转自诺娜博客中文版

2010年11月16日

考虑五行而非穴位——这是我们必须奉行的治疗准则。我们通过针刺一系列的穴位来治疗，然而，这些穴位并不是独立的，而是如同缝制衣服的针脚一般，串联起整件衣服。让我惊讶的是，有些治疗师总是舍本逐末，太过重视单个穴位的作用，却忽视了与穴位所在的经络相关的五行，与五行相比，穴位只是其中很小的一部分。

我深信，对某一行进行治疗，其作用会发生累积，而无需依赖某个穴位的独特作用。因此，在我看来，发挥作用的并不是单个穴位，单个穴位也不足以力挽狂澜，使治疗的局势发生改变。相反，选择某条经络或某一行的不同穴位进行治疗，疗效便会一层一层逐渐累积，病人的失衡也随之慢慢恢复。或许某次治疗之后病情突见起色，病人恢复健康，但这并非是那次治疗所用穴位的功劳，而是先前一次次的治疗中选用了一个又一个穴位的结果，由此，我们才在健康的天平上加上一个又一个砝码，最终重归平衡。

穴位从属于整个五行和经络系统，越放大穴位的作用，则越容易忽视后者之精妙，这样一来，愿意深入探索五行的治疗师也就越少，而治疗师本应对五行建立起深刻的认识，才能帮助我们摒弃对单个穴位的过度强调，代之以另一种更为简单的方案——每一行及其所属之阴阳二官的力量永远居于首位，相应地，该选择哪一穴位来调理其气血则位居其次。一行上的所有穴位都可以从不同方向提升其气血，每个穴位亦是调整此行气血的不同门户。这就是为什么治疗师在同一条经上选取不同的穴位，却可以让病人取得相似的进展。

既然疗效来自于同一行上不同穴位功效的累积，而非一系列单个、孤立穴位的结果，那么对于同一行上的穴位而言，哪个阶段应选择哪个穴位则可根据治疗师自己的喜好而定。由于不同针灸流派有着不同的治疗方案，不同的老师所传授的知识也不尽相同，因此，具体的选穴因流派和治疗师的不同而存在差异。

Think element not points                                    

Posted 16 Nov 2010

When we approach treatment, our mantrashould always be:  Think element, notpoints.  We know that we treat by needling aseries of points, but we must think of these points not asindividual stitches in a garment, but as shaping the garment as awhole.  It has always surprised me how muchattention practitioners seem to pay to individual points, whilstplacing very much in a subsidiary role the element upon whosemeridians these points lie, of which they form only a smallpart.  

I am convinced of the cumulative natureof working upon an element, rather than the need to rely upon theindividual action of specificpoints.   In my view it istherefore never just one individual point which does the trick, andturns the tide of treatment as it were.  Rather,there is a gradual accumulation of effect, as the selection ofdifferent points on that meridian/element adds layer upon layer tothe elements effectiveness in redressing a patientsimbalances.  There may come a tipping-point as aresult of one treatment, where ill-health turns at last to goodhealth, but it is created, not by the points selected for thatparticular treatment, but as a result of having, with eachpreceding treatment, through the selection of one point or a seriesof points after another, placed weight upon weight on the side ofthe scales of health labelled balance.

The greater the over-emphasis on pointsto the detriment of the subtleties of the elemental and meridiannetworks to which they belong, the more practitioners are reluctantto engage with the elements at the deep level such a relationshipcalls for.  This deep level of understanding helpsremove the emphasis on individual points, replacing it instead withwhat I regard as a much simpler scenario.  Herethe power of each element and of its servants, its two yin and yangofficials, remains always to the fore, with correspondingly lessemphasis placed on deciding which of its points to select toharness its energy.   All pointsbelonging to an element enhance in different ways that elementsenergy, each becoming one of the many doorways through which thisenergy can be directed.  This is why it ispossible for practitioners to choose quite different points on thesame meridian and yet lead to a similar level of improvement in thepatient.

If the effectiveness of treatment liesin the cumulative effect of selecting points on the same elementrather than in selecting a succession of unrelated, individualpoints, it is then very much a matter for individual practitionerspreferences which points relating to that element are selected atwhich stage of treatment.  These selections areusually based on the protocols used in the particular branch ofacupuncture in which they have been trained or by the individualteachers who have passed on their knowledge to them, and they willtherefore vary from school to school and from practitioner topractitioner.