| Mystics
and Scientists Agree on the Benefit of Repeating Prayers
Both mystics and scientists have demonstrated the benefits of repetitive
prayer.
Hindus and Buddhists tell us that repetition allows the mind to focus
on God.
Repetitive prayer is more prominent in Eastern religion than in Christianity,
but it is still an important part of religious life in the West.
Protestants sing hymns and offer lengthy prayers, depending
on the denomination. Catholics repeat the Our Father and the Hail
Mary, celebrate the Mass, sing hymns and experience peace in the sounds
of ancient Gregorian chants. (The Cathars used to repeat the Lord’s
Prayer as many as forty times a day.)
Jewish mystics described a similar feeling after repeating the names of God.
They called it a transforming moment in which they entered the highest state
of consciousness possible for human beings.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has also preserved a tradition of repetitive prayer.
But for centuries, skeptics pooh-poohed repetitive prayer as a superstition
without measurable benefit—until a doctor at Harvard Medical School documented
beneficial physical effects from repetitive prayer, including the very prayer
the monks had been using for centuries.
Harvard
Study: Repeating Mantras Relieves Stress
Many who decree have also felt this oneness with God.
Ann, who has decreed for fifteen years, says:
"You get to a point where you feel that your I AM Presence
is decreeing through you, that you're the vessel and that the I AM Presence
is doing the work. You are connected to God; but it's not your power, it's
God's. You're in sync with God. It's a high that’s different
from any artificial high that you could get."
French
Study: The Energizing Power of Gregorian Chants
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