The Relationship of Praying in Tongues & Centering Prayer to Contemplative Prayer

letting go of the need to know, to understand and to be in charge

On the Relationship of Praying in Tongues & Centering Prayer to Contemplative Prayer ---

There have been concerns, both theological and psychological, expressed regarding Centering Prayer. Those are real enough, especially the caveat that one should be both psychologically stable and in a supportive community. In many ways, those concerns have been overwrought, at least in the sense that spiritual and psychological rewards have been underemphasized and risks overemphasized. Critiques have not always been sufficiently nuanced or irenic, so too often have been more hypercritical than constructive, both theologically and psychologically.

In my view, both Centering Prayer and Praying in Tongues, integrally considered --- in an holistic context of

formative spirituality, the contemplative tradition, pastoral theology, psychological health, modern cognitive science and various clinical settings ---

have so much to offer those, who with humility and charity, desire to see Him more clearly, Love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly, day by day.

First, we best distinguish between a

1) prayer practice or means or method, which is contemplative;

2) associated cognitive-affective dispositions and their neurocorrelates or felt contemplative experiences, including consolations & desolations requiring discernment; and

3) the terminus or ends or ultimate goals in terms of transformation or our love of God and neighbor (including even our self and the cosmos) via our habitual cooperation with the gifts of the Spirit.

The way I taste and see things is that the experiences of no self, empirical self, dynamical self, communal self and contemplative self ...

of unitary reality, creatio continua, ens necessarium, mysterium tremendum and unitive reality ...

of satori, connaturality, theoria, philosophical contemplation and theologia ... of truth, beauty, goodness, unity and freedom ....

are all indispensable moments --- call them notes, keys, measures, bars, tempos, harmonies, etc -in a singular movement --- call it a symphony.

These moments may variously crescendo or decrescendo or even rest or be muted, but each is necessary, none alone sufficient, in every value-laden encounter. Few of us are maestros or virtuosos, but we each sound all of these notes, every time we realize a value. We may do so inchoately, implicitly, subconsciously, unconsciously ... but ... switching metaphors ... we touch every base before heading home.

Beauty, goodness, unity and freedom are the definition of truth. Goodness, unity, freedom and truth define beauty. And so on.

A CS Lewis-ism paraphrase: any of these values wrenched from their context in the whole will get swollen to madness in its isolation. Another: asking which of these moments is most critical in a value-realization movement is like asking which blade of a pair of scissors is most necessary (think edward scissorhands, here).

Unitary reality, whether touched via satori or even discursively, is presupposed in unitive reality, as well as mysterium and necessarium and creatio encounters. One aspect may come into full relief, while others recede, or figure-ground reversals may cascade kalaidescopically, but the ascetical presupposes the mystical and vice versa, both supernatural and graced, mutually interdependent.

Below are quotes and citations I've gathered to support my recommendation of both Glossolalia and Centering Prayer to all sincere seekers, who are thus disposed.

Balthasar:

The word contemplative can, of course, be misunderstood in a gnostic sense (as giving us special or esoteric knowledge) but it really means the life which Jesus praised, the life of Mary at his feet. Prayer, ecclesiastical and personal, comes before action. It is not primarily a source of psychological strength, an opportunity for 'refueling' as it were. It is an act in perfect harmony with love, an act of worship and glorification in which the person loved attempts to make a complete and selfless answer, in order to show that he has understood the divine message.

Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of the two paths, ascetical and mystical, was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from the traditional Catholic teaching".

Jacques Maritain proposed that one should not say that every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations. Maritain introduced Merton to the notion of "masked contemplation," which Merton seized upon to call for a radical renewal and democratization of contemplation.

http://www.innerexplorations.com/catchmeta/mmm2.htm

Christian contemplation is not the privilege of the elite, but it is a call to women and men of every condition. This brings to his mind his earlier work on this call to contemplation and he feels that now theologians are coming to an agreement about this question: "...all souls are called, if not in a proximate manner, at least in a remote one, to mystical contemplation as being the normal blossoming of grace's virtues and gifts." (84) And in reference to his "masked" contemplation where there is a predominance of the active gifts, he goes on to say: "It appears that the forms of contemplation to which souls faithful to grace will actually attain most often, will not be the typical one, where the supernatural sweeps away everything, at the risk of breaking everything, but rather the atypical and masked forms I have just mentioned, where the superhuman condescends in some measure to the human and consorts with it." (85) Each person is called, at least remotely, "to contemplation, typical or atypical, apparent or masked, which is the multiform exercise of the gift of Wisdom, free and unseizable, and transcending all our categories, and capable of all disguises, all surprises." (86)

