Response to Robinson re: “The Geometry of Emotions: Using Chakra Acupuncture and 5-Phase Theory to Describe Personality Archetypes for Clinical Use”

Dear Editor:

Thank you for forwarding Dr. Robinson's objections to my scholarship in “The Geometry of Emotions: Using Chakra Acupuncture and 5-Phase Theory to Describe Personality Archetypes for Clinical Use,” so that I could respond. ¹ My article stated carefully that “[t]he 5-Phase assignments of the chakras,^2,3 as developed by John R. Cross, PhD, PhDAc, [were] used as a basis for designing Chakra Archetypes (CATs).” In all of science, it is perfectly permissible to inform a readership that an article is based on another widely accepted model (Ayurvedic medicine and Dr. Cross' adaptation of the chakras to 5-Phase theory). It is the only practical way to proceed, if articles are to be concise, while due credit is given to previous pioneers.

Effective scientific rebuttal to my article means that there needs to be objective data offered to dispute the Ayurvedic concepts of the chakras. Dr. Robinson's critique does not meet that requirement. There is, however, abundant support for the chakras, as low-energy fields, which the National Institutes of Health calls the human biofield.^1–3 I outline a few salient supports here, although there is not space here, nor should I be required to repeat the work of others.

First, the Ayurvedic chakra model is not new and is known and used worldwide from yoga classes to serious scientists and practitioners of all kinds. My article provided multiple references from scientists and practitioners who use the chakra model in their work. ¹ A perusal of this material shows that serious scientific inquiry has been done, such as the work by the well-known neurosurgeon C. Norman Shealy, MD, PhD, and the medical intuitive Carolynn Myss, PhD, in chakra diagnosis, compared to allopathic diagnostics. ⁴ It is now 3 decades that I have benefited from, and used, their work in my daily clinical work as a diagnostic and teaching aid.

Furthermore, there is peer support in the world of acupuncture for the chakra model. Pay attention to these words, please, by John A. Amaro, DC, LAc, FIAMA, DiplAc (NCCAOM) (IAMA), past president of the International Academy of Medical Acupuncture. Dr. Amaro stated: “[W]hat I held in my hands (Acupuncture and the Chakra Energy System: Treating the Cause of Disease ³ ) was, without question, one of the most brilliant, academic, practical clinical essays on this topic I had ever encountered in over 35 years.” ³

Finally, my descriptions of the auras as energy layers and the chakras (chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel) as vortices follows Dr. Cross' lead. ¹ Furthermore, as Dr. Cross noted, there are many practitioners who either see, or feel by touch, the human biofield, the aura, and the chakras. ¹ Dr. Cross feels and sees the aura. ² Dr. Myss, sees the chakras. ⁴ Barbara Brennan, PhD, a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration physicist, sees the auras and chakras in full color detail, and she worked with a professional artist for her book, so that we can “see” the chakras also. ⁵ She described the use of a pendulum to interrogate a patient and identify the chakras. ⁵ The chain must be held by an observer or the individual, and not by an object. If the critical reader follows through all of the references I provided (more than the abovementioned), the reader will learn that there is little doubt that the human biofield exists. Like all the models in biophysics, we wait for data that could be used to disprove the model. Until then, we use it, as I did to further our understanding.

Given the amount of interest and praise that Dr. Cross has generated, I fail to see how this is harmful to the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA). Instead, I see opportunities. By intention, the CAT model combines medical acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, allopathic medicine (and its anatomy and diagnoses), and finally, the attitudes and emotions of the patient into a single multilayered model. An allopathic practitioner or psychologist may elect to use only a portion of these layers.

For example, it is possible for a psychologist or family practitioner to counsel a patient who is involved in conflict by examining the patient's emotional attitudes. At the end of the patient's visit, our allopathic colleagues might choose a multifaceted approach and refer the patient to a medical acupuncturist as one of those facets of treatment, because they now recognize that medical acupuncture has a layer in that model. This is but one of the potential values of the CAT model that I proposed in addition to a much more straightforward approach to patient education.

We are in the midst of a national epidemic of conflict and, as my article indicated, chronic conflict has a destructive effect on human health. Does the AAMA want to play a role in helping patients who suffer from that conflict? I assume that the answer must be “yes,” which means “The Geometry of Emotions” could help allopathic practitioners realize that acupuncture has a role to play. The national crisis in conflict deserves our attention, because it causes suffering and illness.