Comparison of Techniques

Issue: Are all forms of meditation and relaxation the same?

• Systems of Meditation
• Randomized Studies
• Meta Analyses
• A Personal View

The Evidence:  There are many systems of meditation that widely differ from one another in their procedures, contents, objects, beliefs, and goals.  Given these differences, it is not surprising that research has shown they have different subjective and objective effects.

Different Systems of Meditation

The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book The Experience of Meditation:  Experts Introduce the Major Traditions, by Jonathan Shear, PhD,  coming out in May, 2006, published by Paragon House (click here), or for Amazon, (click here ).

"One common misconception, often found in popular books and articles, and even sometimes in textbooks and research articles, is that all meditation procedures are more or less “the same.”  But this is simply incorrect, for major meditation procedures often differ in important ways.   The chapters of this book, written by experts in the relevant traditions (abbots of monasteries, heads of meditation centers, well-known scholars and teachers, etc.), make this quite clear.  Zen Buddhist practices are likely to use concentration, whether directed perceptually towards one’s breathing, or conceptually towards paradoxes (koans) that defy intellectual resolution.  Taoist practices emphasize circulation of energy throughout channels of the body.  Transcendental Meditation (TM) uses relaxed attention to special sounds (or mantras) repeated silently within the mind.  Yoga adds many other procedures and objects, such as concentration on energy centers in the body (chakras), the “light” of the mind, and attributes of God.  Therevada Buddhism emphasizes dispassionate observation of the impermanence of sensations, thoughts, and whatever else is meditated on, including the self itself.  Tibetan Buddhist Tsonghakapa emphasizes reasoned deconstruction of the reality of objects experienced in meditation, as well as concentrative practices to quiet the mind.  Integral Yoga emphasizes attending to a sense of seeking, and remembering calmness and divinity both during and after meditation.  Kriya yoga uses techniques of concentration on breath, and on God.  Sufism follows the inner feeling of love for God.  And Christian Centering Prayer uses a word of love to stimulate receptiveness to God within. 

Thus traditional meditation procedures can differ with regard to the mental faculties they use (attention, feeling, reasoning, visualization, memory, bodily awareness, etc.), the way these faculties are used (effortlessly, forcefully, actively, passively), and the objects they are directed to (thoughts, images, concepts, internal energy, breath, subtle aspects of the body, love, God).  They also often differ strongly with regard to how they relate to questions of belief.  Some systems emphasize the need to hold particular philosophical, metaphysical and/or religious views; others emphasize complete independence of all matters of belief. Different meditation traditions also often have very different goals, ranging from physical health and mental well being, to harmony with nature, higher states of consciousness and experience of God.  In short, even cursory knowledge of the many different mental activities, objects, contexts and attitudes used by the world’s major meditation procedures makes it clear that it is a mistake to regard all these diverse procedures as being essentially the same. 

Recognizing these differences is thus essential to understanding the procedures themselves.  It is also necessary for understanding the significance of the considerable body of research on meditation.  This research now clearly shows that different procedures often have very different effects on specific variables.  Such differences should not be unexpected, given the differences between the procedures themselves.  (Compare, for example, respiration-research on procedures that focus on breathing and procedures that ignore it, and stress-level research on procedures that require effort and concentration and procedures that emphasize effortlessness.)  As a result the mistake of lumping all meditation procedures together has often led to two further, opposing mistakes about the significance of the research itself.  The first, sometimes made by supporters of the idea of meditation in general, is to conclude that significant results found to be produced by a particular procedure can simply be assumed to follow from other procedures as well.  This is unreasonably optimistic.  The second is to combine the conflicting research on different procedures and, rather than noting that different procedures can produce different results and need to be evaluated individually, find no consistent results, and conclude that “meditation” (considered generically) has no effects at all.  This mistake is in turn unreasonably pessimistic.  Scientifically, the proper thing to do is to note that different procedures might well be expected to produce different results with regard to different variables (respiration, stress levels, EEG, etc.) and thus ought to be evaluated individually." 

Research on Objective Effects of Different Meditation Techniques

The evidence from randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses strongly indicate at all techniques a relaxation in meditation do not have the same effects.

