Zen and Magnetic Therapy

To build the most beautiful pagodas then use them to dry washing; that is spiritual. Beauty without purpose is not part of the natural way.
In nature the most beautiful flowers and birds are all beautiful for a purpose. If human kind does stand betwee
Heaven and Earth, then it must learn from both. Lessons are not given but we humans are allowed to open our eyes and our senses and permitted to learn.

Working in the garden, I was also in contemplative mode, as digging, hoeing, raking etc do not take up a full intellectual capacity there was room for “free” thought. My mind ranged over the whole expansive range of help that magnets give to us humans; from bullet trains to MIR scanners, from compass needles to my arthritis treatment.

As minds will do when left uncontrolled, mine moved on to wondering if my morning meditation could be some how enhanced by a strong magnetic field. I should explain that I do not meditate “on” something but rather try to empty my mind completely, make it devoid of thoughts. I have found this much harder than it sounds, although I am certain that many of you reading this will have found such stillness easy and natural but it took a lot of time and effort for me. Until I got that stillness, that experience of peace that comes with no “monkey mind” intrusions, trying to muscle in on your emptiness.
I have seen translations of old Zen teachings that speak of a state of “no mind” with its attendant comments that this enables us to be aware of every part of the body at the same instant, without thought. I have read teaching of Zen masters who consider that if you need to use any form of effort to reach a state of no mind, then you have not yet attained the required emptiness. The effort filling what should be a void.
One of the first things I read about Zen was “If some one can explain it to you- they are wrong” and having spent years trying to comprehend and use, the “Tao Te Ching” and “I Ching” I had to try and reach into this understanding. This in its turn, helped me understand a little more of the five element explanations of health care.(Incidentally, I have always thought a better translation would be the 5 transformations, as the system is used to describe the interrelationship between the stages of change that a person goes through.)

All of this brings me back to Zen and magnetic therapy. Magnetic forces can not be seen or felt by the human senses but they have a profound beneficial effect on the flows of blood and fluids in the body. In this they resemble Taoist and Zen philosophical outlook, the explanation that humans stand between heaven and earth, not really sensing either but being profoundly affected by them. This is particularly relevant in these days as we seem to have distanced our selves further, from both, than ever before.

Gardening, getting hands dirty and muscles tired, brings us closer to the earth and seeing nature work, with growth and beauty, just may be; brings us closer to heaven. Thanks to magnetic forces we can try to enjoy both.

My on line course in magnetic therapy includes an introduction to the use of five transformations as an explanation of what changes our bodies go through during illness and the return to good health.

Magnets exert their influence without wearing themselves out. This must be the very pinnacle of Zen attainment. The flux path and forces that come from a permanent magnet return to it. They do their work and return undiminished. If only we humans could do the same.