An invitation to eastern medicine

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An Invitation to Eastern Medicine:
A Delightful Journey into an Abstruse World
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
The reader holds in his/her hand an unusual book. What makes this bookunusual? I will come
back to that, but first a word about nomenclature. This isa book dealing with Eastern, but not strictly
‘Chinese’ Medicine. In the West, the term ‘Chinese’ Medicineis used more frequently than ‘Eastern’
Medicine, if not exclusively. The Far East, as such, is constituted by countries andcultures other
than China, albeit China is the largest in size and hasbeen right up to the modern era the dominant
cultural influence. The East is not a monolith. In fact, not even Chinaherself is, as her citizenry is
comprised of well over two dozen minoritygroups. In Korea, the term ‘Han Medicine’ is used when
referring to the vastencyclopaedia of medical knowledge which has over the centuries become the
warpand woof of traditional medicine as practiced by the Han people, who comprisethe dominant
ethnic group in China. Within the theoretical framework that wasoriginally developed in China
there is a wide variety of techniques oftreatment that differ from region to region reflecting not only
the so-calledlocal culture, but also the local availability of medicinal resources. For thisreason, it is
only when speaking specifically of some particularity of medicalprocedure or method as practiced
in China do the people in the East make apoint of calling it ‘Chinese’ Medicine. To be sure, in so far
as this book islargely about the foundation of traditional medicine originating from China, itrelies
heavily on medical theories and philosophies that were first developedin China. However, it must
be remembered that what is presented in this book isthe broad foundation of medicine as practiced
in the Eastern world as a whole.Therefore, throughout this book, whenever the author speaks of
Han Medicine, hemeans ‘Eastern’ Medicine. I used the latter literally, rather than translatingit as
‘Chinese’ Medicine.
So, going back to the question asked earlier, what makes this book unusual? The majority of
bookscurrently available in English about Eastern Medicine falls generally into twotypes:
Theoretical textbooks and do-it-yourself herbal remedy books. In tryingto understand Eastern
Medcine, the West still has the tendency to fall back onits traditional mechanical paradigm
concerning the human body in describing thevarious “techniques” of Eastern Medicine. While such
books may be valuable forthe medical professional, they are of little help to the average person
whowishes to understand the foundation of traditional Eastern medical practice.This book is
unusual because it is so understandable. It uncovers the structureof understanding which lies behind
Eastern Medicine. Gh’m Oh speaks in terms ofordinary experiences which are familiar to us all:
Experiences both emotive andcorporeal. Gh’m Oh takes us on a delightful journey by asking us to
observe andponder over the significance of everyday experiences: For example, Just what isthat

“chillin’ sensation” down (or is it up?) the spine we feel when we arereally frightened? Why do we
say, “I was so scared, I nearly peed in mypants!”? Why is one “lily-livered” if one is lacking in
courage? What, afterall, is the relationship between the liver and courage? And the gall? Is thegall
really the seat of cheekiness? And, why is one accused of having a “bighead” if one acts over-
confidently? How many causes, and how many types ofanger are there? Etc, etc.
Invitation to Eastern Medicine is a double invitation: To the Mind of theEast, and to a particular
discipline called medicine as shaped by the EasternMind. It is, as the subtitle declares, an invitation
to an abstruse world. Aworld strange and unfamiliar, constructed along a wholly different set
ofassumptions about the universe: A world in which the notion of observation isnot strictly
circumscribed by a dualistic conception separating the observingsubject and the observed object.
This is a book about how to understand andbalance ease and dis-ease in the flux of life. It is about
the art of beinghealthy, so that one can finish the arduous homework of ‘becoming human.’ Thatis
to say, ‘becoming human’ according to the definition of ‘human’ as framedaccording to the East: An
em-bodied transformation toward a fullyrealized, miniature cosmos, in its perfection, mystery,
splendor, and fading.Gh’m Oh might as well have titled his book Invitation to the
TraditionalEastern Mindset, because Gh’m Oh is attempting to show the reader a sliverof a
particular world-view, an attitude toward the world, and a cosmology uponwhich the epistemology
of Eastern Medicine is founded. The author firstpresented this material in his own country. This
book first appeared in Koreabearing the subtitle, “A Delightful Journey into an Abstruse World.”
This factindicates that this traditional Eastern world-view has now become just as“abstruse” and
incomprehensible to the majority of modern Orientals as it is tothe Occidentals.
Be that as it may. This book was originally a transcription of theauthor’s lectures to a mostly lay
audience. The author and the audience were ontheir own cultural turf, so to speak. The author’s
reference to certainthings-foods, cultural habits, or social practices, for the purpose of emphasisand
illustration-may at times strike the reader who is unfamiliar with Koreanculture to be just that:
Unfamiliar. But as they are not undulyincomprehensible, I felt that it was not necessary to modify
every elementwhich belongs to the quotidian practice of another culture. I concentrated onlyon the
task of bringing home the message of these lectures with their congenialcharacter and freshness
intact. And keeping the freshness and the vibrancy ofthese lectures meant doing two things
normally avoided when translating.
One, I have had to occasionally substitute words or phrases, if the originalcould not be translated
literally to sustain any meaning in any “meaningful”way. (The sensibilty-gap between the East and
the West is not, on the whole, asgreat as it might at first appear. But it is there, there is no denying
that,and in the most unexpected places.) Where a faster and clearer comprehensioncould be had for
the taking, I did not hesitate to translate in such a mannerif that meant rendering the author as if he
were speaking in American English,making references to Americana.
Two, I ruled, with the approval of the author, that many of the wordswithout which no text
concerning the East would seem to be complete, e.g.,“Sage,” “Taoist Master,” “Zen Master,”
etcetera, had to be revamped. The reasonbeing primarily that they sound intolerably stuffy and trite,
and have been sofor some time already. Another reason is that, as hackneyed cliches,
theyunnecessarily feed a distorted understanding concerning the East. But, franklyspeaking, I
personally do not find that seeing another culture in terms ofstereotypes is a practice so evil as to
get all bent out of shape about.Stereotypes are like boxing gloves rather than surgical gloves. They
are clumsyand crude, but not necessarily totally wrong. However, wretched

stereotypesnotwithstanding, we can at least try to keep an open mind for things not yetencountered.
That means we should be playing at least with a larger set ofstereotypes than the one that has so far
shaped the popular imagination in theWest regarding the East, its culture, and its peoples. Orientals
are eithertreacherous, inscrutable, filially pious, good-at-math, bad drivers, kung-fu fightin’,
and/orparticularly wise. Is that not true, oh, Grasshopper? Sure, they are all that(although I
personally do not know any kung-fu fightin’ Orientals), and more,as all human beings are.
The words in question were translated as “Intuner” for Sage, “Way-Groover”for Taoist Master,
and “Zenster” for Zen Master. Whimsical? Maybe. There is nolaw or divine commandment that
says we must associate wisdom only with hoary,white-bearded, old men. True, in the East,
traditional prejudice equates wisdomas such with Qi (pronounced ‘chee’, meaning vital energy that
is in all life)collected over a long period of time, but sagacity is not denied to the youngor to
women, bearded or not. One who is wise, in the manner suggested by theoriginal word in Sino-
Korean character, is one who has large ears. In otherwords, he/she is a good listener. S/he is
someone “in tune” with Nature, andcan show the way (Tao) for others to understand how to do the
same. Hence, theterm “Intuner”. And, as for someone who would seek Tao (way), or
Enlightenmentthrough Zen, there is no reason to assume that such a person is in any way a“Master”
automatically. In fact, the common Chinese term is literally just ‘Taoman.’ Moreoverfor, the very
notion of “mastery” goes against the very “stuff”of what the Way-Groover and the Zenster are all
about. The cultivator of Tao isone who treads the Way and therefore makes a ‘groove’ along the
Way. “KnowingTao” has the connotation that one knows how to flow like water. Thus, a Taoistis
one who ‘grooves’ to Tao without resistance, just as one would ‘groove’ tomusic. As for the term
‘Zenster’: The suffix -ster is added, for example, to“young” and “hip” to refer to a person to whom
the adjectives apply. Since Zenis less a noun than an adjective describing the condition of a mental
state, Ichose to add the suffix -ster to one who seeks that state obtainablethrough the discipline of
Zen. I have retained the traditional term ‘Master’ asa mark of respect when the author refers to his
own teacher(s).
Whenever possible, I have translated literally the original Korean orChinese words in this
book. However, some words and concepts have no equivalent in English. In these cases, I have
retained theterms in their original language and have designated them by capitalizingthem. Some
representative examplesare: Qi, Tai Chi, Yin and Yang. This book is an edited transcript of a
seriesof lectures. Occasionally, the author interacted with the audience, asking themquestions and
such. In these instances, the audience response has beendesignated by “A:.” Quite often, the
audience response was an inaudible mumble.In such a case, this was designated by “A: (silence).”
Regrettably, I was forced to delete a chapter that deals with the subjectof the I Ching (Book of
Changes). The author and I decided that thecontent would require way too many footnotes to make
it comprehensible for theaverage Western reader. In any case, the main content of this book is in no
waycompromised by that deletion of the chapter in question. The primary aim ofthis book is to
pique the reader’s curiosity for the Eastern way of thinkingand seeing. And if the book is successful
to that extent, the reader will nodoubt wish to seek out other texts germane to the topic at hand,
including the IChing, of which there now exist several fine English translations.
Many people today in America who are seeking an “alternative” to thereigning standard in
medical care as determined by the AMA and the insuranceestablishment might find this book
particularly helpful. It is, of course, upto the reader to decide what to make of the ramifications
surrounding theincreasing interest in “alternative” medicine. But the reader should bear inmind that

