I argue that every specific experience that arises from a Christian's prayer is also found in secular meditation and reflection with no exception other than possibly deeper psychological, symbolic elements that take place.
So even though Christian prayer might have a deeper psychological impact, it is all natural and psychological in nature.
The following are types of experiences, natural spiritual experiences, that are universal and found throughout the world:
-time slowing down,
-losing track of time,
-what you were doing previously now seems unimportant,
-forgetting what you were doing up to that moment,
-the awareness of you and what is outside of you blurred or indistinguishable,
-a connection to/unity with what is around you,
-colors are more intense,
-sounds are more clearer and stand out,
AND
as a result of this natural spiritual experience via meditation and reflection:
-stress is significantly reduced,
-the mind is more focused,
-insights are more readily accessible...
Of course, these happen in varying degrees and intensities depending on the atmosphere and situation.
To quote from my 10-8-11 post:
"After such meditation I feel relaxed, more focused, and significantly more aware of what is around me, even little things like colors that stand out from a painting, the sound of rain outside as it paters on the street, morning light filtering in and hitting the walls.. This is a focused reflection. One of my favorite forms of meditation, you could say, is playing the piano. I like to play on my electric piano when it is dead quiet so that the notes stand out and I can get lost while playing, time slowing down and being lost in the moment, and what is left is simply the music rising from the keys. And then when I'm done suddenly realizing that I had forgotten about myself, any issues I had, the fast pace of life. Whatever I was doing up to that moment doesn't matter, because for the moment, I'm free of that. It's when I can't tell the difference between myself and what is outside of me and I feel one and the same with those things that I consider it a spiritual experience, and to emphasize again, a natural spiritual experience, but one which I think is just as satisfying as what I believed were the 'supernatural' spiritual experiences of my former Christianity.."
So why am I bringing this up? Why not stick to where we have opposing points of view instead of looking for common ground?
Because Christians believe the concept AND experience of prayer IS fundamentally different from meditation and reflection! But I have argued prayer is NOT and is almost identical in its resulting experiences to that of meditation/reflection..
AND I CHALLENGE ANY CHRISTIAN ALIVE TODAY TO BRING UP A CERTAIN EXPERIENCE A NONBELIEVER CANNOT HAVE THROUGH MEDITATION/REFLECTION..
And to be specific:
-Do NOT bring up an experience that you believe you've had to a greater degree than the non-believer.
Instead,
-Bring up an experience that you've had that the non-believer cannot have, because he/she is not a Christian and has no access to this prayerful experience you have had with your God...
That is the challenge.. And I think it should be very important to the Christian to get to the bottom of this and determine what is fundamentally different with their experience of prayer and is not accessible to non-believers IF God is who he says he is in the Christian's life...
But someone might feel they can answer this challenge with:
"Well this is easy, the Christian can have the experience of being in God's love and God's presence. The unbeliever can't, because they don't believe in the existence of God."
Alright, so here is my reply:
But we can experience love and feel the presence of someone in a room. The Christian may experience this love and presence of "God" more intensely, but I made it clear that doesn't qualify for my challenge: "Do NOT bring up an experience that you believe you've had to a greater degree than the non-believer."
And how do we know it's the SAME KIND of love and presence that the Christian believes they get from God?
1- Neurology shows that when given an MRI brain scan, certain areas of the brain light up when a Christian is feeling close to God in prayer. And MRI brain scans show these ARE THE SAME AREAS for the non-believing Buddhist monk when meditating and reaching for enlightenment!
2- Michael Shermer(Atheist & skeptic) has had, via Dr. Persinger's The God Helmet, an out of body experience and the experience of someone or some presence in the room with him, which he could not explain(type on youtube-Michael Shermer Out of Body Experiment), showing that the same areas of the brain WHEN activated(via Persinger's Helmet, for example) WILL produce the same experiences for the non-believer as for the believer!
So I believe these two points demonstrate that the non-believer can access the same kind of love and presence of "God" which the Christian has had at very special moments in their life in their experience of God..
So I feel I have demonstrated that the BEST explanation for these experiences is a natural one, found in the brain.
