subsequently accepted for publication in mainstream academic journals.
Less Warfare in Lebanon: During days of high attendance at a group of peacemaking experts in Jerusalem, war deaths in neighboring Lebanon fell by 76%. The increase in attendance at the peacemaking group also correlated strongly with reduced crime, traffic accidents and fires, and with improved economic indicators.
The same study also showed improvements in a wide variety of social indicators, including crime, traffic accidents, fires and the stock market. These various measures are generally uncorrelated (you can’t predict the stock market by looking at crime statistics, for example). The fact that they all progressed together – in conjunction with the increase in meditation attendance – strongly suggests that peace-making gatherings radiate a general influence of harmony and cohesion throughout society that can be measured in many different ways.
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Reduced terrorism worldwide: At the three largest peace-building rallies ever held in the West, Rand Corporation statistics showed a 72% reduction in global terrorism. DETAILS
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Wave of Global Peace: During the one great peace-making meeting (8,000 experts) that lasted for several years (1988-90), all major conflicts in the world came to an end
– including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a seven-year war between Iran and Iraq that had killed millions of people, and, most strikingly and unexpectedly, the Soviet-American Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation for forty years. DETAILS
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Scientific acceptance: Time and time again, independent scientists have judged this research to be sound.
Research studies that explore the idea of peace-creating groups – a concept that transcends the dominant materialist paradigm of modern science – must run the gauntlet from highly skeptical scholars.
Peacemaking meetings have now been thoroughly field-tested in more than 50 demonstration projects, and most of these demonstrations have been covered in 23 academically published scientific studies.
Repeated findings:
The more times a theory has been tested, the more confidence scientists have in the results. Almost all published research on peace-making meetings reports on a number of separate meetings in one study (replication), or on one meeting in which the number of attendees increases and decreases many times over.
Strong correlations:
Scientists accept that cigarettes cause cancer because repeated studies show that the correlation between smoking and cancer is strong. Likewise, studies on peacemaking gatherings have been accepted for publication because they show a strong correlation between peacemaking groups and reduced crime, warfare, and terrorism.
Lead-lag analysis:
In studies where participation in the peacemaking expert group varies over time, it is often possible to establish causality directly through lead-lag (or transfer function) analysis. Such analysis shows what changes first: peace-building emergence or social violence (crime, war, etc.). In all studies in which such a lead-lag analysis has been possible, the evidence shows that meditation attendance changes first, and measures of social violence change shortly thereafter. This strongly suggests a causal role for peacemaking groups, and has been decisive in the publication of important studies.
Ruling out alternative explanations:
To be convincing, any study must rule out alternative possible explanations for the results. For example, because violent crime typically increases as daily temperatures rise, researchers must account for temperature changes in their analysis. In these studies, researchers have carefully demonstrated that alternative possible explanations – such as weather, regular weekly, monthly or seasonal changes, changes in police patrols, etc. – cannot explain the evidence.
Studies easily replicable
(use of open public data): One of the most compelling aspects of this research is the open, public nature of the evidence. Much sociological research is based on privately collected data that other scientists can only accept on faith. The research into peace-creating groups, on the other hand, is doubly public:
- The dates and estimated attendance of most of the peace-making meetings are available in newspaper accounts of the time.
- Statistics on social violence, including crime, accidents, warfare, terrorism, etc., are available to any researcher with access to public records.
This public nature of the evidence means that any study can be replicated by other researchers – a strong guarantee of scientific accuracy.
could be the key to uniting humanity across borders, synchronizing our intentions for peace and building long-lasting peace in areas of long-standing conflict. David Nicol of the Center For Subtle Activism and the author of Subtle Activism: The Inner Dimension of Social and Planetary Transformation says this:
“Subtle activism is the use of spiritual or consciousness-based practices for collective transformation; which sets it apart from the usual focus of using spiritual practice for personal development. We don’t see this as a replacement for external action or the practical action that naturally needs to happen in the world, but nevertheless explore that this approach could be a crucial part, a fundamental part in the shift we need to make. on the planet.”
This is no longer the domain of science fiction, but is quickly becoming scientific fact. Inner peace can now lead to world peace. A meditation revolution is what is needed; not a violent or military uprising, but an uprising of wisdom and compassion by the hearts and minds of all people. Meditate every day and dedicate your efforts to healing the wounds of wars and creating a peaceful and loving world.