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Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine |  | Authors: Harriet Beinfield, Efrem Korngold
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Seller: ABVI-Goodwill Books
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 8684
Media: Paperback
Edition: Later Printing
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0345379748
Dewey Decimal Number: 610.951
EAN: 9780345379740
ASIN: 0345379748
Publication Date: June 30, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780345379740 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
Two of the foremost American educators and healers in the Chinese medical profession demystify Chinese medicine's centuries-odl approach to health. Combining Eastern traditions with Western sensibilities in a unique blend that is relevant today, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH opens the door to a vast storehouse of knowledge that bridges the gap between mind and body, theory and practice, professional and self-care, East and West.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
Enjoyable, thorough and personally relevant November 29, 2009
Quadradox (Helena, Montana United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The authors have an excellent skill in communicating the concepts of Chinese Medicine to humans born into a western mindset with wonderful clarity. It was a joy to read. It's weakness from my point of view as a physician is that they seem to take their knowledge of western medicine from "a straw man" image of either what it was in the past or as if it was a solitary discipline epitomized by the surgical orientation of one of the author's father. Since I started in another career before medicine (biological psychology) I find that western and eastern medicine are both valuable disciplines, each with their own merits and their own weaknesses. As time marches on, with each vast system of healing having much more exposure to the other now than at any other time in history; we are also able to witness the needed and natural phenomenon of regression toward the mean. I could phrase that more poetically and spiritually as convergence toward the "Middle Way", the Tao or the balance of Yin and Yang.
Despite the inward aching of "De Qi" when I felt them hit a potentially true weakness in western medicine and the times when I felt they were perhaps a little further off the grain -- overall I found the book refreshing, hopeful and ripe with wonderful possibilities for strengthening the role of the client or patient in their own healing. The latter is something severely weakened in our third-party system of western medicine whereby someone elses pays for something to be done to me by procedure or pill, but yet I don't really have to nor am I inspired to change much about how I rest, recreate, eat, exercise or relate to my fellow earthwalkers or environment.
In eastern medicine these issues are all part of a larger concept of healing that has been sadly drained out of western medicine. Why this problems exists is complex and obviously western practitioners have their blind spots and exaggerations which have contributed to some but not all of the flaws. I especially think that it is not because most of us do not care as physicians. Nor is it because we have never spent time struggling with the passivity of the western model. There is no simple answer, but part of the accelerated dilemma lies with our institutionalized and bureacritized systems of delivery, now so heavily laden with other agendas that the essence of what we hoped for has sometimes been left out. Instead our "essence" became commercially packaged for mass production and profit mostly by people and corporations who never touch or sit face-to-face with the the real person made of flesh and blood (and qi) who came seeking healing.
Wholeness as glimpsed here could also be lost to the practice of eastern medicine, if the painful lessons in the evolution of western medicine are not studied with more thoroughness and heart than the authors exemplify in some of their superficial cliques -- such as doctor as mechanic. Science and medicine have moved on in the lives and practice of many if not most physicians.
I would point out that China in the early days of its exposure to western "materialistic science" likewise seemed to have become "intoxicated" with the grand idea that one could systematize, categorize, control and demystify nearly everything -- the tools becoming grandiose in their promise for mass production, delivery and speed. But at the end of the day, we and I believe they also ultimately realize that individual humans and complete living biological systems are always more than ... more than the micro by itself, more than a logical linear string of mechanisms, more than the isolated part, more than the quantity that is measurable by current standards and represented in group averages. Furthermore, healing done in harmony with the body's inate wisdom takes time.
Everytime I prescribe a medication I do so with some appreciation for what seems to be known about it and some hesitancy also realizing that for the person sitting in front of me it may have a somewhat different effect that than promised by the manufacturing drug company. Thus, my limited experience with Chinese medicines prescribed by L.Ac. colleagues and what I read between the authors lines tells me they understand the same -- there is great variation among individuals and their response to a given preparation will vary. Some of these differences may be explained by liver enzyme systems for metabolism, renal clearance, variations in biological half-lifes, and interactions with other medications in western medicine. They might be explained by season, time of day, age, gender, and propensity toward the expression one of the 5-Elements patterns in Chinese medicine. However, all our systems of explanation are imperfect in the face of life, its diversity and its wounds.
Nonetheless, I feel the authors did a very solid job of opening dialogue about their understanding of potential differences between left/right, east/west, yin/yang and ultimately eastern and western medicine. I would love to see that dialogue continued with a deeper respect between both sides -- for the greatest benefits of all of those who feel they are born and driven to be healers and who pursue with great diligence the expression of one or more healing arts and sciences from their own point of entry into the great mandala of wholeness. Such a healing of the split between healers seems likely to do even more for those who come to them for healing.
There are many strong sections of this book -- I felt most drawn to the initial sections on theory, 5 elements, and the adaptation of archetypes to explain differences between people incorporating the physio-spiritual-pyschologic dimensions of the elements. I appreciated the balance in presentation of these types -- all of which have significant strengths and vulnerabilities for injury or illness. Unlike some texts I've read in which I felt the author might obviously like one type of person better than another; instead I felt a deep respect and appreciation communicated by these authors for every type of human, a recognition of equality or equilibrium between them and that all are needed to complete the human species. I also felt the emphasis on the positive side of each archetype, creating for the individual who possesses it a very important image of what it could look and feel like to be healthy. Sometimes that is greatly needed after a person has endured months or years of criticisms (even well intentioned) and chronic illnesses.
I do not know enough about chinese herbal medicines to speak to those sections. I definitely carry a fear for my particular group of patients/clients who have marked kidney insufficiency and who already have to take many western medicines; I am concerned that the additional burden of interactions with herbs and just more "stuff" for their already threatened filters to manage could overwhelm them. In this situation even the foods we would normally consider healthy (fruit, whole grain breads, nuts) can become toxic or lifethreatening by overdosing phosphorus or potassium. Thus I just don't go there with the population I serve. I am unable so far to speak to how this works with other groups. Nonetheless, I find much of interest in the book -- plenty to feed my imagination in the potential use of acupuncture and qi gong for assisting with pain and the de-spiriting aspects of chronic illness.
Easy to read October 26, 2009
C. R. Hunt (TX, USA)
This book is great. I found that it easy for someone that is just beginning an interest in eastern medicine to get a clue. The book was referred to me by my doctor. He was right about it being a good place to start. It will definitely make you stop and consider the mind set of western medicine. There are also a number of useful recipes in the back if you like to cook.
Good Layman's Guide August 28, 2009
Anna Castiglioni (San Diego, CA United States)
Brought up by a scientist and a Western doctor, I was skeptical and mystified by Chinese medicine. After all, there is little more than anecdotal evidence for most of its success, and there is no rational reason for it to work. I was like Han Solo watching someone use the Force. I began acupuncture because Western medicine had not cured me in a year of trying, and my acupuncturist recommended this book. As I read it, Chinese medicine became less like a hokey religion, and began making sense. With creative language, personal experience from the authors, cases of their patients, elemental guides, and a rundown of various treatments, it's a great beginner's guide for the layman. On the not-so-good side, it does ramble on a bit sometimes, which is why I give it minus 1*.
 Easy to follow January 19, 2009
Irwin Chan (Marin,Calif.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a must read and a must own. It is a comprehensive easy to follow book allowing one to gain in depth information of the 5 elements.
Amazingly well written book! December 17, 2008
Peter M. Farr
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This has got to be one of the best written books I've ever had the pleasure of reading on Chinese Medicine. Very beautiful language and with diagrams and pictures makes it VERY easy to understand and for once, an ENJOYABLE read
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
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