share philosophies
with Freehold audience
Siegel, Chopra, Kushner
share philosophies
with Freehold audience
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Noted author Deepak Chopra speaks to an audience at the “Day of Wellness” in Freehold Township.
More than 300 people filled a banquet room at the Greystone Manor, Freehold Township, on Oct. 26 to spend an afternoon with Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Deepak Chopra and Rabbi Harold Kushner, three world renowned experts in the field of medicine and spirituality.
The event, co-sponsored by the Health Awareness Center of CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, and Friends Health Connection, gave audience members a glimpse of the power these men have to help heal, comfort and guide those who are struggling with illness, grief and other life challenges.
Kushner left his congregation outside Boston 14 years ago to pursue a mission to reach millions of people rather than the few hundred he would normally tend to.
Kushner, the author of six books including the 1981 international best-seller, "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People," said he has basically been "keeping his sermon the same, but on a much larger stage." He’s finding new congregations every week these days.
Participants at the “Day of Wellness,” co-sponsored by the Health Awareness Center of CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, and Friends Health Connection, listen to the instructions of guest speaker Deepak Chopra during a spiritual exercise.
Kushner revealed why he took his sermon to the stage. Going back 26 years in his mind, he told the story of his young son, Aaron, who was stricken with a rare disease called Progeria, a condition in which a child’s body stops growing, yet ages very quickly. Aaron died one day before his 14th birthday.
"I was shattered," Kushner said. "I’d always lived [my life] believing that if you were a good person, good things would happen. After my son’s death, I was faced with two choices. I could lose my faith or I could redefine my faith."
Redefining his faith meant finding a place of comfort and finding a theory that would allow the family members to accept the loss of a son and move on with their lives, even if understanding was not included in the process.
The theory that Kushner has subscribed to since then is encapsulated in the phrase, "There are some things in the world that God does not control."
CHRIS KELLY staff Bernie Siegel, the author of many books on healing (“Love, Medicine and Miracles”), autographs a book at the “Day of Wellness” in Freehold Township.
"It has to do with the laws of nature," Kushner said. "God is moral, people are moral. Nature is not moral. Disease, poverty and terrorism are not moral."
Kushner said if a person sets out to do something bad, God does not attempt to prevent him from doing so.
"Because if we were not free to choose evil, we would also not be free to choose goodness," he said. "God could have chosen to make a perfect world, instead he chose to make a world with goodness."
Kushner said he wrote his first book for his son and to help others who could learn from his experience.
"I wrote it for a few friends and for a few hundred of my congregation," the rabbi said. "In my wildest dreams I never thought it would become a best-seller."
Kushner said the Christian clergy have helped to make "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People" a success.
"I thought I had written a scandalous book," he said, surprised at the reaction of the Christian clergy to his work.
Kushner’s newest book, "The Lord is My Shepherd," is an extension of his first book which essentially says that one should not fear anything when they walk with God.
"God is not on the side of the illness, the poverty or the terrorism. He is on our side. No matter how unfair things may seem, we can handle it with God," he said.
God’s role in religion, according to the rabbi, is not to explain or to justify, but to comfort.
"That’s what religion does," Kushner said. "It doesn’t explain why you have a disease, rather, religion asks what we (the clergy) can do to help."
Kushner said traditional clergy have latched on to his books which profess to "explain less and hug more."
"When you’re in need you want to be told you are a good person and that you don’t deserve this," he added.
When asked how people who have read his books have impacted his own life, Kushner replied, "There are no words to describe the feeling I get when I speak to a group of people I’ve never met and hear that I have helped to change their lives."
Chopra is acknowledged as one of the greatest leaders in the field of mind, body medicine. Through the creation of the Chopra Center for Well Being in California, he has established a vehicle for the expansion of his healing approach, using the integration of the best of western medicine with natural healing traditions.
The author of more than 35 books and more than 100 audio tapes, videotapes and CDs, Chopra has been featured on numerous television shows.
Although Chopra was scheduled to speak about his newest book, "The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing The Infinite Power of Coincidence," he began his talk with a slight detour and spoke of his experiences when he came to the United States from India in 1970.
"Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield offered me $202 a month and a free airline ticket to New Jersey," he said.
Chopra told the audience how he had always kept in touch with his soul, "Except when I landed in Plainfield, New Jersey," he added, remembering. "I left India with $8. That’s all we were allowed to leave the country with."
