Three excellent articles from North America resulting from Maharishi's weekly press conferences, including an editorial endorsing the World Peace Raam Bonds

Excerpt from an editorial in a major Canadian newspaper about the World Peace Raam Bonds now being promoted to complete Maharishi's one billion dollar World Peace Fund.

National Post, Vancouver, Canada, 31 August 2002
Title: "'A good return of the investment'"
Final paragraph of the editorial:
"Conclusion: For risk-averse investors seeking a rock-solid investment, World Peace Raam Bonds are a strong option. The Post editorial board therefore gives this asset the following rating: Buy."

For full story see:
www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id=1190DE2D-10DC-48B7-82E1-4700998624D4

For full details of the World Peace Raam Bonds see:
www.raam-bond.org/

The Arizona Republic, Wednesday, 28 August 2002

NOTE: The Arizona Republic is the leading newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the US in terms of population, and the fastest growing major city.
This story is also available at:
www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0828maharishi28.html

'Peace Palace' will curb crime, followers promise
by Michael Clancy

Violent crime will decrease in Phoenix, and civic harmony will result when followers of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi get together and fly.

Plans will be announced today for a "Peace Palace" in Arizona, one of 3,000 planned worldwide, at a Phoenix press conference. The Maharishi himself will take part via satellite from the Netherlands.

At the Peace Palace, groups of 100 to 200 "yogic fliers" will use Transcendental Meditation techniques as a group, with an aim of reducing crime and violence.

It works, followers claim.

They point to more than 600 studies that looked at crime rates, warfare and other indicators of social discord, compared before, during and after mass meditation.

So convinced are they of the results, the group guarantees the Peace Palace and the work done there will have measurable positive effects.

"Crime and violence will fall so dramatically that (crime-fighting funds) can be redirected toward improving the education and social services of the whole city," said William Romaine, 48, chairman of the Phoenix Transcendental Meditation Society.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, which prosecutes crime in the county, was not so sure.

"I'm reluctant to say anything without knowing more about it, but we would welcome any drop in crime, no matter what precipitated it," Bill FitzGerald said.

Participants will focus on unified meditation, tapping into a collective consciousness and sending good vibrations out into society.

Tom Darro, 56, a Scottsdale artist, said he was persuaded by a study done nine years ago in Washington, D.C. The result was that violent crime dropped 26 percent during the time of mass meditation.

"This is a new technology that will slow and defuse hostile tendencies," he said.

Where to find information
To learn more about transcendental meditation, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's organization and plans for Peace Palaces, envisioned as 60,000-square-foot, $6.3 million structures, check these resources:

• Phoenix Transcendental Meditation Center: (602) 254-2552.
• Maharishi University of Management: www.mum.edu.
• Maharishi Vedic University: www.maharishi.org.
• Peace Palace planning: www.globalcountry.org,
www.permanentpeace.org.

Copyright 2002, The Arizona Republic

The Northern Virginia Journal
Thursday, August 29th, 2002

MEDITATION SEEN AS TOOL FOR PEACE
by Clarissa Spasyk
Journal staff writer

An international group is searching Northern Virginia for 5 acres of land to house a community that it says can eliminate war and violence.

The 67,000-square-foot, $6 million building will be a "Peace Palace," said officials of the Maharishi Vedic Center-Bethesda, Md., and Maharishi Vedic School in Falls Church Wednesday. It will be one of many planned across the nation.

Students practice Transcendental Meditation and what they refer to as "yogic flying techniques," which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the group's leader, has introduced to promote peace worldwide.

Officials said donations from businesses and residents will pay for the palace.

"We're in the planning stages but are definitely a go in design," said Mary Murphy, one of the directors of the Vedic school in Falls Church.

Officials are looking for at least 5 acres in Fairfax and Loudoun counties and expect to make a decision within six months.

Loudoun is an option because it has a lot of available land, said Murphy, who estimated that Northern Virginia has more than 2,500 residents involved with
transcendental meditation.

"Basically, we're looking for anything that's viable for us," she said.

The building also needs surrounding land to grow organic food for members to eat and sell to farmer's markets.

The site will serve as a place for 100 to 200 people to meditate, which she said allows people to reach a higher state of consciousness, and, in turn, help make the community more harmonious.

Wallace Larimore, a McLean resident, said he has been involved with more than a dozen studies on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, including brain-wave patterns, prisoner behavior, learning and memory.

Those studies have been well accepted in the scientific community, he said, but when it comes to studies regarding the Maharishi effect, the response has been less enthusiastic.

"There is no other means that even claims to be able to address the root causes of violence and war that have the potential of human extinction," Larimore said. "And events of the last year give an urgency to addressing these issues."

The answer to violence and war is prevention, said Sarina Grosswald, director of continuing medical education at InfoMED and president of her own Alexandria-based consulting firm.

"From my earliest days as a graduate assistant at the University of North Carolina, I have spent my adult life working for prevention of disease," she said. "The fundamental principle we have learned in health care is that it is far better to prevent disease than to try to cure it once it has already developed."

She equated preventing violence to preventing cancer.

"Cancer can be prevented by proper diet and a healthy lifestyle," Grosswald said. "Treatment or attempted cure is surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Treatment is invasive, painful and often harmful. Prevention is simple, safe and protective.

"Attempting to fight or try to stop terrorism through high-tech bombs and missiles creates only destruction and retaliation ... only a technology that eliminates the root cause of deep and acute stress will stop terrorism and that is the technology of consciousness."

More information about the Maharishi Vedic School or the Peace Palaces can be found online at www.TM.org and www.globalcountry.org.

Copyright 2002, Northern Virginia Journal