by Dr. John Hagelin
Abstract
We consider the implications of the latest advances in scientific
knowledge for the areas of conflict resolution and world peace. We
examine scientific evidence for a new technology of world peace based on
the unified field of natural law and its practical utilization through
extended, field effects of consciousness. We assess the practicality of
this new technology using direct, experimental intervention studies in
critical test regions, including the Middle East. We conclude that this
technology of world peace offers a cost-effective, scientifically
validated means of achieving and sustaining a stable state of peace in
the international arena.
Contents
Introduction
Discovery of the Unified Field
The Unified Field and Consciousness
The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field
Life in Accord with Natural Law
Freedom from Stress
Field Effects of Consciousness
Historical Development
Time Series Analysis
Recent Intervention Studies
Reduction of Violence in the Middle East Through the Maharishi Effect
Physical Interpretation
Conclusion
Appendix: Qualities of the Unified Field
References
Introduction
In recent years, research into the probable causes of war has led to a
shift from the understanding that conflict originates in the
inadequacies of various forms of government and/or the lack of
preparedness for war(ref. 1) to seeing lack of fulfillment of individuals and resulting stress levels in society as the basic cause.(ref. 2)
From this modern perspective, one can understand why the traditional
political and military approaches, which ignore the underlying cause of
war, have failed throughout history to achieve world peace.
Fortunately, in the past few years, an entirely new approach based on the discovery(ref. 3) of the unified field has given rise to a practical and cost-effective technology(ref. 4,5) for alleviating collective stress, and for achieving and sustaining a stable state of world peace.
In
this article, we explain how the discovery of the unified field
provides the theoretical basis for a new technology of world peace known
as the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field.(ref. 4,5)
We show how, through this new technology, an individual can access the
unified field and apply this most fundamental and powerful level of
nature’s dynamics to benefit individual life(ref. 6-11) and the life of society.(ref. 12-16)
The application to world peace occurs through group practice of the
Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by a small proportion of a
population, which alleviates stress in the collective consciousness and
promotes harmony and coherence throughout society as a whole.(ref. 12-16)
We examine recent published empirical studies documenting the
effectiveness of this group practice in reducing violence and
negativity, including war deaths and war injuries in areas of intense
international conflict.(ref. 13-16)
This combined research establishes that a permanent group of 7,000
experts practicing the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field
provides a practical means to create a permanent state of world peace.
Discovery of the Unified Field
The progress of society is based upon scientific knowledge. The
scientific understanding of the laws of nature governing behavior at
every level of the physical universe provides the theoretical foundation
for the practical utilization of these laws through the various
branches of applied science and technology. For example, scientific
knowledge of the laws of nature governing biochemical and physiological
processes provides the theoretical basis for all the applied methods,
approaches, and technologies in the field of medicine. Similarly,
knowledge of electromagnetism and the principles of information theory
provide the theoretical foundation for modern telecommunications and
computer technology.
Until recently, scientific understanding of the laws of nature
has been incomplete. In particular, the underlying basis of natural law
in the unified field has been unavailable, giving rise to a fragmented
and partial view of the laws of nature governing the universe. Partial
and fragmented understanding of the laws of nature has given rise to
technologies that, on the one hand, have brought a degree of progress
and comfort to society but, not being holistic, have resulted in
numerous physiological, psychological, sociological, and ecological side
effects. Nuclear technologies, for example, based on the scientific
understanding of the laws of nature governing nuclear structure and
transformations, have given rise to an alternative energy source that
can be economically cost effective,(ref. 17) but have also given rise to highly toxic, ecologically dangerous radioactive wastes(ref. 18) and a generation of weapons that has threatened mankind with extinction.
Now,
the continued progress of society demands the practical utilization of a
level of nature’s functioning that is at once more powerful and more
holistic—a technology based on the total potential of natural law
available in the unified field.
During the past two decades,
progress in theoretical physics has led to a progressively more unified
understanding of the laws of nature, culminating in the recent discovery
of completely unified field theories.(ref. 3)
This discovery began in 1967 with the introduction by Professors
Weinberg and Salam of the unified theory of the weak and electromagnetic
forces,(ref. 19) uniting two of the four fundamental forces governing all physical processes (please refer to Figure 1).
The profound success of this unified “electro-weak” theory confirmed
that at deeper levels of nature’s dynamics—at more fundamental (i.e.,
smaller) spacetime scales—the laws of nature present a simpler, more
unified structure in which superficially diverse laws of nature become
unified.
In the early 1970s, it was shown that this same unifying
principle could be extended to include the strong nuclear force, leading
to “grand unified theories” of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic
forces.(ref. 20) In 1974, the concept of supersymmetry(ref. 21)
was introduced—a profound mathematical symmetry principle capable of
unifying particles of different “spin”—providing the mathematical basis
for completely unified field theories. During the past several years,
the application of this principle has led to the development of
completely unified theories of all the fundamental forces and particles
of nature based on the heterotic string.(ref. 3)
The
heterotic string or “superstring” describes all the fundamental forces
and particles as the various modes of vibration of a single, underlying
unified field. The superstring thereby provides a completely unified
understanding of the fundamental forces and particles of nature, in
addition to the first quantum-mechanically consistent theory of the
gravitational force.
Now, with the discovery of the unified field,
the total range of natural law is open to scientific knowledge and
exploration. Since the progress of society is based on scientific
knowledge, the discovery of the unified field—the most fundamental and
powerful level of nature’s dynamics—can be expected to have the most
far-reaching implications for human life and civilization. Moreover,
because the discovery of the unified field constitutes scientific
knowledge of the total potential of natural law, in contrast to the more
superficial, partial, and fragmented levels of scientific knowledge,
its application can be expected to produce holistic benefits—i.e., to
create balance and to neutralize the destructive side effects of
previous levels of scientific knowledge. For this to be practically
realized, however, a technology of the unified field is clearly
necessary.
