Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a famous Hindu monk, shared his methods for ending worldwide terrorism in a teleconference from Holland Tuesday.

Yogi called upon citizens of the world to counter terrorism using various forms of meditation, including Yogic flying, which is a form of transcendental meditation in which the body lifts off the ground.

Although these strategies are not well known by the general community, the concepts have caught on among some.

"I'm not a practitioner of transcendental meditation," said David Edwards, a government professor. "But there are 50 or so controlled studies in which groups of meditators have gathered and have practiced meditation for a period of time."

Studies have monitored levels of violence such as war, deaths and murder at the same time practitioners of Yogi's methods have meditated. Edwards said independent observers concluded that there was a significant decrease in the number of violent acts while Yogi followers were meditating.

"The research results show an impact," Edwards said. "It's very impressive."

Edwards said that although the idea is hard for some to imagine, he believes further research should be done on this suggested method.

"Well, the idea of relativity sounds wacky - and so does the idea of the big bang - but if we never try new ideas, then we miss out on major breakthroughs and the practice of scientific theory," he said.

Copyright 2002, The Daily Texan