Eastern Medicine is not necessarily an “alternative” medicine in andof itself. It is an “alternative”
only in the context of some dominant systemof medicine that has convinced the public that it and it
alone is the arbiterof all matters medical. The notion of “alternative medicine” has a
certainconnotation that it is but a make-shift or an understudy to fill in where the“standard” falls
short. This book will perhaps get the reader to wonder if alland any medical intervention is not an
“alternative” to the true path ofwell-being.
Today, there is a tendency to associate, under the general rubric of ‘NewAge,’ anything
traditionally Eastern with that benighted enthusiasm foranything remotely “spiritual.” Ifind that to
be unfortunate in so far as so many New Age enthusiasts happen toperpetuate their enthusiasm in a
rejective gesture against the workings ofmodern science and the rationality that supports it. Eastern
Medicine isneither ‘New Age’ nor mystical. Eastern Medicine is founded on a rationality,albeit of a
different paradigm, one which is by necessity lessprecision-bound than the one on which modern
Western Medicine is founded. (Itshould be noted that even the notion of ‘precision’ is not something
absolutebut dependent upon the very paradigm of rationality that valorizes the term.)As the
translator, I hope that this book will aid in enlarging the scope ofrationality in its various modes.
In reading this book, the average person is called to take seriously theidea that health-one’s own
and that of loved ones-may not be a “medical” issue,much less an “insurance” issue, so much as it
is an existential issue. And whenunderstood as an existential issue, then and only then, does it
become aspiritual issue as well. One’s health is ultimately not a matter to be decidedunilaterally by
a man or a woman in a white gown, or any other professionalgarb. The broad question of health, as
such, must be asked and answered interms of the extent to which one is willing to abrogate one’s
work in securingone’s own well-being and happiness to instrumental techniques and
bureaucraticdecisions. On this decision hangs the central question of one’s willingness totake
responsibility, to mark and recognize one’s footprints as one’s own incrossing that infinite field of
possibilities called ‘one’s life’.
I wish to thank my wife Kalla for getting me to undertake this translationand for her editing, and
my former student Ju-chul Kim for introducing thisbook to me many years ago. In translating the
names of herbs and concoctionsand various technical terms, Dr. Ki-hyon Kim and his assistant Ms.
Randy Otakaprovided invaluable help. To them, I owe a debt of gratitude. But, for anyerrors which
might still lurk in these pages, I am, nonetheless solelyaccountable.
1 Sagan Lazar*
* Sagan Lazar is the translator’s pen name. During the past 14 years, thetranslator has taught at
various universities, including Temple University andthe University of the Arts in Philadelphia,
Kyong-gi University and Kon-kukUniversity in Seoul, and Shih-Chien University in Taiwan. He is
currentlyDirector of xNOISIA,an independent research laboratory.

CONTENTS
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE -- 4
Author’s Foreword to the English Edition -- 18
INTRODUCTION -- 48
Chapter 1 The Wonder and Mystery of Eastern Medicine -- 58
Chapter 2 Round are the Heavens, and the Earth Square -- 88
Chapter 3 Yang is Movement, Yin is Stillness -- 124
Chapter 4 Analysis of the Sixty-Year Cycle -- 152
Chapter 5 Five Transportative and Six Climatic Qi -- 172
Chapter 6 Biorhythms and the Three
Energeticsof the Meridians -- 186
Chapter 7 Huh Jun’s Allegory of the Dew -- 204
Chapter 8 The Turning Point of Symptoms -- 216
Chapter 9 The Tree that Grows Leaning to the East,

Fallsto the East -- 232
Chapter 10 Tonifying the Deﬁcient and Sedating
theExcessive -- 246
INDEX --270

Author’s Foreword
to the English Edition
An Invitation to Eastern Medicine is indeed an invitation to the world of Eastern Medicine, now
extended tothe English-speaking reader. Beyond data, formulas and recipes, this book waswritten
with the desire to share with the reader the culture and the mind-setof the East. And to understand
the East is to understand her unifying visioninherent in the Yin-Yang philosophy which underlies
her view of theworld and cosmos.
Like many other countries in Asia, Korea too, has modernized at breakneckspeed at the expense
of her own traditional wisdom. Even today, oblivious towhat was best in her own tradition, Korea
suffers from the nausea that comeswith the euphoric giddiness of rapid modernization, and confuses
modernizationwith “Westernization.” Ironically enough, it is only in the wake of the
West’sincreasing interest in the East, that Korea too, over the last decade or so,has slowly begun to
re-evaluate the wisdom of her time-tested tradition. Takebirthing for example. Discarded as
“unscientific” by the MIW(men in white), theage-old techniques once commonplace in the East -
squatting, water birthing, dimlights, slow cutting of the umbilical cord-are now considered “worth
lookinginto” now that Western specialists are recognizing the sheer sensibleness ofthese age-old
techniques. There are signs, emerging slowly but surely, thatthere is a growing interest in Korea for
things jettisoned thoughtlessly. Thecurrent TV drama in Korea, based on the exploits of the
legendary doctorHuh-Jun is enjoying immense popularity at an unheard-of 60% ratings, and
Eastern Medicine is nowthe most popular major in all the universities in Korea.
But when I was in school, there was much to be desired in the learning ofthis wonderful science.
After graduating, I wandered throughout the country farand wide, and high and low in search of
Masters who would help me find the keythat would one day unlock the mysteries of understanding.
I sought out andstudied with men in remote places,0 possessing superior insights into thenature of
things: men of medicine, buddhist monks, philosophers of the I Ching(Book of Changes). As a
result, I came to realize the supreme importanceand power of that certain thing over and above all
the data I accumulated whilein school: Understanding from within, by standing-under, not over, the
subjectof one’s study.
No matter what the field of study, one can make no advances without astrong foundation. And it
is my conviction that the foundation of all trueunderstanding is the insight into the fundamental
Principle of DynamicComplementarity inherent in Nature. That Principle is what the ancients inthe
East called the Yin-Yang Principle. And this book is a short tourguide to the world-as-we-know-it,
as seen through Yin-Yangology, if Imay coin that term.
When I was in my early thirties, I was employed as a regular lecturer atDong-Guk University.
Back then, the substance of my lectures was based on mydeeply-felt intuitions about the
relationship between the mind as such and thebody as such. The students’ reaction to my ideas was
for the most part verypositive. But, despite the positive responses, I was not free from my
owndoubts and questions concerning the logic of the Fundamental PrinciplesGovernor the mind-

body relationship. And it was at that time that I had thegood fortune to have that accidental
encounter which was later to be soconsequential in its impact: I came under the guidance of Zen
Master Hyeh-Am.Through him I learned to cultivate Zen, and that process totally changed mylife,
bringing me peace and certainty at last.
It was Master Hye-Am’s life-long wish to transmit to the West the Truth asdiscovered by the
East. And even as he entered Nirvana at the age of 102, hewas hoping that I would carry out his
wish. But already twenty some years hadpassed, and I had not, could not, possibly fulfill my
promise to him. My heartwas heavy. I was not exactly young as I had already passed forty, but I
didwhat I could. I left for Australia for the purpose of doing one thing and onething only: Studying
English! Things have their own way of working out, and thistime they did too, all things
considering, but just not to my advantage. I hadmade very little headway with English, but people
around me continued toencourage me to translate the book. Yikes! The pressure!
It was at that time that I got word that a certain professor at Kyong-GiUniversity was translating
my book, An Invitation to Eastern Medicine.This translation is truly a fruit borne of the labor of
love, three years inthe making. Professor Lazar initially undertook it solely for the benefit ofhis
wife who could not read Korean. This translation, therefore, is atranslation of love, bound with the
desire to understand the undercurrent ofEastern Culture, and to transmit and share that
understanding with someone whohad no linguistic access to it. Now, having read the book, and
having become aconnoisseur of the East, Mrs. Lazar is also eager to share the joy of herdiscoveries
with everyone who picks up this book.
I do hope that Professor and Mrs. Lazar have profited in wisdom in theprocess of translating.
And as for my occasionally (But very rarely! Maybenever!) recurring habit of foul-mouthing, I trust
the translator has done theright thing, whatever that may be. The English-speaking reader will come
acrosshere and there differences of “sensibility” as determined by differences ofculture. During my
lecture, I would exaggerate certain expressions or examplesoccasionally. The reader should bare in
mind that when in such cases, theexaggeration was done for the purpose of driving home a point
that was germaneto the lesson at the time, to an audience of a particular shade of cultural andmoral
determination.
Eastern Medicine in the West is still undergoing a period of settling-in,which means all the
terminologies have yet to be unified across the board. Ithank my friend and colleague Professor Ki-
hyon Kim and his assistant Ms. RandyOtaka for lending a helping hand to Professor Sagn Lazar in
dealing with thetricky problem of technical terms. While there is no way for me to ever knowhow
much of what I said can be translated into English, I confidently send thisbook out to the English-
speaking public, knowing that this small book will holdits own, and then some, as a reliable
introduction to Eastern Medicine.
Well, as long as I’m writing a foreword, I might as well ramble a bit andtell a few stories, and do
it in the spirit of the First Weaver of Tales, asdepicted by Joseph Campbell. This story took place
some ten years ago, when I,already way past schoolin’ years, signed up for a Beginners’ English
class. Iremember having a hard time fully explaining to the foreign instructor that Iwas a doctor
with a university degree from a six-year medical program. When Ifinished introducing myself, the
instructor had this expression on his face, asif to say, “Why would you need six years of training for
Oriental Medicine?”The fact that in the West, a person who has studied Eastern Medicine is
notconsidered an MD may have caused the instructor to suspect my qualifications incalling myself a
“doctor.”

