusively from Dr. Yuen’s teaching, very few formal references are included here. Because my intention for this book is that it be relatively popular in approach, I have chosen not to clutter the text with many references related to the Western biological, geological, and mineralogical information presented. Most of this information is widely accepted and easily available. My sources are included in the references section.

Why Stones?

The field of Chinese medicine includes eight branches, or modalities of treatment: acupuncture; massage; herbal medicine; dietary therapy; exercise, as in taiji and qigong; meditation; geomancy/fengshui; and moxibustion (warming points with the herb mugwort/Artemesia vulgaris/ai ye, known as moxa). With so many modalities commonly in use, why add stones to the mix?

Stones can be used as an adjunct with all of these modalities. They can be placed on acupuncture points, used as tools to massage areas of the body, or warmed with the heat of moxa or a far-infrared lamp. Their mineral content gives them a role in dietary therapy. Based on treatment strategies developed by traditions of herbal medicine, stones can be combined as a formula and soaked in water to drink as an elixir. They can be used in fengshui as sculptures or ornaments in areas of our environment to emphasize and remind us of our intention to resolve the life issues that confront us. In qigong practice appropriate stones can help generate fluids and circulate energy; used during meditation they can help us to focus the mind.

In this modern time, stones remind us that we are an integral part of nature. They help us reclaim our relationship to the natural rhythms of which we have lost track.

The Law of Signatures

In ancient times early practitioners experimented with stones to discover the stones’ healing properties. Practitioners relied on their observations of how and where the stones had formed, or they made associations with how the stones looked. The law of signatures is based on the belief that if we understand how a stone was created or give value to its color, luster, or shape, we can attribute to it certain qualities. For example:

A red stone conjures the image of blood. Indeed, most red stones have a certain amount of iron in their chemical composition, which resonates with the hemoglobin in our blood.

The hardness or softness of a stone is a clue to how quickly it will affect us and whether it gives us strength or lessens our rigidity in our approach to life.

A stone that was formed during volcanic activity will have very different energetic properties than a stone that was formed by a process of erosion.

The properties of stones and their therapeutic applications have been time tested. Some early attributes have proven valid, and others have not. Nevertheless, this method of observation offers a place to begin understanding how stones interact with the human body.

Therapeutic attributes that are specific to stones include the following.

Weight and Density

When we pick up a stone, the first thing we notice is that it has greater weight than other therapeutic materials typically used in medicine. The weight helps to anchor energy downward, and we might notice that we quickly feel calmer and more rooted while holding the stone. The stone is hard; it is dense. This quality gives it a resonance with the densest aspect of our bodies: our Essence, which includes our bones, marrow, and hormones.

Some of the conditions for which stones are most appropriate include hormonal imbalances, congenital disorders, DNA mutations (for example, cancer), and osteoporosis. Because their heaviness anchors energy downward, stones are useful for neurological conditions causing convulsions, seizures, or chronic spasms. Their anchoring effect also helps prevent the leakage of fluids from the body’s surface and thus addresses excessive sweating, especially hormonal sweats.

Their heavy nature also calms or settles the spirit to treat shock and acute or chronic mental disorders.

Color and the Awakening of the Senses

Even before we pick up a stone we are attracted by its color, its luster, or an interesting pattern. Something about its appearance appeals to our visual sense and awakens our curiosity. It is engaging us. The color evokes a feeling. Maybe it is the mysterious play of colors in a polished labradorite or the soothing sky blue of blue lace agate. Arousing the senses is a route to the spirit. We become immediately more present, more receptive to subtle and simple messages, when we take the time to really look at a stone or feel it in our hands. Ah, this blue stone looks so soothing, maybe it will cool my inflamed eyes or ease this headache.

We can use the color properties of stones in the context of the Five Elements, the chakras, or any other system with which we resonate.

Relationship to Heat and Light

As we hold the stone or place it on an area of the body, we might notice that it gets hot—hotter, even, than our hand. How can it be hotter than our hand? Is it pulling excess heat from the body and holding on to it? Or the stone itself might stay relatively cool but the skin it is touching feels warmer. How can the stone be cool but bring warmth to the skin? Is it somehow causing the body to generate heat?

Dark stones generally have the ability to absorb warmth. Heat puts stress on the molecular structure of the stone, causing it to expand and vibrate differently, thereby potentiating its effects. If the stone is placed appropriately on the body and heated with moxa or a far-infrared lamp, it will direct the warmth deeply into the energetic anatomy of the body. If a dark-colored stone is simply placed on the body but not given any external heat, it can absorb pathological Heat from the body.

Light-colored stones tend to reflect light and heat and disperse pathology away from the body.

Another property unique to stones is their relationship to light. Some stones refract light to create color. Other stones, especially transparent faceted stones, sparkle when they reflect light. Still others can magnify what we see when we look through them.

Durability and Permanence

When we consider geologic time, our own human life spans are extremely brief. It took eons for the stones we see on store shelves to form and work their way far enough up into the crust of the Earth for miners to find them. They convey this persistence in their function as healing substances. They can access our deepest layers, vibrating ever so slowly, to initiate deep, lasting change.

It is also their permanence that necessitates our great care when working with stones. They are not to be used casually, and if used incorrectly, they can actually solidify our illnesses.

Mineral Content and Crystal Structure

We may not know these aspects of stones experientially, but modern scientific equipment gives us insight into their best applications. Mineral content plays a significant role when we use stones as medicine, especially in the form of elixirs. Knowing the mineral content of particular stones helps us refine our formulas to target specific organs and hormonal systems.

We cannot discern the molecular structure of stones without a microscope, but it is their structure that gives them shape when they are broken and allows them to be cut, faceted, or polished. The shape of the stones that we see, whether in the raw state of the stone or as created by the stonecutter, also gives insight into their therapeutic function. Shape directs the movement of energy in the body to resonate with anatomical regions of the body, or to support our constitutional nature as it plays itself out over the course of our lives.

All these characteristics that are specific to stones have a particular focus on the deep levels of our being, whether physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual. Stones are a tool for healing the deepest roots of our illnesses, and for discovering insights, even while addressing more mundane concerns.

PART I

• • • • • • •

A Primer of Classical Chinese Medicine

1

• • •

The Basics

Chinese medicine is grounded in the philosophies that evolved from an ancient culture deeply sensitive to the rhythms and relationships of nature. Early observers tried to make sense of human existence and our relationship to the never-ending cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline, and death. They understood human beings to be small reflections of the larger cosmos, connected energetically to the movements of Heaven and Earth, and therefore impacted by the phenomena of their natural surroundings.

In the very early days of the development of Chinese medicine, the priority of care was to prevent illness. If one of the farmers in the village became ill he was unable to work the fields, unable to provide for his family, and ultimately unable to be productive in the community. The early medical practitioners provided care during acute illness or injury, but their primary role during those early days was to be a teacher to the community, making recommendations regarding diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices. Preventing illness and maintaining the health of the population was crucial.

The early practitioners recognized that, just as the seasons of the agricultural year changed, so too were there natural phases of life for the men, women, and children of their community. Priorities and responsibilities changed as individuals moved through their lives. A young woman of childbearing age was, of course, treated differently than the grandmother of the family. A young man laboring in the fields had different health concerns than the village elder.

Guided by principles learned from observing nature, a system of thought developed that made the correlation between the cycles and interactions of nature and the stresses experienced by human beings. When the soil is fertile and moist, with appropriate periods of sunlight and warmth the crops thrive and yield a good harvest, and the population is well nourished. If, on the other hand, there is a drought, or floods, or the temperatures are too hot or too cool, the crops become diseased, wither, or even wash away. A light wind might gently rock the trees, their slight movement enough to aerate the soil around their roots, but too much wind breaks branches or uproots entire trees.

