Mystery in Chinese Medicine
Posted on February 19, 2009 by Yael
The book by Ofer Baranovitch, Stages, Levels, Envelopes, is a challenge.
It contains 270 pages that talk about complex matters in Chinese Medicine- the 6 divisions, 4 levels, 8 extraordinary meridians and the connections between them. As the book unfolds, there are connections being made in between the topics I mentioned above, and other topics such as blood vessels and the TW, which in itself is some what of a mystery in Chinese medicine.
As I was reading the book I made notes on the points I wanted to mention in my review.
It is a list, but it’s still a review- a different kind of review. I think that the fact that this book is different from all the books I read in Chinese Medicine, I think it is fair for it to have a different kind of review.
I was glad to find new-old ideas in the book, for example on page 146, ideas that can be found in Lonny Jarrett’s articles. I was glad to see them here in context of the book’s topics, as they now have another layer to them, which they didn’t have when I first read them.
The book contains interesting discussions about acupuncture points, although I feel I could do with more information. For example on page 120, trying to answer why SP4 activates the Chong Mai, I feel the answer is not whole with no regard to the name of the point, which contributes to the understanding of the Chong Mai and it’s connection to SP4.
The book brings many interesting case studies, which come to show the clinical aspect of the author.
It’s difficult for me to put my way of thinking aside while reading the text, as happened while reading page 128. I found myself thinking one thing, until I read the acupuncture points the author chose which made it quite clear that I was thinking very differently than the author.
This makes me understand that in order to make the most of this book, one should invest thought and embrace the author’s approach, otherwise the book will not contribute a lot to the reader.
How much can one understand the author’s approach from reading the book?
I’m not quite sure.
I had a summer clinic with Ofer Baranovitch about 7 years ago, and I think that what strikes me most was that he was very much a herbs man. I also got the impression that the Earth element plays a key role in almost every diagnose he made. This little information helped me while I was reading the book, but this was also the reason for my surprise that there weren’t a lot of Chinese herbs in this book, discussed and analyzed like Ofer knows how to do very well (at my time he was considered to be one of 2 most amazing Chinese herbs teachers ).
The use of the bibliography is good, although I found mostly well known book titles. I was hoping to find more less known titles, and with that to create more layers of information that might help solve these mysteries that the book raises.
Final thoughts
I think that this book was not meant for “light reading”.
This is an interesting book. In order to make the most of it, one must read it as a text-book and invest time and thought to contemplate on the ideas and try to understand the author’s approach.
I also want to recommend that one should take notes while reading this book, it is very helpful.
This book gives information but also raises many questions, and as we know, Chinese Medicine is based on a book that is all questions and answers, so questions is always a good thing.
To download a free sample from the book and to order it, go to the Redwing Book website by clicking here.
Stages, Levels, Envelopes
Author: Ofer Baranovitch
Avigdor Publishing House