Be that as it may, when it was time to engage in a little class debate, Igave a short talk on the
theme of how tobacco can be both a medicine and apoison. At first, most people in the class did not
agree with my idea. But whenI explained, torturing the English language and my own tongue in the
process,the analogy between Yin-Yang Theory and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, theinstructor
finally began to take interest in what I had to say. Yet, at thatmoment I realized what difficulty lay
ahead in trying to explain the art ofseeing Yin-Yang to someone like the English instructor who had
definite ideasabout what was good and what bad. For example, he had an unshakeable faith
thatginseng was good for one’s health, while tobacco was a definite no-no. The artof seeing Yin-
Yang is easy for anyone who has the simplicity of a child stillin him/her. But for a mind-regardless
of the nationality of its owner-thatbelieves in something to be absolutely right, wrong, good, or bad,
such an artwould be impossible to master. When the instructor told me that ginseng agreedwith him
well, I knew right away that his body was constitutionally a Yin-type.Which means, his body tends
to be cool, rather than warm. Every O.M.D.(Oriental Medical Doctor) knows as a rule of thumb that
such a constitutiontype would not take well a cold draught of beer on an empty stomach. So when
Itold him that beer probably did not agree with him on an empty stomach, heseemed very much
surprised that I knew.
“Tobacco can be a medicine and it can be a poison.” Flexibility ofthought, in order to remain
open for the flux of other variables in any givensituation, is what lies at the heart of Eastern
Medicine. This is thephilosophy of change, as described in the Book of Changes, the I Ching.The
science of Yin-Yang, or YinYangology, is a philosophy promoting the art ofreading the flux, with
penetrating intuition. And as such, YinYangology is thescience of relationality that provides the
framework by which to regulate theplay of so-called diametricality between two “opposite” things,
like, medicineand poison. And as a text functioning as a flux diagram, the I Ching isalso a kind of
“religious” text, teaching the holistic truth of the underlyingorder behind the transformation of the
phenomenal world.
The movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy” was a world-wide hit, as I recall. Thepoor fellow, the
bushman! Almost got whacked by a coke bottle from the sky. Mr.Nakau (I beg his pardon if I
spelled his name incorrectly. Tr.), whoplayed the main character, the pygmy, came to visit Korea a
few years back, andhad himself the most refreshing drink Korea had to offer: Korean Ginseng,in a
can. Ah, but all was not well for our short friend. In an interview, hesaid that he could not sleep for
three days after quenching his thirst withthat drink. Our bushman friend Mr. Nikau has a body
which is thin and dry, andhe can run 100 meters in 12-13 seconds. His is a typical Yang-type
inconstitution. That means he has a lot of internal heat. His very curly hair isalso another indication
that he has a lot of internal heat. In the medicalClassics, it is written that “Ginseng has the
properties to boost the body’svital Qi and strengthen the Yang Qi.” But, it so happens that the very
samevirtues in ginseng, when misused or used by a person of incompatibleconstitution, can also
cause the body to become thin, and the lungs to dry out.And for anyone suffering from pulmonary
tuberculosis, ingesting ginseng couldhave some very serious consequences indeed. I ought to know,
having sufferedfrom pulmonary tuberculosis myself some twenty-plus years ago. It was rightafter
taking my physical examination required for military service. I was hotand thirsty, so I had me a
bottle of ginseng extract, and then wham! I was out cold.I was deemed unfit for service, and so,
thankfully, I never got to join thearmy and experience the potential horror of going to faraway
places, meetinginteresting people, and then killing them. But even today, I have “battlescars” that
can be seen on the X-ray, testifying to my own private war with PT.
Indeed, if Korean ginseng-which of late has become recognized and soprized internationally for

its unique virtues, to the point where people aretrying to pass off cheap Chinese ginseng as Korean-
should be found to producesuch side-effects as insomnia, blood-shot eyes, and headaches, then the
Bureauof Tobacco and Ginseng (a government-operated monopoly in Korea) must lose notime in
making sure that this information is made available with every box ofginseng sold here and abroad.
In this day and age of global village, I believewe must have the information, as well as the sense to
discern what’s what whenit comes to foods and beverages even in a foreign land.
A team of researchers at the University of Southern California recentlypublished its finding
regarding vitamin C. Taken over a long period, it cancause the hardening of the arteries. Fine. But
we must ask: Is this true foreveryone? YinYangology would insist on knowing whom vitamin C
would affectnegatively, and whom positively. There is nothing really new in the latestfindings. It
has been known that vitamin C in large doses can cause harm, justas much as in moderate amounts
it is indispensable. Nothing is ever totally bador totally good. That simple truth is the unchanging
truth of relationality.
“Sour pulls, Hot pushes.”An old adage in Eastern Medicine based on a simple observation. Put a
squeezeof lemon juice in your mouth. You react in a particular way. i.e., you squintand suck in air
through locked jaw. Now, chew some jalapeno peppers. There.Notice the difference? People
nowadays will believe a lab result, but nevertheir own senses. Avoiding sour foods and eating hot
(spicy) foods willdefinitely help if you want to lose weight. Such is the finding of EasternMedicine
based on observation and experience, culled over a long time. It isthe prejudice of the moderns to
believe that if a truth was manufactured in alab, over a period of months or years, then it’s science.
If the same truth ismanufactured through an experience gathered and transmitted over a period
ofhundreds or thousands of years, then it’s just culture, or worse, superstition.I am told that even
Ms. Oprah Winfrey carries with her a little thing of pepperto help along her diet regimen. True,
peppering one’s food three meals a daycould be a bit drastic, but suffice to say you would be doing
yourself a favorif you would acquire the ability to see that in trying to lose weight,drinking ginger
tea would be better than orange juice.
Speaking of orange juice, Iam reminded of an episode. In 1994, I spent a year in India. It was my
firsttime there. I went with my American friend who is a professor of English and aZenster. We
went to Mount Abu, located in the northwestern part of thesubcontinent. And there we stayed at a
Yoga Meditation center, and met a gentleguru whom I miss even to this day. Anyway, at the center,
there was this tubbyfellow from England who had a rather peculiar affliction of not being able
toopen his mouth wide. So, I asked him if he drank a lot of orange juice. He wasstartled by my
question, and answered that he drank ten one-liter bottles oforange juice a day, religiously. In fact,
he admitted to being addicted to the“liquid sunshine.” People next to him were even more
astonished at the accuracyof my diagnosis. A little bit of applied YinYangology, that’s all. In the
West,the fact that ingesting excessive amount of vitamin C could be harmful wasnever really taken
seriously, if at all. Hence the confusion and surprise onthe part of the fellow who drank so much of
it for the sake of hishealth. In Dong Yi Bo Gahm, the classic text of medical data collated bythe
great physician Huh-Jun, we find that foods tasting sour increase thebody’s tendency to “hold in
reserve,” and therefore obese persons are advisedto avoid eating sour foods.
In Buddhism, the highestpinnacle of wisdom goes by the name of prajna. And YinYangology
may besaid to constitute the prajna of Eastern Medicine. Vitamin is both amedicine and a poison.
And it is not necessary to go through the whole nineyards of testing to figure out for whom it would
be a medicine and for whom apoison. One needs only a mind cleared of prejudices, capable of

seeing simply.The tubby chap from England decided to take my simple advice and was
eventuallyable to open his mouth as widely as he wished. The advice? To drink no moreorange
juice, but eat in large quantities peppers, ginger, and other hot foods.Moreover, exercise, and abstain
from eating and drinking in the evening. Ofcourse, I did do just a bit more-I had to-to relieve the
fellow of his misery.I treated him with acupuncture so that he may at least get his mouth to
open.The swift effectiveness of that treatment was one of the sweeter moments in thehistory of Sa-
Am acupuncture.
Sa-Am acupuncture is sonamed after Master Sa-Am, physician and Zen Master, who lived some
450 yearsago. He is today considered one of the Three Masters of Medicine in Koreanhistory.
Master Sa-Am’s technique of acupuncture is singular regarding itsprinciple of efficacy in so far as it
involves the observation of the mind inits multifarious shifts, and the calculation of the
consequences of suchshifts. Before I rediscovered it in 1983, Sa-Am acupuncture lay dormant
fornearly 400 years, veiled in enigma. Its effectiveness lies in its understandingof the importance of
“boosting” the deficient, and “sedating” the excessive inregulating and balancing the flow of Qi. In
curing the English patient, I mustadmit, the treatment was not without a side-effect, and that was
this: The jawsof the observers in the room had dropped, and they would not close! Ha Ha Ha!
Putting faith in what she had seen with her own eyes, an obese black womanwho was also
staying at the Yoga center approached me. She told me that shefelt unbearable pains in her right
sole when she stepped on stones, and thusshe could not climb mountains. I placed some needles in
her left pinky, andstrongly stimulated her Heart Meridian. The result was immediate. In general,in
Sa-Am acupuncture, we treat not the side that is in affliction but theopposite side.
I was asked by the Yoga center to stay with them and be the residentphysician/scholar. They
wanted me to care for them and to teach them the principlesbehind Sa-Am acupuncture. As much as
I wanted to explain it to them, it was,alas, extremely difficult, but not only because both English
and Hindi were“Greek” to me. No subject is more difficult to speak about than simplicity.
Simplicity, that is, the ability to see things as they are, in their truenature, is the very vehicle in
approaching the truth. And, really, you musthave a child-like eyes to grasp the simplicity of Eastern
Medicine. I have beendoing 15-minute lectures on TV for about three months now. And what I
havelearned is, no matter how many times I repeat and emphasize the importance ofacquiring the
art of seeing for oneself, people will not overcome the habit ofrelying on other people’s opinions,
but will do their damnedest to keep up withthe Joneses, or the Kims, even in matters medical. I had
to resort to bringingin an article in the London Times, featuring a story about me and Sa-
Amacupuncture. Only then did the Korean public start to believe that Sa-Amacupuncture and I
were “for real.” I know this comparison is way off the mark,but I am nonetheless reminded of the
old saying that “a prophet is rejected byhis own people.”
I read somewhere that doctors in the West had recently discovered thatamong people with
chronic heart problems, there appeared to be a correlationbetween their cardiac troubles and the
peculiar shape of their pinky finger: Itis noticeably shorter, and curved when compared to that of
people with healthyhearts. It is good news that Western doctors are now taking this fact intoaccount
in their evaluation of potential heart patients. But in the East, thisis old news. For several thousand
years it has been known that the HeartMeridian passes through the pinky finger, even though no one
can claim to everhave seen a meridian since meridians are not physical or material entities. Thetrue
and complete science of medicine, the like of which has yet to appear, maycome one day when
students of medicine understand the body in its invisibledimension as well as the visible. When

