As a scientist I value productivity, creativity, and effectiveness. Twenty-five years ago during my involvement with cancer clinical trials I was shaken by a young person’s death. I decided to investigate the spiritual realm. I found spiritual teachings that can be merged with my scientific perspective. This “scientific spirituality” has been responsible for much of my growth.
Life is like a collage of vignettes from our personal contacts, professional aspirations, needy passions, and dealing with the “hygiene” issues of handling all the details of our daily lives. Often rifts develop between competing demands for our time, attention, and commitment. Optimum effectiveness involves wise juggling of all the needs and prioritizing the “wants” while healing the rifts. I believe that the use of scientific spirituality is the surest method to maximize productivity.
“Scientific spirituality” seems like an oxymoron. Generally one doesn’t think that science supports spirituality. What is it? It is using a scientifically proven method to find our true self. The “spiritual” I discuss is not religion. To me “spirit” is our true essence. If a person is in tune with his or her spirit it means that that they can be in tune with the spirit of a co-worker or a loved one. Scientific studies support spiritual assertions of meditation’s benefits.
Meditation is but one of several methods to access the spiritual realm. Having been an executive officer in a highly competitive industry for over 20 years, I find scientific spirituality invaluable in accessing the part of me which is best able to resolve conflicts, prioritize my time, and illuminate the path to success and my passions.
How many times have we acted out of extreme emotion then realize the error after relaxing or a good night sleep? Many times we might feel overwhelmed by a problem or issue. The expression “sleep on it” is excellent advice. I have experienced tremendous insight on key issues at 4 o’clock in the morning in a half-sleep state. This is another way to access our spiritual self.
Spirituality teaches ways to quiet the mind. Scientific studies validate that during meditation specific brain functions cease and access to creativity occurs. Stress triggers the opposite in the brain where “scream-like messages” drown out the logical and creative. Meditation is merely quieting the mind so that the best of you can be heard and recognized. Whether or not you consider yourself spiritual, accessing your true self allows wise priorities and creative solutions.
For those who find meditation difficult I recommend sitting quietly in a comfortable position with your eyes closed and concentrating on a moment in your life which you cherish. Recall the surroundings, the sounds, the sights, the smells, and your feelings. Then allow yourself to lock in that moment by playing it over and over again with one hand making an OK sign by touching your thumb and forefinger.
Whenever you need to access this state sit quietly and make the OK sign. This is called NLP or neuroligistic programming another proven method to quite the brain.
You might think that the patterns which you developed in handling stress, fear, and anger cannot be changed. If so, I want to change your mind by rewiring your brain.
Use your mind to change your brain. I have utilized meditation to help individuals for two decades. Coincidentally, only in the last two decades has science recognized that the brain can be rewired. Until the 1980s the dogma was that after adolescence the brain’s connections cannot be changed. Now we know that meditation can change the brain. The paradigm that brain creates mind is replaced with mind mapping our brain wiring.
In the 1980s it was discovered that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients who practiced meditation could rewire their brains and hence reduce or eliminate the OCD urges. The unwanted urges to incessantly wash one’s hands or to constantly worry if a door was left unlocked can prevent individuals from holding a job or retaining relationships. In a meditative state, if the patients focused on an enjoyable activity such as sitting in their garden rather than washing their hands, the brain became rewired diminishing the OCD impulse and strengthening the connections to alternate thoughts and behavior. Brain scans before, during, and after such exercises provide unequivocal evidence that mind changes brain.
In like manner, let’s rewire the brain. In a relaxed meditative state recall a time when fear or anger triggered a response you would like to take back. Now imagine the appropriate response to replace the one you wanted to take back. Ok, now insert the new response. Recall other situations you wish to reframe and repeat this exercise. The more times you repeat it the more you will strengthen your ability to respond in an appropriate manner.
Like the OCD patients you can eliminate stress instantly by focusing on something pleasant and making the OK sign.
To heal the rifts in our lives, utilize this tool of scientific spirituality. As the wise one in you develops the winning strategies and the jackpots arrive realize that you have accessed the spiritual you.
Leo Kim is a Ph.D. scientist, a CEO in biotechnology, spiritual healer, and the author of Healing the Rift: Bridging the Gap Between Science & Spirituality. Email: leo@healingtheriftbook.com Website: http://www.healingtheriftbook.com Phone: (760) 448 2859.
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This is very true. I am very interested in the science of spirituality.
Please make more posts about this, and digital security will follow your aura
This is indeed an excellent topics. Today’s science is unfortunately quite materialistic, but somehow I have the feeling that increasing number of scientists are becoming aware of the fact that they should in some way include spirituality in their work.
The science of spirituality is a fascinating topic. I really do hope that as interest in spirituality continues to rise that science will increase brain research related to the effects of our spiritual beliefs. Thanks for this post.
Good post. Increasingly scientists are starting to quantify understand the benefits of spiritual practice, just as half a century ago they started to quantify and understand the benefits of physical practices such as exercise and sleep.
I’m looking forward to a new science of spirituality!
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This thing called spirituality is very timely nowadays. We need peace of mind especially now that the world is in chaos - what a nice way to introduce to our leaders - teach them meditation before deciding on something.
I’m very interested in the whole “science + spirituality” endeavor and I’ve published a lot of my thoughts at my website. I hope to see more articles like this one.
Thanks
Very interesting post and slant on spirituality … or science for that matter. I think this is a very untouched field of focus. Good for you in exploring and sharing it.
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Wonderful of you to explore this somewhat untouched area. I look forward to ‘science spirituality”. Thanks for sharing your interesting post.
Thank you so much for posting.More power and God bless you.
Thanks Leo. Even the Son of God once went to a garden and have meditation toward his impending crucifixion. Thus, He conquered his death and win the world under the foot of the cross. Much more with people at this end time should experience this supernatural quietness everyday at least before he faces the world again. That’s why many bright people get tired at the end of the day, because they have not gone through a daily mental and spiritual recharge. This of course doesn’t guarantee your surroundings will be in peace, but you will live in peace over troubled environment. I learned this technique from life coaching kamja where my mentor has helped me to face my daily giants in life.
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Great post. this reminds me I should get back to meditation. I always feel a big difference before I meditate and after. But I never thought of using NLP while doing it.
By the way use did a mistake in spelling Neuro Linguistic.
Good post. Mindfulness meditation is the perfect link between science and spirituality. Though I stuggle with it, Jon Kabat Zin has done extensive research on its effectiveness. His book “Wherever You Go, There You Are” is a good beginning for anyone who is serious about this. Or, if you are into more academic research you can read Frewen, P.A., Evans, E.M., Maraj, N., Dozois, D.J.A., & Partridge, K. (2008). Letting go: mindfulness and negative automatic thinking. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32, 758-774.
Very interesting post. Please make more posts about the science of spirituality. This is a very a fascinating topic. It is true science needs more spirituality.
Thanks.
wonderful post, thanks for sharing this.
we should look on science from other side.
Tanks
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Yes the brain is almost like a hdd. On the hard drive when you want to erase something is not enough to put in in RecycleBin and empty it. The file is still on the hdd. The best method is to rewrite the file.
The same is with the brain. Rewrite the info and the old wrong info will be deleted for ever. This is a very interesting process. For me praying helped me.