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ОглавлениеWho Did That?
Dr. Bernie Siegel
Connecticut
When I was four-years-old, I was home in bed with one of my frequent ear infections. I took a toy telephone I was playing with, unscrewed the dial and put all of the pieces in my mouth as I had seen carpenters do with nails which they then pulled out to use. The problem was that I aspirated the pieces and went into laryngospasm (a frightening experience in which the vocal cords suddenly freeze blocking the flow of air into the lungs). I can still feel my intercostals muscles and diaphragm contracting forcefully, trying to get some air into my lungs, but nothing worked, and I was unable to make any sounds to attract help. I had no sense of the time but suddenly realized I was not struggling anymore. I was now at the head of the bed watching myself die.
I found it fascinating to be free of my body and a blessing. I never stopped to think about how I could still see while out of my body. I was feeling sorry that my mother, who was in the kitchen, would find me dead, but I thought it over and found that my new state was preferable and intellectually chose death over life.
Then, for no apparent reason, the boy on the bed vomited, and all the pieces came flying out. He began to breathe again, and I was very angry as I returned to my body against my will. I can still remember yelling, “Who did that?” My thought as a four-year-old was that there was a God who had a schedule, and I wasn’t supposed to die now. So an angel apparently did a Heimlich maneuver on me is the way I would explain it today.
I really do believe there is a schedule we create unconsciously because of later life experiences. Twice I have had my car totaled by people driving through red lights, and once I fell off of our roof when the top rung on my wooden ladder snapped off. In none of these incidents did any significant injury occur to my body. Someone told me it was because I had an angel, and he knew his name. I asked what it was, and he asked, “What did you say when the ladder broke?”
“I said, Oh, shit!”
He said, “That’s his name.” I will add he always shows up when I call him in an impassioned way.
Over the years I have had several spiritual experiences. One was with the healer Olga Worrall. I had injured my leg training for a marathon. It was very painful and not responding to rest or therapy. At an American Holistic Medical Association conference Olga was a guest speaker. My wife told me to ask her to heal me. I was embarrassed to ask and very frankly a non-believer. Nevertheless, my wife pushed me forward, and Olga sat me down in a chair and placed her two hands on my leg. The heat from her hands was incredible. I remember putting my hands on the opposite leg to compare the heat sensation. There was no sense of warmth from my hands coming through the dungarees. When Olga was done, I stood up and was completely healed. The pain was gone, and I could walk normally.
Another time Olga and I spoke at the funeral of a mutual friend. After the ceremony we were standing in a deserted hallway when she asked, “Are you Jewish?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Because,” she explained, “there are two rabbis standing next to you.” She went on to tell me their names and describe their garments, which included their prayer shawls and caps. Her description of them was exactly what I saw in one of my meditation and imagery sessions when I had met these figures while walking on my path.
Another evening after I gave a lecture, which felt like someone else was giving it and I was simply verbalizing it for them, a woman came up to me and said, “Standing in front of you for the entire lecture was a man, and I drew his picture for you.” Her description matched exactly the face and features of my inner guide whom I see when I meditate or am in a trace state. I still have the picture hanging in our home.
A few years ago I was telling a friend about how busy I was, and she asked, “Why are you living this life?” Her intention was to get me to slow down and travel less, but her question sent me into a trance, and I immediately saw myself with a sword in my hand killing people. My first thought was that I had become a surgeon in this life to use a knife to heal and not kill.
I spontaneously went into a trance again a few days later and saw myself living the life of a knight who killed because he feared his lord and what he would do to him if he didn’t carry out his commands. I watched myself kill my wife, in this life, and her dog and was devastated by the experience. But at the same time it revealed to me why my wife’s face has always had a hypnotic effect upon me and why I am so involved in rescuing animals.
Most recently one of our cats disappeared when a door was left open. After several weeks with no sign of her, I was sure she was killed by a predator. I sought the help of my friend Amelia Kinkade, an animal intuitive who lives in Los Angeles. We live in Connecticut, and Amelia has never been to our home or near it. I pestered her to tell me where the cat was, and one day I received an e-mail without even having sent Amelia a picture of the cat. It detailed the house, yard, other animals, and people who were involved in the cat’s life. The next day I went out and found the cat exactly where Amelia said it was hiding.
She told me in the e-mail, “The cat is alive because I can see through its eyes.”
If that doesn’t make me a believer, nothing will. I totally believe that consciousness is nonlocal and not limited to the body. I also have experienced this through the drawings and dreams of patients I have cared for which allows them to know their diagnosis and what the future holds for them. As Jung said, “The future is unconsciously prepared long in advance and therefore can be guessed by clairvoyants.”
I believe it is this unconscious awareness which we each bring with us when we are born. So I do not believe we literally live many lives but that we bring with us the experience of previous lives which are impregnated into us. Thus the wiser we get, the better the future will be for those who follow us.
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About Dr. Bernie S. Siegel
Dr. Siegel, who prefers to be called Bernie, retired from practice as an assistant clinical professor of general and pediatric surgery at Yale in 1989. In 1978 he originated Exceptional Cancer Patients, a specific form of individual and group therapy utilizing patients’ drawings, dreams, images, and feelings. ECaP is based on “carefrontation,” a safe, loving therapeutic confrontation, which facilitates personal lifestyle changes, personal empowerment, and healing of the individual’s life. The physical, spiritual, and psychological benefits which followed led to his desire to make everyone aware of his or her healing potential.
He is the author of several bestselling books including Love, Medicine & Miracles; How to Live between Office Visits, Prescriptions for Living, 365 Prescriptions for the Soul, and his latest is Faith, Hope & Healing. His prediction is that in the next decade the role of consciousness, spirituality, nonlocal healing, body memory, and heart energy will all be explored as scientific subjects.
In 1978 he began talking about patient empowerment and the choice to live fully and to die in peace. As a physician who has cared for and counseled innumerable people whose mortality has been threatened by an illness, Bernie embraces a philosophy of living and dying that stands at the forefront of the medical ethics and spiritual issues our society grapples with today. He continues to assist in the breaking of new ground in the field of healing and personally struggling to live the message of kindness and love. For more information, please visit www.BernieSiegelMD.com.
