When Wright Graduate University (WGU), a small graduate school in downtown Chicago, was forced to close last spring due to declining enrollment and rising financial pressure, its leaders wanted to find a school where its students could smoothly complete their degrees.

They also hoped to find a school interested in carrying forward their degree programs in leadership and coaching, which their faculty had spent 30 years developing and refining.

They approached MIU last April (2022) with exactly these goals in mind.

Why MIU?

“They realized that, among all American universities, MIU’s educational philosophy was closest to theirs,” said Scott Herriott, MIU vice president of academic affairs.

Wright’s full name is the Wright Graduate University for the Realization of Human Potential.

MIU accepted the invitation, and when the negotiations concluded, WGU received exactly what it wanted, and MIU received students, faculty, curriculum, and new academic programs from WGU, along with financial support from WGU’s donors.

“It’s been a win-win for everyone,” Herriott said.

How the story unfolded

When a college or university closes its doors, “they must provide continuity of degree completion to their students,” Herriott said. “This is called a teach-out program.”

Last March, when WGU announced its plans to close by August, some students arranged to transfer to other schools. But nine students wanted to continue and get their original degree in a teach-out program.

These students were in three degree programs — Master of Business Administration (MBA), MA in Transformational Leadership and Coaching, a Doctor of Education (EdD) in Transformational Leadership and Coaching, all taught online.

“In a teach-out program, the receiving institution (MIU) awards the degrees,” Herriott said. “Typically, the students enter an identical degree program at the receiving institution. MIU has an MBA program, but two of the degrees were new to MIU.”

Herriott contacted MIU’s staff liaison at the Higher Learning Commission, MIU’s accrediting body, for permission for MIU to undertake a teach-out of WGU’s programs. 

“Our liaison, Tom Bordenkircher, immediately said he would arrange the necessary approval,” Herriott said. “MIU would be able to award degrees with the same titles WGU was using. He also encouraged us to offer these degrees beyond the teach-out period, to make the administrative effort of the teach-out worthwhile.”

Working with WGU leaders

In mid-May, WGU’s president and vice president of academic affairs came to Fairfield for two days of meetings.

“The feeling was very warm and appreciative on both sides,” Herriott said. “They brought two suitcases full of course binders to show us their curriculum. We were pleased to see an article by MIU professors Skip Alexander and Dennis Heaton in the reading list for one of their courses.”

In the teach-out agreement, MIU accepted the nine continuing students as MIU students, who will take the online courses needed to complete their degrees as originally designed by WGU. To make this possible, MIU is hiring three WGU leaders as faculty:

• Mike Zwell, professor, co-founder, and chancellor of Wright Graduate University
• Lisa Sanden, academic dean
• Gordon Medlock, doctoral program director

All three learned the Transcendental Meditation technique in their local TM Centers over the summer, and they have enthusiastically started the Science of Creative Intelligence course that forms the foundation of MIU faculty training.

The EdD students, all at the dissertation stage, will be supervised by Dr. Medlock. The MA and MBA students will take courses taught by Drs. Zwell and Sanden. Some students will graduate in as few as three months. The teach-out should be complete in Spring 2024.

Professor Herriott and other MIU leaders met with the WGU students via Zoom to explain the teach-out program. “They’re not required to learn TM, because the teach-out contract is for the whole group, institution to institution, not individually by student,” Herriott said. “But we explained that MIU was willing to pay their course fees and that they could learn TM near their homes. By the first week of the new semester, most of them had learned the practice, and others were still working out the time and place.”

“We also had a Zoom meeting with WGU’s trustees and donors,” Herriott said. “One of them turned out to be a 45-year regular TM meditator. Several other trustees want to learn TM, and arrangements are now being made for them also to learn TM near their homes.” 

Two foundations that had been supporting WGU financially want to continue their support through MIU.

Two foundations that had been supporting WGU financially want to continue their support through MIU. One is donating to MIU a sophisticated classroom for online learning that had been installed at WGU at a cost of $500,000. Another will donate $500,000 over three years to support the expense of the former WGU faculty offering MIU’s Doctor of Education program to a new group of students. 

