I haven't mentioned Elmer Green in awhile. He developed biofeedback. He is a remarkable man, one who connected to universal wisdom early and used his gifts and his guidance wisely. He writes about his life (in blog format), in his book "The Ozawkie Book of the Dead" . He was never snagged by what he calls "glamor and illusion", the trap of the narcissist (like Deepak Chopra and many of the new age, spirtual "stars" ). Elmer Green valued his unconscious, was guided by his dreams, and sublimated his instinctual energies, but not without struggle.
The subtitle of Ozawkie is "Alzheimer's Isn't What you Think It Is", because the core of the book is a diary of caring for his beloved wife, Alice, during her seven years with Alzheimer's.
Elmer believes in the Hindu system of reincarnation. He calls it, coming back to Earth School. Graduation from Earth School requires making the unconscious conscious, bringing the instinctual into the light, until you evolve into a higher state of being. Elmer's wife, Alice, was finishing up her last rotation through Earth School. She was going on to become a spirit guide in the Bardo, but she hadn't completed all the requirements, so Elmer helped her finish.
Elmer believes that Alzheimer's is a condition in which people spend time in the Bardo, the next level of incarnation, while still in their physical bodies. He anchored Alice in the physical, while she explored the next world. He paid close attention to her perceptions, confusing though they were, and, in the process, learned quite alot about navigating the Bardo.
Aside: John Bayley , who was married to the prolific British novelist, Iris Murdoch, has written a book about their experience with Iris' Alzheimer's called "Elegy for Iris" . He also cares for her soul, as she loses her formidable, intellectual prowess. However, he doesn't contextualize their experience in the universe, the way Elmer does, so the story is much sadder. Iris seems to have been on a mysterious, spiritual path in her lifetime, which isn't well illuminated in the book.
Posted by Dakota at December 21, 2003 05:36 AM