Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No.

1


In the Buang Bi Nei }ing the coie text of Chinese meuicine that was
wiitten about yeais ago theie is a key chaptei that uesciibes the
functions of the inteinal oigans In this chaptei Su Wen Chaptei
Ling Lan Ni Bian Lun it is saiu that the Beait is the soveieign of the bouy
uischaiging the illumination of the spiiit when healthy PUGGIn this same
chaptei it goes on to say that when the monaich ie the Beait is in a state of biilliant illumination all
the othei oigans will be at peace ensuiing health anu longevity PUGGFui
theimoie when the monaich is in this state of biilliant illumination eveiything unuei heaven will have
gieat piospeiity PU
The Beait that is talkeu about in this chaptei howevei is not the simple pump that piopels
bloou thiough oui aiteiies anu veins Rathei it is the sym
bol that uesciibes the veiy spaik of consciousness that ue
ines being human It is the sum total of oui awaieness oui
emotions anu oui affects Thus it tiuly is the soveieign of
oui life

As someone who piactices Chinese meuicine I inu
that tieating this Beait in my patients is not so easy Typical
theiapies of Chinese meuicine foi example acupunctuie anu
Chinese heibal meuicines aie often ineffective at ieally
biinging patients into a state of illumination of the Beait
anu theieby ensuiing long-teim wellness This unueistanu
ing is even founu in typical Chinese folk sayings such as
Bisease of the Beait has nevei been tieateu with meui
cine PGanu Biseases of the heait must be
tieateu in the Beait ie uiseases of the Beait can only be
tieateu by woiking with the minu PU
0ne of the solutions to this clinical conunuium that I
have founu foi both myself anu foi my patients is the }apa
nese psychology methou known as Naikan ), anu we
will see how it is an effective piesciiption foi the ailing
Beait that is so common touay
Introduction

D
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)



Naikan is a piactice uevelopeu by Yoshimoto Ishin baseu on the }apa
nese tiauition of }ouo Shinshu Puie Lanu Buuuhism anu can be
tiaceu to a iathei austeie meuitation calleu Nishiiabe ). Yo
shimoto who himself achieveu enlightenment in by piacticing Nishiiabe
sought to take this ielective piactice anu make it moie seculai anu gentle In Naikan the Naikansha
SGie Naikan piactitionei ielects on theii ielationship with otheis using the fiamewoik of thiee
seemingly simple questions about what they ieceiveu what they gave anu what tioubles oi uificulties
they causeu Tiauitionally one begins by ielecting on theii ielationship with theii mothei in a speciic
time fiame the questions becoming
G- What have I ieceiveu fiom my mothei
G- What have I given to my mothei
G- What tioubles oi uificulties uiu I cause my mothei
Bowevei the subject of ones ielections can be on any inuiviuual anu even on a speciic peiiou of
time as when one uses the same questions to ielect on the past uay known as Nichijo Naijan
Baily Naikan In this case the questions iemain the same but encompass all encounteis uuiing the
uay with people objects anu even foims of eneigy eg heat oi electiicity
In }apanese the woiu Naikan , Nei 6uon in Nanuaiin Chinese means looking within Bowev
ei when we look at the ueepei meanings anu connotations of the Chinese chaiacteis useu to wiite Nai
kan we unueistanu bettei what the piactice ieally uoes The chaiactei NoiNei ) in the Shuo Wen }ie
Zi one of the eailiest uictionaiies of Chinese language that uates back to the
nu
Centuiy CE is ueineu
as to entei ) The seconu chaiactei Kon6uon is usually in mouein times tianslateu as
look Bowevei in the Shuo Wen }ie Zi the ueinition in Chinese is is 0i to examine oi Sbi to in
spect ) In Buuuhism the same woiu 0i also means the tiuth such as in the Foui Noble
Tiuths Si Sbenq 0i ).
In Naikan theie is an intense focus on actual activities uone oi actual things given oi ieceiveu This is
uone without iefeience to the motivation behinu the giving oi ieceiving oi the ieason why tiouble was
causeu Foi example touay I ieceiveu payment fiom my patients The fact that I pioviueu them with
tieatment in exchange uoes not change the fact that I beneitteu fiom money they gave me Likewise
my patients ieceiveu tieatment The fact that they paiu foi it uoes not change that they beneitteu fiom
my laboi The paiticulai night I staiteu wiiting this essay I was iunning late anu seveial patients hau to
wait Even though I hau a goou ieason foi iunning late it uoesnt change the fact that it was an incon
venience anu tiouble that I imposeu on seveial of my patients
Theiefoie what Naikan uoes is asks us to look at the objective focts of oui lives By uoing so we stait
sometimes foi the iist time to see the tiuth of the whole of oui lives iathei than just naiiow slices of
oui expeiience oi what we want oi have been conuitioneu to see Put togethei we can see why Naikan
is a piactical methou of enteiing into the tiuth
Even though we pieviously mentioneu thiee basic questions as
the Naikan fiamewoik foi ielection we shoulu be awaie of a
fouith question what tioubles oi uificulties uiu otheis cause
me This question known in Naikan piactice as uaikan Woi
6uon in Chinese ), oi exteinal viewing is puiposely not askeu uuiing Naikan ielection Focusing
on how I have been wiongeu is in many cases the cause of ones suffeiing This self-focus is the fast
Naikan
Distancing From the Truth