The randomized controlled trials showed that compared to other forms of meditation and relaxation, the Transcendental Meditation program decreases blood pressure, increases longevity and cognitive flexibility in the elderly, decreases arterial sclerosis, decreases post-traumatic stress syndrome, and increases intelligence, creativity, field independence, practical intelligence, speed of cognitive processing, and decreases anxiety.

Meta-analyses are the objective means of drawing conclusions about an entire field of research, including all the studies said show negative as well as positive results. The meta-analyses found that the Transcendental Meditation program is superior to ordinary rest, that it is more effective in reducing anxiety than other meditation and relaxation techniques, that it is more effective in increasing self actualization than other meditation and relaxation techniques, and that it is more effective in reducing drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and cigarette use than other standard treatments.

Orme-Johnson, D. W., & Walton, K. G. (1998). All approaches to preventing and reversing the effects of stress are not the same. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12, 297-299. Download PDF.

Randomized Controlled Trials Comparing the Transcendental Meditation Program with Other Meditation and Relaxation Techniques

• Randomized Trial 1 – Increased Longevity and Improved Cognitive Flexibility in the Elderly Compared to Mindfulness Meditation, and a Relaxation technique modeled after TM. This randomized study was in the context of an experimental test of the Transcendental Meditation program’s impact on life-extension in the elderly (N=73 residents of eight retirement homes, mean age 81 years). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatments highly similar in external structure and in expectation-fostering features: TM technique, mindfulness training in active distinction making (MF), a mental relaxation program (MR) or a no-treatment control group (NT). The meditation group improved the most on the following measures: systolic blood pressure (with an average 12 mm Hg reduction), paired associates learning, two measures of cognitive flexibility, mental health, self-ratings of behavioral flexibility and aging, and multiple indicators of treatment efficacy. After three years, the survival rate for the meditators was 100%, compared to 65%–87.5% for the other groups. The survival rate for the 478 non-treated subjects was only 62.6%.

The mindfulness and mental relaxation controls condition were modeled after the Transcendental Meditation program, and they had the same contact time with the teacher, practice time, and expectation fostering features as TM.  Yet they did not produce the same effects on health, mental flexibility, and longevity as the Transcendental Meditation program.

Alexander, C. N.; Langer, E. J.; Newman, R. I.; Chandler, H. M.; and Davies, J. L. Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness, and longevity: an experimental study with the elderly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6): 950–964, 1989.

• 15 Year Follow-Up - Decreased Mortality Rates from Cardiovascular Disease, As Well As from Death by All Causes Compared to Mindfulness Meditation and Relaxation. This study is a follow-up of the above three-year study of longevity.  After 16 years, 72 of the original 87 subjects had died.  There were 6 CVD deaths in the TM group compared to 8, 12 and 10 deaths in the MF, MR, NT groups, respectively.  Kaplan-Meier survival curves for MF, MR, and NT groups did not differ from each other.  Mean survival time for CVD mortality was significantly higher for the TM group (12.33 years) compared to the 10.13 years for the other groups combined, an 18% proportional difference (p=.03).  Survival time for all-cause mortality was significantly higher for the TM group (9.47 years), compared to a 7.71 years for the other groups combined, a 19% proportional difference (p=.047).

Alexander, C. N., Barnes, V. A., Schneider, R. H., Langer, E. J., Newman, R. I., & Chandler, H. M. (1996). A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction on cardiovascular and all cause mortality: A 15 year follow-up on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness and relaxation. Circulation, 93(3),19.

• Randomized Trial 2A – Decreased Blood Pressure Compared to Progressive Relaxation and Health Education. Inner-city, black elderly with borderline hypertension were randomly assigned to either meditation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), or a Health Education usual-care control group (HE). All subjects received the same diet and exercise recommendations. Six months of meditation produced an 11 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure and a 6 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure, which were significantly larger reductions than produced by Progressive Muscle Relaxation or usual-care. This study was subsequently published in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association. The Sixth Joint National Committee on the Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure cited this research on the TM technique as the only properly controlled trial of stress reduction that has shown effectiveness in reducing blood pressure among people with hypertension (JNCVI, 1997).