technology-driven modern medicine of theWest can open itself to fully embrace the science of the
meridians as chartedby Eastern Medicine, we may then be on our way toward a true science
ofmedicine, and a true alternative to any health-care we have so far.
States of consciousness and emotions affect health, and determine one’shappiness. That much we
all know. In this book, I have defined the meridians asthe routes by which various emotions, such as
love and hatred, greed and fear,joy and anger are carried throughout the body, thus affecting
variouscomponents of the body. The riseand flow of emotions and the turning of moods can be
observed only in a livingbody. No state-of-the-art anatomy of a dead body will ever shed light in
thismatter. There can be no doubt that medicine is a humanistic science, and assuch, has only the
living human being as its true subject. Which means, thevery study of medicine must begin with the
observation of one’s own emotionsand consciousness. The Socratic imperative, “Know Thyself” is,
then, the alphaand the omega of the spirit of Eastern Medicine. My body is the cosmos writsmall,
and thus Eastern Medicine is founded as a cosmology with the assumptionthat the ability to
understand the workings of the cosmos hinges on thesensitivity perfected in the observation of the
flux within the mind-bodymatrix.
Many times have I been to America and Australia, and each time I went, Iwent with the intention
of sharing the treasure of Eastern Medicine. But, everytime, I could not but feel discouraged. I’ll
tell you an incident that happenedduring one of my trips to the Land Down Under. I was on a train
going fromSydney to the Golden Coast when it happened. An elderly gentleman fell to thefloor,
having an apoplectic seizure. It was an emergency if there ever was one.But when I rushed over to
help with my acupuncture needles, his wife-Ah, I canstill remember her panic-stricken face!-waved
both hands at me, signalling meto back off. No doubt, she was acting with her husband’s best
interest atheart. So I did not press her to make the patient available to my services.But, I could not
help but feel frustrated knowing how crucial the first fewminutes are in determining the chances for
survival in a case like this. Cometo think of it, it wasn’t more than two weeks ago that Mr. Obuchi,
the PrimeMinister of Japan suffered the same, and was ultimately forced to relinquishhis rein of
power. Anyway, we rode on, with our hands tied, looking helplesslyat the elderly couple.
The train eventually pulled in at the next station. At last, the ladyheaved a sigh of relief upon
seeing an ambulance and a small crowd of medicalpersonnel from a nearby hospital waiting. I hope
even as I write this that theman has recovered. But knowing how difficult it is, even with the aid of
thebest medical equipment, to recover from such an attack, I found it deeplyregrettable that the lady
refused to let me help. Perhaps she simply could nottrust Eastern Medicine. Perhaps. But, as
Australia now has a college of EasternMedicine, I would like to believe that more people in that
country might bewilling to trust Eastern Medicine now.
In 1992, I was invited to give a lecture in Los Angeles. As I was unableto give the lecture in
English, I ended up speaking to only a small audience ofKorean doctors. For a week, I gave an
introductory lecture about the basicprinciples of Sa-Am acupuncture. My hosts, I remember, put me
up in a charminglittle apartment in a quiet neighborhood, with a clear view of the ‘Hollywood’sign
up in the hills. Except for having to endure the minor unpleasantness ofthe visual squalor of
Hollywood Boulevard, I enjoyed the daily drive from theapartment to the place where I gave my
lectures. I have become friends withmany of the people I met during the lectures, including
professor Ki-hyon Kim,the professor who helped with the translation of the technical terms in
thisbook.
Anyway, there was this woman who lived in the apartment building where Iwas staying. She had

some serious problems with her disc. She would nottolerate the idea of surgery, and so had been
suffering with a bad back forover ten years. Despite the fact that surgical methods for treating discs
hadvastly improved over the years, to the point where most surgical procedureswere considered
low-risk, she had a morbid fear of becoming paralyzed in theevent of a mishap. Moreover, the
hospital where she went for check-ups did notinsist on surgery against her wishes. The woman had,
all these years, opted totreat herself at home, following the recommendation of her personal
doctor.When she told me that she was diligent about massaging her lower back with anice pack
everyday, I was utterly confounded. I was totally dumbfounded by theviolence of “absolutistic”
way of thinking.
“Head cold, Feet hot.” That would be the literal translation of the FirstCommandment in Eastern
Medicine. What that means is, the head must be keptcool, and the lower half of the body-from the
abdomen down-must be kept warm.We know that hot air has the natural tendency to rise upward,
and cold air toflow downward. If the top is hot and the bottom cold, there is no exchange ofenergy:
It stays that way. That means, only by keeping the bottom hot and thetop cold can you get a
circulation of energy going. An application of thissimple principle would mean, she should have
been using a hotpack, not an icepack, for her lower back.
Overconsumption of vitamin C negatively affects those with a Yin-ishconstitution, for whom the
Qi of sour foods builds up in the body and affectsit negatively. Penicillin, once thought to be
practically a panacea, is madefrom a fungus, which means its place of origin is basically Yin-ish, as
fungusgrows in damp and dark places. It was only after some folks mysteriouslydropped dead after
taking penicillin that modern scientists began to look intothe possibility of side-effects of the
marvel drug. But, long ago, an OMDfigured it out on the spot, that penicillin would affect
negatively person ofYin-ish disposition. All he had to know was that it was made from a
fungus.YinYangology, that’s all. Again, nothing is absolutely good or bad foreveryone all the time.
The latest medical “advice” is, in two words:Low salt. Oh, really? Is this advice supposed to apply
to everybody across theboard?
Why do the Japanese-at least the older generation-drink a shot of hot sakefirst, and not a cold
glass of beer, before biting into (cold) sushi?Unfortunately, the young no longer observe this time-
tested wisdom, which says,“Take care of the stomach before you take care of the throat.” That
means,before you quench your thirst with a cold beverage, be sure to heat the stomachfirst.
Translating truth into action is a righteous thing wherever you are,regardless of culture. In
medicine, truth cannot be decided by the prejudiceand practice of the majority, just because the
majority happens to be themajority. That would amount to an abortion of truth in favor of
collectivehabit. When it comes to the issue of healing, I myself would rather see anemphasis put on
the more basic sciences, like psychology and internal medicine,and less reliance on intrusive
surgery. I give credit where credit is due, andWestern Medicine must be respected for the incredible
advances it has made inthe instrumental aspect of the science. But in hoping for the birth of
aparadigm for a new science of medicine in this new millenium, I would like to recommendthat we
all take a closer look at the existing paradigm that has for so longsustained Eastern Medicine.
To expect salvation to comesolely from the technology of the future is as foolish as expecting it
to comesolely from the wisdom of the past. In Zen, there is an expression, “returningto the ancient
field.” It has nothing to do with going back to the past.Rather, it refers to that non-time before the
mind differentiated itself intovarious states of consciousness. Scientistic fundamentalists in Korea
say thatthe ancients were “unscientific” to think that the earth was “square.” But, yousee, the

ancients were not only poetic in their expression, they also knew howto calculate the distance to the
moon using the principles contained in the IChing. The philosophy contained in the Book of
Changes underlies thescience of Eastern Medicine. The expression, “Round are the Heavens, and
theEarth square” is but a figure of speech to help remind one to be “well-rounded”in knowledge but
“square” in dealing with the affairs of the world. To be roundin knowledge means to have no sharp
corners, but to be fluid and flexiblein applying one’s knowledge, likethe wind. To be square in
action means to be honest and persevering in action,following an unbending set of ethical rules.
Thus is Heaven’s fluidity joinedto and harmonized with Earth’s firmness. And, it so happens that
the human headis “round” and the torso “quadrangular.” Hence, the all-around adaptable symbolof
the circle and the square.
It is impossible for anyone person to know everything, but when it comes to keeping oneself
healthy,one doesn’t have to be a genius, or a doctor. “Keeping the top cool and thebottom warm” is
a basic rule in staying healthy. Again, this rule is notabsolute either. It is known that in some
instances of spiritual experiences,the head can get hot and the belly go cold. Nonetheless, for the
most part, itis a good rule to observe. In fact, this same excellent piece of wisdom wasalso
promulgated in the West as early as the 17th century by a Dutch physiciannamed Hermann
Boerhaave (1668-1738), who re-introduced bedside teaching and isconsidered by some historians to
be the most important medical educator of histime. There is an anecdote about a book supposedly
written by Dr. Hermann,which goes like this: At an auction house a fellow bought for a large sum
ofmoney a huge leather-bound antique tome which claimed to have the single mostimportant secret
of staying healthy. When the fellow took it home and openedit, he found only blank pages. Except
for the last page, on which it wasinscribed, “Keep thy head exposed to the cool of air and thy feet
heated at alltimes. Then thou shall live a long, healthy life, and be free of thephysician’s
meddlesome visits.”
The Zen Masters of old usedto say, “Eat when hungry, sleep when sleepy.” A very good idea, if
you ask me.It is written in one of the medical texts from the Yuan Dynasty period(1260-1368) that
“in the event of a sudden lapse of health, eat foods younormally don’t like to or get to eat, and avoid
eating foods you habituallyeat.” And in the Book of Rites, it is suggested that one must learn “to see
thefaults of those for whom one has the greatest affection, and the virtues ofthose one dislikes.”
These words remind us of the importance of maintaining anunwobbling pivot in one’s judgement.
When I was taking Englishlessons, I made up a little nickname for myself. It was AIB, short for
All IsmBreaker. I look forward to that day when we can all live without the baggage of‘Us’ vs.
‘Them.’ Because then, and only then, can there be peace among men, andwomen too. No more
racism, religionism, regionalism, nationalism. In the gardenof Eden, God said, “Eat not from the
Tree of Good and Evil.” This commandmentmeans, understood from the Eastern point of view, “Do
not allow your mind todivide itself so as to see the world in terms of duality.” The mind
bifurcatedsees ‘you’ apart from ‘me’; ‘good’ apart from ‘evil’; ‘beauty’ apart from‘ugliness’;
‘superiority’ apart from ‘inferiority.’ The mind thus divided seesthe world that way, and proceeds to
divide the world, and brings about war anddestruction. As a prayer for peace, I dedicate this book to
all who read it.
I shall conclude this preface with a little reminder to the reader thatthere exist more marvels in
this universe than can be dreamed of by the mind.But the mind too belongs to that dimension of the
universe which is beyondlanguage’s reach, beyond conceptualization, beyond all questions and
answers,and beyond Yin and Yang. I hope this little book will serve the reader not onlyin his/her

