Need for Spirituality
Regular spiritual practice for spiritual,
psychological,
as well as physical well being
In one of the first studies to examine the specific pathways by which religion affects health, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that elderly persons who attended religious services at least once a week are only half as likely as non-attendees to have elevated levels of Interleukin-6 (Il-6). Il-6 is an immune-system protein involved in a wide variety of age-related diseases.
The researchers hypothesized that attending religious services regularly reduced stress,, which in turn reduced the production of Il-6, a substance in the blood that impairs the body's ability to fight off disease. Significantly, the effect of religious participation on Il-6 remained after controlling for depression, a common measure of psychological distress.
This new finding goes one step further in proving the beneficial effect of attending religious services. Attending religious service is a form of spiritual practice. In the hierarchy of various spiritual practices, attending religious service is much lower on the ladder. Further up are other practices like repeating the Lord's Name*, service unto The Lord, etc. Thus, one can gauge the benefits one can accrue by virtue of regular spiritual practice further up in the hierarchy.
– Editor.
* If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.
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To begin with, one can repeat God's Name according to their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for a list of God's Names as per various religions), or the Name that they feel most comfortable chanting.
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Interested readers can determine the exact chant for them from the experiment given inIssue 124, Message to Seekers section.