Fortunately, such a technology exists,(ref. 4)
and has been the subject of intensive scientific research. During the
past 20 years, its effectiveness has been verified by hundreds of
published studies appearing in leading scientific journals throughout
the world.(ref. 6-16) The applications of this technology in the fields of health,(ref. 8) education,(ref. 9) rehabilitation,(ref. 10) economics,(ref. 11) and world peace(ref. 12-16)
have already demonstrated its capacity to create a quality of life and
civilization which is far beyond that which was possible based on
previous levels of scientific knowledge.
The Unified Field and Consciousness
It was clear even from the pioneering work in the area of unified
field theories by Einstein and contemporaries that the application of
this most fundamental and powerful level of natural law would
necessarily be through a technology of consciousness.(ref. 22) This is partly because the domain of superunification—the Planck scale of 10-33
cm—is beyond the range of any particle accelerator or conceivable
objective technology. Indeed, the objective approach of modern science,
which is founded upon the separation between the observer and the
observed, is essentially unsuited to investigate the fundamentally
indivisible structure of natural law at its unified foundation.(ref. 23)
However, although the unified field is beyond the range of any
objective technology, it is not beyond the range of human intelligence,
as today’s highly successful unified field theories have demonstrated.
In fact, it is now well known(ref. 22-25)
that through proper training, human awareness can gain direct access to
the unified field in the most fundamental state of human
consciousness—the state of “pure consciousness,” which lies at the
foundation of conscious experience.(ref. 4-5, 24-25)
During the past 20 years, extensive scientific research,(ref. 6-16)
along with the direct personal experience of millions of individuals
practicing a simple, subjective technology called the Maharishi
Technology of the Unified Field,(ref. 5) has shown that human intelligence, like nature’s intelligence, has at its basis a unified field of intelligence(ref. 23) (please refer to Figure 1).
In this most fundamental state of awareness, known as transcendental
consciousness or pure consciousness, the knower, the known, and the
process of knowing are united in a single, self-interacting structure of
experience.(ref. 4,23)
The defining characteristics of this unified field of
consciousness—e.g., self-referral or self-interaction, pure
intelligence, and infinite dynamism—are identical to the essential
characteristics of the unified field of modern physics derived from the
Lagrangian of the superstring. (Please refer to the Appendix,
entitled “Qualities of the Unified Field”) The most natural conclusion
is that the most fundamental level of human intelligence (pure
consciousness) and the most fundamental level of nature’s intelligence
(the unified field) are not independent, but one and the same, providing
a profound unification of objective and subjective realms of existence
at the level of the unified field.(ref. 22,23)
This
fundamental identity between the unified field of physics and the
unified field of pure consciousness at the basis of the mind is
confirmed through detailed analysis of their quantitative structure and
dynamics. The vibrational spectrum of the excitations of the unified
field, i.e., its resonant modes or “energy eigenstates” which comprise
all the various particles and forces in the universe, are identical in
structure to the fundamental modes of consciousness open to direct
experience through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (for
details, please refer to ref. 23).
In other words, not only do these two fields possess identical
qualities and characteristics, but they share the same quantitative
spectrum of excitations. This quantitative correspondence strongly
supports the proposed identity between pure consciousness and the
unified field. This fundamental identity is open to direct experiential
confirmation through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, in
which all the subjective and objective aspects of existence are
experienced to emerge from the field of pure consciousness, establishing
pure consciousness as the unified fountainhead of natural law.(ref. 23)
The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field
The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field is a systematic
technology which opens human awareness to the direct experience of
consciousness in its pure, self-referral state, in which the conscious
mind is identified with the unified field of all the laws of nature
(please refer to Figure 1).(ref. 4,5)
It systematically expands human comprehension to experience and explore
more abstract and fundamental levels of intelligence of the mind,
corresponding to more fundamental and universal levels of nature’s
intelligence,(ref. 22)
culminating in the experience of a level of intelligence that is
completely universal and unified in its nature—the experience of the
unified field itself. Research has shown that this experience of pure
consciousness constitutes a fourth major state of consciousness,(ref. 24,25) physiologically distinct from waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. It is characterized by high EEG coherence,(ref. 26)
indicating profound integration and orderliness of brain functioning,
together with other unique physiological and biochemical changes.(ref. 27) Over 500 scientific studies(ref. 6-16)
conducted at more than 200 universities and research institutes in 30
countries [Editors note: this is an updated figure as of October 1992]
throughout the world have extensively documented the profound
physiological,(ref. 8) psychological,(ref. 6) and sociological(ref. 11-16) benefits resulting from this fundamental experience, including increased intelligence(ref. 6) and creativity,(ref. 7) improved physical and mental health,(ref. 8) and increased self-actualization.(ref. 28)
The completely holistic nature of these benefits further supports the
hypothesis that this subjective technology operates at the most
fundamental and holistic level of nature—the level of the unified
field.(ref. 23)
Life in Accord with Natural Law
The unified field is the total potential of natural law. In its
self-interacting dynamics are contained the mechanics of “symmetry
breaking” through which it becomes expressed as the apparently diverse
values of natural law displayed throughout the universe.(ref. 23)
During the practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field,
an individual experiences directly the mechanics by which thought arises
from the unified field, the field of pure intelligence or pure
consciousness at the basis of the mind.(ref. 25)
Repeated experience results in an innate familiarity with the laws of
nature that govern the transformation of the unified field into its
superficially diverse values.(ref. 5, 23)
Innumerable laws of nature uphold human life in its natural
pursuit of health, happiness and progress. These laws determine the
consequences of our thoughts and actions and thereby either support the
fulfillment of our desires or lead us to corrective action. When,
through repeated experience of pure consciousness, an individual’s
awareness becomes consciously identified with the unified field, the
total potential of natural law, then he enjoys life spontaneously in
accord with all the laws of nature.(ref. 5)
This is to say that the person’s thought and action spontaneously are
suitable to the environmental context. They meet with no problems,
conflict, or resistance, and create no suffering for the individual or
for society. Taking maximal advantage of the laws of nature, such
thoughts and actions are naturally supported by all the laws of nature
governing physiological, psychological, and sociological processes.(ref. 5,6-16)
They do not set in motion any processes that, even in part, conflict
with the intent of the thought and action. This state of human life
supported by natural law is possible only when the total potential of
natural law, the unified field, is fully enlivened in human awareness.
