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| The '''Maharishi Effect''' (also called Super Radiance)<ref>Goldberg, Phillip (2011) Harmony Books, American Veda, page 171</ref> ] hypothesis that a significant number of individuals practicing the ] (TM) and the ] have an effect on their environment.<ref name="Dawson">Dawson, Lorne L. (2003) Blackwell Publishing, Cults and New Religious Movements, page 47</ref> This hypothetical influence was described by ] in the 1960s and was later termed the Maharishi Effect. Published studies on the potential existence of such an effect and have met with both acceptance and criticism. | |||
| ==Description== | |||
| The Maharishi Effect is a hypothetical societal benefit resulting from a "significant proportion of the population" practicing the ].<ref name="Dawson"/><ref name=Wager>{{cite news|title=Musicians Spread the Maharishi's Message of Peace|first=Gregg|last=Wager|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1987 |page=12}}</ref> In the 1960s the Maharishi postulated that the quality of life, the growth of harmony and order in society, would be noticeably improved if ten percent of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique.<ref name="Wallis">Wallis, Roy ((1984) Routledge & Kegan Paul, The Elementary Forms of The New Religious Life page 24</ref> This requirement was later changed to one percent in 1960 and became known as the "Maharishi Effect".<ref name=Wager>{{Cite news|title=Musicians Spread the Maharishi's Message of Peace|first=Gregg|last=Wager|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1987 |page=12}}</ref><ref name="Karam">Karam, Ted (2005) Jumping on Water: Awaken Your Joy, Empower Your Life, page 137</ref><ref name = Fish>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=KUbmdGhkQvsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+big+fish#PPA144,M1 |last1=Bonshek|first1=Anna Corrina|last2=Fergusson|first2=Lee|title=The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space|publisher=Rodopi|year=2007|isbn=90-420-2172-1, 9789042021723|pages=143–146}}</ref> | |||
| With the introduction of the ] in 1976 it was proposed that only square root of 1 percent of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program, together at the same time and in the same place, would increase "life-supporting trends". This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".<ref name="Karam"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/ |archivedate=July 30, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rcNTly3Q|title=Maharishi Effect Research on the Maharishi Effect|publisher=Maharishi University of Management|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref> These effects have been examined in 14 peer-reviewed publications, including a study on the effects of a group of over 4,000 TM-Sidhi practitioners in Washington DC in the summer of 1993.<ref name="Karam"/><ref name=bibliography> | |||
| * Dillbeck, M. C., G. S. Landrith III, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. "The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities." Journal of Crime and Justice 1981; 4:25–45. | |||
| * Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, R. K. Wallace, G. S. Landrith. “Intersubject EEG coherence: Is consciousness a field?” International Journal of Neuroscience 1982; 16:203-209. | |||
| * Dillbeck, M. C., K. L. Cavanaugh, T. Glenn, D. W. Orme-Johnson, and V. Mittlefehldt. "Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and changes in social indicators." The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1987; 8(1):67–104. (presents five studies) | |||
| * Orme-Johnson, D. W., C. N. Alexander, J. L. Davies, H. M. Chandler, and W. E. Larimore. “International peace project in the Middle East : The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4):776–812. | |||
| * Dillbeck, M. C., C. B. Banus, C. Polanzi, and G. S. Landrith III. "Test of a field model of consciousness and social change: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and decreased urban crime." The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1988; 9(4):457–486. | |||
| * Gelderloos, P., M. J. Frid, P. H. Goddard, X. Xue, and S. A.Löliger. "Creating world peace through the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Improved U.S.-Soviet relations." Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):80–94. | |||
| * Orme-Johnson, D. W., and P. Gelderloos. "The long-term effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the quality of life in the United States (1960 to 1983)." Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):127-146. (presents two studies) | |||
| * Travis, F. T., and D. W. Orme-Johnson. “Field model of consciousness: EEG coherence changes as indicators of field effects.” International Journal of Neuroscience 1989; 49:203-211. | |||
| * Dillbeck, M. C. "Test of a field theory of consciousness and social change: Time series analysis of participation in the TM-Sidhi program and reduction of violent death in the U.S." Social Indicators Research 1990; 22:399–418. | |||
| * Assimakis P., and M. C. Dillbeck. "Time series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program." Psychological Reports 1995; 76:1171-1193. | |||
| * Hatchard, G. D., A. J. Deans, K. L. Cavanaugh, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. "The Maharishi Effect: A model for social improvement. Time series analysis of a phase transition to reduced crime in Merseyside metropolitan area." Psychology, Crime & Law 1996; 2(3):165-174. | |||
| * J. S. Hagelin, M.V. Rainforth, D. W. Orme-Johnson, K. L. Cavanaugh, C. N. Alexander, S. F. Shatkin, et al. "Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993." Social Indicators Research 1999; 47(2):153-201. | |||
| * Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, C. N. Alexander, H. M. Chandler, and R. W. Cranson. “Effects of large assemblies of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on reducing international conflict and terrorism.” Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003;36 (1/2/3/4):283-302. | |||
| * Davies, J. L. and C. N. Alexander. “Alleviating political violence through reducing collective tension: Impact Assessment analysis of the Lebanon war.” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2005, 17: 285-338.</ref> A 1986 study on the Maharishi Effect, by researchers at ] said that a minimum of about 100 practitioners would be needed for there to be observable coherence.<ref name=Alexander1986/>{{quotation needed|date=December 2012}} | |||
