Pulse Diagnosis

The art of reading the pulses is the central diagnostic technique of Oriental Medicine and in many ways shapes the whole character of its practice. So how does pulse diagnosis work? The answer is that the human body is resonant and holographic; resonant because it vibrates, it pulses, it has a rhythm, a set of frequencies which can be felt and listened to; holographic because the each part of the body reflects the whole. Just as a good mechanic can listen to a car engine and pick up disharmonies and wobbles and determine what is wrong with the engine, so too can a physician pick up disharmonies by "listening" to the feel of the pulse.

It is less easy to explain how it is that particular positions on the radial artery are specifically related to the individual organ systems of Chinese Medicine, particularly when classical Indian or Aryuvedic Medicine assigns different correspondences to the arteries and yet is still able to elicit consistent and relevant information. My feeling is that the holographic nature of our human existence is itself the reflection of a supremely intelligent universe. It seems that everywhere we look, every way we examine the systems of our world, we are able to discern patterns and intelligible information. In order to work out the intricacies of the system of pulse diagnosis, someone, somewhere back in the past, was either divinely inspired or relentlessly curious and thoughtful. The result is a profoundly useful way to determine your treatment strategies and it doesn't cost a thousand dollars a time like some of our western medical diagnostic tests.