attempt to stay physically healthy, but also to understand that truehealth comes from returning to
our true mind.
- Gh’m Oh, Kim Hong-Ghyoung, OMD
INTRODUCTION
Before I begin, let me first tell you how this lecture series came to be.For the past five years, I’ve
been giving lectures all over the country tostudents majoring in Eastern Medicine. And in lecturing,
I decided to approachthe subject matter from an unconventional angle, different from the
pedagogicalmethodology found in the established academic institutions.
Man is not merely a collection of cells, tissues and organs. Man is also aspiritual being. And the
human body is not just a self-referential phenomenon,but a microcosm mirroring the cosmos itself.
I chose a path of study into theart and science of medicine that would reflect this understanding. In
myjourney, I was guided not only by hard empirical facts, but also by Intuition.By Intuition- or
should I say “Into-It” ion-I don’t mean guesswork. I amreferring to another Plane of Knowing that
is grounded in the experience of areality where the material and the spiritual function as one. The
conventionalapproaches to Eastern Medicine today emphasize only the material aspect of theworld,
in the name of science. Through these lectures, I thought I would bringattention to the need for
seeing more than this, for seeing the big picturewhen it came to the art of healing.
Judged by the academic standards prevailing then, my lectures wereconsidered radical. The
content of my lectures caused quite a sensation for awhile. Even now, people argue over their merit.
But be that as it may, what Iattempted in those lectures was solidly based on my personal conviction
as tothe worth of my point of view. Now, as then, I continue with the same faith.And I will continue
to do what I do, so long as I myself truly believe in theworth of whatever it is that I do.
Facts and memorization by rote! Incessant competition and comparison tosee who’s smarter than
whom! “Clever is as clever does! Grades don’t lie!”That’s the motto in all the schools today! How
the hell can one grow in thatkind of atmosphere? The professors don’t help things either, with
theirconstant political hobnobbing and undignified elbow-rubbing in search of theever bigger
“comfy chair.” Hardly anyone is interested in furthering his ownscholarship, let alone teaching
others! In an educational system infested withimpostors, I had to do something. I had to break the
hopeless, tedious,inspiration-crushing cycle of “education by pre-recorded message.”
It grieved me to see people gobbling up all sorts of hearsay about health.The current rampage of

misguided notions concerning health may be said to beone of the side effects of the
misappropriation of western science, whichoperates by division of knowledge. I have personally
experienced thisphenomenon of hearsay. I once gave a series of lectures targeted at a
professionalaudience. The title of the series was: “a 40-Day Lecture on the Principle ofSa-Am1
Acupuncture.” The content of those lectures is available in mybook, Revolution in Eastern
Medicine. 2 Apparently, evenbefore I had published the book, there were quite a number of bootleg
copies ofmy lecture transcripts floating around. People who had not even come to thelectures would
call me up to say how the lectures had helped them to broadentheir understanding of Eastern
Medicine. These people came from all walks oflife: religion, academia, pharmacology, you name it.
1.Sa-Am Was a famous Buddist master in Korea who lived about 500 years ago. Hecreated the
Five-Element Needling technique based on the traditional principleof the Five Elements
(wood, fire, earth, metal and water). His acupuncturemethod is commonly called Sa-Am
acupuncture in Korea.
2.This is my first book, based on my lecture series. The English translation isnot yet available.
What I’d like to do today is share with you non-professionals a simplifiedand summarized
version of some of the studies I’ve done with other scholars inthe field. You’ll notice that in the
course of the lecture, I sometimes wanderinto topics in eastern philosophy. Well, take it for what it’s
worth. If itmakes sense, I hope you’ll consider making use of it in your daily life.
As the saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a singlestep.” The first step is
indeed the most significant. Last year some 200students attended the 40-day lecture. Thank
goodness, everything went smoothly.It can be tough keeping pace with each other when so many
are involved! But,whether it’s 200 or 20,000, as long as we maintain a certain rhythm,
thereshouldn’t be any problem. Even in a one-on-one situation, if you’re out of syncwith each other,
it’s useless.
The most important thing is that you listen as a real beginner. Otherwise,you’ll think you know
something, and that attitude will block you from reallylistening to what the lecturer is saying. Even
the experienced pro shouldlisten with the mind of a beginner. What I’m saying is, having a lot
ofknowledge is not the problem. The problem is when you let your knowledge weighdown your
mind, preventing it from moving, free and unfettered.
A number of events prompted me into giving this lecture today. A lot ofpeople have been urging
me to make the content of the 40-Day Lecture morewidely available to the general public. I got
calls from as far away asGermany-from the godfather of Tae Kwon Do, Mr.S; and from the Korean
Order ofBuddhist Monks over in Canada. They asked me, “Could you be so kind as to getthe man
(and woman) in the street in on the action too?” So here you are. Butthe substance of the lecture
isn’t something that can be over and done withinjust a day or two. After all, I had to go four hours a
day for 40 days, andthat was with just the pros. It’d be unreasonable to try to cram in as much
amaterial to a lay audience. I’d be content if I succeeded in giving you a tasteof what Eastern
Medicine is all about. But that’s no small task! At first youthink you’ve got it, but later on, you’ll
find it more and more inscrutable.Who knows, maybe by the end of our lecture, there might be only
a handful ofyou still left in the audience?

The great Zen Master Chao-chou (778-897) once said, “Even a crowd of five…Humongous!” So,
even if half way through the series there should remain onlyfive in the audience, I will push on for
the sake of “the Humongous.” Besides,I intend to have the content of this 26-Day Lecture published
also.
Do you know just how many people wreck their health and die subscribing tovarious
misconceptions about health? I don’t know the exact number of peoplekilled by Hitler, but in the
course of the atrocities committed by the Nazis inthe span of three or four years, the figure is
estimated to be around sixmillion. Today roughly the samenumber of people die of cancer every
year. It’s another Holocaust! No bombs, nogas, no Evil Genius; just cancer. And the alarming thing
is, the general publicprobably doesn’t have a clue as to what the doctors are doing about it.
Healthand medicine are serious business, and they’re everyone’s business.
An Attitude of Learning
A car slams into the train’s side.
Side?
The train knows only of front and back…
Out of nowhere. Wham!
Conceptually speaking, an impossible occurrence,
as far as the train’s concerned.
Forward and backward, and all is well.
Until…
Whacked by something that wasn’t even
supposed to be there!
Tracks over gravel.
That’s all it ever saw:
“The whole world must be
made of gravel, then.”
There are countless things that’s
never heard nor seen.
Knowing what one doesn’t know
Is more difficult than knowing what one knows.
Chugging along

Whistling a song.
Oops, nearly got derailed by a
felled tree.
Just yesterday, was it?
Thinking about everything
except where you’re going.
You’d probably be more careful,
after a nasty spill.
But a busted nose! Well, it’s busted…
Lights on, lights off.
All the same.
The mind, too, sees…
If it’s awake!
“I’m the best, I’m the king!”
Second verse:
“Oh, my nose! Oh, my nose!”
Conceit: the mind paralyzed.
You insist, day and night,
on riding the old tracks.
Whatever for?
Blessed is he who lays new tracks.
A walking encyclopedia, are you?
Well, Bravo! my dear man
But do you know the Secret
of being a Master Beginner?
Do you know how to open up
to All Possibilities?
No front.
No back.
No thought.

No prejudice.
Just… see.

Chapter 1
The Wonder and Mystery of
Eastern Medicine
A few days ago, a friend I hadn’t seen for a while dropped by. He said tome, “There was this
crowd of people huddled around something at the subwaystation, so I took a peek to see what was
going on. Turns out it’s some fellowselling grubs claiming that they’re good for treating the kind of
problem I’vegot (he’s overweight). So I ﬁgure, what the hell, let’s give it a shot, andbought some.
Now, I’d like you to tell me if the stuff is any good.”
So I told him, “Look. Let’s say there’s this housewife with a degree inhome economics. One day
she’s cooking up some fried noodles for lunch, and itoccurs to her to apply some of that ﬁne
education she got in college. Shewhips out her calorie-calculator, does her thing, and concludes that
thenoodles are a few points shy of the ‘perfect-meal’ score. ‘No problem,’ shesays. ‘I’ll just smother
them in mayonnaise and lard.’ And then, she adds agenerous serving of pork sausage for good

measure on the noodles beforeserving. Now, if it were you, would you eat that?”
“What! Noodles are greasy enough as is, and you’re asking me if I’d eatthem smothered in mayo
and lard? No way! But what kind of dingbat of a womanwould do that in the first place?”
“Precisely. So, what’s the difference between your eating grubs and herserving a wad of grease?”
What we generally understand as “common sense” is not a whole lot betterthan this sort of logic,
calorie-calculator notwithstanding. What, then, shouldwe add to noodles to make it a “perfect
meal?” If we don’t know all theingredients in the sausage, it stands to reason that we couldn’t know
whatwould properly “balance” its overall nutritional value. In that case, we’d bebetter off just
eating it, with some kimchee (hot and spicy pickled cabbage). Imean, why ruin a good meal by
being pedantic about nutrition?
Not sure what I’m getting at? That’s okay. You’ll catch on soon enough, ifyou pay close enough
attention.
People tend to believe what others believe, like “grubs are effective intreating this,” or “aloe is
good for that.” But, people often fail to take intoaccount the person who is supposed to benefit from
taking this or that. Peoplebelieve, for example, that earthworms have certain medicinal properties,
likethose which will enhance one’s sexual stamina. Even if that were true, would itbe good for
everyone?
A: (silence)
Don’t know? For sure, if we don’t know what it is we’re looking at, we’llremain vulnerable to all
kinds of swindling.
Eastern Medicine takes as its starting point the correct observation ofthe most fundamental
conditions and properties of the elemental world aroundus. The woman who thinks it is a good idea
to add lard to noodles is morelikely than not to feed her husband worms even though he is fat. But
the womanwho understands that “when drinking soju (a Korean rice vodka), the meat ofchoice is
pork”, will see to it that her skinny husband does not get driedpollack with hot sauce to nibble on
while drinking.
Who should eat pork, and who, pollack?
A: (silence)
Still not sure, eh? Alright then. Let’s talk about liquor, which I’m sureyou all know something
about. The Chinese have known about a wonderful medicinesince remote antiquity that works to
counter the effects of alcohol. Do youknow what it is?
A: (silence)
It’s called Ge Gen, the roots of the arrowroot, commonly known asthe kudzu root. This root has
been used for the past 5,000 years as an antidotefor alcohol intoxication. A holy brew, indeed. But
even better than the root isthe flower. It’s called Ge Hua, and the herbal formula that goes by the
name ofGe Hua Jie Sheng Dan3 (Pill of Kudzu flower for SoberingUp) contains Ge Hua as its main
ingredient. Although Ge Hua Jie ShengDan, Ge Gen Tang4 (Decoction of kudzu), etc., are herbal
medicinesused to neutralize the effects of excessive inebriation, it would not be wiseto assume that
kudzu root is a cure-all for all the maladies resulting from toomuch drinking.

