Einstein said: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." For me of all the myriad variations of spirituality in the human world, Einstein's view of the miraculous nature of being and life would, in my mind, be the truest essence of spirit and spirituality.
One Doctor's Miracle
People who believe in an essence or Spirit beyond our ordinary senses and our limited “physical” being come from many different walks of life and backgrounds. When the future doctor, James Doty, was 13-years old, his life transformed completely when he walked into a magic shop during the summer. The owner of the magic shop was there and, after talking with Doty for a period, offered to teach him something that “could change your life” if he agreed to meet with her daily for the remaining six weeks of summer. He met with her and during that time she taught Friends of New Orleans, a meditation and visualization practice combined with self-hypnosis and a “sprinkling” of the power of positive thinking. He states, “She changed my life by changing my perspective from one of limited to no possibilities to one of endless possibilities.” Prior to this, Doty says that oftentimes he felt he was “like a leaf being blown by an ill wind.” Sometimes the simplest things can transform a life.
Born in 1955, James R. Doty, M.D. started as a neurosurgeon and is currently a Clinical Professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University. He was a self-made man who came from an impoverished background, the son of an invalid mother and an alcoholic father. He was something of a visionary and successful entrepreneur. Doty founded the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, and he is the author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart .
The first chapter of Doty’s book had a brief description of an incident that occurred while he was operating on a four-year-old boy who had tumor in his brain that he was removing. As Dr. Doty was removing the last part of the tumor, his assistant’s attention slipped and the suction being applied to the boy’s brain operation unfortunately ripped open a vein and blood burst forth like a fountain pouting water with a powerful irresistible force. Blood went everywhere. “Then all hell breaks loose…..The anesthesiologist starts yelling that the child’s blood pressure is rapidly dropping and he can’t keep up with the blood loss. I need to clamp the vein and stop the bleeding, but it has retracted into a pool of blood, and I can’t see it….”He’s in full arrest!” The anesthesiologist screams. …..The anesthesiologist starts compressing the boy’s chest while holding his other hand on his back…We are running out of time….I am working blind, so I open my heart to a possibility beyond reason, beyond skill, and I begin to do what I was taught decades ago, not in residency, not in medical school but in the back room of a small magic shop in the California desert."
"I calm my mind.
I relax my boy.
I visualize the retracted vessel. I see it in my mind’s eye, folded into this young boy’s neurovascular highway. I reach in blindly but knowing that there is more to this life than we can possibly see, and that each of us is capable of doing amazing things far beyond what we think possible…..I reach down into the pool of blood with the open clip, close it, and slowly pull my hand away.
The bleeding stops, and then, as if far away, I hear the slow blip of the heart monitor…. It’s faint at first. Uneven. But soon it gets stronger and steadier, as all hearts do when they begin to come to life.” (p. 7 to 9)
Conclusion: What happened that day with Doctor James Doty is literally nothing short of a miracle. The medical doctor James Doty had done what would appear, on the face of it, to be literally impossible - and there is nothing in ordinary physics that would provide a good explanation of what happened. It is amazing, sometimes, what human consciousness is capable of.
Here is a link to my website: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/
Link to my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/spiritualityforyou/
Content Copyrighted Charles E Peck Jr. Copyright ©
References and Footnotes
Profile of Dr. James Doty: https://profiles.stanford.edu/james-doty
The Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education: http://ccare.stanford.edu/
American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/
Association for Psychological Science: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/about/links.cfm
Albert Einstein comprehensive website: http://alberteinsteinsite.com/
Albert Einstein Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/albert-einstein-9285408
Godel’s Theorem of Incompleteness: https://www.jamesrmeyer.com/ffgit/godels_theorem.html
John Bargh, PhD: http://bargh.socialpsychology.org/
https://www.rogerdooley.com/john-bargh-priming
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/bargh/index.html
Rupert Sheldrake: https://www.sheldrake.org/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktor-frankl.com/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktorfrankl.org/
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://medicine.duke.edu/faculty/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Roy Baumeister: http://www.roybaumeister.com/
Roy Baumeister: https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeisterr/baumeister.dp.php
Dr. Paul Wong: http://www.drpaulwong.com/
Dr. Paul Wong: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/paul-wong-biography/
Clifford Geertz: https://www.biography.com/people/clifford-geertz-9308224
Carl Jung: https://www.biography.com/people/carl-jung-9359134
Carl Jung: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
12 common Archetypes: http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html
Emile Durkheim: http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/
Emile Durkheim: http://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/index2.htm
William James: https://www.biography.com/people/william-james-9352726
William James: https://study.com/academy/lesson/william-james-psychology-theories-lesson-quiz.html
Tania Singer references: http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Experts/Tania-Singer.htm
https://charterforcompassion.org/discovering-empathy/dr-tania-singer-and-the-neuroscience-of-empathy
Dr Amit Sood Mindfulness: https://www.mindfulleader.org/amit-sood
Dr. Harold Koenig Director, Center for Spirituality,
Theology and Health: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Koenig on what spirituality can do for you: https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/2006/05/what-religion-can-do-for-your-health.aspx
Keith Karren – Body, Mind, Spirit:
http://pgrpdf.abhappybooks.com/mind-body-health-keith-j-karren-ph-d-pdf-5716009.pdf
E O Wilson Biodiversity: https://eowilsonfoundation.org/
E O Wilson - PBS on Ants: http://www.pbs.org/program/eo-wilson/
Anthropologist Malinowski: http://anthrotheory.wikia.com/wiki/Bronislaw_
MalinowskiSocial Anthropology - Malinowski: http://scihi.org/bronislaw-malinowski-social-anthropology/
St. Augustine (Catholic source): https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
St. Augustine: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine
Konrad Lorenz: https://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/konrad_lorenz.html
Konrad Lorenz: http://www.famouspsychologists.org/konrad-lorenz/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (Franciscan): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-gregory-of-nyssa/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (wikiorg): https://orthodoxwiki.org/Gregory_of_Nyssa
Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene: https://www.edge.org/memberbio/stanislas_dehaene
Imants Barušs, psychologist and parapsychologist: http://www.baruss.ca/
Julia Mossbridge, psychologist and parapsychologist: https://noetic.org/profile/julia-mossbridge
https://sharingthesearch.com/tag/j-mossbridge/
https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/julia-mossbridge/profile
Friedrich Nietzsche: http://nietzschecircle.com/
Nietzsche biography: https://www.biography.com/people/friedrich-nietzsche-9423452
Abraham Joshua Heschel: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abraham-joshua-heschel-a-prophets-prophet/
Iroquois:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/1d.asp
Greek Mythology: Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi
https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Apollo/apollo.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/apollo-greek-god-sun-music-prophecy-111902
http://greek-gods.info/greek-gods/apollo/
https://www.coastal.edu/intranet/ashes2art/delphi2/misc-essays/oracle_of_delphi.html
https://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/7_p1.html
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641