Spirituality

Improve Psychological Health of Veterans with a Mantra

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Improve Psychological Health of Veterans with a Mantra

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Asking for clarity provides a way to begin to see a path out of the pain of personal issues. With spiritual support the pain begins to be released, the path becomes clearer and the next step to create the rest of life begins to emerge.” – The Merritt Center

 

Alternative and Complementary techniques have been growing in acceptance and use over the last couple of decades. With good reason. They have been found to be beneficial for physical and mental health. Contemplative practices have been shown to improve health and well-being. These include mindfulness practices, meditation, yoga, mindful movement practices such as tai chi and qigong, and spiritual practices such as contemplative prayer. One ancient practice that is again receiving acceptance and use is mantra practice.

 

In today’s Research News article “Multi-site evaluation of a complementary, spiritually-based intervention for Veterans: The Mantram Repetition Program”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1182903115066946/?type=3&theater

Butner and colleagues investigate the effectiveness of a form of mantra practice, Mantram Repetition Practice (MRP) on the mindfulness, mental health, and spirituality of veterans. The MRP involves the repetition of a sacred word or phrase over and over again to slow the individual down and produce one-pointed attention. It is effectively a mindfulness meditation practice, except that there are no formal practice periods. The participant is trained to engage in MRP during their daily activities, periodically and as needed, particularly during times of confusion and stress. The individual selects a sacred word or phrase for use in MRP from a list that have particular meaning to them and within their preferred religious practice. Typical Christian words and phrases are “My God and My All”, “Jesus, Jesus”, “Son of God”, “Hail Mary”, “Mother of Jesus”, “Lord Jesus Christ”, “Son of God, have mercy on me.”

 

Butner and colleagues recruited veterans and measured mindfulness, physical and mental health, and spirituality before and after an 8-week Mantram Repetition Program (MRP) training. The veterans attended weekly training sessions, were encouraged to do homework and to use the MRP during their daily lives. Typical times were while waiting, doing mechanical tasks such as doing dishes, exercising, when encountering annoying situations, while eating, before bed, and to manage unwanted emotions. They found that after 8-weeks of MRP training and practice the veterans demonstrated significantly higher mindfulness and spirituality including greater peace, more meaning in life, and greater faith. After training the veterans also had significant reductions in psychological distress, including reduced somatization, depression and anxiety.

 

It should be noted that there was not an active control group. Improvement was documented by comparing before to after training scores. Because of the lack of active control, there are many confounding, alternative, explanations for the findings. These include participant expectancy effects, experimenter bias effects, simple improvement over time, occurrences between the beginning and end of the treatment period, etc. The results clearly demonstrate that the veterans improved substantially over the 8-weeks. It will remain for future research to verify that it was the Mantram Repetition Practice (MRP) and not a confounding variable that was responsible for the changes.

 

These caveats notwithstanding, the finding for MRP are compatible with those produced by other mindfulness programs with the exception of increased spirituality. It is possible that MRP produces its beneficial effects due to its development of mindfulness. Alternatively, spirituality, by itself, has been shown to be related to better physical and psychological health. So, MRP may be effective due to its improvement of spirituality in the veterans. It may also be that the combination of increased mindfulness and increased spirituality improves effectiveness or that the two have additive effects.

 

So, improve psychological health of veterans with a mantra.

 

“The veterans experiences with spirituality were real and unique, significantly contributing to growth. They needed the inclusion of Christian spirituality as part of their process in posttraumatic growth, and it was the key element in them moving forward.” – Sharon Flowers

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Religiosity Protects against Alcohol and Drug Abuse

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“Research investigating the relationship between religious commitment and drug use consistently indicates that those young people who are seriously involved in religion are more likely to abstain from drug use than those who are not; moreover, among users, religious youth are less likely than non-religious youth to use drugs heavily” – Gerald Bachman

 

Alcohol intake is a ubiquitous fact of life. In the United States 87% of adults reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime; 71% reported that they drank in the past year; 56% reported that they drank in the past month. If alcohol intake is tempered by moderation and caution it can be enjoyed and may be potentially beneficial. But as alcohol intake gets out of control it can lead to binge drinking and alcoholism. It is reported that 25% of U.S. adults reported that they engaged in binge drinking in the last month and 7% have what is termed an alcohol use disorder.

