Navel Contemplation

September 14th, 2003 at 12:00am

Still here in Chiang Mai, and still at the Naisuan house, but leaving tomorrow. Today was the 11th day of acupuncture and the 10th day on Chinese herbs, and I still have the rash, though not nearly as bad as before. Dr. Wong’s theory on treatment is to do 10-15 days in a row, then wait a week, then do another round, possibly trying different points depending on the progress. He is very good at what he does, and is known for curing people from terminal cancer, so I believe him. It was probably not the best thing to tell me that he’s been treating one girl with a rash for the last 3 years though, and she is only now finally responding! Well, she did have the rash her whole life and I’ve only had it a few months. He gave me some good advice about making sure that I eat well, and rotate the foods that I eat in case it is a food allergy. It really is amazing that the cost has only been $12 USD/session, and he has been coming to the Naisuan house every day to see me so I don’t even have to leave my room. You would never get that in the States. Anyway I remain hopeful that we have properly aligned the internal Chi and reduced the heat inside my body, even if the skin is not totally clear yet.

In the meantime, I have decided to leave tomorrow and try a vipassana meditation in one of the monestaries in Chiang Mai. As my friend Brent says, this consists of ‘contemplating your navel’ for anywhere from 1 to 25 days. I have never done it before, and it is something that I have been wanting to try since being in Asia last year. I don’t know if I have time for a 10-day (which is the ‘normal’ length of a vipassana meditation retreat), but I will go for 5 and see how I do. I also need to monitor the rash and if it gets bad of course I won’t be very good at meditating.

During the meditation you are supposed to remain in the temple and not speak at all, so I’d say that leaving the temple to update my website would be out of the question. So I have to apologize to my large fan base (Mom and Dad) and say that the site may not be updated for up to a week or so. I have just added several journal entries from the Tai Chi course, so you’ll have something to keep you entertained at least. And here’s a little more Tai Chi prose for everyone to enjoy, from the Tao Te Ching, #64:

Peace is easily maintained;
Trouble is easily overcome before it starts.
The brittle is easily shattered;
The small is easily scattered.

Deal with it before it happens.
See things in order before there is confusion.

A tree as great as a man’s embrace springs from a small shoot;
A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles starts under one’s feet.

He who acts defeats his own purpose;
He who grasps loses.
The sage does not act, and so is defeated.
He does not grasp and therefore does not lose.

People usually fail when they are on the verge of success.
So give as much care to the end as to the beginning
And then there will be no failure.

Therefore the sage seeks freedom from desire.
He does not collect precious things.
He learns not to hold on to ideas.
He brings men back to what they have lost.
He helps the ten thousand things find their own nature,
But refrains from action.

Entry Filed under: Chiang Mai,North,Thailand