Written by Patrick Massey M.D., Ph.D. A number of studies published in respected medical journals show that thinking good thoughts about someone improves that person’s health.
Someone once told me that the mind is the most powerful creative force in this world and that we have the ability to mold our world simply by our thoughts. Thinking negative thoughts will result in a negative world. Conversely, thinking positive thoughts will product a positive world.
Many of us do not feel we have much impact on our own lives, let alone on our communities and even the world. However, this might not be true.
In the 1970s, a meditation guru, Mahareshi Mahesh, began to teach meditation to people in the United States. He believed there is a practical application to meditation beyond the good it does for the individual. He felt that a community could be substantially improved if only 1 percent of the population meditated regularly.
This idea isn’t new. The Dali Lama and others have also made similar declarations.
In 1983, researcher John Davis decided to test this claim. At the time, Lebanon was in the throes of a civil war. Violence was common. Davis brought 200 experienced meditators to a small Lebanese village in the Chouf Mountains with a population of about 12,000.
The researchers devised ways to factor in holidays, weather changes and other things that could affect the amount of violence.
The meditators did not think about Lebanon. They meditated on only positive thoughts, but they meditated together in a large group.
After a few weeks, the level of violence and death in the area dropped significantly. The study was replicated with seven different meditating groups over two years, with similar results, which were published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.
Interestingly, a number of studies published in respected medical journals demonstrate that thinking good thoughts about someone improves that person’s health.
These findings are not inconsistent with science and medicine. In a recent poll, more than 70 percent of physicians consider themselves to be spiritual. In a physicians discussion group started several years ago by me and another physician, Dr. Michael Greenberg, most of the doctors considered themselves to be very spiritual and were aware of a strong connection to others. It was the awareness of that bond that led many of them into medicine.
One recurrent theme throughout religion, spirituality and philosophy is that we are connected to each other, that what we do to the least of our brothers, we do to ourselves. Regardless of our difference, it seems that if only 1 percent of us regularly think positive thoughts, we will be on our way to creating a world that all people, together, can live in.
Posted November 19, 2008.
