Thoughts And Practices For Enlightened Living 7

Asking For Forgiveness

Part 7. Forgiveness for the Soul

About 30 years ago, in Hawaii, the state hospital had a high security ward. Here the patients were criminally insane. They had committed crimes like murder, rape, assault, molestations. They were detained in the ward because they were certified mentally ill with disorders like bipolar, schizophrenia, manic – depressive, etc. Or they were in the ward because their level of sanity had to be established before trial. In either case, they exhibited ‘mad’ behavior…..they were very aggressive towards the doctors, nurses and other hospital staff.

Each day, there were even reports of inmates attacking each other!

The situation was so bad, that the hospital staff had no choice but to keep them secluded even from each other. Strict measures had to be put in place to ensure their own safety and that of the staff. They had to be locked in their rooms so that they could not harm others. In the very worst of cases, sadly, the patients had to be shackled to their beds limiting their freedom completely!

Of course this sounds horrible! How can you treat sick people like animals?! But the truth of the matter was that these patients were so violent that the staff were even afraid to go to this special ward. They felt threatened. Many a doctor and nurse asked for immediate transfers when assigned to this mental ward.

And if the transfer did not come through, they asked for sick leave. And if even that was not granted, they simply resigned. Such was the fear attached to this section of the Hawaii State Hospital.

Enter Dr. Ihaleakala Hewlen. This doctor was assigned to this frightful ward in 1983. Dr. Hewlen was a very cheerful man. He went about his work, never losing his cool.

The staff watched the ever smiling Dr Hewlen … and mentally gave him a few weeks at most before his cheerfulness would be replaced by moroseness. Oh, they were sure that it would only be a matter of a few weeks, at the most a couple of months before the doctor would throw up his hands in despair and resign. History, they were sure would repeat itself as it had been doing all along …

But, SURPRISE, SURPRISE! NOT ONLY DID THE DOCTOR STAY ON AND NOT RESIGN, BUT THE PATIENTS STARTED TO GET BETTER! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? WHAT WAS GOING ON?

To know more, read on next week ……

Next week: Forgiveness Forgiveness for the Soul contd …

Kamal Tolia

Founder Member LHSG