The entry into the "path of contemplation" takes place "in a manner inaccessible to consciousness (in the depths of the supra-conscious of the spirit)" where the soul is "habitually aided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit." (114) And, as we saw, depending on which gifts predominate, there will be masked or typical contemplation. But the critical point for Maritain is that even if a typical form of contemplation is present in which the gift of wisdom predominates, it need not take the classic form found in John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Another possibility that very much interested the Maritains is what they called "contemplation on the roads", which is a contemplative call to Christians living in the world who thirst for a deeper life of prayer. In contrast to those people devoted to the active life who can partake of masked contemplation, these people are called to open contemplation. "But their path is a very humble one; it demands nothing but charity and humility, and contemplative prayer without apparent graces. This is the path of simple people; it is the 'little way' that St. Therese of Lisieux was in charge of teaching us: a kind of short cut -singularly abrupt, to tell the truth - where all the great things described by St. John of the Cross can be found divinely simplified and reduced to the pure essentials, but without losing any of their exigence. The soul is laid bare, and its very love-prayer as well - so arid at times that it seems to fly into distractions and emptiness... Sometimes, in a certain manner, this treasure is hidden from the soul themselves that possess it..." (115) Once again we see that the most difficult theological issues like the grace in the soul of Jesus is connected in Maritain's mind to the most pressing practical issues in the spiritual life, which in this case is the question of how contemplation might be given to people today.

Thomas Dubay:

It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong. The beginnings of this contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by distractions. The reality is so unimposing that one who lacks instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking place. Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the early stages that many fail to recognize it for what it is. Yet with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life, it is common.

Bernard Haring:

The dialogical character of prayer is most fully realized in the so-called passive or mystical prayer, in which the divine motion is in the foreground of consciousness and divine love stirs the heart, and the loving majesty of God manifests itself in infused contemplation. Though the prayer is called passive, man is not purely passive in it. On the contrary, one is never so completely and utterly active as when God moves him by the graces of mystical prayer. But in this mystical experience the "divine partner in the dialogue" is in the foreground rather than the human response. In mystical prayer, the soul experiences the life in grace and from grace as a gift of divine love. It is the experience of faith in its most exalted realization.

Merton expressed his belief that all religions "lead to God, only in different ways, and every man should go according to his own conscience, and settle things according to his own private way of looking at things."

http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/gift-of-tongues.htm tongues as a lubricant for contemplative prayer

http://www.carmelnet.org/larkin/html/articles.html

“Charismatic Renewal and Forms of Contemplation” Contemplation and the Charismatic Renewal, Paul Hinnebusch, O.P., ed., (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1986) 55-66.

We wait, attend, listen, and are taught by God. We stop struggling to take hold of God and let him take hold of us. We let God be God. In this way we will be living out in fullness the first principle of the Charismatic Renewal, namely, the recognition that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Contemplation happens when in our

love of God and neighbor we shift from a controlling, managing, manipulating love to a receiving love, to surrender, to allowing ourselves to be loved by God and others. This is revelation of New Testament love (Rom 5:8-9; 1 Jn 4: 10). The contemplative shift occurs when we experience a deep sense of

being beloved of God; this experience in turn depends on being loved for oneself on a human level.

“Contemplative Prayer Forms Today: Are They Contemplation?” The Diversity of Centering Prayer, Gustave Reininger, ed., (New York: Continuum, 1999) 27-38.

For Karl Rahner, all experience of God

is the expression of faith and love, all of it is rightly called mystical, and all knowledge and love of God are infused. Not only prayer experiences, but even the mundane experiences of average Christians which are products of faith are movements of the Holy Spirit and constitute “ordinary mysticism” or the “mysticism of everyday life.” In Rahner’s view, what has been designated as infused contemplation in the tradition is a high degree of the one basic experience of a loving faith.

The classical mystical experience of the saints remains “extraordinary,” not because of

its principles, but because of its perfection and rarity.

Theologically, the experience of God in meditation or in human activity or in classical infused contemplation is the same one gift of God working within us, the same one reality, different not in kind but in degree.

As a step toward defining the two

terms in their contemporary context, I propose a distinction between contemplative prayer and contemplation: Contemplative prayer is the way, contemplation the terminus.

Contemplative prayer and contemplation fit into the four steps of lectio divina. The first three steps—reading, meditation, prayer—are obviously active; and the fourth step, contemplation, indicates rest, quiet, and passivity. Where does the contemplative prayer we are discussing, fit in this conspectus? I like to locate it between the third and fourth steps. It is a specially designed form of active prayer, consisting in simplified efforts to quiet down, to be attentive, and to be open to the divine influence. But it is rightly called “contemplative,” since it anticipates and moves as quickly as possible to its terminus of resting in the Lord. In this perspective it is easy to see why most writers identify contemplative prayer and contemplation as the same thing. Contemplation, accordingly, is the

experience of what God is doing in my own being in Christ. It is what is left over in my body, soul, and spirit as the aftermath of my meditation. There are moments of contemplation in every meditation. Such moments, prolonged and deliberately indulged to the exclusion of further meditation (that is, further thinking, imagining, or making affections), are what the contemporary methods mean by contemplation. They are the fourth act in lectio divina, pursued directly and immediately as the total intent of the prayer.