 

This is troubling as it can be very dangerous and potentially fatal. Nearly 88,000 people in the US and 3.3 million globally die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Drunk driving accounted for over 10,000 deaths; 31% of all driving fatalities. Excessive alcohol intake has been shown to contribute to over 200 diseases including alcohol dependence, liver cirrhosis, cancers, and injuries. It is estimated that over 5% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide is attributable to alcohol consumption. So, clearly, it is important to control excessive alcohol intake.

 

Spirituality and religiosity have been shown to be associated with successful treatment and relapse prevention with substance abuse in general including alcoholism. Alcohol intake and binge drinking rates are higher in sexual minorities than in heterosexuals, especially women. So, it makes sense to further investigate the relationship of spirituality and religiosity with alcohol intake in sexual minority women. In today’s Research News article “Religiosity as a protective factor for hazardous drinking and drug use among sexual minority and heterosexual women: Findings from the National Alcohol Survey”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1173823035974954/?type=3&theater

Drabble and colleagues revisit a major national survey of alcohol intake patterns and investigate participation in religion and alcohol intake in sexual minority women.

 

They found that sexual minority women had significantly higher rates of drug use in general including alcohol intake, higher rates of hazardous drinking and lower rates of being lifetime abstainers from alcohol. Sexual minority women had significantly lower rates of high religiosity and participation in religions that had norms unfavorable to alcohol intake. This was particularly true with lesbian women. So, sexual minority women are more likely to drink and misuse alcohol and are less religious than heterosexual women. They also found that religiosity was associated with higher rates of lifetime abstinence of alcohol regardless of sexual orientation. But, religiosity and participation in religions that had norms unfavorable to alcohol intake were associated with lower rates of hazardous alcohol or illicit drug use in heterosexual women but not in sexual minority women. So, religiosity appears to have less of an impact on alcohol intake in sexual minority women than heterosexual women.

 

Why is religiosity associated with lower overall and hazardous use of alcohol? One possible reason is that religions in general have negative teachings about alcohol. Buddhism teaches that intoxication is an impediment to spiritual development. Other religions completely prohibit alcohol while many decry the behaviors that occur during alcoholic stupor.  This provides a cognitive incompatibility between drinking and religiosity. The recognition that drinking is not an OK thing to do might provide the extra motivation to help withstand the cravings. In addition, religious groups tend to be populated with non-alcoholics. So, increased religiosity also tends to shift the individual’s social network away from drinking buddies to people less inclined to provide temptation. It is very difficult to not drink when those around you are not only drinking themselves but encouraging you to drink. So shifting social groups to people who either abstain or demonstrate controlled drinking can help tremendously.

 

But, why does religiosity appear to have a smaller effect on sexual minority women than heterosexual women? One possibility is that many religions are associated with negative teachings regarding homosexuality. For sexual minority women, their rejection of these teachings may generalize to affect their adherence to the other teaching of the religion including alcohol intake. As a result, being religious has less of an impact on alcohol and drug use for these women. It would be interesting to investigate the relationship of religiosity and alcohol intake in sexual minority women who belong to religions that are very tolerant to homosexuality versus religions who are intolerant.

 

Regardless, protects against alcohol and drug abuse with religiosity.

 

“Religious involvement can protect against substance use by providing opportunities for prosocial activities, which themselves may promote antidrug conduct norms, and for interaction with nondeviant peers. Youth who are involved in religious activities tend to form peer groups with youth who are involved in similar activities, and they are less likely to form friendships with deviant peers.” – Flavio Marsiglia

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Decreased Suicidality in Veterans with Spirituality

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“there are certain moral reactions to war and the experience of combat training that indicate a violation of moral conscience in war can have devastating inner consequences in soldiers.” – Rita Nakashima Brock

 

It has been widely reported that there are extremely high levels of suicides among veterans. But these reports are based upon the entire veteran population which includes large numbers of elderly veterans. Looking only at veterans discharged since 2001, the rates suicide rates observed were much lower consisting of about one suicide per day. The actual annual suicide rate these veterans was 29.5 per 100,000 veterans. This is roughly 50% higher than the rate among similar civilians. Interestingly, the rates of suicide are lower in veterans who were deployed to combat than those who were not. Deployed Veterans had a 41% higher suicide risk compared to the general U.S. population while Non-Deployed Veterans had a 61% higher suicide risk.

