Meditation, Spirituality & Brain Changes with Dr. Andrew Newberg

You’ve probably heard of Dr. Andrew Newberg’s work on meditation, even if you didn’t realize it — he’s the scientist who did the ground breaking studies of Tibetan monks meditating that showed how dramatically it changed the brain. He went on to study nuns praying and Sikhs chanting and found similar brain states as those of meditation. His ground breaking work led to the development of a new field of science called “neurotheology,” which studies the relationship between the brain and religious experience.

His more recent research has shown that meditating for as little as 12 minutes a day for eight weeks can reduce depression, lower stress and cortisol levels and dramatically improve memory and brain function.From www.theawareshow.com, Lisa Garr’s neuroscience website, she writes:

“Andrew has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was very young, and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings. While a medical student, he met Dr. Eugene d’Aquili, who was studying religious experiences. Combining their interests with Andrew’s background in neuroscience and brain imaging, they were able to break new theoretical and empirical ground on the relationship between the brain and religion.

Andrew’s research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states–in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people’s spiritual experiences and attitudes.”

In addition to lowering stress, meditation is also known to play a key role in developing spiritually, as well as for enhancing one’s psychic abilities. Ancient traditions have described the link between using altered states such as prayer and meditation to increase spirituality and communicate with other levels of awareness.

Click here for a youtube video on brain changes from Dr. Newberg

Click here for Merryn’s Musings on “Becoming a Pure Channel for Spiritual Growth”


Have You Seen the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas in Montana?

| by Cheryl Shainmark

This video has lit up our imaginations! Can you say road trip? Dateline NBC has captured the peaceful and sacred feeling of this wonderful site, called The Garden of a Thousand Buddhas. Located just north of Arlee, Montana, the multi-acre garden is nestled on a beautiful valley that is part of an Indian reservation for the Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Created through the visionary guidance of Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, the Garden aligns positive properties of the physical world….

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Teaching Transcendental Meditation to the Neediest

| by Reviewer

Teaching Meditation to the Neediest: John Samuel Hagelin is an American particle physicist, three-time candidate of the Natural Law Party for President of the United States, and the director of the Transcendental Meditation movement for the US. He is also an educator, public policy expert, and leading proponent of peace…. But it is his work teaching meditation to the homeless, prisioners, and at risk children that has really made headlines.

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Happy New Year from Merlian News!

Happy New Year to all our dear readers, writers, and staff! We hope that 2024 is a year of growth, learning, and creativity. As Neil Gaiman said, “May your year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books, and kiss someone who who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

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Looking at Sacred Geometry

I had a startling vision a couple of decades ago that led me to research Sacred Geometry. When I did, I was astonished to find that the beautiful symbols I saw in my vision have been known about and studied for thousands of years. From the Ancient Chinese geomancers to Plato, from the Egyptians and the Hindus, through to the modern work of Nassim Harimein (video), the same powerful geometric shapes recur over and over again.

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Animal Spirituality

| by Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.

Do animals have spiritual experiences? Yes they do! We’re not the only spiritual beings by Marc Bekoff, Ph.D. in Animal EmotionsIn conjunction with Psychology Today blogger, Steven Kotler, I’ve been pondering whether nonhuman animals (“animals”) have spiritual experiences and are they religious.

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Merlian News Podcasts Spiritual Healer, David L. Cunningham

| by Merlian News

In this interview, David talks with Merryn Jose about his extraordinary life experiences and his work as a spiritual healer. In 1990 David L. Cunningham was a captive of Saddam Hussein for 100 days during the Gulf War. He was one of many “human shields” strategically placed in prisons adjacent to the Iraqi military’s armament facilities. He made his personal peace with God and pledged to use his spiritual healing “gifts” to heal others if and when he was allowed to live and be released from captivity…

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The Apprentice Cards from Monique Fay, Photographer & Healer

Monique Fay is a pioneer and a visionary in the fields of photography and healing. Her practice, based in Santa Barbara, CA, offers a unique synthesis of skills, wisdom and experience. She is the author of The Book of Fay and has just released The Apprentice Cards, a wonderful set of healing cards geared toward inspiring insight and personal transformation. The photos are stunning, and the experience of working with them immersive and powerful.

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Validating Your Spiritual Experience

Many years ago I, too, had what they now call an “STE,” or Spiritual Transformative Experience. Like others, I only told my mother and a few close friends at the time. In my case, I was fortunate in that it was not preceeded by an accident or life threatening illness, instead it came seemingly out of nowhere one evening. Just like a Near Death Experience, I was enveloped in light, spoke with guides, and felt the ecstatic bliss of unconditional love.

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Q&A with Dan Millman, Author of Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit

Those who seek a greater spiritual dimension may be searching for glasses that are perched upon our head. Now, after all the experiences I describe in my new book, I see and feel spirit everywhere. We swim in spirit, we breath it, and it breathes us, interpenetrating every cell. We need only open our eyes and hearts in moments of free attention.

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