Contemplative Prayer and Embodied Healing
Alan Astrow, MD, Maimonides Medical Center
Rabbi Cindy Enger, JD, Congregation Or Chadash
Robert Hesse PhD, Institute for Spirituality & Health
Faiz Khan, MD, Cornell Medical College
COHESIVE THEME: A unique capability of the human body is consciousness and its ability to focus the mind. Capitalizing on this every major religion has a contemplative prayer tradition for example among the Abrahamic faiths there is Kabbalah for Judaism, Mysticism for Christianity, and Sufism for Islam. The generic secular term is meditation, which can take two forms, engagement of the imagination and concentrative focus on a mantra. Practitioners know that contemplative prayer can bring a sense of peace and oneness, which is consistent with the embodied Abrahamic traditions’ worldview that the body and soul are interstitial i.e. non-dual or holistic. Research has shown that secular meditation and separately that theistic belief both promote embodied healing. Studies on combining those results into a theistic contemplative prayer practice have shown that, regardless of the faith belief, contemplative prayer can promote physical, psychological, and spiritual healing. The panel consists of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic prayer practitioners with training variously in medicine, science, and religion, who will give their personal experiences plus teaching and research observations of embodied healing.
1. JUDAISM: Kabbalah is an ancient mystical tradition in Judaism that involves a view of creation as existing on four levels, known as the "four worlds." Traditionally these four worlds are construed to relate to dimensions of action and physicality, emotionality and relationships, rationality and consciousness, and intuition and spirituality. Applying a four-worlds analysis to concepts of health and the process of health care gives us new insights about the interplay between the forces that shape our health, and directs us to a deeper understanding of how to employ seemingly disparate healing concepts in a cohesive and holistic way. Descriptions of the manifestations of each of the four worlds on the level of the body will be given, as well as the factors that create disturbances in each world, appropriate interventions, and their effects. Examples will be presented of interventions on one world creating healing on another.
2. CHRISTIANITY: Mysticism dates back to the 1st Century as described in the longest work in Christian antiquity The Conferences by John Cassian. A distinction will be made between cataphatic discursive and apophatic contemplative prayer, a.k.a. mystical prayer. The presentation will include the history, theology, psychology, and methodology of contemplative prayer and centering prayer (CP), which is a vestibule to contemplative prayer. CP is a method of prayer to prepare oneself to be in a receptive state for receiving the gift of contemplative prayer. The discussion will address the extraneous thoughts that naturally occur during CP and cover the observed spontaneity of the resulting embodied fruits such as peace, patience, joy, gentleness, et.al. Profound mystical experiences, including out-of-body ecstasy, have been documented by holy people throughout the centuries and continue today. Some can be similar to near-death experiences. Personal experience and observations will be shared on the healing embodiment of the prayer including its effects on the brain and on cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. A brief description will be given on current and proposed research.
3. ISLAM: Sufism takes its roots from holy book of Islam; Qur’an and practice of Muhammad (pbuh). Sufism is inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ). This presentation will present the concepts, themes, history, practice and embodied healing effects of Sufi contemplative prayer. The greatest goal for a Sufi is to understand the relation between Allah, human, and existence and his position before God. Major themes of Sufism will be discussed including Imani billah, belief in God’s oneness, Marifetullah, knowledge of God, and Muhabbetullah, love of God. Sufis practice many unique ways to deal with illnesses based on prophet Muhammad’s advise that prayer and medicine be used side-by-side. Embodied healing of different sicknesses will be discussed based on Sufis using different names of God. One of the names of God is “Shafi, Healer”. Repeating those names in certain numbers resembles the teeth on a key which keys, function successfully only with their certain shapes.
Rabbi Cindy Enger, JD, Congregation Or Chadash
Robert Hesse PhD, Institute for Spirituality & Health
Faiz Khan, MD, Cornell Medical College
COHESIVE THEME: A unique capability of the human body is consciousness and its ability to focus the mind. Capitalizing on this every major religion has a contemplative prayer tradition for example among the Abrahamic faiths there is Kabbalah for Judaism, Mysticism for Christianity, and Sufism for Islam. The generic secular term is meditation, which can take two forms, engagement of the imagination and concentrative focus on a mantra. Practitioners know that contemplative prayer can bring a sense of peace and oneness, which is consistent with the embodied Abrahamic traditions’ worldview that the body and soul are interstitial i.e. non-dual or holistic. Research has shown that secular meditation and separately that theistic belief both promote embodied healing. Studies on combining those results into a theistic contemplative prayer practice have shown that, regardless of the faith belief, contemplative prayer can promote physical, psychological, and spiritual healing. The panel consists of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic prayer practitioners with training variously in medicine, science, and religion, who will give their personal experiences plus teaching and research observations of embodied healing.
1. JUDAISM: Kabbalah is an ancient mystical tradition in Judaism that involves a view of creation as existing on four levels, known as the "four worlds." Traditionally these four worlds are construed to relate to dimensions of action and physicality, emotionality and relationships, rationality and consciousness, and intuition and spirituality. Applying a four-worlds analysis to concepts of health and the process of health care gives us new insights about the interplay between the forces that shape our health, and directs us to a deeper understanding of how to employ seemingly disparate healing concepts in a cohesive and holistic way. Descriptions of the manifestations of each of the four worlds on the level of the body will be given, as well as the factors that create disturbances in each world, appropriate interventions, and their effects. Examples will be presented of interventions on one world creating healing on another.
2. CHRISTIANITY: Mysticism dates back to the 1st Century as described in the longest work in Christian antiquity The Conferences by John Cassian. A distinction will be made between cataphatic discursive and apophatic contemplative prayer, a.k.a. mystical prayer. The presentation will include the history, theology, psychology, and methodology of contemplative prayer and centering prayer (CP), which is a vestibule to contemplative prayer. CP is a method of prayer to prepare oneself to be in a receptive state for receiving the gift of contemplative prayer. The discussion will address the extraneous thoughts that naturally occur during CP and cover the observed spontaneity of the resulting embodied fruits such as peace, patience, joy, gentleness, et.al. Profound mystical experiences, including out-of-body ecstasy, have been documented by holy people throughout the centuries and continue today. Some can be similar to near-death experiences. Personal experience and observations will be shared on the healing embodiment of the prayer including its effects on the brain and on cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. A brief description will be given on current and proposed research.
3. ISLAM: Sufism takes its roots from holy book of Islam; Qur’an and practice of Muhammad (pbuh). Sufism is inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī (صُوفِيّ). This presentation will present the concepts, themes, history, practice and embodied healing effects of Sufi contemplative prayer. The greatest goal for a Sufi is to understand the relation between Allah, human, and existence and his position before God. Major themes of Sufism will be discussed including Imani billah, belief in God’s oneness, Marifetullah, knowledge of God, and Muhabbetullah, love of God. Sufis practice many unique ways to deal with illnesses based on prophet Muhammad’s advise that prayer and medicine be used side-by-side. Embodied healing of different sicknesses will be discussed based on Sufis using different names of God. One of the names of God is “Shafi, Healer”. Repeating those names in certain numbers resembles the teeth on a key which keys, function successfully only with their certain shapes.