Mass Meditation Field Research Essay Summaries

This document is the collection of papers from The Super Radiance effect.  Special thank to Jeremy Old and the Natural Health Research Trust for compiling the content. This series of documents will not be used for any commercial or profit-making purposes. If you wish to view the original text, you can visit this website for more information and the original document of this blog.

This blog includes 18 Mass Meditation field research summaries.

Due to the numerous rumors about mass meditation in streaming media these days, I want to create a more simplified and efficient way to convince the public of the benefits of mass meditation, as people still have a strong trust in official narratives.

All the content here can be found on literature platforms. Due to some psychological reasons (confirmation bias/cognitive dissonance), the benefits of mass meditation are not widely known, so specific stats and case studies serve as powerful instruments for argumentation and persuasion.

You also can watch Traditional Chinese version in here

你還可以點擊這裏看繁體中文版

Field Research Summaries 1

Improved quality of city life through the Transcendental Meditation program: Decreased crime rate

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi predicted in 1960 that just 1% of a given population practising Transcendental Meditation (TM) was enough to rejuvenate society and reverse the negative trends of crime and social disorder. 

Although this was certainly an astounding prediction at the time, nevertheless by 1974 it seemed to be coming true. After a wave of extensive TM teaching in America, four Mid-Western cities actually reached this seemingly magical 1% threshold of meditators. Sure enough, it was apparent that in these four cities crime had started to buck the inexorable upward trend and was instead on the decline. This exciting revelation inspired this first research study into the collective effect of TM.

The researchers, Borland and Landrith carried out two parallel studies.  

First study; the researchers trawled through data for 101 US cities that fell into the FBI Uniform Crime Rate statistics category of a population between 25,000 and 50,000 people. Of these 101 cities, they discovered that 11 had achieved more than 0.97% of their populations practicing the TM technique by the end of 1972. They then obtained crime figures from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports or directly from the relevant city authorities. Where possible they ran this analysis across the years 1967 to 1973. The idea was to demonstrate the situation before the cities reached the 1% threshold and to compare the effect after one year of reaching the 1% threshold. The 1973 crime statistics showed there was a clear correlation between the number of people practicing TM in a population and the level of crime. Borland and Landrith observed that in 1973 there was an abrupt change in the pattern of crime statistics as follows: 

1. In 1973 crime decreased in everyone of the cities where at least 0.97% of the population had learned TM by the end of 1972 

2. Crime rate increased in approximately 76% of the cities where less than 0.97% of the population were practising TM by the end of 1972.

Second study; the researchers then refined the study to check the possibility that other variable factors might be impacting crime levels. They selected eleven cities that matched the eleven ‘1%’ cities for variable factors including equivalent resident population, size of college population and geographic region. They then compared the relative crime rate changes of the control cities with the ‘1%’ cities.  

1% cities reverse trend in crime 

The results showed that the eleven 1% cities achieved an average decrease in crime for 1973 of 8.2%. On the other hand the control group of eleven matching cities showed an average increase of 8.3%. (Three control cities showed small decreases, two control cities on the other hand experienced a jump of over 20% and three other control cities experienced increased crime of over 11%). See charts below for further details.

Significantly, in the years leading up to 1973, the researchers observed that both the experimental group of eleven cities and the matching control group had more or less followed a parallel growth in crime rate (See chart above). 

Clear divergent trend 

Looking at the last chart, you can see clearly that a sharp divergence in crime trends occurs during the year when each of the experimental cities achieved the threshold of 1% of their population learning the Transcendental Meditation technique. The 1% effect reverses the rising trend in crime in every case. 

Research authors: 

Borland C, and Landrith III GS; Department of Educational Psychology, Maharishi European Research University, Switzerland, and Department of Psychology, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1976. 

 Collected Papers v1.98

Field Research Summaries 2

Influence of the Transcendental Meditation Programme on crime rate in suburban Cleveland

This study extends the previous work carried out by Borland and Landrith. The researcher, Guy Hatchard, tested the idea that just a few people learning to meditate would also have some impact on the level of orderliness and harmony of the surrounding society, even before the 1% threshold was reached.

In the early 1970's crime in the USA continued an inexorable rise

As a backdrop to this study it must be pointed out that in the early 1970s the USA was experiencing a prolonged growth in crime. Observers in the media and social studies couldn't help but expect this increase to continue on into the eighties. Despite massive government sums being spent on crime prevention methods of one sort or another, neither the causes of crime nor the means to reduce it seemed clear. 

The inevitability of a continued increase in lawlessness was becoming accepted with more or less passive resignation. What was lacking at the time in academic circles was any understanding of the potential to intervene on the level of consciousness to reduce antisocial behaviour. 

 This Cleveland study was another step in the opening up of our understanding that even a small number of meditators within a population can start to have a significant impact on the lives and wellbeing of everyone else in society.

The study sample consisted of forty suburbs within the Greater Cleveland area of the USA with populations of over 5,000 people. This gave a total sample of 966,000 people. Crime rate figures and the numbers of people meditating were correlated for consecutive periods 1973 to 1975 and 1976. Other variable factors including family income and numbers of police were also looked at for correlation. The results of the first period under study showed that the correlation between very low percentage levels of meditators and crime levels is insignificant. This low correlation indicated that very small numbers of TM practitioners do not have any measurable impact on society at large.

However as the number of TM practitioners grew over the next few months so an impact began to emerge. In the 1974 to 1975 study period, ten suburbs out of 40 had reached percentages of TM practitioners above 0.39% of their host population. These areas showed significant positive changes in crime trends compared with the rest of the sample. 

Five of the areas actually recorded a drop in crime despite an overall increase in crime being recorded elsewhere in Cleveland. Collectively the ten TM-prevalent areas showed a marginal increase in crime of less than 1%, whereas elsewhere in Cleveland crime continued to increase at the record rates of the time and often in double-digit percentage figures.

Suburbs with 1% of TM meditators showed a drop in crime 

By 1976 Shaker Heights and a cluster of four small suburbs headed by Moreland Hills had breached the 1% threshold. These areas recorded crime drops of 3.65% and 1.81% respectively. Two other suburbs had achieved a percentage of TM practitioners just below 1%. Cleveland Heights had 0.86% and University Heights had 0.83%. Crime in these two areas had reduced by 2.39% and 1.23% respectively. 

It was observed that a number of these suburbs were areas of fairly high median income. However, it was also noticed that none of the other wealthier areas where the TM population had not risen experienced a commensurate reversal in the crime trend. Similarly there seemed to be no correlation between police activity and protection and the reversal in crime trends.

Hatchard G; Cleveland World Plan Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 1977. 

