1. See also Research on the Maharishi Effect.
2. Biochemical indicators of stress (cortisol/serotonin) were found to improve in non-meditating members of a community during a large assembly of practitioners of Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi Program. Time series analysis showed the brain chemical, serotonin, which is reduced when people are depressed or aggressive, increased in the non-meditators by 400% on the days the assembly was largest. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2004 (in press).
3. War deaths were found to reduce by around 70% during the Lebanon war in the early 1980’s at the time of 7 assemblies of meditators large enough to have an influence on this region. The degree of statistical significance in this study was far greater than any other study ever documented in the sociology journals. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2004 (in press).
4. Terrorism was found to decline by 72% worldwide on the three occasions, between 1983 and 1995, when more that 7000 people (the square root of 1% of the world population) gathered in one place to practise the Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi Program. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003; 36(1/2/3/4): 283-302.
5. A prospective study, which was monitored by a 27-member Project Review Board comprising independent scientists and leading citizens, assessed the influence of a group of 4000 meditators on crime in Washington, D.C in 1993. Weekly crime rate figures derived from FBI data demonstrated that by the eighth and final week of the project, when the number of meditators was highest, the crime rate reduced by 23%. A statistical method known as time series analysis confirmed that this effect was independent of crime trends, weather patterns and other possible influences on crime. Social Indicators Research 1999; 47: 153-201.
6. A prospective study of the effect of an assembly of practitioners of Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi Program in Jerusalem in July–August 1983 found that war deaths in neighbouring Lebanon reduced by 76% when the group was largest (over 200). The composite quality of life index for Jerusalem comprising crime, auto accidents, and fires was shown to significantly increase during the 15 days when the group was largest compared to the 15 days when the group was smallest to (p=.003). A composite index for Israel as a whole, composed of crime, national mood, and the stock market, showed an increase over the same periods (p=.0001). Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4): 776-812.
