Nirodbaran
Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo
Second Series
3. Matters Medical
Experiment, Experience, Knowledge, Intuition, Inspiration
There is a vegetable called “bubble and squeak.” That describes the two methods you propose. “Bubble” is to go on tossing symptoms about in the head and trying to discover what they point to – that is your method. “Squeak” is to dart1 at a conclusion (supported by a quotation) and ram some inappropriate medicine down the patient's throat – that's X's method. But the proper method is neither to bubble nor to squeak.
Your logical brain box, sir, is such a rule-of-thumb Dr. Johnsonian sort of affair that it is quite impossible to satisfy. If ever you succeed in emptying the brain box of its miscellaneous contents and being mentally silent then you will discover how these things are done.
Well, so that's how the Mother's statements are understood! A free permit for anything and everything calling itself an intuition to go crashing into the field of action! Go at it, indeed! Poor it!
What the Mother says in the matter is what she said to Dr. Manilal with his entire agreement – viz. reading from symptoms by the doctors is usually mere balancing between possibilities (of course except in clear and simple cases) and the conclusion is a guess. It may be a right guess and then it will be all right, or it may be a wrong guess and then all will be wrong unless Nature is too strong for the doctor and overcomes the consequences of his error – or at the least the treatment will be ineffective. On the contrary if one develops the diagnostic flair one can see at once what is the real thing among the possibilities and see what is to be done. That is what the most successful doctors have, they have this flashlight which shows them the true point. M agreed and said that the cause of the guessing was that there were whole sets of symptoms which could belong to any one of several diseases and to decide is a most delicate and subtle business, no amount of book knowledge or reasoning will ensure a right decision. A special insight is needed [that] looks through the symptoms and not merely at them. This last sentence, by the way, is my own, not M's, About development of intuition afterwards – no time tonight.
06.04.1937
1 Uncertain reading (Nirodbaran).