| ==History== | |||
| In 1976, a study conducted by researchers at Maharishi University of Management, documented changes in crime, sickness and other parameters in 16 communities where 1% of the population was practicing the TM technique. | |||
| ===1983 Middle East study=== | |||
| ====Design and conduct==== | |||
| A study conducted in the Middle East in 1983 by David Orme-Johnson, et al., was published in '']'' and presented statistical evidence for the Maharishi Effect. This was a prospective experiment (one in which the outcome is predicted in advance). All the variables were publicly available data, and a list of the variables used in the study was placed with an outside Project Review Board prior to the experiment.<ref name=OJ1990>{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/0022002790034004009|title=The Effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field|last1=Orme-Johnson|first1=David|first2=Charles N. |last2=Alexander|first3=John L.|last3=Davies|journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution|volume=34|issue=4|pages= 756–768|year=1990|url=http://jcr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/4/756}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/0022002788032004009|title=International Peace Project in the Middle East|first5=W. E.|last5=Larimore|last1=Orme-Johnson|first4=H. M.|first1=David|last4=Chandler|first2=Charles N. |last2=Alexander|first3=John L.|last3=Davies|journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution|volume=32|issue=4|pages=776–812|year=1990|url=http://jcr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/4/776}}</ref> | |||
| According to the study, which was conducted in Israel and applied ] impact assessment, cross-correlation, and transfer function analysis, it determined that a group of individuals practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi techniques located in ] had a statistically significant, positive effect on the quality of life in that city. Analysis indicated fewer automobile accidents and fires, and less crime, in Jerusalem during the time of the experiment. Additionally, the authors claimed that the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi group practice caused statistically measurable improvements in the quality of life in the country as a whole. The study found a reduction in crime, an increase in the stock market price, improved national mood (as measured by news content analysis) and a reduction of hostilities in the war in ] (fewer war deaths and decreased war intensity as measured by news content analysis). According to the study, the effects of religious holidays, temperature, weekends, and other forms of seasonality were controlled for and did not account for the results. Additionally, according to the authors, all cross-correlations and transfer functions supported a causal interpretation.<ref name=OJ1990/> | |||
| ====Reception==== | |||
| Subsequent to this study, Philip Schrodt published a critique of the study in the ''Journal of Conflict Resolution''. He contested that the study’s measurement of the critical independent variable did not correspond to the most obvious interpretation of the theory, since it was obtained using political boundaries rather than geographical radius. Had the study used geographic radius (a method used in all later studies of the Maharishi effect), the observed effects would not have taken place, Schrodt maintained. According to Schrodt, the study does not account for reverse causation, nor properly test for the existence of spurious relationships.<ref name=Schrodt>{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/0022002790034004008|jstor=174187|last=Schrodt|first=Phillip A.|title=A methodological critique of a test of the Maharishi technology of the unified field|journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution|volume=34|issue=4|year=1990|pages=745–755}}</ref> The study failed to randomize their independent variable - the number of meditators. Rather than being random, there was a systematic rise in the number of meditators over the first month of the study, followed by a clear weekly cycle in the second month. The failure to explicitly and adequately account for artifactural time patterning makes the claimed correlation very weak datum, because the claimed correlations over time are notoriously susceptible to artifacts.<ref name=Abelson>{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 0-8058-0528-1, 9780805805284| pages = 178–180| last = Abelson| first = Robert P.| title = Statistics as principled argument| year = 1995|url=http://books.google.com/?id=YRMnGB4OwiUC&pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=statistics+as+principled+argument+maharishi#v=onepage&q=&f=false }}</ref> | |||
| In an article published in the same issue as the critique by Schrodt, the authors responded to the points in the critique. Regarding the independent variable, the authors state that previous research also used political units rather than purely geographical distance and that it is appropriate that the independent variable take into account political units because they reflect greater homogeneity, closer personal ties, more frequent interaction, and stronger internal lines of influence (such as cultural, emotional, economic, and political). The authors pointed out that the issue of randomization was addressed in the original paper: when the data was broken into quartiles, the 15 (or 16) days representing each quartile were found to be essentially randomly distributed over the duration of the experiment. They also gave five reasons why the issue of reverse causation was not a factor.<ref name=OJ1990/> | |||
| Fales and Markovsky's article also criticized the study and its findings. After discussing specific criticisms, they concluded, "it is hardly unreasonable to suppose that the fluctuations of the dependent variables measured by O88 would have remained exactly as they were even if there had been no meditators at all. The claim that TM provides the only plausible explanation of these data cannot be sustained. There are alternative explanations that do not depend on esoteric or paranormal influences".<ref name=Fales/> | |||