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

tiack to missing the love suppoit anu giace that allows us to
live at all in society In the Shuo Wen }ie Zi 6oiWoi is ueineu
as yuon - to uistance oneself fiom something )
Thus this fouith question uaikan can be seen as something
that uistances oneself fiom the tiuth Inteiestingly mouein
ieseaich beais this out Self-focuseu attention is associateu
with uepiession anxiety anu a wiue iange of othei psycholog
ical uisoiueis Ingiam Beyonu that self-focuseu atten
tion is also associateu with physical uisoiueis such as chionic
pain anu caiuiovasculai uisease Tuik Scheiwitz et al

Confucianism is
one of the native philo
sophical systems of China anu
uespite its ieputation of being stuffy anu conseivative some
of the most impoitant teachings of Confucius weie speciical
ly about the Beait Foi example in the text known as the
uieat Leaining Ba Xue ) theie is a beautiful cascaue that
ieaus

Tbe people of oncient times wisbinq to illuminote brilliont virtue tbrouqbout everytbinq unJer
beoven irst souqbt to orJer tbe country Wisbinq to orJer tbe country tbey irst requloteJ tbeir
fomilies Wisbinq to requlote tbe fomilies tbey irst cultivoteJ tbeir selves Wisbinq to cultivote
tbeir selves tbey irst rectiieJ tbeir heorts


The way Confucianism iectiies the Beait can be exploieu by looking at some of the key con
cepts in Confucianism
Confucianism teaches that the tiue natuie of man is one of sel
less goouness In the Book of Nencius Nengzi one of the coie
texts of the Confucian tiauition the philosophei Nencius
expiessly states the tiue natuie of man is goouness Nenzi
Book Bowevei because of how we live anu aie socializeu even though uoouness is oui tiue natuie
it is something that always has to be piacticeu The ifteenth book of the Analects anothei coie Confu
cian text iecoiuing the oial teachings of Confucius says
ls tbere one worJ wbicb moy serve os o rule of proctice for oll ones life Tbe Hoster soiJ ls
not Forqiveness sucb o worJ Wbot you Jo not wont Jone to yourself Jo not Jo to otbers


This line points out the iuea as mentioneu above in the uieat Leaining quote that the Beait has
to be iectiieu somehow Beie Confucius iecommenus the piactice of Foigiveness as one such methou
In this way we can ieleain oui tiue heavenly natuie of uoouness iectify the Beait anu allow eveiy
thing unuei heaven to piospei
Confucianism and the Heart
Goodness (Shan )
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)



The woiu Ritual iequiies a little moie explanation than uoouness to
ieally unueistanu because of its numeious connotations In a veiy nai
iow context Ritual actually means the piactice in ancient times of ieli
gious oi othei iitual The puipose of iitual in ancient China was to cieate
some soit of commu nication with eithei the ancestois oi the Beavens as the aboues of the gous
anu spiiits Thus the puipose of iitual was to ieestablish some soit of piopei ielationship anu this iuea
of piopei ielationships peimeates Confucian thinking In moie munuane settings Confucianism woiiies
foi example about piopei social ielationships such as the ielationship between paients anu chiluien oi
between fiienus Bow we entei into these piopei ielationships is thus an aspect of Ritual as well
The ueinition of iitual in the Shuo Wen }ie Zi is iathei ciyptic In it it says Ritual means
shoes ) What uo shoes have to uo with Ritual To unueistanu this we have to think about
why we weai shoes We weai shoes of couise so we can walk Shoes aie the tools that allow us to walk
along a ioau oi path of some soit Likewise Ritual
is the tool that lets us walk along the path of uoou
ness Thus anything we uo to entei into piopei ie
lationship anu communication with oui closest
loveu ones oui fiienus anu oui communities is an
aspect of Ritual It can be as simple as holuing open
a uooi foi someone in neeu oi taking caie of young
chiluien Eveiything we uo with a Beait of goou
ness is an act of Ritual
0ne of the classical phiases in Chinese meui
cine is that pain aiises fiom stagnation
). The woiu we tianslate as stagnation tonq
), also means communication Theiefoie the
phiase can also be ieau as pain aiises fiom lack of
communication In the bouy this means that when
the ciiculation of Qi anu Bloou aie not moving
smoothly theie is physical pain Bowevei this also
means when oui ielationships with people aiounu
us aie bioken anu not an expiession of oui innate
uoouness we also expeiience pain Thus Ritual can
also be tianslateu as Sacieu Connection
Benevolence also
tianslateu as Compas
sion is one of the most
impoitant concepts in
Confucianism anu in Chinese thoughts is one of the highest viitues The ueinition of Benev
olence in the Shuo Wen }ie Zi is the Chinese woiu Qin ) This woiu Qin can be tianslateu as
ones paients intimacy oi closeness The Chinese chaiactei itself is maue up of the chaiactei foi
peison ), anu the chaiactei foi the numbei two ). Thus the meaning of Benevolence is that feel
ing of love anu closeness that shoulu be expeiienceu when inteiacting with a close loveu one oi family
membei Iueally it is also the feeling that aiises when we inteiact with any othei peison foi ieal com
passion is that which is felt foi eveiyone univeisally
Tiu Stock Fiee Images Bieamstime Stock Photos
Ritual (Li )
Benevolence (Ren )

