Mind and Faith

We must not under estimate the power of mind and faith

The phrase “Question everything!” is one that I heard early in my life and has taken me away from what was commonly taught and led to the most fantastic, interesting and sometimes forbidden ideas.

Our mental facilities have begun to expand at an exponential rate in recent years due to technological advances not only within the areas of science and the study of behaviour but also due to the availability of information and communication.

For centuries, civilization has been confined within the boundaries of mythical beliefs, religious dogma and political restraint, and only in recent years have we begun to find an exit from these limiting forces.

Yet on our way forward we must also look back and seek to reacquaint ourselves with some of the lost knowledge of ancient worlds.

As we find science that reinforces certain beliefs that originated even before the ancient Greeks, such as “Psychoneuroimmunology” documented in the research of Robert Ader, at the University of Rochester Medical Center, demonstrating how environmental factors impact the immune system.

This idea has become quite accepted today and science has moved into areas of investigation concerning our abilities to heal ourselves through meditation and the power of our own thought.

There are many truths found in ancient cultures and even in some religious beliefs that will stand the scrutiny of reexamination and should be accepted into our contemporary cultures so that we may benefit from them.

Likewise there are many religions and ideologies that continue to hold back the advancement of their people due to their refusal to question anything. Here we see the paradox given that faith is an important element, as it has been noted, “Faith in the physician (or shaman or other healer) has also long been thought to influence healing.

The ancient Greek physician Galen wrote, “He cures most successfully in whom the people have the most confidence.””[1]

By Boky

[1] By A. Woodward The Gale Group Inc. Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, 2005