| A critique of the project published in the ]'s '']'' by Mordecai Kaffman characterized the methods of the project as unscientific, the claims of positive results unconvincing, anecdotal, and based on a conceptual error, and concluded that the theory of a unified field of consciousness was no more credible than was ] theory that metals gave off ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kaffman|first=Mordecai|url=http://www.icsahome.com/logon/elibdocview.asp?Subject=The+Use+of+Transcendental+Meditation+to+Promote+Social+Progress+in+Israel|title=The Use of Transcendental Meditation to Promote Social Progress in Israel|journal=Cultic Studies Journal|volume=3|issue=1|year=1986|pages=135–141}}</ref> In their response published in ''Cultic Studies Journal'', Charles Alexander and David Orme-Johnson say that Kaffman did not provide any data, analytic procedures, or specific results. Also, they said the period of time he considered was different from that of the study and that he did not assess the two most important variables. To his assertion that the theory is no more credible than N-rays, Alexander and Orme-Johnson say that there are many examples where implausible new theories were resisted by were eventually born out, such as the germ theory of disease.<ref name=Alexander1986>{{cite journal|last1=Alexander|first1=Charles|last2=Orme-Johnson|first2=David|url=http://www.icsahome.com/logon/elibdocview.asp?Subject=Comment%3A+Reducing+Conflict+and+Enhancing+Quality+of+Life+in+Israel+Using+the+Transcendental+Meditation+and+TM%2DSidhi+Program|title=Reducing Conflict and Enhancing the Quality of Life in Israel Using the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Explanation of a Social Research Project|journal=]|volume=3|issue=1|year=1986|pages=142–146}}</ref> | |||
| ===Natural Law Party=== | |||
| In the 1990s the political ] said that the Invincible Defense Technology,<ref>{{cite news|title=Transcendental Meditation: The solution to terrorism?|first=DANIEL|last=BEN-TAL|work=Jerusalem Post|date=July 2, 2002|page=03}}</ref> created by ] and the Maharishi Effect, was the defense policy of their party. According to literature from the Canadian branch, "by creating this effect, Canada will radiate a peaceful influence to all nations, naturally disallowing the birth of an enemy...the result is an invincible armour for the nation, which automatically prevents incoherent influences from disturbing the country's internal peace and harmony."<ref>{{cite news|title=Will squadron of yogic flyers be our best line of defence?|first=JAMIE|last=LAMB|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=October 1, 1993|page=A.3}}</ref> | |||
| ===1993 Washington D.C. study=== | |||
| ====Design and conduct==== | |||
| A study on the Maharishi Effect written by John Hagelin, ], Maxwell Rainforth, et al. and published in 1999 in the journal ''Social Indicators Research'', concluded that there was a correlation between the gathering of a group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs, including Yogic Flying, in the District of Columbia, and a reduction in violent crime in that city.<ref name = Hagelin99>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1023/A:1006978911496| volume = 47| issue = 2| pages = 153–201| last = Hagelin| first = John S.| coauthors = Maxwell V. Rainforth, Kenneth L. C. Cavanaugh, Charles N. Alexander, Susan F. Shatkin, John L. Davies, Anne O. Hughes, Emanuel Ross, David W. Orme-Johnson| title = Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June--July 1993| journal = Social Indicators Research| date = 1999-06-01| isbn = 06978911496 {{Please check ISBN|reason=Invalid length.}}}}</ref> The experiment took place from June 7 to July 30, 1993 and utilized a twenty member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and ]s from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government of the District of Columbia, and civic leaders. This Review Board approved in advance the research protocol for the project and monitored its progress.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| The dependent variable in the research was weekly violent crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report program of the ]; violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.<ref name = Hagelin99/> This data was obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 as well as for the preceding five years (1988–1992). Additional data used for control purposes included weather variables (temperature, precipitation, humidity), daylight hours, changes in police and community anti-crime activities, prior crime trends in the District of Columbia, and concurrent crime trends in neighboring cities. Average weekly temperature was significantly correlated with homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes) and so temperature was used as a control variable in the analysis of HRA crimes. Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robbery (monetary crimes), as well as together.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| According to the study, statistical analysis suggests that the murder rate was slightly lower than what would have been expected for that time of year and taking temperature into account, though the decrease was not statistically significant.<ref name = Hagelin99/> In addition, the study says that temperature was used as a control variable in the analysis of homicide, rape and assault and that violent crimes were analyzed separately as well as in relationship with other types of crime.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| At a 1994 press conference to announce the analysis of that study, Hagelin said that, during the period of the experiment Washington, D.C. experienced a significant reduction in psychiatric emergency calls, fewer complaints against the police, and an increase in public approval of President ]. Overall, there was an 18% reduction in violent crime during the study period, he told the press.<ref name = Park>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 0-19-860443-2, 9780198604433| page = 30| last = Park| first = Robert L.| title = Voodoo science: The road from foolishness to fraud| year = 2002|url= http://books.google.com/?id=xzCK6-Kqs6QC&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> | |||
| ====Reception==== | |||
| Physicist and skeptic ] called the study a "clinic in data distortion".<ref name = Park/><ref>This chapter of Park's book was also published as "Voodoo Science and the Belief Gene" in the '']'' (September 2000).</ref> Park questioned the validity of the study by saying that during the weeks of the experiment Washington, D.C.'s weekly murder count hit the highest level ever recorded.<ref name = Park/> | |||