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

In the Confucian tiauition this Benevolence is associateu with sellessness Beie is the ueinition foi
Benevolence that Confucius himself gives us
SubJuinq tbe self onJ returninq to tbe stote of SocreJ Connection li tbis is wbot is colleJ Benev
olence (Analects Book
Confucius links the Beait of compassion anu
benevolence with the piactice of enteiing into iela
tionships Li Sacieu Connection with otheis that ex
piess uoouness Shan The way this is uone is by foi
getting the self oi in othei woius tuining away fiom
selish behaviois This iuea is ceitainly founu in othei
tiauitions Shinian the founuei of }ouo Shinshu Buu
uhism believeu that humility chaiacteiizeu the en
lighteneu peison
Tbe person wbo bos entereJ tbe qote of reliqion
sees zero volue in bimself For from sliqbtinq or re
spectinq tbe self be Joes not recoqnize ony volue in tbe
self ie eitber sliqbtinq or recoqnizinq becouse of tbe
lock of true self Botb our onquisb onJ our qrief exist
becouse of our sense of self-importonce Rev Kiyoza
wa Nanshi - Shin teachei
Naikan teaches us in a veiy ieal simple anu
yet poweiful way that oui life is full of Sacieu Con
nection Li Piacticing Naikan ielection engenueis
giatituue foi all the suppoit we ieceive on a uay-to-
uay basis anu as such biings us bettei into Sacieu
Connection speciically by subuuing a sense of self-
impoitance As such it peifectly embouies the Confu
cian ueinition of Benevolence anu Compassion
Subuuing the self anu ietuining to the state of Sacieu
Connection Li this is what is calleu Benevolence

Chinese meuicine sees the bouy as iueally being in a state of uynamic ho
meostasis Each of the inteinal oigans has its own function but moie im
poitant than the inuiviuual functions aie how they inteiact with each oth
ei in piopei ielationships In my own piactice I see many patients suffei
ing Beaits anu foi many yeais I seaicheu foi a piactical methou of iectifying the heait
that the Chinese meuical anu Confucian classics call foi as the way to health anu wholeness In Naikan
we see an example of a ieal methou that is piactical anu easy anu with consistent effoit one that can
biing about a iectiication of the Beait 0nce the Beait is iectiieu eventually eveiything unuei heaven
will become at peace 0nce the Beait is iectiieu Sacieu Connection is ieestablisheu anu pain inally uis
appeais like snow melting unuei hot watei
References

Rectifying the Heart
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


Calling All Authors
We welcome your submissions for
the next issue of Yang-Sheng
Artlcles reluted to heulth wellness
tulchl qlgong ucupuncture
und other mlndbody pructlces ure
welcomed

Please send your article for review to
editor@yang-sheng.com
Fieuhauf B All Bisease Comes Fiom the
Beait The Pivotal Role of the Emotions in Classical
Chinese Neuicine }ournol of Cbinese HeJicine

Baneua N 0bormo Breeze Fssoys on Sbin BuJ
Jbism Beikeley Naiua Centei of Buuuhism
Ingiam RE Self-focuseu attention in clinical
uisoiueis ieview anu a conceptual mouel Psycbol
Bull Nai-
Kiech u Noikon 6rotituJe 6roce onJ tbe }opo
nese Art of Self-Relection Beikeley Stone Biiuge
Piess
Scheiwitz L uiaham LE nu uianuits u Bueh
lei } Billings } Self-involvement anu coionaiy heait
uisease inciuence in the multiple iisk factoi intei
vention tiial Psycbosom HeJ Api-
-
Tuik BC Poin Beboviorol HeJicine New
Yoik uuilfoiu Piess
Henry McCann BA0N LAc
piactices in Nauison N} anu is
the authoi seveial aiticles anu
books on Chinese meuicine In auui
tion to his iegulai teaching uuties at
the 0iegon College of 0iiental Neui
cine anu the Paciic College of 0ii
ental Neuicine he fiequently lec
tuies on classical Asian meuicine
thioughout the 0niteu States anu
Euiope Bi NcCann has a ceitiicate
in }apanese Psychology fiom the
ToBo Institute in veimont Be can
be ieacheu at
wwwasianmeuicineoig