Collected Papers v2.166

Field Research Summaries 3

The growth of coherence in society through the Maharishi Effect: Reduced rates of suicides and auto accidents

This was the second study designed to test the theory that when 1% of a given population practices the Transcendental Meditation technique then there will be an immediate, significant and positive shift in the general quality of life. To achieve their aim, the researchers selected 21 US cities each with a population larger than 10,000 people and that had reached the 1% threshold in time for the experimental date of 1972. 

An independent researcher formulated a control group of 21 cities where there was less than 0.7% meditating and that were otherwise matched for population, college population and geographic region. Care was taken to avoid monitoring cities where major changes occurred during the experimental period or where no suitable matching control could be identified. The control also avoided cities that were an integral part of a larger metropolitan area, as these larger areas might influence the result. 

The full experimental period covered the ten-year from 1967 – 1977. The ‘baseline period’ extended from 1967 – 1972. The ‘intervention period’, defined as the period when the 1% threshold was reached for each of the experimental cities, ran between 1972 and 1977. 

For this study, instead of crime, the researchers monitored statistical changes to suicide rates and auto accident rates. These two factors were and still are of major concern as they are seen to have a major negative impact on the quality of life in the USA. Suicide rates among adolescents had doubled between 1961 and 1975 and auto accident injuries had become a major health problem with an economic impact second only to cancer. The problem of suicide has been particularly intractable with no effective community prevention programmes being apparent, especially among the young.

The results

The study showed four unequivocal findings: 

1. Suicides (average reduction -5.7%) and auto accidents (average reduction – 7.05%) decreased in every single town that reached the 1% threshold of meditators. 

2. On the other hand, there was a small average increase in suicides (0.19%) in the 21 control cities and no change in the rate of auto accidents. 

3. These changes were independent of changes in other major demographic variables. 

4. In direct contrast, during the baseline period, (i.e., the period prior to the 1% threshold being reached) there were no significant divergent trends observed between the experimental cities and the control cities (p<.001). 

 

The study implies that there is a new factor influencing group cognitive and perceptual-motor functioning. The findings reinforce the researchers’ understanding that this new factor is consciousness, which they hypothesize is a basic determinant of individual human behaviour. 

The small number of meditators required to create a significant shift (only 1%) obviously precludes the possibility that the positive shift in auto accidents and suicides is due to any social or physical interaction by the meditators with the rest of the community. This fact lends further weight to the argument that the spontaneous shift in community quality of life is due to a field effect arising from increased coherence in the collective consciousness of the communities involved.

Landrith III GS; and Dillbeck MC; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1983. 

 Collected Papers v4.317.

Field Research Summaries 4

The Transcendental Meditation Programme and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities      

This study covered a period of five and a half years in an attempt to identify the cause of relative crime rate changes in 48 cities in the USA. 

The methodology involved comparing 24 ‘experimental cities’ (where one percentage of the population practised the Transcendental Meditation technique) with 24 ‘control cities’ where few people had learned to meditate. 

To try and ensure a fair comparison, the researchers carefully matched the control cities for geographic region, population size, college population and changes in reporting methods.

Findings summarised: 

 • The experimental cities with 1% of the population meditating displayed a decrease of 22% from the 1973 predicted value of 65.2 crimes per 1,000 of the population. 

 • In contrast, the control cities displayed a 2% increase from the 1973 predicted value of 58.0 crimes per 1,000 of the population. (p<.001) 

 • The statistics showed that there was also a marked disparity in the trend of crime rate between the two groups: 

 • The trend of crime rate in the experimental cities (with 1% meditating) decreased 89.3% during the intervention period from a 1967 – 72 baseline yearly increase of 4.30 crimes per 1,000 population. 

 • On the other hand, the trend of crime rate in the control cities increased 53.9% during the same period, from a baseline yearly increase of 2.32 crimes per 1,000 population (p<.01). 

 Dillbeck MC; Landrith III GS; and Orme-Johnson DW; Findings previously published in Journal of Crime and Justice 4: 25-45, 1981. 

 Collected Papers v4.318.

Field Research Summaries 5

The Transcendental Meditation Programme and a compound probability model as predictors of crime rate change

The fifth research study built on the earlier TM research findings that indicated that when 1% of a given population practised the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) then there is a commensurate improvement in social order as manifested by a decrease in crime levels. The study was specifically designed to test the theory that the ‘1% effect’ was a reliable predictor of crime decrease in a population. 

The study carried out during the early to mid 1970s was split into three parts. The first two parts were designed to test the reliability of predicting crime levels in society using different variable factors that are sometimes considered by social scientists to influence the crime rate. These variables included:  

 • Density of population, 

 • Percentage of unemployed, 

 • Per capita income, 

 • Percentage of the population living below the poverty level, 

 • Percentage of the residents living in the same residence after five years, 

 • Percentage of the population over the age of 65 and 

 • Median years of education

The third part looked at the prevalence of TM in a community as a means to predict crime levels.

To carryout the investigation into the influence of TM on crime rates, the researcher, Michael Dillbeck selected a sample of twenty-three towns in the Kansas City metropolitan area. These towns comprised at least 4,000 people and each was within a 20-mile radius of Kansas City Missouri. Either permanently or temporarily, during the period covered by the study, four of these towns (Fairway-Westwood, Leawood, Mission Hills, Prairie Village) reached the 1% threshold whereby at least 1% of the local population were meditating using the TM technique.

The research monitored ‘Part 1’ crimes per one thousand members of the population over different periods. ‘Part 1’ crimes include murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. These types of crimes are considered useful indicators of the level of social order and disorder. 

On review, the statistics showed that where the TM 1% threshold had been achieved in each city there was a universal and significant reduction in Part 1 crimes. On the other hand most of the control sample towns experienced an increase in crime. 

The larger the number of meditators above the 1% threshold the higher the drop in crime seemed to be. (In Mission Hills where 2.92% of the population was meditating there was a drop in crime of 30.03% recorded during one of the periods under study.) 

In one period of study, the difference between the mean averages of the two groups (1% threshold towns and non 1%) was approximately 30% points (p<.001) in a later period the difference between the two groups was still 14% points. 

None of the other variables tested, proved to be a viable alternative hypothesis for crime rate changes compared with the 1% TM threshold effect. Dillbeck concluded that compared with other models, the TM probability model based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s principles of the collective consciousness, appeared to be a useful tool to empirically predict the existing level of crime rate, crime rate growth and crime rate decrease.

Dillbeck MC; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1978. 

 Collected Papers v4.319.

