Natural Healthy Versus Medicine

Natural health has much to do with self-healing. The human body has a built-in mechanism that is not only capable but also responsible for self-healing and recovery from any disease or disorder. Therefore, natural health has little to do with medicine.

Medicine is a broad term that includes different medical systems that have different approaches to human health, as well as diseases and disorders.

Chinese medicine is one of the most sophisticated medical systems in the world. It has been enhanced through thousands of years of experience and research. Its unique difference from Western medicine is that it focuses on "natural health" rather than on "healing" because Chinese medicine promotes natural health and overall wellness of an individual, as opposed to the focused approach of Western medicine in treating disease symptoms.

Modern medicine is advanced in technologies and procedures in diagnosing diseases and disorders, as well as treating their symptoms. However, modern medicine may not be efficacious in removing the causes of diseases and disorders. The explanation is that they do not have a natural approach to natural health, as evidenced by the overuse of chemicals in modern medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which has been around for thousands of years, has a more natural approach to health and healing. Unlike Western medicine, which focuses almost exclusively on specific organs, tissues, and body parts, Chinese medicine is holistic in that it focuses on balance and harmony of the body, the mind, and the spirit or soul. Accordingly, it does not treat just the disease symptoms, but also the underlying causes as well. To illustrate, Chinese medicine focuses on natural health, such as correct breathing to enhance and promote heart health and overall wellness.  In Western medicine, doctors will not tell you to breathe correctly unless you have respiratory problems.

As another illustration of the approach to natural health, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, sunlight nourishes the brain because it not only gives you solar energy, but also heals and purifies your brain, as well as balances your whole body system. Western doctors, on the other hand, may probably ask you to pop in a vitamin D pill if you have calcium deficiency due to lack of sunlight.

Chinese medicine emphasizes the importance of using diet to promote natural health, in particular, the use of herbs as foods, such as the use of garlic and ginger to control blood pressure and cholesterol, to heal arthritis, to overcome nausea and chest congestion. Herbs are also used in tea, such as dried chamomile flowers to heal insomnia. Furthermore, herbs in the form of sensual herbal remedies, such as aromatherapy or hydrotherapy, can be inhaled through steam, hot baths, and foot soaks to relax the mind. The use of herbs as remedies attests to the holistic approach of Chinese medicine to natural health and healing.

Stephen Lau 

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Why People Commit Suicide

Committing suicide has much to do with the mind. As a matter of fact, living in this material world has much to do with the thinking mind: how it perceives and interprets life experiences 

The death of Robin Williams, the Hollywood actor, some years ago had shocked the world. Why did he kill himself? The media had been trying to figure it out what drove him to committing suicide.

Apparently, Robin Williams had everything that most people would wish for: career, fame, money, and success. He was diagnosed with depression and Parkinson's disease, but that might not have driven him to end his life so tragically. So, what was on his mind?

The brain is one of the most important organs in the human body because it controls what we do, and, more importantly, how we think. The mind is the storage place for our thoughts and memories that determine our actions and reactions in life.

People kill themselves because they are unhappy with their lives. Unhappiness has to do with mind focus. People are unhappy because they focus on what they don't have -- which in itself is negativity, creating negative energy that leads to negative thinking. In pursuing happiness, many of us focus on career, money, and relationship, and we end up being unhappy because we are focusing on what we don't have, rather than what we already have. In other words, we may want what Robin Williams already had, because we don't have them, just as Robin Williams would want something else other than those things that he already had. This is the reality of life.

But what did Robin Williams want that he did not have? It could be anything -- such as freedom from addiction and shame. Who knows?

At one time, Robin Williams did admit that he was "shameful" of his addiction and substance abuse. Shame is a more devastating and destructive emotion than guilt. The reason is that guilt may make us feel bad about ourselves but may prompt us to take remedial action, while shame makes us feel unworthy, humiliating us such that it may be recover to recover from self-inflicted low self-esteem.

But if our mind focus is on what we have, instead of on what we don't have, then we may be happier. In the case of Robin Williams, if he were to have his mind focus on what he had -- fame, money, success -- he would not have felt so shameful and worthless because of his addiction and substance abuse. Indeed, mind focus on what one has creates gratitude and thankfulness, instead of envy, remorse, and shame that are often associated with mind focus on what one doesn't have.

The tragic death of Robin Williams may shed some light on the importance of mind focus.

"Rethink" your mind to help you live a life as if everything is a miracle.

Overcome your depression with TAO wisdom.

Stephen Lau

Copyright © Stephen Lau

The Six-Day War Miracle

God created the Six-Day War Miracle.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great and prosperous nation with millions of people.

