7 keys to understanding the Classical Chinese Medicine concept of organs

by Eri c Id l ike to pi ggy back off of th e organ cl ock post and i ntrodu ce th e Ch i n ese m edi cin e th eory of organs i n a l i ttl e m ore depth . Its i m portan t to u n derstand th at th ere i s not ju st on e ri gh t way to v i ew th e body . Th ere i s n o m ore v al i dity i n v i ewin g i t i n th e Western m edi ci n e m an n er th an th ere i s in v i ewi ng it i n th e Ch i n ese m edi ci n e m an n er. Each sy stem (an d m an y oth ers) h av e taken di fferen t featu res of th e h u m an bei ng to be prim ary , each sy stem h as u sed th eir own conceptu al u n derstan din g to render a v i abl e pi ctu re of th e body an d i ts i n teracti on s. Perh aps m ost i m portan tl y , each sy stem u ses th eir v i si on of th e h u m an bein g to cra ft effectiv e trea tm en ts. It seem s th at di fferent sy stem s wi l l create di fferen t sph eres of effecti v en ess a topi c for a fu tu re post. Wi th n o fu rth er ado, h ere are sev en th i n gs y ou n eed to kn ow to en h an ce y ou r u nderstan di n g of Ch in ese m edicin e organ sy stem s. 1. Th ere a re t wel v e organ sy st ems i n Ch i n ese medi ci n e: Heart, Sm al l In testin e, Bl adder, Ki dn ey , Peri cardi u m , Tri pl e Bu rn er, Gal l Bl adder, Li v er, Lu n g, Large In testin e, Stom ach an d Spl een . Th e ty pi cal con v en tion is to capi ta l i ze wh en we are tal ki ng abou t Ch in ese organ sy stem s and n ot to capi tal i ze wh en we are referri n g to th e anatom i cal organ kn own to Western m edicin e. A n oth er con v enti on i s to refer to th e i n th e si n gu l ar. So, for i nstan ce, th e Lu n g organ sy stem i n cl u des th e Lu n gs, bu t we don t say for exam pl e Th e em oti on of th e Lu n gs i s grief. 2. Th ey re n ot ORGANS. Probabl y th e m ost i m portan t th i n g to u n derstand i s th at th e Cl assi ca l Ch i n ese v i ew i s n ot based on m aterial i sm . A l th ou gh th e an ci en t Ch in ese di d in v estigate th e i n si de of th e body an d were cl ea rl y aware of th e ph y si cal stru ctu res th at Western m edi ci n e now n am es organ s th i s i s n ot pri m ary for th e m edi ci n es u nderstan di n g. Th e organ i s i n cl u ded i n a l arger concept th a t is often cal l ed th e organ sy stem , wh ich y ou h av e al ready seen m e u se m an y tim es. Th i s organ sy stem i n cl u des th e ph y si cal organ , i ts a ssoci ated ch an n el (s), th e tissu es, su rfaces, fu n cti on s an d oth er bodi l y featu res associ ated with th at organ an d oth er m ore rarefi ed aspects of th e sy stem . 3. Th e orga n s work togeth er as a dy n a mi c wh ol e. Wh i l e each sy stem h as specifi c fu n ctions an d can be tal ked abou t i n i sol ati on , th e beau ty of th e Ch i n ese m edi cal v i ew of th e body on l y becom es tru l y apparen t wh en y ou focu s on th e in tercon n ecti on s. N o sy stem i s com pl ete wi th ou t seei n g i ts rel ati on sh i p to th e rest. Th is can m ake i t a l i ttl e con fu sin g to stu dy becau se ou r brai ns seem to fin d it sim pl er to focu s on on e m ono-di m en si on al th in g at a ti m e. TCM h as l argel y l ost its u nderstan di ng of th e ph y siol ogical i nteracti on s of th e organs except wh ere th ose i nteraction s are extrem el y si m pl i fi ed. 4. Th e orga n s are a ref l ecti on of th e ma crocosm. Th i s pri n ci pl e rel ates back to Ch i n ese ph i l osoph i cal u n derstandin g of th e h ol ograph ic n atu re of real i ty . For a com pl ete rev i ew of th e h ol ograph i c worl dv i ew, see Mich ael Tal bots The Holographic Unive rse . Th e basi c gist of th is ph i l osoph y is th at th e fu n da m en tal n atu re of real ity i s refl ected i n i ts sm al l est pi eces ju st as m u ch as i n i ts l argest. Th e sm al l refl ect th e l arge, and th e l arge refl ect th e sm al l th ey re both refl ectin g som eth i ng m u ch deeper th an th em sel v es. In Ch i nese m edi ci ne we stu dy th i s prin cipl e al l th e ti m e. On one l ev el , each organ i s a refl ection of al l th e oth ers th e parts refl