In this allegorical novel, two people, from entirely different backgrounds and lifestyles, become so frustrated with the severity of the acute circumstances of their lives that they attempt to terminate their existence through suicide. Their failed efforts result in their being detoxified in the same E.R. and evaluated on the same psychiatry ward. Vera and Bryan explore the circumstances that led to their actions with two psychiatry residents and the attending physician, Dr. Saunders. The normally adroit and firm attending physician unexpectedly reveals the depth of his personality. By doing...

This allegorical narrative portrays the timeless debate over the perspectives of unity and diversity as a Jewish psychiatry resident and a Hindu psychiatry resident become involved in each other s lives. A Christian faculty psychiatrist supervises their mystical encounter. In this West meets East interaction, science and the psychology of reverence become inextricably entwined in the biological, social and psychological aspects of the individuals involved as well as in the complex medical field of psychiatry. Case histories of various patients are used to demonstrate the complexity of...

Laura Rogers, Ph.D., teaches religious studies at the local university. When she reads of Dr. Charles Compton s theory about primordial states of attention, she feigns mental illness in order to meet with him. While with Dr. Compton, Laura probes the doctor s mind in hopes of gaining a clearer understanding of his realms of consciousness theories. Laura is intrigued by his speculation that reverence might be the most basic attention state of man. This is very much akin to her own speculations concerning the myth of "Eden." In her pretense of having a psychiatric disorder, Laura contends to be...