"Manhattanhenge," Photo by Steve Kelley

This season sees us breaking new ground and developing core themes in our programs. In March we will offer a symposium and two seminars on the life and work of the redoubtable Peter Dale Scott, one of the most perceptive and courageous researchers alive today when it comes to understanding the “deep politics” of the United States in the last half century. We will be joined for these events by a stunning array of speakers including James Galbraith, Richard Falk, Daniel Ellsberg and James Schamus. We expect this series of events to be one of the most remarkable programs we have ever offered.

As always we maintain a strong focus on the beautiful, mystical dimensions of the three Abrahamic faiths. We are honored to host the renowned scholar of kabbalah, Moshe Idel, who will offer fresh insights on the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism and one of the most beloved spiritual teachers of the Jewish tradition. Kyriacos Markides will enlighten us on the forgotten path of eastern mystical Christianity as it has been maintained in the monasteries of Mount Athos and elsewhere in the Greek cultural sphere.  Sharifa Norton and Muinuddin Smith will speak on the influential Sufi teacher Hazrat Inayat Khan , who came to the United States in the 1920’s bearing the gift of heart-centered, mystical Islam.

In the realm of indigenous culture, we are offering in-depth work from the Mexican Indian traditions in curanderismo.  Elena Avila, who is both a psychiatric nurse and a curandera, will show how the wisdom and healing power of this shamanic stream has a great deal to give to the development of contemporary integrative medicine. And Don Oscar Miro Quesada will take us into the heart of native Peruvian healing culture with its centuries of insight into the nature of health and well-being.

We enter our 26th year at the Open Center filled with creative vitality. After all this time it still feels that we are only beginning to express the full richness that holistic and ecological understanding has to give. Wherever this worldview finds authentic expression, a life enhancing effect can be seen. So we invite you to join us in our new home on 30th Street. May you enjoy the many opportunities for learning, growth and insight that we take pleasure in offering.

“Manhattanhenge” is a term coined in 2002 by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History. This starburst phenomenon occurs around the time of the solstices each year when the setting sun aligns with the east-west streets of Manhattan’s street grid. The term is derived from Stonehenge in England, where the sun aligns with the stones on the solstices.

Traditional Chinese herbalists treat sexual imbalances such as impotence or reduced desire by improving adrenal energy, muscle strength and endurance with herbs that increase vitality and immunity. For improved sexuality, herbal adrenal tonics are often combined with moistening or blood-building herbs that reduce stress and increase sexual fluids. Harmonizing sexual drive and capacity with sexual fluids is said to bring happiness, compassion and love.

 

Sexual vitality can become blocked for a variety of reasons, including a lack of strength or energy, or a problem with circulation, any of which can be caused by fatigue and stress. Chinese medicine’s tonifying herbal combinations are not aphrodisiacs—they do not directly arouse sexual desire—rather, they make sexual activity and enthusiasm possible by fortifying natural vitality.

 

Sexual Strength and Energy

 

Traditional Chinese herbalists have for centuries recommended Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) or ren shen in Mandarin Chinese, to improve vitality and sexual wellness for both sexes. Panax, a well-known adaptogen, is said to reduce fatigue and stress as it strengthens the body. Sexual performance could be complicated by stress if it manifests as heart weakness, blood sugar imbalances or poor circulation.

 

In 1997 a professor at Yale University’s School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., reported that Chinese ginseng stimulates nitric oxide, a neurotransmitter that mediates a variety of bodily actions including blood vessel dilation, blood pressure regulation and blood clot prevention. [ 1 ] Nitric oxide activates an enzyme that relaxes smooth muscles, allowing blood to flow. When this happens in the corpus cavernosum, an erection is possible. Viagra, the sexual potency drug, also allows nitric oxide to relax smooth muscles in the penis but the drug comes with side effects. While Viagra emphasizes sexual performance, ginseng is said to tone the entire endocrine system for a more holistic beneficial effect.

 

People with high blood pressure, chronic headaches, irritability or insomnia should avoid using panax on a regular basis to avoid the risk of fevers. However, panax can be combined with anti-inflammatory or moistening herbs such as Solomon’s seal (Polygonum multiflorum) or he shou wu, to balance ginseng’s stimulating effects. A typical side effect of panax is temporary facial flushing or short-lived dizziness. These effects are most likely in people who are overheated or who have a cold.

