Questioning Our Filters

A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond

Medicine, like any other skill or knowledge system, needs to be rooted in both subjectivity and objectivity. By valuing either one over the other, we deprive ourselves of an essential part thereof. Can traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy help us find a more balanced way of making sense of the world than the cold, rational, evidence-based cause-and-effect thinking of biomedicine and modern science? As Greg Bantick, our special guest on today’s episode of A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond puts it with his wonderful clarity: The act of failing to examine our filters is not benign, but dangerous, and results in problems like racism, cultural appropriation, and orientalism.

When we encounter perspectives of the world that make us squirm because they challenge our own beliefs and experiences, we have three choices in how we respond:

1. We can deny their value and write them off as “barbaric” or “superstitious”;
2. we can orientalize or exoticize them as “other” and then creatively interpret them in such a way that they ultimately confirm our own beliefs; or
3. we can accept the discomfort and embrace this challenge of getting our own world rocked as a chance to learn something new, and then we grow in that process.

The choice is ours!

For today’s episode, titled ““Questioning our Filters,” our special guest is Greg Bantick, a leading practitioner and international teacher of Chinese medicine with almost half a century of experience, who also happens to be a deeply committed practitioner of Buddhism with a beautiful kind heart and a deep well of wisdom.

I should warn you though: We end a bit abruptly and sadly, with us sharing a sense of grief at the huge loss of so many centuries of information and experience that can be found in the treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine. As our conversation explores, the misunderstandings and ignorance that affect the transmission of Chinese medicine into the West are due to two key factors: The lack of an open mind, and the linguistic barrier that prevents the vast majority of Chinese medicine practitioners in the West from even knowing what is out there.

Additional Information

• Orientalism, Cultural Appropriation, and Critical Thinking — Happy Goat Productions
• Greg Bantick's website
• Dr. Wilms' free course: Introduction to Classical Chinese — Translating Chinese Medicine
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• Happy Goat Productions (Dr. Wilms' website)
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