Abstract
The end of our health care paradigm, that is. I know we have been tossing this concept around like a beach ball for the past decade or so, but time really is growing short. Legislation meandering off course, insurance and pharmaceutical companies scrambling to preserve profits, enough paperwork to be the actual source of global warming—it's difficult at times to see the proverbial light.
And to top it off, I am a curmudgeon—although not the ill-tempered, churlish kind. While an optimist believes people are doing the best they can, I often fear this may be true, although my fellow curmudgeons know that, underneath our crusty exterior, we are seeking Truth and Meaning, and our frequent disappointments often show through as irritability in our personas and writings.
Fortunately, in this issue there is an offering of such Truth, at least to my senses. “Symmetry States of the Physical Space: An Expanded Reference Frame for Understanding Human Consciousness” is a vague title upon first reading, but one realizes there could be no other after completing the actual article. Within its pages, Nisha J. Manek, MD, of the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) states what many people believe to be valid but do not possess the evidence to make it through peer review—that it is distinctly possible that we can, and are, evolving as a species at a conscious level, and that such evolution is the future paradigm of health care.
Dr. Manek finds a most unique example for her article in the form of the ancient physical relics of the Buddha, which have been touring various monasteries in the United States. Deeply moved upon viewing these artifacts in Minneapolis, MN, she arranged for them to be on display in her home in southern California for hundreds of people to view, while she noted their physical and emotional experiences. The photograph of a stream of light passing from one object to a passing monk is alone worth the read.
Yes, this is anecdotal information, and Dr. Manek appropriately spends little time recounting it. What she does instead is launch into a review of quantum theory and physics experimentation, all to support the theory that a very conscious human can alter the state of physical objects, which can then impact another, likely less-conscious, human entity in a positive way.
So why is this in a medical journal, even one with “alternative” in its title? For one, if true, the theory would assist greatly in understanding the mechanism of such mysteries as acupuncture, homeopathy, and the placebo effect, three of the quackbuster's favorite targets. But, far more importantly, this theory gives the curmudgeon the possibility that perhaps we aren't really doing the best we can, and, therefore, might do better—in other words, that it really isn't really about any therapy, alternative or conventional, but actually about the practitioner. And that practitioner is any one of us. In other words, health care is more about how we live our lives than how we take care of another, as the latter feeds naturally off of the former.
Our medical paradigm is ending. Many people have stated this conviction, but always in the context of believing to know what the next one is: Integrative instead of allopathic, patient-centered instead of practitioner-centric. . . .But it may well be that we are in for a far greater quantum leap than any of us might imagine. It may be that our therapies and pharmaceuticals and supplements are confusing and, at times harmful, not because of any intrinsic fault of their own, but because of the unconscious manner in which we are trained to use them, as we focus upon professional standards and continuing education and degrees and certifications, which are important but none an indication of who we are as healers. It may be that our true postgraduate education comes not from a text or university, but from within. And this, somehow, gives me a sense of hope for my chosen work, and for the future of humankind.