Likewise, if we humans have access to nourishing food and clean water and live in a sheltered environment with resources to manage the unpredictability of life, we have more freedom to live meaningful, healthy lives.

The philosophy from which Chinese medicine derives is not merely intellectual but pervades traditional Chinese culture, as is evidenced by the recognition of interrelationships among humanity, nature, and the cosmos. On the other hand, in modern Western culture, our philosophy tends more toward breaking things down to their smallest component parts to fully define and understand the individual pieces of the whole. These different ways of viewing the world pose a challenge for Westerners who are trying to understand Chinese medicine.

Our initial exploration in this primer includes an introduction to the vocabulary that describes the nature of illness; the Chinese understanding of the energetic circulation in our bodies; and the interconnectivity we have with our environment.

The Vocabulary

Much of the language of Chinese medicine is metaphorical. The words defining imbalances in the human body are the same as the words we use to describe the phenomena of nature. Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat are among the terms commonly used to describe imbalances in the body. Extremes of these factors lead to illness, just as extremes of climate damage crops. We have no control over the climate, but we human beings can make choices that strengthen our abilities to accommodate the changes that occur in our lives. A moderate climate is critical for abundant crops; if we maintain our physical health by making moderate choices in our lifestyle, the climatic factors are less likely to interfere with a productive, healthy life.

The Pathogenic Factors—Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat

The terms Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat can be literal descriptions of external climatic factors penetrating the body. For example, when we get sick after working outside on a cold, windy day, we have acute Wind-Cold with sneezing and a runny nose. The terms can also describe the effects of food that we eat: we get a sharp stomachache after eating too much watermelon, a food that is described as energetically Cold in nature. Symptoms of Heat, such as the red, swollen, painful joints typical in rheumatoid arthritis, are described as Hot Bi/Obstruction syndrome. Or we feel heavy and lethargic after eating pasta with a cream sauce, both of which contribute to Dampness.

The terms are also metaphors for the emotional challenges we encounter in life. The nature of Cold is to restrict movement; the nature of Dampness is to make things heavy. If we wake up depressed, weighted down by responsibility, perhaps fearful of facing the day, our condition might involve aspects of Cold and Damp. On the other hand, someone prone to angry outbursts most likely has a condition of excessive Heat.

The Su Wen acknowledges many causes of illness. We can become ill from internal factors related to poor diet, insufficient exercise, or emotional patterns. We can become ill from external factors that are environmental or climatic in nature. And we can be born with an illness.

Regardless of cause, the terms Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat can describe acute illnesses or long-term, chronic, degenerative conditions. In the West, despite our technological approach to medicine, we commonly say we have caught a cold or are feeling under the weather. These statements acknowledge that we are indeed connected to the environment, that we are vulnerable to the climate, and that this vulnerability can affect our health. When we keep this in mind, the language of Chinese medicine can perhaps feel a bit less foreign.

The Wind That Causes Hundreds of Diseases—Inevitability of Change

In the Su Wen we are told that Wind is the cause of all disease. This Wind can be literal, as in the wind caused by changes in atmospheric pressure, bringing with it a change in temperature and/or pollens and other allergens. But Wind is perhaps more powerfully understood as a metaphor for change. How well do we accommodate the changes in our environment, the weather, or the transitions of our lives? Do we suffer allergies when the seasons change? Do we resist the aging process, insisting on maintaining the same interests, relationships, and responsibilities as we had thirty years ago? As we often hear, the only constant in the universe is change. Everything is changing all the time. The better able we are to move gracefully with these changes, the less stress we experience and the healthier we can be.

