Military Solution to Terrorism Doomed? Military Presence Could be the Solution, If...

The following is a response to Deepak Chopra and Ken Robinson's recent editorial by Col. Brian Rees, Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. David Leffler:

We agree, mostly, with Deepak Chopra's and Ken Robinson's editorial, "A military solution to a war on terrorism is doomed." However, there is one more important area that must be addressed in order for their proposed strategy to work quickly. They hinted at it when they wrote, "The chief reason to remain in Iraq and Afghanistan, once we entered and found chaos, is humanitarian..." Although the following comparison is not entirely applicable, we must remember that the US military deployed to Somalia for largely "humanitarian" reasons. Although sent in as a friendly force to restore order, later, due to the "chaos" they were reviled and persecuted by many civilians who had earlier pleaded for their help in delivering and safeguarding their lives, food, and supplies. This indicates that humans are motivated by dynamics that are beyond the ability of just our diplomatic and economic muscle to control.

Violent extremism is a human problem requiring human solutions. The underlying cause of extremist social violence that often thrives in chaos is accumulated social stress. The US armed forces need a proven method to reduce the collective societal stress in hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Peer-reviewed scientific research indicates that the best way to reduce collective societal stress, eliminate extremism and thereby snuff out war and terrorism is to adopt an ancient strategy. In modern times this strategy is called Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) and was revived by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in a non-religious manner. It has been quietly and successfully used in the past by members of many faiths to eliminate conflict.

Contracting with IDT civilian experts or creating Prevention Wings of the Military could achieve this goal. These special units would be trained in IDT and collectively practice IDT's ancient technologies of consciousness--the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs--in large groups, twice a day.

Extensive research shows that the size of the group needed to reduce social stress in a given population should exceed the square root of 1% of the population size. For instance, Iraq would need approximately 544 soldiers and Afghanistan approximately 572 soldiers as trained IDT experts.

Studies show that when these thresholds are exceeded, quality of life indices go up, and crime, war and terrorism abate. Scientists named this phenomenon "The Maharishi Effect" in honor of Maharishi, who first predicted it. For instance, a day-by-day study in the Journal of Conflict Resolution (1988, vol. 32, #4, pp. 776-812) of a two-month-long coherence-creating assembly in Israel showed that, on days of high attendance by IDT experts, war deaths in neighboring Lebanon decreased by 76%. A follow-up day-by-day study in the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality (2005, vol. 17, #1, pp. 285-338) of more than two years showed that during seven different coherence-creating assemblies, war deaths in Lebanon decreased by an average of 71%.

Over 50 studies have shown that IDT works. The causal mechanism has been postulated to be a field effect of consciousness -- a spillover effect on the level of the unified field from the peace-creating group into the larger population. On this basis, a study in the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality (2005, vol. 17, #1, pp. 339-373) additionally offers a proposed explanation of causality of IDT in biological terms. Research conducted on the powerful neurotransmitter serotonin shows that it produces feelings of contentment, happiness and even euphoria. Low levels of serotonin, according to research, correlate with violence, aggression, and poor emotional moods. The IDT study showed that higher numbers of IDT experts correlated with a marked increase in serotonin production among other community members. These results were statistically significant and followed the attendance figures in the IDT group. This finding offers a plausible neurophysiologic mechanism to explain reduced hostility and aggression in society at large.

IDT has also been documented worldwide in a study published in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation (2003, vol. 36, #1-4, 283-302) using data provided by the Rand Corporation. When large assemblies of IDT experts exceeded the Maharishi Effect threshold for the world during the years 1983-1985, deaths due to terrorism globally decreased 72%, international conflict decreased 33%, and violence was reduced in nations throughout the world without intrusion by other governments.

The armed forces are responsible for protecting the nation's citizens, and are obligated to thoroughly examine realistic, scientifically validated methods for ending war and terrorism. Militaries are funded and its personnel are paid to perform their duties to protect their nations. Ultimately, it is the duty of our elected representatives to give the military the tools it needs to eliminate the collective stress fueling terrorism worldwide. Just because a military solution to a war on terrorism is doomed, it does not mean that militaries cannot apply IDT as a scientifically-verified means to reduce the societal collective stress that is ultimately responsible for social problems like crime, terrorism and war.