No other level of natural law, and no other level of human awareness, is
sufficiently holistic that it could comprehend all the laws of nature
that affect human life.
To live a life in accordance with natural law has been the goal of moral philosophers(ref. 29) and thoughtful medical scientists(ref. 30)
throughout history. These scholars have attempted to develop codes of
behavior based on intellectual knowledge of the laws of nature. An
intellectual approach, however, can at best be incomplete because the
totality of all the laws of nature is too vast and complex to be
understood intellectually. It is nevertheless possible for human
awareness to comprehend by direct experience the unified field, the
completely holistic level of natural law from which nature spontaneously
conducts all activity in the universe.(ref. 4-5,22-25) By repeated experience,(ref. 25)
the mind becomes identified with this field, and thereby develops an
innate familiarity with the total potential of natural law upholding
life and evolution on all levels of the physical universe. Thought and
action become automatically aligned with the evolutionary power of
natural law,(ref. 5)
and thereby enjoy the same natural effectiveness and efficiency with
which nature governs the universe—with absolute efficiency and economy
in accordance with the universal principle of least action.(ref. 23)
Freedom from Stress
In his seminal book, Life Supported by Natural Law,(ref. 5)
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explains that the violation of natural law
through improper thought and action causes stress in the individual
nervous system. That is, action which is unsuitable or goes against the
natural functioning of the mind and physiology produces strain and
stress in that particular area of the physiology or nervous system.
Stress is defined as a structural or chemical abnormality in the
physiology which obstructs the proper functioning of the nervous system
in that specific area. This description is corroborated by medical
evidence concerning the nature of stress and its effect upon the nervous
system.(ref. 30)
The continued violation of natural law results in accumulated
stress, which causes problems for the individual mind, body and
behavior. Stress that is not alleviated by the body’s resting cycle or
by the body’s natural homeostatic and self-repair mechanisms builds up
in the nervous system, and ultimately manifests as disease or some other
form of physiological or psychological disturbance. (Over 80% of
diseases are now known to be stress-related.(ref. 31)) Accumulated stress causes tension, frustration, ill health and unhappiness and, according to Maharishi,(ref. 25)
is the underlying cause of destructive, violent and other anti-social
behavior. Unhappiness, imbalance and frustration in turn promote further
violations of natural law, creating more stress, and a dangerous cycle
is created. A technology to alleviate stress and to bring life
spontaneously into accord with natural law is therefore essential to
safeguard against the consequences of stress for the individual’s health
and happiness.
Society is essentially a collection of
individuals. On a societal level, the accumulation of stress through the
violation of natural law by all the individual citizens of society
leads to the same type of collective ill health and anti-social behavior
that results from stress on the individual level. In Life Supported by
Natural Law,(5)
Maharishi identifies violation of natural law and the resulting
accumulated stress levels in society as the basic cause of collective
ill health (and associated spiralling health-care costs) and collective
frustration, leading to crime, drug abuse, violence and other
anti-social behavior. According to Maharishi, the continued buildup of
stress in collective consciousness ultimately manifests as war and other
collective calamities. This is very much in accord with current
thinking in the field of political science, where lack of fulfillment
and collective stress levels in society are increasingly seen as the
principal cause of war.(ref. 1,2)
From
our previous discussion it follows that practice of the Maharishi
Technology of the Unified Field by individual citizens of a nation, by
bringing life into accord with natural law and preventing the buildup of
collective stress, would remove the underlying cause of war.
Unfortunately, as an immediate practical program, it may be somewhat
unrealistic to expect that an entire population could be trained in the
Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field and would practice the
technology regularly. Fortunately, however, research has found that the
practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by the whole
population is not necessary in order to achieve significant results.
Repeated studies have shown that as few as the square root of one
percent of a population practicing the Maharishi Technology of the
Unified Field as a group is sufficient to produce a significant and
demonstrable drop in crime rate, accidents, and other indicators of
collective stress,(ref. 12,32) and even to reduce violence and war in areas of intense international conflict.(ref. 12-16)
These far-reaching effects produced by a small proportion of the
population are the result of “field effects of consciousness” generated
by group practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field.
Field Effects of Consciousness
If consciousness in its deepest aspect is fundamentally a field, as
our previous analysis along with the experience of millions of
individuals practicing the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field has
shown, then phenomena of consciousness must necessarily include
processes that are inherently field-like, or unlocalized, in nature. At
present, the most striking and important application of this new
scientific framework for the understanding of consciousness is the
Maharishi Effect, which refers to extended field effects of
consciousness produced by the collective practice of the Maharishi
Technology of the Unified Field. Over thirty consecutive studies provide
conclusive evidence that group practice of an advanced aspect of the
Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field called the TM-Sidhi program by
as few as the square root of one percent of a population reduces
violence, crime, and other manifestations of societal stress.(ref. 12-16,32-37)
These studies use statistical analysis of standard sociological
measures to assess the influence of groups of experts collectively
practicing the TM-Sidhi program on a surrounding population. Because of
the importance of these empirical results for our practical assessment
of this new approach and technology for world peace, a brief summary and
interpretation of the research is included here.
