Balancing of the hot and clod elements in the body and mind through following the principles on Buddhist Alternative Medicine.

The Author : Ph.D.Jaiphet Klajon.

Expert in Alternative Buddhist Medicine

Certify from

Bureau of Alternative Medicine 

Department for Development of
 Thai Medicine Traditional & Alternative Medicine Ministry

             According to the Buddhist Medicine Philosophy the imbalance of the hot and cold elements creates many kinds of sicknesses and diseases, including cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, infectious and other diseases.  Knowing how to balance these two elements will enhance health and decrease many kinds of sicknesses.

            80% of the current population is generally prone to illnesses created by overheating of the body and soul.  The primary reason is that a sickness derives from consuming or contacting foods or herbs, which carry excessively “heating” elements.  These hot elements, if consumed too much, can lead to many kinds of serious illnesses.  On the other hand, upon consuming or contacting “cooling” foods or herbs, the body will feel balanced and comfortable.  Therefore, applying cooling formula will help to adjust the health balance.

            5% of the population has symptoms in the so-called “overcooling” group. The sickness in this category derives from consuming or contacting cooling foods or herbs in excess.  This type behavior can lead to several kinds of serious illnesses as well.  Therefore, by applying in this case a heating formula when consuming foods or herbs will help to adjust the health balance.

         15% of the population has overlapping symptoms, having concurrently overheating and overcooling symptoms which originate from consuming or contacting either heating or cooling foods or herbs.  This type of situation can lead to several kinds of serious sickness as well.  Therefore, combining both formulas will help to adjust the health balance. 

   The nine approaches to find balanced health, or the nine “pills” of Buddhist medicine, if you will, are as follows:

   Pill no.1. Taking natural herbs to balance your health factors.
            

To address overheating symptoms, drink cooling herbs or chlorophyll beverages to help to adjust the hot and cold balance.

Instructions:  Select from the following “cooling” plants in fresh form the most suitable ones for your treatment: yanang (Tiliacoratriandra  Diels) 5-20 leaves, 1-3 pandanus leaves, buabok (Centellaasiatica Urban) from a half to one handful, Bejing grass 3-5 stems, omsaeb or benjarong (Justicia Gangetica) froma half to one handful, morning glory from a half to one handful, saled pangporn (Clinacan thusnutans Lindau) from a half to one handful, 3-5 inches of the inner core of the banana plant, and wan ka-ab hoy (Tradescantia spathacea Stearn) 3-5 leaves.  Pound, rub or grind everything together with a couple of cups of water. Then strain the mixture through a sieve.  You can have a  cup of this chlorophyll drink before meals one to three times a day, or when thirsty - even if your stomach is empty.  The suitable quantity and concentration of the beverage to drink will depend on the amount needed to make you to feel comfortable and energetic.

In the case when overheating and overcooling happen at the same time,

There are 3 ways to heal this illness. First, you prepare cold element herbs (see above) and then mix them with hot water. Or you boil cool element herbs and drink the liquid. Or you may mix it with hot element herbs such as: turmeric, ginger, galanga (khaa), lemon grass, holy basil, sweet basil, garlic, rhizome, bael fruit or to control the mix it with drinks made from plants with heating effects   The quantity how much to use these herbs depends on your feelings. The right balance you‘ll find by sensing.

To treat overcooling symptoms, you can drink the heating type of beverage one to four times a day, depending on your health situation.

   Pill no.2.  Gua Sha or skin detoxification.

Gua-Sha is a simple technique of rubbing and scratching repeatedly the skin in different parts of the body.

Instructions:  First, you should lubricate the skin with pure water, balms or oils that are made of herbs with either heating or cooling effects depending on each person’s condition.  However, if any lubricant isn’t available, it’s not necessary to apply anything on the skin.  Next, use a small smooth-edged object to rub or scratch, repeatedly applying pressure strokes to near of the areas that are sore, painful, uncomfortable, or toxin outlets such as the back, arms, legs, gaps between ribs and etc. You can rub directly on the skin or through thin clothes.  Avoid rubbing in areas that are sensitive or on soft tissue, such as areas that have wounds or polyps, near eye balls, or sex organs.  Apply pressure strokes to the same area 10-50 times, less or more depending on the health status of the person.  During this treatment, reddish rashes will develop, but don’t worry.  They will usually disappear within a few days. But don’t use excess force, which may rupture the skin.

Remarks:  you should wait for 4-8 hours before taking a bath after Gua-Sha to allow more time to release toxin out of the body before the pores in the skin can close again.

   Pill no.3.  Detoxification of the large intestines.
           

Instructions:  Prepare the detoxification solution by mixing herbs with either heating or cooling effects, as the case may require, with pure water of room temperature, or boil the herbs with water for 5-10 minutes and mix it with enough water to make it warm enough to use, depending on your feelings. Next, pour 0.5-1.5 liters of the solution into the detoxification kit.  Remove the air from the tube by running some solution through it and then close the valve.  Apply a lubricant (Vaseline, Aloe Vera gel, vegetable oil or the detoxification solution) to the tip of the tube for a length of couple of centimeters.  Then insert the tube into the anus to 3-5 inches in depth, hang the detoxification kit on the wall at about an arm’s length height, and start releasing the solution into the intestine by opening the valve. Then rub the stomach and hold your breath for a while, leaving the solution inside your intestine for as long as you can keep it there. Then release everything out. Repeat this as many times as it is required to consume the total amount in the container. The detoxification may take some 10-20 minutes. Healthy people may do detoxification 1-3 times a week, while severely ill patients should do it once or twice a day, according to their health situation.

   Pill no.4.  Soaking hands and feet in a herbal concoction
                  

Select the herbs which you expect to improve your health condition, boil from a half to one handful of one or several kinds of herbs of your choice with approximately 1-3 liters of water for 5-10 minutes.  Then, add room temperature water until it’s warm enough to soak hands and feet (cover hands including the wrists and ankles).  Do it for three minutes at a time, with a one-minute gap in between, for a total of three mini-sessions.  If any person feels uncomfortable from using the warm solution, then use pure water of room temperature containing fresh herbs of your choice instead.  Healthy people may do this detoxification approximately 1-3 times a week, while severely ill patients should do it once or twice a day according to their health situation.

  Pill no.5.  Use an herbal concoction as a poultice , to paint the 
                    skin, as drops, compresses , with steam or in bathing ,
                    as desired.

  Pill no.6.  Choose the accurate and suitable forms of exercise,
                     acupressure , and yoga will make each individual feel
                    comtable and energetic.

Regarding techniques of exercise, Buddhist Medicine has promoted exercise methods that combine body stretching, yoga and acupressure along the meridian lines, which boost both strength and elasticity of the bones and muscles, as well as one’s overall “chi/prana” energy. Choose the accurate and suitable forms of exercise, acupressure, and yoga will make each individual feel comfortable and energetic.

  Pill no.7.  Balanced diet (adjusting the diet to balance your body
                    with the environment)

Eat protein from beans or grains instead of meat. Sick people who still cannot stop eating animal protein should eat eggs or fish instead.  Add more fresh vegetable and less-sweet fruits to your meal.  Apply minimum amount of spices to your foods, as little as you can.  Try to use salt as the primary condiment  when preparing the food.  Because it helps digestion of foods, eat them in the following sequence:

      1. Start by drinking fresh herbal beverages, for example chlorophyll drinks.

      2. Eat more “cooling” fruits and fewer “heating” fruits.

Cooling fruits are such as:  cooking (saba) banana, dragon fruit, santol (kraton), pineapple, pomelo, rose apple, mangosteen, watermelon, cantaloupe, raw mango, raw tamarind, raw papaya, partially ripe papaya, monkey mango.

Heating fruits include durian, ripe jackfruit, ripe mango, Morinda citrifolia (noni), lychee, rambutan, longan, Baccaurea motleyana (rambai), star fruit, Sweet Plum Mango (ma-prang), Bael fruit (matoom), Salacca (sala), tangerine, grape, guava, custard apple, passion fruit, sapodilla, ripe papaya, sweet tamarind, preserved or processed fruit.

      3. Eat more cooling vegetables and fewer heating vegetables.

Cooling vegetables are such as: Chinese Violet (om saeb), morning glory, cucumber,  cabbage (napa), romaine lettuce, bean sprout, lotus stem, Centella asiastica (bua bok), eggplant, gooseberry leaves.

Heating vegetables are such as: all kinds of spicy and redolent vegetables, all kinds of seasoning herbs, chilies, ginger, lemon grass, galangal (khaa), turmeric, pepper, chives (hom), sweet basil , Climbing wattle (cha-om), Chinese broccoli, cabbage, carrot, beetroot, string bean, winged bean, bitter bean (sataw), water mimosa, acacia, Chinese ginseng, Korean ginseng, Morinda citrifolia leaves (bai yaw), spinach, pumpkin, bamboo shoot, seaweed, lotus root.

      4. Eat non-processed rice with various side dishes. Stop or reduce eating highCarbohydrate foods, which include sticky rice, red rice, black rice, wheat, barley rice, taro, potato.  Moreover, avoid all kinds of desserts, bread, flour snack, instant noodles, fermented rice flour noodles, etc.

The various side dishes should be prepared by using more cooling vegetables, which include all cooling vegetables  mentioned above as well as zucchini, all kinds of squashes, inner core of banana plant, banana flower, banana tip, raw banana, cauliflower, broccoli, radish, lettuce head, young pumpkin, pumpkin flower and tip, corn, raw jackfruit, and moringa.

         5. Eat soups that should be prepared by using a variety of kinds of cooling beans or grains.  Cooling beans or grains are such as: white beans, green beans, soya beans, sweet peas, chickpeas, pearl barley.

Stop or avoid eating high protein foods, such as: meat, milk, eggs, peanuts, red beans, black beans, fried beans, shiitake mushrooms, ganoderma lucidum, chi mushroom as well as fermented or preserved protein from vegetables and animals.

Stop or avoid eating high cholesterol foods, such as: vegetable and animal oil, rice bran oil, sesame, coconut milk and meat, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashew nuts.

  Pill no.8. 
            Stopping wrong action, fulfilling meritorious action, purifying one’s mind, establishing good companion, social and environment

Do only meritorious acts, applying Dhamma to your daily life to create a peaceful mind.

  Pill no.9.  Balance between work and rest.

This philosophy of Buddhist medicine aims at balancing the state of one’s body and mind.  An individual can use only one or several kinds of techniques at the same time, as long as it helps one to feel comfortable and energetic during the treatment.  On the other hand, any kind of techniques that makes the individual feel sick or lethargic should be discontinued.  This requires constant self-observation and creative re-adjustment.  In general, the simple premise is treating “overheating” symptoms with cooling foods, and vice versa.  In certain cases, one may have to switch back and forth several times before arriving at the balanced level of comfort.

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