The WGU degrees all were themed around transformational leadership and coaching. MIU already has coaching courses in the MBA and the BA in Ayurveda Wellness (the Life and Wellness Coaching track). “Our MIU Doctor of Education program will continue the theme of transformational leadership and coaching, and we’ll look carefully at the WGU curricular materials to see what we might use in our own MA on coaching,” Herriott said.

“The HLC’s permission for MIU to take over WGU’s EdD degree is a particularly fortunate outcome,” Herriott said. “We’ll maintain WGU’s focus on coaching initially, but we can expand the degree in many aspects of education, a topic central to MIU’s mission. The EdD also has great potential in China, where we’re partnering with a university that’s now expecting its masters-qualified faculty to get doctoral degrees, and the EdD would be a natural fit.”

“The feeling they gave in the meetings was like, ‘If we’d known about you five years ago, we would have reached out to join forces.'”

— Scott Herriott

“We’re thrilled to have this collaboration with the leaders of WGU,” said Herriott. “Mike, Lisa, and Gordon have become dear friends and faculty colleagues. Coaching is a hot topic in business and academia. The teach-out gives us degree programs we’d been leaning toward and that will become popular. Added to that, we have the kind support of the foundations that supported WGU. Everyone has benefited. They said to us, ‘If we’d known about you five years ago, we would have reached out to join forces.'”

Thank you to Scott Herriott for his contribution to this story.

Banner photo: The Chicago Real Estate Local

MIU received four grants from the Wege Foundation this year, totaling $320,000. This is the ninth consecutive year MIU has received Wege Foundation support, and this year’s grants bring the total support to $3,686,139.

Over these nine years, Wege Foundation grants have funded a remarkably wide range of university areas: critical campus renovations, faculty research and publication, curriculum development, renewable energy, faculty and staff training, endowment development, communications skills training, student events, student scholarships, and more.

This year’s four grants included $225,000 to help renovate a women’s dormitory, $75,000 for a grand sculpture outside the newly-renovated Wege Center for the Arts, $10,000 for annual end-of-the-year Wege Awards to outstanding faculty and staff in recognition of their service, and $10,000 for additional faculty and staff support.

“Wege Foundation grants have boosted the university inside and out. They have uplifted every student, faculty, and staff member and inspired the whole campus community.”

— MIU President John Hagelin

“Wege Foundation grants have boosted the university inside and out,” said MIU President John Hagelin. “They have uplifted every student, faculty, and staff member and inspired the whole campus community. They’ve generated fresh energy and momentum that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

The Wege Foundation, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was founded in 1967 by Peter M. Wege, chairman of Steelcase, Inc. He was known for his compassion and generosity, his passion for the environment, and the motto he often quoted: “Do all the good you can. For all the people you can. For as long as you can.”

Wege Foundation grants have supported Dr. Hagelin’s innovative research on dark matter, research on the Maharishi Effect, faculty presentations at professional conferences, MIU’s MEG’Array Solar Power Plant and the Schwartz-Guich Sustainable Living Center, faculty art exhibits, student field trips, locally-grown organic food for the dining hall, the endowment fund, faculty and staff service awards, and more. Wege Foundation grants have also contributed substantially to Maharishi School, the K-12 school on the MIU campus.

The Wege Center for the Arts

A four-year series of grants from the Wege Foundation, totaling more than $1 million, supported renovating the building now called the Wege Center for the Arts, transforming it inside and out. This building houses the academic programs in art, creative writing, and cinematic arts and new media as well as the Writing Center.

The renovation included transforming an outdoor porch into a magnificent glass-enclosed gallery, with art works visible from outside as well as in:

Grants also supported creating a new east entrance:

And they supported exterior landscaping:

On Saturday afternoon, June 24, the Golden Dome filled with students and faculty wearing graduation robes and caps, plus family members and friends from around the country and elsewhere in the world, along with many connected by Zoom, to celebrate 725 graduating students — an all-time university record.