 

Cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis) or tung chung hsia tsao, a fungus that has been used medicinally for centuries, is highly valued in China as a tonic for general health. Traditionally, cordyceps is simmered in a double boiler for several hours, and the liquid is drunk as a tea. It is categorized as a neutral (not heating or cooling), sweet-tasting restorative.

Often, sexual tonic herbs are combined for optimal effect. For example, I recommend combining panax with ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) or yin guo and sarsaparilla (Smilax medica).  

This combination is said to be more effective for both men and women than any one of those herbs used alone for treating sexual vitality problems. Ginkgo increases peripheral blood circulation to all extremities. Sarsaparilla, a diuretic, is said to carry the enlivening action of ginseng and ginkgo to the sexual area so they can increase circulation and enhance sensation.

 

Lung Fu Chuang Yeung Dan is a traditional Chinese formula recommended to men and women who suffer fatigue from overwork, blood deficiency, illness, emotional upset and insomnia. It contains panax, epimedium (Epimedium grandiflorum) or yin yang huo, and herba cistanches (Cistanche salsa) or rou cong rong—all sexually stimulating herbs that are also believed to treat impotence.

 

In men, epimedium is said to increase sperm production and stimulate the sensory nerves, thus increasing sexual desire and strength. The herb is used to treat impotence, frequent urination from weakness, poor memory due to adrenal insufficiency, timidity, and painful lower back and knees. Studies done at the General Hospital of Beijing show epimedium improves sexuality and quality of life in patients with chronic renal failure. [ 2 ]

 

As for general health, although research is preliminary, animal studies at Seoul National University in Korea indicate that icariin, a flavonol glycoside and major constituent of epimedium, may reduce liver toxins. [ 3 ] Two other laboratory animal studies at the Chengdu College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Helsinki, Finland, indicate that epimedium may have immuno-enhancing properties. [ 4,5 ] Herbs such as epimedium, which may also reduce liver and heart stress while increasing adrenal energy, are said to be beneficial sexual tonics because they strengthen immunity to illness and fatigue.

 

Traditionally, a tea is made by simmering a handful of dried epimedium leaves for 15 minutes in a quart of springwater. Epimedium is not recommended for long-term use nor is it indicated for people who have fevers or a high sex drive. Overuse might lead to dizziness, dry mouth, thirst or nosebleed. This herb is often combined with (Schisandra chinensis) or wu wei zi, and either lycium fruit (Lycii chinensis), gou qi zi, or Solomon’s seal to balance epimedium’s drying effects.

 

Solomon’s seal is a blood-building and moistening herb described as being capable of enriching nutrition, enforcing the spirit, generating bodily power, and preventing illness and aging. It reverses the damage that accumulates over time from stress and modern life.

Curculigo orchiodes (Rhizoma curculiginis) or xian mao, is another herb used in Chinese medicine for impotence, urinary incontinence and infertility caused by conditions of weakness. Customers can simmer a handful of the curculigo twigs in a quart of water for 15 minutes for a mild-tasting tea. To begin, they should drink no more than one cup per day.
 

Circulation and Sex

 

Not all sexual problems are related to weakness and exhaustion. Inflammation and pain can build up, making sex uncomfortable. By holding in stress and anxiety, poor circulation can manifest as discomfort in the groin. Even in the absence of problems, increasing circulation in the sexual area improves vitality, particularly for those who may have stagnant lifestyles or who may hold in their emotions.

 

One of the best traditional Chinese remedies for prostate and lower abdomen discomfort is called Kai Kit Wan, which contains cow soapwort (Vaccaria seqetalis) or wang bu liu xing; peony bark (Paeonia suffruticosa and P. moutan) or mu dan pi; astragalus (Astragalus spp.) or huang qi; patrinia herb (Patrinia villoea) or bei jiang; hogfennel root (Peucedanum praeruptorum) or qian hu; licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) or gan cao; costus root (Saussurea lappa) or mu xiang; and akebia (Akebia trifoliata) or mu tong. 

