Towards Health and Wellness, Part 2
Exploring the Healing Power of Prayer and Meditation
In part 1 of this series on healing, energy medicine and the Baháʼí Faith I introduced the topic of energy medicine and explored related passages from the Baháʼí Writings. In part 2 we consider more deeply the topic of prayer and what emerging insights from ‘energy medicine’ can say about spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation and their effect on the body and healing.
The Power of Intoning and Reciting Prayer
Last time, we considered the background of certain energy medicine modalities in light of reflections on these topics in the Writings. When considering these suggestions from the Writings, it appears that there are genuine and notable impacts that can be felt when healers and patients are in tune with some of these dynamics of energy in the body and how this, alongside spiritual practices such as prayer or the impact of healing touch, can promote positive health.
I noted before that the electromagnetic force (EMF) of the heart reaches 3 feet outside of the body in all directions and that the heart’s EMF can directly influence the individual’s cognition, emotions, perception, behavior, performance, and overall sense of health and wellness and influence the heart and nervous system of other humans and animals whom one encounters. When the heart is in a coherent state attained through calming breathwork while focusing on uplifting attributes - what we would call ‘spiritual or divine attributes’ in the Baháʼí Faith such as love, compassion, gratitude, among others - this coherent state can positively influence others in close contact who may be in a depleting or incoherent state dominated by ‘worldly qualities’ such as anxiety, anger, fear, among others.
We can see this as a form of energy medicine demonstrating how the heart, in a coherent state, can have a positive impact on another person. Have you ever been in the presence of someone who is so filled with joy and happiness that it helps create that same joy and happiness in your own heart? This is not uncommon. The opposite effect is true too. How often have you encountered a person filled with negativity and that negativity has dragged you and others down, filling you with sadness. Negative energy can deplete the positive emotions of others just as positive energy can replenish those same emotions in others.
Another form of energy medicine - sound healing - is a perhaps overlooked yet powerful component of the practice of prayer. Sound therapy in various forms has been around for several thousand years and practiced across the vast tapestry of human cultures. ‘Mantras’ are an example of vocalized devotional practice with a deep history in spiritual traditions across many cultures. ‘Mantras’ were commonly used during meditation for spiritual connection, upliftment, and even as part of healing practices. At the heart of sound healing is vibration. All matter vibrates at different frequencies and sound therapy aims to use such vibrations to promote healing.
In the Baháʼí Faith and other religious traditions, prayer is an integral part of the spiritual practice. Baháʼí’s are encouraged to recite and intone prayers daily. Baháʼu'lláh states:
“Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul.”
-Baháʼu'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh, p. 295)
The remarkable part of this well-known excerpt is the emphasis on ‘intoning’ and the impacts it describes, which is indicative of the energizing power of prayer when it is recited or expressed vocally. The Long Obligatory prayer also features powerful imagery of the intersection of prayer and feelings in the body: “Thou seest, O my God, how my spirit hath been stirred up within my limbs and members, in its longing to worship Thee… My back is bowed by the burden of my sins… Whenever I ponder my evil doings and Thy benevolence, my heart melteth within me, and my blood boileth in my veins…” (Baháʼu'lláh)
Reciting prayers will not only kindle our own soul but will attract the hearts of others and cause their souls to throb. Such a prayer will exercise influence on these souls whether they are aware of it or not. Baháʼu'lláh further adds to our understanding about the power of the Word of God. He states, “Sanctified be the Lord of all mankind, at the mention of Whose name all the atoms of the earth have been made to vibrate…” (Gleanings p. 16) As mentioned, the use of vibration has been used as a form of energy medicine for centuries. Vibration as part of intoning the Word of God clearly has special potency, far more so than merely repeating the words in our head.
The Role of Prayer in Healing
Indeed, reciting healing prayers also has a special potency according to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian and leader of the Baháʼí Faith from 1921-1957; he is quoted in Baháʼí Prayers as follows, “These daily obligatory prayers, together with a few other specific ones, such as the Healing Prayer, the Tablet of Ahmad, have been invested by Baháʼu'lláh with a special potency and significance, and should therefore be accepted as such and be recited by the believers with unquestioning faith and confidence…” (p. 209) Prayer clearly has a harmonious role to play alongside energy medicine practices.
