Here are some scientifically proven benefits of prayer and meditation on worldly problems.

As a technician I am "swayed" by what works.
By what is effective. No mattter how "nice" anything sounds, if it is ineffective, it is useless.
If it works, that is good.  I lead a simple life .




I DO wish they would DROP that word religion though !!!!  UUUGGHHHH
You think they would know better.


Hedley G. Peach, a professorial research fellow at Melbourne University, cites two studies he has explored in his upcoming book, In Good Spirit: the relationship between religion and health.
The results of a 23-year study in Israel that examined the association between religion and coronary artery disease among 10,000 Orthodox Jews and 10,000 non-believers, revealed that the religious candidates were almost 67 per cent less likely to die from the disease than their counterparts, says Peach.
Another study, carried out in the US, which explored the effects of religion on 230 Protestants and Catholics who were followed for six months after undergoing a bypass for coronary heart disease, found that participants who rarely attended church were 2.5 times more likely to have died at the end of six months than those who attended regularly.




Mind/Body Medical Institute clinical findings include:

Chronic pain patients reduce their physician visits by 36%.
The Clinical Journal of Pain, Volume 2, pages 305-310, 1991

There is approximately a 50% reduction in visits to a HMO after a relaxation-response based intervention which resulted in estimated significant cost savings.
Behavioral Medicine, Volume 16, pages 165-173, 1990

Eighty percent of hypertensive patients have lowered blood pressure and decreased medications - 16% are able to discontinue all of their medications. These results lasted at least three years.
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Volume 9, pages 316-324, 1989

Open heart surgery patients have fewer post-operative complications.
Behavioral Medicine, Volume 5, pages 111-117, 1989

One-hundred percent of insomnia patients reported improved sleep and 91% either eliminated or reduced sleeping medication use.
The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 100, pages 212-216, 1996

Infertile women have a 42% conception rate, a 38% take-home baby rate, and decreased levels of depression, anxiety, and anger.
Journal of American Medical Women's Association. Volume 54, pages 196-8, 1999

Women with severe PMS have a 57% reduction in physical and psychological symptoms.
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 75, pages 649-655, April, 1990

High school students exposed to a relaxation response-based curriculum had significantly increased their self-esteem.
The Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 27, pages 226-231, 1994

Inner city middle school students improved grade score, work habits and cooperation and decreased absences.
Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 33, pages 156-165, Spring 2000

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Meditation-sharpens-brain-scientists/2007/07/09/1183833405072.html

Science can finally prove what Buddhists have sworn by for centuries - meditation really does sharpen and clear the brain.

Tests by Adelaide researchers have revealed that as people go further into a deep meditative state, their brain rhythms shift into a pattern of focus.

This supports long-standing beliefs that the practice can improve concentration levels and alertness in daily activities.