Maharishi predicted in 1957 that if just one percent of the world’s population practiced the Transcendental Mediation technique, there would be no more war. This "one percent effect" was first verified in 1974 when scientists found a drop in the crime rate after one percent of a city’s population learned the TM technique. In recognition of Maharishi’s promise, researchers named this phenomenon the Maharishi Effect.

In 1976, with the introduction of the TM-Sidhi program, including Yogic Flying, a more powerful effect was expected. Scientists discovered that just the square root of one percent of a population, practicing Yogic Flying together in one place, could create the same influence. This much-reduced requirement was called the Extended Maharishi Effect.

The Global Maharishi Effect was first created in 1983 by the group practice of 7,000 Yogic Flyers—7,000 being approximately the square root of the world’s population. The Global Maharishi Effect was witnessed during three large "World Peace Assemblies" which were held over a period of two to three weeks in the United States, Holland, and India.

Reduced International Conflict through the Group Practice of TM-Sidhi Yogic Flying

During the periods of three assemblies approaching or exceeding 7,000 experts in the TM-Sidhi Program, there was a significant decrease in international conflict worldwide.

Over 40 independent research studies confirm that the Maharishi Effect improves the quality of life in society and the trends of life in the entire world.

During a "World Peace Project" in 1978, over 1,400 experts in Yogic Flying traveled to calm the violence in the five most troubled spots on the globe. Research by the Conflict and Peace Data Bank of the University of Maryland found a significant reduction of hostile acts and an increase in cooperative events in these trouble spots during the three months of the project.

In 1983, a group of Yogic Flyers was established for two months near an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Studies published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution verified a significant decrease in war intensity and war fatalities.

Reduction of Domestic and International Conflict through the Group Practice of TM-Sidhi Yogic Flying

During periods when a large group was participating in the TM-Sidhi Program in the Middle East, there was a significant drop in war intensity and war deaths in the Middle East conflict.

Research has also verified that the Maharishi Effect made a significant contribution toward improving the quality of international relations between the United States and the Soviet Union prior to the end of the Cold War.

For those who do not already know something about Yogic Flying, these results may strain belief. Most people have no framework for understanding how the body could rise by itself into the air, much less how a group of people sitting with their eyes closed could reduce the crime rate and stop wars.

Yet experts agree that we use only a fraction of our full potential—perhaps only five or ten percent. Some researchers place the figure much lower. Using so little, who would venture to place a limit on what might be possible if we should use significantly more? Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Man's capacities have never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried."

The modern writer Norman Cousins expressed the same idea: "The human brain is a mirror to infinity. There is no limit to its range, scope or creative growth. No one knows what great leaps of achievement may be within reach of the species once the full potentiality of the mind is developed."

Inspired by their own experiences and supported by this compelling research, Yogic Flyers have made detailed proposals to governments around the world to create large, permanent groups of Yogic Flyers. Such "coherence creating groups," research indicates, will bring an end to local and global violence.

Here is the key to lasting world peace.

The Taste of Utopia Assembly in Fairfield, Iowa
December 1983 - January 1984

In 1983, more than 7,000 Yogic Flyers—the square root of one percent of the world’s population—gathered at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, to create the largest assembly of Yogic Flyers ever. World events were monitored using independent measures such as stock market indices, government statistics, and news content analysis.

The beginning of the Taste of Utopia Assembly coincided with a rapid onset of a wide range of positive effects. When the Assembly ended, there was an immediate reversal to prior levels—just as if a light had been switched on at the beginning of the Assembly and then switched off again at the end.

Positive effects felt around the world included:

1. Heads of state were significantly more successful in reversing negative trends. Their statements were more positive, their actions more constructive. This increase in positivity could not be attributed to a "holiday spirit"—the previous year, events pertaining to heads of state had not become more positive.
2. International affairs became significantly more harmonious. Progress toward peaceful resolution of conflict increased significantly. The proportion of "strongly positive" events in international affairs jumped by 60 percent.
3. The Lebanon war made a dramatic shift toward peace.
4. There was a global wave of increased confidence, optimism, and economic prosperity:
5. The World Index of stock prices reversed a downward trend and turned upward, rising markedly until the end of the Assembly.
6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average showed an even more dramatic and highly significant reversal of a prior steep downward trend.
7. The eight major national stock markets reported daily in The Wall Street Journal increased simultaneously during the Assembly, whereas during the three weeks before the Assembly, three were increasing and five were decreasing.
8. Nineteen of the world’s 20 major stock markets increased simultaneously—something that had not happened during the previous five years. Before the Assembly the markets were not correlated, with some increasing and some decreasing.
9. Infectious diseases in all categories in the U.S. dropped immediately and sharply. The drop was 32 percent compared to the median number for the same period in the previous five years—a decrease of 39,598 cases. The identical affect was seen as far away as Australia.
10. U.S. traffic fatalities also dropped sharply. Traffic deaths fell 31 percent—saving 234 lives. Traffic fatalities over the Christmas and New Year’s weekend reached and all-time low, even though miles driven per day hit and all-time high. Similar results were found for other countries for which data was available.
11. Air traffic fatalities worldwide decreased 49 percent.
12. Patent applications rose simultaneously by 15.2 percent in nations worldwide. Patent applications are a measure of national creativity.
13. Crime decreased significantly in locations on three continents where data was available.

For information on the TM-Sidhi program, call 800-888-5797.

Craig Pearson is Executive Vice President of Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. This series of articles is excerpted from his forthcoming book, The Complete Book of Yogic Flying.