Faith and Family: Life after death

A British author explores the relationship between science and spirituality in her new book after claiming to have seen angels at a hospital just before her mother died.

Linda Hoy wrote "The Effect," which "counters that science can reveal the existence of the spiritual plane described by the worlds leading religious movements," according to her website.

I thought myself as a very rational, scientific person and I thought I am not going to believe this is a heavenly miracle. But then I got surrounded by angels," said Hoy.

Hoy said she never considered herself spiritual or religious before that day.

What is so important about this kind of experience, well, you cant deny it and say that it couldnt have happened," she said.

Dr. Edward Sunshine, a theology professor at Barry University, said those experience may be real or simply fabricated.

There are people that scientist who are trying to explain religious premonitions in different states that engage in mediation that can measure the changes in the brain that is occurring so they can get a better understanding of what is happening," said Sunshine.

Sunshine added that scientists have only begun to explore the possibilities of a fourth dimension.

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Author explores connection between science, spirituality

Mary H. Wilson has been living with inherited colon cancer for 49 years. She has endured 40 surgeries since she was 15 and, over time, embraced a gamut of spiritual perspectives: "Better me than anyone else" became "why couldn't it have been someone else," which gave rise to "every morning is a gift."

Wilson, who lives near Sandy, grew up in the Methodist Church and thinks of herself as a Christian. But at 64, she doesn't claim allegiance to any particular denomination.

"My belief is that my higher power is right here beside me, any time I want to talk to him or lean on him," she says. Her faith is "very personal and very open," and she doesn't rely on any particular ritual -- prayer or church attendance, for example -- to keep it vital.

"Doctors have done a heroic job, just keeping me alive," she says. But she believes her faith also plays a part in her health and well-being.

That's a connection that many patients and physicians acknowledge, but one that science has had a hard time quantifying.

Several studies suggest that patients commonly rely on their religious beliefs to cope with serious medical illnesses. Some say their faith led to an actual physical cure. But the difficulty of measuring faith empirically makes it impossible to say definitively whether or how religion or spirituality affects physical health.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a physician and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University, contends that prayer, for example, has healed some people of cancer but accepts the results of scientific studies that cannot prove it.

"God is not predictable," Koenig says. "If you could reliably predict the effectiveness of prayer, you wouldn't need faith because you'd have proof."

But Koenig and other physicians say that engaging regularly in religious practices does encourage a number of factors that may influence a person's health: improved coping skills, social support, more nutritious diets, a sense of optimism and hope, and reduced depression, anxiety, smoking and alcohol consumption.

But as proponents of spirituality's connection to good health look for ways to focus on and measure faith, they warn that religious or spiritual views don't guarantee good health. It's important, they argue, to seek and receive medical treatment in addition to practicing one's religion.

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Role of spirituality in healing has its advocates but it's hard to prove

Ahmedabad: Hailing Indian spirituality for having solution to problems such as global warming and terrorism, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the world was yet to realise its full potential. "The world has accepted the power of our youth in information technology, but it has yet to realise India's power of spirituality. Solutions to so many global problems such as global warming lie in the path shown by our saints, through our spirituality," he said.

Modi said this at the closing ceremony of the 60th Youth Anniversary celebrations of the Aksharpurshottam Swaminarayan Sanstha here today. "At present, humankind is struggling to thwart the environmental crisis created because of global warming. Who has the capacity to show a way out of it? Our country is the place on earth where our saints had given the status of 'mother' to nature," he said.

"As soon as the world realises the message of our saints and spiritual leaders, it will find solutions to all crises," he said and added that, "in the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' lies the answer to terrorism". The grand finale of Bochasanwasi Shri Aksharpurushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha's 60th anniversary celebrations was held at the Sardar Patel Stadium here where more then 25,000 youth from all over India, USA, Canada, UK, East Africa, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Dubai had assembled.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who is not in good health, blessed the gathering through his video message and congratulated them for "upholding satsang and service to parents as well as country". The celebrations was themed on six values portrayed through colourful dances, dramas, parades and more than 1,600 children and youth performed on stage.