 

These figures are still alarming, although less so than common reports of veteran suicides. It also suggests that the transition back to civilian life may be as difficult as dealing with combat produced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Regardless, it is important to investigate the causes of these suicides and discover methods that might prevent them. Mindfulness training is one important potentially helpful method to lower suicidal thoughts and prevent suicide. Mindfulness has been shown to has been shown to reduce suicidality (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/suicidality/) and to reduce the impact of trauma on the individual (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/trauma/). Another potentially important factor is spirituality. Indeed, spirituality has been shown to reduce suicide tendencies in the elderly (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/spirituality-improves-end-of-life/). Unfortunately, there has been very little systematic research on spirituality relationships to suicide in either the general population or in veterans.

 

In today’s Research News article “Suicidal behavior and spiritual functioning in a sample of Veterans diagnosed with PTSD”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1169673129723278/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4729329/

Kopacz and colleagues studied the relationships between spirituality and suicidality in a veteran sample undergoing residential treatment for PTSD. They compared three groups, a no suicide group who had not even thought about suicide, an Ideation group who had contemplated suicide, and an Attempt group who had attempted suicide. They found that the Ideation and Attempt group had greater amounts of spiritual struggle and lower level of forgiveness. They also found that low levels of thoughts about suicide (ideations) were associated with involvement in a spiritual community and high levels of spiritual experiences.

 

It should be noted that these results were correlative and thereby do not demonstrated a causal connection between spirituality and lower levels of suicidality. In fact, less suicidal ideation may prompt veterans to seek out spiritual experiences of some third factor such as religious upbringing is associated with both. In order to demonstrate causation, it will be necessary to actively increase spirituality and observe its effects on suicidality.

 

With these caveats in mind, the results may signal that being spiritual protects the individual from suicidal thoughts. It may do so by providing other higher ideas about the meaning of life and its sacredness. Higher levels of spirituality may also provide a community that is supportive of the individual and thus helps them cope with difficult thoughts and experiences. It is also possible that a key factor may be spiritual struggles, where the inability to find higher meaning makes suicide more likely. It is also possible that inability to forgive is the key, where the individual cannot forgive, particularly themselves, making destroying the self are seemingly reasonable solution.

 

Regardless, it is clear that spirituality is an important factor influencing suicidality in veterans. This clearly suggests that further research is warranted and that spirituality may be an important factor in suicide prevention in veterans.

 

“The Army’s “spiritual fitness” encourages soldiers to see events in a neutral light, rather than labeling them as good or bad, and to create a nightly list of positive things that happened that day. The lack of awareness is startling regarding what it might mean to ask someone to think of killing a child, losing a close friend or torturing detainees as neutral or positive.” – Rita Nakashima Brock

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Add Spirituality to Meditation and Improve Migraines

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“Migraine is a disorder of a hyper-excitable brain, and it makes sense for people with migraine to adopt a stress-reducing . . . One behavioral intervention that may be useful, not only for migraine, but also for life in general, is what is called mindfulness meditation.” – John Wendt

 

Migraine headaches are a torment far beyond the suffering of a common headache. It is an intense throbbing pain usually unilateral, focused on only one side of the head. They last from 4 hours to 3 days. They are actually a collection of neurological symptoms. Migraines often include: visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, extreme sensitivity to sound, light, touch and smell, and tingling or numbness in the extremities or face. Migraines are the 8th most disabling illness in the world. They disproportionately affect women with about 18% of American women and 6% of men suffering from migraine. In the U.S. they affect roughly 40 million men, women and children. While most sufferers experience attacks once or twice a month, 14 million people or about 4% have chronic daily headaches. Migraines are very disruptive to the sufferer’s personal and work lives as most people are unable to work or function normally when experiencing a migraine.

 

There is no known cure for migraine headaches. Treatments are targeted at managing the symptoms. Prescription and over-the-counter pain relievers are frequently used. There are a number of drug and drug combinations that appear to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. These vary in effectiveness but unfortunately can have troubling side effects and some are addictive. Behaviorally, relaxation and sleep appear to help lower the frequency of migraines. Mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce stress and improve relaxation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/stress/). So, they may be useful in preventing migraines. Indeed, it has been shown that Mindfulness Based Stress reduction (MBSR) practice can reduce tension headache pain (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/07/headaches-are-a-headache-reduce-them-with-mindfulness/).