3. Ge Hua Jie Sheng Dan consists ofkudzu flower, poria, polyporus, alisma, cardamon,
cluster, medicated leaven,saussurea, dried ginger, cirtus, ginseng, and atractylodus.
4. Ge Gen Tang consists of kudzu,cinnamon, ephedra, peony, baked licorice, fresh ginger,
and red dates.
Today there’s a huge variety of liquor available, but beer probably stilltops the list as the most
popular alcoholic beverage. Say your hubby’s been outdrinking all night with some buddies. He
comes home and hurls. He not onlylooks like shit, he says he feels like one too. So what do you do?
You rememberthat kudzu root is supposed to make you feel better if you’re sick fromdrinking, so
out you go and get some, bring it home and make a brew. But wait!Would that be the right thing to
do? If you’re drunk due to beer, drinking aconcentrate of kudzu root will only get you more drunk.
How come? In order tounderstand the reason, you’ll have to learn-in the second half of ourlesson-
the theory of Yin and Yang. But, suffice it to say for now, when you’redrunk with beer, kudzu root
may not be the remedy. The point is this: We don’ttake the time to observe things correctly. We
simply memorize formulas andwe’re off without another thought.
If you go down to the subway stations, you can find quacks busy trying tosell you the moon,
making all sorts of outlandish claims: “These grubs, ladiesand gentlemen, what can they not cure?
They work wonders, curing everythingfrom impotence to premature ejaculation!” And you’ll also
see people gullibleenough to fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. Even fat people succumb to theglib
talk°¶.
Where do grubs thrive, generally?
A: “In moist places.”
Precisely! But people who are already overweight, that is, people withexcessive amounts of
flesh, make a mistake in their reasoning: “Since grubs aregood for boosting the (Yang) energy,
eating grubs ought to help me loseweight.” But, grubs are, after all, all flesh. So, what do you
suppose willhappen? You get even more fleshy! A sorry situation, eh? When it comes to“tonics,”
it’s not uncommon for people (even those who know better than to addketchup or butter when
cooking pork) to ruin their otherwise good health inthis manner.
If being overweight is the problem, you’re better off using dragonflies.The type of dragonfly
called Hong Long is used to treat obesity.
Isn’t it all too true, ladies and gentlemen, that we rely too often onmemorized formulas and
hearsay without really observing things for ourselves?Someone tells you, “So-and-So recovered
from such-and-such after taking X.” So,you automatically assume that X is always the correct
remedy for such-and-such,right?
A: (silence)
It could be that, by some fluke, some medicine happens to agree with yourparticular constitution,
so you recover. But, for other people with the sameaffliction, the same medicine might actually
aggravate the condition.
I’m sure you all know the story about the foolish king who got duped byhis evil ministers into

thinking that he had on the handsomest robe, when infact he was stark naked. It took a young boy to
say what the grown-ups were tooafraid to say. Like the boy in the fairy tale, we, too, need an honest
eye, nota calculating one. We need to be able to look at things straight, and call aspade a spade.
What is really important in studying is not memorization of somedetail, but learning how to
approach the truth without forcing our way.
Eastern Medicine is not a difficult thing. If you know how to poop andpee, and know what goes
with what when you eat, then you’ve got what it takesto understand the science of Eastern
Medicine.
In all things, there’s unity within duality, and the relationship betweenunity and duality we call
relativity. Take a heavy-set person. What colors doyou suppose would look best on such a person?
We all have a sense concerningcolor, don’t we? Like, which colors tend to make you look thinner,
whichheavier, etc. That means, you’ve got to look beyond the labels if you want tolook your best,
right? So what if it’s not a designer label? If you’ve got theconfidence to know what looks good on
you, then that’s all that matters. Thosepeople who buy things for their labels, or just because
something is expensive,they’re all hypocrites! That sort of materialistic thinking would be okay if
itwere limited to one’s wardrobe. But can you imagine what it’d be like ifphysicians went about
their work with a similar mentality? You wouldn’t have ahealer. You’d have a death-dealer!
It’s important that we realize we’re all healers, not just those withdegrees in medicine. Just on a
day-to-day basis, we’re always showing ourconcern for those around us when we say things like,
“try this”, “do it thisway”. It is by looking out for one another’s well-being that we become
knittedinto the life of our communities.
For a family of really skinny people, it would be a good thing to havesome butter with their toast,
since butter will help them put on some pounds.But suppose the father is skinny but the son is
chubby. A “one size fits all”menu might not be the best thing. Butter might be good for dad, but
juniormight end up dozing in class later.
The One-Size-Fits-All mentality! The surest way of not taking intoconsideration the individual
concerned. “Hurry up and finish your meal!” “Quityakking while eating!” Before you say such
things, see if your child is feelingfull. Let’s look at another scenario: the husband comes home late,
quitestuffed after having had an evening out with the fellows at work. The wifeyells, “I’ve been
waiting so we could eat together! I’m starving at home whileyou’re out stuffing yourself with your
buddies!”
So, to allay her feelings, the husband sits down and has another meal,pretending to be still
hungry. These small lies add up! As a result of thistype of behavior, there are many reports of
husbands getting stomach ulcers.Furthermore, they wreck your family’s eating pattern and
negatively affect yourrelationships with those around you!
After much study and experience, I think I may have finally gotten a teenyweeny foothold in
understanding the laws that regulate the flow of energy innature and in our bodies. As a result, I’ve
also come to realize that all thoselectures I heard as a student were mostly bullshit. There are
conscientiousprofessionals who told me that they had come to the same conclusion, especiallyafter
reading my Revolution in Eastern Medicine; the conclusion being that thecurrent university
curriculum in Eastern Medicine is simply rotten. The causeof this rot, of course, lies in the
confusion of “memorization” with“understanding.” In other words, in the current system, there is
no room forinsight! Tao is not a difficult thing to understand. Here’s a line from LaoTzu:

The water flows from high to low
The sapling is pliant, and
The mature tree stands its ground.
“Into-It”ing this, that’s Inexhaustability .
That is Tao.
Here’s another:
Without stepping outside,
He sees All under Heaven
Without looking out the window,
He knows the Way of Heaven.
Therefore, the Intuner5
Knows without going about
Brightens without seeing
Accomplishes without doing
The Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng said:
One’s Original Nature,
Darken it, and you have Joe Schmo.
Brighten it, and you have the Buddha.
Enlightenment seeks the mind only.
What’s with all this running about?
5. The standard word is ‘sage.’ Seetranslator’s preface for explanation.
You may have noticed how some people spare no effort in saying nastythings about others. “So-
and-So, he’s a shit wrapped in skin.” They might feelsuperior over others in saying things like that,
but are they really? One oughtnever to forget one’s own imperfections and limitations. A married
woman,thinking herself a paragon of family values, might look upon prostitutes asfilthy and / or
just plain objectionable. But, how blameless is she?Prostitutes exist because men go to them, and
her husband could very well beamong those who do! One ought to reflect on whether one can afford
to be somorally high-handed, passing judgment on who or what is “clean” or “unclean.”

Aspirin and Herbal Tea
Would aspirin work any better just because you’re a Christian, or becauseyou’re a Buddhist?
A: (silence)
Have you ever heard of herbaltea holding back on its curative effects because of the user’s
religion ornationality? Neither aspirin nor herbal tea holds any bias, but sadly enough,people do. I
know a man who runs a store. Though not a religious man himself,he keeps a copy of the Bible as
well as a copy of the (Buddhist) Sutras. Iasked him why. You know what he told me?
“When a Christian customer walks in, I leave out the Bible on the counterin plain sight. She sees
it, and feels a certain kinship with me. Consequently,she buys more. Same for the Buddhists.
Business is always good!”6
6. Religious discord isserious in Korea, especially as militant fundamental Christians have
taken uponthemselves the dubious mission of cleansing the country of its Buddhistlegacies
found in historic architecture and art. Acts of vandalism and arsontargetting Buddhist relics
and temples have been known to happen.
Isn’t it because we harbor in our hearts ungenerous and biased attitudesthat we call forth so much
misery for ourselves? Favoring only those who sharethe same opinions with us, and vilifying
anyone who thinks differently… Something to think about.
The role of the physician is to prolong life and to treat illnesses.Let’say a man suffering from an
illness is restored to health, thanks to theefforts of some skilled physician, only to be killed walking
out of thehospital by some exploding grenade. If, as a result of this incident, thedoctors decide that
their time would be better spent ﬁguring out ways tolessen the damage wrought by an exploding
grenade upon the body, well, theywouldn’t be physicians in the highest sense of the word. There is
a section inthe Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine 7 that talks about the medicine of a
sage. It says, in order to become asage, or a master of any art, one must hold a certain breadth of
philosophicaloutlook. A real physician should look into what causes people to throw grenadesin the
streets in the ﬁrst place; why violence is spreading; why our MotherEarth is being divided and
demarcated into impassable zones.
Without taking into consideration the deeper issues from a spiritual andphilosophical angle, a
physician would get only so far dealing with what’svisible to the eye alone. “A stitch in time saves
nine”, as the saying goes.Likewise, one must learn the art of detecting that which has not yet
appearedin the form of a disease.

