Dr Hemlata K. Bagla, Vice Chancellor of HSNC University, Mumbai, towards the end of the third lecture series – ‘Harbingers of Change – Stories of Transformation’, held this week, announced that the University would collaborate with medical doctor and neuroscientist Dr Tony Nader’s organisation to offer short-term programmes in Transcendental Meditation (TM).
Dr Tony Nader was the keynote speaker and chief guest at the event. He trained in Vedic Sciences under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He is the head of the Maharishi International University at Fairfield, Iowa, USA and oversees TM-related organisations in more than 130 countries.
Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost, HSNC University Mumbai, Maya Shahani, Trustee, HSNC University and Dr. Hemlata Bagla were on the stage with Dr Nader.
In his speech, Dr Hiranandani assured the University would support Dr Nader in every possible way, emphasising that the Institution intended to collaborate with Dr Nader.
In her welcome speech, Dr Bagla thanked Dr Nader for attending the event. She added that HSNC University was fortunate to have a renowned figure like him speak at the lecture series. She also stated that every individual in the auditorium would embrace Dr. Nader’s vision and contribute in some way to the wonderful cause he championed.
Sharing his visionary insights on global peace through TM, Dr Nader, who is also chairman of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace, said, “When people practice TM and its advanced technologies of consciousness together in a group, they effectively defuse acute stress and resulting crime and conflict in the surrounding society.”
How can this personal practice create world peace?
He explained, “The key is to bring together enough experts in these advanced technologies of consciousness in one place.” He added, “Contemporary physics is very close to describing a unified field at the basis of all the forces, matter, and energy in the universe. Many think this physical unified field is identical to the consciousness field”.
Dr Nader’s team also demonstrated how the brain functions during meditation and what happens when a person practices TM. Using an EEG machine hooked to a seated meditator, Dr Nader described the brain wave patterns seen on the auditorium screen.
He said, “What you see is brain activity during a fourth major state of human consciousness, completely different from waking, dreaming, and sleeping. In the ancient Yogic texts, this is called samadhi. You see a quick onset of activity in the alpha frequency band, about 8-10 cycles per second, indicating a state of deeply restful alertness — deeper than sleep and more alert than waking. You can see how the brain waves from all the different parts of the brain have lined up, becoming much more coherent and orderly, and how they have increased in power. This is the signature of samadhi, and TM is the only meditation that produces this immediately from the first sitting. All the many benefits of TM come from this brain coherence.”
Scientists have reported that in the last 50 years, more than 750 scientific studies in over 100 countries have proved the benefits of TM for every area of individual and social life.
Benefits include significant reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular risk factors and marked improvements in performance, creativity, heart health, longevity, and self-actualisation.
Dr Nader’s words touched a chord with the audience. His simple language and casual conversational approach captivated them till the end. He dwelled humbly on his work in transcendental meditation and his efforts to make it a global movement for peace and harmony.
He concluded his speech by urging students to look at the well-documented research and do something extraordinary.
The HSNC University lecture series endeavours to motivate the students to embrace their culture, conduct research and contribute to solving national issues. Nobel Peace laureate Dr Kailash Satyarthi and the first woman IPS Officer in India, Dr Kiran Bedi, were the chief guests and keynote speakers at the earlier two editions of the ”Harbingers of Change – Stories of Transformation” series.
