Saturday, May 10, 2014

Philosophy Wire: The obvious. The old. The arrogance.


Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-05-10]:

In 1930, the New York Times printed an article uncovering certain Chinese government documents. They revealed that herbalist Li Ching-Yuen was born in 1677 and received official congratulations on this 200th birthday in 1877. However, he claimed that he was born in 1736. No matter when he was born, he died on May 6th, 1933, telling his students the he had completed all his tasks in this lifetime, and was now ready to come home. Despite his age, he constantly practiced herbalism and martial arts. When he Li was 250-years-old, Chinese army General Yang Sen invited Li to visit him and teach Chinese soldiers martial arts. Yang Sen was surprised to learn that despite Li’s age, he was still youthful.
Li Ching-Yuen related his knowledge for longevity in this simple sentence: “Retain a calm heart, sit like a turtle, walk swiftly like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog.” [12]

Alternative medicine. Why should ti exist at all? Why should anything be tagged as "alternative" after all? Alternative to what? Why not simply stick to what works? Modern medicine does not like the existence of anything that is not linked to money-making. But the Chinese are not idiots using something which DOES

NOT work for thousands of years. And guess what: there was not "alternative medicine" back then. Just true people seeking true healing. Our modern era of disbelief cannot believe another era was better than us.

We are blind to what was once evident.
Because we simply do not want to see it.
And we will pay the price.

PS. Other cases like this might exist (see here for example).

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