My first experience was at a little Chinese massage place in Stellenbosch. The massage went well; it felt like a Thai Massage (but I am no expert) as she switched between using her hands, fingers and elbows. Everything was really relaxing until she got to my feet. I have sensitive feet; I assume very stressed. I can only endure a little pressure before my feet will start to cramp. At this point, I shouted “cramp” but all I got from her was an inquisitive look. At this point I suddenly realised that her understanding of English was very limited and that there was no safe word! Luckily pain on a face is universal.

They didn’t wipe the oil off afterwards (some places will offer to wash off the oil or just rub it off with a towel) and it added to the whole experience for me, because it felt like I was floating home, sliding around inside my shoes.

They are fairly priced (R300 / 2 hours) and a full body massage included the back, shoulders, neck, head, face, arms, hands, legs and feet (not just a massage but proper reflexiology). You might find it strange that I list all the body parts, but you will be surprised to know that at some place, certain parts like the head is not considered to be part of a full body massage.

For future visits I asked a friend for a few key Mandarin words, which you also might find useful:
1. Qing yi dian (CHING EE DIEN) – Softer
2. Zhong yi dian (JONG EE DIEN) – Harder
3. Jiao- foot
4. bei- back
5. An mo – Massage

I want you to go to a coffee shop. It doesn’t matter what kind of coffee shop, but it needs to be where quite a few people walk past and preferably outside with a street view. Find a seat with a view of the people walking past. Now watch the people. What do you see?
If you are a guy, you will probably notice all the sexy blondes walking past and if you a woman, you will see the hot guys with their “I just got out of bed” hair. If you are in a different stage of your life you might only see the playing children or if you are older and more established you might see the beggars.

Depending on your thoughts and life stages, we tend to only see what is relevant and frequently we block things we don’t want to see, because we simply don’t want to get involved. So let’s start by removing those conscious and subconscious blocks and see what is really happening in the world around you.

We will start off easy and you can spot the sexy girls/guys walking past or sitting in the coffee shop. Now that you have that out of your system, look at the families. Are there more families than single people or young couples; sitting or walking past? Are the people older or younger in general? Now you know a little bit more about your immediate environment.

Now let’s open the eyes a bit more. Look at the people (not disabled) parking in the spaces left for the disabled. Spot the potential victims (people walking and staring at the ground, people with too much attitude, kids walking alone). Find the people who might be looking at possible victims. Check out the people helping others because they care or because they are looking for a victim. Count the beggars and then count the ones that were let out of the psychiatric ward, because the state couldn’t afford to keep them inside and they are deemed relatively harmless. You might need to wait a while as everyone might not be in your viewpoint all at once; they might be walking in and out at different times, but they are there.

Open your eyes and be more aware of things around you. You are moving among people with “good” or/and “evil” intentions on a daily basis. You just don’t take notice. Don’t be afraid of what you might see. Social transparency gives you a better understanding of the world and its people and you will see them for what they are. And for transparency you need to look with your eyes opened.

I am laying in a ditch in Germany. The year is 1941. It is cold the wind is howling and my fingers are numb. A German appears from the bushes, rifle in his hand. I take out my gun and shoot him. Dead.

If we strip away social context, the actions are exactly the same: “I take out my gun and I shoot him. Dead.”

Now if we agree that context gives social actions value, we can be sure that actions are open for interpretation. Therefore any action has the “potential” of numerous negative and positive values depending on the context.

What does this mean to us? Well, if actions’ value are determined by the context we give it, we can change the perceived value of an action from negative to positive, merely by changing the context we view it in. This for example has big implications for psychology (changing the perspective of negative people) and problem solving (changing the context opens up new possibilities).

Many of us have been unfortunate to experience cancer directly or indirectly; may it be personal, family, friends or colleagues. In my short lifetime I have lost my father and a friend to cancer and 2 of my friends are living with cancer.

Scientists are hard at work, looking for a cure to this disease using everything at their disposal. What I am offering is not a cure to cancer, but maybe the means to finding a cure by using Daoist System Theory (DST).

The DST premises is: Every situation has two states and the potential for the opposite lies at the centre of any state.

To find these two states in a situation, we first have to define what cancer is.

“Cancer develops when cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of control. Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion.” ²

State 1: Cancer
State 2: No Cancer

Because of this assumption, all theories are based on destroying cancer, but is “No Cancer” really the opposite of having “Cancer”?

“No Cancer” is like being “Healthy” but so is “No Flu”, “No AIDS” and “No Malaria”. According to the Daoist definition, a relationship between two state (in a particular context) cannot be shared with a third state. There is black and white, yin and yang, hot and cold, good and evil. Which means that “No Cancer” cannot be the opposite of having cancer.

Daoist Principle 1: The Dao Exists in Everything
If we follow Daoist principle that the Dao exists in everything, “Cancer” cannot be seen as abnormal growth, because everything is connected to the Dao. Maybe in relation to “normal” accepted growth, but that immediately puts cancer in a box, which limits your options in dealing with it.

Daoist Principles 2 & 3: The only constant is change and stillness is momentarily.
Normality is a state we rarely experience as our body is under constant pressure from our environment and even our own thought processes; just like the balance between yin and yang; a brief state.

The opposite of a cell that continues to grow and divide, is a cell that doesn’t divide (which maybe merges with other cells) and doesn’t die. Maybe the solution lies here?

How do we deal with cancer and how does Daoism deal with opposing forces? We deal with cancer by trying to destroy it. Daoism deals with a force by using the energy of the one state to facilitate the movement towards the opposite state.

First we have to accept that cancer is natural, even so far as to say that it is “normal”. Cancer is a natural growth. The question is, how do we direct it’s energies so that it is to the benefit of the human body (a higher order Dao System – see The Method for more details)?

An alternative view point

“Cancer happens when a tiny part of the cell’s mechanism goes wrong.” ³

What if this hypothesis is wrong? What if cancer is an evolutionary next step? Wouldn’t we be able to live longer, if not forever, if our bodies continued to rebuild itself and not die? Life in nature continuously evolves to a more complex state and when it cannot overcome it’s natural obstacles, it dies and becomes part of the larger Dao System (Earth) it is part of.

Maybe cancer is a desease or maybe it is a cure to a longer life. The potential lies in your hands and only you can shape it. This is what makes humans unique; our ability to influence the flow of life’s potential energy.

¹,² Cancer.org