Reinventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing

Having recently read and strongly recommended Larry Dossey's latest book, I have been re-reading some his earlier books. This one is similarly excellent. Medical models are strongly determined by the way in which people see the world: traditional Chinese medicine is a fruit of a Taoist world view, and classical Greek and Roman medicine was informed by the philosophical models of the day. Beginning roughly in the middle of the 19th century, Western medicine began to adopt an approach based on concepts drawn from the classical, mechanical, Newtonian concept of the Universe. Therefore medicine developed a mechanical view that is still the predominant model today. Dossey calls this Era I or mechanical or physical medicine. In the middle of the 20th century, it began to be realized that thoughts, emotions, attitudes and beliefs can impact the body, which led to a radically new perspective: what we now refer to as mind-body medicine. Dossey calls this Era II. We are now living in an extraordinarily interesting and exciting time, when empirical evidence, like the research on distant healing that we just mentioned, is forcing us to recognize the emergence of Era III or nonlocal medicine. Unlike the first two Eras, the nonlocal perspective acknowledges that thoughts and intentions may affect the functioning of other individuals, at any distance, and with or without the awareness of the recipient. The concept of non-locality is exceedingly important, and it is certainly true that it is not universally accepted. But with the passage of time, more and more evidence seems to be supporting its existence in the day-to-day physical world. If, as I suspect, it is accurate, the practical implications are stunning. One of the reviewers raised some good points about the importance of evidence, and Dossey has always been very careful about the data that he cites. As an example, I do not think that he was one of the people taken in by the Hundredth Monkey Hoax. It is interesting that over the last five years, 75% of the studies published in peer-reviewed parapsychology journals have passed the most stringent design and analysis criteria for experimental studies, which is around twice as high as the figure in the top ten medical journals. A highly recommended book by one of the most important authors in the field.

Larry Dossey has a target tattooed on his chest - he has made himself vulnerable to a great deal of criticism by clearly stating that the human mind - consciousness - is a nonlocal phenomenon.By this he means that the brain is not the mind or consciousness. Consciousness - our capacity to think, reflect, perceive - is connected with other minds, even the mind of God as we understand God. We can and do move beyond our bodies to touch and be touched by others. Our consciousness continues after the death of the body.If this is true, and I believe, as Dossey does, it is, then we have the capacity to experience and connect with immense resources. In fact, Dossey emphasizes that this is already happening and has always been happening. The key is to accept this and move with it, to discipline ourselves and to seek the support and guidance of those who are already working effectively with consciousness.Although this is not new, it is, nevertheless, very threatening to many, particularly medical and religious professionals who are not prepared to accept this reality. Some go so far as to say that if it were proven true beyond all doubt they would STILL not accept it!Dossey has made himself a target for those who will not accept the truths about which he writes. He furthermore makes himself vulnerable to criticism by taking seriously those who have been castigated in the past, such as Mesmer (hypnotism) and faith healers. He distinguishes between outright con artists and those who have true gifts, but who use language which is not respectable among some scientist. This is an exciting book which calls every being to mutual respect and watchful acceptance of the gifts of healing and support which surround us all the time.Charles V. Day, Board Certified Chaplain

Larry Dossey's new book is a splendid, generous and inspiriting appeal to revive the ancient arts of dream healing. He focusses attention on open secrets that I believe will be central to our medicine - and our way of being in the world - in the twenty-first century: that mind is nonlocal, so we can be anywhere (quite literally) that we can picture; and that the body does not distinguish mental or emotional events (if deeply believed) from physical events, so we can heal ourselves - and others - through imagery. Best of all, he is fully alive to the ways in which dreams teach us what our bodies need to stay well, often us showing us possible problems long before physical symptoms manifest, and how our spontaneous dream imagery offer fresh and vital keys to self-healing and recovery. Larry Dossey is an exemplar of what the best doctors of the coming century will be - healers and teachers who operate with mind, body and spirit. He has given me inspiration on my own path of teaching and practicing dream healing, as reflected in my books CONSCIOUS DREAMING and DREAMGATES (and the forthcoming DREAMING TRUE). He gives all of us courage for the journey on the path of heart and soul. I hope he will find many readers in our medical community, because we urgently need this antidote to approaches that reduce the patient to a collection of body parts to be mended or sustained by pharmaceuticals and invasive surgery. We need to marry the best of our medical science to a way that honors the individual as a whole person and encourages her to ask for help from a deeper Source and bring all her spiritual resources into play. Larry Dossey shows us how.

Have you ever suspected that healing requires something more than either an entirely body-based approach... or even a mind-body approach? Would you like to better understand how powerful prayer really is for healing? If so, you'll love Larry Dossey's book, "Reinventing Medicine", in which he describes this new era of non-local medicine. Dossey cites very convincing scientific studies that indicate healing can be achieved at a distance by directing loving thoughts, intentions and prayers to others -- even if they are not aware that these loving thoughts are being extended to them. Dossey's revolutionary book inspires us to consider the healing power of what he calls Eternity Medicine in our everyday lives right now. I get goose-bumps of excitement and joy each time I read this book, and give it my highest recommendation.

Larry Dossey has once again taken our understanding of the potential of a medicine of mind, body, spirit, and imagination to new levels. He's charted a course for medicine that honors intuition and human capabilities that transcend the old boundaries of biology, mind, and selfhood. He also honors quantitative scientific method as one way to glimpse the possibilities of a transpersonal medicine--what he calls Era III, helping us to recognize that there are rational ways to conceptualize that which seems to transcend the rational, ways to measure the affect of spirit on the body and on other sentient (and even non-sentient) beings, as well, through nonlocal consciousness. A penetrating, humanistic, transpersonal vision for a medicine we can only hope will fully come to pass.