Chris Marano, Master Herbalist
First, and most directly connected to the field of herbalism, Chris is deeply honored and grateful to have formally studied and trained with David Winston, one of the foremost herbalists of our time. It was (and still is) David’s comprehensive knowledge of herbalism and guidance as a healer of the highest order that encouraged Chris in 1989 to commit once and for all to the practice of herbalism. His training, however, did not start or end there.
As a teacher of human health and potential, herbal medicine, and Earth-stewardship, Chris brings over thirty years experience as a bonafide educator with bachelors and masters credentials from Columbia University (Pre-med major, Eastern philosophy and spirituality minor) and Columbia Teachers College (MA in sciences education), with over twenty and counting years teaching biology, anatomy-physiology, environmental studies and herbalism at the secondary school and university level (currently teaching ‘Topics in Herbalism’ in the Sustainable Foods and Living Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst). Clearpath School of Herbal Medicine has been teaching people interested in broadening and deepening their personal understanding of holism as well as educating and nurturing aspiring herbalists since 2000.
Chris has over thirty-five years (and counting) of deep study and practice in the spiritual, philosophical and healing richness of Chinese Medicine, Buddhism and Taoism. His entryway and continued exploration in this field is unique, and separates Chris from most other practitioners of Chinese Medicine in the U.S., whether as acupuncturists or as herbalists.
Chris was not trained in the modern, institutionalized TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) tradition, nor did he learn herbalism as an aside at an acupuncture school. His education came through years of osmosis studying, practicing and living at the Chan Center in NYC, as meditation student and assistant for the most highly regarded Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhist master of his generation, Ven. Dr. Chang Sheng-yen (aka Shifu), now deceased. During his thirty-year tenure there, he had intimate involvement with Shifu Sheng-yen and his remarkable teachings, and with his devoted Sangha of monks and nuns, some of whom were trained in Chinese herbal medicine and nutrition. While there, Chris attended dozens of intensive silent meditation retreats, helmed the main editor position of the Chan Magazine for fifteen years, and co-authored seven of Shifu’s books. By Shifu Sheng-yen’s permission, Chris has also led classes and retreats on the subject of meditation, mindfulness, and self-cultivation, and he weaves this knowledge into all of his teachings.
The same is true for Chris’s deep connection to Native American medicine. His twenty-five year and counting relationship with medicine elders of the Anishnabe-Ojibway and Cherokee traditions comes by way of spending a lot of time in nature and in spiritual training, self-cultivation, and indigenous ceremony. Like most American-born-and-raised people, he is hardwired with Western way of thought, but decades of study in other traditions has tempered this wiring. Chris says that Chinese understanding is in his bones and Native American understanding is in his blood. Chris’s studies continue to evolve. In the last few years, he has added Somatic Experiencing (SE) approach to trauma therapy and Iyengar Yoga teacher training to his “medicine bag.”