The Life Cycle of the Amoeba - Stage Two

Stage Two - satisfying needs

In the first stage of the cycle, the amoeba is unaware of any particular needs. The functions involved - those of establishing ourselves as a separate entity and exchanging Ki with the universe - are so vital that we do not feel a craving to perform them; we simply cease to be, as a separate entity, if they stop.

In the second stage, once an individual identity has been established, needs arise. The most basic need of any life form is for nourishment. In the case of the amoeba, let us imagine that it espises some particularly tasty food molecule before it in the primordial soup. Its actions then are to bulge itself forward (in biological terms, to put out a pseudopodium) to reach what it desires, then to enfold it and begin to break it down into a digestible form.

The two parts of this phase of the cycle represent the activity of the Stomach and Spleen meridians. The Yang or active energy of the Stomach embodies the appetite factor, the perception of a need and the movement towards satisfying it. The Spleen performs the Yin function of drawing in and enfolding the object of our need; it also breaks it down into usable form. The object can be anything that we perceive as being necessary for our well-being, even our survival - anything, in other words, for which we hunger. It may be information, love, approval, possessions or status that we crave, as well as food. The Stomach hungers and pursues; the Spleen establishes possession, embraces and breaks down. The activity in this phase of energy is all at the front, the perception of an object of desire outside ourselves, which attracts us to move forward till we have grasped and enfolded it, is acted out by the Spleen and Stomach meridians, which are at the front of the body. The catchphrase for this stage in the cycle is "obtaining nourishment and digestion".