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Culture, Ki and the Healer as an Artist

Daoyin, Shiatsu and the “Spacious Guidance” of Seiki Soho

Paul Lundberg.

This article (here in an abridged version) was written in stages over a two year period, both to reflect the changing view and altered parameters of my own work over the precious decade and to contribute to the ongoing debate in the English shiatsu world on our understanding of Ki, the meridians and energetic processes in treatment. An extended 3 part version appeared in The (UK) Shiatsu Society Journal, between 2010 and 20011.

My thesis is that Ki is culturally determined and mediated.

In recent years I have become increasingly convinced that culture - the background of common understanding and shared feeling in society - is not only crucial to healing itself but a rarely acknowledged influence in relation to the transfer of traditional medical treatments from one place to another. To understand the development of Shiatsu, either in Japan or in the West, the historical context at least must be recognised. By extension too, the influence of Western Culture on Japan during the short period in which Shiatsu emerged must be considered. More awareness of the whole Eastern tradition could help us focus on what is most important and unique about its healing wisdom. Then, perhaps, we will better adapt the work to our own circumstances and needs. This seems especially true now, as we review our direction and priorities in a fast changing world.

SHIATSU IN CONTEXT

If, as most people would agree, Shiatsu pertains to the subtler range of therapeutic or medical practices, then it could be seen as aligned with Daoyin, the collectively named “guiding and inducing” methods regarded in classical Chinese Medicine as the original and ideal forms of treatment for their simplicity, communicability and ultimately transforming ways to health. Developed from the earliest human experiences of healing and deeply imbued with natural (Yin-Yang) principles, Daoyin embraces and informs all manual techniques and exercises, including refined approaches to harmonise body, breath and mind. According to the “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic” (c.100BCE.) the subtle Daoyin methods were developed by the people of the Middle Kingdom and stood as the central “pillar” of medicine, reaching out to and uniting the later, more specialised and technical methods (acupuncture, moxa, herbs etc.) legendarily developed in the outer regions of the Chinese empire, where conditions were harder. Its refinement implies an internal discipline by which the practitioner learns to integrate physical and mental forces and cultivate the necessary awareness to guide others in self-regulated healing practice. For these reasons the education and classical role of the doctor were extended to include philosophy and fine arts, such as painting, calligraphy or poetry, opening cultural channels that supported healing. And, for similar reasons, exercises refined in the parallel arts of self-defence culminated in the “Inner School” martial arts devoted to health. In China today, Daoyin finds expression within the Medical School of contemporary Qigong and, by extension, in certain aspects of Anmo-Tuina (physiotherapy and massage). The aim and essential healing principle of Daoyin is relaxation and mental tranquillity. It thus converges with the subtle mental practices and the philosophies of the Buddhist and Taoist “schools” of Qigong to form a coherent and integrated body of practice, woven into the cultural pattern of Chinese medicine and healing.

When we look to Japan for similar continuity and a context for Shiatsu, the picture changes considerably. The influence of classical Chinese Medicine has always been strong, but Japanese traditional medicine (Kanpo) also developed a character of its own. Shiatsu, we know, was conceived fairly recently as a !2 specifically therapeutic alternative to the old massage (Anma) which was seen as degraded. Shiatsu Ryoho, the “finger pressure healing method” developed by Tamai Tempeki, belonged within Kanpo, where many methods were united by an overall medical philosophy. However the retreat of tradition in the face of Western influence and the effects of war exacted a heavy toll. A fragmentation occurred in which Shiatsu lost connection with the nourishing central ground and with the lateral links that could give it breadth and authenticity. It was re-established in 1962 on the basis of research proving certain benefits already established for Western physiotherapy but its techniques were highly formalised and it was effectively separated from its roots in traditional medicine and from other Japanese methods like Ampuku and Sotai. At this time too, Japanese “Do-In” appeared only as a formal self-treatment method and any deeper transmission it might have contained was missed.

In fact, it is in relation to Hara that the subtle principles of healing find true cultural resonance in Japan. “Hara”, the experience of physical body centre as a deeply felt connection with nature, is quite normal to the Japanese. In a sense it permeates all Japanese life, but in relation to traditional crafts, ceremonies, sports and high artistic endeavours it is of profound significance. Here the Hara centre, or Tanden, functions as a collecting point of power and co-ordinating point for action. In traditional Japanese medicine the abdominal area is an especially important focus for both diagnosis and treatment of the sick, but Hara is vital as a centre of reference for the practitioner too. Hara training takes many forms but its aim is a highly developed awareness, integrating the mind, breath and feelings in various skills. Thus it lends precise qualities to prescribing and teaching remedial exercises or practices for health and, of course, to all manual therapies through which it is channelled. Linking the spiritual seamlessly with the mundane, Hara consciousness is the natural base for appreciating the Japanese contribution to the subtler healing arts in their most spontaneous, simply human form.

