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| The '''TM-Sidhi program''' is a ] technique that was introduced by ] in 1975, following the earlier introduction of the ] (TM) technique.<ref> Shear, Jonathan, Editor. The Experience of Meditation:Experts Introduce the Major Traditions. Paragon House, St Paul, MN, 2006</ref> Described as a natural extension of Transcendental Meditation, the purpose of the TM-Sidhi program is to accelerate the benefits gained from the Transcendental Meditation technique by training the mind to think from the level of Transcendental Consciousness, the mind's source. One aspect of the TM-Sidhi program, called Yogic Flying, is said to develop mind-body coordination.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Origin and principles of the technique== | |||
| The Transcendental Meditation technique is said to give the experience of pure consciousness at the source of the mind.<ref name = AMC></ref> The TM-Sidhi program aims to train the practitioner's mind to operate without losing connection with its source.<ref name = AMC/> By learning to function in this way, thinking is said to become more coherent and the practitioners desires may be fulfilled more easily.<ref name = AMC/> | |||
| Derived from the ], the TM-Sidhi Program consists of "formulas" or "]" (threads), the practice of which proponents say can lead to development of advanced human abilities, called ]. The essential aspect necessary to gain these powers is called ], a synthesis of three methods taught by ]. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's samyama includes the incorporation of Yogic Flying and other sidhis.<ref name = Chryssides></ref><ref>, p. 66]</ref><ref name = Fish>[http://books.google.com/books?id=KUbmdGhkQvsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+big+fish&ei=hIDXSbr_H4qGNoDxydwC#PPA144,M1 Bonshek, Anna and Corrina and Fergusson, Lee, ''The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space'', Rodopi(2007) | |||
| ISBN 9042021721, 9789042021723 (pp 143-146)]</ref> | |||
| The term Sidhi means "perfection" and refers to the development of a perfectly coordinated mind and body.<ref name = Fish/> Early advertisements for the TM-Sidhi program stated that its practice could lead to the development of extra-ordinary abilities such as Yogic Flying, the creation of peace, invisibility, walking through walls, mind-reading, colossal strength, extra sensory perception, empathy, compassion, omniscience, perfect health, and immortality.<ref> Skolnick, Andrew A., "Maharishi Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme promises the world eternal 'perfect health'", ''JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association'' 0098-7484 (Oct 2 1991) v266, n13, p1741(6)</ref><ref name = SFGate></ref><ref></ref><ref name = Time/><ref></ref> | |||
| A former student at the ] wrote in 1976 that his TM-Sidhi program was a 2-hour long sequence performed twice daily, consisting of Transcedental Meditation, breathing exercises, mental repetition of sutras in 15-second intervals, Yogic Flying and reading from Hindu scriptures.<ref></ref> | |||
| ===Yogic flying=== | |||
| According to the Maharishi, "Yogic Flying" is a phenomenon created by a specific thought projected from the simplest state of human consciousness called Transcendental Consciousness.<ref>Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi (2001) Ideal India: the lighthouse of peace on earth - Maharishi University of Management Press, p 247.</ref> Only the first stage of the development of Yogic Flying, the hopping stage, has been demonstrated in public. The hopping stage is described as "the body moving forward in short jumps".<ref name = Hop> Dawson, Victoria, "At the Hop: The Flying Yogis' Olympiad", ''Washington Post'' (July 10, 1986)</ref> Since 1986, there have been public demonstrations of the hopping stage of Yogic Flying in numerous countries including many locations in the United States.<ref>"Maharishi's Programme to Create World Peace", ''Age of Enlightenment Press'' (1987), p.1</ref> There have been no demonstrations of stage two: hovering or floating, nor any demonstrations of stage three: flying through the air.<ref name = Hop/><ref>"Yogis Say They're a Hop, Skip and Jump From Flying", ''Los Angeles Times'' (July 10 1986)</ref> | |||
| The Maharishi appeared as a guest on ] in 1975 and again in 1977.<ref> </ref><ref name = Woo/><ref>{{cite news|title=FLIGHTY LAWSUIT HAS LOUSY KARMA|first=Mike|last= Royko|authorlink=Mike Royko|work=Chicago Tribune |date=September 13, 1985|page=3}}</ref> According to author ], the Maharishi said during a Merv Griffin Show appearance that he had enrolled 40,000 students in the TM-Sidhi program. When Griffin, a practitioner of TM,<ref name = Woo>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; founded Transcendental Meditation movement|first=Elaine |last=Woo|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 6, 2008|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-maharishi6feb06,1,1158944.story}}</ref> asked how many of them had learned to levitate, the Maharishi answered: "Thousands".<ref name = Randi>Randi, James, ''Flim Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and Other Delusions'',Prometheus Books; Reprint edition (June 1982)ISBN 0879751983, ISBN 978-0879751982 pp 93-108</ref> | |||
