For over a year now, off and on, I've been reading How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. Written from a scientific, rather than specific Christian, viewpoint, the book is valuable "evidence" of what Shawn Achor is talking about in "The Happiness Advantage" video -- that happy people are the most successful people.
All of Chapter 4 of the Book of Proverbs, along with almost all of the Wisdom Literature in the Bible, reiterates the same thing: wisdom (from God) = restful happiness (peace) = a full life:
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter til the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble (Proverbs 4: 18-19).
In How God Changes Your Brain, the scientists spent years studying the physical, psychological, and emotional effects of religion and/or spirituality. Their conclusion: Spiritual Experiences Add new Dimensions to Life. Actually, back in the 1970's, Redbook Magazine conducted a nation-wide survey and concluded that the most "religious" women, (as self-defined) were also the most sexually satisfied women. Interesting, isn't it?
After conducting brain scans to see what was happening inside the brain of people who prayed or meditated, the neuroscientists concluded that "the world becomes more three-dimensional, more rich, intense, and pleasurable," for those who somehow related to God. There was a deeper connection to other people and to reality that transformed the subjects' orientation to life when they opened themselves to God:
Nearly every spiritual experience, in some small way, changes our sense of reality and the relationship we have with the world. Generally, it increases our sense of unity and wholeness, not just in a metaphoric sense, but in the way we conduct our lives. In fact, almost three - quarters of our respondents indicated that they felt a sense of oneness with the universe or a unity with all of life. These feelings are also associated with a greater sense of purpose and meaning in one's life.
Such experiences involve a degree of self-transcendence and a suspension of personal egotism. In those moments, one no longer feels the need to control the external enviornment, because everything seems fine just the way it is. Past and future are suspended, and a sense of living in the present pervades one's consciousness. In such a state, some believe they are in the presence of God, while others may simply feel the suspension of negative moods.
The authors (Newburg and Waldman) study the parts of the brain that respond to our orientation toward God in prayer, and conclude that some parts are suppressed by prayer -- the angry, hostile, raging connections -- and others are enhanced by prayer -- the sense of connectedness to others.
Proverbs advises us that paying attention to wisdom is "health to our bodies and healing to our bones." One reason so many people love being outside is that it is so much easier for us to "pay attention to wisdom" when we are surrounded by nature:
The foolish fears of what might pass,
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay,
Among the rustling of the corn,
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die, and good are born--
Out in the fields with God!
-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
By the way, E.B. Browning's How Do I Love Thee? written to her husband, is one of the most famous poems in the English language -- more "proof," if we can call it that, that those whose life is oriented toward God are also more connected to themselves, to the universe, and to others.
St. Paul tells us, All things are ours, for we belong to Christ, and Christ is God's. Now, that is something worth meditating about!
I agree that all physical things are more satisfying when we take the time to meditate on them before and after the physical experience. We often forget how to slow down and savor, which are important aspects to experiencing the sacred in all things.
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