7. This is the oldest text inEastern Medicine. It is estimated to have been written between
722 B.C. and 221B.C.
Flipping through a book entitled Hospital Management, I found that somethings had been quite
accurately observed. For example, on doctors today, itsaid: “Of late, doctors have become too
arrogant: They make the patient waitfor five hours, but administer the treatment in five minutes. Is
this any wayto handle a patient or treat a disease?”
Of course, the purpose of our lecture here is not to make doctors out ofyou. But after you read
this book, I hope you’ll all take it upon yourselves toact as “missionaries of health” among your
friends and neighbors. In order toovercome the various “handicaps of the mind”-misconceptions
and hypocrisies-weall must do our part. And our struggle involves nothing less than helping
oneanother take off the straitjacket of preconceptions and prejudices. Even if youlearn the right
thing, but don’t put it into practice, it will atrophy. We musttry to be points of light in these chaotic
times, and put into action what wehave learned, so that in the process, we can fully actualize our
understanding.A lot of people have their heads filled with all sorts of wild ideas abouthealth. What’s
truly unfortunate, however, is that they lack the wherewithal tosee through and correct the errors in
their ideas.
Ever see people with Bell’s Palsy, with half of their face paralyzed?People afflicted with this all
say they’d rather die of a rotting colon. Andwhat about strokes? It’s not all that uncommon to see
people blow up in angerand drop dead on the spot. Blow your top and you could end up popping
somearteries in the brain, fall into a coma, and die.
So, then, what’s with theseawful incidents? Why do they happen? Smart people might think,
“It’s becauseyou have a lot of blood all of a sudden rushing through a small opening.”Maybe. But,
why so much blood all of a sudden?
A: (silence)
Apoplexy or stroke is called Windstroke in Eastern Medicine. Struck by thewind, as we say. If
you’re out by the shore and the wind’s gusting, do you getapoplexy?
A: (silence)
Now, typhoons and other strong winds wouldn’t cause paralysis or cause youto faint, would
they? Of course not! In fact, nothing could be more refreshingthan being out near the ocean, having
all that salty wind rush through yourhair.
A while back, a woman came to see me at the clinic, leaning on her twosons. She had Bell’s
Palsy, and half of her face was bent out of shape. Whathad happened to her was this: One day, she
went to the beauty salon to get herhair done. Reclining in her chair, she happened to overhear a
livelyconversation taking place a few chairs down.
Three young women were yakking up a storm:
“Hey, girl! How much did you make in tips last night?”
“10 bucks!”

“Yo, girl! Really! What a tightwad bastard!”
The girls were chatting away, chewing their gum loudly, as though it werestuck to their teeth, and
coloring their nails. Overhearing all this, ourpatient thought to herself, “Oh, for shame! Why, it’s
girls like them thatbreak up families! Well, at least my husband doesn’t do things like that.”
The girls continued:
“So, who’s the bastard that gave you only 10?”
“You know! He comes over all the time!”
“So what’s his name?”
“Mr. Kim.”
At this point, the patient’s ears perked up: “My husband’s name is Kim,too…”
“All right already! Kim what?”
“Mr. Kim So-and-So. You know, the president of X company!”
“Hark! Do mine ears deceive me?” No sooner did the lady have thesethoughts than she fell out of
her chair, her mouth mangled. That’s why she hadcome to see me. She had been so sure! Her own
husband, of all people!UNBELIEVABLE!
She was rushed out of the beauty shop to a nearby emergency room. Uponexamining her, the
doctor told her,
“You have a hemorrhage in the brain. There’s not a whole lot we can do.”
“Please! Do something! Anything!”
“It’ll be no more than a stopgap measure, but we could try a hemostatic (amedicine to help stop
bleeding).”
What is apoplexy?
A: “A clogging or hemorrhaging of an artery.”
Is that so? Fine. But what triggers the attack in the first place?
A: (silence)
All right, think about this carefully. You go to the hospital. They take aCT Scan and tell you, “It’s
ruptured here, it’s clogged there.” Then, they tellyou, “There’s not much we can do about it.” Only
the more open-minded MDs willrecommend that you give acupuncture a try (after they’ve
attempted hemolysis orhemostasis), but always with the caveat that acupuncture is not all
that“scientific”.
Now, let’s examine what triggered the attack in our lady. Was it a gust ofwind? Certainly not. All
the windows were firmly shut at the salon. Did thegirls perform some act of voodoo on this lady?
Nothing of the sort. For thingslike apoplexy and high blood pressure, you can’t determine the true
cause justby looking at the results of a CT Scanner. The decisive catalyst that broughtabout the
tragedy at the salon was the woman’s own mind!
Did you know that the success rate of disease treatment throughout theworld is only around 25-
30%? If you put together all the MDs, pharmacists,witch doctors, shamans, and what have you,
you’ll still get no better thanthree successful treatments out of 10. This is something I heard when I
was inschool, but I don’t suppose those figures have changed much since then. If youcan fix three
out of every 10 patients that you see, then you’re batting aboutaverage. You’d be a real “regular”

doctor. But, now that I’m in on the action,armed with my Sa Am Acupuncture, I’d bet my bottom
dollar that the success rateis climbing, for sure!
Anyway, what are we going to do about the remaining 70% that aren’t cured?Isn’t it the patient
himself who must bear the responsibility for getting well?So your husband spends more time
hanging around the corner pub than you’d like.But, is it really such a big deal? It’s the
unwillingness to see eye-to-eye orto understand why someone behaves in one way or another, it’s
the inflexibilityof the attitude of “my way or no way” that’s going to trigger an illnessfurther on
down the road.
Whenever we discover that we’ve been had, duped, cheated, or ripped-off,we wax poetic in
describing the various ways in which the putatively guiltyparty ought to be dispatched, pronto, to
the devil: “That lousy son of amongrel bitch! First, I’m going to castrate him, and then I’m going
to…!”
But who deceives whom? More often than not, we deceive ourselves, don’twe? I once saw a
funeral procession outside of my office. It was a largefuneral, and the roads near the City Hall were
blocked off because of it. Not asingle car was to be seen on the huge boulevard. But all of a sudden,
a carshoots out of nowhere. Apparently, the driver of the car thought he would takea short cut to
wherever he was headed by zooming in front of City Hall. Sureenough, I see the same car return
after a few minutes. I could just picture himgoing ballistic in the car: “Sons of bitches! I’m late for
my appointment, and they’re slowing me down with some stupidfuneral!!”
Now, who’s responsible for the driver’s miscalculation? Nobody tricked himinto doing anything.
He just thought that he was more clever than everyoneelse.
Lacking in Sympathy
If a man should pick a fight with his wife over her weight or herappearance out of the blue, and then
proceeded to lose his cool… well, that would be totally uncool. Infact, right there, in
thatthoughtless act we may find the seed of some future Windstroke.
We not only have a visible body, but an invisible one as well, called theethereal body. And it is
usually this ethereal body that is first affected bythe onset of disease; the visible body only shows
symptoms later on. Thus, weshould deal not so much with the material body (the visible body), but
withthat which moves the mind (the invisible or ethereal body). In the language ofZen, that which
moves the mind is called the “Greater Self.” And the Art ofHealing that deals with this “Greater
Self” is what we call Eastern Medicine.
The Nature of the Greater Self
The text known as The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine is theBible of Eastern
Medicine. In it, we find that all ailments are divided into abinary system: Inner and outer, or to use a
more formal nomenclature, InternalInjury and External Pathogen. So, let’s say you have indigestion

from eatingtoo much. That would fall under External Pathogen. But if you’ve got atummyache due
to stress after arguing with your parents at the dinner table,then that would fall under the category
of Internal Injury.
In this day and age, we’ve seen a drastic reduction of cases involvingcommunicable diseases
(which would be classified under External Pathogen). Yet,the number of people dying of cancer
every year nowadays is greater than thenumber of people who died during the entirety of World
War II. Cancer, as anillness, ultimately has its origin in the mind. It begins as an unhealthythought,
hardly perceptible at first. As time goes on, it slowly stiffens andsolidifies into a knotty lump lodged
in the mind.
Speaking of disease originating from unventilated thoughts, there is, ofcourse, AIDS, which
people say stands for “Ah! It’s Dying Season!” People thinkthat AIDS did not exist way back when,
but that’s not so. In the Annals ofEastern Medicine, there is a record of a disease bearing a
closesymptomatic resemblance to AIDS. It’s been documented under syphilis, but thedescribed
symptoms resemble those of AIDS: the body gradually withers, the haircolor becomes reddish,
rashes break out, and the teeth and eyeballs begin toloosen; the person eventually dies of fever.
I wrote the following ditty about AIDS for an alumni newsletter. Let meread it to you:
AIDS
Ah! It’s Dying Season! Humanity is going to hell in a handbasket!
Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome. Fever of unknown origin;shriveling-up of the body;
the abscesses; the rashes; bleeding; hair and teethfalling out; loss of memory; headaches; the
numbing of the whole body….
Apocalypse Now!
Acquired. As opposed to hereditary. What’s that supposed to mean? If itwere hereditary, one
could at least blame one’s parents….
Acquired! What does that tell you? It means actions have consequences. Youreap what you sow.
Trash your body, so your body trashes you. Where did we gowrong? Wrong ideas about health,
maybe?
The body is the very axis of one’s existence! You move about all your lifein this Marvel of
marvels, and yet you mistakenly believe that only a doctor ora biologist can unlock its mysteries for
you!
Mind and body. After abusing them both, we expect, and want to believe,that men in white
gowns will put us back together again.
Do you know what Princess Di got for a present from the World AIDS ReliefOrganization?
Condoms!! It just breaks my heart! The top scientists in theworld, and the best they could offer as a
preventive measure against AIDS wascondoms?!
One scientist stated: “Only with a fundamental revision in our attitudetoward our lifestyles, can
we expect to really tackle the problem of AIDS.”
What does that mean? That means prevention is the best cure. The onlycure.
To put it another way, we must change our behavior, and develop a clearunderstanding

