WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- In his first press conference in seven years, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Friday presented a field-tested, peaceful approach based on the wisdom of the Vedic tradition to eliminate terrorism and create permanent world peace.
Maharishi spoke live via satellite from Holland to a packed audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., with many thousands more connected by teleconference, live Webcast, and satellite television.
Maharishi's Proposal
Maharishi proposed the establishment in India of a group of 40,000 experts trained in proven Vedic technologies of defense, including Transcendental Meditation and related techniques, to neutralize the acute tensions and fears gripping the world today. These experts would generate an indomitable influence of peace and positivity in world consciousness, which will eliminate the enmity and hostility of people everywhere, including terrorists.
"We have the solution to the age-old problem of crime and negativity," Maharishi said. "Crime has been coming up in every generation, and every government has implemented punishments; but crime and punishment continue, generation after generation.
"Now we want to take recourse to that intelligence of Natural Law which in our scientific age is being realized as the most fundamental level of everyone's awareness. This is the time for us in this scientific age to make use of this most fundamental level of life, which is Transcendental Consciousness, and thereby all our thoughts and actions will be fully in accordance with the evolutionary direction of Natural Law."
Maharishi called for the creation of a World Peace Endowment Fund of $1 billion to sustain the 40,000 professional "peace-creators" on a permanent basis. The interest from the fund would pay for housing facilities and living costs at about $200 per expert per month. Maharishi urged government leaders and the most prominent and successful individuals of America to support the implementation of this proven, preventive approach and avert the imminent threat of war.
Maharishi said it was "insane" to pursue a military course of action to root out terrorism. "I have all that is needed to stop, completely stop, all the wild gestures of the most important country," he said. "I am convinced by now that this President is not an educated man-he doesn't know science. Who is this man who can say, 'I can stop crime'? He is following those procedures where crime continues, generation after generation.
"The value of science and technology is to prevent all the mistakes that past generations have been committing," he said. "Prevention is the answer. Vedic performances can create a very strong level of harmony and integrity in all the countries, and that is the only way the tradition of culprits can be stopped. When these 40,000 people will generate coherence in world consciousness, then that coherent world consciousness will not allow negative tendencies to sprout. It is possible to create very strong coherence in the world, and this I am going to do."
Research Physicist Presents Scientific Validation
John Hagelin, Ph.D., Harvard-trained quantum physicist and the Natural Law Party's 2000 presidential candidate, chaired the news conference in Washington and outlined the theory and research supporting this peaceful approach. He said Maharishi's approach has been rigorously tested and scientifically shown, in extensive published research, to prevent violence and terrorism -- and even to stop open warfare in war-torn areas, such as the Middle East. The dramatic results have appeared in leading scientific journals, such as Yale's Journal of Conflict Resolution and Social Indicators Research.
"These technologies of consciousness diffuse social stress and negativity and generate positive waves of harmony and unity in the collective consciousness of the world," he said. "They access and stimulate the most powerful level of mind and matter, identified by modern science as the Unified Field, the fundamental level of nature's intelligence that connects us all. We now have available a technology of peace, a truly defensive technology that attacks the problems of violence and negativity at their source. Research shows this works."
Responding to a question about the World Peace Endowment Fund, Dr. Hagelin commented, "One billion dollars sounds like a lot, and philanthropically it is. But in the big picture, it's less than the price of one B-2 bomber -- less than the Defense Department spends in one day."
Dr. Hagelin said that a few families in the U.S. and Europe have already contributed $40 million to begin the training of Vedic experts in India, and facilities to house 16,000 experts will be completed in the next few months.
Military Expert in Anti-Terrorism Offers Support
Major General Kulwant Singh, a highly decorated, 35-year military veteran in India and an expert in anti-terrorism, also spoke at the news conference via telephone from India.
"Today the world is looking for a solution to violence and terrorism," he said. "But bombs will never bring peace. Violence begets violence. I can speak this with the conviction of 35 years experience of fighting terrorism.
"America went to Vietnam, India went to Sri Lanka, all for peace. We bombed and bombed. Now we are watching NATO bomb for peace; how ironic! If you bomb a country looking for peace, you'll never get it. If you want to bring peace, you must reduce the cause of violence, and that is stress in society."
Summarizing his years of anti-terrorism efforts, General Singh said, "A military response is no response at all, because it does not get at the root cause of terrorism. Terrorism is a human problem, and it requires a human solution. Any retaliation will only make the terrorists harder. We cannot kill terrorism by any means other than prevention."
Philanthropist Appeals to America's Wealthy
Philanthropist Jeffrey Abramson, who with his wife Rona has made major contributions to Maharishi's World Peace Endowment fund, urged America's business leaders to act. Recalling his father's guarantee of the loan that began the building of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, he said, "The search for sustainable and lasting peace continues because, until Maharishi and these scientists offered this solution, we never addressed the roots of war-terrorism, anger and crime. If we do not look within human consciousness and if we do not expand human experience from within, then where will peace in our world come from?
"This is not the time to be passive. It would be naive to do nothing but the status quo, which we continue to do generation after generation. Terrorism still spreads because we have not used a scientific approach. And if we do not implement this peace proposal, then we will continue to build more memorials.
"Give mankind the greatest gift," Abramson said. "Give the most far-reaching gift that will reach into every heart and mind -- the gift of lasting peace, once and for all."
Maharishi's Closing Message to the Press
Maharishi closed the news conference with an appeal to the national and world press, charging them "to proclaim the coming on of a very good time where no country will face problems and negativity."
"We have the solution," he said, "and now we are determined to do all our best to really eliminate the basis of all negativity in our world, and we'll have the blossoming of a very good fortune for the people and government of every nation.
"Give my best to all your leaders, and express to them that this is a real thing, and really effective, and we will succeed in creating a really happy, peaceful, affluent world."
-0-
CONTACT: Dean Draznin Communications
Sam Katz
(202) 339-9782