Traditional Western science has had little interest in the concept of mind, and has only recently begun to recognise the relationship between spirituality and health. A better understanding of mind has allowed us to establish the scientific concepts behind the spiritual dimension of healing, and the close correlation between religious and spiritual practice and positive changes in a number of stress-related physiological systems. Meditation and prayer have both been shown to improve brain function, and together with practices such as forgiveness and positive thinking, and a supportive social structure, have been shown to benefit both mental and physical health. Meditation has particular clinical applications in those conditions where high arousal and anxiety are a part of the pathology. Controlled studies of prayer have produced mixed outcomes, but prayer is a widespread religious practice and may have positive effects on the person praying – for example, in terms of pain relief.

Since the 1980s there has been a growing recognition that organ-based medicine is very limiting when considering the genesis of disease in humans. Mind–body medicine is still a growing area, but it has been shown that psychological experience, emotional states and pathological styles of behaviour can all lead directly to physical illness. This recognition has led to the field of psychoneuroimmunology, which has now developed to the point where mental states can be seen to be linked to heart disease and cancers through specific physiological pathways.

It is in this setting that there has been a re-evaluation, particularly by the medical profession, of spiritual medicine that brought widespread recognition that a spiritual component must be considered in both physical and mental illness. In this chapter I will first consider some of the reductionist mechanisms underlying spiritual medicine. Spiritual medicine may be perceived as the spiritual dimension of healing, in which the highestorder holistic processes of the individual are expressed and their expression leads to healing; for example, the aims and goals of the individual, their interaction within their social systems and their transpersonal beliefs.

I will look at the consequences for reductionist science, if the effects of prayer and distant healing are accepted into the main body of scientific knowledge. I will also touch on miracles, that is spiritual healing where the locus of the healing is not yet understood by reductionist science and so can be attributed to forces outside the materialistic realm and consequently outside our reductionist paradigm.

Science has always been reluctant to approach spiritual matters seriously, but this attitude is changing. There are numerous reasons for this, but the most important for conventional medicine is simply that spiritual medicine has been shown to work (Koenig et al, 2001). There is, in addition, an evergrowing demand from students for medical courses that include a spiritual dimension. The percentage of US medical schools teaching courses in spiritual medicine has increased dramatically during the past decade; from 3% in 1995, to 40% in 1998 (Levin et al, 1997), to 100% in 2001. In 2001, the Templeton Foundation supported the publication of the Handbook of Religion and Health (Koenig et al, 2001), which draws together the numerous scientific studies that underpin this field.

Since the 1980s there has been a growing recognition that organ-based medicine is very limiting when considering the genesis of disease in humans. Mind–body medicine is still a growing area, but it has been shown that psychological experience, emotional states and pathological styles of behaviour can all lead directly to physical illness. This recognition has led to the field of psychoneuroimmunology, which has now developed to the point where mental states can be seen to be linked to heart disease and cancers through specific physiological pathways.

It is in this setting that there has been a re-evaluation, particularly by the medical profession, of spiritual medicine that brought widespread recognition that a spiritual component must be considered in both physical and mental illness. In this chapter I will first consider some of the reductionist mechanisms underlying spiritual medicine. Spiritual medicine may be perceived as the spiritual dimension of healing, in which the highestorder holistic processes of the individual are expressed and their expression leads to healing; for example, the aims and goals of the individual, their interaction within their social systems and their transpersonal beliefs.

I will look at the consequences for reductionist science, if the effects of prayer and distant healing are accepted into the main body of scientific knowledge. I will also touch on miracles, that is spiritual healing where the locus of the healing is not yet understood by reductionist science and so can be attributed to forces outside the materialistic realm and consequently outside our reductionist paradigm.

Science has always been reluctant to approach spiritual matters seriously, but this attitude is changing. There are numerous reasons for this, but the most important for conventional medicine is simply that spiritual medicine has been shown to work (Koenig et al, 2001). There is, in addition, an evergrowing demand from students for medical courses that include a spiritual dimension. The percentage of US medical schools teaching courses in spiritual medicine has increased dramatically during the past decade; from 3% in 1995, to 40% in 1998 (Levin et al, 1997), to 100% in 2001. In 2001, the Templeton Foundation supported the publication of the Handbook of Religion and Health (Koenig et al, 2001), which draws together the numerous scientific studies that underpin this field.