 

Wachholtz and colleagues have previously shown that adding a spiritual dimension to meditation can increase the effectiveness of meditation for increasing pain tolerance. In today’s Research News article “Effect of Different Meditation Types on Migraine Headache Medication Use”

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Wachholtz and colleagues randomly assigned migraine sufferers to four conditions, spiritual meditation, internal secular meditation, external secular meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation. The differences between the meditation groups was solely a phrase that the participants were asked to repeat a few times at the beginning of the meditation. The phrases were for spiritual meditation, “God is peace,” “God is joy,” God is good,” and “God is love,” or alternatively substituting the words “Mother Nature” for God; internal secular meditation, “I am content,” “I am joyful,” “I am good,” “I am happy;” and for external secular meditation, “Grass is green,” “Sand is soft,” “Cotton is fluffy,” “Cloth is smooth.” Practice continued 20 minutes once a day for 30 days.

 

They found that over the 30 days of practice all groups had a decrease in the frequency of migraines and the amounts of pain medications taken, but the spiritual meditation group had a significantly greater decrease in frequency and medication use than the other three groups. None of the treatments appeared to change the severity of the migraines. Hence, adding the spiritual dimension to the meditation enhanced its effectiveness with migraines. Unfortunately, once a migraine began, nothing altered its magnitude or duration.

 

There is evidence that meditation can reduce pain (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/pain/). But, it is not known how the addition of simple spiritual phrases at the beginning of the meditation might improve its effectiveness. It is possible that the spiritual phrases were more effective than the secular phrases in focusing attention for the meditation session and thereby making it more effective. It is also possible that the phrases increased the individual’s ability to let go of struggling by turning over responsibility to a higher power. But, these are pure speculations. It will take further research to clarify the mechanism of action. But, it is clear that adding a spiritual dimension to meditation increases its effectiveness against migraine headaches.

 

So, add spirituality to meditation and improve migraines.

 

“although mindfulness is often thought of as a method of spiritual enlightenment, the underlying principles for healing are based on science. In a nutshell, mindfulness is capable of changing our brain chemistry, which impacts each and every one of our systems and organs.” – Cynthia Perkins
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Relativity of Time and Awareness

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“But Einstein came along and took space and time out of the realm of stationary things and put them in the realm of relativity—giving the onlooker dominion over time and space, because time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.”- Dimitri Marianoff

 

Einstein’s theory of relativity is based upon the notion that everything that is observed has to be viewed relative to the observer. Indeed from the perspective of an observer on earth, the moon appears to be orbiting the earth. But, from the perspective of an observer on the moon, the earth appears to be orbiting the moon. One of Einstein’s great insights was that not only the position of things is observed relatively, but so is time. He postulated that time is not constant but also changes relative to the observer. In other words, time is not constant, but is variable. Indeed as an observer is moving relatively approaching the speed of light time slows down and at the speed of light time stops entirely. In other words space-time is not a constant but varies with relative position and speed of the observer.

 

It should be noted that an observer is a conscious entity. So, how might we look at the experience of the observer? Perhaps, we might look at awareness in a relativistic way. The observer’s awareness is of the present moment and only of the present moment. The past is gone and the future isn’t here yet, so all the observer has is the present. What the observer experiences in the present can be viewed in two very different ways. It can be looked at that the observer is moving through time and viewing the changes that occur in time. The observer’s awareness is of the different things that are occurring at different moments in time. The observer is simply watching the stream of different sensations. This is the usual and typical way that humans look at their internal observer, otherwise known as awareness.

 

Alternatively, we can look at the experience of the observer as time has stopped but things are moving in observer’s awareness. The observer’s awareness in the present moment is the movement in the observer’s awareness.  Experiences then are arising and falling away in that singular moment. Time is defined as change. Because the observer detects things changing, the observer concludes that time must be passing. But as Einstein said “time is an illusion.” It is only because change is observed in the present moment that the observer concludes that time has passed. Perhaps time hasn’t passed but awareness has moved.

 

Let’s translate these ideas to the meditation cushion. When meditating the individual can sit and watch things happening as time passes. Maybe it’s the movement associated with the breath, or the sounds of a bird song, or the light penetrating our eyelids, or the odors wafting through the room. That is how most people meditate. But, in essence we’ve just translated how we view the everyday world to the cushion, making meditation just like everyday experience. Perhaps that’s why many people meditate for years without becoming awakened. How can we expect to see things differently if we’re looking at them the same way?

