Hi,

My name in Jonathan Schell, I am an acupuncturist in Oregon. I have created an Online Searchable Database of Chinese Medicine for Practitioners and Students of Chinese Medicine. Why did I do this? Because I have hundreds of books, Many binders of Acupuncture Notes, and not that much time when I am seeing patients. I was tired of remembering that I had read something somewhere, but was not able to remember where I read it -- so I would have to look through five or six books to find it, or worse yet my own notes. Then when I went to the coffee shop to study, I would have to bring 3 or 4 big tomes (books) in order to study a particular subject. I broke quite a few backpacks carrying all that Information around. I began to order my information while I was still in school, (I attended 3 different schools) not really knowing what I would do with it once it was ordered, then after I showed some material to Subhutti Dharmadanda he recommended that I create a Database, and well here I am.
I believe that most Acupuncturists will never reach the same greatness as our teachers because of some inherent limitations. Many American Acupuncturists do not read and write Chinese, and are really not interested in learning. This denies us as a profession from having free discourse over many topics, and denies us access to our not to distant past (the Classics), as well as the future (Modern Research Coming Out of China) of Acupuncture. We are left in the Limbo of having a few Authors translate the majority of our clinical texts for us. In any other profession if a few author’s names were on everything, there would not be that much credibility within that field.
My aim is to create a grass roots effort of acupuncturists and acupuncture students to collect enough money to begin to get more translations available to the American and World Audience. With the understanding that TCM came from a style of medicine that arose in the past, and that Chinese Medicine does have Spiritual & Religious Connotations. The Chinese themselves are often quick to distance themselves from anything that could be considered Mystical, and yet in the Ling Shu, the Shang Han Lun, the Mai Jing there are traces of this mystical past. I aim to collect translations that have never been seen in the west that have both modern and ancient applications. I am afraid that if someone does not step forward to do this, many of us will never see this material in our generation, and I think that would be a shame. Acupuncture is quickly becoming main stream, but it is also being controlled by just a few people to be a very groomed and formed Bonzai bush. Meaning we will be no more than "Techs" as long as our profession is dominated by the few, but our profession can treat nearly everything that Western Medicine can.
I am about the power of the people, and giving the people as much information as possible and letting them make their own decisions.
On www.cm-db.com you will have access to 500 Single Herbs, 1100 Formulas & Patents, Specific Modifications for OBGYN, Acupuncture Points & their Combinations, and as much Translated Material (in both Chinese Characters & English) as I can afford, and it is all searchable by key word. I work on the Database Daily, and pledge to add more and more information every day. I am charging a nominal amount of $15.00 per month to have access to the database and an additional $5.00 per month if you want access to the Classics. Because I am charging so little, I cannot drop the price down any more. I chose the price I did because I wanted all practitioners/ students to not feel that they had to come up with massive amounts of money to have access. You can pay with any Major Credit Card. I think back to when I was a student and the teacher asking these obscure questions in class, I would have loved to have had my laptop open, do a quick search on the wireless (that is going into many schools), and had access to more information than I could have thought possible.
I hope that this letter explains a bit about myself, my passions, and why I am doing what I am doing. Thank you for your invitation to join your tribe and I will of course answer any questions that you have.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Schell