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Before the beginning was primordial chaos,
Swirling and colliding with no rhyme, no reason.
Out of this original void arose movement of regulation,
The Dao that has no name.
Everything that was light rose upward to form Heaven;
Everything that was turbid condensed downward to form Earth.
Heaven turned to shine its Light upon Earth;
Earth reached up to grasp the Light of Heaven.
Heaven was only Heaven because it gave a part of itself to Earth.
Earth was only Earth because, impregnated by Heaven,
It gave birth to the 10,000 beings who tend the Light and Heaven.
And so it is forever with YinYang:
A movement to external expression, returning to the conjoining.
Heaven and Earth communicate:
The language between them is called Qi.
The Median Void, housed within space and time,
Takes shape in the Five Phases.
Welcome to the origins of Five Element Acupuncture!
Chuang Tzu’s wife had just died. His friend came to console him but found Chuang Tzu sitting,
bashing a tub and singing loudly. “This isn’t right,” his friend said. “You should be crying.” “No
I shouldn’t!” Chuang Tzu answered. “When she first died I cried like everyone else. But I then
thought back to her birth, and to the time before that. And I thought about how she was given
her life through the wonderful mystery of change. Her body went through a transformation
and she was born. Now there is another transformation and she is dead. She is like the four
seasons in the way that spring, summer, autumn and winter follow each other. If I cried then it
would seem like I could not understand the ways of destiny. That’s why I stopped.”
Chuang Tzu (Zhuang Zi), Warring States Philosopher
“When it is understood that the Vacuity, the Void, is nothing but material force (Qi), then existence and nonexistence, the
hidden and the manifested, spirit and eternal transformation, and human nature and destiny are all one and not a duality.”
Zhang Zai, Song Dynasty Philosopher

“The most important thing for Healing is the relationship of the Practitioner, the Spirits
and the Patient”
Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee
A sinological interpretation of Chapter Eight of Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu
MISSION STATEMENT OF ONGIARA COLLEGE OF ACUPUNCTURE AND MOXIBUSTION
Classical Acupuncture teaches that all life is organized according to a natural order,
which illuminates the radiance of being. Ongiara College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion
is committed to developing long-term master practitioners who work in harmony with HeavenEarth
and can apply the Dao - which is also the art of medicine - to their own lives,
to their patients and to their wider communities.
OUR INVITATION
We invite you to join us in a magical journey
from
the mysteries of Daoism rooted in a deep philosophical understanding of Nature
and human beings as manifestations of the Divine
to
the practice of acupuncture and moxibustion in the 21 st Century
where the magic seems to be more hidden but is just as alive
for those who would see, hear, feel and inquire from the depths of their being.
“Daoists believe that the origin of creation is a pathway – a pathway which we cannot know or understand,
but which we can see happening. This idea has always inspired a love of nature in Daoism. If all things grow
well, then a society is affluent. If they don’t, then the kingdom is in decline. This view should encourage both
governments and people to take good care of nature.” The Alliance of Religion and Conservation (UK)

