From Dec. 29, 2023, to Jan. 12, 10,000 people gathered in Kanha Shanti Vanam, near Hyderabad, India, to participate in the historic World Peace Assembly. The gathering, organized by the World Peace Assembly, included participants from 139 countries practicing the yoga and meditation teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — the architect of Transcendental Meditation.
New Castle resident Jennifer Holton, who attended the World Peace Assembly, told The Sopris Sun that when a significant number of people partake in such Yogi practices in unison, the brainwaves of an entire population can be influenced.
To that end, Holton cited the “Maharishi Effect”: a Yogi prediction that if 1% of a population collectively practices Transcendental Meditation techniques, it could improve the whole.
Holton is a retired school teacher who has practiced Transcendental Meditation for 50 years. She has participated in many peace gatherings and attended the 7,000 World Peace Assembly in Fairfield, Iowa 40 years ago, which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was present for.
“At the time, [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi] was very active and called everybody up around the world and said, ‘It’s time for us to demonstrate the power of this collective practice to show that it will have an effect on lowering violence around the world and a lot of other benefits,’” she summarized.
Holton teaches Tai Chi and Qigong as part of her work as a spiritual life coach. She shared that her passion lies within helping people discover their purpose and guiding them through life’s obstacles to achieve peace and happiness.
“I think all 10,000 of us had it deep in our hearts that the world needs this right now,” Holton said of the World Peace Assembly. “Nothing that anybody does [as far as] diplomacy, war or fighting is working. I mean, what is more insane than waging war to have peace?” she rhetorically queried.
“I felt immense gratitude there,” Holton continued. “The opportunity to do something I think I was born for was incredible.”
The organizers set up what Holton described as a “tent city” — initially planned to accommodate 2,500 tents but ultimately with room for only 1,500. People who camped walked 2.5 miles to the meditation halls. Meditation and yoga sessions lasted several hours, with periodic breaks for food and water.
“We faced many obstacles to comfort,” Holton explained. “We would get up around 5:30am; sometimes loudspeakers would awaken us with chanting in the morning from the people in the villages outside of the ashram [spiritual center].”
In discussing what led her to pursue such a lofty endeavor as world peace, Holton said she has had a desire to participate for a long time. She shared that an early inkling came from listening to her father’s war stories, and how the concept of war never made sense to her.
“When I was in my twenties and started practicing [Transcendental Meditation],” she continued, “one of the things they said in the lectures was that when you begin this technique, you will experience inner peace, which is a unit of world peace.”
Holton concluded by sharing that there are many ways for people to learn about Transcendental Meditation. She recommended, for those who might be interested, joining the Facebook group TM for World Peace (formerly TM 10,000 Project) and exploring the teachings of Tony Nader — the current leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
For information about the Maharishi International University specifically, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and based in Fairfield, Iowa, visit www.miu.edu