World TB Day and the Moxafica Answer

The world needs more solutions, more individual and communal healing, more healing modalities that are both cost-effective and easy to use.

 In light of Dr. Margaret Chan's recent speech about the waning efficacy of antibiotics, anitbiotic resistance and evolutionary developments that threaten the world's population, simple, traditional solutions have, perhaps never been more necessary. For those with lesser access to the medication they need due to shortages, lack of access and/or other factors, traditional medicine has offered significant advantages.

Documented throughout several milennia, moxabustion is one of the most important modalities within Classical Chinese Medicine, Japanese medicine and others. For TB it has proven effective, delimited the development of anitbiotic resistant strains and proven itself cost-effective. In the hands of community healers and other professionals, moxabustion can be utilized within the community, exactly when and where it is needed. Drawing upon community values and the community healers prevalaent in Africa and most nations throughout the world, moxabustion could prove to be an invaluable treasure in TB treatment, even in the cases of HIV/AIDS comorbidity.

Answering the call for more flexible, low-tech solutions, Moxafrica.org is engaged in moxabustion research in Uganda. Funding the research of the charitable insitution, Moxafrica and those sickened with TB in Uganda and throughout the world stand to benefit. If you wonder how many might be affected by your effots consider these facts.

According to Merlin Young of Moxafrica (2012 based upon WHO figures):

• 32% of mankind is latently infected with TB; this percentage is higher in Africa (80%...).
• Normally 1 in 10 go on to develop infectious disease;
•  this is higher in Africa because of HIV/AIDS (no-one has a figure);
•  An estimated 35% of those who develop infectious disease die never having been diagnosed or treated (again this is higher in Africa, but who knows....?).
•  98% of deaths from TB occur in the developing world.

Innovative treatments are needed now as the scourge of drug resistant disease grows, and treatment becomes unaffordable for more and more vulnerable people.

If you'd like to be a part of the solution, part of the research to help Moxafrica demonstrate how this simple low-tech treatment (moxa) might well be part of the larger solution , please consider offering your contribution to Moxafrica.org's first properly controlled trial is starting in Uganda. They really need your help!

Please share this Moxafrica.org World TB Day video today and whenever possible. So many resource poor populations and people throughout the world may well depend on it. Together we can make a difference in so many lives! Thanks in advance for being part of something much larger than yourself.  Namaste~

Curious connections, not seeking and finding

During my break from writing, translation, work, and preparation I wandered off in search of Xiang cai (Hunan cuisine). Just outside the main gate, there are a few places and I've come to know them quite well in such a short time. Still, there's something lacking. It's a taste of 'home' but not really home. Inevitably, I miss the voices, the dialects, the laughter and camaraderie of my Chinese ban / working family. From the first, it was destined (yuanfen). Yet, there is something special about missing someone or something, something more than mere familiarity that speaks to the heart/mind and/or soul. It lies so much deeper.

Of course, today, I didn’t meet Hunan ren initially. Looking back, of course, I’m reminded that when one is searching, one is not finding. Cannot tell you how many times I have shared that with friends, students and colleagues. That’s one of the many treasures from Professor Hoffert’s class. At any rate, I just pushed on, taking it all in including the Cantonese (Guangdonghua), which I do not understand. At least, I recognize the speech markers. David Feng probably excels here, like he does in so many places.

Yet, when I reached the bookstore, a little farther beyond the main gate, several students from various colleges seemed to find me as I sorted through various reading materials and magazines:-) Most of the young students were really shy, at first. When they sought something, I just answered them in Chinese., It seemed to put them at ease. The conversations progressed in the mixture of languages, but we all understood each other. (When we listen with our hearts, we understand anyway.)

On female student traveled from Peizhou. She studies now, but wants to go to Guang Wai. Actually, as we conversed, I could not help but think of Lonnie Hodge. She loves literature! She has even studied Indian literature. Of course, I met her again inside the bookstore and we exchanged thoughts on various writers and pieces of literature. She even offered me her precious bilingual literature book, but I really could not accept. I did, however, illuminate how the same books written in English and published abroad often lack the poetic sayings in between the entries in the table of contents and how special they truly are! Still, I could not help but think she should have met Lonnie instead of me. Sometimes, the world is a curious place.

As I perused the shelves with my newfound friend, we also looked at translation and English books, commenting on their strengths and weaknesses. One made me think of David Feng. Of course, it was entitled, ‘A Translator’s guide to Chinglish.’

