The TM technique for societal and world peace
Stress increases fear, reactive behavior, narrow thinking, and intolerance. Accumulated stress creates the conditions for violent conflict in society. If the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique reduces stress, can it uplift the collective consciousness of society as a whole? Can inner peace produce world peace?
"Can we leverage this knowledge of the brain and behavior to create lasting societal peace?"
Dr John Hagelin, Harvard-trained quantum physicist, addresses the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, Monterrey, Mexico, September 2024
Scientific evidence for the effect of TM practice on society and peace
Stress in the individual affects the way the brain functions and can change behavior. Stress has been shown to reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex, the “higher brain”, resulting in more aggressive, fear-based, and violent behavior. As stress grows in a society, the collective impact can manifest as conflict and war. As early as 1962, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, predicted that "even if only one percent of the world’s population meditated it would be sufficient to do away with the hatred that causes war". That theory, known as the “Maharishi Effect”, has since been shown to require only the square root of 1% of a population to practice TM along with the advanced TM-Sidhis program, together as a group. The Maharishi Effect has been put to the test in over 50 demonstrations, resulting in 23 scientific studies that documented positive changes in society and the reduction of the impact of war, correlating with the size of groups practicing the TM and the TM-Sidhi program. This effect was produced not by thinking about or wishing for peace, but as a consequence of the group practice of the TM consciousness-based techniques.
The TM technique and the decreased impact of war in the Middle East
In 1983, practitioners of the TM technique joined together in Jerusalem to test the Maharishi Effect during a war between Israel and Lebanon. The group had a statistically significant effect on the factors measured in the study. On days when the number of participants was high, war deaths in neighboring Lebanon dropped by 76%. The experiment showed societal improvements in quality of life in Jerusalem and Israel, and war in Lebanon.
Six replications of the Middle East study
The study in Israel and Lebanon was replicated six times during the next two years. The results of these interventions included: • war-related deaths decreased by 71% • war-related injuries fell by 68% • the level of conflict dropped by 48% • cooperation among antagonists increased by 66%
The TM technique and improved quality of life in the United States
A 17-year study demonstrated a broad and holistic improvement in various measures of the quality of life in the United States when the number of people practicing the TM technique and the TM-Sidhi program together at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa surpassed the square root of 1% of the U.S. population (1725 participants). Murder, rape, assault, robbery, infant mortality, drug-related deaths, vehicle fatalities, and death of children by injuries all significantly decreased.
Research on the effect of TM on societal and world peace
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How to learn the TM technique
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