"Quality of life in Israel, including intensity of the conflict in Lebanon, improved in direct proportion to the number of Invincible Defense Technology experts in the coherence-creating group. A short online video featuring Dr. John Hagelin explains this finding."

About the Authors:

Colonel Brian M. Rees, M.D., US Army Reserve, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, is a graduate of the US Army War College, and is currently Deputy Command Surgeon, 63rd RRC, Los Alamitos, California.

John Hagelin, Ph.D. is a Harvard-trained Kilby Award winning quantum physicist who appeared in the feature films The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know?

David Leffler, Ph.D. a US Air Force veteran, is the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science, http://www.StrongMilitary.org

Comments

[myeyes]

Energy is more powerful at subtler levels, i.e. atomic energy is more powerful than electricity, the sub atomic level is even more powerful. Quantum physicists have discovered that as energy becomes more subtle it takes the form of a thought.
By taking your awareness to sub-atomic levels in TM and generating coherence this makes for an extremely powerful force. These technologies of TM and the TM-sidhis are operating on a hugely different level to postive thinking or visualisation of peace.
Experiencing the Unified Field in our human consciousness gives the experience of Unity, that we are all connected ,so naturally when we come out of meditation that experience carries over in to activity, so on a more localised level it does reduce violence and improve harmony.
Current ways of dealing with problems in the world such as wars on terrorism or fighting between nations is like a cat trying to bite its own tail because he doesn't realize it is connected to him. At the deepest level of life we are all connected and this is what is experienced during Transcendental Meditation.

[GrainOSand]

Somewhere in America there is a house of dysfunction, on a street of despair, in a community of hopelessness. Day after day life flickers in the wind in such houses on such streets in such communities. A child is born and life begins at a deficit. (The Republicans like to wax eloquently about deficit spending, they should try deficit living.) No money, no father, no dreams, no hope, all opportunity gone before the age of five. Legacies of confusion, failure, and pain exist from sea to shining sea. A young child has to navigate the forty to fifty deep mob in route to school. A young child never sees anyone smile and learns early the ravages of life, and that life can be cruel. Where there was once promise there is now anger. Where there was once a gleam of determination in the eyes now the eyes droop from the heroine high. Generations lost to trying to deaden the pain of existence. Marvin Gaye sang that it made him “want to holler” when he considered the stress of the American hood. “Trigger happy policing...panic is spreading...god knows where we are heading...make me wanna holler the way do my life.”

Expressions of dignity, respect, care and concern in policy, these make for governmental tools for changing and capturing hearts and minds, here in America and all over the world. Transformation starts within and flows outward. Revolution is for the heart.

[cayuse]

As a student of Christ, Buddha, Mohammad, and Krishna a Yogi for 40 years I do not know any knowledge from these great teachers that suggest we all should hold hands and sing Kumbya to find Oneness. What I learned that we each must find our way to commune with GOD our true path to Self-Realization.

As a business person I know human motivation starts with satisfying the basic need of man. No one seeks self realization if he or his family his hungry, if he no self esteem. If we want peace on earth we must first allow all men and women to have the basic needs. Surely we need to be the ones who promote this concept and not the ones who deny it for our own narrow means

[cayuse]

And shooting a mindless DRONE to a country, any country because some guy hurt America 8 years ago is VERY HUMANE. But then we are American and our waste smells better

[toomuchdowntime]

David Lynch is executive producing a documentary called The square root of 1%, about this very subject. Should be very interesting, to get the word out about the facts behind this research. Information on the film and the trailer, etc. is at this link, as well as links to other articles on the subject.

http://www.whatfilms.com/vbw/home/

[LordMoon]

I have a feeling that Islamic religious groups would believe that this would amount to religious imperialism directed against their belief system. And it probably is.

I would also like to point out that there are many different competing views of what exactly meditation is or is not, and there have been violent confrontations between orders of monks over just these questions.

Infact, some relgious leaders here in America discourage the practise of meditation, for just those same reasons. .

Practising meditation does not make necessarily make someone non violent, that is a myth. Can meditation be used as a tool of repression, of couse. Can it also lead to enlightment of course.

