Bernie S. Siegel

I am a great fan of Bernie Siegel, so initially I was disappointed that the book turned out not to have been written entirely by Bernie, but mostly consists of a number of accounts composed by various of his former patients and others. Janet Colli recounts that Bernie tells us that "disease is a divine message of redirection" - very useful to keep in mind if one is ill.

Every now and then a chapter appears penned by Bernie, in which he comments on these accounts and otherwise provides us with show more inspiring tales of his pets and makes insightful comments.

I was considering just giving the book 4 stars, but then the stories got better and better, and what with the Bernie chapters and all, I had of course to give it top marks, 5 stars.

Bernie loves animals and has himself many pets, and many of the stories comprise pet miracles/synchronicities/ accounts of amazing pets. Others deal with miraculous recoveries from serious illnesses, helped of course by the persons in question having been inspired/helped/loved by Bernie.

Bernie grew up Jewish, and there are also some stories by those with Jewish backgrounds.

He tells us that each of his animals taught him something about his own behaviour and what he needed to incorporate into his life to be a better person.

He says if we raised our children the way we train and raise our beloved pets - "with love, trust, respect, consistency, exercise, affection and discipline" - it would be a healthier and more peaceful world.

Bernie can communicate with animals - talk to them and hear what they say, even if they've passed to the other side. This was inspiring to hear about.

He states: "Love is the only thing of permanence and the bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead."

Susan Duffy tells us about Bernie that he would sit in a room with a dying patient for hours so that person would know that someone cared. "He was never afraid of the dying patient. He gave them the courage to live."

I've recently been in and out of hospital for 7 months. I wish there had been a doctor like Bernie there, but of course there wasn't. He is unique. I asked the doctors if they knew of Bernie, but no, they'd never heard of him.

The book also contained a chapter by a male doctor, one of Bernie's students, who was inspired by him and found out what being a doctor was all about - or should be about (my comment).

Another quote from Bernie: "Keep your eyes and ears open to the greater consciousness and let your awake mind and dreaming mind guide you and help you to heal."

We are told a little about Bernie's use of patients' drawings -how he interprets them, and are referred to a couple of books where we can learn how to interpret our own drawings.

This is a wonderful, positive, loving and inspiring book. It is easily, easily read and reading it will raise your vibration. I highly recommend that you read it, and all of Bernie's books. show less

This book changed my life...forever, when I read it in 1992, when diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

I heard words like "no cure for MS", "nothing you can do", and so on. I was only 29 years old and I decided not to believe any of the words, no matter what research showed, what well-meaning friends said, etc., etc. (lots of etc.'s) after reading this book. The book did not tell me not to face the reality of the illness but to face it in a different way.

And I have.

The first symptoms of MS show more started when I was 24 years old and now, in 2013, I have had the illness more than one half of my life (you can do the math). :-) I have been told by more than one doctor comments such as "you shouldn't be walking" (but I am )and "you should be in a nursing home" (but I am not). I live independently, have lots of goals for my life, and try to live my life one day at the time within the limits of the illness (yes, there are limits especially since I am getting older too). :-)

The illness affects every patient differently so just because they are not like me, doesn't mean that they have not done something right for themselves, or that I am doing everything right for myself. I have read many books in the field of psychoneuroimmunology (or mind-body connection to health) since then. Using Love, Medicine and Miracles I started my road in life owning my decisions, good or bad, negative or positive, and not letting outside circumstances alone own my life. show less

I read "A Book of Miracles; Inspiring True Stories of Healing, Gratitude, and Love" by Dr. Bernie S. Siegel and even though the title seems lofty, I found this book to have too much self-promotion and testimonials about the author himself. There were some stories that I really liked, but the rest of the stories seems overly optimistic. I understood that the power of prayer and positive thinking can change your world, heal your body, and make life better. However, there are such things as too show more much sappiness and mushiness. Unfortunately, this book seems to be one of them. Guideposts and Reader's Digest have similar stories about miracles and I've always enjoyed reading about them. They do not try to make a metaphysical point. They are emotion-filled, raw, pity-invoking kinds of stories. You take away what you will from these stories. Dr. Siegel's book did not invoke these kinds of feelings in me. Instead, I felt cynical because of the constant references to how wonderful the author and his teachings were. Really? The book would be much better without these. On the other hand, my feelings could have been because the author was preaching to the choir. I only learned a little bit of metaphysical information from this book. I would give this book three stars with a cautious recommendation to read it with a grain of salt. show less

Doctor Siegel cites the famous hospital study which reduced type A behavior in patients, and "halved the reinfarction rate of postcoronary patients". [v] Our society continues--witness the "election" results of November 2016--to regard noisy bullies who rage with hostility as our leaders. They are not. They are suicides. Doctor Siegel spelled out the facts in this 1986 book which arrives at the evidence-based conviction that our best and healthiest guide for behavior is "love for show more others".

Doctor Siegel writes about the documented connection between mind and body, in our "state of consciousness". I was delighted to see that Doctor Siegel echoes the great Chaplain, Henri Nouwen, for the curative principle of compassion. "Curing" a patient without care, is more harmful than helpful. [vi] The fear of "letting go of childhood pain" and bad messaging, is a much larger failure than dying. Death will visit all of us, because there is really no cure. However, the meaning of life is in loving, which happily happens to cure most of our afflictions.

"The fundamental problem most patients face is an inability to love themselves, having been unloved by others during some crucial part of their lives." [4] By loving oneself, and life itself, the quality of life is improved, and in many cases prolonged.

The epilgraph is from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's, "Cancer Ward". The "self-induced" healing, without drugs or treatments, has long been observed. "Suddenly for some unexplained reason the tumor starts off in the opposite direction! It gets smaller, resolves and finally disappears! See!"

Siegel relies upon science, with research, clinical experience, and facts. The book has two prescient sections: (I) Minding the Body, and (II) Embodying the Mind. show less