Wind moves. It can blow in any direction. The physical signs and symptoms of Wind imply some kind of movement, be it the movement of fluids reacting to allergens and producing a runny nose and teary eyes or the movement of a person being fidgety and unable to sit still. Wind can manifest as a superficial, acute condition that causes us to shiver or have a muscle spasm. Or it can be Wind Bi/Obstruction syndrome, a condition of radiating or traveling pain. There can be twitching in the eyelid, dizziness, or high blood pressure. At a deep, chronic level, neurological conditions such as the trembling of Parkinson’s disease or the seizures of epilepsy are identified as Wind conditions.

When the term Wind is used in conjunction with the terms Cold, Damp, or Heat, it typically describes a relatively acute condition. When used otherwise—for example, Internal Wind or Liver Wind—it refers to illnesses that are more chronic in nature.

Cold—Resistance to Moving with the Winds of Change

The second major culprit in creating illness is Cold. The earliest major tradition of Chinese medicine is recorded in the Shang Han Lun—the Treatise on Injury by Cold. An early pictograph for the term Cold is the representation of a cultivated farm field and a house with a teardrop coming out of it. The meaning: Cold is anything that prevents us from doing the things we need or want to do. Cold restricts movement; it blocks energy. It expresses a hesitation to make change. It might be from emotional causes or from traumatic injury. It can be from eating and drinking icy, cold foods and drinks. Or it can simply be from being chilled to the bone on a frigid winter day.

The study of how Cold affects the body was significant enough to have a whole tradition dedicated to it. How did the pathology initially enter the body? What were the routes it took to penetrate deeply into the physiology? What could break up the blockages it was causing? How could the body release it?

The channel systems through which energy circulates allowed early practitioners to map out the routes by which pathogenic factors penetrated the physiological defenses of the immune system. By understanding how and where the pathogenic factor had entered—through the skin? through the gut? the lungs?—theories were developed as to how to move the Cold back out again. The Shang Han Lun tradition developed a sophisticated understanding of the etiology and progression of disease, and how to treat it by ultimately expelling the pathology to the exterior. Indeed, Chinese medicine holds the belief that if acute illness is properly treated by bringing the pathology to the exterior instead of suppressing it and pushing it more deeply into the physiology, we will be less likely to develop chronic degenerative disease.

Cold constricts. It resonates with deep parts of our anatomy, where energetic movement is slow—for example, in the bone and the marrow. Signs and symptoms of Cold conditions can include sharp, gripping, or fixed pain, aversion to cold, fear, feeling cold to the touch, or poor circulation.

Acute viral conditions such as the common cold are attributed to Wind-Cold. For acute Wind-Cold the treatment principle is to release to the exterior through sweat and expectoration. The simplistic treatment strategy is to create warmth—take a hot bath, drink a warming herbal tea, or put a hot compress on the area of pain.

A more complicated condition than acute Wind-Cold is chronic Cold—for example sharp, chronic pain in the lower back—or Cold in the Uterus, causing painful menses or infertility. In this case, Cold has penetrated deeply into the anatomy and requires a more sophisticated treatment strategy.

Viruses in general can be described as a Cold pathogen. They are able to migrate into deeper levels of the body, especially into the lungs and the liver, which both offer a blood-rich environment for the virus to take up residence. Some practitioners believe that many autoimmune conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, are the result of a virus that the body has been unable to expel. The herpes virus has evolved with human beings over such a long time, it might almost be a part of our DNA.

Damp—Heaviness and Lethargy

Dampness can be created by external or internal factors. In the agrarian culture of China, farmers waded for long hours in the rice paddies, and many of them developed a condition known as leg Qi. One of the great practitioners of Chinese medicine, Hua Tuo, described a process of Dampness being absorbed through the feet and moving upward into the legs, causing heaviness and aching in the lower limbs. These words—heaviness and aching—are most descriptive of a Damp condition. Dampness can be physical discomfort, as in leg Qi, or it can be the lethargy we experience when the weather is heavy with humidity, or when we eat sweet, heavy, or sticky foods such as bagels and muffins, hard cheeses, rich sauces, or cookies and cakes.

