Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

Harnessing the laws of nature—maximum success to governmentFinally, military personnel face major health risks, including problemswith stress, alcohol, and a higher rate of cigarette smoking thanthe civilian population. Post-traumatic stress disorder is virtuallyignored due to lack of solutions, and Gulf War syndrome has underscoredthe dangers of modern chemical and biological weapons on ourprimary-level military personnel. Clearly, these circumstances call for amore effective and humane approach to defense.The SolutionBecause there is no viable defense against weapons of mass destruction,it is now more critical than at any time in history to prevent theoutbreak of war. We have seen, however, that diplomacy alone providesno stable foundation for security among nations. We have also seen thatthe amassing of arms as a deterrent to war merely heightens global tensions,is destabilizing in the long-run, and leads to a precarious peace,at best. While some historians will argue that the strategy of deterrencebased on mutually assured destruction (MAD)—the guaranteeof unacceptable losses to both sides—averted nuclear confrontation,such deterrence came at great expense to civilization. Mankind livedunder constant threat of annihilation, where even a miscalculation (e.g.,during the Cuban missile crisis) could spell nuclear conflagration. Inaddition, billions of dollars of national resources were wasted on weaponsthat, at very best, would never be used.A far more humane and prudent approach to averting war is to preventthe buildup of enmity, and thus prevent the birth of an enemy.War breaks out when the escalation of tensions among rival nationsleads to a catastrophic breakdown in negotiations. Until recently, therehas been no reliable means to diffuse such escalation of negativity andto avert such a diplomatic breakdown.This situation has changed dramatically. During the last 20 years,diffusing social stress and resolving international conflict through collectivepractice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programhas amassed more scientific evidence than any previous approachin the history of the social sciences. This approach has repeatedly provenits ability to quell violence and to stop open warfare, even in areas wheredeep seated tensions and historic animosities have persisted for generations.For example, seven consecutive interventions by such coherence-207