| World-renowned quantum physicist
Hagelin promotes peaceful solutions to the world's problems by Sally Peden Dr. John Hagelin is a world-renowned quantum physicist and world authority on the foundations of human consciousness. He is a life long educator, physicist, author and founder of the Natural Law Party -- a new political party dedicated to promoting life-supporting policies in harmony with natural law. Hagelin was the party's presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 elections. Hagelin has received numerous awards, and he has been recognized as a scientist in the tradition of Einstein, Boer and Eddington. In the 1991 issue of Discover Magazine, the combined work of Hagelin and three colleagues was cited as worthy of the Nobel Prize. Under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation Movement, Hagelin has made major contributions towards the systematic reformulation of the ancient Vedic Science of consciousness. Hagelin himself learned Transcendental Meditation when a medical doctor suggested that he try it while he was in a body cast resulting from a motorcycle accident at age 17. "It was recommended to me for purely health reasons," he says, "but I quickly found that the mental side effects of the practice were more striking than the improvements in health that meditation brought." "It was a decade later that I began to sense the convergence of my work in quantum physics and unified field theories and my growing understanding and experience of consciousness. At that time, I went to Switzerland for a year and studied under Maharishi to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation. This deepened my understanding of the Vedic science of consciousness as I was gaining greater expertise in the cutting edge of unified field theories." Hagelin says he has dedicated his life to applying the latest scientific knowledge of natural law for the benefit of the individual and society. In 1992, Dr. Hagelin was appointed director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, a science and public policy think-tank. As institute director, he successfully headed a nationwide effort to identify, scientifically evaluate and promote innovative solutions to critical social problems in the areas of crime, health care, education, economy and the environment. During the past year, Dr. Hagelin and a team of internationally renowned scientists have met with members of Congress and top leaders at the Pentagon and State Department to present a peaceful, scientifically validated approach to preventing war and terrorism. Department of Peace In July, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced legislation to create a department of peace to "give peace a chance." In meetings with Congressman Kucinich, Dr. Hagelin discussed the Department of Peace legislation. "As an educator," Hagelin says, "I believe that education is the source and ultimately the solution to most of our national and global problems. I'm also a scientist who has done research in the field of conflict resolution and peace, and it is a scientific fact that wars begin in the minds and hearts of men, and it is in the minds and hearts of men that the consensus of peace must be constructed. If there is a way through education to reduce the societal stress and tension, then we can perhaps prevent the outbreak of conflict." "The time for peace is now," Congressman Kucinich said. "At the dawn of a new millennium, there is no better time to review age old challenges with new thinking that peace is not only the absence of violence, but the presence of a higher evolution of human awareness with respect, trust and integrity toward humankind. Our founding fathers recognized that peace was one of the highest duties of the newly organized free and independent states. But too often, we have overlooked the long-term solution of peace for instant gratification of war. This continued downward spiral of violence must stop to ensure that future generations will live in peace and harmony." In April last year, Dr. Hagelin traveled to Hiroshima, Japan, to address an International Symposium on World Peace held at the University of Hiroshima and sponsored by the city government. The symposium focused on the urgent need for new approaches to creating and maintaining world peace. Dr. Hagelin presented his Proposal for Preventing Terrorism to a packed and appreciative audience. The peace symposium continued on April 7 at the Technical University of Tokyo, where Dr. Hagelin explained the scientific research supporting his Proposal and commented, "The ability to deliver massive retaliation affords little deterrence to terrorists. We need a new approach -- one that can neutralize terrorist attacks and prevent wars before they begin." Following the symposium, Dr. Hagelin met individually with 13 top members of the Japanese Parliament and was very gratified by their deep understanding of the principles of the proposal and their receptivity to it. "The Japanese people understand that there's a field of silence and unity underlying the field of change," he says. "Peace is even built into the Japanese Constitution, which disallows Japan from creating an offensive military force, so the people were excited to learn that their self-defense forces could be trained in a science of peace that would not only protect Japan but also create global peace." After the symposium, Dr. Hagelin visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, established at Ground Zero of the world's first nuclear attack. He called the experience "overwhelming." "Every political leader with access to nuclear weapons should be required to visit this museum," he says. "Even as a nuclear physicist, I was overwhelmed to see the extent of death and destruction that these weapons have caused. "No politician in the world has any real conception of the fundamentally immoral nature of nuclear weapons, or they would all be pursuing total nuclear disarmament. Even Bush's 'battlefield' nuclear weapons are many times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima. The