This article was published in OpEdNews on Veteran’s Day (11 November) 2004. (Also reprinted by India Defence Consultants) (Hungarian translation)
The Silent Antidote to Terrorism
Three veterans assert that terrorism and war could be eliminated using a scientifically validated, natural approach called Invincible Defense Technology. The military would use Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying to reduce societal stress.
An inexpensive, proven approach to stopping terrorism is available. Why waste more lives and money on outmoded, ineffective approaches?
The terror threat is growing. Despite its long-term and recent military experience fighting terrorists, the U.S. has not eliminated terrorism. New terrorist cells are emerging. The numbers and quality of people flocking to their banners is alarming. Even fully equipped military and police forces are unlikely to control them. More alarming, defense experts predict that terrorists might attack with easily concealed weapons of mass destruction.
Can the U.S. eliminate terrorism by deploying its military with high-tech weaponry? Again and again, history shows that the answer is “no.”
Terrorism is a human problem that requires a human solution. A general model of terrorism and war identifies the accumulation of social stress as the source of conflict and upheaval. If the stress driving terrorism could be damped down, such problems would diminish or even cease. No collective stress means no terrorism and no war. This represents the ideal of preventive defense.
Does such an antidote for terrorism exist? Physicist and Vedic scholar Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has revived the practical components of a silent approach he calls Invincible Defense Technology (IDT). Its primary components are the Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs including Yogic Flying. Application of these human resource-based technologies does not involve religious beliefs and practices. Members of major faiths worldwide practice these meditation techniques.
Many peer-reviewed studies document the success of IDT in dissolving stress on both the individual and the societal levels. For military personnel this means significantly less stress, better psychological health, lower rates of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, better physical health, less disease, better job and academic performance, faster reaction times, higher IQ, improved moral reasoning, and increased leadership ability. Warriors perform better. [Editor’s note: studies about these benefits are described in “Part I. Individual Benefits Provided by Maharishi’s Supreme Military Science” of the paper “Maharishi’s Supreme Military Science — A Revolutionary Change in the Character of Military Intervention” published by India Defence Consultants.]
Their units excel.
For a society, IDT reduces crime rates, reduces suicides, reduces accidents, reduces conflict, produces more cooperative behaviors, improves the economy, and lowers the incidence of diseases. More than 600 studies document the benefits for the individual and more than 50 studies document the impact on society. These studies have been closely scrutinized and published in reputable journals such as “Journal of Conflict Resolution,” “Social Indicators Research,” “Journal of Social Behavior and Personality,” “Journal of Mind and Behavior” and “Journal of Crime and Justice.” IDT is the best technology to safeguard the United States.
The operative part of IDT requires having a Prevention Wing of the military.
This wing would comprise only 2% to 3% of the armed forces. The rest of the military would carry on with their usual duties. This unit would create societal coherence by meditating in groups of a few hundred or a few thousand morning and evening. This collective practice would produce positive benefits for both the military and any adversaries. Peaceful overtures would increase from all sides.
The technology has an impressive track record. These groups have been deployed in many war zones and conflict-prone areas with remarkable success.
Lt. Gen. Villamil, an Ecuadorian former Vice-Minister of Defense, used IDT to quickly end Ecuador’s war with Peru. President Chissano of Mozambique credits IDT for ending a 16-year civil war in his nation. Maj. Gen. Israni, editor of “Combat Journal,” argued that this approach could have prevented the 9/11 attacks.
Physicists say the effect appears to be a field phenomenon. The extensive published research gives a specific threshold: when the square root of 1% of a population practices the TM-Sidhi program as a group, this field effect is created. Results are seen whether the group members are from the local populace or from outside the region. Scientists have named this field effect the “Maharishi Effect.” Many peer-reviewed, scientific studies have documented the positive social trends. These effects, such as reduced conflict and lowered crime rates, start the very day such a group is assembled and end soon after departure of the group.
Further striking evidence for the field-like character of the phenomenon is provided by observations of the effect at a global scale, such as those detailed in a study recently published in the “Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.” When large assemblies of practitioners of the TM-Sidhi program practicing Yogic Flying exceeded the Maharishi Effect threshold for the world (about 7,000 at that time) during the years 1983-1985, international conflict decreased 33%, terrorist casualties decreased 72% and violence was reduced in other nations without intrusion by other governments.
IDT is a force multiplier. A miniscule portion of the military would be assigned to the Prevention Wing of the Military. However, this small group would create coherence for the entire military and the whole country, thus making everyone’s jobs easier. While most military units would continue their usual extroverted approach, this tiny fraction would implement the silent approach of IDT. Military defense will be perfect, thus invincible, when both these approaches are combined.
What other solution holds such promise? This technology is the ONLY proven antidote to the poison of terrorism. Decades of experience globally show that terrorism can not be eliminated by standard military means alone. IDT has been proven to effortlessly and automatically settle differences in terrorism hot spots globally. The U.S. needs to deploy a Prevention Wing of the Military immediately for its own protection. Also, its armed forces must deploy mobile versions of these units to eradicate social stress, the source of terrorism, in intervention locations. By these means, the U.S. can achieve true invincibility and create permanent peace worldwide.
