The group practice of the Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) and TM-Sidhi® programs in Cambodia between 1993 and 2008 was associated with a 96.2 percent decline in sociopolitical violence in that war-torn country compared to violence in the preceding three years, according to a new peer-reviewed study published in Studies in Asian Social Science.¹

According to the study, the likelihood that this reversal in the rising 1990–1992 trend of violence occurred randomly was one chance in 10 million, suggesting that the TM program can indeed have a coherence-creating effect on society.

Government Officials Recognize the Effect

Students at Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia practice the Transcendental Meditation technique twice a day

“The positive influence of the Maharishi Vedic University (MVU) meditating groups was recognized by officials of the Cambodian government,” said study author Lee Fergusson, Ph.D.

The late King Norodom Sihanouk was quoted as saying, “Maharishi Vedic University is playing an important role in human resource development and in [the] restoration of peace and expansion of prosperity throughout the country.”

“MVU was established by Maharishi in Cambodia on January 1, 1993, for the declared purpose of bringing peace and prosperity to Cambodia,” added Dr. Fergusson.

“Maharishi Vedic University is playing an important role in human resource development and in [the] restoration of peace and expansion of prosperity throughout the country.” —King Norodom Sihanouk

Up to 1,250 Students Participated

The reduction in violence began in January 1993, when more than 550 students began practicing the TM technique together, twice-daily, in a group at Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia. Also, 100 to 200 students practiced the TM-Sidhi program together twice a day in a group as part of their Consciousness-Based^SM education curriculum, starting in 1994.

Up to 1,250 Cambodian students contributed to increased coherence in collective consciousness across three MVU campuses, through their daily group practice of the TM technique, 1993–2008.

Across three MVU campuses, up to 1,250 students contributed to increased coherence in collective consciousness through their daily group Transcendental Meditation practice during 1993–2008. A cumulative 4,500+ TM practitioners both at MVU and elsewhere in Cambodia during this period were sufficient to reduce sociopolitical violence in the country.

The study is the first to use an explanatory mixed-methods research design to explore the growth of social coherence. It employed both quantitative (statistical, mathematical) and qualitative (observational, nonnumerical) approaches.

The researchers used time-series analysis, a statistical method of measuring change at consistent time intervals; and qualitative content analysis of news articles, analyzing monthly data on the level of sociopolitical violence obtained from a leading independent research organization.

A cumulative 4,500+ TM practitioners both at MVU and elsewhere in Cambodia during this period were sufficient to reduce sociopolitical violence in the country.

Other Research Shows Reduced Poverty

A Maharishi AyurVeda physician takes the pulse of a Cambodian citizen at Maharishi Vedic University

Other published research by Dr. Fergusson, professor and founding director of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, Australia, documents the dramatic economic and social transformation of Cambodia after the founding of MVU.²

In 1990, Cambodia, devastated by decades of war, was the poorest country in the world. After the establishment of MVU, Cambodia’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates averaged 8.9 percent, and poverty was reduced by 63 percent between 1994 and 2008.

By 2010 Cambodia was ranked 63rd out of 152 countries on the international scale of poverty—an unprecedented jump of 89 places in less than one generation.

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