“Prayer is not only worship; it is also an invisible  emanation of man’s worshipping spirit – the most powerful form of energy that one can generate .  The influence of prayer on man’s mind and body can be demonstrated as secreting glands can. Its results can be measured in terms of increased physical buoyancy, greater intellectual vigour, moral stamina and a deeper understanding of the realities underlying human relationships.

If you make a habit of sincere prayer, your life will be noticeably and profoundly altered.  Prayer stamps with its indelible mark our actions and our demeanour. A tranquility of bearing, a facial and bodily repose, are observed in those whose lives are thus enriched. Within the depths of consciousness , a flame kindles, and man sees himself. He discovers his selfishness, his silly pride, his greed, his blunders.  He develops a sense of moral obligation  and intellectual humility. Thus begins a journey of the soul towards the realm of grace.

Prayer is a force as real as the gravity of the earth. As a physician, I have seen men, after all other medical treatment had failed, lifted out of disease and the depths of sadness by that serene effort of prayer. It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so-called laws of nature. The occasions on which prayer has dramatically done this have been termed ‘miracles’. But a constant, quieter miracle takes place hourly in the hearts of men and women who have discovered that prayer supplies them with a steady flow of sustaining power in their daily lives. Only in prayer do we achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit, which gives the frail human reed its unshakable strength.

When we pray, we link ourselves with the inexhaustible motive power that spins the universe. We ask that a part of this power be appointed to our needs. Even in asking, our human deficiencies are filled and we arise from our prayer strengthened and repaired. The words ‘Ask and it shall be given to you’ have been verified by the experience of humanity.

How can prayer be defined? Prayer is the effort of man to reach God, to converse with the great invisible Being, Creator of all things, supreme wisdom, truth, love, beauty and power, the Father and Redeemer of every man.  We do know that whenever we address God in fervent prayer, we change both body and soul for the better. It could not happen that anyone could  pray fervently without some good result. The American philosopher Emerson said , “No one ever prayed without gaining something”. Even our slightest impulse toward prayer has a dynamic, beneficial effect on our lives.

We can pray anywhere – in the street, the subway, the shop, the office, in solitude or in a crowd. There is no prescribed posture, time or place , for God is everywhere.

Remember that in order to really mould personality, prayer must become a habit. It is meaningless to pray in the morning and to live like a barbarian the rest of the day. True prayer is a way of life; and the  truest life is literally a way of prayer.

Today, as never before, prayer is a binding necessity in the lives of men and nations. The lack of emphasis on the religious sense has brought the world to the edge of destruction. With most of us, our deepest source of power  and perfection has been left miserably undeveloped. Prayer, the basic exercise of the spirit (soul) , must be actively practised in our lives. For if the power of prayer is again released, there is yet hope that our prayer for a better world will be answered.”

                                                                                             ( Dr. Alexis Carrel, M.D. )

The Power Of Prayer: More Evidence

Clinical studies continue to show  prayer heals. Dr. Larry Dossey revealed the results of a second phase study at Duke University on the power of prayer.

The MANTRA project at Duke is headed by cardiologist Dr. Mitchell Krucokk and nurse practitioner, Susan Craven. The results show that heart patients who receive prayer have 50% to 100% fewer side effects than those patients not prayed for.

If patients agreed to be part of the study they were randomized and the “prayer” patients’ names went to prayer groups around the world. First names only were sent via e-mail to Buddhist groups in Nepal, Hindus in India and Jewish groups in Jerusalem. Catholic nuns, Unity Village Missouri and Protestants in North Carolina also participated.

The full report on the study will be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, according to Dossey. It will be the first time a heart journal has published a study on the effects of “distance” prayer.

Dossey also noted hundreds of other studies on the power of prayer that, until now, have been mostly ignored by the allopathic, or traditional medical  community. However, based on the Duke study Dossey concluded, “There’s no going back. This is a huge transition in medicine. Medicine will not be able to retreat from the impact.”

    Annual conference of ISSEEM ( The International Association for the study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine ) Boulder, CO June 16, 2001.

( Reference: ALTERNI TIMES   Update 3/2001 )

Markandeya Mantra / Maha-Mrityunjaya Mantra

Om Trayumbakam Yajamahe                

Sughandhim Pushti Vardanam                  

Urvar-ukamiva Bandhanat

Mrityor Muksheeya Mamritat

“Shelter me, O three-eyed Lord Shiva.  Bless me with health and immortality and sever me from the clutches of death, even as a cucumber is cut from its creeper.”

Markandeya Mantra and Viral Infection

Connie already knew that she was sick when she kept her second  appointment with the doctor. Diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia, she thought the antibiotic was not doing the job after she had taken it for three weeks. She was right. A rare virus that had invaded her system was causing her to lose cartilage all over her body. She did not respond  to treatment for that condition. With an ashen face, the doctor told her she probably  had about six months to live.

