The WSJ article below showcases why western scientific research is blending with eastern mysticism in a way that both sides can accept.

 “Man’s happiness is in his beliefs.”

While critics roll their eyes over facile expressions of positive thinking, the philosophy has stood up with surprising muscularity. Brain scans show that “neuroplasticity” and meditation have biologic benefits. Neural pathways associated with obsessive compulsive disorders, drug and alcohol addictions, are alterable through new thought patterns.

Perhaps the most surprising the power of the human mind over physical reality is at the heart of the debate within quantum physics where researchers study the “quantum measurement problem”. Can the conscious observer affect the nature and manifestations of sub atomic particles

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303290904579278181868245664