Hahnemannian Oath
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1996 Nov / Dec Vol V No 6.
Manu Kothari & Lopa Mehta.
Having persued Homoeopathic journals for a decade, we have perceived that the grand patriarch of allopathy, namely Hippocrates of Cos, is NO parent figure for the divergent, equally learned, and globally successful discipline of ?Homoeopathy. Hence, this initiative to invoke the spirit of the founder of Homoeopathy by phrasing an oath that should help a Homoeopathician in her or his Approach to a case. The individualistic oath admits only the first person singular.
"I swear by Hahnemann that while approaching any case, trivial to tragic, I shall guide myself by some general principles that are the gist of the whole science, philosophy and technology of the medical marvel generally known as HOMOEOPATHY. May God, whoever whatever wherever She or He is, guide me so that I, as a clinician and therapist grow, and my patient benefits therefrom".
The cardinal principle that will govern me is HUMILITY, the realization that but for Natures mathematics, the patient and I could be swapping places, be it anyone diseased, dying or dead, knowing lifes trajectory, I shall see in my patient a mirror that tells me that whatsoever happens to a patient can readily happen to me without notice.
I know that I know naught. This epistemological essence ought to inculcate into me non-assertive tentativeness whereby I rectify what I can and accept what I cant teaching the patient also to do so. I know, as is manifest in allopathic world, that the pathway to many an iatrogenic hell is paved with good therapeutic intentions. A dispassionate perspective of any medical discipline would reveal the truth of the rather wry Chinese proverb: "A doctors medicine works on a patient who is destined to survive." Howsoever fatalistic the foregoing may seem, I for one, agree with the French surgeon Ambrose Pare who declared: "I dressed the wound. God healed the wound." The presiding deity, the governing Goddess of healing arts is "vis medicatrix naturale" the healing power of nature or the natural curative power inherent in the organism."
Fees are the financial reciprocation that my patient offers for the services I render. In this inevitable game, I shall strive to see that my earning is the side effect to my working, and not the other way around. May not the mammon of money mar my mind for my greatest assets are a clear mind and a light conscience. Havent I seen my teachers, seniors and colleagues going for the loot and then biting the dust unsung, unhonoured and unheard! In this age of crass materialism, detachment from money is so difficult, yet I shall strive to remember what Ramkrishna Paramhansa said: "A lawyer or a doctor, rarely attains salvation for she / he is cursed to make money out of mankinds miseries."
Homoeopathy stands now computerised. Programmes are available that boast of repertorization numbering 7056 followed by 36 zeroes, or 7056 undecillion, which is 1000 billion times greater than the number of cells-100000 bill that comprise the human body. Per cell 1000 billion repertoires Let me confess, on behalf of my fraternity, that such megafigures must be balanced by the GIGO principle that dominates all computer contrivances: GIGO stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out. Computers are fast making my discipline a numbers game and I hold it to be my bounden duty to warn myself and my colleagues.
The final and probably the most important principle that should dictate my approach to any case is the conviction that my personhood should be superior to my prescriptions. Any clinical encounter is an interaction between a person who is in distress and a person who has been endorsed by the society, circumstances and God to relieve the disease. It is an exercise in which my vibes towards the patient are more vital than my vials. Its better to be good than great, decent than dexterous, compassionate than clever, magnanimous than mercenary, truthful than technical, accomplished than avarious.
All the above, and a lot unsaid, is what I declare to be inviolable principles that should direct my destiny as a Homoeopath. May I further the spirit and the science of Samuel Hahnemann. May the good God give me the strength and wisdom to do so".