• Randomized Trial 2B –Subgroup Analysis by Sex and Stress Risk Factors. A separate subgroup analyses by sex was published in a second paper on this study by Alexander et al.  Alexander et al. found that both TM female group and TM male group exhibited greater reduction in BP than HE female group and HE male group, respectively. The TM male subgroup also exhibited greater reduction in SBP than PMR males, and PMR males showed greater reduction in DBP than HE males.

Another aspect of Alexander et al.’s subgroup analysis is the demonstration of efficacy of TM for treating hypertension patients in high as well as low risk categories for six hypertension-related measures of risk: obesity, alcohol use, psychosocial stress, dietary sodium-to-potassium ratio, physical inactivity, and presence of multiple risks. The Transcendental Meditation program was found to be effective for reducing blood pressure for all risk groups.

Alexander C.N., Schneider R.H., Staggers F., et al. Trial of stress reduction for hypertension in older African Americans (part II): sex and risk subgroup analysis. Hypertension 1996; 28:228-23.

• Randomized Trial 3 – Decreased Blood Pressure Compared to Progressive Relaxation  and Health Education, One-Year Replication. In a similar sample recruited and tested independently of the above over a 12 month  period (N=150 subjects), the TM group decreased SBP/DBP by 3/6 mm Hg compared to 1/3mm Hg for PMR or HE (p’s =.1 for SBP, p’s =.01, for DBP). In addition, the TM group reduced use of antihypertensive medication relative to increases for PMR (p=. 001) and HE (p =. 09) groups.  Collectively, these findings indicate potential usefulness of TM as an adjunct in the long-term treatment of hypertension in African Americans.

Schneider R.H., Alexander C.N., Staggers F, Orme-Johnson, D.W., Rainforth, M., Salerno, J., Sheppard, W., Castillo-Richmond, A., Barnes, V.A., Nidich, S.I. A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction in the treatment of hypertension in African Americans over one year. American Journal of Hypertension. 2005;18(1):88-98.

• Randomized Trial 4 – Decreased Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease and All Causes Compared to Progressive Relaxation  and Health Education, Eight-Year Follow-Up.  In this study of longevity, mortality and cause of death were assessed from vital statistics over 8 years of follow-up on 109 older African American patients with mild hypertension (mean age 67 years) who had participated in a hypertension study (Randomized Trial 2 above; Schneider R.H., Staggers F., Alexander C.N., et al., 1995). Subjects had been randomly assigned to two active stress reduction approaches—the TM program or progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)—or a health education control (HE) program for three months. During the study period 19 patients died: 9 in the PMR group (24.0%), 7 in the HE group (19.4%), and only 3 (8.3%) in the TM group.  There were 9 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths, 4 in the PMR group (10.8%), 5 in the HE group (13.8%), and only 1 in the TM group (2.8%).

In a third study, patient data from the above two randomized controlled trials was combined. There were a total of 202 subjects including 77 pre-hypertensive Caucasian (mean age 81 years) and 125 hypertensive African American (mean age 66 years) men and women.  Mean follow-up was 7.6 ± 3.5 years.  The TM group showed a 23% reduction in all cause mortality compared to combined controls (RR = .77, p = .039), a 30% reduction in the rate of cardiovascular mortality (RR = .70, p = .045) and a 49% reduction in the rate of cancer mortality (RR = .49, p = .16).

Schneider R.H., Alexander C.N., Staggers F., et al. Effects of stress reduction in older persons: Long-term follow-up of two randomized controlled trials. American Journal of Cardiology; in review.

Alexander, C. N., Barnes, V. A., Schneider, R. H., Langer, E. J., Newman, R. I., & Chandler, H. M. (1996). A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction on cardiovascular and all cause mortality: A 15 year follow-up on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, mindfulness and relaxation. Circulation, 93(3),19.

Barnes, V. A., Schneider, R. H., Alexander, C. N., Rainforth, M., Staggers, F., & Salerno, J. (2005). Impact of Transcendental Meditation on mortality in older African Americans—eight year follow-up. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality,17(1) 201-216.