| Reporters attending a public demonstration of Yogic Flying in Washington, DC in 1986 viewed 22 participants hopping on foam mattresses while sitting cross legged or in a seated "]".<ref>Kelly, Lynne, "The Skeptics Guide To The Paranormal", Basic Books (2005) p.234</ref><ref> Van Ripper, Frank, "Followers of Yogi Do the Bounce", ''New York Daily News'' (July 10 1986)</ref> In 1986, Victoria Dawson, a reporter for the '']'' who attended a demonstration, observed that, "The hoppers remained seated, hopping vigorously among themselves, mixing and mingling with spiritual energy and good feeling."<ref name = Hop/> | |||
| ], professor of physics at the ] and author of the weekly science ] column, ''What's New'', attended a demonstration in 1999 that was presented at a press conference at the Washington, DC Press Club by physicist and ] Presidential candidate, ]. Park described 12 "fit-looking" young men who demonstrated levitation following a meditation session and "popped up a couple of inches and thumped back down." Park says, "There was nothing to suggest they didn’t follow parabolic trajectories."<ref></ref> | |||
| In a 1987 ] article, the ] criticized Yogic Flying as "fake". Two former students from Maharishi University of Management said the activity was "strictly physical exercise ... nothing spiritual about it."<ref></ref> | |||
| In the 1998 ] News special ''The Power of Belief'', journalist ] reported on paranormal beliefs including Yogic Flying. Stossel said Yogic Flying looked like bouncing, and costs several thousand dollars to learn. A stock analyst who practices Yogic flying and who was interviewed said it brought him bliss.<ref></ref> | |||
| == Research == | |||
| Research on practitioners of the TM-Sidhi program relative to subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation alone has shown increased electroencephalography (]) coherence during "Yogic Flying",<ref name = Chryssides/><ref name = Travis>Travis, F. T., and Orme- Johnson, D. W. "EEG coherence and power during yogic flying",''International Journal of Neuroscience'' (Jan 12, 1990) 54: 1-12</ref><ref> Graybill,Mary Ellen, "Yoga: Flying High", ''Baltimore Chronicle'' (August 6 1986)</ref> one of the components of the TM-Sidhi program, as well as long-term increases in EEG coherence,<ref>Orme-Johnson, D. W., et al.,"Longitudinal effects of the TM-Sidhi program on EEG phase coherence", in Chalmers, R.A., et al., eds., ''Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program: Collected Papers'', vol. 3, Maharishi Vedic University Press (1989) pp. 1678–1686</ref> differences in reflex,<ref>Wallace, R.K., et al., "Modification of the paired H-reflex through the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program", ''Experimental Neurology'' 79 (1983) pp. 77-86</ref> and changes in endocrinological performance.<ref>Werner, O.R., et al, "Long-term endocrinological changes in subjects practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program", ''Psychosomatic Medicine'' 48 (1989) pp. 59-65</ref> In addition, a study on EEG coherence associated with practice of the TM-Sidhi program is correlated with greater creativity as measured by the ].<ref>Orme-Johnson, David W. and Haynes, Christopher, "EEG Phase Coherence, Pure Consciousness, Creativity, and TM-Sidhi Experiences", ''International Journal of Neuroscience'', vol 13, (1981), pp. 211-217</ref> | |||
| EEG studies compared Yogic Flyers practicing hopping, the first stage of the three distinct stages of Yogic Flying - 1) hopping, 2) floating, 3) flying <ref name = Time></ref><ref>Pearson,Craig, ''The Complete Book of Yogic Flying''. Maharishi University of Management Press, (2008)p 546.</ref><ref>http://www.permanentpeace.org/technology/yogic_flying.html</ref><ref>"A Lift for lives of stress", ''Times Herald'' (Aug 15, 1986)</ref><ref>"And awaaaaaaaay we go". ''Associated Press'' (July 9, 1986)</ref> - to a control group that practiced voluntary hopping. Compared to the control group, researchers found differences in neurological characteristics. Immediately before hopping the yogic flyers showed significant shifts in EEG coherence and power, whereas the controls did not. The differences in EEG spatial distribution and mean amplitude between the two groups suggested that different biological mechanisms underlie the EEG activity in the two groups.<ref name =Travis/> | |||
| == The Maharishi Effect == | |||
| Researchers associated with Maharishi University of Management have hypothesized that practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs in a group produces a "Maharishi Effect" that is said to influence coherence and positivity in the social and natural environment.<ref></ref> According to these researchers, if the square root of one percent of the population (that is, first calculating 1% of the population and then taking the square root of the resulting number) regularly practices the TM-Sidhi program together, the entire population will experience greater coherence - including reductions in violence, crime, disease, deadly storms, and other destructive natural forces.<ref name = Fish/> | |||
| Studies on the Maharishi Effect have been published in ''Social Indicators Research'', ''Journal of Mind and Behavior'', ''Social Science Perspectives Journal'', ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'', ''Journal of Crime and Justice'','' Psychology Reports'', ''Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science'', ''Proceedings of the American Statistical Association'', ''Proceedings of the Midwest Management Society'' and ''Psychology, Crime, and Law''.<ref></ref> | |||
