Pulse Diagnosis of the Shen.

I was flying home to Austin from Los Angeles after seeing a patient. I arrived at the airport at about 5:30am and found a place to plug my computer in while I waited for a standby seat on the 7:25am flight. I made it. I was reading Robin book on The Shadow. I would drift off into the dream time, facing shadow materials and power dynamics. But – I was also interested in developing concepts of brain diagnosis in another article. For some reason, I began taking my pulse during the flight with the question, how does one diagnose the shen using the pulse? The solution is based upon the compass method published elsewhere. But shortly, the method is rooted in geopolitical theories of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties: called four winds or si feng.

First it is necessary to discuss the translation of the word shen which is a pleural phenomenon. The word shen is often used in TCM parlance as a singular descriptor such as shen disturbance. Yet, the word shen is also used to describe an aggregate of conscious aspects of the self. These include the shen (in this case singular), hun, po, zhi and yi.

The shen in pulse diagnosis is palpated with in the distal left position usually correlated with the heart. Further, the shen are palpated at the superficial depth for each organ where they reside. The method of assessing the single point that most resonates with the shen is relatively direct and accomplished using the compass method. First, go to the left distal position at the surface of the vessel and use the compass method palpating into each of the directions. The direction that is most full is the active aspect of the shen. Then go to the organ which houses the aspect shen that is active and perform the compass there. The area that is most full will directly resonate with the active component of the shen.

For example: I place my index finger in the superficial component of the wave form in the left distal position (cun or 1st position). As I roll in each direction, the middle sector is most full indicating a possible involvement of the yi. I move to the spleen middle right position and palpate the sectors of the pulse according to the compass. This provides the necessary data to select a single point that balances the shen. The rest of the treatment can be constructed from here.