| Maxwell Rainforth, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Health and Statistics at Maharishi University of Management and a coauthor of the Washington, D.C. study, acknowledged that the 36-hour period was "horrific," but said that, from a scientific perspective, it was a statistical outlier because homicides by themselves constituted a small data set. He said that homicides comprised 3% of violent crimes in the year of the study (1993). Rainforth characterized Park's criticisms of the study as "superficial, highly polemical" and "willfully misleading", and that his objections to the use of time series analysis and other statistical methods were not based on scientific arguments. He also questioned whether Park had read the published study, since his criticism focused on a preliminary Interim Report released at a press conference in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://istpp.org/crime_prevention/voodoo_rebuttal.html|last=Rainforth|first=Maxwell|title=A Rebuttal to "Voodoo Science|publisher=Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, Maharishi University of Management|accessdate=January 2, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sbc91orA|archivedate=September 7, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| According to the '']'', "those outside the movement" did not see the cause and effect that the study asserted.<ref name=SFGate>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1995/12/29/MN65432.DTL|last=Epstein|first=Edward, |title=Politics and Transcendental Meditation|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=December 29, 1995}}</ref> The Maharishi called the study, which cost $6 million, a "waste of time" and said that scientific research is a fraud.<ref>{{cite news|title=Meditation touted as crime-fighter: Study presented builds the case for 'Maharishi effect'|first=Conrad|last=deFiebre|work=Star Tribune|location=Minneapolis, Minn.|page=03.B|year=1994|unused_data=October 7,}}</ref> As a result of this study, John Hagelin received the 1994 ] in peace, a parody of the ], described at the time as an award for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced."<ref name="improb1">{{cite web|url=http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1994|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sbcEypVc|archivedate=September 7, 2010|title=Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize|publisher=www.improb.com|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref><ref name="ignobel1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ignobel.com/ig/|title=The Ig Nobel Prizes|publisher=www.improb.com|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref> and The editor of the Annals of Improbable Research said that no scientific analysis of John Hagelin’s work was conducted before the Ig Nobel Prize was awarded.<ref>Marcus,Jay (1996). The Crime Vaccine. Claitor's Publishing Division. p 193 ISBN 0-87511-732-5</ref> | |||
| ===1996 Merseyside study=== | |||
| In 1996, Guy Hatchard, the director of the movement's ] facility,<ref name=NLP>{{cite press release|url=http://natural-law-party.org.uk/pressreleases/UK-19960425-British-study-shows-TM-proven.htm|title=British study shows Transcendental Meditation is a proven and cost-effective way to reduce crime|publisher=Natural Law Party of the United Kingdom|date=April 25, 1996|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sbcIYok2|archivedate=September 7, 2010}}</ref> and four Maharishi University professors published an analysis of the Maharishi Effect on crime in ], England (a metropolitan high crime area which includes ]) from 1988 to 1992. Hatchard, who holds an M.A. in education from ],<ref name=NLP/> published his findings in ''Psychology, Crime and Law''. Hatchard, et al., used a ] to conclude that the crime rate fell as the number practicing the TM-Sidhi program in a group (the Maharishi Effect Threshold), combined with the number of people trained in TM (the Maharishi Effect Threshold Index), reached the designated threshold percentage. When the researchers analyzed the percentage of crime rate changes for the years 1987/90 and 1987/92, they found that of all the 42 police districts of England and Wales, Merseyside was the only one where the crime rate decreased, whereas it rose everywhere else. Hatchard dismissed other possible causes for the crime reduction, including an expansion in a drug treatment program mentioned below. Since the average cost of crime was valued at over £5,000 each, the researchers estimated that the reduction in crime saved Merseyside over £1,250,000,000, or about US $2.1 billion. According to the researchers, this was the 41st replication of the Maharishi Effect findings.<ref name = Merseyside>Hatchard, G. D., Deans, A. J., Cavanaugh, K. L., & ] (1996) The Maharishi Effect: A model for social improvement. Time series analysis of a phase transition to reduced crime in Merseyside metropolitan area. ''Psychology, Crime and Law'', 2(3), 165–174.</ref> Hatchard said later that the study's conclusions were 99.96% accurate.<ref name=Barrett/> | |||
| These figures were cited by the ] in their campaign literature. Political journalist ], referring to these claims, characterized the party as "no different to any normal political party" in its "use of bogus statistics".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1999/jun/06/uk.politicalnews3|last=Rawnsley|first=Andrew|title=Politics of sex, lies and videotape|work=The Observer|date=June 6, 1999 | location=London}}</ref> An analysis by Howard Parker, a sociology professor at ], published by the Home Office Police Research Group in 1996, showed that the decrease in aggregated crime was driven by a sharp decrease in acquisitive crimes typically committed by drug users; other types of crime, such as violent crime against persons and criminal vandalism, increased during the same period. It was suggested that a large methadone program implemented during the mid to late 1980s may have accounted for the reduction in crime.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Parker | first1 = Howard J. | last2 = Kirby | first2 = Perpetua. | title = Methadone maintenance and crime reduction on Merseysid | year = 1996 | publisher = Home Office | location = London | isbn = 1-85893-635-7 | url= http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=163701}}</ref> In '']'', author ] says that data supplied by the Merseyside Police show that crime rose each year from 1989 to 1992, and that a dip in reported crime in 1993 was perhaps due to "many policing initiatives".<ref name=Barrett>{{Cite book| publisher = Cassell| isbn = 0-304-35592-5| last = Barrett| first = David V|authorlink=David V. Barrett| title = ]: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions| date = 2001-06-30|pages=280–281}}</ref> | |||