Historical Development
In 1960, Maharishi predicted that one percent of a population
practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique would produce
measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population.
The first study designed to test this prediction(ref. 12)
analyzed crime rate change in 22 U.S. cities (population > 25,000)
from 1972 to 1973. Crime rates decreased in the 11 cities with one
percent of the population practicing the Transcendental Meditation
technique, while crime rates in the matched control cities continued to
rise. A more extensive study(ref. 38)
analyzed crime rate trends in 48 U.S. cities (population > 10,000)
over the 11-year period from 1967 to 1977. This included all independent
cities in this population range with one percent of the population
instructed in the Transcendental Meditation program. Crime rates
decreased significantly in the 24 “one percent” cities compared with
their own previous trends and compared with 24 matched control cities
over the same period. Subsequent replications have analyzed crime rate
trends in 160 cities and 80 metropolitan areas in the U.S. using
increasingly powerful design and analysis techniques,(ref. 32)
and have further demonstrated Maharishi’s prediction that participation
in the Transcendental Meditation program would lead to a reduction in
crime rate trends.
With the introduction of the more advanced TM-Sidhi program in
1976, Maharishi anticipated a more powerful influence of coherence in
the collective consciousness of society. He predicted that group
practice of the TM-Sidhi program by as few as the square root of one
percent of a population[footnote 1] would have a demonstrable effect on standard sociological measures.
The
relatively small number of participants practicing the TM-Sidhi program
predicted to generate this effect of societal coherence has made it
possible for many direct experimental studies to be performed in which
the necessary number of participants come together on courses in various
locations for periods of time ranging from one week to several months.
Most of these studies, including research at the metropolitan, state,
national and international scales, have used time series analysis to
reliably estimate experimental effects independent of cycles and trends
in the data. This type of research design, called an experimental
intervention study, constitutes a unique and rigorous approach for the
social sciences.
Time Series Analysis
The effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on
quality-of- life indices are usually assessed with time series analysis
using the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) approach of
Box and Jenkins.(ref. 39)
(A time series is a sequence of equally-spaced measures on some
variable, e.g., monthly crime rate.) This methodology has become the
standard for rigorously estimating the effects of an outside
intervention on a time series or for empirically determining the form of
causal relationship between two continuous time series.(ref. 40)
Time series “intervention analysis” is used to assess effects of
hypothesized influences during specific time periods (e.g., when the
number of TM-Sidhi participants exceeds a certain critical threshold).
Time series “transfer function analysis” is used to model the
input-output relationship between a continuous independent exogenous
variable (e.g., the daily number of TM-Sidhi participants) and the
dependent or endogenous variable (a social indicator such as crime
rate).
With both methods, the time series approach controls for any
serial dependence of observations, trends, or seasonal cycles in the
data over time by including these influences in a “noise model” of the
series.(ref. 40)
That is, as part of the time series analysis a mathematical model of
the time-dependent regularities in the endogenous series is constructed,
and this model will account for, and therefore control for, patterns in
the endogenous time series that can be predicted from its own past
history. The noise model thus serves essentially as a “null hypothesis”
for effects of the exogenous variable.[footnote 2]Any
intervention effects or transfer function effects on the endogenous
variable indicate effects of the independent variable that cannot be
predicted either from the previous history of the series or from any
unmeasured continuous variables that may be partially determining the
endogenous variable. These time series methods have proven to be ideal
for assessing the effects of the group practice of the TM-Sidhi program
upon sociological indicators.
Recent Intervention Studies
Within the past few years, there have been an increasing number of
experimental studies using time series intervention and transfer
function analysis to assess the effects of the group practice of the
TM-Sidhi program at the metropolitan, state, national, and international
scales.
At the metropolitan and state levels, time series intervention
studies found reduced crime in Metro Manila, Philippines, in New Delhi,
India, and in Puerto Rico during periods in which large groups had
assembled for conferences involving twice daily practice of the TM-Sidhi
program.(ref. 41)
Time series transfer function analysis similarly found a reduction in
violent crime in Washington, D.C., in weeks following an increase in the
size of a permanent group of TM-Sidhi participants.(ref. 38)
Other intervention studies in Metro Manila and in Rhode Island found
improvements in holistic indices of the quality of life composed of
available monthly social indicators during periods of assemblies of
large groups of TM-Sidhi participants.(ref. 41)
The
most well-documented analyses at the national level have been in the
U.S., where a permanent large group of participants in the TM-Sidhi
program has been established at Maharishi International University
(MIU). Since 1982, the size of this group has periodically exceeded the
square root of one percent of the U.S. population. An analysis of annual
changes in a quality-of-life index comprising 11 major variables showed
a significant improvement correlated with the size of the group of
TM-Sidhi participants.(ref. 33)
More detailed analyses of the U.S. quality of life using time series
intervention and transfer function analysis during 1979-1985 found
reduced weekly fatalities due to violence (homicides, suicides, and
motor vehicle accidents) on weeks immediately after the size of the MIU
TM-Sidhi group exceeded the square root of one percent of the U.S.
population.(ref. 34)
This analysis showed that two-thirds of the observed decrease in U.S.
violent fatalities from 1979 to 1985 could be directly attributed to the
group practice of the TM-Sidhi program. Reduced violent deaths were
also found in Canada when the size of the MIU group exceeded the square
root of one percent of the combined populations of the U.S. and Canada.(ref. 35)
In addition, time series intervention analysis of monthly U.S. and
Canadian economic trends (a “misery” index combining inflation and
unemployment) showed improved economic conditions in months immediately
after the number of participants exceeded the required number (1,600)
for the population of the U.S. and Canada.(ref. 36) (Please refer to Cavanaugh’s article in this issue.)