| According to Robert Ableson, there is no known physical principle that could account for the "Maharishi Effect", nor any articulation by its proponents of how the "unified field", if it is active on the targeted people and institutions, could translate into the desired psychological and political behaviors. There is no currently-accepted causal relationship in Western science that would link group meditation to the claimed phenomenon. In a review of Ableson's book, Peter McBurney says that if an experiment identifies a phenomenon for which no known explanation exists, this is in itself interesting and deserving of publication.<ref></ref> According to Ableson, who looked at a study of the Maharishi Effect that appeared in Yale's Journal of Conflict Resolution, the prior probability, in ] statistics, of there being a Maharishi Effect, is practically zero. According to Ableson, "Maharishi adherents" say that the probability is closer to 1.0.<ref name=Abelson/> Philip Schrodt wrote that validation of the Maharishi Effect theory would contradict virtually the whole of contemporary understanding of causality in social behavior.<ref name=Schrodt/> | |||
| In response to Schrodt and others, researcher David Orme-Johsnon noted in a 2009 paper that, a body of research since the late 1970s has found small but statistically significant causal effects in a wide variety of contexts in which the mechanism isn't clearly understood. He says this evidence supports a field-theoretic view of consciousness, which suggests that there is an underlying common field of consciousness and that individuals can interact directly at a distance via this underlying field. Research has demonstrated that focusing attention on a common event may produce small but statistically significant effects on inanimate detectors, such as random generators. In addition, well-controlled EEG studies have shown that evoked potentials in one person’s brain may produce changes in the brain of another person, but who was isolated in an electromagnetically shielded room. Also, studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) suggest that the brains of individuals separated from each other may become significantly correlated. Reviews have found over 2,200 reports of distant intentionality.<ref>Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 139–40, 2009</ref> | |||
| ], a magician and critic of paranormal claims, investigated the claims of Dr. Robert Rabinoff, a former Maharishi International University physics professor. In his book ''Flim Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and Other Delusions'', Randi disputed a claim attributed to Rabinoff: that a large gathering of TM practitioners had reduced crime and accidents and increased crop production in the vicinity of Maharishi International University in ]. Rabinoff was said to have made the claims during a talk at the ] in 1978. Randi spoke with the Fairfield Police Department, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles and was unable to substantiate Rabinoff's claims.<ref name = Randi/> | |||
| James Grant, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor of Education at ], says in the book ''The University in Transition'' that the environmental influence of the group practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi techniques is "one of the most rigorously confirmed findings in the field of sociology".<ref> The University in Transition, Jennifer Gidely, p.210, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, </ref> Author Lynne McTaggert says in her book, The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, that although the TM organization has been ridiculed, the sheer weight of the data is compelling.<ref></ref> | |||
| ===Research in the Middle East=== | |||
| A study conducted in the Middle East in 1983 by David Orme-Johnson et al was published in Yale's '']'' and presented statistical evidence for the Maharishi Effect. According to the study, which was conducted in Israel and applied ] impact assessment, cross-correlation, and transfer function analysis, it determined that a group of individuals practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi techniques located in ] had a statistically significant effect on improving the quality of life in that city. Analysis showed there were fewer automobile accidents, fires, and crime in Jerusalem during the time of the experiment. Additionally, research results indicated that the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi group practice caused statistically measurable improvements in the quality of life in the country as a whole. The study measured reduction in crime, an increase in the stock market price, improved national mood (as measured by news content analysis) and a reduction of hostilities in the war in ] (fewer war deaths and decreased war intensity as measured by news content analysis). According to the study, the effects of religious holidays, temperature, weekends, and other forms of seasonality were controlled for and did not account for the results. Additionally, all cross-correlations and transfer functions supported a causal interpretation. This was a prospective experiment (one in which the outcome is predicted in advance). All the variables were publicly available data, and a list of the variables used in the study was placed prior to the experiment with an outside Project Review Board.<ref>Orme-Johnson, Alexander, et al., Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32(4), 776-812, 1988; Orme-Johnson, Alexander, & Davies, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 34(4), 756-768, 1990)</ref> | |||
