The Power of Discernment
A few days ago I saw an interesting story on the national news; this young marine received two “purple-heart” medals resulting from injuries he received while in Iraq. One was a shrapnel wound, the other was a bullet that hit is right hand. This is the injury that got me thinking.
The bullet entered his right hand, just distal to the wrist, in the “knife-hand” area; the bullet penetrated through the palm of his hand just below the bones and exited from the web between his thumb and index finger.
Another way of saying this would be to say the bullet entered through SI-4 and exited from LI-4 area.
The young marine wants to return to Iraq; he feels he still has a mission to accomplish. I respect his intention, dedication, sacrifice and commitment. Yet his story has caused me to think about his injury.
SI-4, Wangu translates as “wrist bone,” no big surprise there. But what is interesting to me is one of my source books lists “improving discernment” as one of the energetics of this point. I would have to acknowledge discernment has always been a tricky issue for me; sometimes I just do not know what is the ‘best’ choice. Maybe this is why I have been contemplating this injury. Anymore I just tend to look at it from the perspective of “Will this impede or improve my Spiritual Evolution?”
What I was thinking about concerning this young marine is, here he is with a major injury to this point and I am wondering did this affect his ability to make a clear discernment concerning his future? Did the traumatic impact of that bullet slamming into Wangu affect his ability in a negative way, or in all fairness did it affect his discernment ability in a positive way, or not at all. Unless I knew him and was able to treat him I will never know. But it does raise an interesting point for contemplation.
The connection of LI-4, Hegu or “Joining Valley” is intriguing in that Hegu is also the “Command Point of the Head and Neck.” This is primarily in regard to physical components; toothache, headache, stiff neck, these types of complaints.
Both Wangu and Hegu are Yuan-Source Points. The Yuan-Source Points are places where it is said that the Original (Yuan) Qi surfaces and lingers. The Yang Yuan-Source Points are used for treating excess conditions, they have a minimal ‘tonifying’ effect of their associated organ system complex.
So what happened to this young man’s energy, his digestive tracts, and even his cognition, his breathing and or sleeping? SI-4 (Small Intestine) is “paired“ with the Heart; LI-4 (Large Intestine) is paired with the Lungs. The Heart is the Emperor and is where the Shen comes to rest at night in order for one to go to sleep. The Lungs house the “Corporeal Soul,” one of five aspects of the Spirit. The emotion of the Lungs is “Grief;” the emotion of the Heart is “Joy.” However I wonder; what about the bullet’s impact? Does this young man have an inability to feel grief, or experience an inappropriate sense of joy? Is he experiencing insomnia? Has his digestion been affected?
These are questions I would love to ask him. However, knowing me, I would ask him; “You want to return to Iraq? What are you thinking???”
The bullet entered his right hand, just distal to the wrist, in the “knife-hand” area; the bullet penetrated through the palm of his hand just below the bones and exited from the web between his thumb and index finger.
Another way of saying this would be to say the bullet entered through SI-4 and exited from LI-4 area.
The young marine wants to return to Iraq; he feels he still has a mission to accomplish. I respect his intention, dedication, sacrifice and commitment. Yet his story has caused me to think about his injury.
SI-4, Wangu translates as “wrist bone,” no big surprise there. But what is interesting to me is one of my source books lists “improving discernment” as one of the energetics of this point. I would have to acknowledge discernment has always been a tricky issue for me; sometimes I just do not know what is the ‘best’ choice. Maybe this is why I have been contemplating this injury. Anymore I just tend to look at it from the perspective of “Will this impede or improve my Spiritual Evolution?”
What I was thinking about concerning this young marine is, here he is with a major injury to this point and I am wondering did this affect his ability to make a clear discernment concerning his future? Did the traumatic impact of that bullet slamming into Wangu affect his ability in a negative way, or in all fairness did it affect his discernment ability in a positive way, or not at all. Unless I knew him and was able to treat him I will never know. But it does raise an interesting point for contemplation.
The connection of LI-4, Hegu or “Joining Valley” is intriguing in that Hegu is also the “Command Point of the Head and Neck.” This is primarily in regard to physical components; toothache, headache, stiff neck, these types of complaints.
Both Wangu and Hegu are Yuan-Source Points. The Yuan-Source Points are places where it is said that the Original (Yuan) Qi surfaces and lingers. The Yang Yuan-Source Points are used for treating excess conditions, they have a minimal ‘tonifying’ effect of their associated organ system complex.
So what happened to this young man’s energy, his digestive tracts, and even his cognition, his breathing and or sleeping? SI-4 (Small Intestine) is “paired“ with the Heart; LI-4 (Large Intestine) is paired with the Lungs. The Heart is the Emperor and is where the Shen comes to rest at night in order for one to go to sleep. The Lungs house the “Corporeal Soul,” one of five aspects of the Spirit. The emotion of the Lungs is “Grief;” the emotion of the Heart is “Joy.” However I wonder; what about the bullet’s impact? Does this young man have an inability to feel grief, or experience an inappropriate sense of joy? Is he experiencing insomnia? Has his digestion been affected?
These are questions I would love to ask him. However, knowing me, I would ask him; “You want to return to Iraq? What are you thinking???”
posted by Michael Clifford, L. Ac. | 7:23 PM
1 Comments:
Hello there, Michael. Pretty easy to find you. I really enjoyed your writing about Nourishing Destiny. That book's been on my hotlist for some time. How long have you been in Tucson? Long enough to find Seven Cups tea house? David Price hangs there a lot and loves to 'talk shop' about TCM. He teaches at the local acupuncture school as well as DIHA (where I work, though I'll be taking a break for the next while). I'll be visiting this site more. Your contemplations are much appreciated.
Peace
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