ect th e wh ol e. On an oth er l ev el , th e tota l com pl ex of organ s an d each organ in di v i du al l y refl ect som e aspect of n atu re. For exam pl e, th e Heart refl ects th e n atu re of ou r Su n a n d acts as su ch with i n th e body . Un derstandi n g th ese l ay ers of m ean in g h el p u s to fu l l y com preh en d th e h u m an body , an d stu dy in g th e h u m an body th rou gh th i s l ens h el ps u s to gain a greater u n derstandi n g abou t th e Un i v erse. Its fu n n y l ike th at. 5. Fol l owi ng from th at, th en, th e orga n sy stems ca n be u n derst ood u si n g n a t u ra l a n d gov ern men ta l sy mbol i sm. For m e person al l y , l earn in g a bou t th e Ch in ese con cept of th e body was m u ch easi er on ce I l earn ed to th in k abou t it a s an ecosy stem or a s a cou n try . With th e form er, I cou l d sim pl y wal k in n atu re in a m in dfu l way an d refl ect on th e v ari ou s featu res I fou nd th ere. IS th e Heart l i ke th e Su n? Wh at wou l d th at m ean i f it were? How does th at bear ou t i n di agn osi s? In treatm en t? I th i nk th i s practi ce does i ts work on m ore su btl e l ev el s as wel l i t m u st be wh y we are con stan tl y u rged to spen d ti m e i n n atu r e as CCM stu den ts. Usin g m etaph ors a bou t th e gov ern m en t h el ped m e a great deal i n u n derstan di n g th e fu ncti on al rel ati on sh i ps between organ sy stem s. If th e Heart is l i ke th e Em peror (or th e Ki n g, possi bl y th e Presi den t) th en wh at rel ati on sh i ps sh ou l d I see between i t an d th e Lu n g, wh ich is sai d to be l i ke th e Pri m e Mi n ister (or Presi den tial Cabin et?). 6. Th e orga n s i n t errel a ti on sh i ps a re t h era peu t i ca l l y u sef u l . Far from bein g a si m pl e i ntel l ectu al exercise, u n derstandi n g th e organ sy stem s as n etworks of in terrel ationsh i p bears ou t i n treatm en t. A n exam pl e: i m agin e we are l ookin g at som e kin d of probl em th at th rou gh th e i ntake process, in cl u di n g tongu e an d pu l se taki n g we com e to u nderstan d a s bein g cen tered i n th e Heart organ sy stem . A TCM process of differen ti ati on wou l d th en focu s on th e Heart, m ost l i kel y , on l y addin g oth er organ sy stem s i n l i m i ted ci rcu m stan ces (su ch as addi n g Lu ng if th ere are breath in g difficu l ti es). A m ore n u anced approa ch wi l l consider th e i n terrel ati on sh i ps u si ng v ari ou s sy stem s, su ch as fi v e-el em en t or si x con form ati on . Usin g a fiv e el em ent approach , we m igh t won der wh eth er fire i s fail i ng to be gen erated by wood, or wh eth er i t i s bei ng ov er-con trol l ed by wa ter. We wou l d search for sy m ptom s th at m i gh t su ggest th i s, we wou l d rech eck th e pu l se to see wh eth er we h ad m i ssed som eth i n g. Th ere are specifi c sy stem s to u se wh en doi ng th ese in v esti gati on s, bu t th e key i s si m pl y to di v e deepl y i n to th e ph y si ol ogy i n order to com preh en d path ol ogy . It wi l l y i el d excel l en t treatm en t. 7. Ev en wi th th i s compl ex u n derst an di n g th e orga n sy stems a re n ot PRIMARY. In a sen se, th e organ sy stem s are sim pl y a u sefu l way of organi zi n g th e ov erwh el m i n g am ou n t of i n form ation we can get from stu dy i n g th e h u m an body . It i s a

con v en i en t way becau se i t h as cl ear ph y si cal correl ates. Bu t we m u st al so con si der th e fl u ids of th e body (Qi, Bl ood, Jin g, Sh en, Jin Y e) as wel l as an y m ore su btl e aspects of th e h u m an bei n g. We m u st al so keep in m i nd th at th e body i s not ju st a ju m bl e of parts, bu t a i n tegral fu n ctioni n g wh ol e wh en we treat we a re not ton i fy i n g th e Ki dney bu t i n stead h av i n g a specifi c kin d of i m pact on an i nfi ni tel y com pl i cated sy stem u si ng a parti cu l ar tech n iqu e. May be th ats spl i tti n g h ai rs, bu t i t seem s an i m portan t di sti n ction. Th eres a l ot m ore to kn ow bu t th ats a good start. Pl ease pu t an y qu esti on s or th ou gh ts i n th e com m ents!