There
have been three assemblies in which the number of TM-Sidhi participants
approached or exceeded the square root of one percent of the world’s
population—about 7,000 individuals. During each of these assemblies,
there was a significant reduction of international conflict, as
indicated by time series intervention analysis of news events.(ref. 37)
The time series of news events was created from content analysis
(rating of news items) of major newspapers by raters who were unaware of
the dates of the news items being rated. Time series analysis also
indicated a significant reduction in fatalities and injuries due to
terrorism during and immediately after the period of these assemblies;
data on terrorism was collected by an independent agency.(ref. 37)
Reduction of Violence in the Middle East Through the Maharishi Effect
One especially critical experimental test of the hypothesis that the
group practice of the TM-Sidhi program by the square root of one percent
of a population would positively affect sociological measures was
conducted in Israel in August and September of 1983.(ref. 13)
Based on the results of previous experiments, the research hypotheses
and the specific measures to be used in the study were lodged in advance
of the experiment with an independent review board of scientists in the
U.S. and Israel.
It was predicted that group practice of the TM-Sidhi program in
Jerusalem would reduce stress in the collective consciousness of Israel
and Lebanon. Box-Jenkins ARIMA intervention, cross correlation, and
transfer function analyses were used to study the effects of changes in
the size of the group on several variables and composite indices
reflecting the quality of life in Jerusalem and Israel, and also the war
in Lebanon.
Figure 2
shows a striking covariation between the size of the group of TM-Sidhi
participants (dotted line) and a composite index of quality of life that
was the arithmetic average of standardized scores for crime rate,
traffic accidents, fires, stock market, national mood, and the number of
war deaths as a measure of war intensity in Lebanon.
Increases in
the size of the group had a statistically significant effect on the
individual variables and on the composite quality-of-life index. Cross
correlations and transfer functions indicated that the group had a
leading relationship to change on the quality-of-life indicators,
supporting a causal interpretation. There was a 45% reduction in war
intensity and a 76% reduction in war deaths during periods of high
numbers of TM-Sidhi participants. Time series analysis demonstrated that
the effect could not be attributed to seasonality (such as weekend
effects or holidays) or to changes in temperature.
The hypothesis
that the influence occurs on a fundamental and holistic level of nature
is supported by the fact that the arithmetic average of the different
measures produced the clearest results and by the observation that the
different sociological measures tended to change independently of each
other when the group size was small, but all changed coherently in a
positive direction as the group size was increased.
A subsequent study (Figure 3)
assessed the impact on the Lebanon war of three successive assemblies
in which large groups practiced the TM-Sidhi program during a six-month
period from November 13, 1983 to May 18, 1984.(ref. 14) The assemblies were held in the United States, Lebanon and Yugoslavia, and were approximately two weeks long.
The
authors used a time series intervention analysis of the Lebanon war to
compare levels of conflict during the days on which the assemblies
occurred compared to the baseline period which consisted of all other
days during the six-month period of the study. The level of the conflict
was measured by three indices: daily levels of a Peace/War Index(ref. 15)
of events reported in major Lebanon newspapers, daily reported war
deaths, and daily injuries due to the war. The scoring was performed by
representatives of the different factions involved in the conflict, and
inter-rater reliability was high.
As predicted in advance, the
Peace/War Index showed that prevailing negative conditions were abruptly
reversed, and greater progress toward peaceful resolution of the
Lebanon conflict was observed than would have been expected based on the
prior six-month history of the war (p < .00005). War deaths fell by
55%, from a mean of 6.5 per day during the baseline period to a mean of
2.9 per day during the three assemblies (p < .0005). War injuries
fell by 38%, from a mean of 20.6 per day during the baseline period to a
mean of 12.7 per day during the assemblies.
The study of the
Lebanon conflict was subsequently expanded to include a daily time
series intervention analysis of a 27-month period during which there
were seven assemblies of TM-Sidhi participants of sufficient size to
influence the Lebanon conflict according to the square root of one
percent formula.(ref. 16)
These assemblies, which ranged from a small group in the central area
of fighting within Lebanon, to larger groups in Israel, Yugoslavia and
the Netherlands, to three groups of up to 7,800 in the U.S., are the
only ones in the last decade of sufficient size in relation to their
proximity to Lebanon to exceed the threshold for a predicted impact
there. For each assembly lasting between one and eight weeks,
improvements in quality of life (including reduction of political
violence and progress toward peace) were predicted publicly and in
advance for the surrounding population equal to ~100 n2,
where n is the number collectively practicing the TM-Sidhi program. For a
total of 93 days, or 11.33% of the period of the study, this population
included all or most of Lebanon, or at least the primary region of
conflict within Lebanon.
The 821-day data base, which included
daily levels of cooperation and conflict and the number of reported war
fatalities and injuries, was generated using independently developed
16-point scales of cooperation and conflict.(ref. 42)
Events were coded by an experienced Lebanese coder, blind to the
experimental hypotheses and unaware of the assemblies and the technology
employed, from eight international news sources, including The New York
Times, and news broadcasts from radio stations in and near Lebanon
representing all major parties to the conflict, as reported by the
Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
Box-Jenkins intervention analyses indicated (Figure 4)
that in contrast to nonexperimental days, during the 93 days when
assemblies were sufficiently large for a predicted impact in Lebanon
there was an estimated:
1. 66% mean increase in level of cooperation among antagonists (t = 4.96, p = 4 x 10-7 [footnote 3]);
2. 48% reduction in level of conflict (t = -5.81, p = 3 x 10-9);
3. 71% reduction in war fatalities (t = -6.45, p = 1 x 10-10); and
4. 68% reduction in war injuries (t = -4.91, p = 5 x 10-7).
