Thank you for this. I occasionally talk about it to my acupuncture students. CAM actually mentions this, but it is very easy to miss. CAM doesn't have a big discussion of it. For the third level, CAM still has fang (formula)... I frequently talk about point formulas... a treatment is not just a bunch of points thrown together. It needs to be a harmonious combination, a point formula. I talk about how a formula is like a dinner party. Maybe you want to invite eight guests, so you spend some time considering who to invite. You want it to be harmonious, but you also want to invite some different types of people so it is not boring. Nevertheless, you still want the guests to have something in common. Anyway, I appreciate your discussion a lot!
Hi Lorraine! I didn't realize that about the CAM - been a while since I looked through it. In thinking about my own process, I find that the channels are a sort of higher-level organizing structure over the points. The idea of fāng as the third level even in acupuncture is certainly the way a lot of folks do it and the way it tends to get taught in TCM programs, so I think it is a valid way of thinking about treatment structure as well.
Thank you for this. I occasionally talk about it to my acupuncture students. CAM actually mentions this, but it is very easy to miss. CAM doesn't have a big discussion of it. For the third level, CAM still has fang (formula)... I frequently talk about point formulas... a treatment is not just a bunch of points thrown together. It needs to be a harmonious combination, a point formula. I talk about how a formula is like a dinner party. Maybe you want to invite eight guests, so you spend some time considering who to invite. You want it to be harmonious, but you also want to invite some different types of people so it is not boring. Nevertheless, you still want the guests to have something in common. Anyway, I appreciate your discussion a lot!
Hi Lorraine! I didn't realize that about the CAM - been a while since I looked through it. In thinking about my own process, I find that the channels are a sort of higher-level organizing structure over the points. The idea of fāng as the third level even in acupuncture is certainly the way a lot of folks do it and the way it tends to get taught in TCM programs, so I think it is a valid way of thinking about treatment structure as well.