 

On the other hand when meditating we can sit and observe things moving in our awareness at a fixed point in time called the present moment. This is a radically different approach that is unlike our everyday way of experiencing the world. The rising and falling of the breath, the bird song, the light, odors, are simply movements of our mind that awareness observes in a stationary present moment. Time has stopped, but things are moving in our awareness. Perhaps this could lead to a redefinition of experience as the product of a moving mind being observed by a stationary awareness. Now this is different. It is unlike our usual way of experiencing everyday life. Perhaps this change in the perspective of the observer can lead to a different view of reality. Perhaps this can lead to an awakening.

 

This perspective then needs to be broadened and employed with our everyday experience and not just in the cloistered environment of meditation. All that is happening in the “real world” should be viewed as sensations and thoughts simply arising in our awareness in a present moment that does not move in time. There is no time, only things entering, changing, and leaving in our awareness. From this perspective it is possible that we will begin to see that time is an illusion and our essence is pure awareness in which experiences are created. This may take a while, as lifelong mental habits of viewing everything occurring outside in time with us as simply an observer that is also moving along through time, has to be unlearned and replaced with the new perspective. For some this happens suddenly in a life altering opening termed an awakening experience. For others, it is a slow progressive change that is hardly noticeable, but move inexorably to the same point, awakening.

 

So, try looking relatively at your awareness and see where it leads.

 

“I had a sneaking suspicion that time was not constant, but I guess I could never prove it…. I even had a theory that time didn’t go in straight line at all…… I had the sneaking suspicion that everything had happened, was happening, or would happen was really happening all the time. There was no past, present, and future. Everything was going on all at once and forever. If that was true, then each moment was eternity.”  ― Mark A. Roeder

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

What is it that you really want?

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“To clarify your aspiration means knowing exactly what it is that your spiritual life aspires to, not as a future goal but in each moment. In other words, what do you value most in your life—not in the sense of moral values, but in the sense of what is most important to you.” – Adyashanti

 

Most people do not know what they really want from life in general or contemplative practice specifically. In terms of life, people will tell you that they want a successful career, a new home, to find someone to love and be loved by, etc. but their actions suggest that they really want something else, power, a status symbol, a sex partner. In terms of contemplative practice, they will tell you that they want to be closer to god, understand themselves, become enlightened etc., but again their actions suggest that they really want to appear to others as a spiritual person, create a desirable self-image, add a major item to their spiritual resume.

 

Discovering what you really want requires contemplation and ruthless honesty with yourself. The best way to begin to investigate your true desires is very simple; just see where you invest your time and energy. Don’t think about your ideas about what are your aspirations. Rather simply look at what you do to truly reveal them. What you truly value is what you invest in your precious time in. So, look at that, but above all be honest with yourself.

 

If you spend a large amount of time simply watching TV shows or movies, or listening to music that’s perfectly fine. But ask yourself exactly why are you doing this? Is this for relaxation and entertainment or are you escaping from confronting or dealing with deeper and more important issues. What is it you’re trying to accomplish or not accomplish? Look at this deeply. If you spend a lot of time with friends, that’s perfectly fine. But ask yourself exactly why are you doing this? Do you do this out of love for them or do you do this to obtain their approval and love? Look deeply and honestly.

 

When there is a mismatch between what you say you want and what you do, it is a formula for unhappiness. In psychology it is called cognitive dissonance and it produces an uncomfortable state with a diffuse anxiety. This is why it is so important to clarify what you really want. There is no need to judge one aspiration as good and another as bad. That is counterproductive. What you want, is simply what you want, and it’s neither right nor wrong. But knowing it is the route to aligning your actions with your desires. This allows you to pursue your goals with direction and clarity. But more importantly, this signals that you’re seeing yourself as you really are and acting with coherence and integrity.

 

This seems to be such an easy question to answer, but it’s not. The ego is devious and clever in inventing seemingly reasonable and innocuous reasons and excuses to explain what you’re doing. So, spend some time with this issue. Don’t believe your minds first responses. Investigate them. See if they match up to what you’re actually doing. Then contemplate it further. It’s much harder than you think and may actually upset you as answers start to emerge that may not be exactly aligned with your beliefs about yourself. But, this is actually a good thing signaling an opportunity to grow and develop. The one prerequisite though is that you must be completely honest with yourself.

 

It is very important to understand that there are not right or wrong answers. Whatever you discover are just what they are and perfectly OK. But, identifying them is the start to actually satisfying these needs and desires. You may be surprised. If you are, that’s great. It means that you’ve spent some very productive time that can lead to a much happier life.

 

So, for life and general and for your contemplative practice invest in identifying what it is that you really want.

