My Journey of becoming a TCM Physician Chapter 29: Humans VS Machines

I remember when I was studying in China, my usual mornings before I head over to my mentor’s clinic was to go sit in the building which held most guests that visited the school or some important meetings. On the second floor where there was a sofa was where I usually sat on to do my memorizing or simply chill out with my China version crepe as breakfast. Facing me was a line of headshot photos of the key TCM physicians that have made their mark in the industry all the way from the 1800s. And as I sat on the sofa, sometimes I would find myself staring at the photos and simply drawn to the charisma of these people in the photos. I might not fully know what they have done but I could literally feel their work, their contributions, their effort over years and years of practice that made them deserved to be honored and remembered.

In my practice now, I have seen and heard many practices that use machines in the name of being able to cure certain illnesses, fast. And a very expandable business indeed. All you have to do is go through a few days training then train up a bunch of minions to press the right buttons or tune to the right frequency and voila! a treatment is done and magically you are cured. While that is advocated by some doctors, I could only assert that that is not Traditional Chinese Medicine and definitely not a real TCM doctor or any real doctor even would advocate. Here’s why:

Healing is beyond just getting rid of the illness

The fact that humans are designed to fall ill is god given. Falling ill or experiencing pain is a way the body communicates to us that there is something wrong with the way you are living and that you need to give attention to your body right now, rather than brushing it off and continue with your imbalanced crazy lifestyle.

The philosophy of Western medicine is indeed to numb out these signals or sweep such warnings under the rug with endless drugs, chemicals and surgery to smoothen out the tip of the iceberg. Similarly with machines and solutions out there that are too fast and too good to be true. The readings may turn out fine in the end within days, the body shape may be moulded into the way desired within one surgery, the growth, tumour or cancer may be eradicated within seconds. But one still falls back to abusive behaviours towards the body with destructive ways of living and the same old pattern repeats itself. Do you consider this as healing?

Traditional Chinese Medicine is not based on shortcuts

I have heard of some doctors in the name of alternative medicine have used machines as their main form of practice and some even have built an empire with a self patented machine. While those are indeed good money making strategies, it is definitely not real Traditional Chinese Medicine and what my lineages of teachers and doctors with their names honored in history would applaud about.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a very down to earth arts and mastery. For both the doctor and the patient. Each treatment is like a building brick laid down for real skill and knowledge for the doctor, and real good health for the patient. And in time to come, the sturdy foundation that has been built would pay off. That is how Traditional Chinese Medicine flourish over thousands of years and beyond. One step at a time, with patience, with hard work.

Shortcuts may reap short term gains fast, but they will lose fast too.

Just like how machines cure the numbers but not the person.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a human medicine, not a machine medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine is all about human. Being human, understanding human and blossoming as a human. There is always a human touch in Traditional Chinese Medicine, between patient and doctor and the whole process of getting better.

A machine may replicate, duplicate and expedite everything. But there is no meaning to this human experience.