Field Research Summaries 6

The Transcendental Meditation Programme and crime rate change: A causal analysis 

From the early 1970s the number of people being taught Transcendental Meditation (TM) in the USA was growing fast. By 1976 the number of TM practitioners had reached an average of 0.45% in cities (over 25,000 population) and 0.33% in the larger metropolitan areas (over 200,000 population). 

This large randomly dispersed group of individuals gave researchers the opportunity to carryout twin studies using large-scale random samples of both cities and metropolitan areas. The idea was to confirm that TM was a causal factor in the reduction of crime in US urban areas. 

The researchers wanted to build on the earlier studies into TM and crime reduction and eliminate the possibility that the cause of the reducing crime rate was due to alternative unmeasured variable factors. To achieve this they adopted the statistical method of ‘crossed lagged panel correlation’ (CLPC), as this was considered the best means to determine whether the relationship between TM and crime was either causal or spurious. 

The study period extended from 1964 to 1978 and covered 40 randomly picked cities and 80 standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSAs). FBI Uniform Crime Index figures were used to track the crime rates. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the contribution other social variable factors had on crime trends. These other factors included education attainment levels, unemployment rates, per capita income, and poverty levels.

Adopting this more systematic approach still showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between TM participation and crime rate change. It must be pointed out that unlike other studies the samples were not selected for high TM participation. This meant that the size of the correlations were lower than seen in other studies. However the random samples were both large and diverse lending further weight to the hypotheses that TM is a causal factor in urban crime reduction (probability factors varied in different years and ranged from p<.05 to p<.01).

Dillbeck MC; Landrith III GS; Polanzi C; and Baker SR; Department of Psychology, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA; Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency, and Corrections, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA; and Department of Educational Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA, 1982. 

 Collected Papers v4.320.

Field Research Summaries 7

Maharishi's Global Ideal Society Campaign: Improved quality of life in Rhode Island through the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program

The first prospective study on the collective effect of TM and the TM-Sidhi programme 

Up until the time of this study, research carried out into the Maharishi effect had been retrospective. In the previous studies scientists had chosen for study those towns where the 1% threshold had already been achieved organically as more and more people had learned to meditate in those areas. The researchers had never been in a position to predict the results beforehand they had only observed what had already happened. 

An important test for a scientific theory is to replicate an experiment and predict the result before the experiment commences. So, in this instance, the research team considered it was time to intervene proactively and teach enough people to meditate in an area so as to achieve the 1% effect. Just as importantly they wanted to predict the results publicly beforehand.

QOL research across a whole state 

The researchers also felt it would be useful to broaden the scope of the study both in terms of size of sample and range of quality of life benefits. They therefore decided to monitor the results across a state level as well as across a range of quality of life factors, not just crime, suicides and accident levels. 

The team chose Rhode Island for the case study, as it is the smallest state in the USA. With a population of one million people it was felt that achieving a 1% level of meditators in the state was within the capacity of the TM teaching organisation. This was still an ambitious objective as it meant having to teach 10,000 people the TM technique before the QOL could be significantly improved for study purposes.

Public prediction of anticipated results 

Before the commencement of the project, the team made a public prediction that they were intending to create a significant improvement in the Quality of Life (QOL) Index in Rhode Island by instigating the 1% effect. To this end a team of 300 TM teachers travelled from all parts of the USA and arrived in Rhode Island in June 1978, remaining there for three months. 

In the event the team was only able to teach 5,045 people to meditate during the time available. However, each and every one of the newly arrived teachers was also a TM-Sidha. This meant that although the massive teaching initiative was unable to meet the 1% threshold, the teachers themselves were still making a powerful contribution to the Super Radiance (√1 %) effect with their own daily programme of meditation. 

During the study period, the teachers were scattered across the state engaged in teaching activities. But none-the-less these teachers still managed to meditate in a variety of group sizes ranging in number from two individuals to forty-six. The combination of these scattered groups of 300 TM-Sidhas with the 5,045 new meditators was enough for Rhode Island to reach the Super Radiance threshold for that entire period.

Data studies using time series analysis 

After the intervention phase of the experiment was concluded the researchers compared data during the three-month experiment with similar monthly data available for a seven-year period between 1974 and 1980. To improve the efficacy of the findings the researchers also analysed data using time series analysis. 

The results confirmed exactly what the research team had predicted at the start of the project. Statistics showed that the experimental period displayed a significant improvement in a composite QOL index composed of eight variable factors. 

 • Total crime rate – FBI statistics 

 • Mortality rate – US Bureau of Census

 • Motor vehicle fatality rate – Departments of Transportation RI (Rhode Island) and Delaware 

 • Auto accident rate – Departments of Transportation RI and Delaware  

 • Unemployment rate – Department of Employment Security, RI; Department of Labor, Delaware 

 • Pollution (particulates) – Department of Environmental Management, RI; Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware 

 • Beer consumption rate – United States Brewers Association 

 • Cigarette consumption rate – Tobacco Tax Council, Richmond Virginia 

As can be seen in the chart, a significant but less pronounced improvement on the baseline period in composite QOL scores was seen in the post intervention period when the 300 TM-Sidhas had departed. Even after the TM teachers had left there were still a sizeable number of new meditators dispersed across the community. And as we saw from the Hatchard study (Summary 2), once a town has about 0.39% of its population practicing Transcendental Meditation new meditators start having a noticeable impact on their surroundings. 

In the chart an increase shows an improvement in the combined index of all the variables.

Impressive ‘before and after’ effect 

The uniqueness of the ‘before and after’ event clearly indicates a causal relationship between the combination of new meditators and TM-Sidhas participating in the project and improvement in the quality of life in the state. 

To check that the improvements in QOL were not part of some local or regional trend, the researchers carried out a similar analysis in the nearby state of Delaware over the same period. They found that the significant improvements seen in Rhode Island were in no way matched by the social indicators for Delaware.

Dillbeck MC; Foss APO; and Zimmermann W J Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, and MERU Research Institute, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, England, 1983. Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme and changes in social indicators, The Journal of Mind and Behavior 8: 67-103, 1987. 

 Collected Papers v4.321. 

Field Research Summaries 8

An experimental analysis of the application of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in major world trouble spots: Increased harmony in international affairs

Introduction 

The confirmation of the Super Radiance effect during the Rhode Island research project (See research summary 7 above) inspired a more ambitious experiment - the World Peace Project. 

Basically the objective was to explore the practicalities of using groups of TM-Sidhas to quieten down areas of serious conflict in the world. In the event, this World Peace Project set the pattern for a number of future peace projects. Typically during these projects we see the following trends occur:  

1. Conflict, chaos and open warfare immediately stop with the arrival of the required number of TM-Sidhas that meet the Super Radiance threshold for the area (the square root of 1% of the host population). 