 

“When we take our attention off the chatter of our mind and put our intention onto developing our intuition, we learn to play with much subtler dimensions. Listening and moving from the heart instead of the intellect, we make wiser choices rather than smarter ones, which can serve us better in the end.” Lynn Newman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Get more Spiritual with Mindfulness

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“While the stillness and connecting with one’s inner self cultivated through mindfulness are certainly an important part of a spiritual practice, feelings of wonder and awe — the amazement we get when faced with incredible vastness — are also central to the spiritual experience. And according to new research, mindfulness may actually set the stage for awe.” – Carolyn Gregoire

 

Mindfulness practices developed primarily as spiritual practices. Contemplative practices developed millennia ago and were seen in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity and many native (so called primitive) religions. They were used to heighten the practitioner’s experience with ultimate reality, whether that be a deity or seeing the nature of reality. By calming the mind and reducing the internal chatter contemplative practices are thought to open up a transcendent reality not otherwise attainable. So, mindfulness and spirituality/religion have been intimately linked. (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/16/why-are-we-spiritualreligious/).

 

It has only been in the last few decades that mindfulness has been practiced as a secular activity. This allowed it to flourish in a skeptical west which saw it as a heathen religious practice. As a result, mindfulness practices were employed for secular purposes such as improvement of health, psychological well-being, and cognitive development. But, now because their secular benefits have been firmly established by science, mindfulness practices have become accepted and firmly embedded in western life. The establishment of their acceptability, has led to a re-emergence of their initial purpose of the development of spirituality.

 

Adolescence is often a time of rapid spiritual development as the teens begin to seek deeper understandings of reality and life. But, there has been very little research into the emergence of spirituality and religious practice in adolescents. In today’s Research News article “Support for adolescent spirituality: contributions of religious practice and trait mindfulness”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1153755041315087/?type=3&theater

Cobb and colleagues explore spirituality, religious practices, and mindfulness in 11 to 16-year old adolescents. They asked “two questions: (1) do different portraits of spiritual life exist for adolescents involving religious practice and spiritual experience and (2) might religious practice and trait mindfulness offer support for the development of spiritual experience.” They used statistical techniques to identify different clusters of activity and discovered four unique profiles of spirituality and religious practices: Highest Overall Spirituality, Spiritual Experience, Religious Practice, and Lowest Overall Spirituality.

 

The adolescents indicating Highest Overall Spirituality had a strong religious practice and strong spiritual beliefs and experiences. The Spiritual Experience group had a moderate-high level of spiritual experience and Spiritual Self-Discovery, but generally did not religiously practice. Religious Practice group was defined by moderate-high levels of private religious practice and religious identity and relatively low spiritual experience and values. Finally, the Lowest Overall Spirituality group had low levels of spiritual experience and low levels of religious practice.

 

Spirituality/religious practice groups and percentage of adolescents in each group.

Spirituality
High Low
High 28% 11%
Religious Highest Overall Spirituality Religious Practice
Practice Low 28% 34%
Spiritual Experience Lowest Overall Spirituality

 

Cobb and colleagues also found that the adolescents in the high spirituality groups had significantly higher mindfulness than those in the low spirituality groups regardless of the level of religious practice. This analysis implies that high mindfulness is associated with spirituality while religious practice is not.

 

The authors speculate that mindfulness is a “gateway” to great spiritual awareness and ultimately a more integrated spiritual life. That would certainly fit with the origins of mindfulness practices as means to attain spiritual development. But, their results do not demonstrate that mindfulness causes spirituality as there was no active manipulation of either. It is possible that high levels of spirituality cause high mindfulness or that some third factor such as familial spirituality might simultaneously increase both spirituality and mindfulness. Research is needed wherein mindfulness training is implemented and its effects on spirituality measured. In addition, it will be important to explore these relationships in older individuals to establish that the relationship of mindfulness and spirituality is not simply restricted to adolescents.

 

Regardless, it is clear that spirituality and mindfulness are intimately connected, that an ability to quiet the mind and look inside is highly associated with spiritual experience. So, get more spiritual with mindfulness.

 

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” ― Albert Einstein
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

If a tree falls

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“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” ― George Berkeley

 

The Philosopher George Berkeley 300 years ago first posed this question for philosophical analysis. It has been discussed ever since. He posed it in a deep philosophical sense to discern if anything actually exists outside of the observer; that is whether anything exists without a perceiver. Buddhism asserts that there is nothing outside of awareness and that each individual is only pure awareness. So, Buddhism would definitely answer Berkeley’s question that there was no sound. On the other hand, materialism asserts that there is nothing but a physical world. So, a materialist would answer Berkeley’s question that the physical sound occurred regardless of whether someone was there to perceive it or not.