CLASSICAL ACUPUNCTURE
Ancient Chinese medical perceptions of the human body reflected the spiritual, philosophical, political and geographic
cultures of the time. “The surface of the body was landscaped with mountain ranges and waterways and it sparkled with
representations of the sun and moon, stars and constellations in the names of anatomical and acupuncture locations.”
Vivienne Lo & Volker Scheid, 2000 years of Chinese acupuncture
The meaning of life was for human beings to return to the Dao in consciousness (or become ‘Immortals’). The role of the
alchemical acupuncturist was to educate people as to how to live their allotted lifespan and, through judicious use of bone
and metal needles and burning herbs, to assist them in completing their ‘curriculum’. It was always stated that treating
after the development of symptoms was, perhaps, a little too late?
In 1935 John Blofield met a Daoist monk at his monastery in the mountains. This was what that monk had to say about
immortals (Blofield 1979):
“Immortals not only break wind or belch like other people, they die.
Becoming immortal has little to do with physical changes, like the graying of a once glossy black beard;
it means coming to know something, realizing something -- an experience that can happen in a flash!
Ah, how precious is that knowledge! When it first strikes you, you want to sing and dance or you nearly die of
laughing! For suddenly you recognize that nothing in the world can hurt you.”
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACUPUNCTURE AND ORIENTAL MEDICINE
By the time of the middle ages, acupuncture in China had been sidelined in favour of herbal medicine and other Oriental
medical techniques. This focus on integration and homogenization continued during the modernization and westernization
of China. Acupuncture in Japan, Korea and Vietnam followed a different course with increasing diversification and
creation of microsystems. All of these traditions are now emerging in the melting pot of Western society.
FIVE ELEMENT ACUPUNCTURE
The theory of the Five Phases or Five Elements appears in many acupuncture and Oriental medical traditions. One lineage
of Five Element Acupuncture became prominent in the UK in the 1960s (see Peter Eckman, In the Footsteps of the Yellow
Emperor: Tracing the History of Traditional Acupuncture) which in turn gave birth to US Five Element colleges in the 1980s
& ‘90s. Ongiara College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion is the first Canadian college (in Ontario) to come from this
particular perspective.

AT ONGIARA COLLEGE
Students will learn a system of acupuncture and moxibustion which:
• understands the regulatory movement of the Dao, recognizing that health and disease both follow this movement
• sees the role of the practitioner to be that of aiding the person to engage fully in life
• works with the person’s individual destiny
• honors the uniqueness of each human being and reflects this in the creation of specifically tailored treatments
• uses the cycles of Nature to return disordered states to balance and harmony
• roots its clinical practice in theoretical knowledge as discussed in the classical texts
• treats predominantly through the CF and Withins, the Five Elements and Twelve Officials, the Sheng and Ke cycles
(homeostatic agents) and the whole classical width of the JingLuo network, within the context of the time of day
and the stage of the season
• emphasizes the practitioner’s bodymindspirit development of the Four Examination Skills (to see, to hear/smell,
to palpate and to inquire) including sophisticated pulse taking, physical palpation and diagnosis of color, sound,
odor and emotion
• requires the inner cultivation of the practitioner as an instrument of Virtue
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.
Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” Carl Gustav Jung

Ongiara
The name Niagara is said to originate from an Iroquois word ‘Onguiaahra’ meaning ‘The Strait’ or ‘Thunder of Waters’. The
region’s original inhabitants were the Ongiara, an Iroquois tribe named the ‘Neutrals’ by French settlers who found them
helpful in mediating disputes between the warring Hurons and Iroquois tribes. The Neutrals lived almost entirely in what is
now southern Ontario, with a few villages to the East across the Niagara River in upstate New York. Although the name they
used to identify themselves is now lost, the Hurons called them ‘Attawandaron’ which means ‘people of a slightly different
language’.
Long ago, the peaceful tribe of the Ongiara lived beside the Niagara River. For an unknown reason,
Indians were dying and it was believed that the tribe must appease the Thunder God Hinum, who lived
with his two sons in a cave behind the Falls. At first, the Indians sent canoes laden with fruit, flowers and
game over the Falls, but the dying continued. The Indians then began to sacrifice the most beautiful
maiden of the tribe, who was selected once a year during a ceremonial feast. One year, Lelawala,
daughter of Chief Eagle Eye was chosen. On the appointed day Lelawala appeared on the river
bank above the Falls, wearing a white doeskin robe with a wreath of woodland flowers in her hair.
She stepped into a white birch bark canoe and plunged over the Falls to her death. Her father, heartbroken, leaped
into his canoe and followed her. Hinum’s two sons caught Lelawala in their arms and each desired her. She promised to
accept the one who told her what evil was killing her people. The younger brother told her of a giant water snake that lay
at the bottom of the river. Once a year the monster snake grew hungry and at night entered the village and poisoned
the water. The snake then devoured the dead. As spirit, Lelawala told her people to destroy the serpent. Indian
braves mortally wounded the snake on his next yearly visit to the village. Returning to his lair on the river, the snake
caught his head on one side of the river and his tail on the other, forming a semi-circle and the brink of the Horseshoe
Falls. Lelawala returned to the cave of the God Hinum, where she reigns as the Maid of the Mist.
The Region
Water is the primary force that has shaped southern Ontario, not only geologically but also culturally and historically. Over
430 million years ago this region was part of an enormous inland sea that stretched from Rochester to north of Toronto and
south into Michigan and Wisconsin. The gradual recession of the waters and corresponding erosion created the Niagara
Escarpment which was declared a World Biosphere Reserve in 1990. The Escarpment is home to a great diversity of flora,
fauna and waterfalls, Niagara Falls being the most famous of these. The topography is further moulded by the combination
of the Niagara River to the east, Lake Erie to the south and Lake Ontario to the north. The abundance of water also
influences the weather of this region: Southern Ontario enjoys four seasons. The lakes provide moisture for the cold, snowy
winters and a natural form of air-conditioning for the sunny, drier summers. The rivers, lakes and marshes also create microclimates
such as the renowned vineyard and fruit-growing area near the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The local heritage
from the First Nations continues to thrive today. In a tradition where words held power, the names they gave us speak of
their connection to the land in which they lived: Ontario means ‘beautiful water’; Erie comes from Erielhonan which means
the ‘people of the mountain lion’. This region of southern Ontario offers a wealth of possibilities, from the multicultural
sophistication of Toronto to the simple pleasures of hiking the Bruce Trail.