2. This pacification only continues for so long as the necessary numbers of TM-Sidhas are in place. When they leave the conflict zone, or when the number of TM-Sidhas drops below the Super Radiance threshold the violence gradually erupts again. 

3. A temporary Super Radiance group of TM-Sidhas does not substitute or replace traditional means of long-term peace making such as mediation, diplomatic negotiations and the formation of workable constitutional structures. The increased coherence in the collective consciousness simply creates sympathetic ground conditions in which conventional peace making efforts can prosper. 

4. Unless diplomatic and political efforts come to fruition whilst the coherence group is in place, the violence tends to break out again soon after the departure of the TM-Sidhas. 

In essence what we now know is that temporary coherence creating groups create a window of opportunity for governments and other agencies to come to terms with one another and make practical peace agreements. 

Five sub-projects 

During a ten-week period in 1978, Maharishi despatched groups of volunteers who, were trained in the TM-Sidhi meditation techniques, to five principle trouble spots around the world. At the time, these were: 

 • Nicaragua 

 • Lebanon 

 • Iran 

 • Thailand and Kampuchea (now Cambodia) 

 • Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) 

Unfortunately for the residents of these countries, they had become the focal points of collective global stress, as they lay on the fault lines between the two rival super powers the USA and USSR. Each of the countries suffered from political violence of some sort. In essence these countries had become surrogate, fighting grounds in Cold War geopolitical manoeuvrings.  

The objective of the World Peace Project was to show that introducing coherence in these areas using the group practise of the TM-Sidhi programme would not only create progress towards peace in these specific areas but would also improve peaceful cooperation at a global level. Between October and December 1978 approximately 1,400 TM-Sidhas in separate groups visited strategically selected locations to precipitate the desired local Super Radiance effect. 

 • 121 TM-Sidhas went to Rhodesia and neighbouring Zambia 

 • 140 TM-Sidhas went to Nicaragua with a further 160 sent to the surrounding countries of Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador

 • 206 TM-Sidhas went to Iran 

 • Lebanon benefited from 100 TM-Sidhas in Syria and Cyprus, and 400 trainee TM-Sidhas in Northern Israel 

 • 260 meditators and TM-Sidhas went to Thailand to bring coherence to that local region with the specific intention of preventing the violence and genocide spreading across the border from communist Kampuchea. 

Zero social, political or diplomatic interaction by peace project participants 

It is important to note that the TM-Sidhas made no attempt to influence the situation through social, diplomatic or political interaction. Their influence spread directly from the enlivenment of collective consciousness precipitated by their daily meditation programmes.

The impact of the TM-Sidha groups on the trouble spots was gauged through analysis of data drawn from COPDAB (The Conflict and Peace Data Bank), the largest independent daily data bank in the world recording conflict in international affairs. 

The data categorised events into a Conflict Scale of 15 subheadings broadly under the three main categories of:

1. Cooperative Events: These were measured in scale from voluntary unification into one nation at the top end and the creation of alliances to verbal support by minor officials at the minimum end of the scale 

2. Verbal Hostilities   

3. Hostile Acts ranging in scale from hostile diplomatic actions such as troop mobilisations and withdrawal of ambassadors to full-scale war. 

4. The results showed a significant shift in international relations and domestic affairs towards proportionally fewer hostile acts and more cooperative Events (p=.0001).

 During the experimental period there was an absolute increase in the number of total events recorded by COPDAB.

Thus in terms of absolute frequencies the greatest change in domestic affairs was in the number of cooperative events. These increased from 90 during the baseline period to 194 during the experimental period, an increase of 115.6%. 

In terms of absolute frequencies the greatest change in international affairs was observed in the number of cooperative events.

These cooperative events increased from 610 during the baseline period to 2,758 during the experimental period. In other words there was an increase in international cooperation of 352% during the brief period the World Peace Project was underway.

Specific results by country 

Rhodesia – 81% drop in war deaths

War deaths in September 1978 had actually been as high as 1,000 people or 33 people per day. However the researchers took their baseline from the October/ November period just prior to the project.  

The result showed war deaths dropping from an average of 16.1 per day during the baseline period to 3.0 per day during the main experiment period. This equates to a reduction of 81% in war deaths as compared with the lower baseline period. (p<.05). 

Nicaragua – Open warfare stopped

During one month in September 1978 1,200 people had been killed in the country’s civil war. From October 11th groups of TM-Sidhas started arriving in Nicaragua itself and also neighbouring countries including Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Soon afterwards the violence in Nicaragua eased. 

A second group of TM-Sidhas was quickly despatched to Nicaragua in November to calm the situation when it was heard from the US embassy that an escalation of violence was anticipated. 

Again, towards the end of November, Maharishi sent more TM-Sidhas to the capital Managua when negotiations between the rival factions broke down and turbulence started erupting. Following the arrival of the latest group, violence and tension subsided to an extent that President Somoza was able to suspend military rule, granted an unconditional amnesty to political prisoners and exiles and removed censorship. Uncharacteristically he also agreed to set-up a plebiscite on his own rule. 

However when in December, the TM-Sidha group left the country, progress reversed. Somoza rejected his own plebiscite, negotiations between the rival parties broke down and violence sparked off once again.

Iran – Return to normality

The first groups of TM-Sidhas arrived in the capital Teheran on 17th October. The country was in the midst of a constitutional crisis with strikes and civil resistance growing against the Shah’s dictatorial regime. Demonstrations and strikes were paralysing the country and the conflict was rapidly becoming more heated and violent. 

The arrival of the TM-Sidhas coincided with the BBC noting that the demonstrations had suddenly become more peaceful. Further political turbulence arose from 1st November but this was also stabilised when additional TM-Sidhas arrived. November 28th Newsweek commented that Iran was ‘calm but not quiet’. During November and early December, oil strikers returned to work, the colleges opened and 477 political prisoners were released. 

In Mid December the TM-Sidhas started leaving as visas began expiring. The problem being that the Shah’s government felt they could no longer guarantee the safety of foreigners and asked them to leave. Tragically, the government had no idea what Super Radiance was and the effect it had been having on its own country. When the TM-Sidhas finally left disorder and chaos quickly ensued. By mid January The Shah had left the country and two weeks later Ayatollah Khomeini returned to a stupendous welcome. After several weeks of armed street fighting the Royal regime finally collapsed and was replaced by the Islamic Republic.

Lebanon – Two months of peace

Throughout the summer of 1978 Lebanon suffered from almost ceaseless civil warfare interspersed with a few ceasefires that typically lasted only a day or two. Observers were forecasting that total economic collapse was imminent and business people were leaving the country. 

The first group of TM-Sidhas arrived in the area on 23rd October with other groups following shortly after. From this point onward, the country enjoyed a period of almost continuous calm interspersed by sporadic, but relatively minor incidents. 