A
composite Peace/War Index combining these variables indicated (Figure
5) that the seven assemblies each had independently significant positive
effects on the war (t = 9.03, p = 9 x 10-20). The study
employs an interrupted time series design with multiple replications,
which offers a “very powerful” basis for addressing the issue of
causality.(ref. 43)
Changes in temperature or holidays did not account for any of the
improvements during each assembly. The mean temperature on experimental
days (which were spread across all four seasons) was slightly higher
than on other days, yet despite an overall tendency for higher levels of
violence to occur on hotter days, violence still diminished sharply on
experimental days. The possible impact of religious and national
holidays was separately assessed, and in the one case where these had a
significant impact on the war (cooperation was higher on Muslim
holidays) this was also included as part of the null model when
assessing the impact of the assemblies.
The possibility that
improvements were due to the assemblies being initiated in response to
worsening conditions in the war, and thus being held when the conflict
was improving anyway (through regression toward the mean), may be
discounted for several reasons. First, all assemblies except that in
Lebanon were announced several weeks or months in advance, and dates set
without reference to the situation in Lebanon, which was no more a
concern than other trouble spots within the range of impact of each
assembly. Second, the statistical independence of the occurrence of the
assemblies from patterns of behavior in the war (dependent series) in
the weeks and days immediately preceding and following the assemblies
was explicitly tested and confirmed. Finally, it is clear from the
results that the observed impact on each variable represents improvement
substantially away from the mean, not regression toward it. For the
same reasons, the improvements could not be due to convening assemblies
at the first sign of improvement in the war. Also, positive changes were
found to occur with zero time-delay, from the first day of each
experimental period: that is, the periods began before the improved
events could be reported in the press, and ended before renewed violence
could be reported.
The design of the experiment also precluded
explanation in terms of coincidence, post hoc selection of data, or
measurement artifact. Coincidence may be ruled out on the basis of
extremely low probability values (9 x 10-20 on the Peace/War
Index), and the high level of consistency across all indices and
replications (assemblies). Post hoc selection of assemblies, variables
or data sources was precluded through announcement to the media (and in
some cases to independent review boards) of dates and predicted effects
prior to each assembly (again excepting that held in Lebanon). Any
possibility of measurement artifact or bias was severely limited through
use of independently developed scales, multiple news sources
representing all parties, and a highly experienced coder, familiar with
the political and cultural context of the war, but blind as to the
nature of the hypotheses, the independent variable, and the theory and
technology on which the hypotheses were based.
Explanation of
observed improvements as a consequence of publicity or other behavioral
interactions between assembly organizers or participants and the people
fighting in Lebanon can also be excluded. Only in the Lebanon assembly
was there any possibility of direct personal interaction, and that was
minimized in that participants and organizers remained isolated in their
facility in a small village except for such activities as purchase of
food and travel when first joining or leaving the assembly. In no case
did the media in Lebanon carry any prior or concurrent news items
concerning any of the assemblies, nor was there any attempt during any
assembly to create any expectation of change, or otherwise influence the
behavior of parties to the conflict other than through practice of the
Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program (which involves an inward
focus of attention, to maximize coherence and normalize stress
principally for the purpose of personal development).
These
findings strongly support the hypothesis that societal coherence can be
enhanced, and even protracted violence alleviated, across any population
size as a spontaneous and nonintrusive field effect generated by the
group practice of the TM-Sidhi program.
Physical Interpretation
In addition to their obvious practical importance for eliminating war
and raising the quality of life in society, these research findings
clearly have profound implications concerning our understanding of
consciousness and its relation to the physical world. Indeed, they
appear to invalidate completely the prevailing psychological and
sociological paradigm, in which consciousness is viewed as a purely
superficial and localized phenomenon—i.e., the macroscopic outcome of
complex biochemical and electrophysiological processes in the brain.
Instead, the Maharishi Effect research suggests that consciousness, in
addition to its obvious localized content, has a deeper, unlocalized,
field-theoretic basis, in agreement with our previous discussion and
analysis.
In such circumstances, it is vital that leading physicists,
psychologists and other scholars carefully assess the impact of these
findings on our understanding of the natural universe. One such analysis
is presented in note 22,
where it is shown that these results are consistent with the current
framework of unified quantum field theories, but require an expanded
physical framework for our understanding of consciousness. We will
summarize the main elements of that analysis here.
Although it
would be more accurate to say that the Maharishi Effect data constitutes
evidence for an “action at a distance” with respect to consciousness
rather than a “field effect” per se, physics has historically come to
associate action at a distance with field phenomena. The observed
attenuation of the effect with distance (i.e., the fact that a
relatively small group in Lebanon produced an effect comparable to a
group of over 7,000 halfway around the globe) would support such a
field-theoretic interpretation. The quadratic dependence of the
intensity of the effect upon the size of the coherence-creating group is
also characteristic of a field phenomenon in which the radiators are
operating coherently. More specifically, the coherent superposition of
amplitudes required to produce such an intense constructive interference
suggests the behavior of a bose field.
However, there are certain
features of the Maharishi Effect that are not easily understood on the
basis of a conventional field. The main difficulty with a simple
field-theoretic model is in understanding the observed data on the basis
of any of the known fields. The only known candidates for such
long-range interactions are electromagnetism and gravity. Any
conventional gravitational interaction between individuals is presumably
orders of magnitude too weak[footnote 4].
Moreover, it is generally agreed that the electromagnetic interaction
between individuals would also be too weak to give rise to any
significant effects. This conclusion is probably reasonable despite new
evidence that the physiology may be sensitive to environmental AC
electric fields six to seven orders of magnitude weaker than had been
previously considered possible.(ref. 44)
In fact, the brain appears to be particularly sensitive to
EEG-modulated microwave radiation in the 0.5–10 gigahertz range,
offering a potential mechanism for EEG communication and entrainment. It
has been shown by Tourenne(ref. 45)
that certain cellular structures within the cortex that support the
propagation of electromagnetic solitons could provide highly efficient
radiators of microwave radiation, which would presumably be modulated in
the EEG band.