How does one know the difference? I suppose one can tell by how it is offered.

Why so many meditators, and no Buddhas?

[Natal]

Read the actual research that was cited by the authors. If you can find counter research to the principles espoused please post. Perhaps there has to be a total decimation of the economy and massive suffering by the populace before such an unconventional approach is examined and tried. I do hope we don't fall completely into the abyss. It will cost a fraction of one percent of what the wars and stimulus plan is costing with no guarantee of success.

[cayuse]

Because Buddhas do not gather in BARNS or paint their faces, they simply talk to GOD

[Joseph1950]

I have heard about something about this research but have never seen details. I have been personally impressed by the experience of Transcendental Meditation but to think that there could be a social effect of large group practice is amazing. I have to admit that I am somewhat skeptical about it. Can research really be designed to show whether groups of people experiencing deep meditation together can effect the social behavior of others? I would like to know more about the research. I'd like to think that they are using the kinds of profesional methods that researchers have developed. If so, this would be incredibly exciting. If they have found a way that the quality of social consciousness can be improved, they could have discovered a way to improve the quality of thinking and moral reasoning that could make more successful all the best of our world's humanitarian initiatives. It's always so depressing to see how progressive, positive ideas for social change are generally ignored by the mainstream public and thereby not given sufficient support by our government. Not surprising to me that this IDT approach comes from the ancients in the East. This combination of the ancient science of the great yogis and rigor of modern science might be just what we need to finally do something that is going to get us to a new level of thinking and solutions for the problem of terrorism.

[guruglenn]

As a long time meditator I whole heartedly agree with using these methods to bring peace to the planet. I encourage people to read Power vs Force by Dr. David Hawkins. In it he relates that enlightened people can balance the negative energy of the majority of people.

I believe if Pareto's principle, (80/20) rule is correct, all we need to do is get 20% of the population meditating and there will be peace throughout the planet.

In the absence of fear all that is left is love.

Glenn Smith Author of Lotus Petal, A Parable to Help You to Overcome The Fear of Death
http://lotuspetalbook.com

[Stevieboy108]

For 40 years Einstein was considered on the fringe of science because he thought a unified field existed as the source of all the laws of Nature. Now everyone studies the unified field. This is the same kind of research. It stretches your boundries and challenges your accepted understanding of the world. Fortunately, the laws of Nature exist independent of human belief. If the Maharishi Effect works, then it should be implemented immediately. Don't let 40 years go by, as it did in Einsteins case, before truth is accepted as truth.

[duedilly]

Interesting - and very impressive that studies assessing the effectiveness of this approach have been published in reputable scientific journals - definitely worthy of serious consideration, in spite of (or maybe even BECAUSE of) the uncommon methodology.

thank you for posting this

[CanogaMarty]

The idea of fighting terrorism with meditation sounds strange but so would have the idea of an Internet seemed strange, too, just a few years ago. Now, we communicate across oceans and access a universe of information simply by typing into some invisible field.
At one time, meditation was considered “mystical.” Now, it is thoroughly mainstream. Doctors routinely prescribe it. Scientific research shows meditation reduces stress and improves health. The National Institutes of Health has funded studies, for instance, showing how Transcendental Meditation significantly lowers blood pressure. Hundreds of other TM studies confirm real benefits for individuals, including better energy, learning ability, job productivity, and more harmonious relationships. Corporations are even offering--and paying for--their employees to learn meditation.
The revelation that group meditation reduces turbulence in society and improves community or global health is simply an extension of the individual practice of meditation. This “super-radiance effect” stimulates the invisible field of collective consciousness that permeates everything.
Scientists are recognizing a “non-local” field of global consciousness into which intentions can have effects at great distance. This is a new paradigm that may hold the secret for planetary peace. If wars start in the minds of men, then peace logically should start there as well. With all the conventional methods we utilize to protect life, liberty, and freedom, we should also be open to trying new, creative ideas, no matter how unconventional they seem. The times demand it. Only new seeds will bring forth new crops.

[ValereP]

...to think that terrorism, and all the apocolyptic final solutions, slaughter of innocent lives, and blood letting throughout the ages has not been, and is still not, considered "strange"! What strange animals, we "rational" humans can be.