Author's Note

C H A P T E R 7 (cont)

The Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi Program

Concurrent with all of this, a new development was taking place that was to have a profound impact on the direction of Transcendental Meditation research.

In 1976 Maharishi introduced the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program, which he described as advanced procedures or natural extensions of Transcendental Meditation "to train consciousness to function from the unified field of natural law, the self-referral state of pure consciousness."

Maharishi explained that the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program trained the awareness to function in the same self-interacting style as the intelligence of nature. In this way, Maharishi said, individuals would gain the support of the total potential of nature's creativity and intelligence for the fulfillment of their desires in daily life.

Scientific research showed that Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program significantly enhanced the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. It increased EEG coherence, increased creativity and intelligence, and promoted longevity.

Most dramatically, sociological research showed that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program by a small number of people together in one place had a very powerful effect on society as a whole -- even more powerful than the 1% Transcendental Meditation effect.

Research showed that only the square root of 1% of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi program together in one place was required to create an influence of order and coherence in the entire population.

How is all of this possible? How can people meditating alone in their homes or offices, or together in a group, influence other people across town -- or across the country -- who aren't even meditating?

The Super Radiance Effect: Action at a Distance

• Two corks are floating in a sink of water 8 inches apart. Push down one cork, release it, and the other cork bobs up and down.
• Turn on the radio as you drive to the supermarket. A disc jockey is playing a song 50 miles away. The music fills your car.

These are two examples where one object can influence another object at a distance. In physics this phenomenon is called "action at a distance."

How does it happen? Through the influence of waves traveling through an underlying field. Water links the two corks, and the electromagnetic field links the radio station and the car radio.

Connecting all matter in the universe are unseen, fundamental fields -- the electromagnetic field, the gravitational field, and the fields of the weak and strong forces binding the center of the atom.

At their basis, according to supersymmetric unified quantum field theories, is the unified field, which creates and connects everything together in the universe -- all fields, all matter, everything, everybody.

The Behavior of Fields

One interesting characteristic about the behavior of fields is the manner in which waves travel through them.

For example, consider the ordinary light radiating from your reading lamp. It is the product of innumerable light waves that are random and incoherent in their pattern. Take any 100 of these incoherent light waves and they produce the light of 100 separate waves. Because of this the light from your lamp is bright enough for you to read the book in your lap, but not nearly bright enough, say, to reach the moon.

On the other hand, if those random light waves are made coherent so that the peaks and valleys of each wave are in step with each other, then the intensity of the light waves becomes far greater than when they function separately. Their intensity is proportional to the square of the actual number of waves. Take those 100 light waves again, make them function coherently together, and they will produce a light as bright as 10,000 incoherent light waves.

Coherent light is called laser light. It can be bounced off the moon, applied to conduct surgery, or used to play a laser disc recording. This phenomenon has been called the "superradiance effect."

The Field Effects of Consciousness

How, then, can the coherence created by a small number of people practicing Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program together in one place affect a large population?

Scientists said it could happen only if consciousness, experienced in its self-referral state during Transcendental Meditation, is a field and only if it is the same unified field that underlies all of nature.

They said that only a field can produce the influence of "action-at-a-distance," and only the unified field would be able to account for the wide-ranging effects on society observed with the collective practice of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. This is because on the level of the unified field, everything in nature is connected.

Researchers predicted that if a group of experts in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program could, in fact, produce an influence of coherence on the level of the unified field, then according to the behavior of fields, that coherence would spread throughout the environment.

That's the hypothesis. Now does it actually happen? What is the evidence? And how can it be measured?

Measuring the Trends of Time

In the past two decades, social scientists have developed sophisticated statistical procedures to analyze changing trends in society. These methods are helpful to researchers attempting to determine why these changes occur.

For example, sickness rates might be found to be suddenly decreasing in a particular city. Why? Is it due to a public health program recently introduced into the school system, or is it simply a seasonal change?

Through these advanced statistical procedures, scientists are better able to identify the reason, or reasons, for the decrease in sickness rates in the city, eliminate alternative explanations, and hopefully use the technology or program to produce the same effect again, perhaps on a wider scale.

Studying the Effects of Transcendental Meditation on Quality of Life

Extensive research, employing many of these statistical procedures, have been conducted throughout the world to gauge the effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on the quality of life in society.

The research has demonstrated repeatedly that when the square root of 1% of a population practices the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program together in one place there are marked decreases in negative tendencies such as crime, sickness, and accident rates, as well as instances of turbulence and violence in society. The research has also shown significant increases in positive trends, such as improvements in economic conditions.

7,000 Assembly at Maharishi International University

The largest experiment studying the impact of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program occurred from December 17, 1983, to January 6, 1984, at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa.

Seven thousand experts in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program from over 50 nations gathered at the university to create "an upsurge of coherence" for the whole world. Seven thousand is approximately the square root of 1% of the world's population.

The findings confirmed predictions made by scientists in advance. Research showed an immediate increase in positivity in situations of international conflict. Available data from major countries on several continents also showed that traffic fatalities per miles driven and the incidence of infectious diseases dropped during the assembly, while patent applications and other signs of creativity and positivity rose.

And after the assembly? All the positive trends returned to the usual patterns that had characterized them prior to the assembly.

A New Formula for Peace

Based on these findings, as well as on similar results from several other large assemblies throughout the world, Maharishi declared 1987 to the Year of World Peace. He presented a program to reduce crime and violence in society and create peace in the world. Maharishi's plan called for the establishment in every country of a permanent group of 7,000 experts practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program together in one place.

Maharishi said that this group would immediately reduce the dangerous build-up of stress in collective consciousness and create "an indomitable influence of coherence and positivity in national and world consciousness to ensure that all political, social, and economic trends will always remain positive and enriching."

For There to Be Peace in Society

Maharishi also laid out a plan whereby every individual can contribute his or her share to promote peace. "For there to be peace in society, there must be peace in the individuals in society," Maharishi said. "Transcendental Meditation is a technique for gaining peace. If you have peace then you should engage in creating world peace by bringing your friends and family to start this practice. Unless you create peace in your family and friends, your own peace will be fragile and world peace will have no meaning for you. With peace in every home in our precious family of nations, Heaven will be created on Earth."

Scientific Research Expands

Research on group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program continued to expand. By 1990 there were over 40 sociological studies, including research showing positive effects on reducing urban crime, decreasing conflict in the Middle East, and reducing violent death. The studies were published in some of America's leading peer-reviewed scientific journals, including Journal of Conflict Resolution, Social Indicators Research, and Journal of Mind and Behavior.

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