Diving into the world of alternative therapies and treatments, Connie was determined to beat the virus. After six months of trying various cures with some encouraging results, she decided to apply  yet another offbeat therapy:  Sanskrit mantra. She chose the

Markandeya mantra or Maha-Mrityunjaya mantra. It is considered one of  the

most potent healing mantras in the world.

The classical form of the mantra discipline is meant to be performed by the person himself or herself. It is efficacious for relief of a wide variety of chronic illnesses, including immune system problems. Of course, it is no substitute for conventional medical care.

Connie repeated this mantra 108 times morning and evening for three months. She got  much better. Twelve months later she still said her Markandeya mantra every day while continuing to improve. After working with the mantra for four months, she even went horseback riding. Currently she is living an active and healthy life. She recently got married, and the virus has almost disappeared as of this writing, over a year after she was given six months to live.

Proof of God's Existence


 Back to Faith

The vast majority of atheists or people who think they are atheists, when asked why they don't believe in God, say that it is because they cannot see Him - yet if the question is put to them whether they believe in love, will say yes, and mean it. We believe in love yet how many of us have seen it?

Can it be held in one's hands? Can it be weighed? What colour is it? What shape is it? Can it be smelt? Or heard? "No", to all these questions. So how come that almost every man, woman and child alive believes in love, or at least knows what we're talking about when we mention the word "love"? Not only that, but few people would wish to contemplate living without love - without loving or being loved by someone. So, if it is possible to believe in unseen love, why is it impossible to believe in God even if we cannot see
Him? The same applies to goodness: we all know what goodness is - we love people who have goodness in them.

The same applies to all the other qualities like courage, generosity, joy,humility, compassion, mercy, kindness, self control, humour, wisdom,patience, etc... None of these are visible to the physical eye or any other physical sense. Yet we know they exist. We know also that human beings without these qualities would be impossible to live with. We feel them at work within ourselves and see them manifested in other people through their words, actions, facial expressions and speech. We fall in love with someone,
and when asked why we love that person we say things like . he's beautiful, good, kind, courageous, generous, honest . in short we fall in love with those abstract qualities.

Elderly people who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique may drastically reduce their medical costs, according to findings presented by faculty member Robert Herron at the 91st Annual Canadian Public Health Association Conference last month in Ottawa, Canada.

The study found that 163 people from Quebec - aged 65 and over - reduced payments to physicians by a cumulative 70 percent during the five-year period after they learned the Transcendental Meditation technique.

The retrospective study evaluated a sample of 326 Quebec health insurance enrolees - 163 who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique and 163 who did not. Using statistical analysis, researchers compared the groups' expenses for treatment by physicians, both during the nine-year period before the Transcendental Meditation technique was introduced and for five years afterward. Data for the study was provided by the Regie de l'Assurance-Maladie du Quebec, the province's health insurance provider. Figures were adjusted for inflation using the Canadian government's Consumer Price Index.

The study's findings were dramatic. Researchers found 70 percent cumulative expenditure reduction for the group who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique for five years. In contrast, the control group's expenses continued to rise. Both groups showed steadily rising payments to physicians during the nine-year period before the meditating group learned the Transcendental Meditation technique.

"These findings suggest that there is a relationship between the Transcendental Meditation technique and improved mental and physical health for senior citizens," said Dr. Herron, lead author of the study. "The proven health benefits of this preventive technique could have significant implications for the reduction of medical costs for people of all ages."

This research is an extension of previous studies of the effect of the Transcendental Meditation technique on aging. One study, for example, showed that a group of individuals who had been practicing the Transcendental Meditation program for more than five years were physiologically 12 years younger than their chronological age, based on a standard measure of "biological age" that evaluates blood pressure, near-point vision, and auditory discrimination.

Source: The Review, Nov. 2000, MUM, Fairfield, Iowa, By Christine Schrum

One day a lay man was able to meet God and he said that I heard something about a devotee and I am going to tell you.

 "Hold on a  minute," God replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you  to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?" "That's right," God continued. "Before you talk to me about my devotee, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the  triple filter test.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"  "No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..." "All right," said God "So you don't really know if it's true  or not.

Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend  something good?"
"No, on the contrary..." "So," God continued, "you want  to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's
true.  You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my  friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."

"Well,"  concluded God, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor  good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why God  is affectionate and  held all His devotees in such high esteem.

Just as a stone, a tree, a straw, grain, a mat, a cloth, a pot, and so on, when burned, are reduced to earth (from which they came), so the body and its sense organs, on being burned in the fire of Knowledge, become Knowledge and are absorbed in Brahman, like darkness in the light of the sun.

-Adi Shankaracharya