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Resources for Thai Massage, Traditional Thai Medicine & Theravada Buddhism

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Open for Feedback
Hi everyone. This is a discussion thread that is dedicated to your feedback on this website. If you have any suggestions on how to improve this site, or have anything you'd like to see something new here, please let me know! Thanks, Pierce
58 minutes ago
Is your Thai Massage business looking for a touch more style? Sitka Creations is a full service design studio. www.sitkacreations.com
1 hour ago
TaoMountain replied to Aaron Jennings's discussion 'beginner's questions :)'
OK thanks for the clarification. To learn TTM extensively in the US is very difficult. You will eventually have to learn Thai and spend time in Thailand to get it done. However, to get started, there are a few opportunities right here at home, th...
1 hour ago
TaoMountain replied to Aaron Jennings's discussion 'beginner's questions :)'
Hi Aaron, I think there's a bit of confusion between your question and my answer. When you say TTM, I am assuming you are referring to Traditional Thai Medicine, which is normally abbreviated in that way. My response was to move to Thailand and l...
14 hours ago
Promote yourself: Did you know you can change your status to appear on the homepage ?!?
on Thursday
David Roylance commented on TaoMountain's group 'Teachers Group'
No worries, Kelly. Glad you liked it. Just need to get more time to edit and post additional videos. I captured a lot of footage. Working on one from a Traditional Thai Medicine and Herbal Medicine conference I attend in Thailand during the month ...
on Tuesday
TaoMountain commented on TaoMountain's blog post '[ NEWS ] Western Theravada abbot excommunicated for performing Female Ordination'
Yes, this has been brewing for many years now, and it's certainly going to result in a lot of controversy. Here's a video and article related to the topic: http://www.examiner.com/x-16501-Buddhism-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Excommunication-fro-Ajahn-Bra...
on Tuesday
TaoMountain.net now has blogs
on Tuesday

Profile Information

What is your primary interest in the Thai healing arts? (Please provide a detailed answer.)
I am an academic researcher of history of Buddhist medicine, focusing on China, India, and Thailand.

My publications include:
A Thai Herbal. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2003.
The Encyclopedia of Thai Massage. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2004.
The Spiritual Healing of Traditional Thailand. Forres, Scotland: Findhorn Press, 2006.
Thai Massage Workbook: Basic and Advanced Course. Findhorn Press, 2007.
Traditional Thai Medicine: Buddhism, Animism, Ayurveda. Prescott: Hohm Press, 2007.

Other publications are in my CV at www.jivaka.net.
What is your level of involvement? (Please provide a detailed answer.)
Instructor, Retailer, Researcher
What kind of Thai modalities do you have training in? (Please provide a detailed answer.)
My interest in this topic began when, from 1997 to 2001, I lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, training as a practitioner and instructor of Traditional Thai Medicine. My research and training was conducted at Shivagakomarpaj Traditional Medicine Hospital ("Old Medicine"), Lek Chaiya, and with private instruction with individual practitioners in Chiang Mai. Returning to the U.S to join the University of Virginia’s East Asian Studies program, I completed an MA thesis in 2005 on the history of traditional Thai medicine.
Where/with whom have you studied? (Please provide a detailed answer.)
Academic Education:
Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Cognitive Science, University of Virginia, 2005. Master's degree in East Asian Studies, University of Virginia, 2005. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. (Expected date of completion: May 2010).

My dissertation investigates Buddhist medical doctrines, therapeutic practices, and hagiographic representations of healers in early medieval China. I argue that the analysis of Buddhist medical texts in Chinese translation has important implications for understanding the role of religious healing in the crosscultural encounter between India and China in the medieval period, and more broadly, of the integration between religion and medicine in Asian traditions.

The common thread in my scholarship thus far and my core interest for future research is the investigation of Buddhism's role in the intercultural exchange of ideas about the body, disease, and healing. I am interested in looking at historical and contemporary Buddhist medicine through a crosscultural lens, emphasizing both the transmission and local reception of knowledge. I am also fascinated by the theoretical issues raised by the interdisciplinary study of the intersection between religion, medicine, and the body more generally.

(See more details at my website, www.jivaka.net)
What are your other related or unrelated interests/hobbies? (Please provide a detailed answer.)
I am a member of several professional academic associations, including the International Association for the Study of Traditional Asian Medicine (IASTAM), the American Academy of Religions (AAR), and the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM). I am also a member of the Association of Traditional Northern Thai Medicine.

TaoMountain's Blog

TaoMountain

[ NEWS ] Western Theravada abbot excommunicated for performing Female Ordination

Here's another interesting development in the role of women in Thai Buddhism: a Western Theravada abbot nicknamed Ajahn Brahm was excommunicated for ordaining several women in violation of the sangha's policy.

Read the article here:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,8659,0,0,1,0

Posted on November 4, 2009 at 11:03pm — 2 Comments

TaoMountain

[ HEALTH ] A Breathing Technique Offers Help for People With Asthma

A Breathing Technique Offers Help for People With Asthma

An alternative technique developed by a Russian doctor more than a half-century ago has been found effective in some trials.

Read the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03brod.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Posted on November 4, 2009 at 10:15pm —

TaoMountain

[ CELEBRITY CITING ] Halle Barry gets Thai massage

http://x17video.com/celebrity_video/halle_berry/halle_berry_at_el_leon_thai_ma.php

Posted on November 4, 2009 at 10:00pm —

TaoMountain

[ NEWS] TaoMountain Newsletter Spring 2009




Resources for Traditional Thai Massage & Medicine
www.TaoMountain.org

Newsletter © 2002-2009 Pierce Salguero

TaoMountain is the premiere resource and online community for serious teachers, students, and practitioners of Thai massage and traditional Thai medicine. Our mission is to educate Western practitioners of the healing arts about Thai massage and Traditional Thai Medici… Continue

Posted on October 19, 2009 at 3:28pm —

TaoMountain

[NEWS] Is a Virus the Cause of Fatigue Syndrome?