concerning the moral and ethical dimensions of our actions.
The AIDS virus is a consequence of going against the current of nature.Sexual acts, even in
normal heterosexual relationships, when performed excessively,cause a negative reaction in the
body, giving rise to symptoms bearing aresemblance to gonorrhea.
The world’s very first case of VD: Where did that come from? Most likelyfrom the crotches of
some excessively horny duo.
Yin and Yang: The Law of their Union follows the Grand Order thatstructures the entire
universe. What one lacks, the other supplies. Through theharmony of their union, Yin and Yang
show the Grand Matrix of nature thatunifies all dualities.
What is love’s theme but the instinct to be made whole, to “return toTotality?” But when this
process of return violates nature’s pattern, that’swhen disaster strikes!
As bad as VD may be, it’s a walk in the park compared to AIDS. A singleHIV virus is more
destructive than all the venereal diseases combined. Justwhere did it originate, this monster? It
behooves us to pause a moment toconsider this question. Did it come from the sky? From the earth?
Neither. Itwas created within the mind / body matrix. The birth of this scourge took placewhere
flesh met flesh in pursuit of the most anti-natural sex. Whether it washomo- or heterosexual, the
contact was flawed. What do I mean by “anti-natural”sex and “flawed contact?” I mean sexual life
made vapid by having defined “sex”as two bodies mechanically performing frictional in-and-out
motions.
Sex is the meeting of the positive(+) and the negative(-). Male andfemale, representing the
positive and the negative, respectively, are each onlyone-half of the whole, regardless of the fullness
of each individualpersonality. Even among homosexuals, mutual completion through
personality,taste, and even physical appearance, add a rich dimension to the relationship.
Subconsciously, we all strive constantly to fill the deficiencies withinourselves and in others. In
this manner, we progress step by step towardsperfection and completion. But, in progressing
towards the Complete, we mustlose the ball and chain of the ego. Only those who can be self-
sacrificing andsincere in love have a chance of finding liberation through love.
The conception of sex as a piston action accompanied by sweat and gruntingis the result of
blindly following the “gospel of truth” according to Westernscience, which unduly emphasizes the
physical dimension of nature. They in theWest don’t seem to see the hole they’ve dug for
themselves in defining manthus, as a mechanistic system of parts. Love plays no part in this
mechanisticprocess of friction, pounding, and grunting.
Man is actually a unified entity, the most fantastic fusion of mind andmatter. And love is a
rendezvous with the Power of Creation that occurs at themoment when two minds open up to each
other.
The key to AIDS prevention lies in this, and this only: the re-cognitionof the true meaning of
love. What is needed is transcendence above theI/Me/Mine into a realm where all the ego-bound
conditions-man/woman; body/mind;future/past-lose their hold.
How does it happen that one should go around poking every hole thatpromises a moment of
pleasure, doing anything and everything solely to pleasethe tyrant in the crotch? It is said: “The
love that bonds two men exists inthe form of friendship that furthers a worthy enterprise. The love
that bondsone woman to another blossoms only when there is mutual empathy based on integrityof

character, and cultivation of sensibility.” Yet, in a maniacal pursuit oforgasms, no act is considered
too degrading. But still not enough! So bring inthe “sex kits”-those tacky and crude gadgets of
titillation, wreaking havoc onthe delicate tissues….
Lawd above! Hab’ mercy!!
May True Love show us the way to freedom from the tyranny of AIDS!
Love crystalline, yet profound.
Unadorned, yet full of grace.
Chaste, but elegantly so, like a magnolia in full bloom;
and like the bamboo, straight in the matters of the heart.
Grant us, oh Lawd, the marbles to discern True Love
That we may know how to keep our mind and body sane and sound.
And, Lawd, please make all the doctors become unnecessary!
Better yet, please make the entire medical profession disappear from
the face of this earth, forever!
Please Lawd, make it so that our children’s children would
have to go to a museum to see the tools of the trade!
-Gh’mOh
I wonder why I must write words like these. I could just mind my ownbusiness and be content.
Yes, but there are simply too many awful thingshappening all around us right now.
I’ve done all I can do for the students and the experts in the field ofEastern Medicine. But there is
a saying in the game of Go: “One should refrainfrom strengthening a stronghold.” Likewise, I feel it
necessary to devote myenergies in other areas, and in particular to an area that still remains
weak,namely, the lay public’s understanding. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not insistingthat you seek
out only Eastern Medicine. Western Medicine is fine, too. I’mjust saying that you must develop a
sense of judgment.
A while back, an obese lady I’ll call “Jane” paid me a visit with twopounds of deer antler. She
wanted me to make her an herbal formula, and includethe antler in it. I told her, “It may not be a
good idea to include theantler.” She replied, “All right, then. You make the tonic without it-I’ll putit
in myself when I get home.” You’d think that if I told a patient that there couldbe a problem, then
she’d want to find out what the problem was, right? Well,she didn’t. So, I went ahead with making
the prescription that she’d asked for.And there she was, right behind me, looking over my shoulder
to see what I wasputting in! Since what she wanted was a tonic formula, she probably doubtedthat I
was putting in the right stuff. Why? Because I was using mostly the dryouter layer (the leaves and
bark) of the herbs.
Now, when we speak of a “tonic” or a “restorative,” what are we talkingabout?
A: “Something that’ll beef you up.”

Something that’ll beef you up?! Great googly-moogly! The person who saidthat is gonna
“moiderize”8 someone someday! All right, how’s this: arestorative is something that’ll slim you
down if you’re a bit chunky, and bulkyou up if you’re too thin? Am I right?
A: (silence)
Am I wrong?
Let’s have a closer look. “Jane” knew so much about herbal medicine thatshe only had to take
one look at a dried lycium fruit9 to determinewhether or not it had been recently picked. Even with
cooked rehmannia root10,which requires a lengthy process of steaming and drying-a full nine
cycles inall-this lady could tell just by looking whether the stuff really had undergonethe full nine
cycles. But I ask you: What good is knowing all of this if youdon’t know your own body? Anyone
who is overweight should not eat anythingtartly sweet and sticky, like cooked rehmannia root or
lycium fruit. Theyaffect the body negatively, increasing the retention of dampness and coolingthe
body, making it more susceptible to weight gain and arthritic pain on rainydays.
8. “Murder,” as pronounced by Moe,the most violent of the Stooges. Larry or “Coily” were
often threatened withthis.
9. This is a commonly used herb forstrengthening the blood and the Yin energies of the body.
It is known toimprove the eyesight and sexual stamina.
10. This herb is the stronger Yin-and blood- tonic. It is used to treat anemia, lumbago and
nocturnal emissions,among other things.
Though I tried to explain all of this to “Jane,” she had already made upher mind. She knew what
a “good” tonic was supposed to be made of, and wouldn’thear any more on the subject. Moreover,
she was a bit miffed that I wouldn’tuse the antler that she had brought. But I’ll tell you something:
it isprecisely someone like “Jane” that needs a brew made from leaves, peels, andﬂowers (lighter
herbs). But, convincing her of this would have taken God knowshow long, and there were other
patients waiting, so….
To use a fancy term, we’d say that an overweight person has an “Excess ofYin.” That means their
body is damp. For such individuals, dry things are best.
When you go to the market, everything you see there that’s edible is medicine.But you have to

know how to use them correctly. Otherwise, anything can bepoison, too.
For an overweight person, it might be possible to recommend Lu Rong(the freshly sprouting soft
bud of an antler), but never Lu Jiao (thefully grown antler). Even children, who know nothing,
would at least know that LuJiao, because it is tough and chewy, would make you chubby. Moreover,
onecould pretty much figure out, just by using common sense, whether Lu Jiaowould make the
body more moist or dry. After all, which would be a more healthyside dish for someone skinny-
pork or dried pollack? One can figure it out byusing plain common sense (yet when it comes to
medicine, one fails to apply itcorrectly). Just because people say that Lu Jiao is good, people
automaticallyassume that it must be good for them too, without taking into account thecondition of
their own bodies. But what can I do if a patient insists on using LuJiao even if the stuff’s going to
end up making him fatter than he isalready? If you’re going to use Lu Jiao, you’ve got to do it right.
Simmeringfor a couple of hours isn’t going to do a whole lot. You’ve got to let itsimmer for a whole
day and allow it to get soft, like jelly, before you can useit. As a rule, you never use any ingredient
that’s tough and chewy whenpreparing a restorative for an overweight person, except in very rare
cases,like after a major surgery, for instance.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of knowing who should eat what. Oneought to know, for
example, that the so-called aphrodisiacs (snakes, worms,grubs, and deer antler) are not good for
people who are Yin types, right?
A: (silence)
How do you tell Yin from Yang? Yin and Yang constitute polar opposites:Dark and light; cold
and hot; female and male; earth and heaven; static anddynamic. You get the idea. If you’re fat, but
produce a lot of body heat, areyou Yin or Yang? You can leave a question like that for the experts.
All weneed, as regular folks, is some sharp common sense.
As civilization has become more and more complex, so have diseasesincreased in their variety.
The sages of the past prophesied that, toward theend of the world, there would be a proliferation of
the strangest diseases.AIDS is like an omen, sort of like a reddening sky at dawn. I am afraid that,in
speaking like this, I may cause you to feel dread and angst, but when I lookaround and see what’s
happening nowadays, when I see people running amok,committing all kinds of unspeakable deeds
for lack of just plain old commonsense, well….
This man I know, he runs a kindergarten class in the outskirts of Seoul.One day, a kid there died
of the measles. Some people thought that the kidhadn’t received his vaccination shots, so they
notified the kid’s mother,telling her to rush him to a hospital. There, the doctors said that it was
askin rash of sorts: poison ivy, maybe, or something that he’d touched? Theyweren’t sure. So they
rubbed some ointment on the boy and gave him a shot ofantibiotic. Later, the boy’s breaking out all
over, and has a raging fever toboot. So, his parents rush him back to the hospital. This time, some
ice bagsand more shots were administered to bring down the fever. “We’re not sure whatit is,” they
said.
Nowadays, a lot of doctors no longer recognize the symptoms of the measlesbecause, thanks to
vaccinations, they hardly ever see anyone with the measlesanymore! It kinda makes you wonder
just what the heck’s going on… Well, you’llsee what’s what soon enough….
In Eastern Medicine, there are four basic rules concerning treatment thatone may follow even in
cases when one does not know the name of the disease:

An invitation to eastern medicine

An invitation to eastern medicine

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