Schneider R.H., Alexander C.N., Staggers F., Rainforth, M., Salerno, J.W.,  Hartz, A., Arndt S., Barnes, V.A., Nidich, S.I. Long-term effects of stress reduction on mortality in persons >/=55 years of age with systemic hypertension. American Journal of Cardiology, 2005;95(9):1060-1064.

Schneider, R. H., Nidich, S. I., & Salerno, J. W. (2001). The Transcendental Meditation program: reducing the risk of heart disease and mortality and improving quality of life in African Americans. Ethnicity and Disease,11, 159-60.

• Randomized Trial 5 – Reduced Carotid Atherosclerosis Compared to Health Education. In this randomized controlled trial, TM was associated with reduced carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive African-Americans (AAs) compared to Progressive Muscle Relaxation or a Health Education control.

Castillo-Richmond, A., Schneider, R. H., Alexander, C. N., Cook, R., Myers, H., Nidich, S., et al. (2000). Effects of stress reduction on carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive African Americans. Stroke, 31, 568-573.

• Randomized Trial 6 – Decreased Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome  Compared to Psychotherapy. A study of Vietnam war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome randomly assigned subjects to either the Transcendental Meditation program or psychotherapy. The comparison subjects receiving psychotherapy were of similar age, background, and were undergoing similar life-problems as those who received the Transcendental Meditation program. Yet the TM group showed significant improvements compared to controls on all measures—decreased anxiety, decreased alcohol use, decrease marital problems, decreased startle response, decreased emotional numbness, and improved employment status.

The study clearly showed that the forms of psychotherapy commonly used at that time to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome did not have the same effects as the Transcendental Meditation program.

Brooks, J. S., and Scarano, T. Transcendental Meditation in the treatment of post-Vietnam adjustment. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64: 212–215, 1986.

• Randomized Trial 7 – Increased Intelligence, Creativity, Field Independence, Practical Intelligence, and Cognitive Processing and Decreased Anxiety  Compared to a Traditional Chinese Meditation Technique and Napping. Three controlled longitudinal studies that have randomly assigned subjects to nap or to a traditional Chinese meditation technique as controls for TM practice found that the Transcendental Meditation program produces significantly greater improvements in the speed of processing cognitive information (shorter Inspection Time), as well as greater increases in field independence, cognitive flexibility, creativity, general intelligence, and practical intelligence.

So, K. T., & Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2001). Three randomized experiments on the holistic longitudinal effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on cognition. Intelligence, 29, 419-440.

• Randomized Trial 8 – Increased Field Independence Compared to Sitting Quietly. The above study replicates an earlier random assignment study on field independence conducted by non-meditating researcher at an independent university.

Pelletier, K. R. Influence of Transcendental Meditation upon autokinetic perception. Perceptual and Motor Skills 39: 1031–1034, 1974.

These findings indicates that the cognitive effects of the Transcendental Meditation program are different from sitting quietly, napping, or another form of traditional meditation, providing further evidence that all techniques of relaxation do not have the same effects.

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Five Meta-Analyses Comparing the Transcendental Meditation Program with Other Meditation and Relaxation Techniques

	To see a visual summary of meta analyses (pdf) click here.

Dillbeck and Orme-Johnson, American Psychologist, 42, 879-881,1987.

• Meta-Analysis 2–Trait anxiety is how anxious one usually is. This meta-analysis compared all techniques on which trait anxiety had been studied, 146 independent outcomes. The subject populations included in the study were college, high school, adult, psychiatric or drug abuse patients, children, adult prisoners, juvenile offenders, and the elderly. Subjects with initially high and low levels of anxiety were also studied. The techniques studied were the Transcendental Meditation technique, Progressive Relaxation (PR), Benson's technique, Concentration Meditation, Sanskrit Mantra Meditation with Permissive Attitude, EMG Biofeedback, and Placebo Techniques. The study found that the Transcendental Meditation program had more than twice the effect size on reducing trait anxiety as PR and all other treatments. All the other techniques, including Benson’s technique, scored no better than a placebo. The exception was Concentration Meditation, which was less effective than a placebo, indicating that concentration and control of the mind can exacerbate anxiety.