Bridgeburg Station
The college classrooms and clinic are located at numbers 85 & 87 Jarvis Street, Bridgeburg Station - the historical downtown
of Fort Erie. This area dates back to 1873 with the building of the International Railroad Bridge linking Fort Erie and Buffalo.
Today Jarvis Street, overlooking the Niagara River, is a mere five kilometers from the Peace Bridge which was built in 1927
to commemorate 100 years of peace between Canada and the United States. Like many North American downtown
communities, it is working to recreate itself in the face of migration to the suburbs. Bridgeburg Station is an ideal location for
Ongiara College, housing commercial & professional businesses as well as many community services: the Aboriginal Centre,
the Adult Training Centre, Big Brothers and Sisters and a Multicultural Centre which assists new immigrants and refugees to
Canada. It is centrally located offering ease of access to the clinic and possibilities for wider involvement in the community.
There is plenty of parking available within a couple of minutes’ walk of the college.
Ridgeway
Ridgeway holds its own place in history, being the 1866 site of the invasion of the Fenians, a group of Irish-American Civil War
veterans who were attempting to bargain their occupation of Ontario into home-rule for Ireland. The monument and park
commemorating this event lies at the southern edge of our land. 1198 Ridge Road, just 15 minutes by car from the main
college building, is located at the north end of the village of Ridgeway.
Fort Erie
Fort Erie holds the dubious honor of the ‘bloodiest battlefield in the history of Canada’ for its role during the War of 1812 between
Britain and the United States. In the times of peace that followed, it came into its own as an international railroad town and was
an important point on the Underground Railroad that ferried slaves to freedom. Fort Erie’s prosperity has always been tied to
that of Buffalo, its partner across the river. It benefits from its proximity to Western New York, Niagara Falls and Toronto (2 hours
drive) and is easily accessible to travelers: there are 7 airports within a 100 mile radius. The natural resources of the Niagara River
and Lake Erie and the extensive system of trails and lakefront beaches complement its diverse and friendly communities.
Buffalo
Buffalo has also been shaped by the waters of this region. Its name is said to have come from the French ‘beau fleuve’ or ‘beautiful
river’. It has earned a number of titles over the years that tell their own story: ‘City of Trees’ - Buffalo has a wealth of green and
open spaces with its twenty parks; ‘The Queen City’ - second largest city in the state of New York; ‘City of Good Neighbors’
- Buffalo has always welcomed new communities, from African-Americans seeking freedom in the 18 th century to the waves
of immigration that came from Europe to work in the ‘City of Light’. Each ethnic group in turn has enriched the city, from the
German, Irish, Polish, Italian and Jewish communities that came in the 19 th and 20 th centuries to the Latino and African populations
of today. While many people know of Buffalo for its weather, most are unaware of its extensive cultural life. Buffalo is home to 14
colleges and universities and over 50 private and public art galleries. It has a vibrant nightlife and a thriving music scene.
Daoism is often called ‘the Watercourse Way’. Water is used as a representation of Dao
as it always seeks the path of least resistance (it does not compete but finds the easiest path
to follow) and yet there is nothing stronger. Water will carve through rocks, flow around steel
or anything which resists: it simply does so, using the course of Nature or ‘the Way’.

