South Koreans are making long line to buy a mask in front of a drug store in Haebangchon (HBC) area in Seoul's Yongsan-gu district as of the end of March 2020 as the COVID-19 virus spreads.

As the COVID-19 virus pandemic impacts peoples' lives worldwide, society shuts down in an effort to contain it. People find themselves isolated at home, seemingly powerless. Unity is needed during these difficult times. Although people worldwide have been divided, there are points of agreement regardless of political persuasion: people are no longer tolerating corruption in their leadership, and people are no longer condoning the sacrifices of integrity and ethics to intimidation and deal-making.

Most of us are desperately seeking positive changes in our lives and yet we feel an overwhelming powerlessness in terms of effecting these changes. And now we have the additional threat of a viral pandemic ripping apart the seams of our society. We ask: what can we do in these challenging times to restore sanity not only to our day to day living but to our political structures as well?

The answer to our current dilemma lies within us rather than outside of ourselves. Inner peace is the basis of outer peace. By going within, one gains clarity and is able to come up with positive solutions that work for everyone. A proven way of utilizing this inner wisdom is through Transcendental Meditation. There is a powerful brain-based technology known as Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) in military circles. Militarities worldwide are beginning to use IDT as a ground-breaking and effective means to help solve supposedly insurmountable problems and create lasting peace.

IDT utilizes the non-religious Transcendental Meditation (TM) program and its advanced techniques. Hundreds of independent research studies on TM have found major increases in calmness, clarity of mind, happiness, creativity, and energy. This evidence-based approach is highly effective for stress-related conditions, brain function, and cardiovascular health.

In particular, the more advanced TM-Sidhi program is akin to using a laser instead of ordinary light; the effects are far more powerful. Scientific research has demonstrated over and over that this advanced IDT practice raises the consciousness of all those within its field. Positive solutions to ongoing problems occur naturally and society more readily shifts from division to unity.

How can this be? While it seems too simple to be true, sometimes the simplest approach is the most effective. Consider: IDT was utilized in Washington D.C. over a two-month period in the summer of 1993, where 4000 meditators gathered for an experiment to lower crime. The result, as documented by an independent board of criminologists, was a 24 percent reduction in criminal violence. This profound reduction in social stress also influenced the public approval of the US president, which suddenly changed from a negative trend to a positive trend, as predicted.

A global experiment to assess the influence of the advanced practices of advanced TM on world trends was conducted December 1983 for three weeks. While a group of over 7,000 TM experts assembled in Fairfield, Iowa infectious disease rates fell by 33% in US and Australia. Also international conflict decreased 32% and terrorist casualties decreased 72%.

A study published in May 2019 in Studies in Asian Social Science, found that IDT implementation by students trained in advanced TM resulted in a 96% decline in sociopolitical violence in war-torn Cambodia as compared to violence in the preceding three years.

Extensive peer-reviewed scientific research repeatedly confirms that large groups of TM experts meditating in unison twice a day generate a powerful field effect which affects the surrounding population by raising the collective consciousness of all within its field. This results in measurable decreases in war deaths, terrorism, and crime, and in one study – infectious disease rates.*

For those who remain skeptical, we recommend the following book: An Antidote to Violence: Evaluating the Evidence, by Barry Spivack and Patricia Anne Saunders which details in depth the scientific research supporting this approach.

COVID-19 may be an opportunity for South Korea to re-evaluate its approach to societal issues and try something new. South Korea has no time to lose: as the Coronavirus impacts its citizens and its economy during this stressful time, South Korea needs to come up with immediate and effective solutions to this virus and societal issues in general before it is too late.

*There have been many randomized controlled trials on the effects of TM in heart disease and mortality which provide compelling evidence that TM practice provides health benefits in these domains. While there are not yet specific studies related to the effects of TM in viral disease on individuals, it makes sense for scientists and researchers to consider conducting well controlled studies on TM’s effects on viral diseases in the near future. At this time, the extensive body of TM research does not yet indicate that meditation will makes society immune to the COVID-19 virus. Therefore, we urge all readers to continue to follow their health authorities’ recommendations for preventing, getting and spreading the virus to others.