BERNIE By Bernie Siegel, MD


The Wiser We Get


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. 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 dying.


W 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 for my mother who was in the kitchen and would find me dead, but I thought it over and found my new state 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 sup- posed to die now. So an angel apparently did a Heimlich maneu- ver 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 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.


hen 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 and unscrewed the dial and put all the


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. A friend I had made, Amelia Kinkade, is 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 email, without even sending Amelia a picture of the cat, and 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 email, “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 non-local 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 uncon- sciously 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. Thus the wiser we get the better the future will be for those who follow us.


For many, Dr. Bernard Siegel-or Bernie, as he prefers to be- called-needs no introduction. He has touched many lives all over- the Planet. In 1978, he reached a national and then international audience when he began talking about patient empowerment and the choice to live fully and die in peace. As a physician who has cared for and counseled innumerable people whose mortal- ity has been threatened by illness, Bernie embraces a philoso- phy of living and dying that stands at the forefront of the medical ethics and spiritual issues our Society grapples with today. Read Bernie’s regular blog posts on his website where you will also find his books, articles, and CDs: http://www.berniesiegelmd.com.


34 Essential Living Maine ~ July/August 2015


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