Dear Friends,
It is a pleasure to inform you that the February 2002 issue of Transcendental Meditation News is now available for purchase at TM Centres and Academies in Britain and at the Maharishi Golden Dome in Skelmersdale (cover price £1.60).
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS:
* Maharishi's 12 January celebration to inaugurate the Year of Raam Mudra -- including a complete transcript of Maharishi's address, giving his plan for the year ahead and a powerful, personal message about how best to approach life at this delicate time in the world.
*Oxford world peace conference -- leaders of Britain's major peace organisations speak out on strategies to eradicate terrorism without the need for war or violence (full text of this article appended below).
*An enlightened High Commissioner -- Sir Arthur Foulkes promotes Maharishi's programmes in the Bahamas, through the inspiration of Dr Geoffrey Clements, Chairman of Maharishi Foundation, UK.
*Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa -- fabulous new developments at the world's first truly Vedic city for thousands of years.
*Report from Roydon Hall TM Academy -- refurbished, revitalised and full of happy course participants on the path to enlightenment.
Make sure to get your copy now and keep in touch with all that is happening in Maharishi's organisation in Britain and around the world.
SPECIAL OFFER -- FREE TRIAL COPY:
If you would like to subscribe to TM News, you can take advantage of the special offer and receive the current issue free of charge by visiting web page: http://www.maharishi-european-sidhaland.org.uk/spe_tmne.html or contacting TM News editor David Hughes at
david108@appleonline.net Tel: 01695 735579
With best regards,
TM News editorial team
Feedback to editor David Hughes at
david108@appleonline.net Tel: 01695 735579
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Oxford peace conference:
Leaders of peace organisations speak out
(From TM News, February 2002 issue)
While the debate continues in the world about the merits of armed conflict as a means to deal with terrorism, the voice for peaceful solutions becomes stronger. This came out clearly during the recent world peace conference held at the Town Hall in Oxford, on 4 December 2001, where leaders of five prominent organisations made presentations on the theme: Creating Peace, Not War: Strategies to eradicate terrorism without the need for war or violence.
The conference, organised by Oxford TM Teacher, Anne-Marie Wilson, and attended by over 150 people, showed how widespread is the recognition that the use of violence will only beget more violence, and that the fundamental economic and social imbalances and injustices in the world must be addressed if the root causes of terrorism are truly to be eradicated. The conference was chaired masterfully by Nigel Barlow, TM teacher, author and management expert.
The first speaker, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, warned that the war in Afghanistan represented a turning point in modern history. He said that the Americans had no mandate to bomb Afghanistan, and the British Prime Minister had no mandate from the British parliament to join them.
For what are the Afghans being punished by the Americans? Dr. Siddiqui asked. He expressed deep concern at the possibility of a new world order where state terrorism would be the norm and civil liberties will be a luxury.
In a thoughtful address, the next speaker, Dr Scilla Elworthy, Director of the Oxford Research Group and three-times nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, said: Terrorists understand force, so using more force to try to deal with terrorism is simply walking into a trap, and it will, without any doubt, prolong the cycle of violence. Our job is to intervene in cycles of violence and bring it to an end. The only way to do that is to render infertile the grounds in which the seeds of terror grow.
Dr Elworthy summarised the contents of her book Fifty effective non-violent interventions in conflict. She emphasised that it is a record of things that ordinary people have done to build bridges and help create peace.
Barry Coates, Director of the World Development Movement, an organisation campaigning to achieve justice for the world's poor, spoke on the subject: Changing globalisation to global justice. Mr Coates said that focusing too much on what is happening in Afghanistan may make us overlook some of the real economic issues. It is hard to understand the scale of the economic crisis that is happening in the world today, he said.
In a hard-hitting address outlining the plight of the world's poor, he called for fairer trade rules, alleviation of debt, a halt to the flood of arms, and an end to the link between economic and military domination. He said: If we don't take responsibility for it, then nobody can. Mr Coates pointed out strongly that the British government is at the heart of many of the international policies that are causing these problems, and he encouraged everyone to play their part in changing these policies.
Pritam Singh, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Oxford Brookes University, and a Green Party Parliamentary Election Candidate, examined the definition of terrorism. He discussed the difference between state-sponsored terrorism and non-state terrorism, and said that both have serious negative consequences for society. He said: The long-term solution to terrorism is to create an equal and just world both socially and economically. He called for the strengthening of legal, political and constitutional modes of conflict resolution, both at the national and international levels.
The final speaker, Dr Geoffrey Clements, a physicist and Chairman of Maharishi Foundation in the UK, presented Maharishi's programme to create world peace. He emphasised strongly that world leaders should take advantage of this scientifically validated strategy to eradicate the stresses and tensions in world consciousness that give rise to terrorism and war. He presented the well-documented evidence showing how Maharishi's technologies of consciousness create coherence and stability in society and reduce crime and violence, even in war torn regions of the world.
We congratulate all of the organisations represented here today, for their activities to promote peace in the world, and we look forward to working together to create a peaceful world peace, Dr Clements said. The presentations by the speakers were followed by a lively debate that lasted over an hour.
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If you would like to purchase an audiotape of the conference (9 GBP incl. p&p), please call Anne-Marie Wilson on 01865 372017.
If you would like more information about any of the speakers or the organisations that they represent, please click here.
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