| ===Other studies=== | |||
| Research by Michael Dillbeck of the ] published in 1987 in '']'' found a correlation between quality of life in Rhode Island, the Philippines, New Delhi, Puerto Rico and the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs. According to Dillbeck, quality of life in Rhode Island during a three-month period in 1978 improved significantly when the group practicing was large enough, but not in the control state of Delaware. Crime fell by 11% in New Delhi in 1980 during a five-month period in which enough people were practicing the TM-Sidhi program. Similar results were found in Puerto Rico in 1984 and two studies of TM-Sidhi practices in Metro ] during 1980 and 1984.<ref name = fivestudies>Dillbeck, M. C., Cavanaugh, K. L., Glenn, T., Orme-Johnson, D. W., & Mittlefehldt, V. (1987). Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and changes in social indicators. ''Journal of Mind and Behavior, 8(1)'', 67–104.</ref> | |||
| A paper published in '']'' in 1995 by Panayotis Assimakis, a graduate of Maharishi University of Management teaching at ], and Dillbeck, used time series analysis to argue that the quality of life for Canadians improved significantly when the number of Yogic Flyers in Fairfield, Iowa, combined with Yogic Flyers in Washington, D.C. and ], exceeded the square root of 1% of the combined populations of Canada and the U.S. Improvement in the quality of life was measured in the first study as a decline in a composite index made up of three causes of violent death: motor vehicle fatalities, suicide and homicide, from 1983 to 1985, and in a second study, by a decline in the same three causes of violent death, plus cigarette consumption and worker-days lost in strike, from 1972 to 1986.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Assimakis|first1=P. D.|last2=Dillbeck|first2=M. C.|year=1995|title=Time series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program |journal=Psychological Reports|volume=76|issue=3 Pt 2|pages=1171–1193|pmid=7480483|doi=10.2466/pr0.1995.76.3c.1171}}</ref> | |||
| ===Demonstration projects=== | |||
| In Sweden, November 1990, a group of 5,000 meditators, out of an expected 15,000, attended a mass-meditation event at the ] in ] with the intent of avoiding war in the ] following the invasion of Kuwait by ]. Three-quarters of the attendees, who paid USD$ 35 each for the 20-minute event, were already experienced meditators. David Orme-Johnson expected the event to produce "some softening, some kind of statement that is more reconciliatory". He said that an event in Iowa with 3,000 meditators in October 1990 was responsible for Hussein talking about reducing troop levels in Kuwait.<ref>{{cite news|title=persian gulf crisis, middle east crisis NICOSIA, Cyprus A handful|work=San Antonio Express-News|date=November 3, 1990|page=06.A|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> | |||
| In 1992, President ] of Mozambique learned Transcendental Meditation and yogic flying <ref name=Astill/> along with 1500 military personal and civil service officials and their families.<ref name=Keller>{{cite news|last=Keller|first=Bill|title=Beatles' Guru Offers Nirvana to Mozambique|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/10/world/beatles-guru-offers-nirvana-to-mozambique.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 10, 1994}}</ref> In October of that year the armed opposition, ], signed a peace treaty ending a 16-year civil war. Two months later what was described as the worst drought of the century across southeastern Africa ended.<ref name=Lorch>{{cite news|title=In Southern Africa, Rains' Return Averts Famine|last=LORCH|first=DONATELLA|work=New York Times|date=April 23, 1993|page=A.3|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/23/world/in-southern-africa-rains-return-averts-famine.html}}</ref> According to Maharishi literature, Chissano said that the meditation practice led to "political peace and balance in nature.<ref name=Astill/> In 1993, Chissano received an honorary degree from one of the movement's universities.<ref name=Epstein>{{cite news|title=WORLD INSIDER|first=Edward |last=Epstein|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=July 16, 1993|page=A.10}}</ref><ref name=Niekerk>{{cite news|title=Mozambique and yogic cult start project to create Utopia Phillip van Niekerk reports from Maputo on moves by the guru of the Beatles to run a quarter of the country|first=PHILLIP |last=VAN NIEKERK|work=The Guardian|location=Manchester (UK)|date= November 27, 1994}}</ref> He told the Maharishi at meeting in MERU, the Netherlands that "Crime and accidents are down. We still have to do a thorough study, but we can feel the positive effects."<ref name=Keller/> However, a deputy defence minister said he did not believe the TM and yogic flying had ended the war.<ref name=Astill/> Over 16,000 soldiers and 30,000 civilians were taught the TM and the TM-Sidhi techniques. From the end of 1994, all military and police recruits were ordered to meditate for 20 minutes, twice a day. Chissano entered into an agreement to turn over control of 25% of the arable land in Mozambique to the ], but the agreement was nullified when it became public in 1994.<ref name=Niekerk/> In 2001, the Defense Minister said that the country had experienced triple the expected economic growth and crime levels had dropped".<ref name=Astill/> Some individual units maintained the practice when the program ended in 2001 for what the local Maharishi center described as "administrative reasons".<ref name=Astill>{{cite news|last=Astill|first=James|title=Meditation is path to peace, Mozambique leader says|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/sep/22/jamesastill|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 September 2001|location=London}}</ref> | |||