Contemporary Shiatsu generally, and the Western approach especially, have tended to concentrate on theories and techniques related to the twelve primary Meridians, including the extended versions developed by Shizuto Masunaga who was largely responsible for re-introducing elements of classical medicine. This emphasises its character as a therapeutic speciality whose benefits are obtained through traditional knowledge, and it is effective as such. But I believe this focus on the Meridians has led to forced interpretations which can also be constraining and distract us from what touch itself can effectively communicate, especially when that touch is practised as an art based in Hara.

MERIDIAN SHIATSU - The Development of a Trend or Style

Deep, calm and sensitive hand or finger pressure was practised on the Hara and other places in the body as a healing method. Shiatsu was conceived as a refined expression of healing touch in place of Anma, as we saw above. It was intimately connected with Japanese traditional medicine and incorporated the most subtle of diagnostic and treatment principles, though without necessary reference to classical Meridians or points. However, following the turbulent events in the middle of the last century, it took a course of its own.

Through the efforts of Tokujiro Namikoshi it was re-established in Japan as a traditional therapy, though now based on modern anatomical and physiological knowledge. It used only a simple grid of lines superimposed on the body as a guide to technique. Various styles of “tsubo therapy”, in which the treatment of selected points was based on classical knowledge, also re-emerged around this time. !3

It was Masunaga who created the Meridian style that we are broadly familiar with today. He continued a family tradition of Shiatsu, but also studied and taught modern psychology. He was deeply interested too in classical Chinese medicine and philosophy and eventually developed a novel approach to Shiatsu, a Meridian-based treatment which synthesised the organ/meridian functions of traditional medicine with certain ideas from biology and psychology. He had been involved, with Namikoshi, in the research that enabled Shiatsu to gain official approval in Japan and was concerned to maintain its image as a modern therapy. The old spirit of Hara-to-Hara communication and resonance, which characterised Tempeki’s work and the earlier healing tradition, could not reliably be presented in the critical ambience of the time. The emphasis on the interior disciplines that ensured the mental and physical preparation of the practitioner as the instrument of healing perforce gave way to versions of Shiatsu that concentrated on the exterior objectives and technical aspects of the method.

In Masunaga’s system, the twelve paired vital organs became archetypes for the main life phases or functional patterns of the organism, and the Meridians were ‘extended’ as they were seen to be the expression of the organ functions throughout the whole body. His theory of Kyo and Jitsu explained the harmony or disharmony of the Meridians as a dynamic interaction that could be sensed through a particular form of Hara diagnosis and followed ‘energetically’ in treatment. He also described in precise terms the nervous system responses to distinct qualities of touch.

Traditionally, the Japanese learn by repetition, and treatment follows a standard form into which subtle variations are introduced almost automatically according to the particular conditions encountered. (This is the basis of Namikoshi’s established method). Sensitivity of touch is therefore essential, and Masunaga outlined some important considerations for developing the necessary responsiveness, including Hara awareness. However, in his new system the focus inevitably shifted towards treating the most prominently disharmonious Meridians in Kyo-Jitsu terms. He struggled to explain the essence of Shiatsu treatment through both traditional and contemporary western ideas and continually modified his teaching methods, more so as the number of foreign students attending his institute increased. With the introduction of his famous chart, treating specific Meridians with objective intention became the established norm. The trend persisted, with various modifications added by successive teachers, and greatly influenced Shiatsu in the West. The value of traditional exercise was still acknowledged but mainly seen as an accessory to clinical practice. Indeed, Masunaga’s Makko-Ho exercises simply reinforced his meridian concept. Nowadays treatment is visualised and administered almost entirely via the given Meridian pathways, with the idea of contacting and regulating the associated physical, emotional or mental capacities of the person.

But the mixing of models and cultures has its dangers. Traditional medicine was intuitive, pragmatic, metaphorical and holistic. Modern medicine has generally followed a rational, analytical, materialistic and reductionist trajectory which continues to exert its influence on us. The Meridians are only an approximation of the bio-energetic reality. In traditional practice this was always understood, so the system of Points and Meridians evolved as a many layered, flexible reference system which combined close observation with poetry and pragmatism and allowed experience to arbitrate for the multiple manifestations of Qi. In the West we have studied the Meridians as if they were a discrete or separately existing manifestation of subtle bio-energy, which we have subsequently tried to validate and prove. Obviously we have had only partial success, because the Meridians have only a partial, tentative and temporary existence.

