continued from my examiner post . . .
There are significant changes in the brain during meditation and prayer as well as significant changes in the body. Spiritual practice- whether prayer or meditation can lower anxiety and fear, improve memory, reduce stress and lower a sense of ego-self. (Tibetan prayer wheels. Photo by Nathan Freitas, in Samye)
Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg MD finds that contemplating a loving God rather than a punitive God increases feeling of security, compassion and love. The neural circuit that enhances social awareness and empathy is strengthened through spiritual contemplation. The brain can be damaged through frightened or angry thoughts which release destructive neuro-chemicals. Our perceptions of ‘God’ change throughout our lives. Research shows that much of the time we’re the ones limiting God; not God limiting us . . . and this also goes for prayer. We tend to tell 'God'/the Supreme Intelligence the outcome we think is best.
In Prayer is Good Medicine Dossey tells of a story of a ‘man (who) reported that as a teenager he prayed for a car. When he did not get it he realized God did not work that way. So he stole a car and prayed for forgiveness instead.’ His point is that prayer is not about getting. 'Thy will be done' from The Lord's Prayer is pretty good. It is when we get into the act of incessant thinking we screw up the intention process with our own negative messages, energies and chemical responses which can affect us at the cellular level. Thomas Merton, the Catholic writer and monk said: ‘I pray by breathing.’ We don’t need to be wordy. We can simply project love.
One of the examples Dossey refers to (out of countless studies cited on everything from thought/prayer on bacteria, red blood cells, white cells, cancer cells, algae, plants, mice, seeds, specific health conditions, etc.) in his book, Healing Words, suggests that praying for cows to give more milk does not work because it is not in the best interest of the organism; it has to be best for the whole. God has regard for all creation. (After all, God is ingredient to all that is/animates all life).This supports an interdependent creation spirituality process view.
In Prayer is Good Medicine Dossey tells of a story of a ‘man (who) reported that as a teenager he prayed for a car. When he did not get it he realized God did not work that way. So he stole a car and prayed for forgiveness instead.’ His point is that prayer is not about getting. 'Thy will be done' from The Lord's Prayer is pretty good. It is when we get into the act of incessant thinking we screw up the intention process with our own negative messages, energies and chemical responses which can affect us at the cellular level. Thomas Merton, the Catholic writer and monk said: ‘I pray by breathing.’ We don’t need to be wordy. We can simply project love.
One of the examples Dossey refers to (out of countless studies cited on everything from thought/prayer on bacteria, red blood cells, white cells, cancer cells, algae, plants, mice, seeds, specific health conditions, etc.) in his book, Healing Words, suggests that praying for cows to give more milk does not work because it is not in the best interest of the organism; it has to be best for the whole. God has regard for all creation. (After all, God is ingredient to all that is/animates all life).This supports an interdependent creation spirituality process view.
Because the prayer research crosses all religions (and no religious affiliation), looking at prayer/intentional thought studies through body/mind/brain tends to level the playing field and strip away political, tribal and social agendas. Its an impressive body of research cutting across several fields beyond just medicine and psychology to include cellular biology, immunology, physics and more. For this very reason, some groups with an exclusivist orientation tend to be offended by the idea one would research prayer because it’s like testing if God is effective. . . . . (their version of God). Dossey says one group even prayed the research would fail to protect God from science.
Dossey quotes C.S. Lewis who once remarked, 'I am often praying for others when I should be doing things for them. It's so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him.'-189 (Prayer is Good Medicine) For several researchers and authors of prayer/intention research- from Bernie Siegel to Joan Borysenko, Pert to Lipton, Dossey to Newberg, the subtleties reveal that a sense of reverence, compassion, and sacredness should permeate our lives as a whole.
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