This ceasefire lasted until late December with refugees beginning to return to Beirut, a new security plan was being developed and reconstruction was getting underway. 

At the end of December, when the TM-Sidhas left, heavy fighting erupted once again in what was described as the “worst onslaught since October” (Lebanon News February 1979).

Kampuchea/ Thailand – Invasion averted 

In November 1978 there was a well-documented, fear among political and diplomatic observers that the barbaric conflict and genocide in neighbouring communist run Kampuchea would escalate into Thailand. The government had a serious apprehension that Thailand might be invaded. During the experimental period, the feared escalation failed to materialise and Thailand remained free from invasion.

Improved international relations

Although the size of the TM-Sidha groups was relatively small and nowhere near the size needed for Global Super Radiance, nonetheless they intervened in the world’s focal points of stress. The result was a rise of peace throughout the world that was not predicted by prior events and was not typical for that time of year. 

Both analysts and politicians noted improvements in international relations during the experimental period. According to a report in the International Herald Tribune 18th November, President Carter stated; “I think that in recent weeks there has been an alleviation of tension between us (USSR and the USA) and I would like to see it continue.” Poignantly he continued, “I can’t say why there has been an improvement in US-Soviet relations.”

COPDAB recorded 4.9% fewer Hostile Acts during this period despite an increase of 43.4% events worldwide being recorded in the file. There was a massive 352% change in the Cooperative Events category. 

A Mid West paper the Des Moines Register noted “ …No nations are actively engaged in open warfare at the moment – a historic rarity” (30th November 1978) 

Group coherence enhances communication 

The absolute increase in the number of total events recorded by COPDAB and especially the total number of positive events reinforces the understanding about stress and communication. Negativity and stress in the collective consciousness mirrors the impact stress has on the individual. Just as stress in the individual tends to damage and block communication, reduce fruitful interaction and arouse hostility, so the same outcomes tend to arise when a nation becomes stressed. On the other hand, the more coherent atmosphere where there is increased positivity in the collective consciousness due to a Super Radiance effect, tends to encourage the flow of communication, increase the number of human interactions and produce proportionally more cooperation between people and institutions.

The World Peace Project proved the power of Super Radiance to dampen down hostility and violence, but also showed the limitations of temporary groups. Perhaps the main lesson learned from this project was the overall imperative of securing a permanent world peace group and permanent national peace groups.

Orme-Johnson DW; Dillbeck MC; Bousquet JG; and Alexander CN; Department of Psychology, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1979. 

 Collected Papers v4.322.

Field Research Summaries 9

The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field and improved quality of life in the United States: A study of the First World Peace Assembly, Amherst, Massachusetts, 1979

In 1979 an extended educational course on Vedic Science drew 2,500 TM Sidhas to Amherst Massachusetts USA for a six-week period. For the duration of the course, these TM-Sidhas were able to meditate together and as a result comfortably achieved the Super Radiance effect for the USA.

Researchers took the opportunity to measure the impact of this temporary group by analysing a range of quality of life indicators (QOL) for the United States as a whole. They achieved a valid comparison by matching QOL indicators for the study period with US trends for the years between 1973 and 1981.

As the researchers predicted, they found significant improvements in all QOL variables during the six-week study period. Although these improvements took place across the whole of the USA the research team observed more accentuated improvements in Massachusetts where the group was located.

Recorded improvements included: 

 • 3.4% decrease in violent crime across the USA (p<.02). 

 • 6.5% decrease in motor vehicle fatalities across the USA (p<.0001) 

 • 4% mean reduction across 14 major independent categories in the number of fatal accidents from (e.g. from fire, poisoning etc) and from homicides and suicides (p.005). 

 • 20.8% decrease in air traffic fatal accidents across the USA (p<.05).   

 • Increased confidence, optimism, and economic prosperity was indicated with a rise of 5.2 points in the Standard and Poor’s Composite 500 stock market index, a leading economic indicator, and a rise of 40.3 points in the Dow Jones industrial index (p<.04). 

Significantly improved QOL factors for Massachusetts included:

 • 18.9% reduction in motor vehicle fatalities (p<.05).
 • 10.1% reduction in violent crime (p<.00001).
 • 83.3% decrease in air traffic fatal accidents for the New England region (p<.001).

Davies JL; and Alexander CN; Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1983. 

Collected Papers v4.323.  

Field Research Summaries 10

Effect of coherent collective consciousness on the weather

In 1979, the need of the time drove the TM organisation in the USA to try and establish a permanent Super Radiance group for the whole nation. The cold war was seen to be heating up and it was felt that America’s unique and pivotal position in global politics made a national coherence group an imperative. 

 The urgency of the situation meant there was an immediate need to build two large meditating facilities capable of holding at least 2,000 TM-Sidhas; 2,000 being just over the square root of 1% of the USA population. The location for the group was to be the Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa. 

 Unfortunately the decision to go ahead with the construction project coincided with the onset of winter. And winter in the Mid West of the USA is so bitterly cold as to prevent building construction. The specific problem that had to be overcome was that builders are unable to mix and pour concrete below about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Never one to be put off by mundane practicalities such as impossible weather conditions, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi intervened directly. He insisted the construction should go ahead straight away regardless of the weather conditions. His response to the protests of the building contractors was to suggest to the group of 1,200 TM-Sidhas at the university that they put their collective attention on the need for milder weather on the critical days when concrete was due to be mixed and poured on site. This they duly did. 

 The construction project’s tight schedule required concrete pouring on eight specific days at different times during the course of the whole programme. In the event each time, one of these crucial days arrived, the weather became mild enough to allow the concrete pouring to go ahead. As a result the construction schedule continued unimpeded.  

Subsequently, researchers used data from the National Weather Service to compare the temperature of these eight experimental days with 84 other days during the three-month construction period both in Fairfield and the seven nearest cities.

The findings showed that the eight experimental (concrete pouring days) days displayed higher temperatures of 3.5 – 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the control period of 84 days across the whole region (p=.01). The entire period under study was seen to be warmer than average by one standard deviation (40-year baseline). 

 “The findings support the view that (coherent) collective consciousness can interact directly with macroscopic systems through the medium of desire or attention, and that the field of consciousness is intimately related to the physical world.” (Editors of Vol 4 of the Collected Papers).  

Rabinoff RA; Dillbeck MC; and Deissler R; Departments of Physics and Psychology, Maharishi University of Management Fairfield Iowa USA, 1981. 

 Collected Papers v4.324.