While we therefore feel it is essential to pursue
possible electromagnetic mechanisms for the Maharishi Effect, these
mechanisms at present appear unable to account for the observed
phenomenology. (Moreover, there was no evidence of attenuation in an
instance where the coherence-creating group was electromagnetically
shielded by a metallic enclosure.(ref. 46))
If
conventional mechanisms are unable to account for the observed data,
then some unconventional mechanism involving new physics is clearly
needed. Since there are no other long-range forces of electromagnetic or
comparable strength, one is led to consider alternative theoretical
frameworks that could serve to bridge the substantial distance barriers
involved. One such framework is provided by the structure of spacetime
geometry at the scale of super-unification—the proposed domain of pure
consciousness.
Although we do not currently possess the
calculational tools needed to unfold the full dynamics of quantum
gravity, there are strong indications that the local 3 + 1 dimensional
structure of classical spacetime geometry observed at distances larger
than the Planck scale may provide a totally inappropriate framework for
physics at the scale of superunification. Indeed, today’s unified
quantum field theories based on the superstring point to an entirely
different spacetime structure which transcends 3 + 1 dimensions
completely. In these theories, an abstract 1 + 1 dimensional spacetime
structure of the string itself dynamically generates the emergent 3 + 1
dimensional classical spacetime, possibly through a sequence of
intermediate stages (e.g., through a ten dimensional low-energy
effective field theory). In this dynamics, the very existence of an
emergent, local, causal spacetime structure depends intimately upon the
assumption of a perturbative string vacuum.(ref. 47)
More generally, one expects nonperturbative string dynamics to produce
nonlocal effects—effects that defy interpretation within the assumed
3 + 1 dimensional, local structure of classical spacetime geometry. One
would therefore expect that if the domain of consciousness is
fundamentally the superunified scale, then phenomena of consciousness
could include influences that are inherently nonlocal. Indeed, the
Maharishi Effect data can be viewed as powerful evidence that individual
consciousness can access the scale of superunification, consistent with
the proposed identity between pure consciousness and the unified field.[footnote 5]
A
question often raised by physicists is how human consciousness could
possibly interact with physics at such fundamental scales. This question
stems from the recent but relatively widespread misunderstanding of
what consciousness is, i.e., a purely superficial product of complex
biochemical and electrophysiological processes in the brain. Such a
viewpoint may seem compatible with the restricted range of experience
available in waking consciousness (in which consciousness itself is not
directly perceived), but it is clearly incompatible with experience in
higher states of consciousness. For example, in the state of pure
consciousness, consciousness experiences itself as an unbounded field
and as the unified source of all the laws of nature: all forms and
phenomena in the universe are experienced to emerge from there, and can
be generated at will through the application of the TM-Sidhi program.
According to Maharishi and our analysis above, the natural range of
consciousness is from point to infinity: from the localized boundaries
of sensory experience, through increasingly more expanded and universal
levels of thought and feeling, to the unbounded field of pure, abstract,
self-interacting consciousness. Maharishi explains that the range of
one’s experience and conscious influence is limited only by one’s range
of comprehension—i.e., localized or unbounded—and that the Maharishi
Effect is simply a result of collective functioning at more fundamental
and universal levels of consciousness. The empirical research presented
above affords a striking confirmation of this profound new
perspective—and of its immense practical importance for the individual
and society.
One additional useful approach to understanding the
widespread effects of collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of
the Unified Field is through the enlivenment of the evolutionary
qualities of the unified field in the collective consciousness of
society. When, through the practice of the Maharishi Technology of the
Unified Field, the conscious mind identifies with the unified field, the
essential characteristics of the unified field become enlivened in the
awareness. In other words, as individual consciousness awakens more and
more fully to the reality of what it fundamentally is—the unified field
of natural law—the essential qualities of the unified field are
reflected more and more fully in the nature of the mind. This accounts
for the scientifically documented(ref. 6-10)
upsurge of qualities like “harmonizing,” “nourishing,” “integrating,”
“pure intelligence,” “infinite creativity,” “infinite dynamism,”
“infinite silence” and “invincibility” in the mind and physiology of
individuals practicing the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field
(please refer to the Appendix, entitled “Qualities of the Unified
Field”).
Through group practice of the Maharishi Technology of the
Unified Field by even a small proportion of the population, these same
evolutionary qualities become enlivened in the collective consciousness
of society. In other words, because the unified field is a field which
underlies everything and is present everywhere, the enlivenment of its
qualities is necessarily a field phenomenon, whose effects will be felt
everywhere. The upsurge of all the evolutionary qualities of the unified
field in collective consciousness during periods of group practice of
the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field has been scientifically
confirmed by numerous studies,(ref. 12-16,33-39)
and provides a relatively simple means of understanding how collective
practice generates positivity and coherence throughout society as a
whole.
Conclusion
Despite the age-old desire for peace among nations, conflict and war
have been a constant reality throughout human history. Even in the last
40 years since the United Nations was founded to “put an end to all
wars,” over 150 wars have ravaged nations and claimed the lives of
millions of victims across the globe. The repeated failure of the United
Nations and of man’s best efforts to ensure peace has simply been due
to the lack of a suitable technology for peace. Political negotiations,
pacts and treaties do not address the root cause of war—lack of
fulfillment of individuals and resulting stress levels in society—and
thus cannot provide a reliable basis for permanent peace on earth.
