An Interview with Dr. Bernie Siegel /The Deepak Chopra Newsletter, Infinite Possibilities by Juanita Mazzarella 

Dr. Bernie Siegel is a surgeon, teacher, and author of many books on mind body healing, including Love, Medicine, and Miracles, and Peace, Love and Healing. He is faculty member of the Training in Mind Body Medicine Course.

What do you teach at your seminars?

What medicine doesn't teach you. We look at the survival behaviors, the personality qualities and characteristics of people who are confronting a certain illness or problem. We explore how your lifestyle affects your health.

What do you tell those who attend?

We keep telling everyone what has been known for the last 2000 years: that life is eternal, and yet we are here for a limited amount of time. You don't have to read anything I or Deepak have written to get smart! Buddha, Christ, the Kaballah, the Koran, all have wonderful things to say. We are all modernizing the information so it can be easier to understand and accept, but it is still ancient wisdom.

We look at the patterns in our lives. We all have a part in the play. We are all actors and actresses. How do you perfect yourself and your part? You rehearse and practice. You use each experience in life to grow and learn. You find role models and coaches to help you. When you are given the characteristics you ought to have, then you can work at being that--more loving, joyful, and self-forgiving.

Our brain chemistry changes as emotions change, and this affects healing. We tell people to take as good care of themselves as they do their pets. It doesn't mean that you never eat a steak or an ice cream cone. We tell people to save themselves a lot of time in group therapy in heaven. Do things that enhance your life. Do it in moderation, and don't do it not to die. We all die, even the vegetarians!

Life is a labor pain. You choose what you have to go through to give birth to yourself. Stop punishing yourself and experience more joy. Do the things that you really love to do and find the joy in them. When you do, you lose track of time. When you are totally involved in what you love, it prevents aging. Spend more time with people and things you love. Do not give your time to people you don't love or don't want to be around. Be with people who support you.

What about God?

I ask people how they would introduce themselves to God. Many say, "I am a doctor, writer, mother." God says, "Come back when you know who you are." The correct answer is, "I need no introduction, I am your child."

I then ask people, "What do you hold up to the world to let it know how beautiful and meaningful you are to life? Babies and flowers are the most common answers, except in audiences where there are cancer and aids patients. Then one-half to three-quarters say, "Hold me up!" It often takes a life-threatening experience to come to a place of understanding of how beautiful we are. If parents, friends, or God didn't love you, then you will have to find that love for yourself.

God is not the problem. When you lose your car keys, God wants you to walk. When you lose your credit cards, God wants you to spend less money. When you lose your health, don't you think God wants you to find it? Believe in God, it is good for your immune system. Those who do believe are healthier. Consciousness and information created God. It is the energy light that is timeless. God is intelligent, love energy.

I believe we live more than once. We are all here to share love. Life is the step toward perfecting and correcting our behaviors so that we can become that loving person.

What about miracles?

Life is a miracle. Accept it. From nothing all this came: potential, information, energy, and matter. Turning matter into energy is normal. Energy without the use of matter is a miracle. If a disease can disappear and can't be explained, it is a miracle. Just accept it, open your eyes, observe and learn what we are capable of as human beings, even though we cannot always explain it. We get out of touch with our own senses and become distracted. If we focus on ourselves, we can improve our abilities: It is not knowing who will be on the phone when it rings, but knowing when the phone will ring. It is about paying attention to our feelings. Our mind and body are not separate. I like the work "mindbody." It is all one.

Everyone has troubles. We all have issues. Difficulties and problems can become our greatest teachers. Look at the difficulties and see how they can become something holy and spiritual. My son calls it the "holy s--t." It's kind of like using fertilizer on the lawn. Before you plant a lawn, you must dig up the earth, get into the darkness, and remove the weeds.

A spiritual journey is different than a religion. Religions have rules. If you break the rules, you can be punished and must pay for your sins in order to be forgiven. What about the people who don't have the money?

How can we create the vision of the kind of life we really desire?

Start by writing our your part. Ask yourself how you would have to behave today to be that part. I want to be more loving, so each day, I check myself to see how I am doing. Have codes and messages and signals all around you to remind you of how you want to be: Exaggerate endlessly. If a situation looks dreadful--for example, if there is nothing to eat in the house--make up a story about it. You will starve. Take it to its extreme and find the humor in it for yourself and others. Act a part until it becomes funny. Laugh and lighten up. Childlike humor is always appropriate. Use humor that does not hurt anyone. When asked on a recent form what I was driving, I wrote, "My wife crazy!"