Undoubtedly circles keep turning, but if we differentiate Meridians in terms of name, function and even distinct vibrational qualities, and let these subtle projections justify the need to work them throughout the body, we too easily fall into a pedantic, conceptually narrow and intensely active form of treatment. While !4

Acupuncturists are guided by the traditional dictum, “use few points; just the most appropriate ones”, we in Shiatsu give ourselves plenty to do, ignoring the possibility that the vital energy has an innate capacity to self-harmonise and to respond as needed to a selective, less directive and more open style of touch. We thus enmesh both ourselves and our clients in a convincing delusion, and a game of power that is subtly ‘fixed’. Even though we wish to treat the person as a whole, we are reduced to treating the specifically selected Meridians because they have become the unique vehicle and the cipher for our work. Furthermore, we may train to diagnose energetically distinct levels of physical, emotional or psychological disturbance in the meridians when in reality these are never discrete.

A client will describe their own situation and experience in a richly textured way, if we let them. Intensity or over-activity on our part tends to obscure the receiver’s immediate sensing of their own inner responses and so is best avoided. It is unfortunate that the Hara-centred, stationary, penetrating touch, described by Masunaga as central to Shiatsu method, became less evident in his later work and is rarely seen in practice today.

When we move away from the simpler traditional understanding of Ki as unselfconscious vitality and breath we can be easily seduced into an over-sophisticated, technical approach. Such a trend reinforces the professional practitioner as a skilled operator but may separate him or her from the client as a person and from the healing potential of the total ambience. The modern Western scientific view, which always moves towards analysing and objectifying, creeps into our professional mind-set and flattens our holistic model unless we are consciously subjectively involved. We have to be wary of whatever subverts the mystically inclusive holistic vision of the traditional Eastern Way.

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KI, OUTSIDE AND IN

If cultural trends and filters have conditioned our view of the meridians and how we use them in shiatsu, culture has even deeper significance in relation to the understanding and experience of Ki itself. To address the question “What is Ki?” from the typically rational standpoint of western culture is like learning to swim out of water. We need to immerse ourselves in the parent medium or we will be off on the wrong track entirely; that is, we will likely “mistake the finger for the moon” as the Zen saying goes.

With a broader inclusive view of the yin-yang principles that govern it, and a fuller sense of the historic medical environment from which it grew, Shiatsu could be realigned with a wider range of manual techniques and subtle therapeutic approaches, both contemporary and traditional. A more versatile and coherent approach to traditional mind-body healing would emerge from such integration. The principles of Hara should be the common ground for practical training. Generally, both TCM and classical medicine are too intellectually layered and detailed for our approach, but we miss out on some important aspects because we have not explored the field with regard to our particular needs. We have grasped the idea of Ki in a particularly western way, selectively emphasising certain aspects while missing many cultural subtleties. This is quite understandable, given the short history of Eastern Traditional Medicine in the West, but I think it would be useful to review our conceptual take of the principles in which the tradition is immersed - principles that express an entire world-view whose differences demand more of our attention and respect. We have run off with many ideas from the East and made a fair attempt to fit them into our own cultural scene, but our drivers are very different. There are many elements of the Japanese and Chinese cultures that, if we were to recognise them and their implications for healing, could help us to engage with more confidence an equivalent range of references within our own socio-cultural matrix. !5

Examples would be found in the Taoist and Zen traditions and the meditative practices that open us to a different relationship with the world – perhaps a more relaxed and trusting state in which our accustomed attitudes and tendencies could be viewed more spaciously. We might see that habitually we try to fix things and control things, and we like to work well and efficiently for desired results, often to earn money and respect, sometimes also to alleviate our insecurities and guilt. Taoist philosophy questions whether the world or anything in it needs to be so improved and suggests that we might do better to learn from the harmonizing patterns of nature. The authoritative philosophies of the West took a radically different view, though they were challenged by the solitary voices of various poets, mystics, scientists and artists at different times.

