Homeopathy Action Trust Summit- Opening Speech

by Simon Taffler PCH RSHom

Thank you for coming

Thank you for wanting to create a difference We need a difference, we need change. Because we are not winning, not succeeding. People don’t understand what we do and our community doesn’t know how to tell them. As a profession we are facing complex resistance from many quarters that needs to be met with clarity, strength, method and management – a global strategy. This can only be borne of a global meeting of minds and meeting of interests. Because together, by combining skills, by combining resources we will be stronger. We need to look at things differently, to search, explore and probe, and we need to do it do it quickly, or there will not be a profession to hand on to future generations. That’s why we are here – to create a whole, a sum greater than its parts, a global community that maximises the use of limited resources to ensure a better, more just and fruitful future for homeopathy. A future where patients engage with us comfortably, and here external audiences and bodies understand and – dare I say it – appreciate what we do. So, lets briefly look at the parts that make up the whole this weekend.

Homeopathy

Consider a world without homeopathy. I know I’m preaching to the converted but this needs saying out loud. The legacy of Hahnemann’s immensely accomplished life is visible to all. He was a remarkable champion of a revolutionary medicine. Owing to his practical wisdom and resourcefulness we have a marriage of art and science that he knew would, for many, be difficult to take on board. Indeed he was not exactly diplomatic in dealing with his detractors. His antagonistic thinking and behaviour still echoes, both inside and outside our profession. Yet homeopathy is a wonderfully elegant form of medicine. Practicing homeopathy is a monumental exploration into the wisdom of nature. Every prescription is a quest, a metaphorical journey for patient and practitioner. It takes a certain humility to be 100% present with a person and reconstruct their case, to participate and retain objectivity, to be an unprejudiced observer. It takes a lot of respect and true dignity to prescribe and see the healing process through to cure. It takes a personal discipline exacted at a price to open the landscape of mind, heart and body, soul and spirit and to command the quality of relationship necessary to be a successful homeopath. You all manage to accomplish this as practitioners. All we ask is that you apply those same qualities and capacities to the next 2 days so we can reconstruct the case for homeopathy.

Action

Consider our world if we don’t act. Our world has become truly global. Modern media communicates immediately and universally. It provides an open door for those who promulgate false assumptions, erroneous presentations, invidious comments, slander and lies. But it also highlights inconsistencies in our narrative, a homeopathy with multiple visions and multiple voices. Micro engagements without a macro level vision – like treating symptoms without addressing the larger totality. Lets face it, battles are won with a united army, not with lots of platoons with different objectives heading in different directions. So how do we to tackle the myriad of issues that confront homeopathy? What should our public voice sound like? How do we engage and retain our audiences – patients, the public, the media and so on? The objective of this weekend is to answer these questions and more. This is not about taking a stand; it is about engagement, participation and communication. Never has the breaking down of traditional silos been so important and so relevant. Silos break down when there is a common mission, guided by an enlightened vision and actioned by a united voice. Action that considers the relevance of our projects, institutions and communities, their interaction and behaviour. There is no room for complacency, no room for doubt. I invite us all to join a process out of which the actions we need to take will become clear.

Trust

Consider homeopathy without trust. This weekend is neither a conference intended to inform. Nor is this it about fundraising, accreditation, professionalism or ethics. It is a summit to re-vision the future with a homeopathic mindset that existing and future patients understand and can trust. A trust that is rock solid and invincible, and one that can’t be undermined by inflammatory press reports. And it is your trust that we need over the next two days. I am challenging you – to channel and focus your lives for 36 hours in experiential processes that will engage skills that all of you have, whether you know it yet or not. Like yourselves, I have absolutely no idea what we are about to begin. I am told that some of the things we will be asked to do may feel a little unusual, and indeed might feel irrelevant to the outcome. But I ask you to trust in the process – it is not only powerful but proven. Our specialist external team have done this successfully for numerous institutions and companies for many years. They are the best in their field and that’s why they are facilitating our weekend. They bring years of experience and an international reputation with them. By 4.00 tomorrow they will have guided us to a place of collective agreement. It will be up to us to actualise those outcomes.

So, let go of any controlling instincts you have, leave any preconceived notions, considerations, prejudices and postures outside in the grass. Channel your experience, focus your wisdom and direct your soul and spirit to serving well beyond itself towards a powerful outcome. I call on you to roll up your sleeves and lets get on with it.

Thank you.

Simon Taffler PCH RSHom

Trustee, Homeopathy Action Trust