This meta-analysis controlled for a number of possible confounding variables, including mental health status of the population, age, sex, experimental design, duration and hours of treatment, pretest anxiety, demand characteristics, expectation effects, experimenter attitude (whether the researcher was pro-or anti-TM), type of publication, and attrition. These controls did not alter the overall conclusions. The difference in effect sizes between the Transcendental Meditation program and other treatments was maintained even when only published studies were included, when only studies with the strongest design were included, or when only randomized studies conducted by researchers who were neutral or negative towards the TM program were included. Of all the techniques studied, only the Transcendental Meditation technique showed a positive correlation between the reduction of anxiety and length of time meditation. These results indicate that it is the practice of the Transcendental Meditation per se that causes the reduction on anxiety, not some other factors.

Eppley, Abrams, & Shear, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 957-974, 1989.

• Meta-Analysis 3–Increased Self Actualization Compared to Mindfulness Training, Zen, Relaxation Response Techniques, Yoga, Mantra Meditation, Progressive Relaxation, or Other Telaxation techniques.  A third meta-analysis of 40 studies found that the Transcendental Meditation program was significantly more effective in increasing self-actualization than other meditation and relaxation techniques

Alexander, Rainforth, & Gelderloos, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6, 189-247, 1991.

• Meta-Analysis 4–Reduced Drug, Alcohol, and Cigarette Abuse Compared to Relaxation Training, Biofeedback,  Other Meditation, Anxiety Management Training, Educational Prevention Programs, Counteracting Peer Influence Programs, Hypnosis, Acupuncture, and Sensory Deprivation. A fourth meta-analysis of 198 studies found that the Transcendental Meditation program is one of the most effective means known for reducing drug, alcohol, and cigarettes abuse.

Reference. Alexander, C.N., Robinson, p. & Rainforth, M. Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through Transcendental Meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 11,13-88, 1994.

• Meta-Analysis 5–Improved Psychological Health Compared to Zen, and other Meditation Techniques Designed to Mimic TM ( Relaxation Response Techniques). A fifth meta-analysis of 51 studies of different meditation techniques consisting of more than 9700 research subjects and 400 outcome findings found a significantly larger effect size from the Transcendental Meditation program compared to other forms of meditation on psychological measures; the result was maintained in the studies of highest validity and strongest experimental design.

Reference.  Ferguson, P. C. An integrative meta-analysis of psychological studies investigating the treatment outcomes of meditation techniques. Doctoral thesis, School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A., 1981. Reprinted in part in Scientific research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program: Collected papers, vol. 3. eds. Chalmers, R. A.; Clements's, G.; Schenkluhn, H.; and Weinless, M.  Vlodrop, the Netherlands: MVU Press, 1989.

WIDER RANGE OF BENEFITS—The wide range of benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program has not been demonstrated by any other meditation or relaxation technique. The more than 600 studies conducted in more than 200 universities and research institutions in 29 countries indicate that the Transcendental Meditation program improves individual and collective life. No other meditation or relaxation technique can make this claim. The following are a few important findings.

• Improved General Health—A study of insurance statistics of 2000 TM meditators over a five-year period has shown a greater than 50% reduction in both inpatient and outpatient medical care utilization compared to controls matched for age, gender, and occupation. The Transcendental Meditation program group had lower sickness rates in all categories of disease, including 87% less hospitalization for heart disease and 55% less for cancer. The difference between the Transcendental Meditation program and other groups was greatest for individuals over 40 years of age.

Reference. Orme-Johnson, Psychosomatic Medicine, 49, 493-507,1987).

• Reduced Cholesterol and Blood Pressure—A longitudinal study demonstrated reduced cholesterol and blood pressure levels through the Transcendental Meditation program in hypercholesterolemic patients.

Reference. Cooper and Aygen, Journal of Human Stress 5 (4), 24-27,1979).

• Effective Prison Rehabilitation—A study of recidivism found that 241 inmates of Folsom and San Quentin prisons and Deuel Vocational Institute who learned the Transcendental Meditation program had significantly more favorable parole outcomes each year from one to five years after release compared to controls matched for parole year, offense, prior commitment record, institution, race, age, and drug abuse history.

Reference. Bleick, C. R. and  Abrams, A.I . The Transcendental Meditation program and criminal recidivism in California. Journal of Criminal Justice. 15: 211–230, 1987.

