Changing the World, One Blessing at a Time

The image shown on this page was taken by Astronomer Paul Bourke of Swinburne University in Australia. It is an image of a stack of reflective balls. The camera shot into the center of the stack to produce this image. This stack of balls has become more than just a stack of balls, it is a work of art. And the photo of it is another piece of art. With enough people casting blessings, we can become more than simply lots of people casting blessings into the world. With enough people casting blessings, we can change the world.

So, how many is “enough?”

In studies on the power of prayer and meditation, it has been found that it doesn't take many. Just the square root of 1%. For 1 million people, that would be only 100! If 100 people decided to pray or meditate or cast blessings, it would make a change for 1 million. That means that in our world of 6.6 billion people (6,600,000,000) it would take only 8,124 people casting blessings into the world to change it for the better. Think of it, only 8,124 people. That‘s 1 out of every 3,700 people in the United States. If we can get that many people in the U.S. alone, we can change the world!

Now, some of you may be asking, “What studies on the power of prayer? Where and when were they done?” It‘s quite a story. It spans hundreds of years and three continents. There are dreamy Far Eastern ideas, an anonymous Christian writer, a famous Jewish teacher and even a tie–in to a famous rock band. Then there are the skeptics who put the whole thing to the test. Feel free to skip this part if you think it will be boring.

Our story starts with the guru made famous by the Beatles. Remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? He founded the Transcendental Meditation movement, which is based on the Vedic tradition of India. In 1971, he said that if 1% of the population practiced TM and reached “a state of pure consciousness,” that the world around them would become more harmonious and be transformed. Now, if you’re a skeptic, there are at least two claims there to be challenged. First, what is “a state of pure consciousness”? Second, can you prove that 1% of the population will have the effect you claim?

“Pure consciousness” can be described as “mind without thought.” In our noisy, busy, running late from the moment my feet hit the floor world, it is difficult for us to conceive of a totally quiet mind. But, it has been highly sought after by many of the world‘s religions for centuries. In the 14th century, the unknown author of The Cloud of Unknowing called it “pure contemplation,” and left us a written guide on how to get there. This writer contended that a state of pure contemplation is the only way to know the unknowable God. Our minds filled with thoughts are incapable of knowing God; but devoid of thoughts, our minds can expand to encompass the experience of God‘s presence. The painful cost is that we will never find the words to express to another person what that experience is. In the 16th century, St. John of the Cross called the same state “pure love.”

In Jewish tradition, this is called “the Naught.” The person seeking connection to God must focus on the truth that God is “No-thing,” without boundaries or limitations. A person must seek to empty himself or herself of self, thoughts, feelings, boundaries, limitations and reach out to God—who is waiting for us to do so. The Ba‘al Shem Tov, founder of Chasidism, said that “Divine nothingness brings new life to this world.”

In the Buddhist tradition, this state of pure consciousness is the emptiness of mind that precedes enlightenment.

So, it‘s sought after, but is it real? Yes. In this state of pure consciousness, no matter what the religious beliefs of the practitioner, the body shows some measurable physical changes. The metabolism slows, breathing slows drastically, the heart rate drops, and brain waves become similar in different parts of the brain1. There are three common states of consciousness: waking, sleeping and dreaming. None of them shows the same patterns as “pure consciousness.” Physiological measurements on people who pray have shown that it is, indeed, real.

What about proving that 1% of the population can have the transformational effects claimed by the Maharishi? And, didn’t we start out with “the square root of 1%”? We’ll tackle the first question and then finish up with the second.

In 1974, the Maharishi made his claim at a meeting in Arosa, Switzerland. Sociologist Garland Landrith, skeptical to say the least, decided to test the idea. He looked for cities with a population of 25,000 or more. He found that 11 of them also had 1% or more of their population practicing TM. He selected 11 cities with similar populations, previous crime rates, college populations, and in the same region of the country as the 11 TM cities. And, he compared crime rate statistics for 1972-73. Landrith found that in the non-TM cities, the crime rates followed the national trend, increasing an average of 8.3%. In the TM cities, crime rates decreased by 8.2% The likelihood that these results were random chance is less than 1 in 1,000. These results were subjected to the scrutiny of those who couldn’t believe in something as “spooky” as prayer and meditation. During the 1970s and early 1980s, there were many well–designed tests meant to show that the effects were due to interference on the part of the meditators or due to the fact that those being prayed for knew that they were being prayed for or that the researchers biased their data to show the results they wanted. None of the skeptics’ predictions came true. Instead, psychologist Michael Dillbeck presented results involving 160 randomly selected cities in the US at the American Psychological Association convention in Los Angeles in 1981. His results showed that increases in TM percentages actually caused crime rates to drop.

Since then, “insertion studies” have been done as well. People from other areas are brought in to pray for and meditate on peace in an area, and the effects are measured using crime rates . One insertion study was done in September, 1983, in Jerusalem during the first Lebanon–Israel War. Not only did crime rates in Jerusalem drop, but hostilities between the two countries hit a period of calm. The number of incidents between the two countries was less than half of what it had been in the preceding weeks. And this was a side effect!

So, the studies have been done on the Maharishi Effect. But, the “state of pure consciousness” needed to produce this effect is not only a Vedic concept. People of all faiths have been reaching for it, and calling it by different names, for centuries. And it is achievable by anyone willing to stay with it.

Back to “the square root of 1% of the population.” The 1983 study done in Jerusalem was an insertion study, meaning that all of the participants had to be brought in from elsewhere. People came from all over the world to take part. But, they didn’t get a number equal to 1% of the population of Jerusalem. They got the square root of 1%. And it worked. With such miraculous side effects.

There you are then, a long story, convoluted and complicated. A concept that is simple and easy to do. A number of people that could choose to cast blessings in unity. Perhaps one day we can have teams of 8,124 people at a time praying and blessing the world constantly. Wouldn’t you like to live in a world like that? Think of the effect if 8,124 people were sending out blessings of peace during a negotiation in the Middle East. What if we were all casting blessings for the relief of Darfur, an end to hunger, peace in our homes . . .

1A normal Electroencephalogram (EEG) shows that different parts of the brain have greatly varied patterns of action. To the layman the line tracings from the various leads often look like a manic chicken walked across the paper after dipping its feet in ink.
2Aron, E. and Aron, A. “The Gentle Invasion of Rhode Island,” in Maharishi Effect: A Revolution Through Meditation, Stillpoint Publishing, Walpole, NH 1986.

Blessed be.