Meditation man who could help rid our streets of crime
Evening Telegraph, Peterborough
16 August 2002
Evening Telegraph, Peterborough, Friday, 16 August, 2002
Meditation man who could help rid our streets of crime
CRIME is on the up in Peterborough. But according to one city man beating the baddies is all in the mind. HANNAH DAVIES reports.
FORGET Spider-man, Superman, Batman, and even Banana Man - Charles Brettell is leading the way when it comes to fighting crime in Peterborough.
Because while other super-heroes use their fists to tackle the bad guys, Charles harnesses the power of the mind.
By day, the 45-year-old goes about his business under the guise of a chartered engineer for major city firm Perkins Engines.
But when Charles gets back to his Longthorpe home, a dramatic transformation occurs.
He slips off his shoes, loosens his tie, and makes himself comfortable - Charles is Meditation Man.
As a qualified, registered teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM), he has taught the technique in Peterborough for the past 10 years.
And today, reducing the city's crime rate is top on his list of things to do.
Charles is convinced that when as little as one per cent of the population of a city practise TM, negative trends in society, such as the crime rate, accident rate, sickness, and violence, start to decrease spontaneously.
He says for a city the size of Peterborough a minimum of about 50 people are required in daily group practise. This effect - known as the Maharishi Effect - has been verified in more than 40 scientific studies.
Now, news of the group's activities has reached Peterborough detectives, and they have welcomed the bizarre technique as a novel accompaniment to practical policing.
TM is unique and fundamentally different from any other systems of meditation and relaxation.
It requires no belief nor lifestyle change, is non-religious, is not time-consuming, and can be learned by anyone -regardless of age or level of education.
What's more, it is neither mind-control nor mental discipline; it is not concentration, eastern philosophy, or a way of life. You don't have to control your breathing, or muscles, or even make a conscious effort to relax.
Individuals merely find themselves a comfortable place to sit and then using a mantra - an alleged special expression which is often nothing more than the name of a Hindu god - they allow their mind to get "quieter and quieter" until both mind and body reach an extreme state of relaxation.
Charles practices TM twice-a-day for 20 minutes in the comfort of his sitting room, and meets with his followers once a month at the city's TM centre, in Holywell Way, Longthorpe.
He said: "I first became interested in TM 26 years ago when I was at University, because I was looking for a way of dealing with exams."
"I found it helped me to relax and unwind.
"Then, on top of the therapeutic benefits of TM, I discovered that coherently it spontaneously gives rise to a reduction in negative trends.
"I am worried about crime in Peterborough and as a group we would like to do our best to reduce it."
As reported in The Evening Telegraph, violent crime has soared in Peterborough, with an average of nine offences now occurring every day
Shocking figures revealed earlier this year found that 3,055 violent offences, which include assaults and harassment cases, were recorded in the city between April 2001 and February 2002.
Offences were up from 2,583 during the previous 11-month period - a massive rise of 18 per cent.
City people also fear becoming the victim of a violent street assault more than any other crime. According to a survey by The Evening Telegraph, an astonishing 40 per cent of people are frightened about being attacked or mugged in the street.
The results emerged after reporters carried out a snap survey in Peterborough, interviewing 160 people - 0.1 per cent of the city's 160,000 population.
Detective Superintendent David Hankins, of Peterborough police, is keen to find out more about how the meditation technique can work in cutting crime.
He said today: "Although I am a practical police officer and work to reduce crime by putting more police officers on the streets, I do welcome any efforts from any quarter to assist in reducing crime.
"Transcendental Meditation has plenty of therapeutic benefits and allows people to reflect on their spiritual nature.
"Exactly how it will work to enforce positively on a criminal level is hard to imagine -1 don't know how they're going to capture the local criminal who's breaking into people's houses, for example.
"However, if the group does manage to achieve its goal, then of course, any drop in crime levels would be welcomed."
Charles needs more people to join his group if they are to make a difference to the city's crime rate.
But he is confident that it can be done, and claims he has caused it to happen before.
He said: "In 1993, I was involved in a scientific study in Washington DC which took place over the course of two months.
"I joined a large group of people who practised TM at the same time every day, and the crime rate was monitored by the police.
"Officers recorded a 20 per cent reduction in crime rates over that period, and then when we went home crime went back up again.
"I would now like to appeal for more people in the city to join us and together I know we will be able to make a dramatic difference in Peterborough."
• Anyone who would like to find out more or wants to learn TM should contact Charles on 01733 268853 in the evenings, or 01733 584585 during the day
Beatles made TM famous
MORE THAN five million people around the world - and almost 200,000 in the UK - have learned Transcendental Meditation since it was founded in India by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957.
Today it is taught in the same systematic way all around the world, and in the UK there are 80 teaching centres where you can learn the technique.
Many know of TM because of the Beatles and other celebrities, such as Mia Farrow and Donavan, who hung around at the Maharishi's ashram in the late '60s.
It may be that the Beatles found that money and fame weren't all they were made out to be, and, like many others, they turned to the east for help in finding the happiness and fulfillment they couldn't get from western pleasures.
Many think meditation offers a way to a high, higher than any drug, and a power higher than all others - the power of self-control.
It also has the pleasant side-effect of leaving individuals feeling relaxed and content - as long as your guru isn't charging too much for the lessons, and isn't constantly harassing you to recruit others into the "happy, happy" cult.