In the traditional system, the meridians with their loosely comprehensive titles (eg, Lung, Greater Yin of the arm) were seen as part of a completely open and intercommunicating network with many collateral pathways where the points or tsubos, with their potential actions and influences, are points of confluence, entry and exit, resonance and transmission etc, indicating a myriad possibilities within a generalised set of guidelines. Via the diagnostic process a practitioner would select a strategy allowing intuition to temper knowledge, knowing that the natural yin-yang orientation and organisation of the body was already at work and confident that this would respond optimally to a wide range of subtle interventions. Because the body functions are multiple and interconnected and because there are general as well as precise ways in which conscious and unconscious information is transmitted, the practitioner does as little as possible, acting only as and when necessary. In order to be optimally communicated or shared, the principles of Qi must firstly be understood and absorbed into the practitioners being.

The ongoing debate about the use of points in Shiatsu (based on TCM) as opposed to the use of meridians (according to Masunaga) is to me an indication that while we talk of integration we are caught in a net of confused and limiting concepts upon which we are basing our actions. Curiously, when we do sometimes “treat points” for their TCM actions we are, supposedly, trusting the same subtle network to respond naturally according to inherent Yin-Yang principles, yet we often consider ourselves to be working symptomatically and so diminish this potent idea. Concepts are a part of knowledge, but they become conventions that rule us if we grasp onto them too hard.

Effectively the points are the meridians, and potentially more than one meridian when they are recognised and engaged with as such. It is all manifestly Qi when that is understood as the subtle component of the complete bio-systemic matrix, but its potential depends on our way of engaging or interacting with it. In my view we have overlooked the simple, generic principles of Ki in our thirst for the more exotic and precise. Well understood, these principles can be effectively applied in treatment. They are offered as options to the body system through appropriate physical touch at selected key points. Around this touch, a person can be given as much space as possible for their perceptions and life forces to integrate.

The “Extraordinary Vessels”, especially the Central Channels, can be also understood in this way. Their “points” are felt and experienced as having layered and interpenetrating functions, connecting local physical and organic structures with corresponding nervous centres (plexuses) and the less defined zones within the subtle anatomy of the body-mind for which the bio-energetic “diaphragms”, the major “Gates” of Qigong, the three Tanden and the Chakras are all just active metaphors. In the diagnostic-treatment process there is no fixed path because the body functions are multiple and interconnected and because there are general as well as precise ways in which conscious and unconscious information is transmitted. However, in order to be optimally communicated or shared, the principles of Qi must finally be understood and absorbed into the practitioners being. !6

It is essential to appreciate the importance of subjective discipline in the Eastern tradition. It is this that gives the mental and physical cultivation of the practitioner its central place in the healer’s art. There is increasing evidence from scientific studies, if we should need it, that not only people but animals and plants right down to the cells and the DNA material of which they are made, are subject to subtle influences generated by thoughts and emotions, even at a distance. It may be that unconscious processes are as important as our intentions in conditioning the effects of what we do. In fact, our overall approach, indeed our whole way of being, could be much more significant than anything we do. According to TCM, the principal “internal” cause of disease is emotional disharmony, obstruction etc. Even though we are physically strong and healthy, if the mind is disturbed our well-being is eventually threatened on every level, and this is transmitted to those around us. If we can learn how to become mentally integrated and tranquil, even in a disturbing ambience, we will begin to master our emotions and our Ki as well. The consideration and training of consciousness itself is not new to the East. So here I want to jump away from shiatsu method and meridians altogether.

NO MERIDIAN MIND

When we step back to regain perspective, the general yin-yang principles that precede meridian structure reappear as orienting guidelines. (By this I mean those principles reflecting the human relationship with Heaven and Earth, with Nature, the vertical and horizontal alignments of posture, the breath itself, etc.) These alone can be sufficient if we trust the intelligence and responsiveness of the complex body systems. The whole field of traditional medicine, all the meridians included, is always there as a guide to help access the interior world when needed, but we must see too that medicine stretches out beyond its many directly focussed methods and techniques to relate to the society it serves. We are thus reminded that our communication and contact with our receivers can be better attuned by opening ourselves to the entire field of culture and adopting a more complete and integrated discipline. The cultures of both the East and the West are replete with references to life and the human condition that can be aligned with healing, and all medicine involves a full spectrum of linguistic, social, ethical and artistic considerations. Here is a wealth of influences to be explored, shared and incorporated within the treatment space. However, to make room for this, a different overall approach must be developed that is less insistent, less loaded with necessity. When the (shiatsu) practitioner relaxes mentally and physically, and begins to work more through “presence”, his or her touch will become more receptive and nuanced. As an expression of natural curiosity and common feeling, diagnosis becomes treatment.