| Subsequent to this study, Philip Schrodt published a critique of the study in the ]. He contested that the study’s measurement of the critical independent variable did not correspond to the most obvious interpretation of the theory, since it was obtained using political boundaries rather than geographical radius. Had the study used geographic radius (a method used in all later studies of the Maharishi effect), the observed effects would not have taken place, Schrodt maintained. According to Schrodt, the study does not account for reverse causation, nor properly test for the existence of spurious relationships.<ref name=Schrodt></ref> The study failed to randomize their independent variable - the number of meditators. Rather than being random, there was a systematic rise in the number of meditators over the first month of the study, followed by a clear weekly cycle in the second month. The failure to explicitly and adequately account for artifactural time patterning makes the claimed correlation very weak datum, because the claimed correlations over time are notoriously susceptible to artifacts.<ref name=Abelson></ref> | |||
| In a reply published in the same issue, the authors of the original study explained why the methodology was sound. The authors pointed out that the issue of randomization was addressed in the original paper: when the data was broken into quartiles, the 15 (or 16) days representing each quartile were found to be essentially randomly distributed over the duration of the experiment. They also gave five reasons why the issue of reverse causation was not a factor.<ref>Orme-Johnson DW, Alexander CN, Davies JL. The effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Reply to a methodological critique. Journal of Conflict Resolution 1990;34:756–768</ref> | |||
| {{POV-section|date=October 2009}} | |||
| === Research in Washington, D.C. === | |||
| A study on the Maharishi Effect written by John Hagelin, ], Maxwell Rainforth, et al. and published in 1999 in the journal ''Social Indicators Research'', concluded that there was a correlation between the gathering of a group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs, including Yogic Flying, in the District of Columbia, and a reduction in violent crime in that city.<ref name = Hagelin99>Hagelin, J. S., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Rainforth, M., Cavanaugh, K., & Alexander, C. N. (1999). ''Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness in Washington, D.C.'' Social Indicators Research, 47, 153–201</ref><ref></ref> The experiment took place from June 7 to July 30, 1993 and utilized a twenty member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and criminologists from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government of the District of Columbia, and civic leaders. This Review Board approved in advance the research protocol for the project and monitored its progress.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| The dependent variable in the research was weekly violent crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report program of the ]; violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.<ref name = Hagelin99/> This data was obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 as well as for the preceding five years (1988-1992). Additional data used for control purposes included weather variables (temperature, precipitation, humidity), daylight hours, changes in police and community anti-crime activities, prior crime trends in the District of Columbia, and concurrent crime trends in neighboring cities. Average weekly temperature was significantly correlated with homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes) and so temperature was used as a control variable in the analysis of HRA crimes. Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robbery (monetary crimes), as well as together.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| At a 1994 press conference to announce the analysis of that study, Hagelin said that, during the period of the experiment Washington, D.C. experienced a significant reduction in psychiatric emergency calls, fewer complaints against the police, and an increase in public approval of ]. Overall, according to preliminary data released by the police department, there was an 18% reduction in violent crime, he told the press.<ref name = Park></ref> Hagelin also said that ]s have shown that violent crime fluctuates significantly relative to the temperature. Crime goes down when it's cold and up when it's hot.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} The standard methodology for assessing whether the crime rate changed or not is to compare it with what is expected for that particular season.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Hagelin said that by using the standard methodology (time series analysis), they were able to show that the level of violent crime in Washington had dropped well below the expected level based on previous data.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| Physicist ] called the study a "clinic in data distortion".<ref name = Park></ref> This chapter of Park's book was also published as "Voodoo Science and the Belief Gene" in the '']'' (September 2000). Maxwell Rainforth, a coauthor of the Washington, D.C. study, says that Park does not support his assertions with either supporting data or analysis, and that Park's objection to the use of time series analysis is not based on any scientific argument. The researchers also questioned whether Park had read the published study, since his criticism focused on a preliminary Interim Report released at a press conference in 1994.<ref></ref> | |||
