Many of you are familiar with MEA guest faculty member and Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard whose brain has been studied for decades both when he was meditating and when he wasn’t. Social scientist Richie Davidson at University of Wisconsin has shown that Matthieu’s religious practice has created the highest capacity for happiness ever recorded and an acute ability to produce insight.
Academic David DeSteno has shown that you don’t have to be a lifetime meditator to see the results. After only eight weeks of study with a Buddhist lama, 50 percent of those who were randomly assigned to meditate daily spontaneously helped a stranger in pain. Only 16 percent of those who didn’t meditate did the same. (In reality, the stranger was an actor they hired to use crutches and wear a removable foot cast while trying to find a seat in a crowded room.) Compassion wasn’t limited to strangers, though; it also applied to enemies. Another study showed that after three weeks of meditation, most people refrained from seeking revenge on someone who insulted them, unlike most of those who did not meditate.
You may say, “Chip, that just proves meditation is effective. Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion.” Well, DeSteno decided to look at gratitude as a character quality that is embedded in religious practice. Many Christians often say grace before a meal and observant Jews give thanks to God with the Modeh Ani prayer every day upon awakening. When he studied the act of giving thanks, even in a secular context, he found it made people more virtuous. In a study where people could get more money by lying about the results of a coin flip, the majority (53 percent) cheated. But that figure dropped dramatically for people who they first asked to count their blessings. Of these, only 27 percent chose to lie.
DeSteno continues, “Even very subtle actions—like moving together in time—can exert a significant effect on the mind. We see synchrony in almost every religion the world over: Buddhists and Hindus often chant together in prayer; Christians and Muslims regularly kneel and stand in unison during worship; Jews often sway, or shuckle, when reciting prayers together. These actions belie a deep purpose: creating connection…The combined effects of simple elements like these—ones that change how we feel, what we believe, and who we can depend on—accumulate over time. And when they’re embedded in religious practices, research has shown they can have protective properties of sorts. Regularly taking part in religious practices lessens anxiety and depression, increases physical health, and even reduces the risk of early death. These benefits don’t come simply from general social contact. There’s something specific to spiritual practices themselves.”
I have a scientist friend who recently made a religious conversion in his mid-70s which was a surprise to all of his friends. But, he said something quite telling, “If you were to create a lab experiment meant to help humans become more compassionate, loving, and less self-centered, you might not be able to design a set of variables better than what pure religion – in its best form – does. The scientific community could learn a few things from religion.”
I’ve long believed that the best religion is one that makes me a better human in this lifetime as opposed to a saved soul in the promised land after I pass.
If you could design a religion, what practices, rituals, or beliefs would it incorporate to enhance your humanity?
-Chip