In this frame of reference, we can see

that centering prayer and Christian Meditation do not fit handily in the category of either meditation or contemplation. They are something new in contemplative prayer practice. Thomas Keating has emphasized that centering prayer is not lectio divina, but a form of prayer designed to give new life to lectio and to the whole Christian life. Centering prayer is one’s own doing, but it is contemplative in its very structure.

Centering Prayer and Speaking in Tongues

Author: Fr. Carl Arico

Q: Please help me understand how Centering Prayer and the charismatic or Pentecostal belief in speaking in tongues as a sign on baptism in the Spirit are related? Can they abide in the same person?

A: Yes they can abide in the same person. The Spirit can manifest God's presence in many ways - internally (Centering Prayer) and externally (tongues). In Centering Prayer, we let go of the desire to hold on to thoughts; when we becomes aware of thoughts, we gently return to the sacred symbol, which represents the desire to consent and to let go. In a sense we are letting go of the need to know or understand in order to be in the presence of the Almighty. This ongoing letting go leaves an opening for God to reveal to us outside of the prayer time what may be happening.

In the gift of tongues, one is letting go of the desire to understand, trusting that what it means can be interpreted by another, if God so wills. It is a matter of trusting that God is being honored and is directing the process. Notice that the need to be in charge is surrendered in order for the Lord to take charge. The common themes in both Centering Prayer and in speaking in tongues are letting go of the need to know, to understand and to be in charge, honoring God and patiently waiting. We trust the process.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2006/11/tongues-mind

Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

Perhaps the most important difference was a decrease in frontal lobe function, Newberg says. "The part of the brain that normally makes them feel in control has been essentially shut down." Another notable change was increased activity in the parietal region--the part of the brain that "takes sensory information and tries to create a sense of self and how you relate to the rest of the world," Newberg says.

The findings make sense, says Newberg, because speaking in tongues involves relinquishing control while gaining a "very intense experience of how the self relates to God."

Interestingly, he notes, the glossolalia responses were the opposite of those seen in subjects in a meditative state. When people meditate on a particular sacred object, Newberg has found that their frontal lobe activity increases, while their parietal activity goes down. This conforms with the notion that in meditation one has a controlled focus while losing a sense of self. https://mindhacks.com/2006/11/09/the-neuroscience-of-speaking-in-tongues/

The main findings were that when participants were speaking in tongues compared to when they were singing, there was a decrease in activity in the prefrontal cortex, the tip of the left temporal lobe and a deep brain structure called the caudate nucleus (see image on right).

Notably, there were also relative increases in activity in the left parietal lobe (linked to our sense of body and spatial awareness) and the amygdala – an area known to be heavily involved in emotion.

Front. Psychol., 20 November 2013 |

Toward a unifying taxonomy and definition for meditation

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00806/full

Jonathan D. Nash1* and Andrew Newberg2

1Chiangmai, Thailand

2Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and

Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, USA

One of the well-documented concerns confronting scholarly discourse about meditation is the plethora of semantic constructs and the lack of a unified definition and taxonomy.

An Interview with Andrew Newberg, M.D., on the Effects of Centering Prayer and Speaking in Tongues on the Brain

http://www.liveliving.org/2013/03/18/an-interview-with-andrew-newberg-m-d-on-the-effe cts-of-centering-prayer-and-speaking-in-tongues-on-the-brain/

Rita_HancockRita Hancock, MD (aka “Dr. Rita”) is a graduate of Cornell University and is a board-certified Physical Medicine specialist with sub-specialty board certification in Pain Management. She has been in full-time practice for fifteen years. Her most recent book is Radical Wellbeing – A Biblical Guide to Overcoming Pain, Illness and Addictions.

Dr. Hancock recently interviewed Dr. Andrew Newberg on his research about God and the brain. Dr. Newberg is considered a pioneer in the neuroscientific study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field frequently referred to as – neurotheology.

With the permission of Dr. Hancock, I’m sharing a copy of her interview with Dr. Newberg here.

Dr. Rita:

Dr. Newberg, one of the main messages I got from your book, How God Changes Your Brain was, “No matter what religion you ar about because your thoughts will change your brain.” Did I get it right that your thoughts literally change your brain?

Dr. Newberg:

Yes, it is really a two way street. Your brain changes your thoughts and your thoughts change your brain. The more you focus on a particular belief or belief system, the stronger those connections become. If you focus on God being loving and compassionate, you increase the amount of love and compassion in your brain, and your outward behaviors. If you focus on God being vengeful and hateful, you increase the amount of hate and anger in your brain, and your outward behaviors. As the saying goes, neurons that fire together wire together, and this is true no matter what our beliefs are. The more we focus on something, the more it becomes a part of how our brain functions.

Dr. Rita:

The Bible says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Can you tell us about the research on how fearful thoughts vs. loving thoughts affect the brain and the body in general?