A study published last week in the journal Science suggested that might be the case, reporting that many patients who had the syndrome were infected with a recently discovered virus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/health/13fatigue.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Posted on October 13, 2009 at 6:29pm —

Comment Wall (23 comments)

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At 6:20pm on October 30, 2009, Noam Tyroler said…
Hello Pierce,
Thanks for your welcome. Nice to meet you and your freinds here. I have been hearing about you often and would like to explore the big work you have done with TTM. I will begin by purchasing few of your books.
Best,
Noam.
At 5:30pm on October 13, 2009, Robin Muldowney said…
Thank you, Pierce, for letting me know.
Best
Robin
At 9:24pm on September 20, 2009, Kelly Kidson said…
Hi Pierce - I'm not technically doing any teaching (other than English + Art) but I'd be happy to do something if anyone was interested. I just got internet hooked properly back up so I am online more now. Also, if any students are heading to Vientiane they can look me up :) There are some wonderful herbal saunas around here and a nice selection of TM shops.
At 9:14am on September 9, 2009, Laura Covington at Bodhi Tree said…
So it worked? Where do you see it? On my page here or just facebook? I clicked on Badges somewhere here because I will put it on my website this weekend and it has a tab to link through facebook. It told me it worked but I only saw it on my facebook page when I thought it would do it here on the network...hmmm... you know me and technology just happen by chance, I really don't have a clue sometimes...haha!
At 11:02am on September 3, 2009, Robert Henderson said…
Well, can you migrate our discussion to the forum?
Sadly, I feel you can see the answer to this issue in the way yoga is developed in the west, where it is mostly about body beautiful. Of the eight limbs of yoga, the only one you almost always see in magazines, articles, advertising etc etc is: asana. And sadly, I see a similar movement in Thai Massage: towards the 'form'. As far as I can see, the most common metaphor used to describe or advertise Thai Massage is the asana, particularly the cobra stretch or the 'kidney stretch'. These two images are everywhere! Sure, they look great, but the disservice done to Thai Massage by this type of advertising is to turn Thai Massage from a healing art into something which just looks good. Potential students look at the photos and think: that looks cool, I'd like to do that.
Now there is nothing wrong with this, nothing at all. But if you are a Thai Massage teacher offering classes in which Thai Massage is sold as a body-beautiful-looking therapy, then be honest with what you are teaching and call it so. Do NOT have messages about Thai Massage being a wonderful form of healing from Thailand 2500 years ago and do not try to paint it as something mystical and spiritual, when all you offer in your classes is physical movement and exercise. If, as a teacher, all you can offer your students is instruction in physical movement, then be honest with yourself and your students and say: I offer instruction in body movement, but, for Buddha's sake, stop pretending to be some mystical teacher of healing arts from the east!
Another classic example of the way Thai Massage therapists move their practice forward is wonderfully exemplified by the message posted on this page below by Hardi on 10 December 2008. She, like many other Thai Massage therapists I know, is wanting to offer her clients more from her massage. She has possibly reached a glass ceiling in her work. Faced with such a glass ceiling, most therapists I know choose to learn more and complicated and sophisticated techniques and moves. For them, the way to advance their massage is to learn more technique. Yet the 'glass ceiling', the 'limitation' in what they can do is nothing more than a reflection of a deep limitation or glass ceiling inside themselves and the only way to break through the glass ceiling is to work on yourself. Go deep inside your own self and release yourself of your own limitations and glass ceilings. By doing this, you automatically free yourself to give more, much much more in your massage without the need to learn a single, new technique.
But as you so rightly ask, how many therapists are prepared to do the hard work? It is far easier, although less useful, to learn new techniques rather than to face you own inner demons and free yourself of your own fears and limitations. There is much wisdom in the saying: Healer, Heal Thyself! For some unknown reason, the saying was never: Healer, Learn More Techniques!
At 2:12am on September 3, 2009, Robert Henderson said…
My pleasure, Pierce. I very much like the six points you set out on the 'homepage'. One additional thing I know from studying with both Pichest and Chaiyuth is the 'connection' they make to spirit, or some such 'higher' form of energy while Spirit Dancing (and this energy can alter the way your eyes see things). I have attended some of these spirit dances and for a short while after have been able to 'see' viruses and bacteria attacking people as clearly as I could see my own hand. Both Pichest and Chaiyuth seem to have incorporated animistic beliefs and practices (as well as meditation and devoted prayer to the Lord Buddha) in their overall massage practice. For me, animism/shamanism is a major 'limb' of Thai Massage missing from the western way of teaching Thai Massage and is the clearest reason why so many western practitioners need anatomical references in their massage, whereas the likes of Pichest and Chaiyuth, with 'altered vision' could see the body completely without the need for any anatomical reference. And the more we refer to, use and rely on anatomy in Thai Massage, the more we restrict and strangle the scope of Thai Massage. The focus on anatomy turns Thai Massage into physical therapy; the use of spirit and intuition keeps Thai Massage what it essentially is: a healing.
At 6:54pm on September 2, 2009, Laura Covington at Bodhi Tree said…
Thank you! Doing my best to serve and give back...this may take me my entire life time but it is worth it!
At 6:39pm on August 31, 2009, Laura Covington at Bodhi Tree said…
Hey Pierce!! Do we have a way to upload photos in slideshow format on our page like before??
At 10:46pm on August 30, 2009, nephyr said…
thanks! I'm liking it too.
At 2:22am on August 24, 2009, Margely Rosado said…
Gracias!

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