very concept of such weapons breaks down the fine line that has kept humankind from total conflagration during the past 40 years." Creating peace Hagelin, with Congressman Kucinich and other scientists and policy makers, is working to convince government leaders that there is an alternative to war -- a peace creating program that has proven it's ability to quell violence in hot spots around the world. In Hagelin's view, it is the combined stress of all the individuals in any given society that builds up and creates a dangerous, criminal atmosphere in the whole community. This societal stress becomes the breeding ground for crime, conflict and social disorder, which in turn threatens the creativity, productivity and fulfillment and even the lives of the individuals living in society. By 1993, Dr. Hagelin had contributed to a growing body of published research evidence indicating that systematic technologies of consciousness can be used to dissolve individual and social stress and to significantly reduce crime, conflict and terrorism. This approach involves the use of large groups of trained experts in Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques -- the TM-Sidhi Program -- to dissolve stress not only in the individuals practicing the techniques, but also throughout the social atmosphere. These studies had been published repeatedly in independent, peer-reviewed academic journals, but the evidence was not known to policy makers and opinion leaders around the world. For this reason, Dr. Hagelin, in his role as director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, took it upon himself to organize and publicize the largest sociological experiment ever conducted -- a Demonstration Project using these technologies of consciousness to reduce violent crime and other indictors of societal stress. The demonstration took place in Washington, D.C., in June and July of 1993. Hagelin enlisted an independent Project Review Board of leading scientists to approve the research design in advance and monitor the study as it was conducted and reported. The Review Board was comprised of sociologists, criminologists and policy makers from such institutions as the University of Maryland, the University of Texas, Temple University, the University of Denver, University of the District of Columbia, American University and Howard University. The results were a striking and highly public confirmation of previous research. During the eight-week period of the demonstration, as the attendance rose from 1,000 in the first two weeks to 4,000 in the last two weeks, violent crime decreased by 23 percent. The statistical probability that this result could reflect chance variation in crime levels was less than 2 in 1 billion. (This research was published in Social Indicators Research 47: 153-201, 1999.) Earlier published academic studies had shown that use of such large meditation assemblies not only reduce violent crime, but also calm down armed conflict. Studies were conducted during the early '80s on what was then nearly constant fighting in Lebanon. A first study showed that during the six periods when attendance at a two-month Transcendental Meditation assembly in Israel reached the highest levels, war deaths and war-related injuries in neighboring Lebanon decreased by 76 percent. (Journal of Conflict Resolution, 776 -812, 1988.) ************ "I think the claim can be plausibly made that the potential impact of this research exceeds that of any other ongoing social or psychological research program. It has survived a broader array of statistical tests than most research in the field of conflict resolution. This work and the theory that informs it deserve the most serious consideration by academics and policy makers alike." -- David Edwards, Ph.D., Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin ************ Because such studies have enormous implications for reducing tension and violence throughout the world, Dr. Hagelin has embarked on a worldwide effort to make them known to academic experts and policy leaders. Hagelin says this approach supports all other constructive peace efforts. It does so by reducing collective stress and creating a harmonious climate in which peace initiatives can meet with success. "Coherence-creating groups create the basis for lasting peace by promoting the personal and societal development necessary for lasting progress and prosperity," he says. This peaceful solution has been confirmed by rigorous scientific research. "The coherence-creating strategy has been successfully employed many times to reduce international conflict, crime and violence," Hagelin says. By now, there are more than 40 scientific studies conducted in war-torn areas and in city populations showing that Transcendental Meditation can reduce conflict, violence and war deaths in war-torn areas, reduce crime and violence in city populations and increase positive quality of life indicators. Many of these studies were published in nationally and internationally respected peer-reviewed journals. The Maharishi Effect Works In 1960, Maharishi predicted that 1 percent of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique would produce measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population. This phenomenon was first noticed in 1974 and reported in a paper published in 1976: Improved Quality of City Life through the Transcendental Meditation Program: Decreased Crime Rate. The finding was that when 1 percent of a community practiced the Transcendental Meditation program, then the crime rate was reduced by 16 percent on average. At the time, the phenomenon was named the Maharishi Effect. Generally, the effect may be defined as the influence of coherence and positivity in the social and natural environment generated by the practice of Transcendental Meditation and the advanced practice of the TM-Sidhi program. On the basis of analogies to physical systems, scientists estimated that the coherence generated by group practice of the TM-Sidhi program should be proportional to the square