Dr. Newberg:

Love generally activates the positive emotional and social areas of the brain (i.e. the precuneus and frontal lobe). The primary area involved in fear is the amygdala. This area lights up in our brain when we are afraid. Other areas of the brain such as the frontal lobe helps to regulate the fear response. So your quote is probably fairly accurate as far as the brain goes. When we focus on love, the activity in the frontal lobe actually can suppress the fear responses in the amygdala. So the more we focus on love and compassion, the less fear we will feel.

Dr. Rita:

In your book, you talk about the potential health benefits of meditation and you aim at all religions. Since my work is geared specifically to Christians, can you please discuss the difference between meditation and prayer and talk about whether your results are relevant to Christian prayer?

http://www.faithandhealthconnection.org/god-and-your-brain/

Dr. Newberg:

There is certainly a fair amount of overlap between meditation and certain types of prayer. We studied nuns doing Centering prayer which, as you know, is a more contemplative practice. These types of prayer practices certainly should affect the brain in similar ways as other types of meditative/contemplative practices. For example, in centering prayer, we saw increased activity in the frontal lobes and decreased activity in the parietal lobes (this is believed to be associated with the sense of self and decreased activity is associated with losing that sense of self and feeling connected to the universe or God). Other types of Christian practices affect the brain slightly differently. We performed a study on the rosary and showed that it reduced anxiety significantly. The combination of its meaning and the ritualized elements, probably suppress the activity in the amygdala (as above) and reduce anxiety and fear in people. Other practices such as conversational prayer activate social areas of the brain and, when combined with feelings of love and compassion, likely reduce stress and anxiety, as well as spill over to enhancing a person’s social interactions.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2014/summer/faith-and-brain.html

Christians often speak of the "fruit of the spirit" delineated by Paul in Galatians—"love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and self-control." Do you see these as functions of the brain?

Put simplistically, there is a balance to be determined between your frontal lobe and the limbic system. The amygdala is the part of your brain that reacts with fear, hatred, anger, and other alarming emotions, but this also participates in the positives. The frontal lobe balances it all out. For instance, when someone cuts you off in traffic, your amygdala reacts with, "Hurt them now," but your frontal lobe says, "Wait just a minute!" This is a neurological view of patience.

Whether you call it "life in the Spirit" or becoming more compassionate, less reactionary, you are talking about trying to suppress the amygdala and trying to enhance your frontal lobe and the activity in the social areas of the brain.

You have run brain tests of Pentecostals while they were speaking in tongues. That story ran on ABC News and drew a lot of interest. What was the experience like for you? Had you ever been exposed to that before?

It was fascinating. Honestly, I had never known anyone who spoke in tongues. I was excited because I had never seen it before. I had heard of it, but didn't know what it was like. Also, most of our research on meditation before that was boring because it was all internal. Speaking in tongues was different. This was an external practice, so we could witness what the individuals were doing.

How do spiritual practices or disciplines affect the brain?

As you grow spiritually, as you change your beliefs, as you enhance your sense of compassion, for instance, this affects the brain. If you practice prayer a lot, for example, the data show that these practices actually change your brain over time.

We did a study on meditation practice and found several things among people who had never meditated before. When they added meditation to their practices, such as focusing on a passage of Scripture, we saw significant changes in brain functioning. Specifically, we saw increased activity in the frontal lobes (one of the areas in the brain involved with compassion and positive emotions) and there were changes in the thalamus, the part of our brain that helps us interconnect.

http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Leader-Rehabilitating-Addiction-Leadership/dp/0310 525330/

I was very taken by the power of this experience for the individuals. To watch a person I had just conversed with suddenly engage in speaking in tongues and become completely overwhelmed by it was fascinating. It brought tears. The neurological findings were interesting too.

To see the changes in the brain as people spoke, or prayed, in tongues, was fascinating. The person lets go and surrenders to this spiritual experience. During this practice, we saw a drop of activity in their frontal lobes (the part of the brain that typically has increased activity during speech of any kind), which is normally active when we focus on doing something.

The fact that this shut down or quieted during tongues revealed that their will was released and the experience sort of happens for itself.

http://www.contemplative.net/research-t-18.html

In 1999, Andrew Newberg, M.D. studied a group of Franciscan nuns who had been practicing Centering Prayer. It was the first brain scan of Christian contemplative practitioners. He discovered that there were significant neurological changes that differed from normal human brain functions. The frontal lobes, known to be the seat of moral judgment and spirituality, had increased activity; the limbic activity decreased; and the combination generated a peaceful and serene state of consciousness. http://drleaf.com/blog/speaking-in-tongues/

In 2006 Dr. Andrew Newberg at the University of Pennsylvania, using single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT), found that the frontal lobe of individuals who spoke in tongues was less active. This brain profile was in contrast to Franciscan nuns in contemplative prayer and Buddhist monks in meditation, in which frontal lobe activity is increased. Since the frontal lobe activity is increased when we are focused on what we are saying, this finding confirms self-reports of what people who spoke in tongues experienced, implying that the words spoken in Glossolalia originate from a source other than the mind of the individual speaking in tongues.