| Park questioned the validity of the study by saying that during the weeks of the experiment Washington, D.C.'s weekly murder count hit the highest level ever recorded.<ref name = Park/> According to the study, statistical analysis suggests that the murder rate, which typically goes up during hot weather, fell within the range of what would have been expected for that time of year.<ref name = Hagelin99/> In addition, the study says that temperature was used as a control variable in the analysis of homicide, rape and assault and that violent crimes were analyzed separately as well as in relationship with other types of crime.<ref name = Hagelin99/> | |||
| According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "those outside the movement" saw no such cause and effect.<ref name = SFGate/> ], author of ''The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe'' says that the study demonstrated that the effect created in Washington DC couldn’t have been due to such variables as weather, the police or any special anti-crime campaign.<ref> </ref> | |||
| As a result of this study, John Hagelin received the 1994 ] in peace, a parody of the ] that honors achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think".<ref></ref><ref></ref> | |||
| ===Research in India, the Philippines and Rhode Island=== | |||
| Five studies, which used a direct intervention design with Box Jenkins time series analysis, determined that crime was reduced and quality of life improved when a sufficient number of people practiced the TM-Sidhi program in the Philippines, New Delhi, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island. The research was published in 1999 in<i> Social Indicators Research.</i><ref name = fivestudies> Hagelin, J. S., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Rainforth, M., Cavanaugh, K., & Alexander, C. N. (1999). Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness in Washington, D.C. <i>Social Indicators Research</i>, 47, 153-201.</ref> Specifically, the studies found that: | |||
| Crime fell by 11% in New Delhi, India, in 1980 during a five-month period in which a statistically significant number of people participated in a Vedic Science course and engaged in group practice of the TM-Sidhi Program.<ref name = fivestudies/> | |||
| In Puerto Rico, research found that the establishment of a large group practicing the TM-Sidhi program in 1984 corresponded to a decrease in crime, and that the departure of that group corresponded to a rise in crime.<ref name = fivestudies/> | |||
| A study of a group of TM Sidhi practitioners who convened in Manila, showed a significant decrease in the police department’s weekly crime totals, while the group practiced the TM-Sidhi program in the area.<ref name = fivestudies/> | |||
| Another study, which also took place in Manila, showed that the quality of life improved significantly when a statistically significant number of people engaged in group practice of the TM-Sidhi program.<ref name = fivestudies/> | |||
| A second study on the correlation between quality of life and group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi program took place in Rhode Island, US.<ref name = fivestudies/> Results from the research showed that quality of life improved significantly when the group practicing was large enough. What made the study more statistically significant was that the result had been announced in advanced, and that such improvement occurred only in Rhode Island, and not in the nearby control state of Delaware.<ref name = fivestudies/> | |||
| ===Research in Canada=== | |||
| Studies were conducted to observe the effect on Canada of 1% of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program as a group in North America.<ref name = Canada> Assimakis, P. D. & Dillbeck, M. C. (1995). Times series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program. <i>Psychological Reports, 76</i>, 1171–1193.</ref> The group was located in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. The study, which lasted a total of 156 weeks, took place between 1983 and 1986.<ref name = Canada> p 1177 </ref> The required percentage was achieved for a total of 78 weeks out of the 156.<ref>Assimakis, P. D. & Dillbeck, M. C. (1995). Times series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program. <i>Psychological Reports, 76</i>, 1171–1193. P 1177</ref> During that period, when the required percentage was achieved, crime, as indicated by the weekly violent index, was found to have reduced significantly, while the quality of life improved.<ref>Assimakis, P. D. & Dillbeck, M. C. (1995). Times series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program. <i>Psychological Reports, 76</i>, 1171–1193. P 1190.</ref> The studies were published in 1995 in <i> Psychological Reports</i> | |||
| ==References== | |||
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| == External links == | |||
| * on the ] website | |||
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Tm-Sidhi Program}} | |||
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