Living Standards, Transcendental Meditation and the Perúvian Miracle: A 41-Year Study of Social and Economic Factors
World Journal of Social Science November 13, 2023 Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
More than 60 well-controlled studies since 1974 suggest a causal link between the number of people practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique and societal order, harmony, and prosperity, mediated by brainwave coherence measured via EEG and fMRI. This preliminary descriptive study examines whether such an effect occurred in Perú, where over 53,600 children and adolescents have practiced Transcendental Meditation in schools since 1996. Comparing data from 1980 to 2020 on 20 variables—including poverty, health, education, and economic indicators—the authors find that the 26-year Impact Assessment Period (1995–2020) shows associations between group meditation practice and improved living standards compared to the Baseline Period (1980–1994). Perú now ranks among the most prosperous Latin American nations and the third most optimistic population globally.