In a 2011 report on a study examining 52 Pentecostals, Dr. Christopher Lynn found that speaking in tongues may actually reduce biological stress as indicated by examining two bio-markers of stress- cortisol and alpha amylase. Additionally, in a study among nearly 1,000 evangelical Christians in England, speaking in tongues was associated with increased emotional stability. http://www.pewforum.org/2008/05/05/how-our-brains-are-wired-for-belief/

Recent advances in neuroscience and brain-imaging technology have offered researchers a look into the physiology of religious experiences. In observing Buddhist monks as they meditate, Franciscan nuns as they pray and Pentecostals as they speak in tongues, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, has found that measurable brain activity matches up with the religious experiences described by worshippers.

http://www.salon.com/2006/09/20/newberg/

You studied Franciscan nuns who had prayed for decades, and you also studied Tibetan Buddhists who’d meditated for many years. What happened when they came into your lab?

We found that the Franciscan nuns activated several important parts of the brain during prayer. One part was the frontal lobe. I’ve been particularly interested in the frontal lobe because it tends to be activated whenever we focus our mind on something. This can be very mundane, like focusing on a problem we’re trying to solve at work. Or it can be focusing on a phrase from the Bible, which was happening with the Franciscan nuns. They would focus their attention on a particular prayer of great meaning, and they’d begin to feel a lot of unusual experiences. They would lose their sense of self. They would feel absorbed into the prayer itself. They’d no longer see a distinction between who they are and the actual prayer process itself. Some people call it a feeling of connectedness or oneness.

Another part of the brain that changes in the prayer state is the parietal lobe. This is located toward the back top part of the head. The parietal lobe normally uses our sensory information to create a sense of our self and relates that self spatially to the rest of the world. So it’s that part of our brain that enables us to get up out of our chair and walk out the door. We’ve hypothesized that when people meditate or pray — if they block the sensory information that gets into that area — they no longer get a sense of who they are in relation to the world. They may lose their sense of self, and they feel they become one with something greater — ultimate reality or God.

Do the Buddhists have that same sense of oneness when they meditate? Was the same thing happening in the brain, even though Buddhists don’t believe in God?

We did see similar changes. In both prayer and meditation, we see a decrease of activity in this orientation part of the brain. So when the Buddhist meditators feel a blending in or absorption with the visual object — in this case, they’re doing a visualization technique — we see a similar change. And it raises some very intriguing issues. How similar are these different practices? Are they associated with similar or different changes in the brain? When these practitioners had the same kind of experience — a feeling of oneness or an experience of focusing the mind — we saw very similar changes in the Buddhist meditators and the nuns. But one difference was the nuns actually activated the language areas of the brain. Of course, that made sense because it was a verbal practice. They were focusing on a prayer, whereas the Buddhist meditators activated the visual areas of the brain because they were focusing on a visual image — a sacred object they would hold in their minds.

This is fascinating. You’re saying once you get past a few specific differences, the same kind of thing seems to be going on in the brains of the Buddhists and the nuns. Both have a sense of oneness and that oceanic feeling that the mystics have talked about for centuries, even though their metaphysical systems are quite different.

Exactly. And part of why I’ve been doing this research for the last 10 years is to see where the similarities are. I think one of the great equalizers, in many respects, is the human brain. If you go anywhere in the world and take a person’s brain and slice it up and look at it — as a lot of medical people do — you will see a lot of the same basic structures and connections and functions.

You also did a study of some Pentecostal Christians who speak in tongues. What happened when you hooked them up to your brain-imaging technology?

Well, this was a fascinating study for me personally. One of the problems I have with the meditation studies and the nun studies is that what they’re doing is all internal. So you see them sitting in a room, but you’re missing the big fireworks. It’s a much more fascinating experience to watch people who speak in tongues. They’re moving and dancing and making vocalizations that are incomprehensible to the rest of us. And we found some very unique differences from all the meditation states that we’d seen. We saw an actual decrease of activity in the frontal lobes. They are not really focusing their attention on the practice of speaking in tongues. They actually lose their attention. They feel they are no longer in control of what’s happening to them. And we think that may be associated with this drop of activity in the frontal lobes.

When the Franciscan nuns prayed, they activated the language part of the brain. Was that true with the people who spoke in tongues?

We did not observe that. That also is intriguing. Speaking in tongues is a very unusual kind of vocalization. It sounds like the person is speaking a language, but it’s not comprehensible. And when people have done linguistic analyses of speaking in tongues, it does not correspond to any clear linguistic structure. So it seems to be distinct from language itself. That’s interesting because we did not see activity in the language areas of the brain. Of course, if somebody is a deep believer in speaking in tongues, the source of the vocalizations is very clear. It’s coming from outside the person. It’s coming through the spirit of God.

