Scientists on Transcendental Meditation research

Comments about scientific research on the Transcendental Meditation program by non-meditating scientists:

"If TM were a new drug conferring this many benefits, it would be the biggest, multi-billion-dollar block-buster drug on the market."

—Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, Bestselling author and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, 20-year Senior Researcher at the National Institutes of Health

"If you're on medication for cholesterol, we hope you can get 30 milliliters lower. But this happened through Transcendental Meditation alone... This stunning impact—unimaginable."

—Mehmet Oz, MD, Television Host and Professor of Surgery, Columbia University School of Medicine

"This is an area of scientific research that’s here to stay."

“Over the past 10 years the editors and reviewers of the International Journal of Neuroscience (IJN) have accepted several papers on Transcendental Meditation because they have met the rigorous standards of scientific publication. IJN is honored to have two Nobel laureates on its editorial board, and has a distinguished group of scientists from leading universities on every continent who judge the scientific value of the papers submitted for consideration. Not once have these scientists ever questioned the integrity or scientific validity of the papers on Transcendental Meditation. The fact that the articles on Transcendental Meditation continue to appear in large numbers in reputable journals in addition to IJN demonstrates, at least to me, that this is an area of scientific research that’s here to stay. Any review of Transcendental Meditation literature which overlooks these publications smacks of scientific censorship. Perhaps such reviewers would find it instructive to read about the Galileo affair."

—Dr. Sidney Weinstein, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Neuroscience (IJN)

Research on the sociological effects of the Transcendental Meditation program (The Maharishi Effect)

“I have been following the research on peace-creating groups as it has developed over the last twenty years. There is now a strong and consistent body of evidence showing that this innovative approach provides a simple and cost-effective solution to many of the social problems we face today. In my view, this research is so strong that it demands action from those responsible for government policy.”

—Huw Dixon, Ph.D Professor of Economics, York University, England

“I think the claim can be plausibly made that the potential impact of this research exceeds that of any other ongoing social or psychological research program. It has survived a broader array of statistical tests than most research in the field of conflict resolution.This work and the theory that informs it deserve the most serious consideration by academics and policy makers alike.”

—David Edwards, PhD Professor of Government University of Texas (Austin)

“In the studies that I hae examined, I can find no methodological flaws, and the findings have been consistent across a large number of replications. As unlikely as the premise may sound, I think we have to take these studies seriously.”

—Ted Robert Gurr, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Government and Politics University of Maryland

“When you can statistically control for as many variables as these studies do, it makes the results much more convincing.”

—Raymond Russ, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, University of Maine; Editor, Journal of Mind and Behavior