I met two other English major students from Guang Wai, who admittedly attempted to study Japanese but found it difficult to pronounce. They, of course, made me think of my son, who excels at Japanese. This, in turn merely led to deeper consideration of Shinnyo-en Buddhism and the idea that the world is our place of service, our teacher and the place for cultivation, as well. As Dan Jordan would remind me, “The world is a mirror.”
Upstairs in the bookstore, used books are sold. I cannot tell you how many books are piled into the shop! I did find a Russian phrasebook, hoping to learn a little more to converse with one of the Russian foreign teachers here. I met her in the bank last week, when she was accompanied by one her students. She admittedly has not seen much of China and wants to learn more about it, its cultural, history and people. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to explore something together. Besides, meeting her reminds me of Larissa, the first Chinese medicine doctor I encountered in the states and the first I learned from. In many ways, sharing with this young woman would be an honour.

I did not find any other book I sought, but I did meet a young woman with quite a wish list of books. I helped her reach some of them and find others. Looking through titles in Hanzi sometimes leads to interesting discoveries. I thought she was a Professor. She is really diligent in her studies! She did tell me where to find some of the titles and works I sought--another connection:-)

Leaving the book store, I encountered numerous works in English by G.K. Chesterton and immediately thought of my good friend Liz Garcia-Gray. While reading through another book, I realized how hegemony rewrites history, even falsely. As I read through a complementary/alternative medicine book published abroad, it revealed how Hippocrates was the first to match medicine to the person. This, is of course, untrue. There were other disputed facts about many other medicines and histories and their associative theories, but I learned something about hegemony, neocolonialism and thought.

By the time I reached another opening I had not previously explored, I decided to ascend the stairs. There I met a fellow Hunan ren from Changde. I cannot explain the connection, the breadth of my smile or the feeling. Words somehow just fall short. We talked about places and experiences and food, places visited, minorities in the province, etc. Notably, as well, the dialect also became Hunan hua. From the anthropologist in me, I recognize inside/outside markers quickly. Admittedly, I, too struggle not to speak like a Nan fang ren/ Southern person. Yet, shared speech, collective memory, shared history and food, etc. somehow co-create and reinforce membership and culture. From an intellectual standpoint I know this, but from an experiential standpoint, the descriptions lack complete meaning. They somehow lack the vivacity of the moment and the connection.

In the small mall, I learned where to buy embroidery supplies from a woman shop owner who was also managing her eight-month-old son. In the last stop, a French video store and CD store I encountered a French Professor here. He told me about his travels and his studies. He taught at Zhong Shan Da Xue) (Sun Yat-Sen U) for 10 years and then Guang Wai for 30 years. He still teaches but helps raise his school-aged granddaughter in the city. He authored more than 20 dictionaries and penned several other books. Of course, he also loves language and reads and writes several more but doesn’t speak them. He gave me some advice and told me to continue on, to write more, study hard, to teach well and continue the journey.

Making my way back, I ran into a colleague from the same department. We conversed for a few moments. In a way, the trip was full circle.

All in all, it was not the day I sought but so much more than I hoped for. Small treasures lie in wait in unexpected places. My friends, family, colleagues and so many people I’ve encountered always travel with me in some shape or form, deeply embedded within my heart. Connections are everywhere once we stop looking and begin finding.

The Waning Days of the Ox

As the days of the Ox slowly fade into the horizon and give rise to the Tiger, I find myself reflecting, stepping into the flames, dancing within them, letting them burn away the excess while inspiring their strength and vitality, striving toward renewal. This last year has brought trials and tests and many realizations. Mostly it reminded me that I am fortunate to have a global family that loves me unconditionally.

Sifting through the layers of inquiry and recombination, so many aspects become clear. Knowledge deepening occurs without warning. So does the subsequent journey.

Home is where the heart is always and forever.

Love knows no borders. Neither does suffering. When we listen with our hearts we understand each other.

Collectives are powerful and insular and offer invaluable lessons.

Health is your default setting. "Illness is the messenger," as Deena Metzger teaches.

The chasm between illness and healing offers innumerable possibilities.
Midst the current paradigm shift, the world is in the chasm! Mirroring the experience of those afflicted with illness globally, many institutions face this chasm of uncertainty, challenged by their own conventions and/or limitations. While Dr. Margaret Chan revisited this conversation and expanded the use of traditional medicine as primary care in every nation, many governments are simply lost, devoid of the tools and/or the personnel and resources to accomplish this. Luckily, a few people I've encountered, friends and colleagues, have both the skills and knowledge to usher them across and initiate them into more sustainable, effective and integrated practices. (Hasten the day!)

Patience is a virtue.
While many of the illnesses of modernity could easily be prevented and/or eradicated simply through traditional means, patience is perhaps difficult. It is what tests me daily in the wake of global suffering. It propels me even when I lack the strength or resources to do so. Alleviation of suffering, health and healing always beckon. So does global understanding:)

Cooperation coauthors survival!

