Firstly, I can categorically state that Serge is PRO-MEDICINE and I would not be associated with Universal Medicine if that were not the case. I have heard him state this many times in workshops and I know for a fact that he supports and endorses Western Medicine. 

 

I know that Serge does advise people to attend their GP or Specialist and that he considers Western Medicine to be very necessary for the full care and wellbeing of humanity. I know he supports people having surgery/chemotherapy/radiotherapy etc for cancer and does not advise them to go against these modalities.  

 

Serge does not say that Doctors and Nurses cause more harm. Serge has always been 100% supportive to me in my work as a surgeon and has spoken openly of his support for Doctors and healthcare professionals. To say otherwise is clearly a mis-representation and mis-understanding of what Serge presents in his workshops and talks. In essence, what Serge presents involves us all taking responsibility for our health and, in effect, the way we are in the world. This is not limited to health care professionals. In simple terms it can be expressed like this: that in any interaction between people we can be healing or harming – that’s anybody, not specifically doctors and nurses. For example, someone who is angry impacts not just themselves but those around them. That is readily understood by most, if not all of us. Likewise, if I am arrogant in my interactions with patients and speak down to them, that is not providing a full healing presence and may even be harming – even though I could go on and do an operation that assists them physically to heal. In my opinion, the esoteric teachings as presented by Serge could significantly benefit medical students and doctors to cope with stress, to be self-aware, to understand and know what it means to be truly self-caring and how to be a healing presence for their patients. In other words, a “bedside manner” that is loving and non-judgmental is also important to the wellbeing of both the patient and doctor as are the operations they perform or the medicines they prescribe.

 

A recent report (Boorman S. NHS Health and Wellbeing Leeds: Dept of Health, Nov 2009) stated that the health and wellbeing of doctors impacts patient outcome – and this is consistent with the esoteric teachings that the more we truly care for ourselves in every way, the more we are able to care for others in every way. I did not learn that at University, and practise in a profession where alcohol and stimulant abuse is unfortunately all too prevalent. The above report states that each individual is responsible for their health and is consistent with the esoteric teachings. It also calls for training in self-care for medical students and as I have mentioned above, the esoteric teachings are able to do just that. In addition, the College of Medicine in the UK has identified a ‘crisis in caring’ in healthcare with a stressed and demotivated workforce. In my opinion, the missing ingredient that could remedy this situation is the true understanding of love, the wisdom of the heart, such that people can come to know for themselves what it really means to be caring both for oneself and each other equally so. The teachings of Serge and Universal Medicine have the potential, in my opinion, to restore the caring and healing roots back to medicine (the word medicine means ‘the art of healing’)  by bringing the full understandings of love and care back into the healthcare arena. 

 

Furthermore, the emphasis of Serge’s presentations is about empowering people to make their own decisions and choices regarding their lifestyle or way of living and being. It would be totally contra to, and inconsistent with, what Serge both presents and practises to tell people what to do. Serge emphasises regularly that he does not wish to impose, but merely present a way to live in love and harmony that has as its focus the well-being of ALL mankind, not just ourselves. We are all free, however, to do what we like with these teachings. However, no doubt people may mis-interpret what he says.

 

I have worked for over 20 years in the NHS and in Western Medicine. It is clear to me (and many others) that Western Medicine does not have all the answers to the ills of humanity and there is certainly room for different ways of understanding the human condition, illness, disease and healing. Esoteric healing is NOT a replacement for Western Medicine and has never been presented as such by Serge or Universal Medicine. Rather, it is in addition to Western Medicine and brings to the table insights and understandings that complement mainstream ‘evidence-based’ medicine. For example, the World Health Organisation has stated that 3/5 people in the Western World will die from ‘largely preventable’ non-communicable conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung conditions.(World Health Organisation. Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases 2010.Description of the global burden of NCDs, their risk factors and determinants 2011: Available from:
http://www.who.int/nmh/publications/ncd_report2010/en/index.html.)
It attributes these conditions to diet, alcohol, smoking and ‘lifestyle’ factors. Esoteric Medicine is about understanding in detail how our way of living and being in the world, how our ‘lifestyle’ in every way affects our health and wellbeing and how to develop a ‘lifestyle’ or way of living that is self-caring. It can help people to understand why they make the choices they make, why they smoke, why they drink excessively, why they eat the foods they eat, why they get stressed in certain circumstances, to understand what is driving those behaviours and how to resolve or heal them and live in a way that is harmonious for the body.  I know for myself by putting them into practice that they do lead to a more caring and less stressed way of being and I have no doubt that they could benefit anyone who chooses to live them. 

 

I have attached a link to a pdf of an article I wrote which summarises my perspective on Western Medicine and Esoteric Medicine. In that article I express my view that Esoteric Medicine is not an alternative medicine but a complementary one that can work hand in hand with Western Medicine to assist people with healing. The fields of psychoneuroimmunology, epigenetics and psychosomatic medicine are three areas in particular where research is growing and supporting the esoteric understanding that how we live on a daily basis affects our health and wellbeing. For example, psychoneuroimmunology describes how thoughts/emotions can affect the nervous and immune systems to cause inflammation that ultimately results in illness and disease (Kiecolt-Glaser JK, McGuire L, Robles TF, Glaser R.Psychoneuroimmunology and Psychosomatic Medicine: Back to the Future.Psychosomatic Medicine. 2002;64:15-28). Inflammation is now recognised to be a significant factor in many diseases including heart disease, cancer and depression along with the more obvious inflammatory conditions like arthritis or colitis. Esoteric Medicine also explains how emotions like anger are harming for our health energetically and this harm is now being shown within Western medical research as well (Ziegelstein RC. Acute Emotional Stress and Cardiac Arrhythmias.JAMA. 2007;298(3):324-9).

 

As a professional who is interested in understanding the root cause of illness and disease and providing true care for patients,  I can only say that I have the utmost respect for Serge Benhayon and his work. Whilst I believe that, in the medical profession, there is an overwhelming desire on the part of most practitioners to help others, it is the love and integrity with which Serge lives his life and that he shares with others that assists and inspires us to make it a part of the way we live and share with others. As such, I have seen how to truly work for the benefit of mankind. His work, in my opinion, truly serves humanity and is much needed in the world. 

www.thesoulfuldoctor.co.uk

http://www.euniceminford.co.uk/

Link to article entitled “Western Medicine and Esoteric Medicine – One Surgeon’s Perspective.” 

http://www.thesoulfuldoctor.co.uk/articles/western-medicine-esoteric-medicine-and-serge-benhayon-universal-medicine