Preventing war with consciousness-based defence

Preventing war in the world is as easy as a shift in perspective, and adopting transcendental meditation, argue Dr. David Leffler and Lee Leffler.

No enemy, no war. The key to peace is preventing an enemy from arising. Mozambique's government recognised this in 1992 while attempting to end civil war. They prevented enemies from arising within their borders using a new "secret weapon" -- consciousness-based defence. This technology helped Mozambique, and could offer hope to all nations struggling with enemies inside and outside their borders.

Warfare is more dangerous than ever. Weapons of mass destruction are easily available on the world arms market. Building up arms and powerful weapons incites fear in friends as well as foes. A novel solution is needed.

The root cause of war is the build-up of stress and tensions in collective consciousness in a nation. Collective consciousness is the sum of the influences created by its individual members. This collective consciousness affects the thoughts and feelings of those same individuals.

If a nation's collective consciousness is full of tension and fear, then disorder erupts. Social injustice and unfavourable economic conditions thrive in such chaotic environments. Unresolved religious, territorial, political and cultural differences add to the unrest. This creates a frustrated and dissatisfied population, further destabilising society.

Therefore, raising collective consciousness by reducing stress in society prevents the conditions that lead to enemies, conflict, and war. An ancient system of defence, revived by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, raises collective consciousness by reducing stress. Using a simple, non-religious mental technique called the Transcendental Meditation (TM) programme, collective consciousness is raised starting on the level of the individual.

Individuals practice the TM technique daily in large groups. Extensive scientific research indicates that practitioners of the TM programme experience increased coherence and higher states of consciousness. The consciousness of the individual affects the group, and the group creates a super-radiance effect. Super-radiance means the coherence of the individuals and the group radiates into the surrounding population.

Tensions in the population of Mozambique were running high in 1992 after decades of war. The damage to human life and property was high. After the General Peace Agreement was signed, the country remained in a precarious situation. Although a United Nations mission would soon be coming into the country, fighting could have easily broken out again at any time.

President Alberto Joachim Chissano and other representatives of the Mozambique government were contacted by Maharishi Vedic University. Maharishi Vedic University, based in Vlodrop, Holland, felt that Mozambique was a good candidate to implement Maharishi's system of defence. The University gave a detailed presentation on the TM programme and cited research published in leading scientific journals. These journals included The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Social Indicators Research, International Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Crime and Justice, and Journal of Mind and Behaviour.

After serious and critical study of the programme by the Mozambique Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, these leaders implemented the programme. The goal was to create the Maharishi Effect in the country. The Maharishi Effect happens when the number of people practicing the programme reaches a critical mass, creating coherence, peace and harmony throughout the nation.

The TM technique was taught to different police and military units including the Ground, Naval and Air Forces. More than 16,000 people learned the TM programme, and many practiced it daily in large groups. Additionally, more than 3,000 went on to learn the advanced TM-Sidhi programme and Yogic Flying, which is even more powerful.

Learning TM takes a few hours over several days. Then, the meditation is practiced for about twenty minutes, twice a day. The military merely added two more duties to the members' daily routines. Since the military by its nature is disciplined, it was an ideal choice for participating in the meditation project. The military's job is to protect society. By practicing the TM programme, the military fulfills its duty without violence.

After the programme was under way in 1993, positive trends were noticed. Peace was maintained. Crime, which is normally expected to increase at the end of a war, actually decreased, as predicted by Maharishi Effect scientists.

The next year, the military began to be demobilised. The Commander of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Tobias Dai, who is now the General Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, noticed a sudden change. "What is very clear is that once the positive effect is created, if group practice is stopped, the previous tendencies of higher collective stress, as determined from the crime indices and the tense situations in the country, began to rise again. In 1994, there was a remarkable decrease in coherence in the country as a result of decreased participation in the group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Programme ..."

Dai attributed the dip in coherence to the demobilisation of the troops and anticipated ending of TM courses for future police officers. He also said in 1994 that "until now, although with several difficulties, the maintenance of peace has been possible during these two years, and free and just elections have been carried out ..." Coherence-creating groups of meditators were recreated. A year later, the United States National Defence Council Foundation dropped Mozambique from the list of conflicts in the world, and stability has since been sustained.

The Maharishi Effect apparently strikes at the most fundamental strategic point -- the level where enemies arise -- stress in collective consciousness. If enemies do not arise, there are no battles. Warfare and violence become obsolete.

Maharishi's consciousness-based strategy may be the first truly defensive system for maintaining peace. Any nation that has only allies becomes invincible. If the Maharishi Effect is real, military experts in this technology could create permanent peace.

Jane's Defence Daily, the highly regarded source for defence and police information, recently printed advertisements announcing the strategy. A Jane's spokesperson quoted in the Londoner's Diary said: "We checked these advertisements with our company board. They are defence related and don't contravene the Geneva Convention because they don't advertise torture weapons, napalm or weapons of mass destruction." The spokesperson indicated that a new trend may be emerging. "We haven't had a chance to test the system, but spiritual defence systems could be the next generation of weapons."

Due to the success of TM programme on many fronts, Dai met officials at Maharishi Vedic University a few weeks ago. They finalised plans to train 7,000 military personnel in the TM and TM-Sidhi programme. If the success in Mozambique is repeated by other militaries, fear-based defence strategies could disappear. The Mozambique military is setting an example for the rest of Africa and the world.

President Chissano states: "First I started the practice of Transcendental Meditation myself, then introduced the practice to my close family, my cabinet of ministers, my government officers, and my military. The result has been political peace and balance in nature in my country. People ask me if this is a religion. I have explained to them that I may keep my religion but I should take advantage of this science and make maximum use of it. We will not stop praying in our churches, we will not stop praying in our mosques, we will not stop praying in our synagogues, but we will make an appeal to the support of nature through the application of this technology (of consciousness)." Chissano expressed his willingness to endorse his experiences to any government which inquires. Why not South Africa?

Published in the January 13, 2000 edition of The Daily Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg, South Africa. © 2000 David R. Leffler and Lee M. Leffler. All rights reserved.