Dampness weighs things down. It is heavy. It sinks. It tends to accumulate in the lower region of the body, perhaps as edema, with fluid swelling in the legs, or in the intestines, manifesting as diarrhea. As a chronic condition, Dampness is particularly insidious because it moves slowly and does not show itself with dramatic symptoms until it is well advanced. Emotionally, Dampness leads to indecisiveness.

If Dampness lingers in the body for very long, the body begins to generate Heat in order to dry it out. When Dampness and Heat combine, the condition becomes more complicated. Like reducing a sauce on the stovetop, the Heat causes the Dampness to thicken. It can become phlegm. Phlegm can manifest as a mass or nodule, and with the involvement of Heat, which invigorates its movement, the phlegm can be deposited anywhere in the body—in the flesh as lipomas; in the joints, ultimately leading to arthritis; on a gland as a nodule; or even in the brain, causing confused, dull thinking.

Dampness is associated with fungal conditions. Fungus grows best in a moist, dark environment, which in the body is reflective of the bones, spine, and brain.

Signs of Dampness are a thick, sticky coating on the tongue, a slippery pulse, or oily skin. Addiction to carbohydrates is also an indication, and consumption of such foods can lead to parasitic infestations.

Heat—Bringing Urgency to Change

In the theory of pathogenesis discussed in the Shang Han Lun, Heat is seen as a physiological response to the pathogen of Cold as it enters more deeply into the body. Ideally the body’s defenses are strong enough to expel the Cold soon after exposure. If it fails at this task, at a certain point the body begins to generate Heat to try to neutralize or break up the Cold. Most commonly, this transition occurs in the region of the chest.

For example, someone catches Wind-Cold. He is sneezing and feels a little chilled, and his nose is running with clear fluid. The discomfort is not bad enough, however, to make him stay home from work. He busies himself out and about, comes home, goes to bed, and wakes up the next morning with a bad sore throat and cough. He has taxed his immune system too much and now the external pathogenic factor has penetrated more deeply into his body. Maybe his cough produces thick yellow phlegm, a sign that Heat is being generated. Maybe he feels feverish. In any case, the transition from Wind-Cold to Wind-Heat has occurred. At this stage, it is still an acute condition. The treatment strategy is to release to the exterior through sweating and expectoration. Because the pathology has now penetrated more deeply into the physiology, it may also come out through urination. From a Western point of view, this transition toward Wind-Heat is likely to manifest as a bacterial infection in the sinuses or chest.

Heat invigorates. It is a natural physiological response to a Cold or Damp pathogenic factor to break up the constriction or accumulation and move it out of the body.

At this level, if the condition is improperly treated, the pathology begins to make its way even more deeply into the body. The modern widespread use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines is implicated in this deepening process. These pharmaceuticals have a cooling, dampening effect (that is, constricting and heavy and thus resonating with deeper levels of the anatomy). Since the Heat, or the bacteria being treated by the antibiotic, is in fact a response to an initial injury by Cold, the cooling effect from the drugs causes both the original Cold and the responding Heat to be pushed more deeply into the physiology. This process opens the door to the growth of bacterial colonies in the stomach and large intestine. At this deeper level, the Heat can begin to consume the fluids and blood that nourish the nerves, sinews, and the internal organs.

From the Western point of view, Heat is acidic. Many of the conditions with names that end in -itis (for example, tendinitis, arthritis, sinusitis, or bronchitis) fall into this category.

Further Complications of Heat

When Heat persists over time it dries out our fluids and damages tissues. In this hot, dry, desert-like environment, Wind begins to stir. When we are parched for nourishment our nerves and muscles become damaged, and conditions such as Wei/Atrophy syndrome develop, which can manifest as various neuropathies, including multiple sclerosis, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Parkinson’s disease.

When they occur together, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether Heat or Wind is the dominant pathology. A general guideline is that Wind has a greater effect on the body; it causes restlessness, spasms, or cramps. Heat can also affect the body, but it generally has a greater effect on the mind, the spirit, and the emotions.

