The Power of the Mind and Intention

This series of posts is part of a book. See dynamic outline here.

The Power of the Mind and Intention

It is widely known a person’s thoughts can speed up or slow down the healing process. This phenomenon has been demonstrated through millions of cases of the placebo effect and the nocebo effect. Though research has given us some understanding, the mind has powers beyond comprehensible thought and beyond current scientific discoveries. The mind can heal, transform matter, change the outcome of events, and even change the order of events in time and space. Below are just a few of the astonishing findings from studies on the power of intention, thought, prayer, and mental focus.

• Study participants were able to slow the growth of yeast growing in 151 of 194 dishes just by directing mental focus toward the yeast. This experiment was repeated sixteen times, and each time the results were similar.

• Neurologists found that when people are open-minded and suspend judgment until both sides of an argument are considered, neurological functioning increases. But cynicism, which implies hostility and distrust toward the other point of view, is so neurologically damaging that it can shorten your life.

• In a study conducted by cardiologist Randolph Byrd, patients who were prayed for by other people (without the patients’ knowledge) were five times less likely to need antibiotics or to develop pulmonary edema. Additionally, none of the prayed-for patients needed an artificial breathing apparatus; in contrast twelve patients who were not prayed for did need an an apparatus.

• Other studies on prayer show that nondirect prayers work best, meaning that individuals who do not pray for a specific outcome but rather for the highest and best good often receive the best results.

• In a Princeton University study, participants projected their intentions at a machine that generates random numbers, with the goal of influencing the machine to generate a predictable pattern of numbers. The results were astounding: In the majority of the 256,000 trials of the experiment, the participants were able to influence the machine. The Princeton study also included some other fascinating details:

• The results were better when the subjects bonded with the machines––similar to how people bond with their cars––before trying to exert influence.
• The study involved not only individuals but also pairs. Among all the subjects, couples in love were the most able to influence the machines.
• The most astonishing of the results is that subjects were able to influence the machines after the machines had already run, suggesting that the power of the mind is not limited by ordinary constraints of time and space.

This mental power is yet more evidence that man is not merely flesh, but rather a spark of the divine. As divine beings, whatever we create––even mentally––can become reality. The power of the mind is only limited by our own imaginations. This power also applies to negative thoughts and imaginings, which produce negative results and even neurological damage.

For good or for bad, our minds are powerful. And we can make them even more so. According to scientific research, and my own anecdotal studies, advanced meditators have the most developed of mental powers and the most powerful abilities to project through prayer.