| In 2004, the Maharishi directed Transcendental Meditation practitioners at the Maharishi village at ], ] to employ the Maharishi Effect with the aim of overturning the Labour government. ]'s ] won reelection in May 2005. In response, the Maharishi withdrew all instruction in Transcendental Meditation in the UK, eventually lifting the ban two years later, around the same time Blair left office as ]. UK TM Movement spokesman Geoffry Clements explained that while 100 yogic flyers were able to affect the Merseyside crime rates, the election experiment failed due to the inability to obtain a critical mass of yogic flyers of more than 800 needed to affect the entire country, other than for brief periods during the summer.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Honigsbaum| first = Mark| title = All you need is love and peace - but not in destructive Britain, so maharishi pulls out | work = The Guardian| accessdate = 2009-11-15| date = 2005-08-15| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/aug/15/health.healthandwellbeing | location=London}}</ref><ref name="telegraph1">{{Cite news| title = The Maharishi Maheshi Yogi | work = The Telegraph | accessdate = 2009-11-15 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1577749/The-Maharishi-Maheshi-Yogi.html | location=London | date=February 6, 2008}}</ref><ref name="independent1">{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/mystic-who-inspired-the-beatles-the-town-that-lost-its-guru-779145.html|title=The mystic who inspired The Beatles: The town that lost its guru|work=The Independent|date=February 7, 2008 | location=London | accessdate=May 25, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| In Israel, a "squadron" of 30 practitioners meeting at a hotel on ] during the ] said their efforts were shielding the area from ] rockets.<ref>{{cite news|title=Forget the F-16s, Israel needs more Yogic Flyers to beat Hizbullah. 30-strong TM group, sole guests at Nof Ginnosar Hotel, say they need another 235 colleagues to make the country safe|first=AMIR|last=MIZROCH|work=Jerusalem Post|date=July 23, 2006|page=04}}</ref> | |||
| Hagelin predicted that when the number of assembly participants reached 2,500, America would have a major drop in crime, and would see the virtual elimination of all major social and political woes in the United States.<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2725479920070727|last=Rascoe|first=Ayesha|title=Meditators predict Dow 17,000, near US utopia|work=Reuters|date=July 27, 2007}}</ref> He said that the Assembly was responsible for the ] reaching a record high of 14,022 in July 2007, and predicted that the Dow would top 17,000 within a year.<ref name="reuters.com"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2813491/Wall-Street-life-Were-picking-up-God-vibrations-its-giving-the-Dow-excitations.html |last=Litterick|first=David|title=Wall Street life: We're picking up God vibrations, it's giving the Dow excitations|work=The Telegraph|date=August 4, 2007|location=London}}</ref> On the first trading day after the Assembly began in July 2006, the Dow had closed at 11,051.05, up 182.67 from 10,868.38.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awuXD.aDvNiU&refer=home |last=Johnson|first=Hilary|title=U.S. stocks rally on HCA Buyout, Merck, Schering-Plough profit|work=Bloomberg|date=July 24, 2006}}</ref> In the weeks that followed the S&P 500 as well as the Domini 400 Social Equity Index rose an average of 0.7% per week in contrast to a weekly average decrease of .06% going back to 2000.<ref>{{cite news|work=Barron's|title=Tune In, Turn ON, Outperform?|first=Robin |last=Goldwyn |agency=Blumenthal|date=August 21, 2006}}</ref> The Dow failed to reach 17,000 as predicted and peaked on October 9, 2007 at 14,164.53. The Dow then declined, closed under 7,000 in March 2009 for the first time since May 1997, and did not again close above 10,868 until March 23, 2010.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704896104575139263301984930.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular|last=McKay|first=Peter|title=Dow at new 17-month high|work=Wall Street Journal|date=March 23, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| In 2007, Emanuel Schiffgens, Raja of Germany and film director ] were presenting a plan to build the Invincible Germany University atop ] (Devils Mountain) near the German capital.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lynch's guru angers students with Nazi rallying cry|first=Tony|last=Paterson|work=The Independent|location=London (UK)|date=18}}</ref> but created controversy at a lecture in Berlin when Schiffgens exhorted the audience to create an "Invincible Germany". When a student retorted "That's exactly what Hitler wanted", Raja Schiffgens replied "Yes, but unfortunately he didn't succeed", enraging the crowd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lynch's guru angers students with Nazi rallying cry|first=Tony|last=Paterson|work=The Independent|location=London (UK)|date=November 20, 2007|page=18}}</ref> Schiffgens then tried to explain to the crowd that invincibility meant no negativity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why David Lynch Should Learn German|first=Andrew|last=Purvis|work=Time|date=November 15, 2007|page=81|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1684582,00.html|unused_data=Berlin}}</ref> | |||
| In 2009 the '']'', an academic journal printed in Pakistan, published a paper by David Leffler of Maharishi University of Management's Center for Advanced Military Science. According to '']'', Leffler writes that TM is a "scientifically verified way to prevent war and terrorism".<ref>{{cite news|first=Jack|last=Siders|work=The Independent|location=London (UK)|date=March 27, 2010|page=44|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-truth-is-out-there-27032010-1928769.html|title=The truth is out there: 27/03/2010|unused_data=The truth is out there; A weekly look at the world}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Management and Social Sciences|volume=5|issue=2|date=Fall 2009|pages=153–162|title=A New Role for the Military: Preventing Enemies from Arising-Reviving an Ancient Approach to Peace|first=David R. |last=Leffler}}</ref> | |||
| Practitioners at the Invincible America Assembly, held at ], have asserted that their efforts would lead to invincibility from terrorist attacks.<ref name=Feather>{{cite news|title=Return of the Sidhi|first=Carl E.|last=Feather|work=McClatchy - Tribune Business News|location=Washington|date=June 20, 2007|page=1}}</ref> The supposed achievement of "Invincible America" was allegedly facilitated partly by a $12 million grant from the Howard and Alice Settle Foundation for an Invincible America, which provides stipends for Yogic Flyers.<ref name=Feather/><ref>{{cite press release|title=Howard Settle: "Yogic Flyers, Create Invincible America today"|date=2008-01-24|publisher=Deutsche Nachrichten Agentur|url=http://www.deutsche-nachrichten-agentur.de/de/verzeichnis/wirtschaft/investitionen/524625052|accessdate=December 31, 2009|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sa7Zfm8j |archivedate=September 7, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| ===Critiques and responses=== | |||
