Bhupinder Goraya is a GP who “left the coalface to explore the deep”.
The word ‘problem’ originates from late Middle English originally denoting a riddle or a question for academic discussion.
Take two groups of age, sex, and socially matched people, we shall refrain from calling them patients yet, but it’s sad when all the world is a patient, which you are if you’re registered with a GP. Now in our two groups of people some will have a stroke, and as we know life to be random the worst it could be is all in one group stroke out and the other group remain unharmed. When I say the ‘worst’ I mean the most ordered. But we know the world is random and so we all know the strokes should be equally distributed. How precisely do we know this in a random setting? As one’s and zero’s (all stroke and none stroke) are the heart of the digital era, is this any more or less probable than an equal distribution in a truly random system?
Truly random means just that any outcome is possible at a given point in time.
Truly random means just that any outcome is possible at a given point in time. There is a deep desire to see equality in the two groups because this allows the conceptual progression to a treatment group and a control group. Even the term ‘control group’ is misleading for it has no ability to exert control, it’s as random as the system itself. In matching the two groups on age, sex, etc. we feel that a relationship has been established, which it has not. Two 36-year-old professional males living in Hampstead can be considered as closely matched. One is watching his business thrive, the other watching his fail. Will their experiences of health and illness bear any resemblance to each other?
In our two groups, we could choose to influence the outcome in one group by praying for them. That’s really easy to do, requires no training, but is very hard to audit or quality assure. But in moving chunks of meat, the answer to stroke must surely lie in the meat itself. Study it deeply enough and we can affect our random system and eradicate stroke altogether. I like to see the study of meat as born of prayer, a deep desire to see suffering end. But perhaps in some, the study of meat is motivated by a deep desire for profit. Big pharma’s not what it used to be. In the good old days just trial a drug over and over until the random fluctuation fell in your favour and publish that one. The ones who study meat motivated by compassion are given a reality in which they are effecting a positive change and so everyone’s happy.
But is life random or does order play a part? Well we’re back to one’s and zero’s, either reality is truly random or it’s ordered but it cannot be both. We know cholesterol is central to atherosclerotic plaques and now our deep desire is to see order as reality. To see a reduction in serum cholesterol order a reduction in the incidence of stroke. Reality is a functioning thing, not an abstract concept. When it is aligned with, peace and harmony flow forth, when it is challenged increasing dissonance arises
Throwing an ocean of order at a truly random system will not suddenly make the system conform; the two realities will only be at war with each other. If the study of meat did reveal an accurate description of reality then the results would be obvious, ever-increasing health in the population. That this does not appear to be our experience should make us question our basic assumptions about the validity of making statistical analysis the heart of our working paradigm. Having studied the body to the molecular level we should really have a robust and complete picture of disease causation if we live in a mechanical universe. However, our pharmaceuticals are a bit hit and miss in terms of alleviating suffering and so we reach for statistics to see if they’re broad speaking more hit or miss. We view the molecular world as the basement level of reality however we need to go further and examine the functioning of atoms.
Electrons can only orbit the atomic nucleus in fixed energy shells. This is one of the fundamental points at which the classical mechanical model of the universe breaks down. There is some fundamental force governing electrons and their behaviour in atoms. The behaviour is entirely stable and indeed mechanical but explaining the behaviour is difficult. Should a photon, a massless particle of light, with the correct frequency, be absorbed by an orbiting electron it will jump to a higher shell. It does not traverse the intervening space. At the point the photon is absorbed the electron for an instant occupies both shells and neither before remaining at the higher shell. Should the electron drop back down it does the same in reverse ejecting the photon. Did the photon jump or was it pushed? Either way, until we can explain this level of natures functioning it is questionable whether should be interfering with higher-order quantum mechanical organelles such as calcium channels.
Here we see how the massless and intangible photon interacts with the tangible material electron. In the higher energy shell, the being is both electron and potential photon in one indivisible whole. Thoughts are as equally massless and intangible as photons and bodies as equally tangible as electrons. Ideas, concerns and expectations as equally important as amlodipine. So if our own ideas concerns and expectations are not aligned with health how can we possibly hope to align our patients. Moreover, how can we, a single photon, be expected to affect change in the barrage of electrons that call for our help? Currently, we throw investigation and prescription at the problem hoping to eject the photon of ill health. But from what I observe in working clinicians, there is no real joy or pleasure in it anymore. As the evidence base spawns increasingly complex guidance we retreat further and further from the real world of ideas concerns and expectations and into what I’m not quite sure, probably a nice cool glass of prosecco.
