The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
-- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 AD - 180 AD), Meditations
In less than 24 hours -- at 11:11 GMT on July 17, 2007 -- the Fire the Grid project will bring people from all over the world together in meditation, prayer and thoughts of healing. Will it have any effect? Many, many brilliant minds throughout history have taught us the power of thought, intent and meditation. Anything is possible.
By coincidence, a new movie trailer has been posted to the Web. The Square Root of One Percent is a film David Lynch produced and directed showing the amazing effects meditation has had on lowering violent crime. It will be released worldwide in 2008. Take a peek via the rough-cut trailer now:
Scientists have named this phenomenon the Maharishi Effect: the finding that one percent (or even the square root of one percent) of the population practicing meditation improves the larger community's quality of life, as indicated by such changes as reduced crime and sickness in the larger society.
Modern research has validated the benefits of meditation by many different types of physiological, psychological, and sociological measures. The finding that meditation decreases stress can be quantified by physiological changes such as decreased cortisol (the major stress hormone), decreased muscle tension, normalization of blood pressure, increased autonomic stability, and increased EEG coherence. A variety of psychological changes also indicate decreased stress, including decreased anxiety and depression, decreased post-traumatic stress syndrome, and increased self-actualization.
The Maharishi Effect says that the stress reduction demonstrated within individuals can also extend to sociological changes, such as decreased hostility, increased family harmony, and reduced criminal behavior in incarcerated felons. Some believe that stress reduction can even impact the ecological level.
And maybe, just maybe, it can do more.
