Prayer Circle

[Guest guest]

Dear Members

 

I would like to propose a special activity for our satsangh.

 

We are aware of the power of prayer, both individual and collective

and how it can help. While people of faith believe that people can

be successfuly helped through prayer, it is still in the laboratory

as far as "scientists" go. However several professionals in the

medical profession have documented and/or researched in their own

ways (though scientific flaws have been found for many) that prayers

for overall healing, instead of specific cures, have a high chance

of having a postive effect on the outcome of a person's situation.

Many of these experiments were done with a variery of prayers from

different religions and the results were found to be the same. In

some cases the recipient's receptivity was an important factor

effecting the outcome. While these experiments were conducted more

from health perspectives, it may be safe to assume that if it works

for health it is likely to work for other circumstances too.

 

A Google search results in many, many interesting articles on this

topic, including books by Dr. Larry Dossey, who was Co-chairperson

of the Panel on Mind/Body Interventions of the Office of Alternative

Medicine, National Institutes of Health, USA 1992-94. "The impact of

Dr. Dossey's work has been remarkable. Before his book Healing Words

was published in 1993, only three U.S. medical schools had courses

devoted to exploring the role of religious practice and prayer in

health; currently, nearly 80 medical schools have instituted such

courses, many of which utilize Dr. Dossey's works as textbooks."

 

http://www.dosseydossey.com/larry/default.html

 

Personally I have journeyed from being a hard nosed show-me-

proof "scientist" to one who has acted in faith in a variety of

phenomenon and then discovered proof for myself. Having done that

several times, I am now a firm believer of the power of

many "unscientific" phenomenon and participate in them regularly

myself.

 

There are many well known prayer circles, small and big, across the

world led by major religious/ spiritual institutions. The way they

function is that members send a prayer request with name and

purpose. Members of the prayer team then pray for the person, either

individually or collectively, for a prescribed period of time.

 

I PROPOSE we set up a prayer circle version for our satsangh. We can

decide

 

1. Should the same prayer be said by all participants or should each

one say their own prayer?

 

2.Do we need to set time limits?

 

3.Do we need people to sign up to pray or should we leave it open to

all members?

 

Any other questions/opinions/ideas are welcomed.

 

I hope we are able to start this service for our members. Even if we

are a few of us who are able to participate, it is a good place to

start.

 

Looking forward to a huge response!!!

 

_/\_ Tat twam asi

 

Uma