87 Jarvis St
On the main floor, this building houses two large classrooms and a fully equipped lecture room, two barrier free treatment
rooms, two washrooms and a café. We are hoping, with the addition of the café, to attract local people into the building
with a view to their gaining a better understanding of our work. It is the first place in the Fort Erie area where espresso coffee
can be found! On the lower level there is the audio-visual room, a large student lounge area including lockers, a games
room, washrooms & showers and a kitchen.
85 Jarvis St
This houses administration offices, faculty room, a kitchen, washrooms, ten treatment rooms and the library. There is a small
enclosed garden to the rear of this building for use by students and staff alike.
Lending Library and Reference Library
The library is equipped with a wide selection of books related to acupuncture and Oriental medicine, complementary
medical therapies, allopathic medicine, nutrition, health, philosophy, spirituality, Eastern and Western religious thought and
practice, plants and herbalism, Oriental culture and history, Aboriginal, First Nation and Native American traditions, general
science, research and education. The library also subscribes to related professional journals.
Computers
Wireless internet access is available throughout both buildings. The lecture room is equipped with multiple power points
so that notes can be taken directly on laptops. There are additional power points in the café and library. There is also a
computer for student use within the college.
Photocopying
Students can have photocopies made by arrangement with a member of administration for a nominal fee.
Café Khaili
Initially, Café Khaili will focus on good coffee and engendering community. Khaili is hoping to develop it over time
according to the needs of students and the local population. Art work will be displayed in the café and around the
college. Any interested exhibitors should contact the College Principal.
Ongiara College Clinic
The clinic serves the populations of Fort Erie, Buffalo and Niagara. In their third and fourth academic years, students attend
the clinic two days per week for 50 weeks to personally perform/participate in 400 treatments under faculty supervision and
guidance. The clinic charges a nominal fee to patients, to provide easily affordable health care of the highest standard to
the whole community.

Community Projects
Ongiara College is committed to outreach projects in the local community benefiting students and members of the
community alike. Specific projects that are running at any given time are advertised throughout the college including
ways in which students can become involved.
Academic Care
The Academic Dean oversees the academic welfare of each student. Tutoring sessions with an appropriate member of
faculty will be scheduled according to the individual’s need. Academic care centers around the student’s own reflective
learning process, professional portfolio and identification of ‘the next step’. This prioritises the student’s responsibility for his/
her own learning and appropriate request for external input and assistance. Any course leaders teaching specific topics
may, with the agreement of the student, approach the Academic Dean to arrange tutoring sessions.
Pastoral Care
Regular sessions are scheduled for all students to discuss their personal development and issues arising with pastoral care
tutors. Extra sessions can be arranged by request. Ongiara College believes strongly in a lively exchange between staff,
faculty and students: this is built into the curriculum and the layout of physical facilities.
Ridge Road North, Ridgeway
1198 Ridge Rd consists of 24 acres of both open and wooded land with a 100 year old main house, newly renovated
cottage and gardens. The space is integral to the curriculum of the college as it will be the site of students’ experiential
learning about the Five Elements. Students will participate in nurturing the land and relate to the extensive indigenous
wild and natural life. Students are welcome to use the swimming pool which has recently been renovated and is now salt
chlorinated. By arrangement, students may camp here for a nominal charge during the warmer months. Ridge Road will
also be the location of our regular seasonal dinners, rooting us in the movements of Nature, building a sense of community
and strengthening relationships within the college.
Continuing Education
Ongiara College hosts a wide range of approved CEU courses for acupuncture and Oriental medicine practitioners
and allied complementary medicine practitioners. These are published on the website. We also welcome licensed
acupuncturists who wish to audit individual classes from the Professional Diploma of Acupuncture and Moxibustion program.

