Don't disturb please, I'm meditating

Recently I sat on a committee meeting and was struck by what seemed liked a collective urge to criticise any and all proposals tabled during the session. Nothing seemed to appeal to seven people who would normally be reasonableness itself. Even more worrying was a tendency by most of them to use strong language to destroy each other's arguments. I was suddenly worried that an otherwise orderly group of people might even succumb to a violent resolution of their differences.

I was on the point of protesting the fact, when I remembered that quite recently The Times was full of objections to the "solutions" announced by the government to the Maghtab waste mountain. Anybody who had anything to say about the matter objected violently to the government's proposals. Is it possible there was nothing that gained their approval?

Then I also remembered the finance minister's lament not so long ago that his efforts to cut government expenditure were being ignored, if not blithely undermined, not only by assorted civil servants who say "Yes Minister" but go on in their set ways, but less understandably by ministerial colleagues who should know better. Minister John Dalli's public admission of near-defeat made him look like Syphilus in rolling back the mountain of deficit and debt and then being crushed by it before he makes another vain attempt to roll it back.

Is there a virus at work afflicting a wide swathe of society? I began to wonder whether there might be more than a proverbial grain of truth in the reference to the infamous Maltese gemgem. Could it be that, after all, Homo Sapiens Melitensis has an ingrained genetic aversion to positiveness?

While I was ruminating on this sad observation, I happened to come across a story about how most of the students at a Washington, DC public high school who have practised transcendental meditation (TM) since 1993 have experienced a dramatic decline in negativity, even though the school is situated in the midst of a high murder rate district.

The story went on to say that transcendental meditation is the most studied and widely practised meditation technique in the world today. It seems to have done the trick for George H. Rutherford, Ph.D., a 30-year educator from Baltimore, who spoke about his positive experience as principal with the students in his school.

How does TM work? John Hagelin, a physicist and former Natural Law Party presidential candidate, says: "It stands to reason if we have enough people who are involved in the experience of deep peace that the influence is going to be felt across society. It is also true that there are deep principles of physics involved that explain how people interact at a very subtle and fundamental level and that is very much like a radio wave where you have a disturbance, an impulse in the field of consciousness, that propagates in all directions like a radio wave does and that can be picked up by an appropriately tuned receiver".

Recently, Dr Hagelin announced the establishment of a "complementary government" that will include 400 physicians, business leaders and university professors. He said $100 million have been raised so far for what has been named the "US Peace Government". These funds are to be used to underwrite peace projects, including building facilities for the practice of collective meditation, with the aim of lowering crime and murder rates and increasing public well-being.

We are all aware that we live in troubled times - from crime in our neighbourhoods to the break-up of many families to tension in the family of nations. Too often we feel helpless - that we do not possess the tools or the talents to solve these problems. Many of the great religions of the world believe that when groups of people come together to pray and meditate it has a powerful, positive and peaceful affect on our surroundings.

Can the public through meditation and experience of peace, and even more powerfully, through collective meditation, create a more peaceful and harmonious world? The idea is gaining ground among professionals who have shown their ability to manage complex organisations and navigate government bureaucracies and have earned reputations as executives of good judgment and integrity.

Of course, meditation is not a universal recipe. I decided to do a search on the web and see what I could come up with. Hundreds of sites came up. They all offered different techniques on how to meditate, when and where to do so, with whom and what to say or do.

But I was also struck by how many people are advised not to practise meditation. The list includes those with severe heart ailments, hypertension, glaucoma or kidney and liver problems, those below 16 years of age, pregnant women, heavy smokers, heavy meat eaters (particularly pork), those who consume alcohol regularly and those who use hallucinogenic drugs or who use addictive drugs. One warning seemed most appropriate for Maltese drivers: Never to meditate while driving a vehicle!

In these days when people are becoming ever more litigious, the obligatory disclaimers also featured in quite a few sites. Thus, Grand Master Choa Kok Sui declares on his website - http://www.meditatepeace.com - that he will not be held responsible for adverse effects arising from the practice of his meditation techniques and exercises. He cautions that the physical and psychological conditions of each practitioner vary and that if discomfort or adverse effects are experienced the practitioner is advised to stop the meditation immediately.

In our modern age, we are continuously pummeled by data that promoted negativity and fear. It assaults our senses from all directions. It comes at us from TV, the radio, the internet, friends, family and co-workers. Most people are so saturated by negative programming they cannot even fathom a life of anything but struggle and frustration. It exhausts our nerves, stealing the best of our life. It robs us of precious vitality. It is criminal, it shatters life's potential.

But it does not have to continue this way. Meditation can be a route to inner peace.