Another deep condition of Heat damaging tissue is Steaming Bone syndrome, where the person feels heat emanating from deep within the body. Symptoms can include menopausal hot flashes and night sweats; swollen, bleeding gums; dry mouth; loose teeth; tinnitus; and urinary tract infections.

Tissues damaged during this process are called Fire Toxins, which can be likened to free radicals. These tissues no longer have the integrity to combine with fluids or blood and the continuing pathologic Heat flushes upward and outward because it can no longer be anchored. This is Empty Heat, the result of Full Heat having damaged the Blood, Fluid, or deep Essence of our physical bodies. This progression of Heat pathology yields symptoms such as hot flashes, or low-grade fevers that are worse in the afternoon or evening.

Heat as a Pathogenic Factor

As the rural, agrarian communities of ancient China were replaced by large and crowded cities, pestilent Qi and epidemics emerged. The medical understanding of Heat evolved to regard it as a pathogenic factor in and of itself, not just a response to Cold.

Heat spreads and consumes. The understanding of Heat as an internal pathology has its roots in the works of great practitioners such as Liu Wansu, founder of the school of Cooling and Cold, and Li Dongyuan (1180–1251 CE), founder of the Earth school. Both of these masters maintained that Internal Heat formed in the body because of dietary and emotional factors, especially because life was so busy and so driven by unfulfilled desires. With the emergence of contagious epidemics in large populations, however, a new understanding of Heat as a spreading external pathogenic factor developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The new theory was developed by the Wen Bing/Heat Disease school, which generated a sophisticated herbal approach to address this new health concern. The earlier Shang Han Lun understanding of Heat as a response to Cold or Damp was still valid, but the new Wen Bing school recognized that new challenges to health were evolving as the culture changed.

The Anatomy

Chinese medicine recognizes not only the physical anatomy of our bodies but also an energetic anatomy. Energy animates the movement of blood and fluids and allows for the proper function of the physical anatomy.

The Internal Organs

The same interconnectedness observed between nature and human beings is recognized within the body as well. The Internal Organs (Lung, Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen, Heart, Small Intestine, Urinary Bladder, Kidney, Pericardium, Triple Heater, Gall Bladder, and Liver) have their individual responsibilities, which are understood to be similar to the responsibilities ascribed to them by Western medicine. Chinese medicine also ascribes significant interrelationships between the organs that are not so clearly recognized by Western thinking. These relationships are supported by energetic pathways, called channels or meridians, which support healthy function as well as carrying pathological factors. These channels course throughout the body, giving rise to the many relationships we see between the various organs and the channels themselves.

The Internal Organs can be individually afflicted with disease, or there might be imbalances of relationship that occur between the Organs. Any dysfunction at the level of the physical organs, however, will be preceded by blockages in the channels that interfere with proper physiological function.

Another group, the Curious Organs, includes the Brain, Marrow, Vessels (a controversial term perhaps referring to Blood Vessels or to a group of meridians associated with constitutional energy), Bones, Gall Bladder (the Organ that makes the link between the Internal and Curious), and Uterus (including the male genitalia). Unlike the Internal Organs, which are responsible for postnatal functions, the Curious Organs are the ones most involved in the evolutionary changes required for our species to continue living on Earth. (The Curious Organs are discussed in depth in chapter 7.)

The Channels

Each channel is a trajectory that allows for the movement of energy in the body. Channels have internal pathways, where they meet with their associated organs and communicate with other channels, and external pathways, where the trajectory carries energy into the arms or legs, or into the head.

For example, the Lung channel has an internal pathway that begins at the center of the abdomen. It travels downward to points adjacent to the navel and then upward to the breastbone and the actual organs of the lungs. This is the internal trajectory of the channel, and many important communications occur along the way. The external pathway emerges from the lungs at the hollow region in front of the shoulder and travels down the arms toward the thumbs.

