PRAYER? What is it?

[Craig Browning]

[NinjaPuppy]

GREAT explanation Craig. Thank you.

[ProfWag]

[NinjaPuppy]

So you are saying that not praying can have the same effect as praying?

Whoa! Reality.... what a concept.

BTW, please tell me you didn't do any 'ribbiting' during the purging of your tummy.

[ProfWag]

[Craig Browning]

I agree, believe it or not.

THE MIND CREATES is one of the oldest metaphysical axioms going, one carried into the oath taken by doctors in the idea of "physician heal thyself"... 90% of what "cures" someone from an ailment come from the mind and personal will, not some invisible energy source or divine something or other. This is why (especially in "developed" cultures like the U.S.) the Placebo based prescription is so potent; doctors having to decide which will prove most effective, the $15.00 or $150.00 dollar dose...

I couldn't fathom "how" prayer and the rest of it "works" outside the metaphysical hypothesis I've studied over the years. While they do hold to certain aspects of Physics, they are still "theory" when looked at form the less "faith-filled" point of view.

I'm a very firm believer that one can exploit the concept of "changing the energy in order to change the manifestation"... if I change my poor or negative thought patterns as well as living habits I'm going to see a different outcome on the other end of things.

Another "theory" of my own that looks at that 24 hour ill mentioned... I think nature, for lack of a better term, tosses things like that into our life just to get us to slow down, turn off and REST. We of the late 20th and early 21st centuries try to do too much... far more than the human vehicle was designed to do... at least for now. The emotional and physical evolution of man hasn't caught up with the technological (mental) environment (demands) and as a result we get over-taxed and simply have to crash and re-boot. I think this happens through a number of influences, most of which we step into subconsciously, because we know we need the break but are too consciously driven to take one... at least the kind of break we require at the moment. . . but as I say, it's just a personal theory.

This is a HUGE topic with no real answers per ce, just an exercise for the mind and possibly the soul (for those of us that still have one).

[ProfWag]

It would definitely be a difficult thing to test. Obviously in the Catholic Church, they give sainthood to people whom supposedly have answered the prayers of people sick, but are there just as many people who heal that didn't pray? I have an opinion (yes, there are), but I don't have anything to back that up.

[NinjaPuppy]

[ProfWag]

I did find this: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html
From the article:
"Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested."

[Craig Browning]

[ProfWag]

[Lilly]

I’m not a religious person but there is something going on. I use positive thinking and visualisation for healing during meditation and ‘something’ is responding. I don’t know what ‘it’ is but I don’t believe it’s something outside of myself. I believe it has more to do with what we are capable of that we are perhaps not fully aware of. And I believe it’s this ‘mental activity’ that so many people believe to be God or the universe responding. Sorry if that sounds too weird. I have been reading a lot lately and have more questions than answers at this point.

[ProfWag]

[Lilly]

I’m not clear about what you don’t agree with. The rest of your post seems to be touching on what I was getting at, that it is more to do with us than it has to do with something outside of us. Sorry if I misunderstood. I’m new and just getting warmed up.

[Lilly]

So sorry. You said you don't disagree. I need to read more carefully.