PRE-REQUISITES . . .
If we are willing to put in the work, the practice of the Art of Medicine is very simple. Legend has it that Chapter Eight of
the Su Wen (The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchid) was hidden away in the ‘Spiritual Orchid’ which was the library of
the Yellow Emperor and passed on only to the initiated. Not because it was difficult, but because it was too simple to be
grasped by most people, whose minds insisted on making it more complicated. The simplicity can be summed up by Su
Wen Chapter 39. The Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) is talking to the Heavenly Teacher (Qi Bo):
“Those who are good at speaking of Heaven must have experienced it in man.
Those who are good at speaking of antiquity must have made the junction with the present.
Those who are good at speaking of men must be satisfied with themselves.”
Heaven represents the unseen power of Nature: the movement of the four seasons which is present in all forms of life
including human beings. The sages of antiquity knew in the depth of their beings how life on Earth was ordered: our
task is to bridge the river between the past and the present to see with their eyes, through our own. ‘Man’ stands for the
multiplicity of the 10,000 beings and their interrelationships. I must first have a good relationship with myself, centred in
the heart which takes charge of all beings, before I am able to create good relationships with others. If we as humans
understand that we must live in harmony with HeavenEarth and come to know and accept ourselves, then we become
master practitioners of our own lives and are thus able to hold another’s hand as he/she walks his/her destiny.
“You first must have a deep understanding of your own life before pretending to know life in another,
especially the disturbances of life in another.” Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee
This willingness to engage with the process of deep reflection, the arrogance to step up to the mirror and the humility to
observe what is truly there is what we ask of all students who come to Ongiara College. In return, all faculty and staff of the
college agree to hold your hands through the long hours of forgetting the difficult and realizing the simple.
“In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of Dao, every day something is dropped.”
Lao Tzu

...FOR THE STUDY OF MEDICINE
“Whoever wants to be a doctor... must
understand yin and yang and be able
to discern life’s fortunes (read people’s
faces and see their fates). They must also
understand the cracks in the tortoiseshells
of Zhou Yi (Yi Jing)...without such
knowledge they will be like a blind person
in the dark; they will fall down easily. You
must also engage in other reading. Why?
If you do not read the Five Classics, you
will not understand justice, humanity
and virtue. If you do not read the Three
Histories, you will not know the past and
the present. If you do not read the exponents
of the various schools of thought, you will
not understand what is happening in front
of your very eyes! If you do not read the
Nei Jing you will not know the virtue of
mercy, sorrow, happiness, giving. If you
do not read Zhuang Zi and Lao Zi, you
will not know how to conduct your daily
life. As for the theory of the Five Phases,
geography, astronomy...you also need
to study these. If you can study and
understand such knowledge, there is no
hindrance on the road of medicine. You can
become perfect.”
Sun Si-miao, Prescriptions worth a thousand
pieces of gold quoted by Zhang Yu Huan &
Ken Rose, Who Can Ride the Dragon
Classical Theory
Classical OM Theory
Five Elements
Twelve Officials
History of Acupuncture / Traditions
Point Functions
OM Disease Prevention
Point Groupings
OM Pathology
Treatment Principles
Acupuncture Skills
Traditional Diagnosis
Diagnostic Skills
Needling & Moxibustion
Pulse & Tongue Diagnosis
JingLuo
Point Location
Case Histories
Practitioner Development
Communication Skills
Practitioner Development
Internal Cultivation
Practice Management
Ethics
First Aid and CPR
Health & Safety
Acupuncture in the Environment
Action Research
BodyWork
Western Body Work
Oriental Body Work
AN OUTLINE OF THE CURRICULUM
Clinical Experience
Clinical Development
Supervised Clinical Practice
External Clinical Observation
Allopathic Medicine
Human Anatomy & Physiology
General Science Courses
Allopathic Clinical Skills & Resources
Surface Anatomy of the Living Body
Pathology & Pharmacology
Complementary Medicine
BodyMindSpirit
Complementary Therapies
Staying Stopped
Independent Preparation
Inner Cultivation
Ongoing Acupuncture Treatment
Volunteer Work within the Human
Community
Work with Nature/Gardening
Personal Portfolio
Guided Reading
Specific Homework Assignments
JingLo/Point Location Practice
Pulse Diagnosis Practice
Seasons Project
Rejuvanessence Practice
Practice Building Project
Action Research Project

