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University students in Middle East radiate peace with Transcendental Meditation In the Middle East—a region of the world rich in the history of many cultural traditions, but known in recent times more for turbulence than tranquillity—a group of university students is quietly discovering happiness, clarity, and peace within their own consciousness through the Transcendental Meditation Programme, and radiating these qualities to their families and communities. A recent video follows the students through their school day, chatting as they walk between classes, and listening attentively to their professors’ lectures. In interviews, students described some of the positive changes they’ve noticed—within themselves, in their interactions with others, and in their families—since they learnt Transcendental Meditation. Several students were happily surprised to discover that they not only feel more relaxed, but also have more energy and mental clarity as a result of their twice-daily meditation practice. ‘I feel relaxation, and I feel like I have more energy,’ says a young lady who is studying Business Administration. ‘My mind is so clear.’ Transcendental Meditation ‘has a positive effect on me, on my behaviour, on my health, on my studies,’ comments a young man studying English Literature. In class, he finds that it’s becoming easier to understand what the teacher is saying since he’s been practising Transcendental Meditation. ‘If you want to get better marks in school,’ says another male student, ‘come and practise it, and you will see—you will not lose anything! You will not lose time—twice a day, it’s nothing. It’s easy, it’s natural.’ Like many of the other students, he feels happier and more carefree since he began meditating. This is the first time he has encountered something where he feels ‘more comfortable, relaxed. I feel the purity of my mind.’ After meditation, he says, ‘I feel like flying in the sky! When I meditate, I feel like a skylark.’ Students are finding that the deep relaxation and happiness they experience during and after practising Transcendental Meditation also brings relief from stress. Very soon they began noticing good effects in their daily lives—translating into better relationships with friends and family. ‘Really I feel less stress, this is the first thing I found,’ says a young lady studying Information Systems. ‘In my relationships I have more contacts now, I can speak with people—as you see me, I am so happy now!—and that affects the people around me,’ she says. ‘I solve my problems better now.’ Before one female student learnt to meditate, she says, ‘I was really having some problems with my family,’ fighting with siblings. ‘Now I feel more peaceful,’ she says, laughing with delight as she describes the change in herself. The young man studying English Literature also finds the effects of Transcendental Meditation extending beyond school to home. When someone does something now, that before would make him feel angry, ‘I don't [get] angry,’ he says. ‘I just take it easy. It's not about what you are saying—just take it easy and solve the problem in an appropriate way.’ Supporting religious traditions Some students are also finding that their deepening understanding and decreased stress have a positive influence in their religious life. Several commented that practising Transcendental Meditation does not conflict with their religion. A young man feels that it helps him progress, in continuing to follow the practices of his religion—‘to understand our religion in a quiet way’. ‘It’s not religious,’ says a young lady. In fact, she says, ‘I think Transcendental Meditation can unite all religions with each other,’ she says. ‘Everyone . . . can do Transcendental Meditation with each other. This way we can make peace.’ The students’ expressions are in harmony with those of members and leaders of religious faiths around the world, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and others. Many have stated that Transcendental Meditation is not itself a religion; and that far from conflicting with their own religion, it has brought greater depth and meaning to the study and practice of their religious traditions—as well as helping them grow in qualities upheld by all religions: love, compassion, inner peace, tolerance, purity, and service. The video beautifully illustrates the students’ experiences, showing them enjoying a group meditation together in their classroom—eyes closed, faces radiating peace and tranquillity—as they experience deep silence and peace within their own consciousness. This is the experience of Transcendental Consciousness—described in Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Vedic Science as an infinite field of pure intelligence, peace, and bliss at the basis of all the mind’s activity. This experience has been identified by modern neurophysiological science as a state of restful alertness—a fourth major state of consciousness, different from waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. Students' experiences validated by scientific research Extensive scientific research has documented the beneficial effects of Transcendental Meditation for the individual, which the students have found in themselves—including decreased stress and anxiety; increased academic achievement, moral maturity, and self-actualization; decreased aggressive, violent tendencies; and increased cooperation and effectiveness in work settings. Transcendental Meditation is also being used as an effective treatment in healing traumatic stress in many forms. The David Lynch Foundation—whose generous support enabled these university students to learn Transcendental Meditation—supports many initiatives to address the pervasive problems caused by traumatic stress—for thousands of students, homeless people, prison inmates and guards, and children at risk of violence around the world. Its most recent initiative offers Transcendental Meditation to military veterans suffering from combat stress—and their families—from the Second World War to current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Students creating a peaceful society and world through Transcendental Meditation Scientific research on Transcendental Meditation has also borne out the students’ thoughtful hopes that the technique can promote peace and unity among cultures and religions. One important experimental test was conducted during the peak of the Lebanon war. A day-by-day study of a two-month assembly in Israel in 1983 showed that, on days when the number of participants practising these technologies of consciousness together was high, war deaths in neighbouring Lebanon dropped by 76%. In addition, an index of crime, traffic accidents, fires, and other indicators of social stress in Israel all correlated strongly with changes in the size of the TM group. (Journal of Conflict Resolution 32: 776-812, 1988). These results were later replicated in seven consecutive experiments over a two-year period, also during the peak of the Lebanon war. The results of these interventions included decreases of: 71% in war-related fatalities, 68% in war-related injuries, and 48% in the level of conflict; and a 66% increase in cooperation among antagonists. The likelihood that these combined results were due to chance was very small—making this effect of reducing societal stress and conflict the most rigorously established phenomenon in the history of the social sciences (Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 17(1): 285–338, 2005). When larger groups practise the advanced Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme together, hostilities between nations dissolve and friendly relations naturally flourish. Other research found a 72% reduction in global terrorism during three large coherence-creating assemblies (Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36 (1-4): 283-302, 2003). An expression from the ancient Vedic Literature beautifully expresses this phenomenon, now established as a scientific reality: The students sense their pioneering role in helping create peace in the region, and express their gratitude to the David Lynch Foundation for supporting the programme. A student concludes, ‘I hope that [the Foundation] will support us in other programmes to make people more peaceful and more knowledgeable about what is Transcendental Meditation.’ * Yoga-Sutra, 2.35
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