A Newsletter for those interested in TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION by

It presents the results of four major studies of peak performers conducted over many years; the first study was published in 1995. Subjects include world champion athletes, top level managers, and professional classical musicians, compared with average-performing control groups.

Said Dr Haring, of Oslow, 'A growing agreement among prominent researchers is that leadership development is, in essence, self-development. The primary dimension in developing leadership is to develop the personality, the consciousness of the potential leader.'

Dr Harung's research indicates that peak performers (making up about 10% of the population) have significantly higher degrees of development than the average adult.

The study shows that anyone can increase brain integration, and develop the characteristics of peak performance, through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation.

Research showed that meditators who have been practicing for seven years or less have approximately the same level of brain integration as peak performers, while the control group of meditators practicing for at least 20 years had significantly higher measures than the world-class performers and leaders. The full paper can be downloaded from the Emerald Publishing site for a small fee (£14.50)

Practical implications – The research suggests that practical methods for psycho-physiological refinement – such as Transcendental Meditation can be useful in developing more effective leadership.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=882AF07744C9B72BB524E68736D7B7CB?contentType=Article&contentId=1795531

FBI Investigates Transcendental Meditation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is exploring ways to help law enforcement officers handle the extraordinary challenges of their work.

The FBI published an article by Dr. Fred Travis, director of Maharishi University's Centre for Brain Consciousness and Cognition, on the role of brain integration and the spiritual experience in meeting those challenges

An excerpt from the FBI article reads: "....The author's research has indicated that TM practice leads to increased frontal brain integration, faster habituation to stressful stimuli, and higher moral reasoning. Spiritual experiences enliven frontal coherence, which builds global circuits to place individual experiences in a larger framework. In this vein, spiritual experiences could provide the inner armour to protect law enforcement officers from the noxious effects of negative experiences and stress. ..." See the complete article at; http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2009/may2009/brain.htm

Exercising the mind

A new study in Bronx seniors provides yet more evidence that keeping your brain active for fun can keep dementia at bay. Dr Charles B. Hall of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, and his colleagues found that every day per week that a person engaged in one of six mentally stimulating leisure activities delayed the onset of dementia.

Education and brain exercise build extra capacity into the brain so it can better handle the damage to neurons caused by Alzheimer's disease.

All of the study participants ranged in age from 75 to 85 and reported how often each week they read, wrote, did crossword puzzles, played board or card games, participated in group discussions, or played music. The study participants were dementia free at the beginning of the study and underwent cognitive testing every 12 to 18 months.

Q: I have the feeling that the state of restful alertness is concentrated in the forehead...

Maharishi: Some day in the first week of the course, I think I have said that the whole brain matter becomes illuminant. Illuminant means nothing remains inactive and nothing remains active.

A state of all the experiencing nerves between thalamus and cortex, they are neither active nor passive. Just ready to be either active or passive. In that state of pure consciousness, in that glow... (The Thalamus is just below the prefrontal lobes, the brain’s CEO, located behind the forehead).

Q: Can this state of suspension be prolonged indefinitely and if so, what is the effect on the brain cells?

Maharishi: Yes, it can be prolonged indefinitely. If it is held for very long time, the body will become alkaline, because, not to decay is the quality of alkaline body. And as long as the individual mind gets to that universal consciousness, the body has to be intact. In order that it remains intact, it becomes alkaline.

If the body is acidic, more of acid in the system, then the oxygen going in becomes carbon dioxide. If the body is acidic, more carbon dioxide is produced. To throw it out, the exhalations become deeper, heavier. When the exhalations become heavier, inhalations become correspondingly heavier also. So the breath flows heavy when the system is acidic.

When the acidity becomes less, then the breath becomes slow. That is why during meditation the breath becomes slow, the body becomes less acidic, more alkaline.

This is the reason why the body lasts longer for those who meditate, long life. With meditation the blood chemistry changes, becomes less acidic, more alkaline ...taking into consideration the slowing of the breath during meditation we conclude without even experimenting and without even testing that the system becomes less acidic... From Hochgurgelin in 1962 - (Thanks to Jörg Schenk and Thanks to CC for passing it on).