There are five channel systems of energetic circulation. The most popularly known are the Primary Channels, but there are also the Luo Channels, the Extraordinary Vessels, the Sinew Channels, and the Divergent Channels. These will be discussed in chapter 9, and subsequently in more detail in the introductions to groups of stones in the materia medica.

The Points

In modern Western practice, the channels and associated points used for treatment are given an organ name. The organ name is associated with a channel along which the points are located, and the points are given a number, for example Stomach 36 or Liver 3.

Traditionally, the Chinese names of the points are descriptive of their function or anatomical location, and the names can actually change depending on the intention behind a treatment. Our Western naming and numbering of the points is for convenience of communication among practitioners. This method can, however, cause unfortunate confusion for clients. When a channel or point is mentioned, perhaps Liver 8 or Spleen 10, clients are sometimes concerned that it is the actual organ of the liver or spleen being discussed, when, in fact, the practitioner’s intention is to affect the Blood.

How It Works—A Simplistic Explanation

Over the centuries of observation and experience, practitioners of Chinese medicine determined that certain points have particular functions. When an acupuncture point is stimulated by massage, a needle, an essential oil, or a stone, the immune system recognizes that something foreign is affecting the body. Resources gather and mobilize to the point to determine what action, if any, is required. Simply by virtue of the energy and blood that arrive at the area, the acupuncture point is stimulated, and its inherent functions activate.

The Modern Challenges to Health—Staying Healthy

The first nine chapters of the Su Wen are devoted to the discussion of the causes of disease. They emphasize that illness is the result of being out of harmony with nature and the changes of the seasons; our susceptibility to the external climatic factors of Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat; and internal factors such as improper diet and destructive emotions. Life is very different in modern times than in ancient China, but the causes of illness are fundamentally the same.

External Factors

In modern Western culture, with the conveniences of technology, our ability to harmonize ourselves with nature has been seriously compromised. We leave air-conditioned spaces to enter the sweltering heat of a summer day, or we go out of our snug, warm homes to brave the frigid wintry night. Artificial lighting encourages us to ignore the natural rhythms of night and day, allowing us to study or watch television late into the night instead of going to bed and getting adequate sleep. Additionally, we are dealing with ecological and environmental pollutants that did not exist in ancient times. The air we breathe contains chemicals that are foreign to the physiology of our bodies. We absorb synthetic hormones from our plastic water bottles and electromagnetic radiation from our computers and cell phones. Because global travel is so prevalent, we can be exposed to pestilent factors from all over the world.

Humanity as a whole will evolve to adapt to these new challenges—it must in order to survive. We as individuals, on the other hand, may need to take action to counteract these new pathogenic factors if we want to live a healthy life relatively free from physical suffering.

Internal Factors

The Su Wen acknowledges that imbalances can result from improper dietary choices and excessive emotion. Again, modern life presents different challenges than ancient people faced. They had to contend with famine and malnutrition while we enjoy an overabundance of choice. We have food in plenty at our local grocery store, not just the produce and meat grown in the local region but offerings from all over the world. While poor agricultural practices have diminished the nourishing value of our food, the food-processing industry adds insult to injury by manufacturing substances that are not food and have little nutritional value.

Modern life offers tremendous diversity. Meeting people from very different cultural backgrounds is routine in many communities. We are bombarded by so much information from so many different sources that it is difficult to know what to believe, and difficult to make appropriate choices. With so many distractions, it is easy to be overwhelmed and to forget our personal priorities. And if we do get overwhelmed, it is easy to become emotionally imbalanced.

All in all, mainstream modern life is not very conducive to the cultivation of health. If we trust the ancient texts of Chinese medicine and want to be healthy, we must reacquaint ourselves with our interdependence with the natural environment. We can hope for a reasonably healthy life, with satisfying relationships and activities—even as we age—but accomplishing this is best achieved with appropriate, moderate lifestyle choices.

