Other – Bob Quinn Seminars

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Bob Quinn

Defending What Is Sacred

“Our problems are so complex that only a truly simple solution will do.”
Jiddhu Krishnamurti

“When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty, but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
R. Buckminster Fuller

The radical theologian-ecologist Matthew Fox tells of having a dream long ago in which a voice tells him that the only problem humans have is that they have lost a sense of the sacred. This is surprising. I would have thought we had a lot of big problems, not just one. When I contemplated the message of his dream, it demanded a reorganization of my typical thought process. Could this be true? Only one problem?

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Bob Quinn

Easter Reflections

On this eve of Easter, 2017, I find myself reflecting on a great teacher who walked among his fellow humans some 2000 years ago and brought a message of love. I refer of course to Jesus of Nazareth. The Jesus depicted in the Gospel of Thomas is the one dearest to my heart—much like a great Zen teacher in many respects.

Sometimes I wonder what he would make of the world we have built with its institutional greed, insensitivity, racism, sexism, hatred, militarism, ecological destruction, and on and on the depressing list might run. Have we progressed at all since his day? Likely yes, but hardly enough to be proud of. Deep problems abound.

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Bob Quinn

History of the Energetics of Western Herbs

An Interview with Jeremy Ross by Bob Quinn, May 1999

Bob Quinn: Jeremy, as someone who practices acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, I have always been struck by the rich theory that I have to draw upon in building Chinese herbal formulas. I’ve had a strong interest in the use of Western herbs for quite some time as well. When I look at the current scene in Western herbal medicine, it seems there is not a similarly rich theory to draw upon to inform our selection of herbs when we are building a formula. Can you address this issue with some historical perspective?

Posted on September 27, 2019September 27, 2019 by Bob Quinn

Menopause: An Interview with Jeremy Ross

THE IMPORTANCE OF TAILOR-MADE PRESCRIPTIONS

Jeremy Ross: Before I go into the cases I’d like to make a brief comment about products on the market aimed at addressing menopausal complaints. If you are lucky, you can get favourable results for a time with a ready-made pill. The problem is that you can have many different kinds of menopausal syndromes. If you don’t make a tailor-made herbal combination for the client, you aren’t going to be able to address their unique and changing presentation.

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Bob Quinn

Sugar Ant, Salt Ant Revisted

A New Slant on a Traditional Tale
by Bob Quinn

Once upon a time an ant was toiling in the hot sun on his salt anthill when another ant from a nearby neighborhood happened by. The newcomer attempted to strike up a friendly conversation with the ant on the hill of salt. After they had exchanged greetings the newcomer remarked: “Isn’t it wonderful how sweet our anthills are?” You see, the ant out for a stroll came from a place where the anthills were made of sugar, and he had mistaken the salt in front of him for sugar. The salt ant replied that he must be crazy, it was just salt, there was no such thing as sweet, that sweet was just an old wives’ tale for people who couldn’t deal with the harsh reality of salt. Life was salt, day after day, salt and nothing else. People who couldn’t handle that made up stories like the existence of sweetness. Sweetness, Easter Ant, Santa Ant, they were all fairy tales for little kids. He was too busy working for such nonsense.