CERN Courier Apr 16, 2008 an Extract Neuroscience and the Universe

During a visit to CERN, eminent neuroscientist Wolf Singer talked with Carolyn Lee about his research into the mysteries of the brain and also his passion for communication.

When physicists at CERN try to understand the basic building blocks of the universe, they build gigantic detectors – complex, intricately wired instruments that are capable of measuring and identifying hundreds of particles with extraordinary precision. In a sense, they build "brains" to analyse the particle interactions.

For prominent neuroscientist Wolf Singer, director of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, the challenge is quite the opposite. He and other researchers are trying to decode the dynamics of a mass of intricate "wiring", with as many as 10¹¹ neurons connected by 10¹⁴ "wires". The brain is the most complex living system, and neuroscientists are only beginning to unravel its secrets.

It was a very hot and humid day in July 1962, during a four-week meditation course in Hochgurgl (Austria). Maharishi had invited 200 Course Participants (CPs) to this place high in the mountains – 2,509 metres (8,231 feet) above sea level.

Dr Ellis and Dr Holms were reading the English translation of a Sanskrit text to Maharishi Ji. It said “If it is true, that this is a Yogi, a very happy man, then the heavens will give a sign.”

Some CPs were wondering what kind of sign this could have been.

Suddenly a stormy wind came up and started to tear at the hair and clothes of the CPs, but strangely, no strand of Maharishi’s hair, who sat only two to three metres, away, was moving. Then lightning and thunder set in and rain poured down heavily. However, the little hill where those 200 and Maharishi were sitting remained dry and untouched by the elements. Then, just high above, one could see a piece of the blue sky through a small round hole in the clouds.

For half an hour everyone stayed seated and listened to the words of Maharishi – “a kind of Sermon on the Mount” – until the Master gave signal to leave. And as soon as Maharishi had entered the car of Mr Nyburg, heavy rain came down. All the slopes of the area were completely flooded. One hour later a bright alpine glow enchanted the landscape.

“For me,” Adolf Beck writes, “no doubt remained that Maharishi was indeed a great Yogi, a very happy man.” Thanks for this lovely story RC

Maharishi never spoke of such stories else they distract from his main message.

Yoga Experts on TM.

Text Box:
Actress Heather Graham has been practising Transcendental Meditation since 1996 1) In my early 20's, I learned TM whilst at University, with wonderful results. The thought came to me that if I can gain so much from a meditation technique learned in the UK, surely if I go to its source in India I could learn the real thing and get even better results...I have recently returned home after 10 years touring India. I have visited every type of Ashram and learned meditations of every conceivable description - only to realise that by far the most powerful technique I have learned was here in England before I left - that's the TM technique! "JJ" Marsden

2) The decision to learn TM in 1976 was one of the most important of my life. In 1986 I qualified as an Iyengar Yoga teacher and currently teach full time. The two practices are an integral part of my life. TM brings unity and harmony directly to the mind in much the same way as Asanas do for the body. In every way, they are highly complementary practices, each enhancing the other. TM is at the heart of what Yoga is about - 'unity'. Lorraine McConnen

3) I started yoga 40 years ago and for some 20 have trained candidates for the British Wheel of Yoga Teachers' Diploma. I have studied or taught many different systems of meditation; with breathing, counting, visualisation, use of chanting and gongs, choosing one's own English language mantra etc. It was only when I learnt TM that I have finally discovered the true benefits. John Davis: Former Vice-Chairman and Trustee of the British Wheel of Yoga Author of "Yoga for You" (Mirror Books); 'Golden Book of Yoga Terms'(BWY) and 'East Wind West Wind' (memoirs).

4) Having tried several meditation techniques, of which there are many offered in the teachings of Yoga, I struggled to find that place of stillness within myself. Not until I learned TM six years ago did I experience the simplicity of bliss. I had been trying too hard. Now I can gently be with my mantra and feel my body release the tensions of my day. TM is now part of my personal yoga practice. Ruth Little BWY dip.