The Things We Do for Love-What a Stalker Taught my Family

"Lord knows why we do it
the choices we must make,
the roads we all must travel
for someone else's sake " ~Z

For months our family has been plagued by a stalker and, yet, despite the turmoil, the heartbreak, frustration, anguish and sometimes intense anxiety, my daughter's ex-boyfriend and the entire situation has alternately shown me what it means to love.

It's strange how that happens. Life ushers in fateful twists and turns, challenges us on several levels, but always somehow opens the door to awakenings. Not surprisingly, every moment embodies and engenders such opportunities.


For us, it all started when my teenage daughter chose to leave this young man, a year her junior. Before the end of the school year she told him. She knew it would be difficult, but did it anyway. She knew this young man had anger management problems and residual sorrow from the years he grew up in the city where he lost family members to gangs. She urged him to talk to the social worker for more than year and even tried to be the social worker in many ways. Finally, she realized that enough was enough. He needed more!


Before she left, they fought. He often arrived unannounced demanding attention. During her time at a family member's home several hundred miles away, the whole breakup escalated! He constantly rang her cell phone and then showed up at my door, out of nowhere.......

I'd be out in the yard and look up to find him standing behind me or appearing from the corner.

Pleas to talk, I, at first, appeased. I treated him as I would anyone. After all, he was also hurting. Compassion in all things!

We chatted about his hopes and dreams for college and a career after he finished high school. I listened mostly. When he spoke of his mistakes and how he would do anything to get my daughter back, the timbre in his voice changed. The way he uttered those words, the passion, the anger, and the turmoil echoed from within. I felt it!

All at once, I understood my daughter's position. Feeling her fear across hundreds of miles that separated us then, I told her ex-boyfriend that love means wanting someone else's happiness even when it is not with us, even when someone wants something or someone beyond our choosing. Love is unselfish and endless!


At the conclusion of the lengthy conversation, he thanked me. Little did I know that over the next several weeks he would methodically attempt to destroy any serenity, any peace, and security my family had known. It had always been the three of us, my son, my daughter and me, through thick and thin. This merely tested our strength, our love and our dedication to each other once again. (I didn't say it was easy!)

As soon as my daughter returned home, he showed up demanding to see her. He stood toe to toe with me or my son, pushing himself against the screen door trying to look in and, on several occasions, opening the front door. He refused to leave several times and always found another excuse to return. He'd drop letters and items in unexpected places and even throw them through the door as a reason to enter once more. Finally, her ex-boyfriend used each and every one of his family members to get to her one way or another in the name of love.

He inspired fear and uncertainty on every level!

The police did little to help. The officer returned anything exchanged between them and told her ex-boyfriend he could not contact her in any way, shape or form and that he could not grace our door, but little more. My daughter, a virtual prisoner, changed her phone number several times, stayed away from cyberspace and all other mediums of communication. She remained on "house arrest" until we could find her safer ground. We couldn't keep her safe! We loved her enough to let her be free and happy and find a way to finish high school. Understandably, I cannot disclose how or where.

Just when we thought we could breathe again, this young man requested information from several of her friends regarding her whereabouts. They didn't answer. They didn't know where she was. We decided it was easier if they lacked the information. Even if her ex-boyfriend became violent with them, they had nothing to disclose.

Finally, he hacked her MySpace and arranged her status to engaged, her mood to read that they were back together again, etc............ His own page stands testimony to his obsession and reiterates how he will do anything to get her back regardless of what happens to him. With my daughter's assistance, we quickly notified security on MySpace, deleted people who had any connection to this young man and blocked him. He reacted almost immediately. Sadly, the situation escalated and we moved her once again, faster and farther than before. The three of us rode together again mostly under the cover of the night. I tried to savor the moments.

After completing formalities, registering her in school and helping her arrange her room in the few morning hours we had, it was time to say "Good-bye." I knew she'd be safe and loved. I knew she'd have infinitely more opportunities than I could give her now, but still it was so very hard. Choking back the tears, I hugged her, whispering love and wisdom in her ear, desperately trying to smile. Even my son struggled with a well-spring of emotions, despite his facade.

I love my daughter, without question. I love her as surely as I breathe, a surely as I share this. I miss her more than mere words could ever express, but her health and well-being, safety and happiness are all that really matter!

Upon reflection, within the quiet moments, I realize, the stalker who entered into my family's life, taught us about the value of living in the moment. He taught us about strength and resolve and about sacrifice. (For those reminders and lessons, we are grateful.) Mostly he taught us about love--selfless and endless love!

Oh the things we do for love..........

(I appreciate the friends and family members who have been there for us throughout these difficult times. I wish I could list you all here, but circumstance delimits it. Words cannot express our gratitude for your love and support. Love to you!)
Namaste.
Debra 湘君