QIGONG'S MEDICAL MIRACLE
By E. Joan Barice, M.D., M.P.H.
Five years ago, in Changsha, China, a large gathering of Chinese doctors were absorbed in listening to a middle-aged man giving a lecture on healing techniques. He offered to demonstrate on a man in the group who was confined to a wheelchair. After some ritualistic gestures, he did some lying on of hands, massaged acupressure points, chanted and said, "You may walk now." And, the man walked.
I watched in amazement and with some skepticism. Who was this healer? What was this healing technique? Following him day after day, I watched one person after another. Some were cured; all were helped.
My skepticism was replaced first with intrigue and then with deep respect. The man was Grandmaster Fu Wei Zhong, a compassionate man who believes salvation is available for all, and with it an end to pain and suffering. He was teaching Emei Qigong Therapy, a healing method that is neither mysterious nor unscientific. It is a system of health, healing and enlightenment which can be taught, and his goal is to teach many, so they, in turn, can help relieve the suffering in the world.
In
the past ten years, he has traveled around China and has taught hundreds of
thousands the discipline. His students have performed incredible healings,
and the cured have begun to make their contributions to society. Because of
this, Emei has won praise from the academia of Qigong in China and
throughout the world. The Emei Qigong system is a distillation of the best healing methods known in Chinese Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Chinese medicine, Qigong and the martial arts.
Until ten years ago, the teachings were kept secret, and taught to only a select few. Grandmaster Fu Wei Zhong is the thirteenth lineage holder of the pure teachings of this great system of healing. When Grandmaster Ju Zan passed the lineage to Grandmaster Fu, he said, "Emei comes from the people; now let it serve the people."
Studying the Emei system of healing normally takes many years. Because of the urgency of finding a method that meets the requirements of the quickened pace of modern life, Grandmaster Fu went into retreat for three years, during which time he studied the Treasured Lotus Canon at Mt. Emei. He was determined to find a new format that requires less time and yields better results. He subsequently created the first external Qigong therapy system and is now regarded as the "father of external Qi therapy."
Grandmaster Fu began his medical training at the age of six. His apprenticeship in traditional Chinese medicine included herbology, acupuncture and martial arts. He is an internationally recognized physician, theorist, scholar and lecturer in numerous medical schools and institutions throughout China. He is the President of the International Medicine Qigong Academy of Science, and the author of numerous books. He is an exceptional human being.
While he has great respect for Western medicine and its ability to yield quick results, Chinese medicine addresses chronic diseases, progressive neurological disorders and pain in ways Western medicine can not. He believes that by combining the best abilities of Western and Eastern medicine, we will be doing our best to help the most people.
As a Western physician, trained at Stanford and Harvard, I believe any resistance to accepting Chinese medicine stems from our misunderstanding of it. One system is not better than the other -- they are simply different. We haven't had the opportunity to study it. In fact, most of it hasn't been translated. However, Grandmaster Fu is willing to teach us and I believe it is our responsibility to learn what we can about it. If we remain closed to considering other effective healing methods, then we are not doing what we can to help our patients. I admit that I initially scoffed at Chinese medicine's lack of scientific theory. How ironic such arrogance is, when you realize that these very effective ancient healing methods are based on 10,000 years of experience, while our science is only hundreds of years old.
I
find Chinese medicine's emphasis on preventive medicine, early diagnosis and
the holistic approach personally appealing. The Chinese medical system seems
to include aspects of culture we don't usually think of as medicine. This is
because they believe all things are interconnected. Their system considers
the whole person and it emphasizes the natural healing powers in each
individual. The Chinese believe you cannot separate the physical, emotional
and spiritual. We've all experienced, in times of great stress, another self
performing for us. Science cannot explain it, but it exists. Jung called it,
"The other reality." Western medicine has made great advances in recent years in the field of neurobiochemistry -- the affects of drugs or other external and internal factors on the mind. I believe ancient Chinese medicine's concept of inseparability of mind and body is compatible with our modern scientific research findings. We know, for instance, that exercise and acupuncture stimulate the production of endorphins. Endorphins are neurotransmitters with morphine-like activity that give us a feeling of well being and relieve pain. Originally, we identified endorphins in the brain and recognized the fact that they affect other systems in the body by a feedback system. We've now discovered both endorphin and endorphin receptor site activity in the gastrointestinal, reproductive and immune systems, as well. The entire neurotransmitter process is far more complicated with many steps in the process. We know that receptor cells are in a constant state of transformation from energy to particle and back again. Western science can identify the receptors and transmitters, but cannot identify or quantify the system interfacing with the one that transforms energy into patterned information. From the Chinese perspective, this interfacing system is simply Qi, the universal intelligence which flows through all living processes and contains the wisdom of healing.
Unlike some other Qigong practitioners, Grandmaster Fu does not wish to exaggerate the miraculous power of Qigong. He cautions that it is not a cure-all. In order to predict the prospect of recovery, Grandmaster Fu uses Qigong to obtain a diagnosis. Some patients can have immediate therapeutic results; others may recover after weeks or months of therapy; and some patients are beyond the power of treatment. For the latter, Qigong can nevertheless improve their quality of life.
Grandmaster Fu believes Americans are very sensitive and can learn the techniques easily. This is truly a unique opportunity to be a part of a revolutionary way to provide health care in the future, merging ancient healing techniques with the modern, as East joins West.
If you would like to schedule an event in your area or setup a personal healing session contact Teacher David Knoll.
