Trinis join global peace mission in India

Concerned by the state of the world, eight Trinidadians joined over 10,000 people in India to try to bring about a decrease in the level of conflict around the world.

From December 29, 2023-January 13, over 10,000 people gathered at Kanha Shanti Vanam outside of Hyderabad, India for the 10,000 for World Peace Assembly, organised by the Global Union of Scientists for Peace (GUSP).

The aim was to demonstrate what the followers of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi called “the proven consciousness-based approach to creating world peace.”

The idea is, that if the square root of one per cent of the population, about 9,000 people, practised Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programmes twice a day consistently, it would create “the field effect of consciousness” throughout the world.

The Global Union of Scientists for Peace website called it the Brain-Based Approach to Peace. It said there had been over 50 demonstrations and 28 scientific studies over the years which proved the approach would prevent social violence, terrorism, and war.

It said, “This research has been carefully scrutinised by independent scholars and accepted for publication in leading peer-reviewed academic journals. In every case, this approach produced marked reductions of crime, social violence, terrorism, and war, and increased peace and positivity in society.”

Certified TM teachers Shelley Hosein and Anthony Grell were two of the people representing TT at the assembly in India.

Hosein said previously, when the Maharishi was alive when there were “disturbances” in countries, he would send or arrange for groups to do meditation and the advanced TM-Sidhi programme in or near those countries.

“Of course, the individuals always feel the deeper peace and happiness but, it had the effect of reducing crime, reducing hospital admissions and a few other negative trends, and when things settled a bit people would leave.”

Grell added that such mass meditations were done in 1983 in Israel during the Lebanon war and in Washington, DC in 1993.

According to the Global Union of Scientists for Peace, over a two-year period during the Lebanon war, there were seven sessions in Israel; Utopia, US; Lebanon; Yugoslavia; Fairfield, US; Netherlands and Washington, DC, US.

It said during those periods war-related fatalities and injuries decreased by 71 per cent and 68 per cent respectively, the level of conflict dropped by 48 per cent and co-operation among antagonists increased by 66 per cent.

In the 1993 Washington experiment, measured by FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, it said soon after the study started, violent crime began to decrease, up to 23.3 per cent. And the rate stayed at those lower levels until the end of the experiment.

Hosein said, “Based on that and the state of the world, I think that is what really motivated Dr Tony Nader (chairman of the GUSP, physician and neuroscientist) to say, ‘We have a technology. It's been scientifically proven over many years, why not let’s do a gathering so that more people will become interested and realise there is something that can be done for the individual and the world?’”

The other aim was to motivate people to establish a permanent group of meditators there for the benefit of the world.

She said India was a natural choice as it is the land of the Veda, meditation was prevalent there and a large enough space to host so many people.

Over 100 countries were represented at the event, including students who learned Yogic Flying in colleges throughout India.

Grell said he wanted to be part of the memorable event, meditating and being around people who wanted the same things for the world. He said he knew the value of TM – increased productivity, increased spiritual connection, improved emotional regulation, mental clarity, stress reduction, relaxation, perspective, increased problem-solving ability and more – and, in a group, the effect was magnified.

Hosein described the group meditating experience as profound and expressed gratitude for being there as she would have never had that opportunity in TT. She said having people from all over the world, of different races, speaking different languages, from different religions, all unified in their purpose, felt like family and like something very valuable.

She recalled that their every need was taken care of and they did not have to worry about anything. There were tents for sleeping, meals, sim cards and minor health care were provided, and translation services for 30 languages. There were also book and clothes shops, a grocery, a laundry and other amenities. They were even provided with chairs, foam mats and cushions with backrests for meditating.

Every day for two weeks they would wake up, shower, meditate, have breakfast, attend inspirational or motivational talks and workshops by representatives of different spiritual organisations, have lunch, attend more talks or socialise, meditate, have dinner and then go to bed.

For meditation sessions, men were in the central area with the women in several wings or halls off the main area in smaller groups. People could walk around the central area while the women had more privacy.

She said even after decades of practising TM, she gained a deeper experience of self and more experience with inner silence.

There were live demonstrations where
EEG (electroencephalogram), which measured electrical activity in the brain, leads were attached to meditators and everyone saw the changes in their brain signals shift from erratic to calm before meditating to deep meditation.

“It enhanced my strong belief that it is possible to change the world, there is a way and it doesn't have to be with more guns. More of that type of thing that does not help and it even depletes the society. We lose so many people in war. How could that be the answer?”

“People have to start thinking outside the box, and recognise that each individual has the ability to change themselves and then have that effect on the rest of the room.”

Grell agreed saying people project their energy and the type of energy depends on how they are feeling. In such a large group, the benefits of TM – increased clarity of mind, harmony, tolerance and patience as well as feelings of happiness and peace – were amplified and sent outward.

“If you can actually prevent or remove enmity, take away that energy, it means the people will not want to go to war, sending young people to war to die, and they will not want to destroy.”

He said when people were living in a constant state of stress, anger and fear, they radiate that into their environment thereby affecting others. Also, under chronic stress, people react before they think or do not think clearly, increasing negative behaviours like road rage, school violence and domestic violence.

According to the US National Library of Medicine, stress could cause an imbalance of neural circuitry instrumental in promoting cognition, decision-making, anxiety and mood that affect behaviours and behavioural states.

Grell said if a person wanted peace, they had to go to where peace resided, in that inner aspect or consciousness. He noted that the bible said the kingdom of heaven is within you and, many other religions had similar sentiments. TM was a technique that allowed people to experience that inner aspect, leading to spiritual development.

He compared the multiplying effect of group meditation to a population getting vaccinated. If a certain percentage of the population was vaccinated against a disease it would protect those who did not or could not get vaccinated.

In the cause of gaining peace through meditation, at least the square root of one per cent of the population, which would be around 300 people in the case of TT, needed to practise TM consistently as stress came constantly from different avenues.

Hosein said they all knew the effect would not happen overnight and scientists were already gathering the data and doing research on the effect of the 10,000 for World Peace Assembly.