I’ve been subscribing to Google Alerts for a while on “meditation.” To my dismay, news of the terrorist attack in Mumbai have been showing up in these alerts in the last few days. Here are a few example headlines:
US Jewish, meditation groups’ members die in Mumbai
Virginians Slain in Attacks Lived Out Peaceful Ideals
“It’s an unbelievable tragedy that he should be struck down by terrorists when his whole life was about creating peace,” said Marcia Kaspark, Alan Scherr’s ex-wife. “His whole life was about spirituality…”
Drawn to India for meditation
Kiwi couple David and Vinka Clemmett were taking part in a meditation programme by a group called Synchronicity when they were caught in the Mumbai terror attacks…
Nashvillians watched as bodies fell in India cafe
Two Nashville-area women who went to India to study the art of taking the mind to a peaceful state of relaxation were recuperating from gunshot wounds Friday.
Andreina Varagona, a Nashville yoga and meditation studio owner, and Linda Ragsdale, an Old Hickory author and illustrator, were shot by terrorists while dining in a hotel restaurant in Mumbai…
Kelowna couple seeks peace, finds terror in Mumbai
For seven hours Wednesday Kelowna’s Maya Koftinoff suffered the agony of not knowing what had happened to her parents who were staying at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai when it was attacked and overrun by terrorists intent on killing westerners.
Her parents Larry and Bernie Koftinoff — who own the specialty food Sunshine Market in Kelowna — had travelled to India two weeks ago with a U.S.-based meditation group the Synchronicity Foundation…
Canadian actor’s spiritual journey to India shattered by three bullets
A Canadian actor’s long-planned spiritual journey to India saw its peace shattered by bursts of gunfire that left him hospitalized Thursday in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
Michael Rudder, a Genie-nominated actor from Montreal, was resting in the critical-care unit of an Indian hospital following surgery to treat three bullet wounds. He was reported to be in stable condition early Friday…
(Michael Rudder, of Montreal, was shot three times while in the restaurant area of Mumbai’s luxury Oberoi-Trident Hotel, said Bobbie Garvey, vice-president of the Synchronicity Foundation, a U.S. based meditation group.)
Canadian actor, yoga instructor among those shot in Mumbai attacks; reports
Bobbie Garvey, vice-president of the Synchronicity Foundation, said a group of Canadians, Americans and others were injured while on a meditation retreat when the violence broke out on Wednesday…
Tennessee woman injured in India terrorist attacks
A Tennessee woman was injured in the terrorist attacks in India.
Andi Varagona is from Oak Ridge, but now lives in Nashville.
According to her Web site, she’s a musician who now goes by the Sanskrit name Rudrani Devi and teaches meditation classes.
Her mother told 10 News that Devi was in India on business and was due to return home next week…
Armed Islamic terrorists simultaneously attacked several hotels, restaurants, a train station and tourist sites. The terrorists claimed they were going after Americans and Britons…
(WBIR.com)
As you can see, my google alerts on “meditation” were literally flooded with this news of terrorist attacks. As far as the terrorist claims of who they were targeting, “oh, really?” Why did you attack the Jews then? You couldn’t tell them from westerners? Not that it justifys any of your actions.
I can’t shake this feeling now that some body (Islamic group?) is attacking my brethren. But why? Then I thought to myself, “What kind of power to meditators have that these so called terrorists want to take away?”
The Maharishi Effect
I mention the Maharishi Effect only briefly at my page on Meditation in Mental Health. This effect is actually very powerful and was a key component of Dion Fortune’s Society of Inner Light as I discuss at Holy life, HealingMindN:
Dion Fortune’s “Society of Inner Light” during WWII had the threefold purpose of protecting Great Britain, blocking and destroying the evil which had taken over Germany, and laying the foundations for a better and more just world after the war. We must wonder about the still unresolved mystery of Hitler’s fanatical deputy, Rudolph Hess, and his strange, some say, insane flight to England on the night of May 10, 1941 bearing a peace offer. There are strong indications that far more forces were at work rather than a guilty conscience.
Let’s look a little closer at the Maharishi Effect at this excellent article: US Department of Defense using meditation for “Strategic Stress Management:”
Extensive 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. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has revived the ancient Vedic technology of Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) in a non-religious manner. It has been quietly and successfully used by members of many faiths to eliminate conflict in the past…
Extensive research shows that the group size needed to reduce social stress depends on population size. It needs to be at least the square root of 1% of the population.
To calculate this number, multiply the population size by 0.01, and then take the square root of this number. For instance, the U.S. population is approximately 305 million. 305,200,000 x 0.01 = 3,052,000. The square root of 3,052,000 is approximately 1,747, so a group of at least 1,747 IDT experts is needed. The group size needed globally is currently about 8,126. Studies show that when these thresholds are crossed, the “Maharishi Effect” (ME) takes place.
Crime goes down, quality of life indices go up, war and terrorism abate. For instance, an ME intervention was studied in the U.S. capital in 1993. Predictions were lodged in advance with government leaders and newspapers. An independent Project Review Board approved the research protocol. Crime fell 23 percent below the predicted level when the group size reached its maximum. Temperature, weekend effects, or previous trends in the data failed to account for changes. Social Indicators Research published the results…
Perhaps, this is only coincidence, but I can’t shake the feeling that meditation groups especially were targeted for this reason.
It’s exactly for this reason that I don’t like to put all my “eggs in one basket” like other people. I receive invitations to these UFO/conspiracy type lectures and festivals, but I go to these events, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re putting all our “eggs in one basket.”
I hope I’m wrong, but I never would have fathomed the idea of terrorists targeting meditation groups, but that seems to be what happened. According to the above research, it’s because these so called “terrorists” also know about the Maharishi Effect.
Like I said, I hope I’m wrong, but I can’t shake the feeling.
Thanks for your time,
Randolph, HealingMindN
P.S. Latest News:
FBI was warned years in advance of Mumbai attacker’s terror ties
October 15, 2010 5:28:15 PM
Three years before Pakistani terrorists struck Mumbai in 2008, federal agents in N.Y. investigated a tip that an American businessman was training in Pakistan with the group that later executed attack.
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