In this E-Letter I have expressed my thoughts spontaneously and without paying much attention to structuring my arguments. My main concern is to communicate my passion to you for co-inspiration. Those who are interested in Chinese clinical anti-ageing treatments should refer to my academic paper Clinical Development of Chinese Medicine in Health Regulation and Anti-Ageing and for medical professionals who are interested in the integrative approach and wish to study further Chinese medicine and acupuncture should refer to my work in The Integrative Physician’s Guide to Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. Further studies are also given in my paper delivered at the World Congress of Chinese Medicine (Macau, 15th October 2008) The Implications of the Scientific Theories of New Physics to the Innovative Development of Dialectical Thoughts in Chinese Medicine.

With medicine progressing in this direction, it will be possible for us in the future to prolong our lives and to maintain well-being. There may also be a glimpse of hope for us to reverse the process of ageing through some form of rejuvenation. For now we can only believe in ourselves and look after our bodies every day, every minute in micro ways. So take charge of your body and perhaps find a superior physician that has the wisdom to guide you in the maze of health and medicine. Whether you choose Chinese medicine or Western medicine, or integrate the two systems for treatment, you should trust your instincts as well as the intuitive reactions your body is giving to the treatment. Medicine is not perfect. There are no magic mushrooms in medicine and therefore your placebo input is important. Those of us who have seen Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, a late 1950s film, will know how to treasure the ‘wild strawberries’ in our life and prolong the enjoyment of them as much as possible since we do not know how long we can live. Eventually the ‘string of life’ that God has given you will come to an end. And this end is the beginning of us being at one with nature. The past, the present and the future are linked by this moment of immediacy, the moment of tasting the ‘wild strawberry’.

During many discussions with my learned colleagues I realised that the geography of East-West relations is changing rapidly; more rapidly than at any time in the past 2,000 years when civilizations were more separate by geographic barriers. My old friend Professor Claus Schnorrengberger, in his recent letter to The Independent newspaper, cited that ‘Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) succumbs to a fundamental error which in the time honoured tradition of Western logic is known as circulus vitiosus or vicious circle’. When I try to explain this to my students who are experienced Western medical doctors, they are mystified. The scientific mind cannot accept contradictions, whereas contradiction is understood and accepted in Eastern philosophies. Another friend who is a theoretical physicist, Professor Herbert Pietschmann, told me emphatically in one of our conversations at the Vienna University that Einstein did not accept the contradictions that he faced during the construction of his Theory of Relativity. He was very much shaken by his own discovery. The concept of circle or cycle is essential in Buddhism as well as Taoist philosophy. The interplay of Yin and Yang is very much the principle of this dialectical thought. The logic of modern physics in the dynamics between matter and anti-matter is a good example of this dialectical logic. The discovery that an electron with a negative charge moves forward in time, whereas an anti-electron with a positive charge moves backward in time is an indication that coexistence of the opposites is within the nature of things during the process of contradictions, harmonisation and synergy. Professor Fritz G. Wallner of Vienna University, in his work on the philosophy of science, used the term ‘constructed realism’ when he discussed the cultural influence in evaluating Chinese medicine and Western medicine. He showed that the variation of the systems of knowledge depends on different ‘cultural references’. The impacts of these ‘cultural references’ are filtering through different areas in economics, politics and the business world besides medicine, science and philosophy.

Analysing the East-West interactions in the past few decades of globalisation we can accept that intellectually and culturally East-West convergence is desirable. But economically there may be a case for divergence. Decoupling in East-West economic polarisation may save the world from economic collapse in the recent financial crisis. Globalisation, like European harmonisation, tends to produce a standardised world of people eating the same fast food, drinking the same coffee, iPhoning and Googling with uniform habits, regulations and common values of popularism going hand in glove with consumerism. But I prefer a diverse world with the full colours of regional varieties and cultural diversities. However, in order to enhance stability in our world, convergence of certain common values or systems of knowledge between different civilizations will be beneficial or even a necessary trend. Human values and desires are contradictory, yet it is difficult for us and many scientists to accept or realise that contradiction is at the heart of all natural phenomena. Convergence and divergence are natural processes that can be described by the concept of Yin and Yang. Again we are back to ‘dialectics’. Whether we are concerned with our health, our love life, our family or our work and society, our minds need to be fluid and our spirit needs to be positive. So far, there is no ‘absolute structure’ socially, financially or scientifically we can depend on. In the meantime we should believe in ourselves and live happily, imaginatively as free beings in our lifespan into eternity.