Abdu’l-Baha goes further stating the following about prayer and healing,
“…when a healthy person focuses his whole attention upon a sick person, and the latter in turn fully expects to be healed through the spiritual power of the former and is wholly convinced thereof, to such an extent that a strong connection is created between their hearts. Should the healthy individual then bend every effort to heal the sick one, and should the latter have full faith that health will be attained, an excitement may be produced in his nerves from these soul-to-soul influences and bring about the cure.” -Throne of the Inner Temple, a compilation on Health & Healing
The “healer” focuses his complete spiritual attention on the ill person who expects a healing result. The resultant strong connection between their hearts creates excitement in the nerves from “these soul-to-soul influences” leading to a cure. Remember the discussion before about HeartMath? The heart has a direct connection to the brain through the Vagus Nerve. This direct connection opens the door for the influence of the person’s emotions, cognition, executive function, and psyche, all important as part of the healing process.
So, if prayer does seem to have such impacts, do people have to be in presence with each other to feel the effects? ‘Distance healing’ is another practiced recognized as being under the umbrella of energy medicine. It involves intention or prayer but from a distance (not in the immediate presence of the recipients). The degree of distance makes no difference. It could be across the room, in a different town, or a different country. The research demonstrates the positive benefits of distance healing through intention and prayer. A well-known series of studies by Braud (1983, 1985); Radin (1995); and Rebman (1995) have purported to show significant benefits to human subjects’ electrodermal activity (a measure of Autonomic Nervous System function). Studies by Byrd (1988) and Harris (1999) demonstrated shorter hospital courses for cardiac ICU patients than the control group. A study by Sicher (1998) found similar benefits in treating patients with AIDS. Now, do these studies demonstrate without a doubt that prayer exerts effects, regardless of distance? Let’s consider further.
As we have explored, healing prayers specifically have a “special potency and significance” and should be said with “unquestioning faith and confidence.” Years ago, as part of a Baháʼí children’s class, my wife had the children focus on prayer for a particular plant while purposefully not focusing attention on a second plant. Both plants were in the same location. The plant that was prayed for grew more robustly and appeared healthier. While not a rigorous scientific study, it was an interesting demonstration for the children on the power of prayer. You may have attempted similar ‘experiments’ in your own experience.
Of course, such prayers do not have a “one size fits all” response. What constitutes healing for one person may be quite different than what constitutes healing for another person. By nature, they can be highly subjective. Healing occurs in many varied forms. It may be physical, emotional, spiritual, or all of these. Healing may not be obvious to anyone other than the individual being prayed for. In the case of the studies referenced above, we can measure some specific outcomes demonstrating association but not causality. We cannot state with 100 percent certainty that prayer definitively resulted in the shorter hospital stays in the Byrd study, for example. There is an association, but we cannot prove causality.
We also have to weigh the healing power of prayer with other understandings of prayer and spiritual reality that we find in the Writings. For instance, we know that God’s Will is ultimately inscrutable to all save Himself. We cannot answer why the Creator appears to answer the prayers of some and not others. We understand that spiritual reality by its very nature is not mechanistic. Indeed, the very fact that it is not a mechanistic process means that it would also not be surprising to not find an effect in the context of a scientific study. All we can say is that some respond to prayer in a visible manner and apparent manner, while others - as Baháʼu'lláh indicated earlier - “remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul”. They may receive healing in some other manner not obvious to outsider observation and sometimes not even to the person being prayed for, let alone in a way subject to measurement or scientific study.
Likewise, when Abdu’l-Baha tells us that, “…The power of the Holy Spirit healeth both physical and spiritual ailments…” (Throne of the Inner Temple, p. 85) we can see that this process inherently requires attributes such as faith and confidence that a healing remedy in some form will be granted. What is required is the wisdom to be able to understand what that healing remedy consists of, and the humility to understand that there is far more we don’t know than we do know.
The Nervous System: Intersecting Physical and Spiritual Life
What I hope we can glean from the passages shared on the power of prayer is that prayer has the potential for healing and can be seen as a component of energy medicine practices, some of which were described here and in the first half of this series. Prayer has been used by humanity for thousands of years for beseeching the Creator of the universe for healing, strength, guidance, prosperity, and more, and countless people have found it to be a critical part of a fulfilling life.
