Seeing the landscape

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Posted by Chuck Zelnick MD (67.128.216.254) on 15:51:40 11/10/04

Hi Carl, what a moving essay. This spoke to me about a way of looking at life that has really helped me as a physician. The Buddists emphasize that everything changes (which is obvious), but they go beyond that to claim that nothing in the universe has a "self-nature". The analogy they use is the candle flame. There is no flame that you can pick up or put on the shelf or in the freezer and come back to later to find it exactly the same. Rather, the flame and its light are a process that changes moment to moment. We have an illusion that we humans have an identity that is, at its core, unchangeable, yet we are only candle flames ourselves. It is by recognizing this spiritual truth, and discarding our wrong idea that we and others ought to be "the same person" from day to day, that we free ourselves to meet each other in the moment. This is brought home by your mentor's short sharp shock; but the passage of time alone and the ravages of other diseases such as aging or Alzeheimer's might have wrought the same result.
What does this say about our clinical encounters? Do we expect our patients, (and families and friends) to be the same from day to day? It is only our incorrect idea that this should be so. How freeing it is when I am able to give up that expectation and meet the other person in whatever landscape they inhabit today!

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Comments:	: Hi Carl, what a moving essay. This spoke to me about a way of looking at life that has really helped me as a physician. The Buddists emphasize that everything changes (which is obvious), but they go beyond that to claim that nothing in the universe has a "self-nature". The analogy they use is the candle flame. There is no flame that you can pick up or put on the shelf or in the freezer and come back to later to find it exactly the same. Rather, the flame and its light are a process that changes moment to moment. We have an illusion that we humans have an identity that is, at its core, unchangeable, yet we are only candle flames ourselves. It is by recognizing this spiritual truth, and discarding our wrong idea that we and others ought to be "the same person" from day to day, that we free ourselves to meet each other in the moment. This is brought home by your mentor's short sharp shock; but the passage of time alone and the ravages of other diseases such as aging or Alzeheimer's might have wrought the same result. : What does this say about our clinical encounters? Do we expect our patients, (and families and friends) to be the same from day to day? It is only our incorrect idea that this should be so. How freeing it is when I am able to give up that expectation and meet the other person in whatever landscape they inhabit today!
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Dr. Carl A. Hammerschlag, M.D., CPAE, psychiatrist and author, is a professional keynote and motivational speaker. He speaks on a variety of topics including healthcare, mind body and spirit, health and wellness, mental healing and leadership. He has delivered motivational and keynote speaches to corporate and business clients around the world.