Zev Rosenberg - Afterglow: Ministerial Fire And Chinese Ecological Medicine

by the same author

Ripples in the Flow

Reflections on Vessel Dynamics in the Nn Jing

Zev Rosenberg

Edited by Daniel Schrier

Foreword by Lonny S. Jarrett, M.Ac .

ISBN 978 0 85701 391 0

eISBN 978 0 85701 396 5

Returning to the Source

Han Dynasty Medical Classics in Modern Clinical Practice

Zev Rosenberg

Edited by Daniel Schrier

Foreword by Dr Sabine Wilms

ISBN 978 1 84819 348 2

eISBN 978 0 85701 306 4

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How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine

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ISBN 978 1 84819 196 9

eISBN 978 0 85701 154 1

Developing Internal Energy for Effective Acupuncture Practice

Zhan Zhuang, Yi Qi Gong and the Art of Painless Needle Insertion

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ISBN 978 1 84819 183 9

eISBN 978 0 85701 144 2

Gold Mirrors and Tongue Reflections

The Cornerstone Classics of Chinese Medicine Tongue Diagnosis The Ao Shi Shang Han Jin Jing Lu, and the Shang Han She Jian

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ISBN 978 1 84819 095 5

eISBN 978 1 84819 095 5

AFTERGLOW

Ministerial Fire and Chinese
Ecological Medicine

Z EV R OSENBERG

Edited by DANIEL SCHRIER and
ANNE SHELTON-CRUTE

Foreword by STEPHEN COWAN

First published in Great Britain in 2023 by Singing Dragon, an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers

An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

An Hachette Company

Copyright Zev Rosenberg 2023

The right of Zev Rosenberg to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Foreword copyright Stephen Cowan 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The information contained in this book is not intended to replace the services of trained medical professionals or to be a substitute for medical advice. The complementary therapy described in this book may not be suitable for everyone to follow. You are advised to consult a doctor before embarking on any complementary therapy programme and on any matters relating to your health, and in particular on any matters that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress

ISBN 978 1 78775 412 6

eISBN 978 1 78775 413 3

Jessica Kingsley Publishers policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Jessica Kingsley Publishers

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The gathering light low in trees
you can hear them flocking
in the east,

dark light in between

their cross-hatching ever more

subtle than jewels

they cluster around the shadows

as if the stars

have come home to roost.

Undrawable shapes

opposing negative space

they blend in so easily

becoming One,

fluttering in the breeze

small unspeakable ministers to the sun.

What delight da Vinci obsessed over

in backgrounds of the Florentine

or Tufu in his boat gazing out at the shore

I too here though less obsessed

delight more

in the display of day

turning inwards

this winters morn.

SC - 12/17/19

Dng Xing Hu

There is light in this book. The kind of light that comes from time well spent together. It warms the heart with its content. But context for this book matters as much as the content. Context always matters, particularly through the lens of Chinese medicine where relationships define our fundamental state of being. The unique moment in time in which Zev Rosenberg has written Afterglow is one of extreme change, both inside and out. Outside, the excesses of modern industrialization have caused global overheating, amplified weather patterns, disenfranchised and displaced people, and created political turmoil and a worldwide pandemic that has all but cut us off from each other. Inside our bodies, chronic inflammation is rising at epidemic proportions from autoimmune disease, allergies, and asthma, to disorders of anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and Alzheimers disease. It is as if our bodies perfectly reflect whats happening to our planet. Indeed, that is exactly what Chinese medicine has always taught. All the upheavals that stem from a rootless culture and a disembodied self are the profound impetus for Zev Rosenberg to write Afterglow .

I have had the distinct privilege of watching Zev methodically search through the words of the sages of Chinese medicine to help us understand how to navigate these challenging times. He is a true scholar-physician in this regard, carrying on the tradition of adapting his medicine to the particular world around him. This urge arises out of deep wisdom and compassion for being of service to people and our planet. As Zev points out, Chinese medicine has survived for two thousand years because it has been willing to adapt to changing times. This is what has drawn him to explore the mysteries and meanings of Ministerial Fire which, as you will discover, directly pertain to the circumstances we find ourselves in today.

At the beginning of my western medical career, I swore to first do no harm, primum non nocere , only to find repeatedly that the kind of medicine I was taught in fact does do harm whenever it takes symptoms out of context, disregarding the subtle and complex interrelations that exist between ourselves and our environment. This is what sent me, long ago, to study Chinese medicine to find answers. The essence of our mutual interrelationships is captured in the ideogram xing . In it we see the image of a tree on the left and an eye on the right. I see the tree and the tree sees me! As with most Chinese ideograms, a picture is worth a thousand words and is open to many meanings depending on its context. Xing is often translated as mutual, reciprocal, each other. But the distinct nature of Chinese characters allows them to be free to be verbs or nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. The power of xing , the tree being seen, reveals the deep ecology of mutual interdependence inherent in the holistic system of Chinese medicine. I care for the tree and the tree cares for me. Such depth of caring is what the ancient Chinese meant by being ministerial.

In Loz 2 we get the essence of this xing mutual dependency in a series of each other phrases that lie at the very core of Chinese philosophy and medicine.