Chinese herbalists say the formula works because the two forms of peony increase circulation to break apart congestion pain, astragalus reduces water retention and builds strength, and hogfennel root and licorice relax smooth muscles to redirect the action of the other herbs to the sexual area. This combination is said to condition and promote prostate function and to increase blood circulation in the genital area, lower abdomen and inner thighs, creating a sense of opening, ease and healthy circulation.  

Such a combination has traditionally been used long-term to correct chronic prostatitis, painful or bloody urination, and testes pain. An herbal combination such as this, which allows blood to flow freely again, can release constriction and reduce discomfort. I recommend taking it with zinc for prostate conditions.

 

A Women’s Medicine Chest

 

Women’s sexual problems are often related to fatigue, lack of sexual interest or menstrual and hormonal irregularities. Several adrenal tonics are useful for a variety of energy-related problems. Nettle (Urtica dioica), an adrenal tonic, has traditionally worked well for those weakened by autoimmune imbalances, allergies, liver problems and long-term exhaustion.  

Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) and sage (Salvia officinalis) are all heating spices that have been used for centuries to create energy and sexual desire in both women and men. People with low backaches, frequent light-colored urine or pale tongues, which indicate slow metabolism, should use a pinch in hot water as tea. 

 

If lubrication is an issue, avoid clove, fenugreek and sage because these heating herbs are too inflammatory and drying; instead take polygonum. Cherries, berries, leafy greens, prunes, plums and peaches are cooling, moistening foods said to reduce inflammation and nervousness while improving menstrual regularity.

 

If a woman’s sexual fatigue is complicated by hormonal factors, typified by symptoms such as fevers, night sweats, hot flashes and facial flushing, Chinese herbalists recommend a formula combining cooling herbs with aphrodisiacs. For example, anemarrhena (Anemarrhena asphodeloides) or zhi zi, which treats fever, irritability, thirst, rapid pulse and dry cough with thick yellow sputum, is often combined with herba cistanches, which treats impotence, urinary incontinence, and pain and chills in the lower back and knees.  

To make a substitute from garden herbs and kitchen spices, combine cooling skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and cumin (Cuminum cyminum) with cloves. The result is a warming adrenal stimulant.

A natural, holistic approach to sexual remedies frees sex from a disease category and puts it in the context of vitality and health. This collection of Chinese sexual potency foods and herbs can make sex possible for men and women both now and into late life.

 
 

Letha Hadady, D.Ac., author of Asian Health Secrets, Personal Renewal, Healthy Beauty, and Feed Your Tiger, is an acupuncturist and herbalist living in New York.

 

References:

1. Gillis CN. Panax ginseng pharmacology: a nitric oxide link? Biochem Pharmacol 1997 Jul;54(1):1-8.

2. Chen XM, et al. Effects of Epimedium sagittatum on quality of life and cellular immunity in patients of hemodialysis maintenance. Chung Kuo Chung Hsi Chieh Ho Tsa Chih 1995 Apr;15(4):202-4.

3. Choi YJ, et al. Antihepatotoxic activity of icariin, a major constituent of Epimedium koreanum. Planta Med 1995 Dec;61(6):523-6.

4. Dong X, et al. Effects of Sichuan herb epimedium on the concentration of plasma middle molecular substances and sulfhydryl group of “yang-deficiency” model animal. Chung Kuo Chung Yao Tsa Chih 1995 Apr;20(4):238-9, 254.

5. Hiltunen R, et al. Isolation and immunomodulatory effect of flavonol glycosides from Epimedium hunanense. Planta Med 1997 Aug;63(4):316-9 
 ]]> http://ocblog.opencenter.org/chinese-herbal-tonics-for-sexual-love/feed/ 0 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/bead-bonding-working-together-under-one-sun/ http://ocblog.opencenter.org/bead-bonding-working-together-under-one-sun/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:05:07 +0000 julietb http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=517 The Open Center bookstore is now offering a fabulous new product that makes the perfect meaningful holiday gift!

Mala beads are made by a widows and orphans in the western district of Uganda. These women, young and old, have suffered abuse, armed conflict, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. The crafting of these beads is not only therapeutic, it also provides and livelihood and the dignity of financial independence.  Each bead is made from recycled paper and other indigenous items. The beads are then imported to the U.S. by Mushana, a collaborative design firm, where women  jewelry designers produce the necklaces.

Mushana’s Global Mala beads were the official necklaces of the Global Mala Yoga Peace Project, a program that united the yoga community in support of the United Nations International Day of Peace.

You’ll find these very special crafts in our lobby bookstore, open 10 a.m. until closing seven days a week. We’d love to show them to you now.

Frances Sorensen, Bookstore

The simple question she asked me now pops up in my heart almost once a day and gives me a moment to pause, take a breath, and simply say “Thank You” for what I am, for this life that I have been given. I now begin each day with a simple “Thank you,” right upon waking, even if I feel crummy.  In truth I could have been born a million different people, in a million different places, and yet here I am, writing this blog, warm in a comfortable home on a brisk fall day. Not that many of my brothers and sisters around the world can say that. And yet they too have their own myriad things to be grateful for.

One of the quickest ways to finding a more lasting and stable sense of joy in the day-to-day is to foster gratitude and an attitude of appreciation for ourselves and the outside world that constantly nurtures us. Sometimes we have to fake it-but something about the words “Thank you” (see Masaru Emoto’s “The Message From Water) does something to shift that crumminess, even if it’s almost unnoticeable.

When we tell our partner that we love them, really we’re saying “I am so grateful for you being here, in my life, dearest.” When the sun shines after four days of clouds and we smile upon waking up to the bright blue sky, whether we hear the words in our minds or not, we are saying “Thank you for shining again, dear sun.” It’s not that sun stops shining, it’s that the clouds cover it over (the depth of this realization is limitless and certainly worth another blog, to come soon). In another sense, we are also thanking the clouds for moving on, further east, and releasing the source of our life (and often enough, joy) back to us. So perhaps there’s an opportunity on a cloudy day to thank the clouds for the future time when they will eventually pass (as all things do), as we will feel that sunshine even more poignantly.

When we eat good food and taste that magical first bite, closing our eyes, humming “Mmm” to ourselves, salivating ecstatically, really that is an expression of gratitude not only for the fact that we have to eat to live, but for the delicious mouthful itself. But to discern even more deeply, we are in that “Mmm” thanking the preparer of the food, the pots and pans and knives that transformed it, the dishwasher (if we’re at a restaurant) that will clean up after us, the supplier and the one who delivered it from the farm, the farmer who spent the hard hours in the garden, the earth for nurturing the seed and the rain for watering the soil, the sun for providing light and warmth, and so on back through the lineages of farmers that have preserved the seeds (and though I don’t like to admit it, even Monsanto is a part of this Great Chain of Being, to use Ken Wilber’s term) and the knowledge of how to grow the food.

Very quickly, through that one bite, we are eating the whole of Life itself, regardless of whether it is an organic avocado or a twinkie, and if we spend enough time on that mouthful, even the Big Bang itself will become apparent, and gratitude will bloom. This is a great practice to help foster interconnectedness, as nothing exists without the full support of everything else, and it is only in the conceptual mind that we separate things into names and ideas and forms.

Now what is even more miraculous is that this morsel will disappear and become something else, for us energy and waste matter, just as all those things that went into its creation as the perfect bite of food have become a part of us and our bodies. And in this we find the true essence of Transience and Interconnectedness. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen monk, sometimes uses an analogy of this sort and if this type of mindful eating is practiced with diligence, it can awaken something truly beautiful inside us and begin to dissolve our sense of separation from everything around us.

So this is my recommendation for Thanksgiving, which began as a religious holiday, essentially to give thanks to the Divine for a successful harvest season and for life itself (which is absolutely dependent upon the growers of food, thank you farmers!). This Thursday, before you take your first bite of turkey or tofurkey, cranberry or kraut, say a word of thanks in whatever way seems best to you for the chef or for the farmer, for the sun or the earth itself, before putting it in your mouth. Then with each bite, close your eyes and see if you can discover in its flavors the rain, the soil, the trees that give shade, the farmers, your ancestors and the incredible complexity of the natural processes that turn seeds into trees and young into old, and just say “Thank You” for all of it. We can nurture this attitude day in and day out with a little practice, until everything we see and do is one big movement of gratitude; and that can help to build a lasting sense of connectedness and at-homeness in the world and in our bodies.

Barbu Panaitescu, Events Coordination ( http://barbupanaitescu.wordpress.com/)

As I waited for the elevator, I crossed paths with one of the ministers. When asked its source, he appropriately called the particular incense “Monastery Blend” and told me it is purchased specifically for religious ceremony from a company based in the midwest. In the spirit of education, I thought it would be fun to share a few interesting Frankincense facts.

Frankincense, also called “olibanum,” is an aromatic resin from the boswellia sacra tree along the Somali coast. There are four types of the tree that produce true frankincense in various “grades.” Omani, (from Oman in Southern Arabia) frankincense is said to be the best in the world. These trees are considered unusual for their ability to grow in unforgiving environments, and can seemingly grow directly out of solid rock.

Frankincense has been traded along the Arabian Peninsula & in North America for more than 5,000 years. It was found in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamen, who died around 1323 BC, about 3,332 years ago. It was reintroduced to Europe by the Frankish Crusaders.

Frankincense is used in perfume, cosmetics, medicine and aromatherapy. Most common to us, is its lavish use in religious ceremony. In the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament, it was used as an ingredient for incense and lovingly given by the Magi along with gold and myrrh to Jesus. Egyptians ground the charred resin into a powder called “kohl,” which they used to make the distinctive black eyeliner, melted into a depilatory and a paste to perfume the hands.

The aroma is considered to represent “life” and Judaic, Christian and Islamic faiths have each used frankincense mixed with oils to anoint infants and individuals entering a new phase in their spiritual lives. Frankincense is edible and has been used medicinally in Asia for digestion and healthy skin. Ayruvedic medicine has been using Indian frankincense to treat arthritis for hundreds of years. It has been used to alleviate ulcers, dysentery, fevers and leprosy. Its inhalation in steam form is said to relieve bronchitis and laryngitis. Burning it repels mosquitoes and protects people and animal from mosquito-born illnesses, such as malaria, west nile and dengue fever.

Modern medicine has been studying the uses of frankincense for chronic inflammatory diseases, such as Chron’s, in addition to trial studies for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and even the effects on various tumor cell lines, (brain, liver, and melanoma). It was announced in 2008 by the Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that frankincense is a psychoactive drug that relives depression and anxiety.

Kim Kushner, Bookstore

The Open Center is pleased to bring our unique holistic resources to the critical effort to support our veterans and their families. We’re presenting an upcoming conference, “A Warrior Returns: Integrative Therapeutic Approaches to Support Transition from Battlefield to Community” on Sunday, November 8, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The URL for this conference is www.opencenter.org/a-warrior.

This conference is for military and civilian therapists, chaplains, clergy, nurse practitioners, creative arts therapists, other healthcare professionals and holistic practitioners who are working with veterans and their families, or who want to do so.

The morning session will address some of the most difficult issues mental health professionals face when working with veterans, including:

•  Establishing trust; holding without judgment what the veteran may tell you;
• Understanding the special nature of combat PTSD in contrast to more generalized trauma, including damage to the nervous system, attachment system, and belief system;
• Integrative therapies such as EMDR, TFT, somatic approaches used to reduce anguish so that recovery can begin;
• Rebuilding the attachment system through equine assisted psychotherapy;
• The warrior as a spiritual being and the meaning of faith in war;
• Issues of return and reintegration with self, family, and community;
• The impact of deployment on the children of military families.

 The afternoon session will feature:

•  An experiential presentation that includes an overview of mind/body approaches such as meditation, movement, and simple biofeedback techniques, and why they are effective in healing trauma.
• A group trauma relief model from the Center for Mind/Body Medicine in Washington, DC that has been used successfully in areas of armed conflict around the world, is now being used with veterans and taught to caregiving professionals, and is currently under study by the Dept. of Defense;
• Instruction in several techniques that can be immediately applied in your group or private practice.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Chapter of the New York Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

If you want to be part of the effort to heal broken lives and reweave the bonds of family and community, you can register online at www.opencenter.org/a-warrior. For student and group rates, call 212.219.2527, ext. 2.

Juliet Bruce, Ph.D.

Please join the Open Center in welcoming religious scholars Karen Armstrong and Elaine Pagels for a fascinating discussion on the true meaning of religious faith at the Church of the Transfiguration, 1 East 29th Street, on Monday, October 12 at 8 p.m.

In her nineteenth book, the recently published The Case for God, Armstrong writes of a great shift taking place in the religious landscape. Believers are focusing their attention away from religious beliefs and doctrines and toward meaningful actions of faith.

In Armstrong’s view, many of those who speak as “religious voices,” just as those who speak as atheists, misunderstand the nature of God. These voices – many of them fundamentalist and exclusionary – describe God as an external personality and are driven by ego and fear of God’s “otherness” rather than the transcendent experience that is God.

Armstrong’s purpose in this book is to clear our minds of all the noise about religion and bring us back to a path of faith that depends upon active practice rather than passive belief. And for this she goes to the ancient sages. A Case for God traces the entire history of religion, from the ancient cave paintings at Lascaux, France created around 12,000 BCE through the Axial Age (500-200 BCE, all major religions were founded independently but with common values) to modernity.

What she has found are two ways of practice that lead to God. The first is rigorous spiritual practice on a daily basis. And the second is acting with compassion toward other human beings.

“In silence God is present.”
The first tenant of a religious life is silent contemplation.”The stunned appreciation of an ‘otherness’ beyond the reach of language” is the heart of religion,” writes Armstrong. Rituals, sacred texts, and spiritual practice are there to help us on the path of faith — by whatever name we call it. She tells the story of a man who asked the Buddha who was sitting silently in the midst of chaos in complete serenity, “Are you a god, sir? Are you an angel or a spirit?” The Buddha answered, “No, I’m awake.”

The other aspect of the path of faith involves acts of kindness and compassion. Armstrong writes that acts of compassion are in fact encounters with God. She observes that the very otherness of someone who doesn’t belong to our ethnic, ideological or religious group can actually pull us out of our habitual selfishness, the comfort of our egotism, and give us a sense of the sacred otherness that is God.

Elaine Pagels, renowned Christian scholar best known for her writings on the Gnostic Gospels, is Professor of Religion at Princeton University, and winner of a MacArthur Fellowship. Pagels won the National Book Award recipient for her bestseller The Gnostic Gospels, which was selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best non-fiction books of the 20th century. Pagels’ most recent book is Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (2007).

Both women have suffered great tragedy in their lives and have transformed despair into a quest for a living faith that has helped millions of others find their own paths to faith-filled lives in a world of suffering and evil.

The $35 dollar fee includes a copy of The Case for God.
　

We can see that there is also a pattern developing. A cigarette comes at the end of a stimulating activity. It is used to make the feeling last, to settle more deeply into the enjoyment of the moment. But in practice it becomes more like a reward. It is something we look forward to after the activity. And soon smoking becomes intimately paired with the activity, almost as if the two cannot go without each other. From there on, every time we do our favorite activities, there is smoking.

We instill in ourselves, patterns and habits that fly under the radar of consciousness. And because of these unconscious patterns, the habit of smoking becomes very difficult to break. We are only conscious of our enslavement to cigarettes when we try to stop. And only when we try to stop, when we give our deliberate attention to the cessation of smoking, we see how tied in smoking is with the majority of events during the day.

I have come to the opinion that this is why people have such difficulty in quitting cigarettes. Because it is not a mere giving up of tobacco, but a re-organization of how we experience much of our day. Not having cigarettes plunges us deep into the sensation of a given experience. Boredom, stress, restlessness, loneliness, and anger all become intensified when we do not have our normal, habitual, outlet for relief. We are forced to sit with our unpleasant emotions and thoughts as they are. When smoking is not an option, we cannot use our normal means of pacifying ourselves.

The good news is when we give up cigarettes we are given more presence to actually see the causes and conditions of what initially caused us stress. We are forced to see our discomfort for what it is and we can either try to eliminate it, by discovering and eliminating its causes and conditions. Or we can let the suffering continue into its limit: infinity.

And this is the difficulty in quitting; attempting to change the very pattern of one’s life while at the same time fighting the extreme mental and physical cravings. When faced with the unimaginable task of re-inventing one’s life it is always easier to fall back into old patterns; especially when those old patterns involve strong drugs.

So here we are. Stuck with a decision so profound it literally embodies the choice of life or death. And the right choice is as simple as doing nothing. Yet, there is still a world of struggle. Everything is pointing to one solution and the patterns fight tooth and nail to perpetuate themselves.

For now, I will act as I always do, in true wu-wei style, and do nothing.

 Nick Reguero