So what did you find most significant about that study?

The most fascinating result was that it represented a very different type of spiritual and religious state than what we saw during prayer or meditation. We saw very different changes in the brain. Different types of religious practices and beliefs seem to be associated with different changes in the brain.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_brain01.htm

Using a brain imaging technique, Newberg and his team studied a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks as they meditated for approximately one hour.

When they reached a transcendental high, they were asked to pull a kite string to their right, releasing an injection of a radioactive tracer. By injecting a tiny amount of radioactive marker into the bloodstream of a deep meditator, the scientists soon saw how the dye moved to active parts of the brain.

Sense of space

Later, once the subjects had finished meditating, the regions were imaged and the meditation state compared with the normal waking state.

The scans provided remarkable clues about what goes on in the brain during meditation. "There was an increase in activity in the front part of the brain, the area that is activated when anyone focuses attention on a particular task," Dr Newberg explained.

In addition, a notable decrease in activity in the back part of the brain, or parietal lobe, recognized as the area responsible for orientation, reinforced the general suggestion that meditation leads to a lack of spatial awareness.

Dr Newberg explained:

"During meditation, people have a loss of the sense of self and frequently experience a

sense of no space and time and that was exactly what we saw." Prayer power

The complex interaction between different areas of the brain also resembles the pattern of activity that occurs during other so-called spiritual or mystical experiences.

Brain Images provide painless study

Dr Newberg’s earlier studies have involved the brain activity of Franciscan nuns during a type of prayer known as "centering".

As the prayer has a verbal element other parts of the brain are used but Dr Newberg also found that they, "activated the attention area of the brain, and diminished activity in the orientation area."

J Relig Health. 2012 Sep;51(3):908-24. doi: 10.1007/s10943-010-9404-1.

Centering prayer as an alternative to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression relapse prevention. Knabb JJ1.

Author information

1Philhaven Hospital, P.O. Box 550, Mount Gretna, PA 17064, USA. jknabb@philhaven.org Abstract

In the last two decades, mindfulness has made a significant impact on Western secular psychology, as evidenced by several new treatment approaches that utilize mindfulness practices to ameliorate mental illness. Based on Buddhist teachings, mindfulness offers individuals the ability to, among other things, decenter from their thoughts and live in the present moment. As an example, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) teaches decentering and mindfulness techniques to adults in an eight-session group therapy format so as to reduce the likelihood of depression relapse. Yet, some Christian adults may prefer to turn to their own religious heritage, rather than the Buddhist tradition, in order to stave off depression relapse. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present centering prayer, a form of Christian meditation that is rooted in Catholic mysticism, as an alternative treatment for preventing depression relapse in adults. I argue that centering prayer overlaps considerably with MBCT, which makes it a suitable treatment alternative for many Christians in remission from depressive episodes. PMID: 20924682 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Send to:

Oncol Nurs Forum. 2009 Jul;36(4):421-8. doi: 10.1188/09.ONF.421-428.

Centering prayer for women receiving chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer: a pilot study.

Johnson ME1, Dose AM, Pipe TB, Petersen WO, Huschka M, Gallenberg MM, Peethambaram P, Sloan J, Frost MH.

Author information Abstract

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES:

To explore the feasibility of implementing centering prayer in chemotherapy treatment and assess its influence on mood, spiritual well-being, and quality of life in women with recurrent ovarian cancer.

DESIGN:

Descriptive pilot study.

SETTING:

Outpatient chemotherapy treatment suite in a large cancer center in the midwestern United States.

SAMPLE:

A convenience sample of 10 women receiving outpatient chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer.

METHODS:

A centering prayer teacher led participants through three one-hour sessions over nine weeks. Data were collected prior to the first session, at the conclusion of the final session, and at three and six months after the final session.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES:

Feasibility and influence of centering prayer on mood, spiritual well-being, and quality of life.

FINDINGS:

Most participants identified centering prayer as beneficial. Emotional well-being, anxiety, depression, and faith scores showed improvement.

CONCLUSIONS:

Centering prayer can potentially benefit women with recurrent ovarian cancer. Additional research is needed to assess its feasibility and effectiveness.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING:

Nurses may promote or suggest centering prayer as a feasible intervention for the psychological and spiritual adjustment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. PMID: 19581232 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

bstractSend to:

J Sch Nurs. 1998 Apr;14(2):49-51.

Spirituality through centering prayer in school nursing.

Mauk J1.

