Research on Transcendental Meditation has shown that it creates brain coherence and inner peace, but can it also create coherence and peace in the wider society? This book, An Antidote to Violence: Evaluating the Evidence, examines 20 peer-reviewed studies and 50 demonstrations suggesting that it can.
One significant peer-reviewed and published study summarises seven experiments that led to a decline in violence in the Lebanon as a result of practice of Transcendental Meditation and its advanced programs. During the study, social tension reduced and war deaths dropped on ninety-three experimental days (in comparison with control days over a two-year period), and peace flowered.
While this could have been thought to be due to political negotiations, peer-reviewed evidence suggests that the practice of Transcendental Meditation was the dominant influence. This phenomenon is known as the Maharishi Effect, named after Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the man who founded the worldwide Transcendental Meditation organisation.
Weaving together psychology, sociology, philosophy, statistics, politics, physics and meditation An Antidote to Violence provides evidence that we have the knowledge to reduce all kinds of violence in society.