Field Research Summaries 11

Sociological effects of the group dynamics of consciousness: Decrease of crime and traffic accidents in Holland

During two periods in 1979 and 1981, The Dutch TM organisation managed to attract sufficient numbers of TM-Sidhas to meditate together in one place to carry out a Super Radiance study. On both occasions they achieved or exceeded the square root of 1% of the national population (376 TM-Sidhas). On a third occasion, a TM-Sidha group meeting in Germany achieved the Super Radiance effect for a large part of Northern Europe and this extended area included providing Super Radiance for Holland as well. 

Researchers decided to carry out a retrospective study to test the hypothesis that during these three experimental periods both crime and road traffic accidents with injury would have decreased across the whole of Holland.

The researchers collected monthly data for a ten-year period between 1971 and 1981 from the Dutch Central Office for Statistics and compared these statistics with events occurring during the three experimental periods. 

Here it is interesting to note that even though the data used by the researchers was for full monthly periods and the coherence groups were only of the right size for a proportion of those months, the results obtained are still very significant. 

Crime reduction figures: 

 • January 1979 group: 28% drop in crime (p = .02).
 • August 1981 group: 48% drop in crime (p = .04).
 • December 1981 group: 39% drop in crime (p = .03).

 Combined p value is p = .004

Traffic accidents with injury reduction figures:

 • January 1979 group: 31% drop in traffic accidents (p = .002).
 • August 1981 group: 13% drop in traffic accidents (p = .08).
 • December 1981 group: 18% drop traffic accidents (p = .02).

To check on the probability that such improvements might occur at random, the researchers investigated how often such substantial shifts in traffic accidents occurred under normal conditions.

They found that on only one occasion during the previous ten years had there been an unexpected drop in traffic accidents outside the three experimental periods. The drop of only 10% occurred in June 1971 (p<.005).

Burgmans WHPM; Burgt AT Van Der; Langenkamp FPT; and Verstegen JH Maharishi College of Natural Law, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 1982. 

 Collected Papers v4.325. 

Field Research Summaries 12

The effect of the group dynamics of consciousness on society: Reduced crime in the Union Territory of Delhi, India

In November 1980 Maharishi held a residential educational course on Vedic Science, in New Delhi and this drew a large number of TM-Sidhas to India’s capital city. The course initially attracted 3,000 course participants and lasted five-months, starting on 6th November 1980 and lasted until March 30th 1981. During the course this figure gradually dwindled to about 250 participants during the last few weeks. 

Despite the attrition in numbers, this large number of TM-Sidhas gathering together to meditate in the same place at the same time everyday still provided a rare opportunity for another Super Radiance study. The Union Territory of Delhi had at the time a population of 6,000,000, of which the square root of 1% is just 245. In other words throughout the duration of the course the citizens of Delhi all benefited from the enhanced brain wave coherence emitted by the Super Radiance effect.

To carry out the study, daily totals of IPC (Indian Penal Code) crimes were obtained from the Delhi Police Headquarters for a period extending from June 1980 through to March 1981. IPC crimes comprise a number of categories including: murder, robbery, riot, dacoity (dacoity is a category of crime fairly unique to India and involves violent crimes committed by roving bands of criminals), burglary, snatching, injury, motor vehicle theft, cycle theft, miscellaneous theft and other miscellaneous non-grievous injuries.

The results showed a highly significant drop in crimes of 11% or 14.65 crimes per day for the duration of the experimental period (p<.0001) as compared with the pre-intervention period.

Subsequent research by a senior Indian police official could identify no changes in local police policy, no special ‘drives’ on crime, no systematic transfer of staff and no apparent changes in the number of criminals through ‘externment’ or court clearance. Similarly there were no causal seasonal variations.  

There was one potential objection to the Super Radiance effect being the causal factor to the drop in crime. However after deeper analysis this factor was also discounted. In October 1980, just prior to the arrival of the TM Sidhas, the government issued a National Security Ordinance enabling the detention of habitual criminals in certain circumstances. This it was felt may have cleared habitual criminals from the area resulting in a consequent drop in crime. However, further analysis showed that this ordinance still did not account for the magnitude in crime decrease, as violent crimes including dacoity (usually involving habitual criminals) was seen to rise to former levels at the end of the Vedic Science course. In other words after the departure of the last TM-Sidhas, the National Security Ordinance was still in effect and crime rose back to its usual levels.

The researchers also checked to see what variations in crime occurred under normal conditions. They found that average crime totals for the periods July – October and November – January between 1976 and 1980 varied by less than 1%. This meant that the 11% drop in crime during the project was truly a positive and somewhat dramatic deviation from the normal trend of crime.  

Dillbeck MC; Cavanaugh KL; and Berg WP Van Den; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA; University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; and Maharishi European Research University, Seelisberg, Switzerland, 1983. 

 Collected Papers v4.326. 

Field Research Summaries 13

A time series analysis of the effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Reduction of traffic fatalities in the United States

This 1982 study examined the impact that a national Super Radiance group of TM-Sidhas had on road traffic fatalities across the USA. During that year this permanent group experienced a number of occasions when they managed to increase their number by about 60 to 70 individuals. As a result, each time the group achieved these temporary increases in attendance it achieved the square root of 1% or Super Radiance threshold for the whole of the USA (1,520 TM-Sidhas in 1982).

It should be noted that the group size fluctuated inconsistently during the year and only reached the Super Radiance threshold on 17 separate occasions.

The length of these occasions varied from 1 day to 37 consecutive days and in all totalled 125 days out of the 365 days in the year. 

Interrupted time series analysis was used to compare 1982, the experimental year, with the previous seven years to predict what the average daily level of traffic fatalities would be without the all important Super Radiance intervention. Points of interest from the research include:  

 

• The multiple times the national group reached Super Radiance in the year and the variations in lengths of time it was maintained reinforces the evidence that Super Radiance is having a beneficial impact on the level of traffic fatalities. This irregularity and frequency of occurrence effectively means that, the Super Radiance conditions under test, benefited from multiple replications within the one study. 

 • Even though the Super Radiance effect was only achieved for about a third of the year, the overall road fatalities for the whole year fell from 49,301 in 1981 to 43,721 in 1982. This is a reduction of 5,580 or 11.3% on the previous year and a reduction of 14% on the time series prediction for the period. 

 • Attempts to explain that the decrease in fatalities might have been due to a reduction in vehicle miles travelled (VMT) are not supported by subsequent reductions in fatalities the following year in 1983. By 1983 the coherence group in Iowa was consistently hitting the Super Radiance target, as a result economic activity, and with it VMT, were on the increase. However, traffic fatalities decreased by a further 6.3% that year. 

 • Monitoring those 125 days when the Super Radiance effect was in place, showed a significant improvement in road traffic fatalities over and above the averages predicted for those days (p<.001). 

