South Africa: Maharishi Institute, a bright star of Consciousness-Based Education
by Global Good News staff writer

Global Good News    Translate This Article
1 May 2014

Maharishi Institute (MI) in Johannesburg, South Africa, a sister institution to Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in the USA, offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in Management. The current student body of 500, which includes students from many African countries, all practise Transcendental Meditation.

Two hundred students also participate in group practice of the advanced Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme, including Yogic Flying, which scientific research has shown to create an influence of coherence and harmony in society.

Talking to students at Maharishi Institute was an inspiring highlight of his recent visit, said Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management. In the two years since his last visit, he found students' confidence had grown to the point they felt 'they could achieve great things in their lives', and they demonstrated an increased ability to be calm, stay focused, and absorb knowledge.

The students gave credit to their Transcendental Meditation practice for many improvements in their lives, including reduced stress and tension, more happiness, better health, and increased creativity, memory, and intellectual capacity. Many students reported higher academic achievements that they themselves found astonishing. Dr Morris found it especially moving to see how the students love and support each other. Taken together all his experiences at the Institute were a great example of how Consciousness-Based Education transforms lives.

In December 2013 the Institute graduated its first class with 29 students. When this group of students enrolled, most of them in 2007 when the programme began, there was no building, and most did not know anything about Transcendental Meditation. Some recalled that the inspiration to attend came from their mothers or grandmothers telling them, 'You have to go there, and you have to try it out.'

Students at MI come from the poorest neighborhoods around Johannesburg, Dr Morris said, and are supported through scholarship funding by large corporations and foundations in South Africa, as well as internationally. These graduates, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college, have gotten good jobs in reputable corporations in South Africa. Two recent graduates have enrolled in MUM where they will earn their MBA degrees.

During his visit to the Institute Dr Morris spoke to the entire student body and shared with them all the progress around the world in Consciousness-Based Education and other programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for developing perfect health and creating world peace.

The school is expanding, with 169 new students coming in for next term. One popular programme is located at Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, where students live on the land for two years studying and learning all aspects of sustainability.

Word of the success of the Institute is spreading as business executives from far and wide attend special breakfast meetings to learn more about the uniquely successful approach of Consciousness-Based Education. The school choir, which has become very popular and successful, performs often for them stirring the air with their happiness.

Support for Maharishi Institute is also expanding. Dr Taddy Blecher, co-founder and a director, reported that one of the largest corporations in South Africa will be providing great support to the Institute. This support is also being supplemented from within Maharishi Institute, through a call centre, outfitted with donated equipment, which gives students valuable work experience and skills development. It has become so successful that last year it was able to cover 60 per cent of the costs of running the school.

Institute directors explained to Dr Morris that the campus can accommodate 1,000 students practising the Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme. According to the formula identified by researchers, a group of this size practising together would create a coherence influence for all of South Africa, he commented.

The stately building which houses the Institute was donated by a large South African mining corporation at a time when the crime rate in Johannesburg was very high. Since its opening six years ago, with the implementation of Consciousness-Based Education, including its peace-creating technologies of consciousness, the crime rate has plummeted.

Copyright © 2014 Global Good News Service



Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish