by Mario Orsatti at www.tm.org/blog
2 April 2012
In a recent national broadcast, Terry Patten, faculty at the Integral Executive Leadership programs at Notre Dame University and host of the Beyond Awakening seminar series, interviews Dr. John Hagelin, world-renowned quantum physicist, educator, and author, about a variety of topics including:
• the importance of the discovery of higher states of consciousness, and how this discovery radically changes our understanding of the limits of human potential.
• the difference between the Transcendental Meditation technique and other techniques of meditation,
• the unique contribution to the field of consciousness made by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and,
• the implications of the Transcendental Meditation program for the transformation of society—for solving intractable problems in the field of education; reducing crime, terrorism and war; and promoting social harmony and world peace.
Interview Excerpts
Dr. Hagelin:
“Until you can change the consciousness that pervades our society, and that pervades our voters, especially in a democracy we get the government we elect. We get the government in a sense that we deserve. And we are going to continue to have fear-based and narrowly centered policies and elected officials until we deserve a better government. So I have come back more, although I certainly remain politically active, to raising the collective consciousness of the people, and in education introducing the experience of higher states of consciousness through meditation in order to elevate society, and on that basis to start to see a much more profound and rapid social transformation.”
Terry Patten:
You’re doing that work through the David Lynch Foundation?
Dr. Hagelin:
“Yes. In the last 4 years we have taught meditation to half a million students, especially in inner city schools through David Lynch Foundation.
"This would have been in my opinion impossible even five years ago due to fear surrounding the idea of meditation that to many seems foreign, even Eastern, possibly religious, and would conflict with the separation of church and state and such concerns you might expect could be raised. Those fears have really been overcome, primarily based on the acute need to do something different in the schools that will help our students cope with severe stress. . . . and boost educational outcomes, expand creativity—really develop the brain for improved educational performance. That is what’s happening.
"And it’s because of the research on those results and the concrete and undeniable transformation of these schools that have now incorporated the TM technique as part of the curriculum. On that basis it is really spreading rapidly. The demand far outstrips our ability to fulfill that demand.
"This is a very exciting transformation because it is really transforming the individual from the inside out through expansion of comprehension and consciousness in a measurable way in terms of brain functioning. This is going to create a more profound type of development than education traditionally delivers, and on the basis of more profoundly developed individuals with expanded comprehension, ultimately a new world. I don’t think that there is any other way.”
The full 90 minute interview is available at tm.org.
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About John Hagelin:
John Hagelin, Ph.D., is a world-renowned quantum physicist, educator, author, and President of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace.
Dr. Hagelin has conducted pioneering research at CERN (the European Center for Particle Physics) and SLAC (the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center). He is responsible for the development of a highly successful grand unified field theory based on the superstring—a theory that was featured in a cover story of Discover magazine.
In addition, Dr. Hagelin has spent much of the past quarter century leading a scientific investigation into the foundations of human consciousness. He is one of the world’s pre-eminent researchers on the effects of meditation on brain development, and the use of collective meditation to defuse societal stress and to reduce crime and social violence.
In recognition of his outstanding achievements, Dr. Hagelin was named winner of the prestigious Kilby Award, which recognizes scientists who have made “major contributions to society through their applied research in the fields of science and technology.” The award recognized Dr. Hagelin as “a scientist in the tradition of Einstein, Jeans, Bohr and Eddington.”
Dr. Hagelin has appeared many times on ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s Larry King Live! and many others. He has been regularly featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and most other major metropolitan newspapers.
© Copyright 2012, Maharishi Foundation USA
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