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The Big Picture

The goal of Chinese medicine is not only to prevent and treat illness but also to support people in their efforts to achieve a meaningful life. Chinese medicine is informed by the philosophies that were prevalent during its development, including Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. The material in this book is primarily influenced by Daoist thought, but influences from the other traditions are also present. A fundamental understanding of some key concepts and beliefs will be helpful as we move forward in this discussion.

A Philosophical View

Living a meaningful life requires the acknowledgment that we are all uniquely important. The underlying philosophies of Chinese medicine provide a framework that supports our individual evolution.

Humanistic and Holistic

The philosophy behind Chinese medicine is humanistic, in that it recognizes that we all have the potential to discover and express our unique qualities and to make meaningful contributions to our families and society. Our unique qualities manifest through our bodies, our emotions, and our mental activities. There is no one food, herb, exercise, or discipline that is right for every person. We must each discover what is right for ourselves.

This humanistic philosophy also recognizes our foibles and shortcomings and offers tools to help alleviate our emotional and psychological suffering. The Ling Shu acknowledges that human beings do not want to be sick and die—but most of us do get sick at one time or another, and we all die. Since this is the case, the ancients recommend that we make this life as meaningful as we can. They suggest that we cultivate such virtues as integrity, loyalty, courage, and piety, so that as we lie on our deathbed we have as few regrets as possible for how we have lived our life.

Chinese medicine is imbued with the holistic view that human beings are in constant connection with the cosmos, Heaven, and the Earth. This connection is not just a philosophical concept. It is physical reality. The light of the sun penetrates our bodies to nourish our bones. The Earth’s atmosphere, in partnership with the plant life of the planet, provides us the food we eat. Every breath connects us to the universe.

Chinese medicine also recognizes an inseparability of body, mind, and spirit.

Life as a University

Regardless of culture, human beings share much in common. We encounter similar challenges, and our lives are largely defined by how we meet them. The ancient Chinese considered that at one time or another we all have to manage eight fundamental Palaces: health, wealth, prosperity, relationship, creativity and children, travel and opportunity, career or vocation and knowledge, and wisdom. We confront all of these lessons as we move through life, but there is usually one major theme that is of particular interest to us. This is the subject matter we are responsible for mastering during this lifetime. How well we manage our lessons determines whether or not we complete the curriculum.

The Chinese were aware that Heaven and Earth moved through regular, repeating cycles of birth, growth, maturity, and death. They had no difficulty extending that recognition to the lives of human beings, with the belief that we incarnate repeatedly. If we are unsuccessful in navigating a particular lesson in this life, we will have a similar opportunity in another lifetime.

The Imperative toward Evolution

A view fundamental to Chinese culture is that everything—humans, animals, plants, stones, and the planet—is evolving toward a state of perfection. This perceived perfection is not based on some aesthetically beautiful outcome but is driven by the innate requirement to adapt to our circumstances.

Early observers recognized that a large cause of our suffering was our inability to adapt easily to the changes imposed by the natural cycles of life as they pertain to ourselves, to our relationships with loved ones, to our environment, and to society in general. They also recognized that the ability to evolve and transform, as necessitated by the inherent changes and conflicts we encounter in our lives, is a requirement.

This overarching philosophical theme of evolution is reflected on a small scale for each individual life, on a larger scale for the human race, and on an even larger scale for the evolution of our planet and its amazing diversity. Out of necessity we accommodate to the changes in our surroundings, not only to survive but also in an attempt to create the optimal environment for our lives to be meaningful and pleasurable.

Prerequisites of Life

All living creatures are enacting the evolutionary imperative to reproduce themselves in order to ensure their survival as a species. Researchers going into the Chernobyl accident site have found that over the past quarter century the wildlife in the region of Chernobyl has thrived. This is due in part to the fact that the animals were not subject to the influence of human beings, and also because those that successfully met the challenge of living in such a radically changed environment mutated and passed their genetic changes