Getting to Know Your Health - 001 Introduction: The Third Factor In Healing

Preface

In these classes, we will be explain the different approaches between eastern medicine, western medicine and the Torah of the Jewish people, and the synthesis between them, regarding healing specifically, and to health in general. Along the way, we will see how the Torah’s path contributes to the role of doctors, as well to our own personal lives and worldview.

The general theme running throughout these chapters is that both Eastern and Western medicine are pieces of a puzzle, which, without the Torah’s view, form an incomplete puzzle. Therefore, although it may seem at times that there are parts of the Torah’s view that are included in either the views of Eastern or Western medicine, the views of either Eastern or Western medicine alone are incomplete, because they are separate from that of the Torah. Thus, the contributions of Eastern and Western medicine to health, by themselves, are lacking and limited, when they do not synthesize the Torah’s view.

In addition to this, anything true found in either Eastern or Western medicine is also found in the Torah of the Jewish people; it is just a part of a larger puzzle, and we need deep study in order to see it and understand it. Any piece of the puzzle is only regarded as important so long as it is connected to the larger puzzle that it is a part of. Therefore, in whatever aspect we will discuss here, let us understand that we are only speaking of a piece in the puzzle, and not of the complete picture; then we need to see how it fits into the larger picture.

Many people in our nation today are traveling to the East to study spirituality, unaware that whatever they find in the East is but a partial picture of what they are searching for. Whatever is there is but pieces of a puzzle. The complete puzzle is available only in the Torah of the Jewish people, and in the land of the Jewish people, Israel. Throughout this work, we will try to explain this point, and to give a fuller picture of the complete puzzle – which is the Torah of the Jewish people.

The Third Factor

The view of Western medicine has established that the body, and the soul – which refers here to emotion – are two separate, independent factors; and that this is how they body and the soul\emotions should be dealt with. Eastern medicine, in contrast to this, believes that the body and the soul are integrated forces, as one system; therefore, according to this view, the world of emotion is an inseparable part of the physical body, which gives balance to the emotions.

The Torah of the Jewish people reveals a third view, a more inner view, which is not independent of the above two schools of thought, but which is rather a synthesis between them. Even more so, these three views together [no integration of body and soul\emotion, integration of body and soul\emotion, and synthesis of no integration with integration] is actually one complete picture. The body and the soul\emotions are interconnected with a more inner aspect of man, to form one complete structure.

The first view (Western medicine) focuses on the body alone, the second view (Eastern medicine) focuses on how there is a soul inside the body, while the third view connects the body, soul\emotion and “inner” aspect of man all together. These three views are really each inseparable parts of one whole.

This is expressed in both the roots as well as the results. Western medicine attributes the source of physical illness to the material world – pollution, radio waves, and consumption. Eastern medicine acknowledges that emotional upset can also contribute to physical illness, such as the emotions of anger, melancholy, and troublesome thoughts.

The Torah of the Jewish people combines the state of the body and soul\emotion together, and connects to a third, inner force. For example, a person’s happiness can come from either one of these three factors. A person can become happy based on something that happens in his physical side to life – such as giving birth to a child, winning the lottery, etc. A person can also become happy when his emotions are in proper balance, whether in his conscious or unconscious state. But there is also a happiness that can come to a person from his deeper essence, from his “neshamah” (Divine soul). The happiness can start in the neshamah and then spread into the rest of one’s being, until his physical body feels it.

Accordingly, health can be achieved through any of these three factors: through the means of the physical body, or through the means of the soul\emotions (which can then spread to the body), or through the person’s deeper essence, the neshamah (which can spread to the emotions and body).

The Shape of Something Tells Us About Its Underlying Concept

Each thing in the creation has its shape, its structure, which defines its underlying essence. There are some things where we can’t see its shape; for example, water has no defined shape, because it takes on the shape of wherever it is placed in. In contrast to this, the parts of the physical body each have a certain shape and design to them. The head\skull has a circle shape, whereas the spine has the shape of a long line. The way something is shaped is not at all a coincidence. There is always a reason for the shape, and the shape of something tells us about its essence.

Therefore, when we study about parts of the body, we need to understand the structure and shape of that part of the body, its role, and accordingly, its underlying essence. When we understand why a certain part of the body is shaped a certain way, we can then reach the “root” of that part of the body, and of the power that lays in it. We will learn more about this, with the help of Hashem, in a future series.[1]

In the world, there are different forces, each represented by various shapes that they take on. One force will take on a round shape, and another force will take on the shape of a straight line. These are all forces in the inner essence of man, the neshamah. When those inner forces extend into the body, they take on the appearance of the body part that may be round, straight, etc.

Western medicine only looks at the exoskeleton of something, its outer structure, without considering its inner design. Eastern medicine, however, looks deeper than the outer structure, and uncovers some of the inner design that is in something; this view is aware that the earth is a flat dimension, where the skies are a circular dimension. However, while Eastern Medicine touches upon this concept, it is not aware of the inner design in each thing, only in some general instances, such as the shape of the earth and the skies.

The Torah of the Jewish people reveals to us that the body is a shape which lends expression to the neshamah within it. In the view of the Torah, it is not by chance that the body is shaped in a certain way; there is a direct connection between the shape of the body, with the neshamah. In other words, not only is there an interconnectedness of the body and neshamah; it is all one “reality” expressed in three different versions. Compare this to water, which can take on many different shapes. Water can either become frost, or it can be liquid, or it can be turned into gas, but it is always the same “reality” of water.