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Solution to terrorism lies in Indian spirituality: Modi

Every time I look around, I find another article about what happiness can do for someone. The most recent reported that happiness can actually help people make more money (according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

"Whether smart or simple, tall or short, self-confident or insecure, happier people earned bigger paychecks than more doleful peers: Deeply unhappy teens' future incomes were 30 percent lower than the average, while very happy teems earned 10percent above average."

While this study shows that the outward expression of happiness can benefit our pocketbooks, there is also evidence showing its value to health and our general well-being.

In a recent lecture by Dr. Andrew Weil, noted leader in integrated medicines, he described the term "infectious happiness" as an emotion that can spread from person to person. Weil further stated, "that there is no question that who you choose to associate with can raise or lower your spirits, make you happy or sad, calm or anxious, comfortable or uncomfortable." These are qualities that translate directly to being healthy or unhappy and these infectious happiness qualities can be quantified.

According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, if a person lives less than a half mile from a happy friend, he would have a 42 percent greater chance of being happy. This same infectious happiness can ripple through groups and organizations, and has a profound

Happiness not only affects the external environment of relationships with others and increased financial success, but also generates a healthier body and mind. Recent studies indicate that much of true satisfaction and well-being come from within, and that one is not born happy or unhappy - it is mostly a developed or a learned trait.

How can that be? We get a glimpse of how in a study by Professor Robert A. Emmons, a UC Davis psychologist and editor in chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology. He has found that "those who regularly practice grateful thinking improved their happiness score by 25 percent. Since being grateful improves one's happiness, so do these same qualities reportedly have a positive effect on one's health."

Evidence continues to mount that thought affects the body, especially qualities like gratitude, which researchers see as a rapidly growing field of study. Some say improved health and happiness may result more from increased spirituality and less from external materialistic achievements. How, then, would one improve or increase his spirituality? Author Maggie Lyon in an article titled, "Making Room for Spiritual Practice," defines spiritual practice as something you do every single day that draws you deeper into who you really are, by connecting you with your divine self.

Being an advocate of this type of spiritual practice for decades, I agree with her description of the discipline it takes. "You must designate, carve out, and stick to the time for it, often letting go of something else in order to keep it alive. Many people find it easiest to maintain a practice first thing in the morning. But what does that mean you give up? Sleep? Or is it the extra hour on the computer before bed the night before so that you don't lose the time in bed?"

I have a set study time each morning for reading and studying from Scripture as well as a book titled "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" written by Mary Baker Eddy, along with quiet time for prayer. I can quantify the improvement of my personal health and happiness by using this consistent practice to develop my spirituality.

Originally posted here:

Don Ingwerson: Spirituality, money, happiness and health

PTI Jan 6, 2013, 11.14PM IST

AHMEDABAD: Hailing Indian spirituality for having solution to problems such as global warming and terrorism, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi today said the world was yet to realise its full potential.

"The world has accepted the power of our youth in information technology, but it has yet to realise India's power of spirituality. Solutions to so many global problems such as global warming lie in the path shown by our saints, through our spirituality," he said.

Modi said this at the closing ceremony of the 60th Youth Anniversary celebrations of the Aksharpurshottam Swaminarayan Sanstha here today.

"At present, humankind is struggling to thwart the environmental crisis created because of global warming. Who has the capacity to show a way out of it? Our country is the place on earth where our saints had given the status of 'mother' to nature," he said.

"As soon as the world realises the message of our saints and spiritual leaders, it will find solutions to all crises," he said and added that, "in the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' lies the answer to terrorism".

The grand finale of Bochasanwasi Shri Aksharpurushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha's 60th anniversary celebrations was held at the Sardar Patel Stadium here where more then 25,000 youth from all over India, USA, Canada, UK, East Africa, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Dubai had assembled.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who is not in good health, blessed the gathering through his video message and congratulated them for "upholding satsang and service to parents as well as country".

The celebrations was themed on six values portrayed through colourful dances, dramas, parades and more than 1,600 children and youth performed on stage.

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Solution to global warming lies in Indian spirituality: Modi