In this article we have presented a new science and technology of
world peace based on the unified field of natural law. This new
technology acts at the most fundamental and powerful level of nature’s
dynamics to eliminate collective stress, and to create an actual
physical influence of peace in collective consciousness. This
orderliness and coherence spreads throughout society through extended
field effects of consciousness (the Maharishi Effect), resulting from
the fact that consciousness, at its absolute basis, is identical to the
unified field of natural law recently discovered by modern science. The
physical influence of harmony and coherence produced by collective
practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field removes
negative, chaotic, and violent trends in society, and thereby strikes at
the root cause of war. It thereby creates a stable, fertile ground on
which the conventional political approaches for creating peace can begin
to bear real and lasting fruits. The effectiveness of Maharishi’s
technology for world peace has been more thoroughly and rigorously
tested than any other technology or approach in the history of political
and social science—and under the most severe conditions of intense
international conflict. More than 30 separate studies appearing in
refereed scientific journals conducted by independent researchers at
leading institutes throughout the world have confirmed the efficacy and
practicality of this new methodology. In light of this overwhelming body
of evidence and of the simplicity and cost effectiveness of the
approach, it should be the clear responsibility of every government to
create a group of experts practicing the Maharishi Technology of the
Unified Field as a powerful means to prevent further war. Indeed, in
consideration of the continued suffering and immense cost to humanity
caused by war, it should soon become a punishable offense for any
government to neglect this key responsibility, just as it is a
punishable offense in any civilized country for a doctor to deny a
patient the medicine that he needs. With a practical and proven
technology of peace, war and conflict should disappear from the face of
the earth along with smallpox, polio and other maladies for which modern
cures exist.
Every responsible citizen, together with every
political and academic leader, should use his or her influence and
authority in society to create a coherence-creating group of 7,000
experts practicing the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in
their nation as soon as possible to put an end, once and for all, to the
age-old tradition of violence and conflict and to create a permanent
foundation for peace on earth.
The spontaneous and direct
practical application of the unified field to enrich all aspects of life
contrasts with the previous application, through technology, of
specific, isolated laws of nature based on the intellectual
understanding of those laws. It was this scientific understanding of
specific laws of nature and their technological application that laid
the foundation for the industrial revolution, in which more and more
rapid progress became possible through the use of increasingly
sophisticated machines and technologies. Now, the continued progress of
society demands the spontaneous utilization of the total potential of
natural law to enrich all aspects of life in a completely balanced and
holistic way. This spontaneous application of the total potential of
natural law will lay the foundation for a post-industrial revolution to a
unified field based civilization—a civilization based on the complete
knowledge and practical utilization of the unified field of natural law.
The
application of this science and technology of the unified field to
health, education, rehabilitation, economics, and world peace has
already demonstrated its capacity to produce a quality of life and
civilization which is far beyond that which was possible based on
previous levels of scientific knowledge. By providing a practical and
proven formula for raising life to be lived spontaneously in accord with
natural law, the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field will raise
the quality of life in society to a level of dignity, harmony and
supreme fulfillment unparalleled in the annals of recorded history—a
unified field based ideal civilization in which everyone enjoys
fulfilling progress, and life everywhere is supported by the invincible,
evolutionary power of natural law.
Appendix: Qualities of the Unified Field
Footnote 1:
This
prediction is based on a field-theoretic model which assumes a coherent
superposition of amplitudes, such that the intensity of the effect
generated is proportional to the square of the number of participants.
Footnote 2:
The noise model N(t) has the form
N(t) = [T(B)/P(B)]a(t),
where T(B) and P(B)
specify moving average and autoregressive parameters respectively, at
various time lags, and where a(t) is a series of independent and
normally distributed random disturbances. The term B indicates a
backshift operator that is used to model lagged influences in a times
series. The noise model effectively removes the serial dependence of the
data by modeling it, and the residuals to the noise model, a(t), form
independent data points.
Transfer function analysis models the endogenous time series Y(t) as
Y(t) = C + V(B)X(T) + N(T),
where
X(T) is the continuous exogenous series, V(B) is the transfer function
connecting the two series, C is a possible constant, and N(T) is the
stochastic noise model that specifies the combined nonrandom
(time-dependent) influences other than the exogenous series.
Intervention analysis employs an identical model, except that the
exogenous variable is a binary intervention series I(T), specifying the
time periods during which an intervention occurred.
The transfer
function or intervention effect V(B) is approximated by W(B)/d(B), where
W(B) contains parameters indicating the time delay of influence of the
exogenous variable and the magnitude of its effect at various time lags,
and where d(B) contains parameters specifying the rate at which this
influence decays (for an abrupt temporary effect) or grows (for a
gradual permanent effect). The time series methodology can thus be used
to model both linear and nonlinear influences of one series on another.(ref. 39)
Footnote 3:
The value of /t/ coincides approximately with the number of
standard deviations when the number of degrees of freedom is equal to or
greater than 30 as in the case of the present study.
Footnote 4:
This also holds true for possible spin-1 forces that
interact with gravitational strength, such as a proposed "fifth force,"
or the gauge bosons associated with a hidden sector. (The latter would
probably operate only at short distances anyway due to confinement
effects). The same is presumably true of other weakly-interacting bosons
that have escaped detection in particle physics experiments.
Footnote 5:
There exists an entirely different class of nonlocal effects
in physics that does not explicitly involve the dynamics of the
super-unified scale and which might be proposed as an alternative
mechanism for the Maharishi Effect. This is the reduction of the wave
function in quantum mechanics. It is argued in ref. 22 that this
alternative framework leads to similar conclusions regarding
consciousness and its relations to the physical world.
Address correspondence to:
Department of Physics
Maharishi University of Management,
1000 North Fourth Street, DB 1069,
Fairfield, IA 52557-1069
Modern Science and Vedic Science, Volume 5, Numbers 1-2, 1992, Special Issue
Proceedings of Approaches to Creating a Stable World Peace, April 5-7, 1991
Sponsored by the Institute of World Peace
Maharishi University of Management
copyright 1997 Maharishi International University