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Ongiara College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion develops practitioners who go beyond knowledge of the philosophies
and theories of acupuncture, progressively coming to an internal knowing-how (wisdom) of the art of medicine.
Graduates will be:
• individuals who are increasingly owning their place as human beings in the natural order, accepting themselves and
the unique authenticity of others
• conscious instruments of the Divine/God/Nature/the Universe/the Dao/one’s higher self (please substitute whatever
language suits your personal preference)
• experienced entry-level acupuncturists who can grow, over time, into master practitioners, surpassing the skills of
their teachers
• competent and confident professionals, able to apply all the components of acupuncture practice with their
patients (including comprehensive diagnosis, prognosis assessment, effective treatment planning & application)
• practitioners who can rectify dis-ease and restore health without impinging on the freedom of the patients
• reflective practitioners, utilizing the tools of reflection rigorously on a daily basis
• members of the wider acupuncture community, dedicated to serving the profession (for example by engaging in
public and/or professional education, scholarship, research or development), at all times showing respect for the
diversity of acupuncture and Oriental medical disciplines
• medical practitioners, relating professionally and ethically to all other allopathic and complementary personnel and
services (including making and receiving referrals appropriately)
• professional business men and women, able to build and grow successful acupuncture practices, whether as a fulltime
self-employed practitioner or as an employed member of a multi-disciplinary team
• individuals and practitioners committed to life-long learning

STAGES OF LEARNING
The Professional Diploma of Acupuncture and Moxibustion course at Ongiara College is divided into four academic years
over 37 calendar months. Students attend 6 consecutive days per month for the first 24 months, then 2-3 days a week for 50
weeks. The course is a progressive journey of development: studying, gathering practical skills, widening one’s inner senses,
questioning, exploring, understanding, reflecting, owning all material and translating the above into professional practice
and knowing-how. All students in a class study together through the whole program, following a continuous flow of topics
which build on and deepen previous experience.
• The first academic year concentrates on the regulatory movements of Nature, the manifestation of health and the
qualities of the master practitioner.
• The second academic year focuses on how humans often struggle in living their lives and so accrue internal,
external or miscellaneous causes of disease. Through diagnosis and minimal intervention, the practitioner is able to
assist the person, at all levels of bodymindspirit, to return to regulation.
• The third academic year refines the skills of the practitioner, as educator as well as physician, becoming him/herself
an instrument along with the tools of acupuncture and moxibustion.
• The fourth academic year equips practitioners to move from the safe environment of the college out into the world,
with confidence, with competence, with delight, with compassion, deeply rooted in the magic of Nature which will
sustain them as they serve themselves, their patients and their communities.
“The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary.” Vidal Sassoon

