To Learn Widely and Listen Broadly

A psychotherapist was afraid he had contracted a virus from one of his patients who had the flu. He came in and said, “I have to work very hard. I am afraid I have some bug in my chest, and I can’t afford to be sick because I am going to have my Ph.D. exam.” His face looked a very pale. I asked, “Does your mouth feel dry?” He said, “No.” I continued to ask, “What is the color of your mucus?” He replied, “A little green.”

I began to take his pulse, but it was difficult for me to tell whether is was ‘tight’ or ‘wiry’. (You know how you feel but it is difficult to define*). Eventually I felt a little sleepy so I took a break. I took the pulse again, and after struggling, I determined his pulse was ‘tight’. I asked, “Do you feel chilly or have a fever?” He answered, “I feel a little chilly.” I said, “Your pulse is ‘tight,’ and he asked, “What does that mean?” I explained: “Well, as you know, hot expands, and cold shrinks. Your lungs breathe in cold air and when the body is not able to regulate the cold air properly it tries to protect your lungs and shuts down some passages to protect the lung.”

He asked, “So, what are you going to do for me?” I said, “Let me take a look at your tongue.” He extended his tongue which, if normal, has a somewhat white coating, but in this case the coating was not enough. As he was an old patient of mine, I joked with him: “I will increase your gall-bladder qi at this moment.” (In this instance qi means courage.) He did not understand what I meant. I said again, “You are now afraid to do anything because the energy in your chest is not enough and you hesitate to do what you want to do.” He said, “You are right!” I explained to him in Chinese medical language that if your gall bladder is powerful enough, you can be brave. Now you don’t have enough energy in your lungs. This affects your heart, and when your heart is weak, that will make your gall bladder activity weak also, then it will affect your courage. He said he understood what I told him, but I told him that it would take time to understand. He said suddenly, “Dr. Ng, I don’t have much mucus and maybe the color is not green.” I said, “The nature of your problem is insufficient warmth. Unless you have much yellow and green mucus, your mucus being yellow will not affect my judgment. I know what to do.” He knew he would get better, but he asked yet another question, “Dr. Ng, what is the secret of judging properly?” I answered, “Your have to learn widely and listen broadly.”

A few days later, he came in with a smile and no flu symptoms. He had the courage to do the right things he needed to do. He asked, “How is my energy? Can you give me more energy?” I said, “At this moment, eliminating the evil means supporting your energy. Now the major job is to clear up your lungs and drive the cold out.” He walked out with a smile. Suddenly he returned and said, “Dr. Ng, I always have some doubt at first when you explain things to me.” I responded, “But you have a scientific attitude, so though you may doubt, try to get confirmation.”

*Note: Signed by Jin Dynasty (265-317 A.D.) Great Master of Pulse Taking