image credit: waveneyavenue
In my post on Unity Consciousness, I explored ways in which we can experience the feeling of oneness that the sages tell us is our birthright. I recently read an excellent book that was the recipient of the Nautilus Silver Award, by Dr Allan J Hamilton, The Scalpel And The Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power Of Hope. In his book, Dr Hamilton relates stories that have taught him much about spirituality and the nature of consciousness. He refers to “the fabric of consciousness” which reminds me of the theme of Unity Consciousness. He speaks of the encounter with people who are at the edge, where the ego drops away, where a person comes face to face with the stark reality of their mortality and chooses to affirm the spirit, as a transformational phenomenon that engages both doctor and patient alike. Though a scientist, the ubiquitous nature of his experiences with patients who face death and dying, awoke in him a curiosity of the spiritual realm and the nature of reality.
Dr Hamilton tells of an experience when he was a young doctor in a village in Africa, where the natives live with a trust in nature, where time and reality as we know it, does not exist in the same way. While lost on an expedition to reach another remote village, traveling down a river in stormy weather, he and his guide met a stranger. This man told them that he had been waiting for them, because he had dreamed that they were coming and would be needing his help to show them the way. The stranger mentioned that he was expecting them the previous day. He did not know that the doctor had started his journey earlier but was delayed one day. Dr Hamilton says, “… It was not really the waters of the river that carried us. It was the hand of invisible forces. Suddenly, the notion of being afraid, and especially the idea of being lost, seemed absurd.”
Dr Hamilton muses over the experiences of his career: the premonitions of patients who know that they are about to die; the ghost of a father who returns to the foot of the bed of his comatose son to watch over him; the indomitable faith of a grandmother with late stage ovarian cancer, the only caretaker for a sick grandchild, who lives to see the child grow up and get married; his own possession by the spirit of a young man who died, to whom he was still emotionally attached.
These experiences became a source of contemplation on the nature of reality for Dr Hamilton. He says: C0uld we, I now wonder, be connected together beyond the abilities of our individual brains to sense and comprehend? He continues: A great school of fish, made up of thousands of shimmering individuals, is capable of swerving instantly as a unit without the awareness or insight of each fish in the group. Could it be that, like the individual fish, I had mistakenly believed the journey I was undertaking was mine alone? Instead, perhaps, it was the journey of many, forged from myriad physical existences that were interwoven into a fabric of consciousness far beyond the reach of our senses or the grasp of our intellect. Perhaps we are like the gathering school of fish, steadfastly maintaining we are single individuals while our collective awareness moves us freely into unrecognizable depth.
The stories in this book, some hilarious, some heart wrenching, are written with poetic insight and provoke my own contemplation. I have in the past, categorized many stories that were related to me of supernatural encounters, as the reality of those whose beliefs attract such occurences. Dr Hamilton reminds us that his approach was one of scientific curiousity, he was not a man of spiritual inclinations, yet it became necessary for him to connect to the spiritual aspect to make sense of the experiences that he and his patients shared.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like Brain Weiss who started out without any inclinations about the transpersonal. Keep writing about consciousness. Everyone can benefit from education in this subject.
I read this book last year and I am sure I will read it again. It is an amazing account of the doctor’s experiences that go beyond the realm of his education and cultural expectations. Great review!
Hello Pamir
Thanks for mentioning Brian Weiss, it has been a while since I have read his books. It is a good time to revisit his stories. Stories of the possibilities in the field of consciousness are like maps that chart the course of our own explorations. There is a feeling of safety and awe, knowing that others before us have been there.
I will have a talk with my muse about more posts on consciousness. ;D
Deep peace to you my friend!
Hello Mark,
I agree, this book is definitely one I will be returning to again and again. I read it in two days, it was a page turner. There is so much wisdom and insight that I will have to spend some time taking it in.
Thanks for your gracious presence here Mark!
Oh, Miruh, this is wonderful. I will look for this book.
I have known the connection to Spirit since childhood. I believe because I almost died at an early age from measles. Since then, I have had many incidents of connection to what is termed, supernatural.
Because this awareness came as a child, I thought everyone was seeing and hearing what I did. Growing up in the 50′s and 60′s, you can imagine how humiliating this was. Eventually, I kept my experiences to myself, until I was older and found like souls who knew.
During the time I worked as a Reiki master in a hospital, I experienced not only my connection but other’s experiences with what could not be explained. For instance, I had a patient who was suffering from overwhelming grief over the murder of her son. While giving her Reiki, the son appeared to me, told me to tell his Mom he was fine using a pet name that only they knew.
I wrestled with whether to say anything to her, finally deciding to, as gently as possible, broach the subject. I started by asking her if the pet name meant anything to her. When she looked at me surprised telling me that it was the name her son used for her, I gave her his message.
With tears of joy streaming from her face, she told me she had been praying for some sign that he was OK, that he wasn’t suffering. From that moment on, her grief began to ease. Her spirit began to heal from the unbearable pain of his death.
This particular incident taught me to trust in these experiences and realize that they are as real as this computer I am writing this on.
Peace and Love, dear Miruh. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Miruh, the tales shared by awakening physicians are truly marvelous. Thanks for sharing these insights. Many a physician has a difficult time dealing with the apparent finality of death and the inability of human beings to control mortality. Yet, at the same time, a physician is in a unique position to grow more conscious of the realities of immortality and thus, to be in a knowledgable position to share stories. The analogy with the school of fish is very poignant. Human beings are in the Earth school to learn to work through selective amnesia. The where, when and how, are up to each human soul.
Hello Linda,
Wow, what an amazing story about the information you received that was comforting to that woman! You were given a great gift to bring healing both physically, mentally and emotionally.
Thanks for sharing. May your love and healing gift continue to bring comfort to those in need.
Hello Liara,
Dr Hamilton admits that his experiences with patients were not unique. They happen all the time to doctors, but their training discourages any perspective other than the scientific outlook.
As you say, those doctors who do venture into the path of the spiritual encounter are transformed and have the advantage of seeing reality from a close up.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Leave a Comment