Author information

Abstract

The experience of intuition in a school setting contributes to a positive outcome for a young girl who suffers a playground injury. Intuition and spirituality are linked. Through the development of one's spirituality, intuitive thoughts are experienced. Centering prayer is presented as a technique to develop an awareness of the spiritual dimension. Three variations of centering prayer are described to help individuals develop their spirituality. Developing an awareness of the spiritual dimension opens the way for intuitive thoughts to enhance clinical nursing competence and all other aspects of living. PMID: 9611574 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Pastoral Psychology

June 2010, Volume 59, Issue 3, pp 305-329

First online: 09 June 2009

Centering Prayer as a Healing Response to Everyday Stress: A Psychological and

Spiritual Process

Jane K. Ferguson , Eleanor W. Willemsen, MayLynn V. Castañeto

Abstract

Eastern forms of meditation have been widely studied for their effectiveness in stress management (Walsh and Shapiro American Psychologist 61:227–239, 2006). Yet few empirical studies have been conducted on the health effects of Judeo-Christian contemplative prayer practices. This study contributes to research in this underdeveloped area by exploring the outcome of a contemporary form of Christian meditation called Centering Prayer (Keating 1986) on everyday stress and on Christians’ approach to communicating with God. The impact of 10 weekly 2-hour group sessions and individual practice of Centering Prayer 2-times daily by 15 Roman Catholic congregants was hypothesized to decrease participants’ stress and increase their collaborative relationship with God (Pargament et al. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 27:90–104, 1988). Pre-post quantitative and qualitative data on Centering Prayer versus comparison groups supported the hypothesis.

Prayer: An Ancient Healing Practice Becomes New Again Ameling, Ann RN, MSN

Holistic Nursing Practice

April 2000

Vol. 14 - Issue 3: p 40–48

Prayer is an ancient healing practice not generally available in our health care system.

However, the majority of Americans believe in the healing power of prayer. A recent

Time/CNN poll found that 82% of Americans believe that prayer can cure serious illness, 73% believe that praying for others can cure illness, and 64% want their physicians to pray with them. Nurses should know what prayer is, should be familiar with the growing body of literature on the effectiveness of prayer, and understand potential uses of prayer as part of holistic nursing practice.

Pastoral Psychology

February 2011, Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 133-147

First online: 06 July 2010

The Other Mindful Practice: Centering Prayer & Psychotherapy

P. Gregg Blanton

Abstract

A review of the literature reveals that one particular form of mindful practice, mindfulness, has received the most research attention during the past decade. While all of this attention has been focused on mindfulness, the clinical usefulness of other mindful practices has been ignored. Built upon this background, the purpose of this article is to bring attention to an overlooked form of mindful practice that grows out of the Christian tradition: Centering Prayer. The article begins with a description of Centering Prayer, along with a comparison with mindfulness. The remainder of the article explores the clinical implications of Centering Prayer. First, ways in which Centering Prayer informs our understanding of the need for and the goals of counseling are suggested. Next, four therapeutic skills of Centering Prayer, along with three distinct ways for integrating Centering Prayer into psychotherapy are offered. Throughout the clinical section of the article, numerous practical ideas and strategies are developed. Finally, a case study is included to illustrate the potential benefits of including Centering Prayer in psychotherapy.

Spirituality and Counselor Wellness

Cashwell, Craig S; Bentley, D Paige; Bigbee, Amy. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development46.1 (Spring 2007): 66-81.

By integrating spiritual practices consistent with a client's belief system as adjuncts to traditional talk therapy, both in-session (eg, guided meditations, experiential focusing, breathwork) and between session (eg, yoga, centering prayer, mindfulness meditation), counselors ..

Differential effects of centering prayer and progressive muscle relaxation as an intervention for anxiety reduction JM Kruse - 2012

Pastoral Psychology

June 2011, Volume 60, Issue 3, pp 477-489

First online: 22 January 2011

The Art of Contemplative and Mindfulness Practice: Incorporating the Findings of Neuroscience into Pastoral Care and Counseling

Abstract

This article draws on recent neuroscientific research evidence that demonstrates the plasticity and malleability of the human brain to make the case for greater use of contemplative and mindfulness practices in pastoral care and counseling. It explores the negativity bias of the brain as it has evolved and argues that mindful awareness practices have the ability to work against this bias in favor of less fearful and anxious perspectives on life, including interpersonal relationships. Contending for a higher evaluation of Christian practices than beliefs, it specifically targets the doctrine of original sin as a contributor to this negativity bias, and advocates the use of Christian meditative practices, especially the Centering Prayer, as a means to foster brain resculpting that is integral to the experience of becoming aware of oneself as a new creation.

Zygon® > Vol 44 Issue 4 > Abstract

TYPES OF PRAYER, HEART RATE VARIABILITY, AND INNATE HEALING

Ruth Stanley

Zygon®

Volume 44, Issue 4, pages 825–846, December 2009

Keywords:

autonomic nervous system;Christian healing tradition;contemplative prayer;desert fathers and mothers;desert tradition;devotional prayer;gratefulness;healing;heart rate

variability;innate healing;integrated spirituality;intercessory prayer;intrinsic religiousness;meditation;monastic prayer;prayer;prayers of gratitude;psychophysiological coherence;supplication prayer Abstract.