 • Once the Super Radiance threshold had been reached, the larger the coherence group numbers were, the bigger the decreases in traffic fatalities. The decrease in fatalities, on days when there were sudden increases in the number of TM-Sidhas by over 100 people, could be five times as great as the average daily decrease for the year. 

 • Decreases in traffic fatalities were seen to be greater in states roughly closer to the coherence group in Iowa.  

 • Evidence that reduced drunken driving, increased use of safety restraints and other direct improvements to driving conditions helped create the reduction in fatalities is congruent with the Super Radiance theory. Super Radiance is predicted to produce measurable improvements in thinking, decision-making, emotions and behaviour among the subject populace. It is to be expected that these improvements will translate into more responsible driving, less alcohol consumption, improved alertness and so on. The Super Radiance effect is not independent or exclusive of other mechanisms for improving quality of life factors such as reduced traffic fatalities or crime.  

Dillbeck MC; Larimore WE; and Wallace RK; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, and Scientific Systems, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, 1984. 

Collected Papers v4.327.

Field Research Summaries 14

Reduction in homicide in Washington DC through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, 1980-83: A time series analysis 

In 1982 the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting System estimated that there were 21,012 homicides in the USA. This is equivalent to 9.1 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. The same year Washington DC had a murder rate of 30.74 per 100,000 population. This means Washington DC had a murder rate 3.38 times higher than the national average. 

Washington clearly had a serious crime problem. Fortunately at the time a growing number of TM-Sidhas were moving to the area to work in a local TM academy. So, it was decided to set-up a coherence group to help the situation. This newly formed group provided another useful opportunity to study the impact of the Super Radiance effect over a longer term than just a few weeks.

In the study, researchers monitored the Super Radiance impact of the group over a 173-week period from August 1980 through to November 1983. During this time the coherence group achieved the crucial √1 % (square root of 1%) of the population (173 TM-Sidhas) for the District of Columbia for most of the study period.

However, in this instance Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who was guiding the setting-up of the study, intervened to change the parameters of the study. He pointed out that Washington has a unique position as the national capital of the world’s number one super power. The collective consciousness of Washington is not isolated but interacts intimately with influences in global and national consciousness. As a result this global capital city had become the focal point of a large amount of collective stress both nationally and internationally. He saw that this concentration of collective stress was the root cause of the high rate of homicides in the area.

As a consequence, Maharishi considered that the number of TM-Sidhas required to create the same effect as the usual √1 % factor would be 400. In the event this figure of 400 TM-Sidhas was achieved for 38 weeks during the study period.  

22% drop in Washington homicides 

Comparison between the 135 weeks, when the group reached √1 % for the District of Columbia but was still too small for the national capital, and the 38 weeks when the group achieved the special Super Radiance effect, showed an average drop of 22% in homicides. (p<.02) 

Researchers considered other possible causes including, seasonal variations, changes in police coverage and neighbourhood watch programmes, population changes and the weather. None of these other factors were seen to have any influence on the pattern of homicides.

Lanford AG; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1984. 

Collected Papers v4.328.

Field Research Summaries 15

The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on stock prices of Washington, DC area based corporations, 1980-83: A time series analysis

The 1980 – 1983 coherence group in Washington (see research summary 14 above) also offered the opportunity to study the influence of the Super Radiance effect on economic prosperity. 

 The researchers took as the study period roughly the same time period as for the homicide study namely from January 1980 through until September 1983. It was during this time that Washington DC benefited from a growing number of TM-Sidhas who had moved to the area to live. Thus by October 1981 Washington first achieved the Super Radiance threshold with 173 TM Sidhas meditating together in the City (173 TM-Sidhas being approximately the square root of 1% of the local population). The city achieved this threshold a further four times during the next eight weeks. At which point the threshold was maintained for the rest of the study period. 

However as we have seen in summary 14, another and higher threshold was also adopted for this study due to the unique circumstances of Washington DC being the national capital of the world’s number one super power. It was understood that the US government’s national responsibilities and international activities would make it a focal point of collective stress from a much larger catchment area than just the District of Columbia. The chosen threshold of 400 TM-Sidhas meditating together first occurred in June 1982 but was not sustained on a consistent basis until mid-May 1983.  

The mode of assessing economic prosperity in this instance was the composite index of stock market prices for 30 corporations based in Washington DC. The reason for this choice was that average stock prices are often taken as a gauge of economic activity, productivity and confidence in a society. The statistical methodology used was impact assessment analysis or interrupted time series analysis. 

The results show that, as anticipated, the impact of the lower threshold of 173 TM-Sidhas was hardly significant. On the other hand, after a short lag of a week there was always a statistically significant increase in stock prices whenever the coherence group achieved the 400-Super Radiance threshold. On average, stock prices increased $3.81 per week (p<.001) during the weeks , following weeks when the coherence group achieved the 400 threshold required for Washington.

The study also demonstrated the effect of the national coherence group in Fairfield Iowa. On the occasions when the national group reached the US Super Radiance level with a minimum of 1,530 TM-Sidhas meditating together there was a further improvement in the composite stock index.

Time series intervention analysis indicated that other factors such as interest rates, political statements, corporate profit etc., were unlikely to be the cause of these specific improvements to stock prices. 

The synchronicity of random Super Radiance periods with matching stock price movements strongly support the hypothesis that collective coherence is a causal factor 

An important supporting factor for the hypothesis is the random nature of the multiple Super Radiance thresholds’ occurrences and the synchronised improvements to stock prices. The 400-Super Radiance threshold was reached for 30 out of 68 weeks for a total of six separate intervals, ranging from 1 to 20 weeks per interval. 

Despite the haphazard nature of the occurrences, on each and every one of these six occasions there was a rise in stock prices.

Lanford AG; Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, 1984 

Collected Papers v4.329

Field Research Summaries 16

The group dynamics of consciousness and the U.K. stock market

This Quality Of Life (QOL) research project looked at the impact that Super Radiance groups of TM-Sidhas might have on share price fluctuations. Although in this study the groups were too small to reach the Super Radiance threshold for the UK (about 750 TM-Sidhas), nevertheless a significant impact was observed every time there was an increase in the numbers of TM-Sidhas meditating together in a group.

As a means of measurement, fluctuations in the daily number of TM-Sidhas meditating together were compared with daily changes in the Financial Times Actuaries ‘All Share’ (FTA) Index. This index is a measure of the current market capitalization of the 750 largest public companies in the UK. Economists tend to view the All Share index as a barometer of optimism and confidence in the UK economy. 

The researchers observed that whenever there was a significant spike in the number of TM-Sidhas meditating together in one place, then there was a commensurate lift in share prices in the FTA All Share Index.