We enter the wider theatre of healing with the conscious recognition that, apart from nature, it is the social milieu in which we are immersed that conditions the mind. And the cultural space of shared human values and endeavours is the common ground and the frame for all our work. We must investigate and integrate the diverse elements of our own personal conditioning in relation to our culture and transcend the frontiers which both separate us from and join us with our fellow beings. This represents the deepest commitment to the “healing path”. To work with Ki we need to work on the mind. Working with the mind means engaging with our own conditioning and with culture in the broadest sense.

It is said in Qigong and Taiji circles that “the mind rules the Qi”, however this “ruling” does not emanate from any ego fancied height or distance; the mind regulates the Ki, principally through learning and subjectively participating in its natural principles, that is by engaging with the body-self, then by applying disciplined awareness practices that deal with mental concepts and processes themselves. Here contemporary psychology may provide helpful guidance, though unfortunately Western culture lacks a joined up tradition of physical, mental and spiritual training. However, the rich resources of the East include comprehensive psychologies linked to physical, artistic and spiritual endeavours - from Taoism to !7

Zen, from Chinese Daoyin and Qigong to Japanese Hara culture - all are accessible and have direct relevance and affinity with our work.

Some of us like to see Ki as “energy” and are fascinated by its link with pure physics, but the laws of change have been expressed in more aptly human terms by the “perennial philosophies” of developed human society, and the Chinese classical Book of Change is a prime example. We might also pause to consider that nature has been transforming raw energy into discrete and ever more complex forms for aeons of time. Rising through what the philosopher Ken Wilbur calls the “nested hierarchies” of the molecular, mineral, biological, animal and human social spheres we find orders of complexity and function that are unknown to prior systems but which “emerge” as properties of later or higher orders into which they are integrated. Energy is fundamental to all spheres - the “Universality if Ki” observed in Eastern philosophy - but only in human society is it responsive to developed human values. The examples are numerous: truth, beauty, ugliness, arrogance, derision, fairness, willingness, appreciation, dignity, care. As photosynthesis is unknown to rocks, none of these listed things can be found by investigating any of the component systems of which human beings are formed. They are purely products of the collective mind. Yet they can be applied to influence, in one way or another, the state of our external environment, our society, physical biology, our hormones, emotions and energy, and of course thought and culture itself. To put this another way, if rocks are to experience photosynthesis, they must submit themselves to biology. Our Ki and everything else about us is subject to Mind, at all stages of consciousness.

I offer my own case by way of illustrating a point. My cultural milieu is European. My own family background and education, my varied career and my experience of different relationships, in sickness and in health, have helped to form me as a person. I feel grateful for all that. I have myself received many different treatments, representing a spectrum of medical approaches, including psychotherapy. As a type of “therapist”, I bring my physical skills, my wounded heart and my partially opened mind to my work with others. My long-time attraction towards the philosophies and the culture of the East radically determined the flavour, general trend and detail of this work and helped me to form some kind of global (let’s say, Yin-Yang) view of things. I am still actively interested in the intricacies of my own society and feel that this helps me to locate myself and act appropriately on an everyday basis. Yet I am enriched by the gifts and experiences of the East. There is still much that I do not know about myself, still less about the people I am privileged to treat. All this counts. The more aware we are the better.

My Chinese Qigong teacher, Dr. Shen Hongxun, helped me to appreciate the importance of training our subjective awareness in relation to healing. His approach brings Daoyin practice to life, as its principles are encountered and developed in an intimate and personal way. Recognising our personal condition, our physical, emotional and mental states, and clarifying our collective cultural parameters are paramount in this work, though they are realised through various particular exercise forms in which postural awareness and breathing techniques are of complementary importance. I have explored Daoyin Qigong in other articles. Here I wish to conclude on another note – the Eastern concept of a “Way”, an art, teaching or other discipline, adopted as a lifetime practice.

THE SEIKI WAY

For many years now, I have been following such a “Way” with Akinobu Kishi, a Japanese teacher of some reputation in Europe who borrowed the term Seiki from Japanese traditional healing to describe his approach. At first it could seem mysterious, nonsensical or even lightweight. It is a system pared down to the core, stripped of established method and entirely dependent on sensitive feeling, acute observation and respect for every nuance of circumstance. At the same time it is enormously open in spirit. Its simple !8 practices are imbued with the authentic feel of Hara culture and embrace all the essential aspects of Daoyin. As such it asks from those who are drawn to it a level of quiet perseverance and gentle self- discipline to which we are mostly unaccustomed. Yet I have seen profound changes and many benefits in relation to this practice, equally inspired by ancient respect for nature and a post-modern multiculturalism.