| In his book ''Flim Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and Other Delusions'', ] reports the account of ] professor ] of a talk made at the University of Oregon in 1978 by Maharishi International University physics professor Robert Rabinoff. In this talk, Rabinoff claimed that the large number of TM-Sidhi practitioners on the MIU campus had reduced crime and accidents and increased crop production in the vicinity of MIU in ]. Randi followed-up with the Fairfield Police Department, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles and was unable to substantiate Rabinoff's claims.<ref name="Randi">{{cite web|last=Randi|first=James|coauthors=|date=February 9, 2007|url=http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020209morebrowne.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110607052454/http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-02/020209morebrowne.html|archivedate=2011-06-07|title=More Geller Woo-Woo (] archive)|work=SWIFT Newsletter|publisher=]|accessdate=August 19, 2012}}</ref> | |||
| Physicist ] characterized the theory that there is an unified field of consciousness as wishful thinking that is viewed by most physicists as nonsense.<ref name="Woit, Peter 2006 pp 205-206">{{cite book|last=Woit|first=Peter|title=Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law|publisher=Basic Books|year=2006|isbn=0-465-09275-6, 9780465092758|pages=205–206}}</ref> ] wrote in a 1992 news article in '']'' that Hagelin's investigations into how the extension of grand unified theories of physics to human consciousness could explain how Transcendental Meditation influences world events "disturbs many researchers" and "infuriates his former collaborators". Anderson says that ], director of CERN, was worried about guilt by association. Anderson quotes Ellis as saying "I was afraid that people might regard as rather flaky, and that might rub off on the theory or on us”.<ref name=Nature>{{cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Christopher|title=Hagelin & Quantum Theory: Holding on by a superstring|journal=Nature|volume=359|date=September 10, 1992 | doi = 10.1038/359097a0 | page=97|issue=6391}}</ref> '']'' political reporter Jonathan Fox wrote in 2000 that "Once considered a top scientist, Hagelin's former academic peers ostracized him after the candidate attempted to shoehorn Eastern metaphysical musings into the realm of ]."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/2000-10-05/news/good-vibrations/|last=Fox|first=Jonathan|title=Good Vibrations|work=Dallas Observer|date=October 5, 2000}}</ref> | |||
| According to Woit, Hagelin began making a connection between consciousness and physics as a graduate student at ] in the late 1970s. Hagelin's collaboration with ] and other researchers continued through 1994.<ref> | |||
| *I. Antoniadis, J. Ellis, J.S. Hagelin and D.V. Nanopolous. "Supersymmetric Flipped SU(5) Revitalized". ''Physics Letters'' 194B, (1987) | |||
| *B. Campbell, J. Ellis, J.S. Hagelin, D.V. Nanopolous and R. Ticciati. "Flipped SU(5) from Manifold Compactification of the 10-Dimensional Heterotic String." ''Physics Letters'' 198B, (1987) | |||
| *I. Antoniadis, J. Ellis, J.S. Hagelin and D.V. Nanopolous. "An Improved Flipped SU(5) x U(1) Model from 4-Dimensional String." ''Physics Letters'' 208B, (1988) | |||
| *I. Antoniadis, J. Ellis, J.S. Hagelin and D.V. Nanopolous. "The Flipped SU(5) x U(1) String Model Revamped." ''Physics Letters'' 231B, (1989) | |||
| *A.E. Faraggi, J.S. Hagelin, S. Kelley and D.V. Nanopolous. "Sparticle Spectroscopy." ''Physics Review'' D45, (1992) | |||
| *Ellis, J., J.S. Hagelin, D.V. Nanopoulos, and K. Tamvakis K. "Weak symmetry breaking by radiative connections in broken supergravity." ''Physics Letters'' 125B (1993) | |||
| *J.S. Hagelin, S. Kelley and T. Tanaka. "Supersymmetric Flavor Changing Neutral Currents: Exact Amplitudes and Phenomenological Analysis." ''Nuclear Physics'' B415, (1994)</ref> | |||
| According to ], there is no known physical principle that could account for the Maharishi Effect, nor any articulation by its proponents of how the "unified field", if it is active on the targeted people and institutions, could translate into the desired psychological and political behaviors. There is no currently-accepted causal relationship that would link group meditation to the claimed phenomenon. In a review of Abelson's book, Peter McBurney says that if an experiment identifies a phenomenon for which no known explanation exists, this is in itself interesting and deserving of publication.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/informal_logic/article/viewFile/2250/1694|last=McBurney|first=Peter|title=Statistics as Principled Argument|journal=Informal Logic|volume=21|issue=3|year=2001|page=276}}</ref> According to Abelson, who looked at the ], the prior probability, in ] statistics, of there being a Maharishi Effect, is practically zero. According to Abelson, "Maharishi adherents" say that the probability is closer to 1.0.<ref name=Abelson/> | |||
| Philip Schrodt wrote that validation of the Maharishi Effect theory would contradict virtually the whole of contemporary understanding of causality in social behavior.<ref name=Schrodt/> ] professors Evan Fales and Barry Markovsky critiqued the Maharishi Effect and its underlying master theory in the journal '']''. They concluded that there are serious problems with the theory, that it does not cohere well with other strongly confirmed theories, conflicts with evidence supporting those theories, is vague, relies upon specious analyses, is silent about key processes that link causes to their alleged effects, and "does not pass minimal criteria of meaningfulness and logical integrity." They state that the Maharishi Effect predictions cannot be derived from the master theory, because of a lack of causal connection, an inability to specify time lags, and the fact that the model that can be derived from the formal component of the theory to make specific Maharishi Effect predictions is ignored by its researchers. Thus, they concluded that the evidence offered by researchers as support for the Maharishi Effect "cannot significantly enhance confidence in the veracity" of the theory.<ref name =Fales>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/2580722|last1=Fales|first1=Evan|last2=Markovsky|first2=Barry|title=Evaluating Heterodox Theories|jstor=2580722|journal=Social Forces|volume=76|issue=2|pages=511–525|year=1997}}</ref> | |||
