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The following article first appeared in the AOM Alliance web newsletter

Putting the Spirit Back in Shen

By Matthew D. Bauer, L.Ac.

Many practitioners of Chinese Medicine sense something within that healing system’s holistic philosophy that resonates deeply inside them. Somewhere among the details of yin/yang categorizations and Five Element correspondences something spiritually significant seems to beckon. During one’s training however, emphasis gets placed on the more pressing demands of preparing for exams and getting licensed. Once licensed, the pressure of making a living and figuring out how to get the best results for one’s patients takes center stage. There just never seems to be enough time for pondering esoteric philosophy.

My own path to becoming a Chinese Medicine practitioner actually began with pondering esoteric philosophy. Starting in my early twenty’s, I studied with a world-leading authority on Taoism for several years before I even thought of practicing Chinese Medicine. I guess you could say that I was a spiritual seeker who found what he was looking for in the lifelong study of Tao and then went on to apply what I had learned to make a living as a healer.

With such a background, I did not learn that yin/yang, qi, and the Five Elements were Chinese Medicine concepts that had interesting philosophical applications. Rather, I was taught these concepts were the foundation of an ancient spiritual tradition and from this tradition many practical skills, including healing arts, evolved. When I decided to pursue a career in Chinese Medicine and began formal training, I was a little disappointed to learn that the subject of spirituality was rarely raised. For example, while some textbooks would translate the term “shen” as spirit, there was never any elaboration on just what that meant. Other sources took a different tact and translated shen as relating more to emotions or mental functions. Either way, the question of how spirituality fit into the theories of Chinese Medicine was glossed over, perhaps to be considered another day.

Looking back at recent history, one can understand why the role spirituality plays in Chinese Medicine ended up being swept under the rug. After a century of Western meddling in China’s affairs following the Opium Wars, Chairman Mao’s Communist government emerged following a bloody revolution. As an avowed atheistic government that destroyed temples and churches and persecuted spiritual leaders during the Cultural Revolution, there was little chance the standardized TCM system formed during this period would do anything but purge the subject of spirituality from official texts. When the Bamboo Curtain was lowered and TCM was exported to the West, this spiritually neutered version of Chinese Medicine formed the basis of most Western educational resources as well.

Now that acupuncture is gaining in popularity in the West, modern science has begun to play an important role in how that practice is being viewed. Of course, modern science also has a long history of being mute on the subject of spirituality and no one should hold their breath waiting for research scientists to explore that subject. So where does this leave the issue of the role of spirituality in Chinese Medicine? If we can’t expect the institutions in China nor Western scientific researchers to take the lead on this, it seems to bring us back to the type of practitioners I mentioned in the opening paragraph: those of us who find something spiritually relevant in Chinese Medicine’s holistic philosophy.

Of course, spirituality is a very touchy subject. Few things in life are more prone to personal interpretations and differences of opinion. My interest in trying to encourage discussion on this subject is not to debate what people should think regarding their personal spiritual beliefs. Rather, I believe that if Chinese Medicine was originally developed with spirituality as part of its foundation, those of us working in this field only limit our potential by continuing to tiptoe around the subject.

After spending several years researching the roots of Chinese medicine as part of a book I authored, I began doing some speaking engagements at Oriental medicine conferences. While offering information on the roots of Chinese medicine at these talks, the subject of spirituality naturally arose. The feedback I received during these talks convinced me that many Chinese medicine practitioners are interested in exploring the role spirituality plays in our healing art but they cannot find any format with which to do so.

Encouraged by the feedback I received, I decided to organize a class that would explore this subject and offer it at this year’s AOMAlliance Conference. Due to the profound nature of the subject matter, I felt the class needed more time than could be offered during regular conference sessions so I organized it as a 12 hour, one and a half day pre-Conference Workshop. It is my hope that this Workshop will be the beginning of developing networking opportunities for those interested in exploring the role of spirit in the practice of Chinese medicine. Anyone with an interest in this subject who is unable to attend the Workshop can contact me through my website at www.MatthewDBauer.com (email link on left side).