Spiritual practices such as prayer have been shown to improve health and quality of life for those facing chronic or terminal illness. The early Christian healing tradition distinguished between types of prayer and their role in healing, placing great emphasis on the healing power of more integrated relational forms of prayer such as prayers of gratitude and contemplative prayer. Because autonomic tone is impaired in most disease states, autonomic homeostasis may provide insight into the healing effects of prayer. I report on observations in five volunteers engaging in five types of prayer. Using heart rate variability as a measure of autonomic tone and adaptability, I review the potential correlation of type of prayer with autonomic rebalance as measured specifically by psychophysiological coherence ratios. The five types—supplication, devotion, intercession, gratefulness, and contemplative prayer—elicited varying degrees of improvements in heart rate variability and corresponding psychophysiological coherence. These observations suggest a correlation of innate healing to prayer type that is consistent with teachings from the Christian healing tradition and with modern research. Further research is warranted to verify these hypotheses.

PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECTS

The teaching of Centering Prayer specifically calls for the practitioner to not seek to gain anything from the prayer practice, but to let God provide whatever God chooses to provide. However, experience has shown that the gifts of the Holy Spirit normally follow, with a sense of peace being the most common; yet, many more effects have also been observed and experienced. The following research projects are currently being discussed with further details and protocols to follow later:

Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) - The Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Houston is the second largest VA hospital in the nation and is treating many vets for PTS. Often, the first struggle is having them recall from their unconscious the trauma that occurred in their past. It has been known for some time that practitioners of Centering Prayer will often recall hurtful thoughts from the past. For example, a few months after being taught Centering Prayer, one Vietnam vet started to dream what happened in Vietnam, and then became consciously aware of it during the day. In his own words, through his Centering Prayer practice, he was able to let the thought go and return to his sacred word, a symbol of his desire to be with God rather than with his thoughts.

A chaplain at one Houston hospital and a psychologist at another Houston hospital have ministered and treated people with PTS disorder. Together with these professionals, The Contemplative Network is developing a double-blind research protocol to study the effects of Centering Prayer for the treatment of PTS. The research is expected to start in the summer of 2011. More details will be available once the protocol has been established.

http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/product/transformation-and-centering-prayer-ne w-paths-science-education-and-spirituality-cd-set

Centering Prayer: A Healing Response to Everyday Stress by Jane Ferguson Flout

In these hectic times of information overload and fast pace, Centering Prayer can offer a way to rest in God. This presentation describes some health outcomes of Centering Prayer on everyday stress and on Christians' approach to communicating with God.

Neuroscientific Approaches to Centering Prayer: What Can the Brain Teach Us About this Practice? by Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D, Michael L. Spezio, Ph.D

This presentation provides an overview of how neuroscientists and clinical psychologists approach the study of contemplative practices, including Centering Prayer.

A Phenomenological Investigation of Centering Prayer Using Conventional Content Analysis

Pastoral Psychology 64(6) · April 2015 

Jesse Fox

Loyola University Maryland

Daniel Gutierrez

Universidad del Valle (Bolivia)

Jessica Haas

Loyola University Maryland

Christine Berger

Old Dominion University

Abstract

Centering prayer is a contemplative practice pioneered by Thomas Keating,William Menninger, and M. Basil Pennington (Pennington et al. 2002). Despite the popular appeal of centering prayer, relatively little research exists investigating its effects on practitioners from a social science perspective. This study sought to describe the lived experience of centering prayer by conducting a phenomenology of 20 centering prayer practitioners. The results of the conventional content analysis yielded 50 codes that the researchers clustered into five categories: (1) The Divine, (2) The Mystical, (3) Spiritual Development, (4) Action-Contemplation, and (5) Contemplative Life. Based upon the study’s findings, future research could better understand how centering prayer affects people by including measures of practitioners’ experience of God, faith development, and important demographic variables like age, religious affiliation, and socio-economic status, as well as measures assessing quality of interpersonal relationships and positive and negative affect.

A Summary of the First International Symposia for Contemplative Studies

Author: Ronald L. Barnett, Ph.D.

Topics ranged from neuroscience brain imaging research of meditators and compassion studies, to lessons for developing a cross-disciplinary, collaborative, university-based contemplative studies program, to the nature of consciousness and to many clinical studies on the practice of mindfulness, including its relationship to anxiety disorders, physical pain, maternal perinatal depression, eating behavior, emotional resilience and management of real-world stressful situations, e.g., military predeployment. In sum, there were over 177 oral presentations and 122 poster presentations given during the three days.

Andrew Newberg

health benefits of religion and religious behaviors being reported?

Our research provides the link between religion and health. By understanding how the brain works during certain religious experiences and practices (e.g., meditation and prayer), we can begin to understand how religion affects psychological and physical health. For example, our model of brain activity during meditation indicates that there may be very demonstrable reasons why people who frequently practice meditation experience lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, decreased anxiety, and decreased depression.