RS: This is a pretty long question, and very interesting. I think, again, the answer to this question will only come from practically
seeing the method in action, either through a practitioner who practices this method or trying it out in your own practice.
Let me give you an example-
I had a case of a man with a tumour in his eyeball, and he described it thus; that this tumour caused a
certain "imbalance" in his eyes. Then he described this imbalance as a sense of inco-ordination, and further, how co-ordination was
the most important thing in his life; how everything needed to be co-ordinated. Going further along this line, he said it's the kind
of co-ordination that a pilot needs when piloting his plane, or a rocket scientist needs when he makes a rocket. It's the kind of
co-ordination that an actor needs when he is performing live on stage, and several such examples.
At some point, he described a
situation where his mother-in-law did something behind his back, and when I asked him what he had felt about it, he replied that he
felt very disappointed, and betrayed. Now, these emotions of disappointment and betrayal are present in his case, and one might be
tempted to use rubrics like "ailments from disappointment, or betrayal". But if you ask further, "Describe the disappointment", then
you bring out the true individuality of the person in the circumstance. When somebody does something behind your back, which is not
expected, the feeling of disappointment is common, not individual. Hahnemann always emphasized the individualizing phenomena, the
characteristic symptoms. Here, when we look at disappointment, it's not individual enough, not characteristic enough. Go further.
When I asked him, "Describe the disappointment", he said, "It's as if somebody had punched me in my stomach." This now gets more
characteristic. Take it one step further. I asked him, "Describe the experience of being punched" and he said, "I feel completely
suffocated." "Describe suffocation." And it opens out and you find that there is the suffocation sensation in many areas in his life,
like when swimming, or in claustrophobic situations, etc. That suffocation sensation, along with the sense of importance of
co-ordination and control, like a stage artist, or a plane pilot, gives us the remedy Argentum nitricum, which has the control,
co-ordination as well as the suffocation. That remedy cured the tumour in his eye.
So the "ailments from disappointment" or "delusion
that somebody had punched his stomach", is a more superficial expression. The deeper expression is the tremendous sense of suffocation
that he felt, not only in the situation with his mother-in-law, but in every area of his life. A sensation that is so individual, and
so completely unconnected with the external reality that it becomes the most individualizing symptom of the person, both physical and
mental. It is at the Sensation level.
When you see that it is both physical and mental; that it encompasses his whole life, his whole
story, and you see the same thing at the depth of all expressions, whether it be his interests and hobbies, his occupation, his
relationships, his physical symptoms etc. you know you have come to the depth, to the Vital Sensation. Everything comes together at
this level. And that is something one just needs to see practically happen. Then it is clear. At the level of theory, it may not be
at all clear; it may lead to a lot of doubt and questions, 'till you actually experience it.