 

In one sense, sound requires a perceiver, as sound is a psychological experience. The tree falling creates pressure waves in the surrounding air, but these are mere vibrations in the atmosphere. It is only when you insert an observer are these oscillations in air pressure translated into something called a sound. Similarly, are leaves green without a perceiver. No, the experience of green is like a sound a psychological experience. Leaves reflect electromagnetic radiation of a particular frequency. It is only when you insert an observer are these light waves translated into something called green.

 

This answer, though, would probably have been very dissatisfying to Berkeley as it doesn’t address the deeper question that he was posing. Is there anything beyond experience? Are there physical things outside of ourselves that we are able to experience because of our senses or are things simply constructs occurring within experience without anything actually present outside?

 

Contemplative practices in general work to quiet the mind of internal chatter so that the individual attains a state of pure experience. Even when thoughts occur the practices involve simply letting the thought itself be simply another experience, letting it rise up and fall away like any other sensory experience. In essence when we are successful in a contemplative practice we have become pure real-time experiencers.

 

As a real-time experiencer, we hear the pure crash of the fallen tree and we see the pure green of the leaf. In truth, these experiences have no real outside analog. The experiences of sound and green are unique unto themselves and there is nothing physical like it. Just try to describe the sound to a person who was deaf from birth or the color to a person blind from birth. You will quickly note that there is no external referent that you can bring to these peoples’ attention that is even vaguely close to the experiences.

 

I personally, thoroughly enjoy observing wine connoisseurs attempting to describe the experience of drinking their favorite wine. A complex vocabulary has been developed but it is funny to listen to the struggle to transmit an experience that is only an internal experience to another who hasn’t themselves tasted the wine. “It’s insolent and spunky with overtones of smoke and blackberries with a satiny finish.”

 

So, what your experiencing in a deep contemplative state, or actually at all times, are completely unique to you as an experiencer, cannot be perceived by anyone else, and has no exact replica in a physical world. That would make you a perceiverless perceiver, an experiencer that cannot be itself experienced, a watcher that cannot be watched. It’s in essence the sound with no one there to hear it.

 

This does not happen without your awareness. There is nothing here except your awareness. It is what is doing the experiencing, perceiving, watching. So without awareness these things do not exist. There is no sound. There is no green. This in essence answers Berkley’s deeper question. There is nothing without awareness.

 

So, engage in contemplative practice and see what you truly are, pure awareness.

 

“Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One said, “The flag moves.” The other said, “The wind moves.” They argued back and forth but could not agree.

The Sixth Ancestor said, “Gentlemen! It is not the wind that moves; it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves.” The two monks were struck with awe.” – The Mumonkan Case 29, translation by Robert Aitken

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Spirituality Assists in Addiction Recovery

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“Addiction tries to make a spiritual experience static. When we are in an addictive process, we want to hold on to the moment, not feeling the discomfort of the longing but attempting to maintain what we feel in an instant. Our spirituality becomes stagnate and the addiction leads us into a deep bondage with a substance or process.” –  Jim Seckman

 

Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. In the U.S. about 17 million people abuse alcohol. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for over 10,000 deaths annually and including all causes alcohol abuse accounts for around 90,000 deaths each year, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

 

Drug and alcohol addictions are very difficult to kick and if successful about half the time the individual will relapse. So, there have been developed a number of programs to help the addict recover and prevent relapse. The 12 step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, etc. have been as successful as any programs in treating addictions. These programs insist that spirituality is essential to recovery.  Indeed, addiction is described as a “spiritual, physical, and emotional” problem. It appears that spirituality is highly associated with successful treatment and relapse preventions as demonstrated in a number of research studies (see links below).