I want to focus on Seiki as an approach that most clearly demonstrates how cultural forces affect our vitality and well-being, fosters our naturally inherent skills for daily-life healing and, beyond that, invites us to celebrate; a Life-ceremony Way.

Seiki encourages a broad view which helps us to recognise and consciously incorporate cultural influences in our therapeutic work. Its expression of the Japanese mind makes it of special interest to shiatsu practitioners, but Seiki opens us to the cultural dimension in healing generally, so we can better appreciate and use the rich resources of our own culture.

The Seiki approach to healing (Seiki-Soho) remains firmly embedded in simple principles. These can be divided into three main categories:

1) Firstly, taking only general yin-yang principles as our guide, we study the living body. We recognise and contact the life-movement directly and so learn from nature itself. We slowly develop sensitivity, penetrating insight and global sensory awareness, applied equally to ourselves and others. This global awareness is founded on the cultivation of the breath in relation to the body-mind and, equally, the vital centre or still-point known as the Tanden within the belly or “Hara”, that aspect of Japanese culture which underlies creative and artistic expression

2) Secondly, by studying our own mind we become more aware of the conditioned nature of existence and the limitations of formal life. Then we can better understand the mind of our fellow beings. We cultivate patience, equanimity, discernment, fairness and courage. We awaken our compassion.

3) Finally, we study the whole situation and consciously join our intelligence with the prevailing forces in an act of concentrated creative power. We give up our personal ambition and practice basic trust, slowly developing wisdom as a weapon against delusion.

Hara practice is just the basis of this path. The heartfelt qualities the Japanese call Kokoro are also developed and consciously integrated. The art of the healer here consists principally in learning how to be; to simply be in the world without any agenda or credentials and with the least of defences, and from that vulnerable, open-hearted place to find resonance and communication with another and share the human journey, full of suffering as it is. Everything flows from that. We can work truthfully with this ideal while learning from and accepting our limitations. We give up our personal ambition and practice basic trust, slowly developing wisdom as a weapon against delusion.

We do not depend on the specialised knowledge and techniques of medicine. Though they may be helpful or necessary at times, they are a separate concern. In treatment we offer a safe space in which our receivers may fully express themselves. They are at once our guest and our host, a situation of honour and respect. We practice the timeless elements of traditional diagnosis - asking, observing, listening and, of course, touching – so connecting with the other person’s world, but we do not try to change anything.

This seems tough, but we can facilitate change by humbly offering ourselves to the situation without judgement. Our intention is to reflect to each person the deep inner layer of their being where life and !9 healing are the very same thing. However, discipline and commitment are needed to first awaken and develop the necessary qualities within ourselves. Seiki represents the practises and the attitudes that purify the spirit and guide us towards self-awareness and truth, as well as the training necessary to refine our physical, personal and social skills. Yet it always starts from and returns to zero, empty space.

Western philosophy, from the Greeks onward, encouraged us to seek and understand ourselves. Eastern philosophies are accompanied by practical methods to proceed with this search. Traditional Eastern Medicine is a part of this picture because it recognises and maintains that the harmony of mind, body and spirit is the basis of health and developed a coherent vision of treatment that integrated the more interventive methods with those subtly educative, manual, person-centred and awareness raising approaches that the Chinese originally called Daoyin (guiding and inducing methods). Seiki-Soho, meaning treatment through “guidance”, is indeed a close contemporary spirit of Daoyin but Seiki goes beyond medical issues, however subtle, to find healing in everyday reality. It invites and guides us to sensitively connect our inner nature, self and society, and find a path to harmony in the broadest context.

We might have many questions, but we focus on the human condition in the manner that the artist draws inspiration from nature and society. Taking interest in everything raises ordinary life to the level of art. We care for our world, with all its beauty and all its suffering, but purification and meditation practice are actually of the first importance for healing. Healing means unification, whole life harmony. That is Seiki. Even when disharmony occurs, there is no fundamental separation.

The tradition recognises that because this position is challenging, the disciplines of the artist-healer are in many ways identical with the transcendent disciplines of the “spiritual warrior” who ventures within to grapple with ignorance and error. Concretely, these disciplines, with humor, generosity, mindfulness and integrity, constitute our study and practice.

Seiki offers an open invitation to all, regardless of experience in any particular discipline.