Homeopathy Book Reviews

Sensation Refined – by Dr. Rajan Sankaran

book
Written by Padmaja Pai Shenoy

Sensation Refined – by Dr. Rajan Sankaran, is reviewed by Dr. Padmaja Pai Shenoy

Pages: 432

First Edition: 2007

ISBN : 978–81–903378–7-8

Reprinted with permission from: National Journal of Homoeopathy:  April 2008 – Page 70 – 71

This book was written after “The Sensation in Homoeopathy”. Laurie Dack says: “It’s wonderful to note that the individualizing quality of each patient sits shining beautifully within the main com­plaint”.  She notes that this happens consistently in each case and helps arrive at the simillimum.

In the review of, “The Sensation in Homoeopathy”, Liana Dannheisser writes,

“’The fundamental idea is that a remedy is curative when given on the basis of the patient’s deepest level of ex­perience, his/her vital sensation. At that level,there is an energy that corresponds to something non-human, something which is like a plant, min­eral or animal. It seems like nonsense. It is as if there are two songs playing in the same person: the human part, which is supposed to be there and the non-human, which ‘in state song of the remedy will express itself with the language of its kingdom, plant sensitivity, mineral structure, or animal survival. It will express itself precisely as the song of a substance.”

“The words of the patient, at the level of the vital sensation, are the source words. When the patient comes to this level, it feels strange and irrational …but this is precisely the point in the case taking where, if they are reassured that it is okay to talk this ‘nonsense’ they will lead you to the source. This book is not about new concepts but a refine­ment of earlier ideas, to make everything more ef­fective and consistent. To follow the patient into his nonsense is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences, both for the patient and the homoeopath. As Roger Morrison puts it, ‘In case after case, you follow the thread of the pa­tient’s expression to this non human level. In each case I began by feeling ‘What nonsense is this?” and ended by feeling, “What sublime nonsense that was!”

In this book Rajan elaborates and ex­pands on his idea of traveling with the patient with no predetermina­tion or preconceived ideas of where this journey is going to take us and gradually as the story unfolds in the patient’s own language and style, we get the non-human song he is ‘sing­ing’ and we are literally led to the remedy.

We just need to believe in the process and have the patience lead us to the source—ie. the exact remedy the patient needs.

He describes this process with detailed case taking. He also presents a case taken before his evolution to this pattern understanding. He candidly reveals how he gave a patient Nat-mur 1M and after finding her no better, he concludes, “It was analytical thinking; using our minds to put information together and come to the conclusion of maximal probability. We were being logical, judgmental, using mathematics to add informa­tion and get the best result.” After the case taking he found her saying things (this is mentioned in greatest detail) which revealed a remedy from ‘insecta’ and on further elucidation he zeroed in on Coccinella-septempunctuata 1M (lady beetle). He states that after this remedy, she spoke of feeling a deep level of awareness and confidence that this rem­edy was right. Rajan goes on to say, “This talk is about experience. It is not about information or knowledge. I would like you to experience the truth here, because what you experience you know. When you know, you have faith. When you have faith you can practice. When you practice, information comes, and technique is perfected.”

Rajan says that the easiest way to understand the sensation is this: It is the global in the local. He also talks about the significance of gestures.’ Ges­tures become the secret door, the hidden passage into the land of the individual, a way by which with help, he can get in touch with his inner real­ity.

In another brief chapter he writes of “the doorway through doodles”. Circles indicate self protectiveness and a yielding nature. Ovals show an exacting nature; squares show a practical person and so on. The doodle differs in each person and reveals the deep turmoil in the human consciousness. This is a replica of the vital sensa­tion. He cautions us that we as homoeopaths do not have to understand or interpret or analyze the doodle, in fact we don’t even need to look at it. We need to merely listen and observe it as the patient’s experience and this may help us confirm our find­ings of the case taking.

In another chapter he presents summaries of case taking viz 1) Be empty, 2 ) Connect, 3) Look, lis­ten, ask, 4) Endgame, 5) Confirmation, 6) Pattern match.

In another chapter he has given a fascinating study of the remedy for Hitler. On the face of it, his remedy was Plumbum, but after putting his speech into the Vitalquest software the remedy that came up was a fungus!! Agaricus-muscarius. I am pretty impressed with how a case so evidently Plum­bum, was a fungus. Somehow I feel a sense of satisfac­tion that he was more a fungus than a mineral!! More befitting somehow, isn’t it?

I was fascinated by this book, as I was by all those Rajan has writen. We may all be stuck with our tried and tested methods and we may feel great comfort and security to stay in our trusted zones, but let’s just give this method a try and it will deepen our entire experience and case taking will take on another dimension. I read and reread some portions and though diffi­cult to implement, his ideas are sound and I found an edge to my case taking ability that was absent before.

About the author

Padmaja Pai Shenoy

Dr Padmaja Pai Shenoy - L.C.E.H.( Bom)
Dr. Padmaja Pai Shenoy did the four year LCEH (Licentiate by the Court of Examiners in Homeopathy) course in homeopathy. At the time it was the only one in all of Mumbai. Today the institute is called Dr. M.L. Dhawale Memorial Homoeopathic Institute. She has been practicing homoeopathy since 1979. Her clinic is in Bandra , Mumbai, India.

1 Comment

  • Thank you. I was a patient in the early 2000.
    Would be grateful if someone can provide Dr Padamaja’s cell number .

    Veena Bhatia

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