March 2000 

The TM Program on Campus

by Wayne Foster  

"The life of the student is to develop all knowledge that is possible, to gain all creativity that is possible. There is an infinite degree of creativity in the consciousness of everyone, and Transcendental Meditation unfolds that, very easily, very simply, so Total Knowledge can be gained by every student." —Maharishi

All students are interested in better grades, less stress, and improved clarity of mind. This is why practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique is a great way for them to excel. 

During the past 40 years, nearly one million students have learned to meditate in North America alone. The TM technique first became popular among students in the late 1960s. Dr. Keith Wallace conducted pioneering research on the technique during his student days at UCLA, and then served as the first President of Students International Meditation Society (SIMS). Since then, student clubs have been started on over 100 campuses in the United States and Canada. 

In 1988 and 1989, Guy Harvey, my brother Garry and I helped coordinate lectures on campuses. We found that students were very enthusiastic to learn about the TM technique. Often 50 to 100 students would attend Introductory Lectures in one week. 

Many meditating students told us they were scoring higher on tests with much less effort. One student said that before learning to meditate, he would forget the material at the top of the page even before he had read to the bottom of the page. Within a few days of learning the TM technique, his memory improved so much that he was clearly remembering text and illustrations from previous pages. 

Any college student can start a club, which can then invite teachers of the TM program to give lectures on campus. Lecture rooms are usually free to approved clubs. When enough students join, you can also get a room for daily group meditations. 

We found the most effective way to promote campus lectures was a combined approach—flyers in the dining halls, mail box flyers, posters, and advertisements in the student newspaper. 

Since students often have busy schedules, it’s best to announce a few lectures at different times of the day. There are plenty of competing events on campus, so don’t be afraid to put up lots of posters!

Maharishi University of Management’s student government is sponsoring "Youth Evolution 2000," a national student conference on May 18-20. For information, call 515-469-3531, or visit http://www.youthevolution2000.org

Wayne Foster is a member of the Maharishi Thousand-Headed Purusha program, and a Director of Maharishi Global Administration through Natural Law in Canada.