METHODS OF TEACHING
Ongiara College recognizes students as mature, adult learners and uses predominantly student-centered process models of
teaching and learning: creative thought, involvement, investigation, experience, deliberation, reflection. Didactic teaching is
kept to a minimum and is used to inspire inquiry and investigation rather than ‘transmit knowledge’. This comes from a belief
that the modern acupuncture practitioner must “be able to continuously uncover and create his/her own theories of action
and use and evaluate them” and thus be a reflective practitioner. (Della Fish describing the ‘ideal practitioner’ during a series
of Education Workshops for Acupuncture Colleges in the UK.)
Theory informs practice and clinical practice drives theory.
“Learning is a comprehensive activity in which we come to know ourselves and the world around us.
Its achievements range from merely being aware,
to what may be called understanding and being able to explain.
It is both the acquisition of knowledge and the extension of the ability to learn.”
Michael Oakeshott, Philosopher
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT, EVALUATION and APPRAISAL (With acknowledgement to Della Fish)
The criteria for procedures at Ongiara College predominantly prioritize assessment of the range of understanding rather than
the knowledge base. Students are accountable for their understanding and personal response; awareness of processes
involved; evidence of reflection and critical thought; ability to adapt knowing-how to new situations (learning of transferable
skills); capacity of going beyond what is offered by the teacher.
“I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I’ve learnt.”
Patrick White, 1973 Australian Nobel Prizewinner for Literature

EMBODIMENT OF OUR MISSION STATEMENT
One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the
whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it.
Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted
more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The
crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars. It had places where
pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In
fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared -- how can he say his
heart is more beautiful, they thought?
The young man looked at the old man’s heart and saw its state and laughed. “You must be joking” he said. “Compare your
heart with mine: mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.” “Yes” said the old man, “yours is perfect looking but
I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of
my heart and give it to them and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but
because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges which I cherish because they remind me of the love we shared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These
are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me
of the love I have for these people too and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do
you see what true beauty is?”
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect
young and beautiful heart and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took
his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young
man’s heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect
anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked
away side by side. Unknown origin

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: first by reflection, which is noblest;
second by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Confucius
Ongiara College is committed to the development of reflective acupuncture practitioners and uses the reflective learning
cycle, reflective writing in journals, self-assessment, literature reviews, professional portfolios, critical incident methodologies,
research-minded inquiry and action research strategies throughout the program of study. Reflective practice is “a dialogue
of thinking and doing through which I become more skillful.” Schön (1987) By its nature, it integrates theory and practice.
“The Reflective Practice approach believes that good work in a profession involves more than being good at basic skills.
It involves:
1. developing knowledge during practice through reflection on practice which in turn transforms and is transformed by
further practice
2. a commitment to a set of moral principles involving complex and serious responsibilities requiring the exercise of
professional judgement
3. thinking and improvising on one’s feet
4. the endless exercise and refinement of professional judgement”
Quote from Della Fish during a series of Education Workshops for Acupuncture Colleges in the UK.
INTERNAL CULTIVATION
We believe that the inner cultivation of the student is an essential component of the development of the master
practitioner. Regular Qi Gong sessions are offered at the college before morning class: open to students, graduates, staff,
faculty and patients alike. Independent study assignments include the ongoing practice of T’ai Chi Chuan, Qi Gong, Aikido
or other energetic discipline of the student’s choice. Students are required to receive personal acupuncture treatment
during their course of study as well as experience other forms of complementary medicine. Students are asked to undertake
monthly voluntary work within the human community. Each student class will have a plot of land at the Ridgeway property
to tend during their student life, to grow vegetables or flowers and create earth and/or water sculptures etc. as they deem
appropriate to the weather, the land and the indigenous population of amphibians, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, insects,
bacteria and plants.
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
Lao Tzu

“In Nature, we have the four seasons and the five energetic phases of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
Their changes and transformations produce wind, heat, dampness, dryness and cold.
The weather, in turn, affects every living creature in the natural world
and forms the foundation for birth, growth, expansion and decline.”
Nei Jing Su Wen Ch. 5
WuXing Correspondences
Element Wood Fire Earth Metal Water
Direction East South Centre West North
Season Spring Summer Transitions Fall Winter
Climate Wind Heat Humidity Dryness Cold
Power of Birth Maturity Decrease Balance Emphasis
Planet Jupiter Mars Saturn Venus Mercury
Color Blue-Green Red Yellow White Blue-Black
Sound Shout Laugh Sing Weep Groan
Odor Rancid Scorched Fragrant Rotten Putrid
Taste Sour Bitter Sweet Pungent Salty
Fruit Peach Plum Apricot Chestnut Date
Vegetable Mallow Cabbage Shallot Onion Leek
Will Anger Joy Thoughtfulness Grief Fear
Spirit Hun Shen Yi Po Zhi

