Dealing with Patients in Vegetative States

"As a physician caring for patients in vegetative states, I wonder if they’re suffering or perhaps in a higher state of consciousness than I could dream of. Are my good intentions to help them misguided? Rupert says: ‘I don’t think your good intentions are misguided. If there’s no thought or perception, they won’t be suffering. But you can’t be sure there isn’t just because they’re not responding. The fact they can’t communicate doesn’t mean there isn’t internal experience. I would err on the side of caution and presume there is. Even if there isn’t, consciousness is wide awake in them. That’s the important thing to know – you’re speaking to consciousness. Consciousness is the only one that’s aware, the only one that knows, the only one that experiences. I would continue with your intuition and always have the attitude that you’re speaking to a conscious being. Nothing’s going to happen to that conscious being when they pass away. So you wouldn’t be robbing them of experience.’"

From event 05 - 12 October, 2025 Seven-Day Retreat at Garrison Institute, 5–12 October 2025

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