He soon found himself lured into the trap of "buy now, pay later" when he desired a television set and found he could sign a paper and take it home with him without any money ever being exchanged that day.
"I then bought a car. I learned how to spend money I didn’t have, to impress people I didn’t know. And then I wondered where the stress came from," Chopra said. "I learned a lot about technology, but lost the connection to my soul."
He said he needed to go back to his roots in order to learn to heal and to be holy, and to again find what was sacred in his life.
"Some people spend their whole lives not being in touch with their souls. I always had it, I just lost it for a little while," he said.
Chopra said healing is not possible when people are not in touch with their souls. The essence of spirit is love, according to the doctor. Being still is also important in order to find peace."There is no easier means to reach the Divine than by being still," he said. "No matter what you do, just tell yourself, ‘I am not doing it, God is doing it’ and everything becomes Divine."
Chopra ended his presentation with some spiritual music and a brief meditation, a respite to reflect on the mind, body and spirit connection in which he deeply believes.
In an interview with a News Transcript reporter, Chopra revealed what he receives from his audiences as he travels around the world — love.
"It inspires me to want to do more and more," he said.
Also taking center stage was Dr. Edward Soffen, director of CentraState Medical Center’s Radiation Oncology Department. Soffen, who spends his days pioneering new treatments in his chosen field, took the time to entertain the audience in between guest presentations.
Soffen talked about the advances in medicine over the centuries. Using hats for props and his own brand of impersonation, Soffen let notables like Yul Brynner, James Stewart and Henry Kissinger read the statistics to the audience.
Siegel, or "Bernie" as he likes to be called, is one of the world’s foremost physicians, authors and lecturers. He is an advocate for individuals facing the challenges of chronic illness.
Siegel founded Exceptional Cancer Patients, a form of therapy using patient drawings, dreams, images and feelings. The benefits that followed reinforced his desire to humanize medical care and teach survival behavior to enhance immune system competency.
Siegel has written numerous books, including his latest, "Help Me to Heal." He teaches empowering tools, strategies and resources that can turn a bedside environment such as a hospitalization stay into a sacred space where healing can occur.
Along with other modalities, Siegel is famous for his ability to use laughter to heal.
"If you laugh, you’re gonna feel good. And if you feel good, you’re gonna look mahvelous," he said, mimicking the voice of Billy Crystal’s Fernando character from "Saturday Night Live."
"Never make an excuse for laughter," the doctor advised. "It’s child-like. Don’t ever grow up."
Siegel said doing what makes a person happy is good for them.
"If more people did what makes them happy we’d be able to save a lot of suicides on Monday. In fact, maybe we could cancel Monday altogether," he said, referring to the fact that most suicides are committed on Monday mornings.
The doctor believes that desire and intent can alter the physical world and cause things to occur that would not have occurred had they not first been desired.
"Consciousness dictates what the mind carries out," he said.
Siegel told his audience that he has lived before. He said he is now living the life of a surgeon because he killed people and animals in a previous life.
"I’m still trying to make up for that," he said.
The doctor also believes in the power of touch to help someone heal. He said children who are touched grow 50 percent faster.
"So touch each other," he advised.
Other interesting facts Siegel revealed included the nugget that a woman who has the same cancer as a man will traditionally live longer; that people who are married do better in treatment for cancer than people who are single; and that people with a serious illness who are cared for by someone who cares about them will survive six months longer than those who are cared for by strangers.
"What helps to save you is being in a relationship," he said.
Siegel said people should not spend their life trying to avoid dying. It’s better to live the life you have now, he said; to indulge in life and all it has to offer.
"Money talks, but chocolate sings," he said, laughing. "So appreciate the beauty of the world and go home and eat chocolate ice cream."
Siegel talked about life in its basic, simple form without all the chaos surrounding it.
"If you’re burning up, take a nap," he said, "but if you’re burned out, there just aren’t enough naps out there to make a difference."
An example of his philosophy? He said his role model for life is the famous television collie Lassie. (Honest). Siegel said animals do not have to worry about impressing others.
"If they’re hungry, they’ll let you know. If they have to go out, they’ll let you know that too. If they want to play, they find a way to communicate that wish to you as well," he said. "If something is bothering you, bellow, don’t keep it in. When I come across something and I’m not sure how to react, I ask myself, ‘What would Lassie do?’ Then I do it."