{"id":81539,"date":"2025-10-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?p=81539"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:52:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T18:52:45","slug":"how-prayer-creates-positive-states-of-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/how-prayer-creates-positive-states-of-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"How Prayer Creates Positive States of Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been exploring what the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a> teaches about Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s<\/a> daily obligatory prayers and comparing it to what is known in neurobiology about learning and states of mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always wondered: can prayer help us, not only from the perspective of the soul and the spirit, but from the perspective of our minds, as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now let me say right off, me being me, the word \u201cobligatory\u201d tends to personally trigger an immediate feeling of resistance. You might feel that way, too, but bear with me and we\u2019ll explore why that shouldn\u2019t always be the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a> asked those who are Baha\u2019is to pray daily, and to use one of three optional prayers: short, medium, or long. Of those, I have usually chosen the shortest \u2013 composed of three sentences said once in each 24-hour period. This says more about me than it does about the prayers, I suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Having a Conversation with the Creator<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after thinking more about it, I\u2019m beginning to understand that the long obligatory prayer may have a lot going for it \u2013 well, of course it does spiritually, but I mean neurobiologically speaking. Perhaps the Baha\u2019i obligation to say these prayers has something to do with their potency and the benefits they bestow. Maybe longer is better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, one of the purposes of the obligatory prayers involves creating what neuroscience calls a shift in one\u2019s \u201cstate of mind\u201d from negative to positive, no matter what the external stresses may be. He said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Obligatory prayer is the very foundation of the Cause of God. Through it joy and vitality infuse the heart. Even if every grief should surround Me, as soon as I engage in conversing with God in obligatory prayer, all My sorrows disappear and I attain joy and gladness. A condition descendeth upon Me which I am unable to describe or express. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Notice that Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a> describes a shift that \u2013 but for the prayer \u2013 would not have occurred. A key marker of the shift is emotion. In this example he explains that even an extremely intense negative state, surrounded with \u201cevery grief \u201d can shift to \u201cjoy and gladness.\u201d The shift is a whole-body experience too. He calls it a \u201ccondition\u201d that comes over him that he is unable to describe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does neuroscience have to say about this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel J. Siegel, MD, a well-known professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the author of numerous articles and books, coined the term \u201cinterpersonal neurobiology\u201d to describe the complex interface of human experiences and basic biological developmental processes. He speaks often and at length about states of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siegel defines the mind as energy and information flow within an embodied brain that includes that thing between both of your ears \u2013 sometimes called the \u201cheadband brain\u201d but also the entire rest of your body (and your relationships too, by the way). The activity of the mind includes thoughts, yes, but emotions, too. In fact, this \u201cembodied brain\u201d encompasses the totality of you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Seigel explains in The Developing Mind<\/em> that learning depends on experience. He says, \u201cExperience activates certain pathways in the brain, strengthening existing connections and creating new ones.\u201d Through experiences, we develop our states of mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those states of mind, Seigel explains, cause the brain to create patterns that allow it to achieve efficiency and cohesion despite the randomness and chaos of everyday life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Seigel, \u201cA \u2018state of mind\u2019 can be defined as the total patterns of activation in the brain at a particular moment in time \u2026 .\u201d  Another term for this phenomenon is a \u201cneural net profile.\u201d These patterns not only coordinate brain activity in any given moment, they are remembered and repeated. Practice makes them more likely to become patterns that our minds rely upon in the future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emotion plays a key role here, helping to coordinate our states of mind. Emotions can trigger the brain to shift into previously experienced states. Over time, practice literally structures the brain\u2019s interconnections \u2013 and that determines its functional capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is all a fancy way of saying that experience alters your brain. The change is not just a passing thought, but rather a full-body, emotion-laden sensory experience that lays the groundwork for similar experiences in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paying attention to an inner state of mind can strengthen it, Seigel says. Awareness and intention are key. Eventually, a state of mind can be called upon when needed and be under our conscious control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, when a state of mind is experienced, it leaves a neural trace, like a pathway through a dense meadow. The more the same path is trodden, the clearer the pathway becomes. Once the pathway is well-trodden, it becomes easy to see and follow. In other words, with repeated practice, we learn. We can actually learn to be happy, to enter into bliss, to feel spiritually engaged and enriched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siegel teaches people to do this in a process he calls \u201cMindsight.\u201d (He wrote a book by the same name.) He says, \u201c\u2026one of the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last twenty years\u201d is how focused  attention shapes the structure of the brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on this discussion then, from a neurobiological perspective, the long obligatory prayer may have more potency, shall we say, than the shorter prayer. Since it includes recommended changes in posture throughout the course of the prayer, like standing, sitting, and bowing, it engages the entire body. Those movements have the potential to capture my full attention while I\u2019m focusing on the spiritual significance of the words. The longer time span may increase the probability that practiced pathways become engrained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: How to Meditate Spiritually: 9 Tips for Beginners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Seigel\u2019s interpersonal neurobiology full attention is called \u201cawareness.\u201d Notice that Abdu\u2019l-Baha\u2019s<\/a> quote<\/a> above continues using that exact word:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Whenever, with full awareness and humility, we undertake to perform the Obligatory Prayer before God, and recite it with heartfelt tenderness, we shall taste such sweetness as to endow all existence with eternal life.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I see now that the Baha\u2019i obligatory prayers are powerful gifts \u2013 they are entry points into structuring my own neurobiology in ways that bring me peace and joy. Far from just words, they are energy and information \u2013 the stuff that controls my states of mind. To reap the full benefits of the prayer, it is important, as Seigel says, to have not only awareness but a clear and stated intention to shift my state of mind to the experience I seek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find it fascinating that one way to interpret the beginning phrases of the long obligatory is just that \u2013  setting the intention to make this mind shift. In the prayer, the negative state of mind is a  \u201cveil\u201d and the positive one a \u201clight\u201d leading to experiences of the presence of God. It says<\/a>: \u201c\u2026 make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty, and a light that will lead me unto the ocean of Thy Presence.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow. I guess the long obligatory prayer does have a lot going for it. Feel free to add here a vision of me slapping my own forehead with the palm of my hand in a gesture of, \u201cDuh, do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been exploring what the Baha\u2019i Faith teaches about Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s daily obligatory prayers and comparing it to what is known in neurobiology about learning and states of mind.  I\u2019ve always…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141434,"featured_media":81556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[3039,2998,3225],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88216,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81539\/revisions\/88216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81539"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=81539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}