of the number of participants. "Taking into account the 1 percent finding," Hagelin says, "It was predicted that a group with size equal to the square root of 1 percent of a population would have a measurable influence on the quality of life of that population. For example, a group of 200 practicing the TM-Sidhi program together in a city of four million would be sufficient to produce a measurable influence on the whole city. A group of 1,600-1,700 in the U.S. would influence 290 million, the population of the U.S., and a group of 8,000 would influence the whole population of the world." Technologies of Consciousness The Transcendental Meditation technique, as taught by Maharishi Yogi, is a simple, natural mental technique practiced for 15 to 20 minutes morning and evening while sitting comfortably with eyes closed. The TM technique is easy to learn, effortless to practice and does not require specific beliefs, behavior or lifestyle. People of all ages, cultures, religions and educational backgrounds practice the TM technique. During the TM technique, one's awareness settles down and one experiences a unique state of restful alertness -- Transcendental Consciousness, the simplest form of awareness, the mind's full creative potential. As the activity of the mind is reduced, the body gains a unique state of deep rest, releasing accumulated stress and revitalizing the entire nervous system. Through the resulting development of mind and improvement of health, the individual enjoys increasing success and satisfaction in life. According to Maharishi, during the practice of Transcendental Meditation, the conscious mind comes to a state of self-referral awareness, which is the simplest form of human awareness where consciousness is open to itself. This self-referral state of consciousness is the ground state of all the laws of nature -- the Unified Field of Natural Law. Through the practice of TM, the conscious mind identifies itself with the Unified Field, and human awareness is open to its own full potential of Nature's intelligence. As a result, thinking and action spontaneously become more and more in accord with Natural Law. Through the advanced programs of the TM technique -- the TM-Sidhi Program, including Yogic Flying -- the awareness is trained to function from the deepest level of Nature's functioning, the level of the Unified Field, the level of self-referral consciousness. As a result, thinking and action spontaneously becomes more and more in accord with Natural Law. Yogic Flying and World Peace "Yogic Flying" is a natural extension of the Transcendental Meditation program, and it cultures the ability to think and act in a settled level of awareness. The experience during Yogic Flying is described as one of "bubbling bliss." "Yogic Flying" is learned as a part of the TM-Sidhi program. More than 100,000 people have learned Yogic Flying, and like Transcendental Meditation, its benefits are practical, holistic and scientifically validated. For instance, EEG studies show that during Yogic Flying, at the moment when the body lifts up, coherence is maximum in brain wave activity. When "Yogic Flying" is practiced in groups, this influence spreads throughout the environment, reducing negative tendencies and promoting positive, harmonious trends throughout society. These results are easily reproducible and have been extensively validated through rigorous, peer-review published, scientific research. The physical manifestations of "Yogic Flying" vary with the practitioner. The Yoga Sutras of Maharishi Patanjali describe three stages of immediately visible results. Stage One is generally associated with what would best be described as "hopping like a frog." Stage Two is flying through the air for a short time. Stage Three is complete mastery of the sky. With these technologies of consciousness, Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying, Hagelin says we have the means to reverse violence and war in our world and create a peaceful world, now, not tomorrow or next year. "In this light, the new approach to peace offered by our proposal to prevent terrorism is completely indispensable now -- the most important project imaginable. Anything we can do now to achieve the goal, we must do," Hagelin says. "The impact of our actions, individually and collectively, is inconceivably vast," he says. "We can all appreciate, to some extent, the environmental impact of polluting behavior. But on the basis of what we know about the universe, the true impact of our actions is far broader. For example, chaos theory has established that even our most minute actions can have incalculably large effects. This places a great burden of responsibility on everyone. Exercising common sense consideration and care towards our environment is a good start, but if we really want to protect our planet against negative effects of human behavior, we must bring our thinking and action into spontaneous accord with Natural Law. We must align our behavior with the universal intelligence that governs the universe and sustains millions of species on Earth. "Fortunately, such spontaneously life-nourishing behavior is our birthright. The human brain is hard-wired to experience enlightenment--higher states of consciousness in which we directly experience, and become attuned to, cosmic intelligence, or the Unified Field in the terminology of modern physics. The development of our total brain potential, and the resulting expansion of human comprehension to be universal, should be the goal of education today." For more information, go to www.istpp.org or www.tm.org Sally Peden worked for 10 years as writer and project coordinator for the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy. She is currently an academic administrator and freelance writer in Fairfield, Iowa. Ms. Peden has a B.A. in Psychology from Duke University and an MA in Professional Writing from Maharishi University of Management. She can be reached by e-mail at speden@mum.edu. Copyright © 2003 Sally Peden |
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