How Transcendental Meditation Helps Fulfill the Goals of Education

The Goals of Education are usually beautiful lofty goals. For example, in 1989 president George H.W. Busch set these goals:

1. All children in America will start school ready to learn.

2. American students would be first in the world in reading and math.

3. At least 90% of high school students would graduate from high school.

4. All children would master “challenging subject matter”

5. All adults would be literate and prepared to compete in the global economy.

6. Every school would be free from drugs, alcohol and violence. 

These goals are very laudable, however, no educational reforms have proven to achieve these goals. There is one cost-effective educational intervention known as Transcendental Meditation which has shown to improve educational outcomes in a variety of ways.

Accountability and Standards

This is a relatively easy intervention to help achieve the lofty goals of education and help teachers and schools achieve the standards of adequate yearly progress on test scores they are accountable for. The No Child Left Behind Act is putting a lot of stress on schools and teachers to maintain yearly progress in reading and math scores; the TM technique is a simple natural way to release stress and help students achieve improved academic achievement. TM also has many health benefits according to scientific research, and increases the standards of living for the students, teachers and administrators.

School Choice

Transcendental Meditation is not a religious practice and can be incorporated in any school system. Charter schools, religious schools, public and private schools can all benefit from the Transcendental Meditation technique.

Scientific Research

Studies have shown a significant improvement in reading and math scores on the California STAR over control groups. In Math the TM group showed an increase 40.7% of at least one performance level gain on the California STAR, while the control group exhibited only a 17.2% increase over the course of a year. In English, students practicing TM showed an increase of 36.8% of at least one performance gain on the California STAR, while the controls only exhibited a 17.2% increase.  Other studies have shown a significant increase in graduate rates, drop out rates and decrease in psychological distress. This chart shows the graph of the TM group over controls regarding math achievement:

Education should not produce stress and  the purpose of education is to learn and grow as individuals while improving the ability to cope with stress.   Psychological distress has been correlated with poor academic success. Racial and ethnic minority students who practiced the TM technique showed decreased signs of SDQ emotional symptoms.

More Scientific Research

There has been many scientific research studies on Transcendental Meditation that document the effectiveness of the technique. Research has been conducted with over 600 studies published in scientific journals in more than 30 countries.

The research on Transcendental Meditation has shown a wide range of benefits including: Reduced ADHD, reduced high blood Pressure, increased academic performance, increased intelligence and cognition, improved memory, improved relationships and behavior, decreased stress symptoms, and much more. This link shows many studies on Transcendental Meditation technique: http://www.mum.edu/tm_research/

These first charts relate with improvement in learning and development and show how Transcendental Meditation increase orderliness and use of the brain. Creativity is also shown to increase with the TM technique.

Transcendental Meditation improves graduation rates. In a study 82.1% of students in 12th graders graduated high school who were practicing Transcendental Meditation.  66.7% of students in 12th graders graduated high school who were in the control group. Graduation rates are a critical issue for not only students individually, but also for the economy of this country. Students who don't graduate high school generally have low salaries and are more likely to end up in a penitentiary. People who have no or low incomes put no or meager amounts of money into the economy. Thus higher graduation rates means an improvement in the economy.

Dr. John Hagelin Talking on the Scientific Research of Transcendental Meditation:

There a over 600 studies published on Transcendental Meditation in many universities and scientific journals. This Video gives testimonials of kids who have learnt TM who have been suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder:

Equality in Opportunity

In educational research it is a common understanding there is an achievement gap regarding the difference racial/ethnic groups and wealthy and poor neighborhoods. Between white and minority students with certain racial/ethnic backgrounds, english learning students and students with disabilities also generally achieve less than students who are already fluent in English and students who don't have disabilities. Reformers of education try to bridge these achievement gaps. The published scientific research studies on Transcendental Meditation that have been admitted to scientific journals have controlled the differences in demographics and therefore give an accurate analysis of academic improvement.  Studies published on Transcendental Meditation showed an improvement in students from many kinds of backgrounds, including under-privileged students living in low social-economic urban areas. This means that Transcendental Meditation will help close the achievement gap if given to these under-privileged students. Of course, students in wealthier neighborhoods and non-minority students also benefit.

Overarching goals

"Problems of a nation are the problems of Education" -- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. To increase the economy group practice of TM, TM-sidhis and Yogic Flying have been shown to decrease crime, improve the economy and decrease war-related fatalities. In summary the individual and group practice of the TM technique help to achieve the lofty goals of education to keep the nation healthy wealthy and wise.

Transcendental Meditation was brought to the west in the late 1950's by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi-- an educational leader and scientist of consciousness-- who was inspired to spread his wisdom of meditation to bring about a spiritual regeneration in the world. In a simple message he gave his Transcendental Meditation technique for all to enjoy and grow faster towards their full creative potential. This is the ultimate goal of education from Maharishi's viewpoint-- to develop the full potential for every individual in the society.

This video gives a holistic lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Education.