-IBIS-1.5.0-
rx
principles (Mind/Body)
healing power of prayer
psychospiritual approaches

definition

Randolph Byrd designed a 'scientific evaluation of what God is doing.' In a randomized, prospective, double blind experiment, 339 patients admitted to the coronary care unit at San Francisco General Hospital were assigned either to a group prayed for by home prayer groups (192 patients) or to a group that was not prayed for (210 patients). The prayer groups from around the country were given the names of their patients, something of their condition, and were asked to pray each day but were given no instructions on how to pray. Each person prayed for many different patients, but each patient in the prayer group had from 5-7 people praying for him or her.

The prayed-for patients differed from the others remarkably in several areas:
• 5 times less likely to require antibiotics than the unremembered group
• 3 times less likely to develop pulmonary edema
• none required endotrachial intubation (12 in the other group required mechanical support)
• fewer died (though not statistically significant)

The distance of separation did not affect the outcome. Byrd found that prayer groups around the corner were no more effective than those across the country. This suggests that the "energy" involved in prayer does not dissipate over distance. 'When people think of "sending" prayers, they are not using God as a communications satellite,' bouncing signals down to the intended. This is not to say that God is not involved; on the contrary it concurs with all the major theistic religions who agree that God is everywhere. Dossey goes one step further: 'What has been omitted is the realization of who we are. Our therapies in medicine force us to assume the role of a purely local creature (the healer must be on site). But this is a false identity. It is participation in hypocrisy, for it denies that we are nonlocal beings in space and time."

Spindrift researchers in Salem, Oregon have been conducting experiments for the last 10 years on how prayer works. Their tests are simple and use minimal equipment, yet are rigidly designed and their results are open to the critical inquiry of anyone. One experiment repeatedly studied the germination of rye seeds and the effects of praying for one group and not the other. Results consistently indicated that there were significantly more rye shoots in the 'treated' (prayed for) group than in the control group, showing that the effect of thought on living organisms outside the human body was significant, quantifiable, and reproducible.

Researchers asked: what if the subjects were unhealthy specimens rather than healthy? So Spindrift stressed the rye seeds by adding salt water to the seed container. The results were even more striking. The ratio of treated/prayed-for shoots increased sharply, indicating that prayer worked better when the organism was under stress. Then the researchers changed the system - soy beans instead of rye, using temperature and humidity as the stressors instead of salt water, with the same results - prayer worked best when physical conditions were worse.

The next question asked: does it matter how much one prays? Experiments showed that germination was increased with more prayer, and that it was in proportion to the amount of prayer given, twice as much prayer yielding twice the effect.

Then the experimenters addressed the question of how the prayer knew which seeds to help. The person praying was kept uninformed about the nature of the seeds he was praying for. Results showed a drastic reduction in the effect of prayer. Thus the conclusion was that the more clearly the practitioner is aware of his subject, the greater the effect of his prayer. Further tests were created to test the relative effectiveness of different healers. It proved that the more experienced practitioners rather than the inexperienced ones produced more powerful results.

One of the most remarkable observations was that there is no loss of effect as the number of seeds increased. Thus the Spindrift researchers formulated the 'law of the conceptual whole: as long as the practitioner can hold in his mind an overall concept of the system involved, the effect of the prayer is constant over all components.'

One of the most important contributions made by the researchers is the distinction between 'directed' (specific goal in mind) and 'nondirected' (open-ended) prayer. Results unequivocably showed that the nondirected technique was much more effective, frequently yielding results that were twice as great or more. "This may surprise persons who favor techniques of directed imagery and visualization that are quite popular today. Various imagery schools contend that if the cancer, for example, is to be cured, a specific image must be employed as to how the end result will come about. Some studies have suggested that the more robust and aggressive the image is, the better the outcome. But Spindrift's quantitative tests say otherwise."

"As a result of numerous tests on a variety of biological systems, the Spindrift researchers suggest that the healer strive to be completely free of visualizations, associations, or specific goals. Physical, emotional, and personality characteristics should be excluded from thought and replaced by a "pure and holy qualitative consciousness of whoever or whatever the patient may be." It is this method that they refer to as genuine spiritual healing. Methods that rely on directed prayer, in contrast, are referred to as 'psychic' healing, 'faith' healing, 'mental' healing, or the placebo effect."

As Dossey states, "Becoming aware of our nonlocal nature leads us to an understanding of the wisdom of nondirected prayer - that is, it makes more sense to pray "Thy will be done" than "My will be done." These experiments suggest that nondirected prayer moves organisms toward those states of form and function that are best for them, and that the practitioner need not know what is 'best'.
(Dossey, 1989, p. 123-133)

see:
attitudinal healing
Ayurvedic healing
compassion and healing
healing belief systems
healing power of humor
healing power of meditation
holographic consciousness
human energy fields: overview
Kahuna healing
mind beyond body
Native American healing
psychic healing
quantum healing
search for god
state-dependent learning
Sufi healing
Tai Qi as a healing art
the shadow and physical symptoms
yogic view of the human body


footnotes