 

In today’s Research News article “NIDA-Drug Addiction Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS) Relapse as a Function of Spirituality/Religiosity”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1146018118755446/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4455957/

Schoenthaler and colleagues analyze the data from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Drug Addiction Treatment Outcome Study. They found that there were much higher rates of successful treatment outcomes for drug abuse when either spirituality or religious participation were high in the patients. They found that the higher the level of spirituality or religious participation the greater the likelihood that the individual will be drug free 12 months after the end of the program. This was true for alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana addictions, but not for crack cocaine addiction. The measures of spirituality and religious participation that were most clearly linked to successful outcomes were frequency of attending religious services, reading religious books watching religious programs and meditation/prayer

 

It should be pointed out that as impressive as these results are, they do not prove that spirituality and religious participation were the cause of improved addiction recovery. There was not a manipulation so there may be other factors that both increase addiction recovery and simultaneously spirituality and religious participation. These could include the support of a religious community, or that people who tend toward spirituality and religious participation are also good candidates for addiction recovery, or the belief that spirituality and religious participation would help.

 

Why is spirituality and religious participation associated with better outcomes? One possible reason is that spirituality provides a source of comfort as the individual faces the challenges of recovery. Spirituality may provide another way to cope with the individual’s problems. The individual can take solace in the Devine instead of drugs when upheavals occur. This can help to break the vicious cycle, making it possible to deal with the addiction. Spirituality and religious participation can provide the recognition that help is needed, that they can’t control the addiction without outside assistance. The addict then can allow fellow addicts, people close to them, or therapists to provide needed assistance when the urge to use the drug begins to overwhelm the individual’s will to stop. The recognition that there are greater powers than themselves makes it easier to ask for and accept assistance.

 

It has also the case that spirituality is associated with negative beliefs about drugs. Buddhism teaches that intoxication is an impediment to spiritual development. Other religions completely prohibit alcohol and drugs while many decry the behaviors that occur during alcoholic or drug induced stupor.  This provides a cognitive incompatibility between drug use and spirituality. The recognition that using drugs or alcohol is not an OK thing to do might provide the extra motivation to help withstand the cravings. In addition, spiritual groups tend to be populated with non-addicts. So, increased spirituality also tends to shift the individual’s social network away from drug or alcohol using buddies to people less inclined to provide temptation. It is very difficult to stop using when those around you are not only using themselves but encouraging you. So shifting social groups to people who abstain can help tremendously.

 

Nevertheless, it is clear that there is a strong relationship between spirituality and religious participation and successful recovery from addiction to a variety of different substances.

 

“The earliest A.A. members, then, discovered that some kind of spirituality— some kind of sense of the reality of some “beyond”—was essential to their sobriety” – Ernest Kurtz
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Religion-Spirituality Improve Mental Health

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Spirituality Mental Health Goncalves2

 

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

 

Religion and spirituality have been promulgated as solutions to the challenges of life both in a transcendent sense and in a practical sense. On a transcendent level western religions promise a better life in an afterlife while eastern practices promise an escape from suffering and the cycle of birth and death. On a more mundane level western religions promise feelings of self-control, compassion, and fulfillment while eastern practices promise greater happiness and mindfulness.

 

What evidence is there that these claims are in fact true? The transcendent claims are untestable with the scientific method. But, the practical claims are amenable to scientific analysis. There have been a number of studies of the influence of religiosity and spirituality on the physical and psychological well-being of practitioners (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/spirituality/religiosity/) mostly showing positive benefits. In today’s Research News article “Religious and spiritual interventions in mental health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1138180826205842/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4595860/

Gonçalves and colleagues review the published literature on the effects of randomized controlled trials of religious and spiritual practices on psychological health. In these studies the spiritual practices involved ”themes such as moral values, belief in a ‘high power’, coping and transcendence, and others in the form of therapeutic models, audiovisual resources and meditation. Religious approaches explored the beliefs and specific traditions of Catholics, Jews and Muslims, conducted in pastoral services and therapeutic models.” The studies compared the results of the interventions to the results of secular therapy, disease education, or wait list controls.

 

They found that religious or spiritual interventions produced significant improvements in psychological health, particularly in anxiety levels. The interventions that included meditation or psychotherapy were especially effective. These results, summarizing the literature on active interventions that were either religious or spiritual in orientation, clearly show that these practices have mental health benefits in comparison to secular interventions. It is important to note that in these studies groups were randomly assigned and active interventions employed. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the religious or spiritual practices were the cause of improved mental health. Hence, scientific analysis was able to confirm some practical psychological benefits of religious and spiritual practices.

 

So, engage in religious and/or spiritual practices to improve mental health.

 

“The world sometimes feels like an insane asylum. You can decide whether you want to be an inmate or pick up your visitor’s badge. You can be in the world but not engage in the melodrama of it; you can become a spiritual being having a human experience thoroughly and fully.” – Deepak Chopra

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies