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Well Dear Friends,
Many of you have asked to be informed of what transpired in my visit to China. I have
been saying I will write a detailed account of it. It seems to me that a very thorough
account will take a long time, and hence, I herewith will attempt to cover the main points
of interest.
First a brief background to those who are not familiar with why I went to China in the
first place. When I was about 3 years of age, I had an injury to my right shoulder that
had never fully healed. The sensation in that shoulder has varied over the years from a
mild discomfort to severe pain. It culminated in paralysis in 1965, when I lost the use of
the entire arm for a period of eight weeks. Although the use of the arm was regained, the
nature of the pain increased. Occasional dislocations accompanied this pain, the fear of
dislocation being even worse than the pain.
This changed substantially in 1968 when I met Guruji, Shri B.K.S. Iyengar. I have
narrated that story elsewhere so I will not repeat it here. While this meeting changed
forever my relationship to the shoulder for the better I have never known complete freedom
from pain in that area.
A very loving friend, Deborah Morin, who knew of this pain, first told me about a year
ago of this Chinese healer she had met, who worked 'magic.' She gave some quite amazing
accounts of the ability of Zhou Hong. Coupled with that she insisted that I go there and
even more insisted that she would pay for it. So I joined a group of about a dozen folks
who went to China last August. Susanne and I left from Frankfurt and joined the rest of
the group in Shanghai. From there we took a 45-minute flight to Tunxi in the mountains,
where the air was better than Shanghai. Our story began when we reached the airport in
Tunxi.
Our group leader, Shahabuddin, insisted that I go and sit down in the bus, while he
would deal with the luggage, helped by what appeared to be Chinese workers. Soon enough
Deborah appeared and asked me if I had met the healer. I said, "No, where is he?" He was
outside, carrying our bags! Presently he came into the bus and waved to us all. Complete
lack of ego exuded from his very being; I have seen it a few times before but rarely so
matter-of-fact, so very effortless.
Next morning, our group was given a demonstration by the healer and his cousin of some
impressive feats of physical and mental prowess: bending a solid steel bar one end of
which was braced against a wall with the other end placed just below the notch of the neck
at top of the sternum, crushing broken glass by repeatedly falling with his back on this
glass on the floor, breaking some ceramics with bare hands, and as a climax, touching a
red hot iron chain without being burnt by it. These were all rather intriguing, but I had
seen similar feats elsewhere before - definitely impressive but no 'big deal'.
The next morning the treatment started. General outline of what Zhou Hong did was
similar in all cases; the details varied according to the problem. As a patient you would
first review your medical history through the interpreter, whose name was Charles, a
delightful young Chinese gentleman. The patient had the opportunity to add, subtract or
clarify what he had written. Three main questions he seemed to ask were a) how is your
digestive system, b) how is your liver and c) of all the conditions you had listed which
was the one that you wanted him to work on most. Then he used a stethoscope to make a very
thorough examination of various parts of the torso as you lay on your back. Other patients
had the opportunity to observe what was going on; Zhou Hong was always very discrete and
respectful of any part of the body that he touched. After this you sat up and he took your
blood pressure, and examined your pulse, eyes and tongue. Then he would describe in detail
what he believed was going on with you. In my case he said he could not guarantee a cure but he could improve the shoulder about 80%. This
required 14 'Qi's (pronounced cheese). Each Qi was $60. He ended up giving me 3 more than
estimated and said that since I was a yoga teacher and hence a part of his tradition's
family he wanted me to have that as a gift. Deborah's husband John called it a
professional discount, but I insisted it was a family discount.
As I lay face down on the hotel room bed, Zhou Hong went down my spinal area with his
thumbs asking where I had pain. Once these areas were located rather accurately, he placed
several suction cups on areas of blocked energy or pain on my back. This suction created a
small mound of swelling in the area. After a few minutes the cups were removed. He then
adapted a QiGong position, gathering his energy into his hand he tapped firmly on the
swelling in rapid succession, and asked me to cough. This amazingly drew blood! This blood
in different cases would have different colors wind, air, and water qualities as he
described in Chinese traditional medical system. Then to complete the process he used
another cup, which he heated with an open flame and put it rapidly on the affected area to
draw out more of this 'bad blood'. That process completed, he then applied a warm patch
which I had to keep on for twenty-four hours.
Then came the most amazing part of the treatment, which one has to see to believe. I
stood on a wet towel. Zhou Hong stood in front of me. I had seen others before me go
through this; so I sort of expected this but was not sure if I would quite feel what
others described. For about fifteen to twenty seconds, he made various movements of the
QiGong postures, during which he visibly changed. He seemed to become a strong pillar of
concentrated energy. As he touched my forehead I felt 400 volts of electricity shoot
through my head and dissipate as it traveled down to my feet. He then gently touched me
and turned me around so he was behind me. Another few seconds of QiGong and he sent
another bolt of energy, about 100 volts through my thoracic area. Another gentle touch so
I was facing him again. A third bolt of 200 volts as he touched my raised right arm,
reverberating through my left hand. One more gentle touch to support my shoulder as he
asked me put my right foot on the bed with my knee very straight. The fourth bolt of lightening, about 300 volts went through my legs, as he 'opened the blocked
meridians' which interfered with my vitality. The next day I was given $300 worth of herbs
boiled and pressure packed in strong small plastic bags that I had to take twice a day for
about 60 days. I was also given a pack which was herbs and what I later learned to be
scorpions, all mixed up with old vinegar to make a moist pack that I had to tie to my
shoulder. This pack had to stay in this position for four hours at a time twice a day for
a total of sixteen days.
A couple of days later, I complained that the deep muscle pain from years past had not
changed at all, although there was more mobility in the arm. I was given two acupuncture
needles (for which there was no charge). One of the needles went completely through my
wrist - no blood! Both needles were heated for about twenty minutes each, painful but
bearable.
We returned from China. Zhou Hong again carried our bags at the airport.
This all happened in mid August. It is now end of October. My shoulder does not
generally feel better or worse. The herbal shoulder packs continued for as long as I could,
but I had to stop as I developed a lot of skin rash. I do pray for the scorpions that
died before I could say "no." Not being able to move the arm much while the pack was tied
on for eight hours a day, may have actually weakened or stiffened the arm. Some movements
that were difficult before the treatment have certainly improved; on the other hand some
have become more challenging. I have completed taking the herbal drink twice a day. I
cannot say I notice any improvement to my shoulder, but I have been informed that this may
take a whole year and that I might require a return visit to see Zhou Hong. Perhaps what
started when I was less than four years old has yet to teach me something before it can
say good-bye. A most wonderful and very definite benefit of this visit is that the working
near or through the bone that Guruji taught in yoga and that I have found in Yoga and Sound work has achieved a whole new reality. I am
enjoying incorporating this in my yoga practice. Another great privilege was to meet a
very wonderful human being in Zhou Hong.
Susanne's blood pressure which was 145/85 as measured by Master Zhou Hong and which
normally is 140/80 has improved dramatically. A few days ago it was 104/65, perhaps too
low. It has been measured three more times since then. It is consistently 110/68, a most
remarkable improvement. We are still talking about finding a place in the mountains that
is not too cold, and where there is clean air and good trees. This is what was recommended
for Susanne by this wonderful Chinese healer. Any ideas?
You will find more information at the web-site at www.YellowMountainCenter.com
Warm Regards,
Ramanand
– Ramanand Patel, (Sr. Iyengar Yoga Instructor, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A., Traveled to the Yellow Mountain Center in 2001). Contact: yogirama@aol.com
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