I will close this series with a consideration of spiritual components of energy medicine. The above topics all fall under this category in that they involve prayer, faith, devotion and intention. There is, however, a type of energy medicine some have called ‘spiritual energy medicine’ where a healer attempts deliberately to engage in the transfer of spiritual energy to a person, for the purpose of healing. Spiritual energy medicine may involve prayer, meditation, movement, mantras, affirmations, rituals, and more. What interests me about this modality of energy medicine relates to a passage from Abdu’l-Baha on the powers of the sympathetic nerve. In modern biomedicine we refer to this as the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) composed of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS).
Abdu’l-Baha stated, in response to a question from a physician regarding the sympathetic nervous system:
“The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual but are between the two (systems). The nerve is connected with both. Its phenomena will be perfect when its spiritual and physical relations are normal.
When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly, and the aspirations grow pure and divine, perfect connection will take place. Then will its power produce a perfect manifestation. Physical and spiritual diseases will then receive absolute healing.”
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas, Vol. II, p. 309
What a fascinating statement, suggesting that the ANS is connected to both the physical and spiritual dimensions. We know that the SNS is involved in the fight, flight, or freeze response to danger but also to excitement. The PNS is involved in the relaxation response or to a state of calm or meditation. Both responses manifest a physical response and an emotional (non-physical) or spiritual response. For example, the SNS response to danger or excitement is fast heart rate, rapid breathing, elevated blood pressure, directing all bodily functions away from digestion and relaxation to preparation to fight, take flight, freeze, or exultation.
Have you ever experienced a “spiritual high” or transcendent state at a particularly meaningful gathering, during meditation, or when praying or teaching the Faith? I certainly have, and the activation of the SNS is a real component of this experience and is part of the experience of such transcendent states. The PNS response is the opposite. It calms the person resulting in a slow heart rate, lowered blood pressure, slow respirations, and a meditative state. Do you meditate? I have had experiences during meditation where I have experienced moments of profound spiritual enlightenment. I can truly appreciate how the ANS with its two branches, the SNS and PNS, can be seen as connected to activity in both the physical and spiritual worlds.
Further, Abdu’l-Baha states,
“Remedy the sick by means of heavenly joy and spiritual exultation, cure the sorely afflicted by imparting to them blissful glad-tidings…When at the bedside of a patient, cheer and gladden his heart and enrapture his spirit through celestial power.”
-Selections from Baha’i Writings on Some Aspects of Health and Healing, p. 3
And finally, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá talks also about the “complete and perfect connection between the spiritual doctor and the sick person…causes the excitement of the nerves, and health is produced.” (Some Answered Questions p. 293-95) He talks of nerve excitement in the healing process in other writings. These descriptions sound familiar and are very much akin to arousal of the SNS. They also demonstrate that healing isn’t just the province of trained professionals, but that we all have an impact on each other’s well-being through our ‘heavenly’ interactions, ‘exultations’ and good cheers.
Likewise, regarding meditation, which is facilitated by the PNS, Abdu’l-Baha states:
“Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit -- the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation…
The spirit of man is itself informed and strengthened during meditation; through it affairs of which man knew nothing are unfolded before his view. Through it he receives Divine inspiration… Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries. In that state man abstracts himself: in that state man withdraws himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is immersed in the ocean of spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves. To illustrate this, think of man as endowed with two kinds of sight; when the power of insight is being used the outward power of vision does not see…This faculty of meditation frees man from the animal nature, discerns the reality of things, puts man in touch with God.”
-Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 175
Again, we see how the PNS branch of the ANS is deeply connected to the spiritual world, through the bodily reception of the impacts of a spiritual practice (contemplation).
Conclusion
From the above quotes, we can glean that spiritual energy medicine practices involving the ANS, with its sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, is associated with or stimulated by both a physical and spiritual response when the ANS is activated. The specific response depends on what action the individual is engaged in (exultation or meditation, for example) and this determines which branch of the ANS is dominant. Perfect balance will be attained “When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly, and the aspirations grow pure and divine.” Indeed, as we pointed out in part 1, the central goal of energy medicine is to achieve balance.
In closing, I hope I have offered food for thought that the concept of energy medicine has some support in the Baháʼí Writings. This article is by no means exhaustive on the subject, and I hope that others will carry this research further shedding new light on the Baháʼí Writings supporting energy medicine as a viable healing modality.
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