“No movement in religious life has any value unless it is also a movement inward towards the still centre of your existence, where Christ is.” Pope John Paul II, at Maynooth, Ireland, October 1979.

"Meditation is the royal road for man to reach God and allow God to reach man to save him." - Maharishi

“God is the Same Every where, it is men who make him different.” - Tat Wale Baba (India)

The Unified Field of quantumn physics is the same everywhere in all the entire universe, timeless, it always was and always will be. It is at the basis of everything, just like God is the same everywhere and timeless. It is an ocean of infinite energy, creativity and intelligence. It is experienced by consciousness experiencing pure consciousness – the bliss of that transcendental field - Pure Consciousness experiencing consciousness. Ed.

“I have experienced the bliss for the first time this week. Now I know what you are talking about!” Seven year meditator who suffered up to 15 days of torture every month. August 2009

(Every one’s experiences will be different. Everyone progresses at different rates and starts at different levels.)

Text Box:
Hon. Judge David C. Mason
Founding Judge
22nd Judicial Circuit of St Louis, Missouri Hon. David C. Mason

“In 1996 I initiated the use of Transcendental Meditation as a condition of probation. At that time, no other Missouri judge had done this. I spent another year using it in probation before another judge joined me. Now five judges have made TM a regular part of their probation conditions.

Two successive Chief Justices of our state Supreme Court have participated in the graduation ceremony for probationer-trainees and strongly expressed their support for using TM to help criminal offenders avoid re-offending.

Hon. Judge Henry E Autrey

“When I was a Judge on the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri, I used TM as a condition of probation for over a year and the results were astounding. I saw my probationers who participated in the program grow and develop in ways I had rarely seen in other probationers. They had a positive social attitude.

In short, they took responsibility for their lives. As I understand the purpose of probation, such a result is exactly what we, in the criminal justice system seek to achieve.

…When I began ... my hypothesis was quite simple ---if the conventional conditions of probation do not have long lasting effects, why not try something different.?

Larry H. Probationer

"I am writing to thank you for referring me to the enlightened sentencing program. It has been an experience and a benefit to me professionally and personally. As you know I'm a person who Ms Joyce ... [identity protected] term a career criminal. Although I didn't know until my sentencing that at the age of 48, I had accumulated 51 arrests and over six convictions in my lifetime. With Transcendental Stress Management, I have come full circle with it. I can now live a productive life in society.

Transcendental Stress Management would be a benefit to the younger generation of people going through the criminal justice system for the first time because it would help them with peer pressure and the stress of living in a bad environment.

My only regret about this is that it wasn't offered to me 28 years ago, because my journey has been so long and troublesome until Transcendental Stress Management.

My family loves the new me and I am happier than I have ever been.

******************

See more at; http://www.enlightenedsentencing.org/

30 July 2009 - This has been an unusually mild year in Tornado Alley, which is good news, of course, for the people who live there, but a little frustrating to scientists who planned to chase twisters as part of a $10 million research project. 'You're out there to do the experiment and you're geared up every day and ready. And when there isn't anything happening, that is frustrating,' said Don Burgess, a scientist at the University of Oklahoma. But he was quick to add that he is pleased the relative quiet has meant fewer injuries and less damage. During a remarkable 17-day lull from mid-May through early June, there were no tornado watches issued anywhere in the United States. And that is typically the height of the season in a section of the US known as Tornado Alley.

**NEW RESEARCH published in July 2009 issue of ‘Management Decision’,** a journal for managers, highlights the importance of integrated brain functioning for effective leadership.

THE ENLIGHTENED SENTENCING PROJECT.

NEW RESEARCH published in July 2009 issue of ‘Management Decision’, a journal for managers, highlights the importance of integrated brain functioning for effective leadership.

THE ENLIGHTENED SENTENCING PROJECT.

**NEW RESEARCH published in July 2009 issue of ‘Management Decision’,** a journal for managers, highlights the importance of integrated brain functioning for effective leadership.