The Twelve Officials in the Eleven Positions
Huang Di (the Yellow Emperor) asked: I wish to be instructed on the relative charges of the twelve Zang
and their relative ranks. Qi Bo (the Heavenly Teacher) replied:
The heart holds the office of lord and sovereign
The radiance of the spirits stems from it
The lung holds the office of minister and chancellor
The regulation of the lifegiving network stems from it
The liver holds the office of general of the armed forces
Assessment of circumstances and conception of plans stem from it
The gallbladder is responsible for what is just and exact
Determination and decision stem from it
Tan zhong has the charge of resident as well as envoy
Elation and joy stem from it
The spleen and stomach are responsible for the storehouses and granaries
The five tastes stem from them
The large intestine is responsible for transit
The residue from the transformations stems from it
The small intestine is responsible for receiving and making things thrive
Transformed substances stem from it
The kidneys are responsible for the arousing of power
Skill and ability stem from them
The triple heater is responsible for the opening up of passages and irrigation
The regulation of waterways stems from it
The bladder is responsible for regions and cities
It stores the body fluids
The transformations of the breaths then give out their power
These twelve charges form an interdependent group that allows of no failing.
Nei Jing Su Wen Chapter 8, translated by Claude Larre & Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallee,
The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchid

In ancient China, the Blue-Green Dragon stood for the East, a metaphor of Spirit (the Vital
Breath of True Yang) and the White Tiger symbolized the West, a metaphor of Vital Desire
(the Water of Perfect Oneness). The intercourse of Dragon and Tiger was used to symbolize
a harmonious liaison between Kidney Water and Heart-mind Fire, according to the theory of
the Five Elements, demonstrating the complementary relationship between Yin and Yang, the
fundamentals of the Universe.
The Daoist Physician Sun Si-miao (581-682 AD) is referred to as ‘the King of Medicine’ and is always depicted sitting on a
tiger while holding aloft a dragon. Mystical origins are attributed to some of his writings. Wandering the mountains, Sun
Si-miao met a tiger suffering from chronic pain: the Immortal put his hand through an iron ring in the tiger’s mouth to apply
some medicine and the tiger was healed. Another story speaks of the young dragon prince who left the ocean and
changed himself into a snake but was accidentally harmed, whereupon Sun Si-miao used acupuncture to save his life.
When the young dragon went back to his father, the Dragon King gave Sun Si-miao two ancient medical books which he
studied thoroughly, making him a great doctor.
Sun Si-miao’s code of medical ethics echoed that of Hippocrates and established a professional standard to live by for
generations of Chinese physicians, based on compassion, justice,
beneficence and humility. Sun Si-miao’s formulas and theories
were also incorporated into the Ishimpo, influencing generations of
Japanese practitioners.
Sun Si-miao kept faith with magical medicine and simple Daoist
principles whilst the Imperial Medical College of the Tang Dynasty
‘modernised’ acupuncture. So too will Ongiara College bridge the
classic wisdom with the modern world around us.

WHO WE ARE
Ongiara College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion evolved out of the extensive graduate teaching of Niki H. Bilton over the
past 15 years. Our faculty is drawn from acupuncturists and allopathic/complementary medical practitioners of diverse
backgrounds who have worked with and alongside her and who share her passion for Five Element Acupuncture rooted
in Daoist philosophy and ancient traditions. Our vision is to sow seeds of inspiration contributing to the flowering of Classical
Acupuncture practice resonating with the needs of the 21 st Century. Ongiara College is a not-for-profit corporation registered in
the province of Ontario, seeking charitable status in Canada. Ongiara Foundation is pursuing registration as a charity in the US.
CONTACT US
1198 RIDGE ROAD NORTH,
RIDGEWAY, ON, L0S 1N0, CANADA
Tel: (905) 894 1323
info@ongiaracollege.ca
www.ongiaracollege.ca