Hello,
I have been thinking about this letter for 5 years. I hope the words come out as eloquent and succinctly as they have been in my mind.
Not one week has gone by in the past 5 years that I haven’t looked back at my education at ACOS and felt an incredible sense of gratitude. I say this honestly and without exaggeration; I say the same about practicing and having my mind blown every week. It fills my heart with joy.
This is a big statement to make, and I’d like to support it:
* When I go to a TCM course, I feel like the information is not new; it is simply reorganized. When I listen to other practitioners’ questions, I know the answers, and this is because of how well the information was covered at ACOS. The information being presented is new to them in a lot of cases.
* I have tutored students from other schools preparing for their provincial exams; I am appalled at their lack of information and the giant gaps in their education. I can only see this because the information was presented to me.
* When I observe who the great acupuncturists are in North America, it is the people who go to the source of the medicine – the Classics; they have studied them, they translate them. ACOS gave me the tools to do this; I haven’t seen that matched anywhere else in Canada or the US. “Seek not to follow in their footsteps, seek what they sought” – Basho.
* TCM education is challenging regardless of where one studies. Though ACOS lacked in clinical experience, it pushed me so far beyond my limits academically that, intellectually, I feel ahead of the game.
* ACOS developed my passion and built up a mystery of the mind and body and spirit; I am still discovering what all that means – a lifetime to understand.
* Everything I learned is useful. I just got into auriculotherapy a few months ago. It is amazing, I had no idea. Direct moxa, why didn’t I do this from the start? I still have so many other techniques to try out, they are all in my notes waiting to be rediscovered.
* I know the internal pathways of the meridians; not everyone knows this. This is where the qi goes, how can people not learn them????
* I know the names of acupoints; I know that SI 11 is where Heaven gathers, so I use it to release excess in the heart. I would never have figured that out if I had simply taught the number. Now I can understand ‘window to the sky points’.
This is all intellectual; Warren also taught us presence and intention with his actions. Like Taoism, this cannot be talked about, only felt.
Thank you, Warren Fischer, for opening my mind and my heart.
I feel so proud of my education. But what I learned goes so far beyond that. I am a different person; people see me as calm and gentle, and they think I have wisdom. I know that wasn’t the case before ACOS; you inspired me to be that.
I teach 4 classes at 2 different schools, they love me. But it is Warren Fischer that they see because I push and inspire them in the same ways Warren pushed and inspired me. Warren taught me to think, not just memorize. I have 2 Geminis in one of my classes; they ask the craziest damn questions – things I had never even thought of. This is karma for the crazy Gemini questions that I asked. I hope you felt challenged as well.
A bit of a ramble- my apologies. You have to know this is only a fraction of the appreciation I feel. I could write to you once a week for another 5 years, and that would begin to express my gratitude. (Maybe a slight exaggeration.)
Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for challenging me. Thank you for the evolution of my spirit. Thank you for all the things that I can’t express.
In gratitude and admiration,
Melonie Jensen, RAc
