The individual is the unit, the building block of society. With Transcendental Meditation, we can give people a technique to reduce stress and help them be happier and more fulfilled, and so society as a whole will also have these qualities.
A person free from stress naturally generates happiness and harmony in their surroundings and thereby contributes maximum to peace in the world.
Peace and Progress in Society
As well as reducing stress and negativity in individuals, Transcendental Meditation reduces the overall level of stress in society.
Many research studies have found that just 1% of a population practising Transcendental Meditation is sufficient to bring about a significant reduction in crime, sickness and accidents. This effect has been called the “Maharishi Effect” by scientists.
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Two studies using time-series impact assessment analysis found a significant reduction in weekly fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents, homicides, and suicides in the United States (19821985) and Canada (19831985) when the size of the groups practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, exceeded the square root of one percent of the U.S. population, or of the U.S. and Canadian population together for an effect seen in Canada.
During periods when the size of the groups were smaller than the square root of one percent of the U.S. and Canadian populations, fatality rates were higher.
The use of time series methodology ensures that these effects could not be due to random variation, seasonal cycles, or long-term trends in the two countries.
*Reference: Test of a field theory of consciousness and social change: Time series analysis of participation in the TM-Sidhi programme and reduction in violent death in the U.S. Social Indicators Research 22: 399418, 1990.
A prospective study was performed to assess the effects of the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme on the quality of life in Rhode Island.
The number of TM-Sidhi programme participants was sufficient to create the Maharishi Effect for the entire state. A time-series analysis was performed on a monthly index that assessed the quality of life in Rhode Island in comparison to a demographically matched control state.
During the experimental period, an index comprised of the following variables significantly decreased: crime, motor vehicle fatalities, auto accidents, deaths, alcoholic beverage and cigarette consumption, unemployment, and pollution.
In the figure above, an increase illustrates an improvement in the index of all these variables taken together.
*Reference: Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme and changes in social indicators, The Journal of Mind and Behavior 8: 67103, 1987.
The results show that 24 cities in which 1% of the population had been instructed in the Transcendental Meditation programme by 1972 displayed decreased crime rates during the next year (1973) and decreased crime rate trends during subsequent years (19721977) in comparison to 19671972, in contrast to control cities matched for geographic region, population, college population, and crime rate.
*Reference: The Transcendental Meditation programme and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities, Journal of Crime and Justice 4: 2545, 1981.
This study indicates that group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme improved the quality of life in Israel as measured by improvement on an index comprising crime rate, traffic accidents, fires, and the number of war deaths in Lebanon, and by increases in the national stock market and improvements in national mood.
The chart above shows the strong correspondence between the number of Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi programme participants in the group in Jerusalem and a composite index of all the above variables.
*Reference: International peace project in the Middle East: Effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, Journal of Conflict Resolution 32: 776812, 1988.