But Israel had its people living in slavery in Egypt for generations, had its people wandering in wilderness for years, had its people with Jewish identification decimated and dispersed by the Roman Empire, and had its 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust by the Nazis during World War II.

But God had not forgotten His chosen people, as evidenced by His many modern miracles, including the Six-Day War Miracle.

On June 5, 1967, a war broke out between Israel and Egypt and other Arab countries in the Middle East. The Egyptians had two times more soldiers, four times more aircrafts, and five times more tanks than the Israelites. The objective of the war was annihilation of the Jews—the “Second Holocaust.”

Given that there was no involvement and no support from Great Britain and the United States, while Egypt was backed up by the Soviet Union, the anticipated annihilation of Israel was certain and imminent.

But a miracle happened. The war lasted only six days. By the end of the day on June 5, Israeli pilots had won full control of the skies over the Middle East. Israel had destroyed 450 planes of Egypt while Israel lost only19 of its 100 planes.

Due to many mistakes and false reports of victories reported by the Egyptians and their allies, the war ended in lightning speed of victory for Israel within six days.

The miracle of the “Six-Day War” continued like the fig tree: Israel not only survived but also thrived, and eventually it was recognized as an independent nation by the United Nation.

Living by faith: God is timeless.  Humans must have patience and perseverance with faith, trust, and obedience in God. Human expectations only distance themselves from God. 

Stephen Lau

miracles

Living by Faith in Real Life

 LIVING BY FAITH IN REAL LIFE

Living your life in this world is the tallest order because every day you must make many choices and decisions, as well as take many actions or inactions—they all bring consequences that’re often difficult, if not impossible, to deal with. Like many, you may turn to the Internet, which only gives you more disinformation and misinformation. Worse, your thinking mind changes over the years due to your different life experiences in different phases of your life.

There’re about four phases of life changes: the development phase; the transition phase; the consolidation phase; and the awakening phase.

The Development Phase

Loving

While growing up, most probably, you’ve been living with your parents, stepparents, adoptive parents, or those close to you. In the first few years of your development phase, they all create your personality and shape your thinking mind.

If you’re blessed with having loving parents and people around you, the love of God will make you respond with your hugging, kissing, and your godly love.

Becoming a person of faith, you’ll also look at living very differently. For example, if your parents asking you to tell a “white lie”, such as saying you “love” some food that you really don’t like, you must say no because of God’s truth. Your faith will also stop you from forming the habit of lying in your life.

On the other hand, if your parents or those around you are controlling, dominating, and even abusive, your faith will help you respond positively. God says you should not only “honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12), but also “obey” them. Your obedience may not lead to their “love” and “approval” of you, but it’ll lead to the help of the Holy Spirit in changing them. Remember: God is “a father to the fatherless.” (Psalm 68:5) So, surrender your will to God, and let His Holy Spirit work in your heart throughout your life through God’s Word.

The next step to take is forgiving your loved ones for their abuse and wrongdoings and praying for them. Then, let go of any expectation of their immediate change of misbehavior; instead, accept them as who they’re with their imperfections, and cultivate your love and compassion for them no matter what.

So, continue to focus your own relationship with God to experience your own healing. Your faith in Christ gives you salvation and hope not just for yourself but also for the repentance of your loved ones. Yes, as a believer, you could be the light that leads your unsaved or wayward loved ones to their own repentance and salvation. God can do just about anything and everything in your life. With God’s love, just wait and be patient.

     Without God’s love, an unbeliever could become so obsessed and preoccupied with the thing loved that would lead to any irrational act.

Stephen Lau

Seeking God

Seeking God requires your humility, which is the opposite of pride. God is above, and you’re below. Humility opens the door to God, who never changes Himself but who forever changes those coming to Him with humility. So, your belief becomes your becoming, which is your self-transformation. Believing in God comes with free gifts—eternal life, hope, joy, and peace—and your free will—your freedom of choice to receive or not to receive those free gifts from God. Your freedom of will is based on three essentials:

Faith: Believing in the existence and the presence of God is your obeying His Commandments with your own accountability to God.

Trust: Trusting God is your believing in the veracity of His Word.

     "So is my word that goes out from my mouth

It   will not return to me empty

b    it will accomplish what I desire

a    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah: 55:11

·   Obedience: Obedience is your doing all the right and the righteous things in your everyday life. This daily task is most difficult, if not impossible, while living in your flesh, already corrupted by your sins. But God provides a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to guide you along the difficult journey of obedience.

St  Living by faith: Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find. But what is "freely" given to you requires your trust and obedience to receive it. 

     Stephen Lau

What Is Thinking?

WHAT IS THINKING?

