Stress is at the basis of crime, drug abuse and other anti-social behaviour. Many offenders have a history of high levels of stress in their lives as a result of childhood abuse, school failure, poor socio-economic circumstances, family breakdown and unemployment.
The recidivism rate (ie, the rate of return to prison) is much less for offenders taught Transcendental Meditation and recovery from addictions is significantly better when TM is added to standard rehabilitation programs.
Just as stress in an individual’s life leads to crime, accumulated social stress can erupt in conflict, accidents and disorder, violence and war.
It has been found that when just a few people in a community practise Transcendental Meditation, social stress as measured by crime, accidents and conflict, reduces. As social tensions subside in this way, enmity is diffused and order and harmony are restored.
This effect, known as the Maharishi effect, is amplified manifold when a small number of people practise Transcendental Meditation and the advanced techniques of Transcendental Meditation, including Yogic Flying, together in a group. The number required to create this effect is of the order of the square root of 1% of the population - which amounts to 500 peace-creating experts for Australia and 8,000 for the whole world population.
Over the past 25 years, this powerful, innovative approach to peace has been extensively field tested - in the Middle East and throughout the world. The consistent result has been dramatic reductions in terrorism, war, and other social violence. These findings have been replicated, published in leading academic journals and endorsed by hundreds of independent scientists and scholars. The efficacy of this approach is now beyond question.
With the establishment of permanent groups of these peace-creating experts in every country, we can now safeguard nations against violence and social disorder and promote peace in the world.