To the Chinese, and to any people who live from the Earth, the closeness and importance of Nature are understood. They live in the Elements, depend on the cycle of the seasons, survive according to the laws of the universe, and revere the flow and changes of the world around them. They watch, heed, learn and steep themselves in the Elements so basic to life. And, just as Nature all around them is going through its natural process of change, they instinctively know that the Nature inside them follows these same patterns, that intuitively human beings go through the cycle of the seasons within themselves, that the Elements are recreated within them. Each Element is ever present and ever basic to life. It is not just in the world around them that the tender shoots of spring are born bursting into life; it is also within themselves. It is not only in summer that things bloom and flourish, but also within them, and so on with all the seasons. We are the Elements. Nature is without and within us, each of us every moment. We are a replica of the universe passing from season to season in a natural unending cycle of life.
The interaction of the Five Elements brings harmony and everything is in order. At the end of one year, the sun has completed its course and everything starts anew with the first season, which is the beginning of Spring. This system is comparable to a ring which has neither beginning or end.
Chinese medical thinking could be expressed, for medicine was but a part of philosophy and religion, both of which propounded oneness with Nature, i.e. the universe.
All thinking, feeling and acting are done in accordance with Nature. Chinese medical thinking grew up with the relationship of the human being to Nature in body-mind-spirit. And so, the system of examination, diagnosis and treatment is based on natural processes. The concept of health follows laws inherent in Life Energy, inherent in Nature. Now, when I speak of Energy, I am speaking of the force which we call Life. The Chinese term is Ch'i Energy and liken it to the streams, brooks, rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans of Earth. The Life Force flows in us via interconnected pathways.
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