What is Consciousness? I spoke recently with friend Eva Herr about this very question. In her experience as a radio host and author, she has asked more than fifty learned people to respond, scholars in the study of the mind and consciousness. She said that she received fifty different answers. But I have a short and concise answer that she just may not have heard uttered. I want to share this with you.

Today, as I cut the grass on a beautiful and warm Hawaiian day, I didn’t think of consciousness as I steered the riding mower around the couple of lawn acres, not thought of it at all until I had to trim along the fences with a self propelled hand mower which, on the uphill grades, is not always effortless. Then it hit me: To have two gas-powered machines, let alone the fact that one can be mounted like a horse and has a drink receptacle, was truly a gift. I could have had to push some old-fashioned reel mower which would have required days of effort and may have stressed my heart. Well, it came soon on the heels of that thought that just to be able to ponder such a question is another gift, just as is my stopping to view the beautiful fluffy white clouds in an azure Hawaiian sky. So, what is consciousness?

My friend Robert Bruce, author of Astral Dynamics, asked me a dozen years ago if I could fashion an appendix for his book. He wanted me, as a brain surgeon, to describe the location of consciousness and the seat of the soul. I did this for him, taking time to study the work of great scholars.

There were many guesses as to the location of consciousness, but none seemed to be correct. According to Gerald M. Edelman, “Consciousness is neither a thing nor a simple property.” Edelman has asserted that a fundamental property of consciousness is that it cannot be broken down into independent components. That is to say, consciousness is integrated within the brain, and involves many widely separated areas.

I began my study with the work of the famous neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield (Montreal Neurological Institute), who found that vast areas of the cerebral cortex can be removed without affecting consciousness. However, small areas of the brainstem, when destroyed, will seriously affect or abolish consciousness. Brain stimulation cases show that found that the “mind,” not the brain, watches and directs human cognition and function.

Thanks to Robert’s request for my opinion, I came across something that allowed me to finish my book, Medicine, Miracles and Manifestations as it seems to prove that we incarnate on Earth to follow a carefully crafted plan. That critical piece of information is the Bereitschaftspotential and as demonstrated by the work of Dr. Benjamin Libet, (University of California, San Francisco). Libet described it as a “readiness potential” that can be picked up by EEG electrodes (a la Libet) or in modern times, functional MRI studies. It is a brain signal that precedes a consciously-made motor movement by roughly 350 milliseconds and it indicates that what we seemingly do of our own volition is actually initiated in the subconscious mind. Although we feel we have made a conscious decision to do perform an act, it is not so.

I investigated the work of many other luminaries in the field and was left with the thought that can be best described by the following quotation:

On the surface of things, nothing appears as it is.

And yet, everything that appears unreal,

is more real than the surface of things appears to be.

Now, after having a few years to reflect on consciousness, to study the work of others and to listen to their learned discourses, I have reached a concise description of what consciousness is. Perhaps in a few years my thoughts will change, but for now, I will say this:

“Consciousness is a gift.  Consciousness is a miracle”.

Dr. John L. Turner was a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show Listen to his interview here: http://exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows8.shtml#TURNERMEDICINE

More About Dr. John L. Turner:
After graduating from the Ohio State University with a degree in engineering physics, Dr. Turner continued in graduate school at the Ohio State University, Department of Physics. Three years into the PhD program, he was given a book about Edgar Cayce, The Sleeping Prophet. This changed the course of his life! He was excited about the existence of a spiritual world and made immediate plans to attend the Ohio State University’s College of Medicine where he earned his M.D. He completed his internship year in general surgery and his first year neurosurgical residency at Ohio State University. He completed the remaining four years of neurosurgical training at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. For eighteen years, he served as the sole neurosurgeon on the island of Hawai’i, initially performing lifesaving procedures with a marginally trained staff and substandard equipment. By all measures, John L. Turner is a surgeon with classic western medical credentials. From his first day on call in Hilo, Hawai’i, metaphysical events appeared for his edification and continue to the present day.

Medicine, Miracles, and Manifestations, is the twenty-year story of Dr. Turner’s contributions to the field of neurosurgery through Integral Medicine. The concept of Integral Medicine has been written about by notable members of the medical community, including Andrew Weil, Larry Dossey, Deepak Chopra, Mehmet Oz and Dean Ornish. Each of these writers is a physician who specializes in internal medicine or surgery. What makes John Turner similar to these writers is that he, too, is a physician. What makes him different from these writers is that he is a neurosurgeon. In fact, he is the only brain surgeon to write of medicine from this perspective: hand’s on use of complementary techniques prior to, during and after surgery, and exploration of pathways that lead to the spiritual world. The tools of the surgeon normally have more immediate, measurable results on patients’ health and well-being. With the opportunity to study and operate on the brain, Dr. Turner was in a perfect position to explore the mind-body connection. Medicine, Miracles, and Manifestations reveals how metaphysical events such as remote viewing, telepathy, consciousness and life-after-death are verifiable manifestations of the manner in which the human brain interfaces with the universal consciousness that author Lynne McTaggart refers to as The Field. More info at: www.johnlturner.com

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