Yin and Yang According To Eastern View and According To The Torah

In Eastern medicine, which is built on the concepts of “Yin” and “Yang”, the Yin represents the concept of “right”, while the Yang represents the concept of “left”. According to the Torah’s approach, it is the opposite – Yin represents the left, and Yang represents the right.

Right and left are determined based on a person’s point of view, from where he is located, and they are not right or left by essence. According to the Eastern view, man should face the south, and accordingly, his right side is in the direction of west. For this reason, the Eastern view regards north and west as part of the “right line”, whereas south and east are part of the “left line”. According to Judaism, the view is the opposite: a person should face the east. Therefore, according to Judaism’s Torah, the south is part of the right direction, and the north is part of the left direction. The difference between these two views is a fundamental, basic difference between the Torah’s view with the Eastern view.

Let us think about this: Why is it that Torah and the Eastern view differ about right and left?

The Torah of the Jewish people is the structure of Creation, as will be explained in coming chapters. The other wisdoms of the world are but a part of the Torah, and their view is like the view of a mirror, which turns everything around. In a mirror, the right appears to be left, and the left appears to be right. However, when you look through a clear-glass mirror, the right remains right, and the left remains left. The Torah of the Jewish people is like the view from a clear-glass mirror of the creation (and on a deeper level, it is the root of the entire design of the creation). Eastern school of thought, however, is a “mirror” of Judaism – where right and left are switched with each other. This is reason why Torah and Eastern thought differ concerning the “right line” and the “left line”.

Eastern thought does not provide a satisfying answer as to how the complete “oneness”, which they refer to as the “Tao”, splits into the two lines\direction of Yin and Yang. That is why they cannot trace the source of either the Yin or the Yang. For this reason, Eastern thought does not know which is more important, Yin or Yang. It is in doubt which of these forces is the more fundamental one, or if there is even a more fundamental one in the first place.

When we consider the concepts of Yin and Yang from the viewpoint of Eastern thought, we cannot know which of these came first, which of these forces is the stronger one, and which of these is the more fundamental one. Therefore, there are either one of two possibilities. In one possibility of Eastern thought, since the world is round, neither Yin or Yang came before the other. This is indeed the conclusion of the Eastern view. In another possibility, there is a view that either of these had to come before the other. The truth is, though, that it depends on viewing the “circular” dimension of Creation, or the “straight line” of Creation [which will be explained in the coming chapters]. From the “circular view”, both right and left are existent at once, and none of these came before the other. From the view of the “straight line”, one point had to have preceded the other, so either right or left has precedence.

If we take a look at reality, we sometimes can see that Yang has the upper hand, and we can sometimes see that it is Yin which has the upper hand. According to the Torah of Judaism, there is a law to give precedence to the right over the left, whereas in the gentile nations of the world, the left dominates the right. This perspective really comes from the view of the “straight line”. The reality is that the right really dominates the left, because the power of positivity in creation is represented by the right, and positivity is stronger than negativity, represented by the left. Later, it will be explained why indeed it is this way.

Yin and Yang, right and left, are two lines. In order to know which of them should come first, we would need to find the beginning point. In other words, we need to discover the root of the Yin and the Yang. The answer to this is that they are both rooted in what they call the Tao, which in our terms is called the “oneness”. However, Eastern thought cannot explain how the oneness of this “Tao” somehow divides into two different lines, right and left, Yin and Yang, and accordingly, it also cannot explain how the lines of Yin and Yang can find their way back to their source in the Tao.

The Middle Line

The third view, which is revealed in the Torah of Judaism, is that there is a “third line”. Whenever there is tension between two opposites, there is always a point in the center, which is always one inner force, which allows for a connection between them. Through the Torah, the balance between two opposite forces is always possible, at all times, when we find the middle point in between the two extremes.

A fundamental difference between the Torah’s view and the Eastern view is, that according to Eastern thought, everything is based on right and left, Yin and Yang, whereas in the Torah’s view, there is an additional, third line – the “middle line”.

Yin and Yang are opposing forces to each other, but this very opposition and clashing between them is what can connect them together. The opposition itself can create the connection, or the “middle point” between them, and that is where they can join together. Even more so, that connecting point unifies them together forever, and it binds them together permanently. On a deeper level, the Yin and the Yang are even a revelation of this connection.

There is always a balance between two opposite forces, as long as they are equal in strength, and through this balance, they become one. The balance between Yin and Yang does not come from a balance itself (the balance itself is not within This World), but from the middle point between them which connects them. The middle point can be found at any moment, and it is also its own line.

Eastern thought tries to balance Yin and Yang together, without this middle point. Such a balance is really impossible to completely reach. For this reason, the goal of Eastern thought, which is for one to return to the Tao - through attaining the balance between Yin and Yang - is never completely reached.

Completion Is Only Reached By Connecting To The Oneness That Unifies

In the Torah of the Jewish people, it is always possible to attain a balance between two opposite forces, because the balance makes it possible to connect to the “middle point” that binds the two extremes together, while maintaining awareness to both of them. For this reason, in the Torah’s perspective, it is always possible for a person to connect to the oneness which binds everything in creation together, because the oneness is the root of the middle line. Thus, the middle point serves as the “glue” that connects a person to the oneness of creation, while at the same time, enabling a person to remain connected to the two opposing forces, of right and left.