Military
– Brief Examples

Mozambique under President Chissano

In 1993, 15,000 people from three branches of the military – ground, naval and air force – were instructed in Transcendental Meditation and 3,000 in the TM-Sidhi Programme. Prior to 1993 there had been 20 years of bitter civil war, which created a divided and poverty-stricken country.

After a short time, as predicted:

• peace was achieved
• rain came before expected
• the economy grew by 19%
• the crime rate went down by 20%
• road accidents decreased

The war-torn country was transformed from conflict to cooperation, allowing democratic elections to take place, which resulted in Mozambique becoming a successful African democracy.

See case study by Lieutenant General Tobias Dai, former commander of the armed forces of the Republic of Mozambique.

USA

At the National Defence University, more than 100 Generals and Colonels have learnt Transcendental Meditation. Interest in the military in the USA has also focused on the effect of Transcendental Meditation on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resilience. More than 1,500 veterans and active-duty personnel with PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have learned Transcendental Meditation.

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Operation Warrior Wellness (OWW), a division of the David Lynch Foundation, has been offering the Transcendental Meditation-based approach to relieve symptoms of PTSD and major depression, and developing greater resilience to stress. Since its initial launch in 2010, the OWW initiative has partnered with leading veterans service organisations, army and Marine bases and veteran medical centres across the country.

Transcendental Meditation in army education and army rehabilitation Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.

Norwich University is the oldest private military college in the United States. The TM programme began at Norwich in pilot form in 2011. By the autumn of 2016, more than 600 students had learned TM.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia

Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, is home to Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center. Since 2012, Transcendental Meditation has been taught at Eisenhower’s Warrior Transition Battalion, which helps injured soldiers transition either to civilian life or back into active duty, and at their state-of-the-art traumatic brain injury (TBI) Unit. The programme was initially supported by funding from the David Lynch Foundation and now, because of the success of the programme, it is being funded through contracts from the US Department of Defense.

Boulder Crest Retreat

Boulder Crest Retreat in Bluemont, Virginia is the nation’s first privately-funded rural wellness centre dedicated exclusively to US combat veterans and their families.

Transcendental Meditation is the cornerstone meditation technique of their combat stress recovery programme.

Nepal

The army school in Bhaktapur, Nepal, was the first in Nepal to implement the Consciousness Development Programme. Three hundred of its teaching staff and 2,700 students have learned. Due to the success of this initiative the Nepal Army Directorate has implemented the programme in all three army schools.

Ukraine

In war-torn Ukraine, a number of active-duty soldiers and veterans organized themselves into a stable, concentrated peace-keeping force.

The Ukraine minister of defence recently signed an agreement to bring Transcendental Meditation to the army, to help soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. The project began with a pilot project and scientific research with 30 soldiers who learned TM, compared with a control group. Discussions are now going on to expand the programme to the entire army.

Brazil

In Brazil, the Consciousness Development Programme when applied to the military is known as the Invincible Defence Technology (IDT). It was implemented by Brazil’s elite military police force shortly before the Olympics to improve performance and reduce terrorism.