Articles about Invincible Defence Technology, published in Defense Review, India Defence Consultants, Indian Defence Review, Defence India, Indian Strategic Review, and Security and Political Analysis Bulletin are available at: http://www.invinciblemilitary.org (United States) and http://davidleffler.com (International).
About the Authors:
Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Kulwant Singh, Indian Army (Ret.) leads an international group of generals and defense experts that advocate Invincible Defense Technology.
Dr. Kurt Kleinschnitz, a six-year U.S. Navy veteran, is now an Associate Professor of Physics at Maharishi University of Management in the United States.
Dr. David Leffler, an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran, is now the Acting Director of the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS), an organization that advocates prevention-oriented technologies in the military.
Comments on This Article
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4 comment(s) follow for ‘The Silent Antidote to Terrorism: Three veterans assert that terrorism and war could be eliminated using a scientifically validated, natural approach called Invincible Defense Technology. The military would use TM’
by Osage. Submitted on 2004-11-11 22:28:44
Carla Brown says:
The most impressive aspect of this Antidote is the scientific verification. I examined the science and responses to it for my Harvard doctoral dissertation. Repeatedly peer reviewers and journals have given this research very rigorous reviews and have concluded that the results are sound. The implications are stunning on the financial level alone. Results on the order of magnitude of 75% reduction in war deaths when threshold number of TM meditators are present implies that life can be saved. Effects on terrorism prevention are also surprising.
Naturally, how to implement these kinds of interventions as adjuncts to negotiation and other approaches, will require some logistical support and willingness to try something from a different perspective. People truly grounded in the difficulties of containing and eliminating violence may be willing to try something different. This may be especially true of military personnel whose lives are on the line. I applaud these authors and suggest that their writing be given very serious consideration.
[Editor’s note: For more information see Dr. Carla Linton Brown’s Harvard University doctoral dissertation on attitudes about Invincible Defense Technology (IDT).]
by MSuettmann. Submitted on 2004-11-13 07:05:22
Margot Suettmann says:
This article indeed provides a tremendous relief to me. I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the ongoing violence in the Iraq (and elsewhere). Violence will ONLY beget violence. This is not only a truth experienced in daily life by each of us, but also the profound wisdom preached by the great saints, philosophers and sages and prophets of every religion, a necessary sacrifice – there is no exception: To kill is a sin! No woman or man is of inferior value and his or her violent death in anyway excusable. If we can save life – even only a few lives – we are obliged to implement it!! As an educator I can only say: Seemingly evil behavior is not a trait but a product of intense stress in an individual and its impact on human neurophysiology. Let’s get rid of the stress through effective stress reduction with these technologies mentioned in the above article and we will solve the problem of violence to a great degree. It is reasonable. It is feasible. It is necessary! It is therefore our responsibility to implement it – unless we don’t want to spoil our hands with human blood.
by dwm5847. Submitted on 2004-11-13 09:49:54
David McGinnis says:
What a breath of fresh air. A rational discussion about the elimination of the root cause of conflict. Specific techniques and methods for the elimination of tensions before the outbreak of violence and the resulting destruction. The age of science demands a new approach.
Generations have witnessed the failures of diplomacy as primary method to prevent war. These experienced veterans and scientist have discovered the basic reasons for these failures. Diplomacy can only succeed when the overwhelming tensions that lead to war have been reduced or eliminated.
These veterans shift our focus away from the role of science in developing ever more destructive weapons and and battlefield tactics, to how science can help us create the conditions for peace.
The age of science has rearranged the sun, the moon, and the stars. Its way past time for the light of reason and science to be directed toward the prevention of war.
We all owe a huge debt to the authors of ‘The Antidote to Terrorism’ for bringing us in from the dark ages.
Thank you.
by Larrass. Submitted on 2004-11-14 22:00:21
Michael Larrass says:
Dear Sirs,
I was myself a member of a project using this technology, the so-called SATTWA-Project (Social Transition Facilitation Project) from 15 September 1989 to 15 March 1990 in Germany. The media at that time concurred in saying that there was some ‘unseen element’ that had allowed the process of unification to occur without bloodshed. Indeed, uniting two very aggressive opponents, armed to the teeth, representing over 80 million people, is no small thing. It would be very timely to repeat the ‘German Miracle’ in Iraq and other hotspots. In fact, the miracle is just as miraculous as superconductivity and other quantum phenomena, which are widely used. Using this non-material defense strategy would complete the arsenal of quantum technologies in an unequivocally constructive way.
Dr. Michael Larrass, Ottawa, Canada [Editor’s note: Dr. Larrass is the head author of the paper Bomb of Silence”- Invincible Defence Technology for Sri Lanka published by the Sri Lankan Guardian.]
