Scott Bushey
Puritanboard Commissioner
Whats your take on Christians using eastern medicine like acupuncture, reflexology etc.?
Eastern medicine
- Thread starter Scott Bushey
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I'm not at all convinced it's effective.
Practiced extremely commonly where I live, acupuncture and cupping are based on peculiar ancient Chinese ideas of how energy flows through the body. I fail to see how sticking a needle in a sore wrist is going to help.
I don't think it's evil, though, if that's what you're asking. It's more like pseudo-science. I am much less comfortable with something like yoga, which has its roots in pagan religion.
I think people are free to try acupuncture, but in my view they're wasting their time and money.
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Cedarbay
Puritan Board Freshman
We recently checked out the currently popular, Functional Medicine, which included applied kinesiology and decided the price would make us dysfunctional. The owner was a chiropractor and naturopath who relied on what he called innate intelligence and psychic abilities to treat his patients.
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Ancients knew some things worked but did not understand how. So acupuncture had benefits but they constructed a whole metaphysical system to explain it. We can use the acupuncture without adopting the metaphysical system. The same with yoga, which is really just a bunch of stretching...and stretching is healthy. Eastern massaging of pressure points is also helpful to a degree. Fasting is also healthful, even if it has been joined to many religions of the world.
I believe you can separate out the practices from the metaphysical system surrounding the practices. This way there is no Eastern or Western medicine, but only good or bad medicine. And even if some of these practices won't cure a major limb infection, as healthful practices go, they can contribute to overall health.
I believe you can separate out the practices from the metaphysical system surrounding the practices. This way there is no Eastern or Western medicine, but only good or bad medicine. And even if some of these practices won't cure a major limb infection, as healthful practices go, they can contribute to overall health.
Physeter
Puritan Board Freshman
I have a distrust of Yoga, I always have because of how it originated. The question is asked--is yoga a religion? Many Americans will say no, but--Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, an ancient Hindu text is widely referred to in yoga classes today. It presents a moral code for yogis to follow and outlines the path toward a mystical state of enlightenment known as samadhi, or union with the divine. The traditions of yoga also recognize that the path of bhakti yoga, an important branch of yoga whose adherents devote themselves to a personal form of their concept of god--probably Braman. Its practices include chanting to deities, setting up altars to them, and even praying to them. Yoga's origins are said to predate modern Hinduism. Yoga as it has been imported to America comes more from the Dharmic tradition. Dharmic traditions emphasize universal ethics like nonviolence, the theory of karma and rebirth, and a culture of meditation. Sound familiar? Dharmic traditions are also pluralistic by their very nature.
There are some practitioners in the US that have secularized it, so to speak, changing the language. and tossing out the Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. It all goes down to intent. That being said. I would not touch Yoga with a ten foot pole.
Is this something that a Christian should be participating in? It is something you have consider prayerfully before you decide. Will it build you up as a Christian or will it ruin your example?
There are some practitioners in the US that have secularized it, so to speak, changing the language. and tossing out the Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. It all goes down to intent. That being said. I would not touch Yoga with a ten foot pole.
Is this something that a Christian should be participating in? It is something you have consider prayerfully before you decide. Will it build you up as a Christian or will it ruin your example?
TylerRay
Puritan Board Graduate
For my own part, I've found tremendous benefit in using yoga techniques for stretching and exercise--it's great. I don't get into energies, dharma, and all of that Pagan nonsense. I agree with Perg: eat the meat and spit out the bones; or, to put it negatively, don't throw the baby out with the bath water.
I've also found acupressure helpful. I don't like the idea of acupuncture, because I don't think we're warranted in poking holes in ourselves (or others) unless it's absolutely necessary. But massaging acupressure points has done me a lot of good when I need to relieve some inflammation or stiffness.
I'm not convinced that every acupressure point works, and I'm not convinced that every yoga position is actually good for your joints, etc. All of these things are subject to scrutiny and revision.
It's true that we have to be very careful what we become involved with. I don't think I'd be comfortable signing up for yoga classes from someone who bought into the entire religion and philosophy behind it. The same is true for the Eastern medical techniques. However, we can learn from it, eating the meat and spitting out the bones.
I've also found acupressure helpful. I don't like the idea of acupuncture, because I don't think we're warranted in poking holes in ourselves (or others) unless it's absolutely necessary. But massaging acupressure points has done me a lot of good when I need to relieve some inflammation or stiffness.
I'm not convinced that every acupressure point works, and I'm not convinced that every yoga position is actually good for your joints, etc. All of these things are subject to scrutiny and revision.
It's true that we have to be very careful what we become involved with. I don't think I'd be comfortable signing up for yoga classes from someone who bought into the entire religion and philosophy behind it. The same is true for the Eastern medical techniques. However, we can learn from it, eating the meat and spitting out the bones.
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