This is a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times written in response to a front page article which appeared Dec. 27, 2017, titled “New York Crime Plunges to Level Unseen Since ’50s.” (It did not get published.)
Letter to the Editor:
“New York Crime Plunges to Level Unseen Since ’50s” is the headline of the lead article in Dec. 27’s New York Times. Franklin Zimring, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, is quoted in the article as saying “New York is ‘tip-toeing’ toward a 90 percent crime decline for reasons that remain ‘utterly mysterious.’ “
I’d like to propose that twelve peer-reviewed articles published in leading scientific journals such as the Journal of Conflict Resolution and Social Indicators Research may hold the key to this “mystery.”
These studies show that group practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique and its advanced programs lead to reduced societal stress: reduced crime, violence, accidents, and increased positive trends in society.
Perhaps the positive trends reported in New York City may be—at least in part— a result of the phenomenon described in this research.
How can this be explained?
Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless technique practiced by about 5 million people around the world. During TM, one sits comfortably with eyes closed for about 20 minutes twice a day. Using the technique, a person effortlessly and systematically experiences quieter levels of thinking.
As mental activity settles down, the meditator experiences a settled, calm, and collected state of mind, a state of restful alertness. The mind is awake, but non-active; it’s the simplest state of human awareness.
Neuroscientist Dr. Fred Travis, who has done extensive research on the brain wave patterns of TM meditators, identifies this silent, wakeful state of mind as a field of “pure consciousness,” a field where there are no thoughts or mental activity.
This field of pure consciousness is a field of perfect orderliness and harmony, as demonstrated by studies which show that during the practice of TM, coherent EEG brain wave patterns line up synchronously from all areas of the meditator’s brain.
Pure consciousness is a universal, transcendent field that lies at the basis of every person’s thought and behavior; TM allows a person to tap into this field of coherence and orderliness at will.
According to rigorous scientific research, when a critical number (the square root of 1%) of a population practice TM and its advanced programs together in a group, this field of pure consciousness—a field of pure orderliness and coherence— becomes enlivened in the whole population, regardless of whether the rest of the population meditates or not. The entire population starts to exhibit orderly thinking and behavior that is calm, collected, and harmonious. This is evidence of the field-like character of consciousness.
Just as a broadcasting station radiates waves through the electromagnetic field, large groups of experts in Transcendental Meditation and its advanced programs can radiate an influence of harmony and orderliness in their environment, because consciousness is fundamentally a field of perfect coherence.
At least 100,000 people in NYC and the surrounding area have learned and regularly practice Transcendental Mediation.
The David Lynch Foundation (DLF), founded by award-winning filmmaker David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, etc.), provides funding for at-risk populations, such as inner-city high school students, war veterans, victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, and homeless people, to learn TM. The DLF and NYC’s certified TM teachers have taught many New Yorkers from all walks of life how to meditate.
Many NYC celebrities—Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, George Stephanopoulus, and Jennifer Lopez, among others—have learned and publicly endorse TM for its wide range of practical benefits. Top NYC business leaders, such as hedge fund manager and philanthropist Ray Dalio, have learned TM and introduced it to their companies.
Livingston Manor, an hour and a half north of NYC, has long been home to large groups of advanced TM practitioners.
Perhaps NYC is reaping the benefit of this well-researched effect which demonstrates that large numbers of TM meditators can neutralize stress and conflict in their surroundings.
To date, there have been 47 studies conducted on this phenomenon, often called the “Maharishi Effect” after the program’s founder, who predicted these results. (See truthabouttm.org/truth/societal effects.) These studies show that group practice of TM and its advanced programs significantly reduces violence in cities, states, nations, and the world.
Independent scientists reviewing the research comment that although the premise is somewhat unconventional, the science is sound.
Ted Robert Guss, University of Maryland emeritus professor of government and politics, considered for decades “one of the top two or three American experts in the field of peace studies and conflict resolution,” said the following:
“In the studies that I have examined on the impact of the Maharishi Effect on conflict, I can find no methodological flaws, and the findings have been consistent across a large number of replications in many different geographical and conflictual situations. As unlikely as the premise may sound, I think we have to take these studies seriously.”
One of the most important large group studies done on the Maharishi Effect took place in July 1993 in Washington, D.C. At that time, 4,000 advanced TM practitioners gathered in the nation’s capital to practice TM and its advanced programs together.
For the purpose of this study, homicide, rape, and aggravated assault were the violent crimes studied using time series analysis.
As temperatures peaked (a time when crime rate usually also rises) “violent crime suddenly plummeted,” dropping far below average levels. The total reduction in crime rate was 23%.
According to the study, the drop in crime could not be attributed to any other factor, such as temperature, rainfall, weekend effects, police surveillance, etc.
Although there isn’t a large group regularly practicing TM and its advanced programs together in NYC, I’d like to propose that there are enough NYC TM meditators doing their program regularly everyday, to create an influence of coherence and orderliness in the city, which may be enough to have brought the crime rate down consistently over the past 20 years as reported in the New York Times article.
On the basis of this and other studies done thus far, we could anticipate that we will continue to see evidence of increasing coherence and harmony, and a corresponding decrease in crime rate as the number of TM practitioners in NYC continues to grow.
As someone who’s been following the research on this phenomenon for many years, I’d like to suggest that the “Maharishi Effect” may be a plausible explanation for the recently reported drop in crime rate in NYC and something that Mayor de Blasio, police commissioner O’Neill, concerned citizens, and city leaders might want to look into.
As for Mr. Zimring’s intriguing question: “How long and low will crime fall?”, evidence suggests that this may be something quite within our control.
Although my focus in this article has been on the decreasing crime rate in NYC, research shows that the Maharishi Effect is equally effective in reducing the threat of terrorism—with the potential to eliminate it entirely.
For these reasons alone, isn’t Transcendental Meditation a program well worth investigating?
Colleen Chatterton
TM practitioner for 45 years
who has also taught and written about the Transcendental Meditation program
During 2007-2010 when the size of a group of advanced TM-Sidhi program participants exceeded the threshold predicted to reduce negative trends (√1%), there was a significant shift in the U.S. national homicide rate and urban violent crime. Relative to the baseline period of 2002-2006, the drop in homicide rate…
Victoria TM Teacher Helen Foster-Grimmett 
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A rapidly rising trend in the drug-related fatality rate during the baseline period leveled out significantly when the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi group exceeded 1,725 participants beginning in January 2007 (vertical line). 
A slightly rising trend in the urban murder rate during the baseline was reversed significantly when the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi group exceeded 1,725 participants in January 2007 (vertical dashed line). 
Colleen Chatterton 