The lifestyle of our modern West emphasizes competition and confrontation. This culture-bound view of the universe was very strong during the formative years of modern Western medicine, and has influenced it greatly. Disease is primarily due to causes that can be killed, cut-out, or contained. When this is impossible, treatment is usually unsuccessful. In Traditional Oriental medicine, disease can only meaningfully be present in terms of a particular patient at a particular time.
Treatment is centered on the person rather than the disease.
In Traditional Oriental medicine mental, emotional, physical and spiritual illness are closely related, not absolutely different in kind. Traditional medicine takes the entire person into account, both in diagnosis and treatment. Traditional Oriental medicine is not a replacement to Western mainstream practices. Both can co-exist quite dynamically with each other and offer a bigger window to look through when dealing with the human condition. Kokoro is a Japanese word meaning Mind, Heart, Spirit.