Every day, millions of Americans join their masculine energy with their feminine energy through physical purification. This ritual balances the mind and body and focuses spiritual energy. The physical purification consists of intense stretching and exercise, all with the aim of engaging the mind for meditation and enlightenment.
The practitioners of this ritual call it Yoga, and most of them couldn’t care less about engaging their mind to achieve enlightenment–they’re just trying to burn off the ice cream they had for dessert the night before.
Yoga practitioners are not alone. As scientists uncover ever more information about the human body, many practices which were once relegated to the world of mysticism are now coming into the light, examined for their benefits, and stripped of anything that isn’t necessary.
One notable example of this new look into ancient practices is acupuncture. Acupuncture, as a treatment for pain and illness, is ancient–the earliest known use of the process is at least 5,000 years ago. As it has evolved, particularly in China, the theory of acupuncture is based on the idea that there are major components of the body that must be kept in harmony: Qi and Blood. Qi is described as a “vital energy force” which flows through the body. When Qi and Blood become out of balance, illness and pain results.
The treatment that acupuncture provides is in the the use of fine needles, which are painstakingly applied to different points and at different depths along the body. The idea is that the needles adjust the flow of Qi, and assist the body into bringing Qi in balance with Blood. This is why traditional acupuncturists will take great care to ensure that the needle placement is exactly correct.
A number of studies suggest that acupuncture is a useful treatment for several types of pain, and helps calm distressed patients. One interesting highlight of recent research into acupuncture has been in the development of a control. Drugs, for example, are tested using placebos. This attempt to create a “placebo equivalent” for acupuncture has resulted in the development of what is called “sham acupuncture” where needles are placed randomly at shallow depths, rather than at particular “acupuncture points.” This experimental control has provided some surprising results. Recent studies have indicated, for example, that while acupuncture is a useful pain treatment, there is no clinical difference between traditional and “sham” acupuncture. Additionally, other studies have indicated that needles aren’t necessary, either–electrical stimulation has the same effect.
In other words, the painstaking time and effort that acupuncture practitioners learn in order to channel Qi property was wasted. Why? Because whether acupuncture produces good results has nothing to do with how or where the needles are used. Accordingly, the idea that the needles are “redirecting Qi” doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of merit.
From yoga to acupuncture to meditation to prayer, researchers have been busy demonstrating exactly how effective all of these practices are, both in what benefits they provide as well as what harm they can do. At the same time, it is equally clear that these practices, which carry behind them centuries of faith and tradition, don’t require that faith to function.
This is particularly true in the area of meditation. Meditation was originally developed as a means of attaining an altered state of consciousness, which is believed in different traditions to mean different things, such as enlightenment or the experience of the presence of a god. The reality, though, is that traditional meditative techniques are rather easily adopted into the secular context, and is used by many people to develop focus, relaxation or health. Most people who use meditation for this purpose do so in a manner completely divorced from any spiritual context.
So, as we continue to use science to investigate the world around us, many traditions–some of which are thousands of years old–will begin to either be discarded or adapted to more secular purposes. What does this mean, then, for religion and spirituality?
There are currently several ongoing trends, all of which are moving in steadily divergent directions. In the context of religion, the fastest growing religions are those which are embracing a more fundamentalist bent. Whether it’s Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism, more and more people are finding a religious purpose in life in which scientific inquiry is always secondary to religious teachings. For those comforted by the tenets of fundamentalism, the investigation into ancient practices isn’t problematic at all. If it supports their faith, it will be embraced. If not, it will be ignored or attacked.
For others, science is embraced into the world of spirituality, creating bizarre philosophies which use scientific principles as a fig leaf for spiritual practices. One such example is the New York Times best-selling book The Secret, which strings together incoherent aspects of quantum physics, psychology, and other fields in order to arrive at the “scientific” conclusion that wishing makes it so. Suffice to say, this type of “spirituality” tends to be faddish in nature, with people hopping from one wrong answer to another. Which I suppose is a type of spirituality in and of itself, albeit not a particularly satisfying or meaningful one.
Another common reaction to scientific understanding is, simply, the abandonment of religious belief altogether. Those declaring their unbelief have been growing in numbers quite rapidly, especially in the West, which provides an interesting counterpoint to the rise of fundamentalism. Growing numbers of unbelievers are bolstered by books such as Sam Harris’ The End of Faith, Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell, and Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. One problem that some have with embracing unbelief, however, is the lack of any type of spiritual or philosophic dimension to it. While this isn’t a problem for some, others struggle with it a great deal. This is because apart from Ayn Rand’s Objectivism or some Unitarian Universalist congregations, there simply aren’t any large scale, non-religious spiritual or philosophic movements out there. Until that changes, most people will probably have a difficult time finding purpose in a life without spirit.
One thing that’s certain is that the human need for contemplation and purpose will never go away. However, our knowledge about ourselves and the world around us is only increasing, and this knowledge will inevitably impact how we find a “why to live.” After all, as Eric Hoffer noted, “[w]here there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.” So as our technical skills improve, one question that science will not be able to answer to many people’s satisfaction is this: now that we have our skills, where will we find our faith?
The deeper levels of meditative experience - this type of experience, and at profound levels, can also occur spontaneously - do far more than promote relaxation and stress reduction. They change lives.
This is true regardless of religious belief or lack thereof. I first experienced this in my own life and then went on to read about it independently and in divinity school - for example, William James’ classic “The Varieties of Religious Experience.”
I guess you could say that like James, I’m a pragmatist. “Know the tree by its fruit.” I welcome whatever science learns about this sort of experience, which to me is inherently spiritual since to me, expanding the circumference of one’s identity, so to speak, so that one lives and acts for the sake of the larger world, is the essence of religion and spirituality at their best.
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