Dillbeck and Abrams narratively and quantitatively reviewed research projects on the Transcendental Meditation program in eight correctional settings, involving almost 1,500 inmates. These studies indicate that regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation program leads to positive changes in health, personality development, and behavior among inmates.

Reference.  Dillbeck, M. C. and Abrams, A. I. The application of the Transcendental Meditation program to correction. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice  11(1): 111–132, 1987.

Self Recovery- This is a book of theory and research on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation program and other modalities of Maharishi’s Ayur-Veda on treating addictions.  This book contains original research papers ranging from how TM influences the biochemical substrates of addictions to evidence that large groups of TM meditators create coherence and collective consciousness, which addresses the problem of addictions in society at its roots.  The book also contains several clinical case studies, theoretical analyses of how TM works, as well as a meta-analysis comparing the TM program with all standard treatments for treating addictions. 

Reference.  Self Recovery: Treating Addictions Using Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi's Ayur-Veda.  David F. O'Connell and Charles N. Alexander, editors.  The Haworth press, New York, 1994.

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A Personal View

Over the 40 years that I've been interested in self-development, I've tried most of the meditation and relaxation techniques that are out there. In my experience none of them do what Transcendental Meditation does. 

The difference is that Transcendental Meditation produces transcending, taking the mind from its active levels to increasing subtler levels, until it transcends to transcendental consciousness, the inner silent, unbounded awareness at the basis of the mind, which is the source of bliss, happiness, and creativity.

Many techniques that I am aware of do not even know about transcending, much less purport to produce it.  Some of them produce some degree of relaxation, but it is not accompanied by that profound sense of well-being and nourishment that I get from TM.

Other techniques may talk about Inner Being and The Self, and whereas talk, chanting, and singing about the sublime or praying may create a nice mood, that is not transcending. In fact, such mental activity keeps the mind active and prevents transcending. Likewise, concentration techniques that attempt to focus the mind on a thought or object, such as a candle, also keep the mind active and prevent transcending.

One thing that TM being in the world for 50 years has done has made people aware that meditation should be effortless. But techniques designed to imitate it, such as those published in articles and books that are said to produce the "Relaxation Response", also do not produce transcending, nor the same benefits. 

I  have taught TM to many people who have previously tried these techniques and all said that TM was much, much better.  The details are important.  Exactly how TM has taught and the exact sounds used in meditation make the difference. It is even not enough that the mind transcends.  The exact resonance produced to the TM mantras during the transcending process is extremely important  in producing TM's benefits.  Arbitrarily taking a sound to meditate on would not only be ineffective but could be dangerous.

I know that modern science knows nothing about this area of life. In principle, the only way to fully comprehend it is to develop that infinite level of mind and know it from there.  Trying to discover it or rediscover it from the objective means of science is just an example of the blind leading the blind. It is a waste of time and life.

On the other hand, in principle, the mind can transcend on any sensory modality; sound, touch, sight, taste, smell. In fact, that is what the mind does. It is always moving towards greater happiness and bliss, and each time it makes a move in that direction, however small, it has transcended to some degree. Every time we feel a wave of love, inspiration, happiness, laughter, broader comprehension-we are transcending to some degree. In my opinion, that is what has civilization together, to whatever extent it has been held together.

What the Transcendental Meditation technique does is at it take the mind through the full range of transcending and in the process remove all of the stresses which block transcending.  The main effect of this, which is only hinted at by the scientific research, is that it " greases the skids " for transcending-  more inspiration, more happiness, more laughter, broader comprehension- more transcending of every kind.

Everything in life gets better and is more fun and more profound. Meditators, for example, are great audiences. I have seen many occasions in which musical performers, actors, poets, lecturers have commented on the amazing atmosphere of bliss and coherence at the meditating audiences produce.  

And, as a side effect, coherence is created in collective consciousness, reducing the tendencies for crime, war, terrorism and improving the quality of life on every dimension. More transcending is what civilization needs to get out of its discontents and to end this nightmare which we call history.

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All content copyright ©2006 David Orme Johnson | Email: davidoj@earthlink.net