These increases in share prices, seen during the week during and immediately following the spike in TM-Sidha group meditation, were significantly higher than the mean daily increases in share prices seen over the remainder of the 17-month study period. (t = 2.804, df = 352, p<.01).  

The increases in share prices were also significantly higher than the mean daily increase in the seven-day periods immediately before and after these experimental periods (t = 2.325, df = 104, p<.05). All that was required to precipitate a significant increase in share prices was about 250 TM-Sidhas.

Beresford MS; and Clements G; The group dynamics of consciousness and the UK stock market; MERU Research Institute, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, England, 1983. 

 Collected Papers v4.330. 

Field Research Summaries 17

The Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field and reduction of armed conflict: A comparative, longitudinal study of Lebanese villages

The Lebanese war provided a valuable opportunity to carryout a prospective study of the Maharishi effect (1% effect) in an ongoing situation of hostility and warfare. The limited resources available at the time restricted the teaching of TM to only one town, but even so this was enough to demonstrate that a community could protect itself from harm by the simple expedient of getting a small fraction of the population to learn to meditate. 

As a prelude to this study, in May 1981 two TM teachers began teaching the Transcendental Meditation technique to villagers in Baskinta, a village caught up in the local region of the Lebanese conflict. 

Baskinta is situated at the base of Sannine Mountain and has a population of 10,000 people. As such, the village occupies a strategic point in central Lebanon. This strategic position meant that the town had found itself in the middle of continuing battles between opposing ‘leftist’ and ‘rightist’ forces during the entire study period (1978-84).

The town’s main economic activity is agriculture, the residents are mostly Christian and during the length of the study the town remained in rightist hands.

By June 1982, the TM teachers had taught 100 people in the village to meditate. This meant that, as the village had a population of 10,000, from that time onward, the village had reached its Maharishi effect threshold with 1% of the population meditating.

As predicted by the researchers and in complete contrast to both its previous recent history and the continued experience of nearby villages, Baskinta experienced an immediate and complete cessation of hostilities as measured by:

 

 • Incoming shells (p<.005)

 • Property damage (p<.005)

 • Casualties (p<.005)

 

As a research control, improvements in Baskinta were compared, over a period of five and a half years, to those of neighbouring villages of similar size and agricultural economic base. To do this the researchers adopted an index of conflict, using the measurement of 25 incoming shells per season for each point on the index. 

The resulting index showed a drop for Baskinta from 3.9 to zero. At the same time worsening trends were observed in the surrounding control villages where there was an increase in the index mean for the control villages from 1.9 to 4.0 (p<.00001) (See chart above).

After the 1% effect had been achieved, Baskinta also experienced improvements in crop yields, increased social and sporting activities and accelerated municipal development despite the civil war going on in the rest of the country.

Abou Nader TM; Alexander CN; and Davies JL; American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.; and Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia, 1984. 

 Collected Papers v4.331.

Field Research Summaries 18

The long-term effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the quality of life in the United States (1960 to 1983)

A number of studies had explored the short-term impact of Super Radiance. This time, the researchers wanted to see what happens over the long term. Would the benefits of Super Radiance continue to grow and accumulate or would they drift? This study looked at the combined Super Radiance effect of two main factors:

    1. The long-term growth in the numbers of TM meditators in the USA (The 1% effect).

    2. The Super Radiance group based at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa (Now called Maharishi University of Management). 

Specifically, The objective of the study was to ascertain whether the rising standard of living in the USA over these years was due to the large increase in the number of people practicing Transcendental Meditation and the existence of the Super Radiance group of TM-Sidhas. To achieve this aim the researchers looked at a range of quality of life (QOL) statistics on an annual basis from 1960 through to 1983. They composed a QOL index covering the following areas of life: 

 • Crime rate
 • Percentage of civil cases reaching trial
 • Rate of infectious diseases
 • Infant mortality rate
 • Suicide rate
 • Hospital admission rates
 • Cigarette consumption
 • Alcohol consumption
 • Gross National Product
 • Patent application rate
 • Number of degrees conferred
 • Divorce rate
 • Traffic fatalities

Surge in TM teaching brings positive shift in QOL trend 

Between 1960 and 1975 there had been a nearly continuous negative trend in US quality of life indicators. But in 1975 and 1976 over 350,000 people learned the TM technique bringing the total percentage of meditators to 0.4% of the US population. As predicted by the Hatchard study (Research summary 2) from 1976 onwards, the QOL index started to improve (t = 2.609, p = .009) albeit rather erratically at first. See charts. 

Notes to charts: The two charts illustrate the mirroring of improvements in the USA QOL index in line with increases in the Super Radiance factor. There is however a lag of about one year between the onset of Super Radiance and improvements in the QOL index. The Super Radiance factor is calculated by the aggregate of

1. The percentage of people practising the TM technique individually in their own homes across the country and
2. The square of the number of TM-Sidhas meditating together in groups. Primarily the main US Super Radiance group was in Fairfield Iowa. The improvement in QOL in 1976 was precipitated by a surge of new meditators being taught in 1975. The drop in Super Radiance in 1980 was caused by the temporary departure of a number of TM Sidhas from the Iowa group.

When the growth in the number of meditators stabilized in the late 1970s the growth in the QOL index began to flat line. However, another surge occurred in the QOL index when the TM-Sidhi programme was introduced and a group of TM-Sidhas was formed at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Iowa. As a result of this new input in national coherence, from 1979 onwards improvements in the QOL index began to accelerate showing a 2.443% greater average rate of improvement over the preceding period 1976 to 1981 (t = 6.704, p<.0001).  

The improvement in the QOL index was further accentuated in 1982 and 1983 when there was a large jump in the numbers of TM-Sidhas meditating at MIU in those years. It is significant that, during this period the combined effect of TM practitioners and the coherence group at MIU achieved the Super Radiance effect for the USA.

An interesting feature of this research study was the comparison made between the US as a whole and Iowa, the state where the TM-Sidhas were grouped. Iowa showed significantly higher improvements to a QOL index during 1982 and 1983 as compared to the rest of the country (t = 4.476, p = .0065) See chart (QOL changes in USA and Iowa 1981 – 83).

This accentuated rise in Iowa’s QOL index in comparison to the national index lends further weight to the argument that the TM-Sidha group in Iowa was the source of the unprecedented surge in national QOL improvement.   

Orme-Johnson DW; and Gelderloos P; A version: Orme-Johnson DW; and Gelderloos P; and Dillbeck MC; The Effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the US Quality of Life (1960-1984) was published in Social Science Perspectives Journal, 2(4), 127-146, 1988. 

 Collected Papers v4.332.

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