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Restructuring the Apocalypse:
8,000 Mayan, Zapotec, and Mixtec Students Meditate for World Peace
to Create the End of the [War-torn] World

By Dr. David Leffler

With much media fanfare worldwide, the Mayan calendar came to an end on 21 December 2012, with far-flung predictions of global apocalypse. But most of us are still here, so perhaps the "end of the world" was in fact a new beginning – the end of the world as we know it, and the dawn of a new and more enlightened age.

On that apocalyptic day, 8,000 young children – descendants of the Mayans, Mixtec, Zapotec, and other indigenous tribes – gathered at Monte Alban, a sacred mountain of the Zapotec people in southern Mexico, and at other locations in Latin America to meditate together for world peace. Around the world, people of all ages, cultures, and religions participated with them in simultaneous group practice of the non-religious Transcendental Meditation® (TM) program and its advanced TM-Sidhi program, both founded by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In Latin American military circles, this collective TM practice by large groups of peace-creating experts is known as the Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) due to its scientifically confirmed ability to neutralize the destabilizing influence of collective stress, held to be the root cause of terrorism, war, and violent crime.

These young Mexican children, along with many students in other Latin America countries, had been trained in these peace-creating technologies for approximately eight months. Their gathering at Monte Alban was a demonstration to the world of the effectiveness of these technologies in defusing social violence and "averting the danger that has not yet come" – a principle of collective coherence drawn from the ancient Yoga Sutras.

Photo caption: Nine countries in Latin America are implementing Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying in military and/or educational settings.

Is this gathering something out of a "New Age" science fiction thriller? No. This unusual defense strategy really works. It is advocated by the Global Union of Scientists for Peace (GUSP, http://www.gusp.org), a coalition of Nobel laureates and leading scientists who see it as the best way to avert the growing threats of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction; to create national security in every country; and to establish lasting world peace. John Hagelin, Ph.D., a renowned Harvard-trained quantum physicist who heads this group, says, "In recent 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 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 beyond question." [An Op-Ed piece: "Reducing Tension in the Middle East" was recently published worldwide advocating this approach.]

According to Luis Intof Alvarez, the organizer of the Monte Alban gathering, the advanced TM-Sidhi practice has been taught to 8,000 students in 54 schools in southern Mexico and Guatemala during just the past weeks. With over 250 Latin American schools now participating in this program, at least 20,000 students will be collectively practicing these peace-creating technologies by this time next year. Alvarez says that our world leaders now have a choice. Which direction do we want to take: continued violence or creating peace?

His point is made more vivid by the tragic recent events at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newton, Connecticut, USA. Throughout the U.S., students in schools and colleges continue to be the victims of senseless violence. By contrast, the Mayan and other tribal students throughout Latin America are creating peace, not only within themselves but also on a much grander scale – for their schools, cities, and nation as a whole.

Latin American students in both civilian and military schools are learning and applying this strategy. Currently, at least nine Latin American countries are soon due to have fully operational peace-creating groups in military and/or educational settings. Military leaders worldwide will soon be surprised to learn that students can actually do a much better, safer, and more effective job of protecting their nations with an advanced TM meditation practice than with expensive hi-tech military weaponry. Informed Latin American leaders, especially those now in charge of military schools, have already deployed this approach. Lieutenant General José Martí Villamil, a pioneering former Vice-Minister of Defense for Ecuador, first conducted a military field-test during their war with Peru in the early 1990s, with promising results.

In the past, in non-Latin American countries, field tests of these coherence-creating groups achieved measurable positive results that were also apparent from news reports. In trouble spots, violence and war deaths subsided, peace negotiations improved, and/or treaties were signed. The first head of state ever to implement such a program was President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique. Read the amazing story of what happened when members of his government and military learned to meditate. (See: Psychology Today, "Can Meditation Change the World?")

Over fifty studies have scientifically documented the profound and measurable benefits of this approach to peace. In one such study, conducted during the first Lebanon war, the predicted effects and publicly available measures to be used were specified in advance for scientific review boards in North America and Israel. The outcomes of this and other such experiments have been published in respected peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1988, 32: 776–812; Social Indicators Research, 1999, 47: 153-201; Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 2003, 36 (1-4): 283-302; Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2005, 17(1): 339-373; Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2005, 17(1): 285-338; and Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2009, 23(2): 139-166.

It could be argued that the positive social effects of these deployments are already beginning to be documented. In a 2011 poll, Gallup measured positive emotions in 148 countries and found that Latin Americans are the most positive people in the world. Their region is home to eight of the top 10 countries for positive emotions worldwide.

Certainly Evo Morales Ayma, the President of Bolivia, believes that "the end of the world" is only the end of the world as we know it. At the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations, he said:

"And I would like to say that according to the Mayan calendar on the 21 of December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time. It is the end of the Macha and the beginning of the Pacha, the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood, it is the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism – 21 of December this year. The scientists know very well that this marks the end of an anthropocentric life and the beginning of a bio-centric life. It is the end of hatred and the beginning of love, the end of lies and beginning of truth. It is the end of sadness and the beginning of happiness, it is the end of division and the beginning of unity, and this is a theme to be developed. That is why we invite all of you, those of you who bet on mankind, we invite those who want to share their experiences for the benefit of mankind."

About the Author:

Dr. David Leffler received his Ph.D. in Consciousness-Based Military Defense (Invincible Defense Technology - IDT) from The Union Institute & University in Cincinnati. He served as an Associate of the Proteus Management Group at the Center for Strategic Leadership, US Army War College. He has published articles in over 400 locations worldwide about IDT and now serves as the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS). Dr. Leffler teaches IDT and is available at http://www.StrongMilitary.org. 

Photo Caption: 8,000 Mayan, Zapotec and Mixtec Yogic Flyers Participated in the "The Mayan Fly-In" to Meditate for World Peace Creating The Real "End of the World" (As We Know It)