also linked to Brief Memories of Shunryu Suzuki

Loring Palmer's link page - for more from Loring

2-19-11 - Zen and Chinese medicine and Shunryu Suzuki - no I don't know anything about it but came up with an interesting memory via Loring Palmer and a suggestion for the questioner.

A week ago or so received the following email:

My name is Ashley Callen, a zen gal and Chinese medical practitioner. I'm just coming back from a Pacific Zen Institute Sesshin and was inspired to research the connection between Zen and Chinese Medicine. I came across this talk:

Shunryu- Suzuki-roshi
Wednesday, July 9, 1969
FORM AND EMPTINESS II
Tassajara

and found it very interesting. (This is what led me to your site and your e-mail address). I'm wondering if you happen to know who he's referring to at the beginning of p4 "My friend...authority of Chinese med..." or have any other good information on the topic of Zen and Chinese medicine. I'm happy to e-mail the file back to you if that's helpful.

DC - Yes, that was me helping to pack up after the PZI sesshin.

I wrote both Taigen Dan Leighton and Loring Palmer about this saying we'll surely not discover who that friend of Suzuki's was who was into Chinese medicine, but do you know anything about Zen and Chinese medicine and neither had a suggestion though Taigen suggested it might have been Ryuho Yamada (RIP) who did shiatsu on Suzuki when he was dying but no, Ryuho first came that year, 1971.

Loring wrote something rather interesting I'd never heard:

"Mystery. The only medical people that I recall were Ryuho, who did message, and the reclusive doctor from Japan that was giving injections to SR. I believe that you're correct in saying that Ryuho came in at the end. And the Japanese doctor was offering a western approach, and concerned me at the time by walking down the halls at Page street residence holding a syringe: Surreal! I asked someone at the time why Eastern Herbal remedies weren't being utilized, and was told that the doctor had been sent by Soto Headquarters to save SR."

DC: Wow, I never heard about that doctor. Thanks for that Loring. I think I'll add another bit of surprising medical Suzuki trivia tomorrow.

And for Ashley I just noticed this on the SFZC's Sangha Newsletter for Feb. 16th. Try this person. She'll surely know more than us. Good luck. DC

Emotional Health in Traditional Chinese Medicine - at City Center

Lucy Xiao
Sat., Feb. 26
1:30 - 4:30 pm
with Lucy Xiao, L.Ac.

How do emotions affect our physical health, and vice versa? In this workshop, we will explore how Traditional Chinese Medicine views the human body as a whole, the relationships between emotions and internal organs, and how they affect each other.