All medical and healing systems are belief systems first (Part 1)

Recently, I was talking with an acupuncturist and palliative care Head Nurse colleague of mine, about his experience of guiding terminal patients through the dying process. 

He argued that for those who are about to die, ‘credentials’ or ‘belief systems’ become increasingly irrelevant. What matters then is presence - the mere fact of my colleague being present and aware and focused upon them.

For me, this was further proof of an inclination I’ve long had - that the essence of all medicine, and that which gives it its power, is compassion. And it also shows that there are many levels upon which any practice of medicine functions.

All forms of medicine are built upon a set of beliefs and are underpinned by a particular worldview or paradigm. 

The current paradigm of western ‘allopathic’ medicine excels in dealing with emergencies and surgical procedures. But the medical system itself is completely overwhelmed and hugely expensive to deliver, and on a deeper level, it may no longer meet the needs of humanity.

What we’re really in need of is a new way of relating to health - one that incorporates the body’s innate capacity to heal itself and that empowers individuals to access that state. 

We need a new approach that focuses on the healing process rather than concentrating only on disease.

We know what we know through cognition. Without consciousness we would have no access to the world whatsoever. Yet rarely do we pause to investigate the nature of consciousness itself - or how our state of consciousness could affect our experience of the world in general.

Within western philosophy and psychology there are many theories about the nature of consciousness - but in the large part these are abstract and not based on personal experience.

In contrast to this, Indo-Tibetan Buddhist meditation traditions have been investigating the nature of consciousness directly for centuries. These inner scientists report that the nature of consciousness is formless and has many levels, and that what we perceive at any given time depends upon the level of mind we’re using.

This is remarkably similar to the findings of modern quantum physics and calls the whole notion of ‘true objectivity’ into question. 

To our waking consciousness for example, things appear to be separate from our perception, and exist ‘out there’. But when we fall asleep that waking world disappears and a completely new one appears in its place. In a dream it can feel perfectly normal for a pink elephant, wearing a bowler hat, walking on a tightrope to hold a deep and meaningful conversation with us. This really ought to give us some indication that all is not as it seems!

For a seasoned meditator, another level of consciousness is said to be accessible - the deepest level that perceives reality directly and is experienced as a blissful state of oneness with all things. 

Western philosopher Jean Gebser argued that we are currently in the age of the mental strata of consciousness, which is over-identified with conceptual abstractions and adherence to linear, logical causality. This substrate of consciousness is ideal for developing material things, but not so helpful for resolving the deeper dimensions of human suffering and sickness.

To address these deeper human needs we need an integral way of viewing the world which includes all the different strata of consciousness.

Western medicine is scientific in that it is based on meticulous observation. But that observation is based upon a belief that phenomena exist ‘outside of the mind’. It is assumed that the observer possesses true objectivity. Further, western medicine is practiced on the basis of a materialist worldview which asserts that everything arises from matter. 

These tacit and unacknowledged views pre-determine the kind of ‘reality’ that we relate to - and therefore what is possible in terms of health and happiness. Limitations appear that cannot be overcome and apparently definite laws are broken without explanation.

For example, the current medical model cannot adequately account for the placebo effect - which is responsible for 30-60% of all medical cures. Nor can it account for the phenomenon of spontaneous remissions or how people with multiple personalities can display totally different medical conditions. 

In contrast to the materialist view that underpins allopathic medicine, I’d like to introduce the view that has shaped the practice and traditions of Classical Chinese medicine, particularly acupuncture. 

Chinese medicine is an applied philosophy. Yet it turns out to have remarkable clinical efficacy. Indeed, it is one of the longest continuously practiced and recorded forms of medicine in the world, benefiting a significant proportion of the world’s population for at least 2500 years. 

To appreciate what classical Chinese medicine is and how it is practiced, one needs to begin to understand it’s history, philosophy and to an extent the mythology that have influenced the thinking of successive generations of scholar-physicians - shaping the various iterations of the medicine over millennia. 

Crucially, we cannot get an accurate picture of the magic and efficacy of this medicine if we view it from a distance. This is like trying to make a native Chinese speaker understand what we’re saying in English. We need to step down from the mountain of our own views and step over to the mountain of the view of Chinese medicine to fully appreciate it.