| In response to Schrodt, Fales & Markovsky, and others, former MUM professor ] and former MUM director of Public Affairs Robert Oates wrote an article in the ] journal '']'' in which they summarized evidence for the theory that there is a connection between the mind and the environment. They wrote that, since the late 1970s, studies have found small but statistically significant causal effects in a wide variety of contexts in which the mechanism is not clearly understood. They say this evidence supports a field-theoretic view of consciousness, which suggests that there is an underlying common field of consciousness and that individuals can interact directly at a distance via this underlying field. According to the authors, research has demonstrated that focusing attention on a common event may produce small but statistically significant effects on inanimate detectors, such as random generators. In addition, they say that well-controlled EEG studies have shown that evoked potentials in one person's brain may produce changes in the brain of another person, but who was isolated in an electromagnetically shielded room. Also, they say that studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) suggest the brains of individuals separated from each other may become significantly correlated.<ref name=OJ2009>{{cite journal|last1=Orme-Johnson|first1=David|last2=Oates|first2=Robert|title=A Field-Theoretic View of Consciousness: Reply to Critics|journal=]|volume=22|issue=3|date=Fall 2008|pages=139–66}}</ref> | |||
| James Grant, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor of Education at ], says in the book ''The University in Transition'' that the environmental influence of the group practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi techniques is "one of the most rigorously confirmed findings in the field of sociology".<ref>{{cite book|title=The University in Transition|editor-first=Jennifer|editor-last=Gidely|first=James|last=Grant|page=210|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2000|url=http://books.google.com/?id=I_jaYF-iyp0C&pg=PA217&dq=maharishi+university+of+management+%26+technology#v=onepage&q=maharishi%20university%20of%20management%20%26%20technology&f=false | isbn=978-0-89789-718-1}}</ref> | |||
| In regard to "Super Radiance", author Lynne McTaggert wrote in her 2003 book, ''The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe'', says that despite ridicule "largely because of the Maharishi's own personal interests, the sheer weight of the data is compelling." She also said that "Many of the studies have been published in impressive journals such as the ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'', the ''Journal of Mind and Behavior'', and ''Social Indicators Research'', which means that they would have had to meet stringent reviewing procedures".<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = HarperCollins| isbn = 0-06-093117-5, 9780060931179| page = 211 |last = McTaggart| first = Lynne| title = The Field| date = 2003-07-24|url=http://books.google.com/?id=uivwpQIRMwUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Field:+The+Quest+for+the+Secret+Force+of+the+Universe#v=onepage&q=tm-sidhi&f=false}}</ref> | |||
| In his book, '']'', skeptic ] says that the disproven ] and the Maharishi Effect both involve the concept of a ].<ref>{{cite book|isbn=0-8050-7089-3|title=]|first=Shermer|last=Michael|authorlink=Michael Shermer|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|year=1997|page=17}}</ref> | |||
| In his book ''On the Nature of Consciousness: Cognitive, Phenomenological, and Transpersonal Perspectives'', Harry Hunt says that the “extraordinary series of studies” on the Maharishi Effect is relatively immune from methodological criticism. However, he suggests that a more plausible explanation is that the meditators “have unintentionally attuned themselves to anticipatory fluctuations within collective society” because they are more sensitive to this than the average person.<ref>{{cite book |first=Harry |last=Hunt |title=On the Nature of Consciousness: Cognitive, Phenomenological, and Transpersonal Perspectives |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |pages=287–289}}</ref> | |||
| According to a chapter on meditation research by ] in a textbook on transpersonal psychiatry and psychology, while the Maharishi Effect research may be at risk for unconscious bias due to its being conducted by members of the TM organization, if it is independently verified, "the implications — for everything from philosophy and physics to peace and politics — will be remarkable." <ref>{{cite book |first=Roger |last=Walsh |chapter=Meditation Research: The State of the Art |title=Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology |editor-first=Bruce |editor-last=Scotton |editor2-first=Allan |editor2-last=Chinen |editor3-first=John |editor3-last=Battista |publisher=BasicBooks |year=1996 |place=New York |page=172}}</ref> | |||
| The financial magazine Barron's reported in 2006 that a sudden rise in the stock market corresponded to a gathering of a large group of TM-Sidhi practitioners meditating together in Fairfield, Iowa.<ref name=Barrons>{{cite news|last=Goldwyn Blumenthal|first= Robin |title=Tune In, Turn On, Outperform? |newspaper=Barron's|date=August 21, 2006}}</ref> | |||
| According to the 2010 documentary film ] the TM movement has raised millions of dollars toward its plan for world peace, a portion of which is claimed to fund 10,000 vedic pandits to chant and perform yagyas 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the Brahmasthan (or geographical center) of India. The Brahmasthan, however, is a "ghost town".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942181.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|last=Simon|first=Alyssa|title=David Wants to Fly|work=Variety|date=February 14, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sbc1Y4HH|archivedate=September 7, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| {{Transcendental Meditation}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 11:02, 5 May 2022
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