I was reading this
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=198820&page=51
and I couldn’t think of any sort of counter. This is really challenging for my faith. Is there any sort of philosophical, psychological, ect argument against prayer being self-hypnosis?
Prayer, if examined, can only really be analyzed from a natural point of view. Naturally, that means that we can only really measure the physical component of prayer. There is a real physical component to prayer-- after all we are physical beings. Real prayer would have to take into account both our physical and spiritual aspects.
Hence, posture is pretty important while praying. I don’t know about you, but I fall asleep if I have the wrong posture or position-- especially if my back is reclining slightly. I try to have my spine erect; it really keeps me from getting distracted and sleepy. This of course also brings up the problem of being physically unprepared for prayer-- someone who is physically exhausted will not be able to pray (or at least not as well).
What about mental aspects? By mental I want to think of the nexus between the spiritual and physical parts of man. Is it possible that prayer works in a natural sense on this level?
I honestly don’t see why not. Habit is formed by repeated actions. Quite honestly, I think the Aristotelico-Thomist view of man has insights which accommodates this perfectly. It’s only natural that our bodies, inasmuch as they are physical, would work in this way.
Your problem with this reminds me of the problems Protestants have with non-Christians doing good works. They say non-Christians cannot do good works. But such an idea is misleading-- of course they can. But they do them on a purely natural level. When the Christian does a good work, he is infused with the grace of God, and because of this his good work causes congruous merit, and he increases in justification. The non-Christian can certainly do good works; they simply do not redound to his justification because he is not in a state of grace, and it does not flow from the virtue of charity.
I think it is similar with prayer techniques. People in other religions have cultivated very sophisticated meditation techniques which help them very much. They are successful because they are in tune with how the body and soul work. But they are simply prayer on the natural level; it is not on the supernatural level (unless, of course, God wills otherwise-- His Spirit works as It will). Christians and non-Christians both have to deal with the proper techniques for prayer, inasmuch as we are all human beings with finite, mortal bodies. It’s just the reality of the thing.
Christian prayer, though, includes an additional level. That is the level of grace. Grace is a reality which is not subject to the senses; hence, it is undetectable except through faith. Grace truly does enable us to do things we cannot do, chiefly, to love God properly as our last end so that we can act in such a way as to merit, congruously, justification and eternal life. This is something which no man can do without grace, and this is exactly why grace is needed.
Now, as to prayer as simply self-hypnosis-- well, one could counter with mystical experiences. Self-hypnosis may explain, at best, what the poster tried to explain, the gradual conquering of a certain problem. But mystical experiences are of a different level. If it would help you, then I encourage you to read about the great mystical saints-- from Sts. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and others. They had experiences which weren’t simply self-hypnosis, but something far greater.
Of course, mystical experiences are not essential to the prayer experience. The real argument for the reality of grace in prayer comes from the heroic virtue which saints exhibit. It is a burning, consuming, fiery love which has been kindled by the Holy Spirit, and which I submit can only have its origin in the divine.
Perhaps the poster will submit that his argument covers mystical experiences and heroic virtue, but I don’t think it does. I think two intelligent people can perhaps disagree-- the atheist must necessarily seek a naturalistic explanation, and I don’t pretend that such an idea would command assent by the force of reason. But that doesn’t make you any less reasonable for accepting it on perfectly valid grounds.
Sincerely,
Rob
Take notself’s example of a prayer or meditation against alcoholism. If by using it, you become less inclined to intoxication, your prayer has been answered – does it matter so much if God specially rewired your brain himself or simply allowed your mind to take the suggestion it came up with? Either way the result is the same.
Prayer is an intent of the heart and soul raised to God. I don’t know any Catholic who goes into prayer with the intention of being ‘hypnotised’ into loving God and others.:hypno: