I’ve been practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM) since
1968 when I was a senior at Rutgers University.
I loved doing it from the start and I love all the benefits I have received. It has done (and continues to do) wonders for
my health, happiness, financial success, and spiritual outlook. These are
obviously all personal benefits. One does TM for him or herself and enjoys the
results. Interestingly, however, there is a “sociological” spill-over effect.
This sociological effect was first noticed (and researched) back in the mid
1970s when TM was quite popular on college campuses. Scientists found that when
1% of a city’s population practiced TM, the crime rate dramatically decreased.
At that time, four cities were identified. I recall Iowa City and Ithaca, NY
being two of them. In any case, these cities were paired with control cities of
comparable economics, college population, location, and demographics. The one
difference was that these control cities did not have 1% of their populations
doing TM. In the control cities, crime rate continued to increase.
The explanation was that TM produces coherence in
the functioning of an individual's brain as observed in various EEG
readings. When a critical mass of meditators is reached, their collective orderly brain functioning exerts a positive influence on the functioning of everyone else in society and everyone begins to think and behave in a more orderly manner. Crime obviously is a measure of
disorder in society so a decrease in crime can be viewed as a measure of
increasing orderliness. This phenomenon was observed and researched many times.
A couple of years after this initial study, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
the founder of the TM movement, introduced an advanced program for TMers called
the TM-Sidhi program. Sidhi is a Sanskrit word meaning perfection or
super-normal power The TM-Sidhi program taught people the underlying technique
on how to achieve the sidhis which are described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras,
an ancient Vedic text. The most famous sidhi, of course, is yogic flying or
levitation.
Needless to say, I jumped on this opportunity like a fumble
in 1977 and learned the TM-Sidhi program. As powerful and as wonderful as TM was
for me, the TM-Sidhi program was more so. But instead of dwelling on my
personal experience, I want to get back to the sociological spill-over.
It was
quickly found that when people practiced the TM-Sidhi program in a group the effect was magnified. Instead of needing 1% of a population to practice TM to have a pervasive positive influence, now all that was needed was the square
root of 1% for “sidhas.” The only catch was the sidhas needed to practice in a group. Translated into practical numbers, the requirement for the United
States is 1730. (1% of 300 million is 3
million and the square root of 3 million is approximately 1730.) The
requirement for the world is around 8000.
Groups of that size have been assembled on a temporary
basis but only for a couple of weeks. Interestingly, however, when those numbers are achieved, the results are always astounding. Crime decreases, stock market
booms, accidents and hospital admissions decrease, hositilities and war deaths
decrease, etc. By the way, this research has been replicated over 40 times and some of
these studies have been published in the most prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific
journals.
Wanting to create the effect on a permanent basis, the TM
movement have made various efforts to create a stable group for America and for the world but it has been difficult to achieve for many reasons.
Now the story gets really good.
Remember back in July when Israel and Lebanon
were at war and the economists were predicting a major bear market and oil and
gas prices were soaring and America’s
reputation was in the worldwide hopper and the US
was bracing itself for another devastating hurricane season? At that time,
Maharishi made another concerted effort to assemble a group of at least 1730
yogic flyers to, in his words, “create an invincible America.”
The group is being assembled where I live (Fairfield, Iowa) so I don’t have to
relocate to participate. While I have participated in many of the other large TM-Sidhi
gatherings, this one is different. For one thing, Maharishi really turned up
the intensity of the program. Without going into detail, we are doing it for
much longer periods.
My personal experience has been extraordinary. For this I am
exceedingly grateful. But then again, most people are having great experiences. Our group is
only 1200 strong at the moment, but many more are
arriving. It will not be long before the magic 1730 number is achieved.
As for sociological results so far, the Middle East calmed down, the stock market which was
predicted to tank is now setting records, oil prices have plummeted, consumer
confidence has risen, unemployment has dropped, and dire forecasts of
destructive hurricanes have not come true. Coincidence, you say? Stay tuned. We're just getting warmed up. If you see major upsurges of peace, harmony, and prosperity in the immediate future, I'm sure you won't mind me saying I told you so.
Of course, Iraq and North Korea
are still major headaches but remember we are only at 1200. It will be fascinating to see what
happens to the world when we achieve and exceed 1730. A major influx is expected in the next week or two so hang on to your hat.
Life is definitely sweet. And it is going to get sweeter. Mark my words.
www.lazyway.net