Thinking is everything. Living is about your thinking, and life is about your thoughts. You think and you create your own thoughts. Your individual thoughts then become who you are. You’ve the freedom to control your thinking, or the bondage to be controlled by your thoughts. In other words, if your thinking is controlled by the Holy Spirit, God will speak to you; if your thinking is controlled by your flesh, Satan will change and distort your thinking without your knowing it. You’ve no choice in how you exist in this world—the kind of parents, and the family background. But you’ve your choice in giving a meaning and a purpose to your own existence. 

So, turn to God to find out what He has destined for you. Your existence has nothing to do with your gifts and talents, but everything to do with your destiny from God—who you are and what you are meant to be.

But, according to Albert Einstein, thinking is difficult, and that's why so people do it. No matter how difficult it may be, thinking can change your perceptions and also the realities of everything in your life, just as William Shakespeare once said: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Even John Milton, the famous English poet, also had this to say: "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make Heaven of Hell, or a Hell of Heaven." 

Thinking is a process of self-reflection, without which there's no self-awareness and, hence, no personal growth and no development. A static life is never a life worth living.

Are you thinking all the time?

Always think about the meaning and purpose of life and living. Life must have a meaning, and living must have a purpose. Why do people want to live and survive in this world? Not just because their parents gave birth to them, but because they want to "enjoy" life and living.

So, what's your meaning and purpose of life in this world--just to "enjoy" yourself? 

Remember, God has created you for a specific purpose, which is your destiny. So, seek and find it.

Stephen Lau

        everything

Who Is the Devil?

WHO IS THE DEVIL? 

Satan is the devil. In the Bible, the human “flesh” is where Satan drives humans to oppose and disobey God. 

Those who live according to their flesh have their devil in their minds to gratify their flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life.

Satan is a liar who works on the human mind to create all the wants and desires in humans that always blind the eyes of unbelievers, making them not seeing the ultimate truths of all things.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

Satan creates doubt about the Word of God in vulnerable circumstances, such as anger, frustration, and loneliness.

To fight against Satan, humans must believe the whole Bible, and not just part of it. The truth is that evil is something that God allows, but doesn’t condone, for the sake of “freedom of will” that was given to humans from the beginning of creation.

Paradoxically, the “physical” evils can be a manifestation of the goodness of God. For example, in the Scripture, Jesus saw a man blind from birth, and He told his disciples that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with the sin of the man or that of his parents. Rather, his blindness “happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) In other words, man’s sin can demonstrate the goodness of God, who’s always ready to forgive.

The bottom line: Physical evils, such as sickness, famine, war, and death, are the results of moral evil. They exist because humans have sinned: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

But God Himself took the consequences of sin, so every person can have access to His forgiveness and His salvation.

The Instructions

The Bible is the Word of God. Through the Bible, God speaks to all humans if they’re willing to listen and to believe. In other words, the wisdom expressed in the Bible is God’s divine instructions to mankind.

God’s Word isn’t just for the Israelites, but for all believers and even unbelievers.

Why?

It’s because God’s Word expresses the “absolute truths” of living—making the most out of life, as well as avoiding any disorder and disharmony in life that may bring about premature death. To meet this tall order, human wisdom is often inadequate and incomplete. The biblical wisdom, expressed in God’s Word, may show humans how to live life to the best and the fullest, as well as how to “conquer death”, which inevitably comes as the end of anything and everything.

Biblical life instructions

Some of the biblical life instructions are specifically for all believers—they teach them how to pray, how to form a good relationship with God through trust and obedience to His Will.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 37-40

But many of the biblical life instructions are also for unbelievers because they simply teach all and sundry—irrespective of their faith or belief—what’s right and wrong, what’re sins and what’re virtues in their daily lives. That is, these instructions correct them when they’re wrong and teach them to do what’s right and righteous. Given that all these instructions are inspired by God, all major and significant life areas are addressed in the Bible as God knows that all humans need His instructions or guidelines on how-to-living in a world of fancy and fantasy, as well as of sins and evils.

The Helper

Reading the Bible may be a daunting task for many: they simply don’t want to read because they don’t know where to begin. But the Holy Spirit will show humans where to begin, and what to look for, while giving them wisdom to understand as they continue their daily reading.

The Presence

God’s Word is the compass for the faithful journey of all humans. But they also need the roadmap, which is His Presence, to tell them where they should be going next.

"Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everryone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 

So, humans need to ask, seek, and knock to find God’s Presence, and the Holy Spirit will help them.

His Word

To live in God’s Presence, humans should read God’s Word every day so that He can be present in their hearts.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

To maintain and sustain God’s Presence, humans should meditate His Word. More importantly, they should memorize some of them so that they can easily recall and remember them at any time in their daily lives. 

Stephen Lau