Now in order for the photon and electron to make love, prior to the messy divorce, the frequency of the photon is critical. It’s the ultraviolet not the infrared that causes sunburn. Pick the correct emotional frequency and it may be possible to incinerate our patients back to the ashes their heading for anyway. A more diplomatic approach would be to consider ourselves as all being onboard the same ship with the same destination. We will all at some point be consumed by the system we currently command, as will our children and their children ad infinitum. Faced with that personal nightmare will we consider our clinician’s knowledge of the evidence base as all-important or will their bedside manner take on a painful poignancy?
In nightmares we feel powerless and frightened, utterly at the mercy of circumstance, vulnerable and alone.
In nightmares we feel powerless and frightened, utterly at the mercy of circumstance, vulnerable and alone. Whilst this is felt most acutely at the stage of palliation it starts with the arthritic joint and such. In the consultation we feel the gravity of the situation, a black hole has appeared but as it is not happening to us we sit unhappily on the event horizon. There is an understandable resistance to getting sucked in too deeply mixed with a deep desire to see the experience end. We throw in investigation and prescription. When it does happen to us only our pride will prevent us from pleading and at some point that too will collapse. We will be treated as we treated our patients, the quantum field will allow no less.
Thankfully infinite gravity can be met with the infinite levity of compassion. It’s a journey, not a destination. It starts with acknowledging the dire situation we are all caught up in. Ageing sickness and death will take from us all that we considered meaningful in this life. We derive meaning from that which comforts the meat, food, drink, cars, houses, holidays etc. We largely ignore that which comforts the inner light of our true being, wisdom and compassion. The deepest wisdom is understanding this life is temporary the more we attach to it the more painful our departure. A renounced life creates infinite space within the mind. This is a life where moral rectitude, rather than sensory pleasure, guides our decisions. Firstly do no harm. At two months old we have barely arrived, the light of our true nature shines forth brightly and we bring joy to others just through being. There is no conception that we are contained within meat but this is brought sharply into focus through having all four limbs injected. The modern medical machine has laid claim to us and we are now part of its creation. Do we have a clear vision of what we are trying to create?
There is nothing more meaningful than the alleviation of suffering. Suffering is a state of mind and so its causes lie in the mind. We have convinced ourselves and society that we are little more than meat. A kind, caring, compassionate society is a fundamental prerequisite for true widespread health. We must as a matter of urgency develop these qualities within ourselves. I promise you that order governs reality from top to bottom. That kindness is a wholly reliable pharmaceutical that does not require statistical analyses to prove its worth. Virtue is its own reward.
There is a light that pervades the meat, we can turn that light upon itself rather than focusing it solely on the meat. Focusing on the meat ultimately leads to nihilism for the meat will always perish taking the light with it. Patient acceptance of our own suffering is the first step to detaching from meat-based thinking and progressing to light-based thinking. The light seeks only the happiness of others. We can return to the light of the joyful babe we once were and bring happiness to others through our being. We are so far removed from this reality that it can only be viewed as a fantasy.
We’ve worked bloody hard to make a random mechanical universe work, in doing so we have ordered our leisure.
Did you know the heart of a black hole is an infinite density of information? Or that the universe has an estimated 100 billion galaxies with an average of 100 million stars in a galaxy? You have to be humbled by the creative force behind these things. Could suffering have good qualities? If it’s random then reality is evil. If it’s ordered then I’ve got to take a good hard look at what I’m up to. We collude with our patients that it’s random. In doing so we make the creation evil and ourselves the conquering heroes. Now conquering heroes are only in it for the benefit of others. We’ve worked bloody hard to make a random mechanical universe work, in doing so we have ordered our leisure.
Some of the theoretical bases of our thinking may be flawed but overall we care and do make people feel better through the power of our presence. That we sometimes feel frustrated or overwhelmed puts us in the realm of the prophet who said ‘take this cup from me’. We practice the forgiveness of sins by taking the sin on ourselves. For patients to practice repentance is a more direct path to health. The two paths are not mutually exclusive. When we take on another’s suffering they are left feeling good or better. The karma of making others feel good is that we ourselves will feel good. The karma of forgiving is we are forgiven.
Featured image by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash
