Spirituality & Prayer
Q. Do you have suggestions on how to practice contemplative meditation; practical, step-by-step ways to achieve it?
Q. I’ve heard that you distinguish between religion and spirituality. What do you mean and which is more important?
Q. Here’s the deal. My friends and I are debating whether or not prayer does any good whatsoever. I know people who pray and their prayers are not always answered.
Q. My family and I attend a local church with about three hundred members. Recently I read in a national magazine that empirical methods have shown prayer can have positive effects on the person praying and on the person who is prayed for, but that scientists don’t know how it works. Every week the church cleric does a group prayer with the entire congregation. Do you think this does any good or is it just a traditional ritual? And do you have a metaphor that helps explain this?
Q. As a parent I have a duty to make my child subscribe to family values and beliefs. My son has a different opinion, especially related to church attendance. What do I do now?
Q. This is a Science-Scripture question: I read in Matthew 18:20 about two or three people praying together. Then I read a study abstract that talked about the benefit of “group prayer.” These two perspectives seem contradictory. So, which is right, Science or Scripture?
Q. At one of your seminars you mentioned the Book of Hezekiah. Refresh my memory about where it is located.
Q: Judaism, Protestantism, and Catholicism are all represented in my family system. Although we have differing perspectives, we all sense there is a Higher Power and wonder about how “He” listens to a female voice, given recent PET Scan studies on how male and female humans “listen” to each other.
Q. Is there any evidence that prayer/meditation does anything for the brain or body beyond personal superficial comfort?
Q. While driving in the car recently I heard someone talking about physical, mental, emotional and “spiritual” fitness. First, I’m unclear about what spirituality really is—and fitness?
Q. I’ve heard you mention “spirituality” in your presentations and sometimes even give examples of how scripture and science align (for those who like to read scripture), but I have rarely—if ever—heard you talk about religion, especially any specific theology. Does this mean that you consider spirituality and religion as synonymous?
Q. I’ve heard you speak about the importance of using positive words so all three brain layers can perceive them in a one-step process, but the Ten Commandments are negative. What do you have to say about that?