It was an international affair, with graduating students representing 64 countries.

Students’ countries were announced along with their names as they received their diplomas. The United States led the way with 273 graduates. Ethiopia had 116 graduates, South Africa 42, Vietnam 38, Mongolia 35, Nepal 31, Eritrea 31, Uganda 19, Egypt 14, and Rwanda 11. Graduates also came from Albania and Australia, Bangladesh and Brazil, Cambodia and Cameroon, Peru and Portugal, and many more.

Altogether, 113 students received bachelor’s degrees, 552 students received master’s degrees, and eight students received doctoral degrees, while 43 students at the Maharishi Invincibility Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa, received MIU bachelor’s degrees in business and MBA degrees, and nine students in Ethiopia received MBA degrees.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum delivers commencement address

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, the noted cardiologist, author, and health educator, delivered the commencement address. She recounted the many times in her career that she had been told something is impossible, that there is “no such thing.” 

“Think about that for a moment,” she said. “When we hear such things, it’s easy to see them as a barrier. But what I learned is they can also be a beacon, a light in the distance, confirming you’re exactly where you need to be.” She continued: “And if you’re being propelled forward and hear those words, ‘There is no such thing,’ rest assured, you have chosen to create it from ‘no such thing’ into your most essential thing.” 

She called on graduating students to “simply recognize that — because of this education you’ve had here and who you have become because of it — the world is calling you to create that thing that will fulfill your purpose.” 

Dr. Steinbaum was presented with a Doctor of Science honoris causa degree by President John Hagelin, on behalf of the MIU Board of Trustees. ”In a world where individual and social health seems increasingly imperiled, you are a shining light,” the diploma text read. “You have played an outsized role in guiding the country back to balance and wholeness.”

Valedictorian and salutatorian addresses

“Today we are graduating with a lot more than a degree,” declared Valedictorian Shreya Sood, graduating summa cum laude with a BA in Sustainable Living. “We are graduating with liveliness, with bliss, empowered with tools to continue cultivating this bliss.” 

“Many of us chose MIU because the words Consciousness-Based education just made sense,” she continued. “It spoke to us on a profound level. . . . We knew we were seeking something different. We were seeking more than an education. We were seeking transformation. It sure has been.”

“Wherever our thoughts lead us,” she said, “whatever life has in store for us, let’s carry this light of consciousness we have lived in our hearts and let it guide us.”

“Keep your desire turning back within and be patient. Allow the fulfillment to come to you. Gently resist the temptation to chase your dreams into the world. Pursue them in your heart until they disappear into the self and leave them there. It may take a little self-discipline. Be simple, be kind, and stay rested. Attend to your own inner health and happiness. Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you. Allow your love to go to yourself as well as others. Do not strain after your needs of life. It is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them. In this way, life proceeds more naturally, effortlessly. Life is here to enjoy.”

Laura LaBoone, who graduated summa cum laude in Creative and Professional Writing, gave the Salutatorian address and presented the class gift.

“My fellow graduates,” she said, “as we celebrate our achievements today and embark on this next phase of our evolution, let us remember that true education goes far beyond the acquisition of facts and information; it is the awakening of our own creative intelligence, the realization of our interconnectedness with the world, and the cultivation of our own unique values and gifts — a lifelong journey that we are now well equipped for, thanks to the wisdom and tools offered to us by MIU.”

The gift from the class of 2023 is a $2000 contribution toward creating a new outdoor student space on campus, “where students can spend time, chat, laugh, meditate, and study together.”

Honorary doctorate to MIU alum Shizuo Suzuki

Also receiving an honorary degree was Shizuo Suzuki, who came to MIU from Japan in 1978, barely speaking English at first, and graduated in 1983, forty years ago. He completed the Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training course while still a student, and then, returning to Japan, became one of the most successful teachers in the country, eventually becoming the national leader of the TM organization in Japan. 

He has taught Transcendental Meditation to more than 2,000 people, including Prime Ministers and First Ladies, government ministers and members of parliament, a state governor, city mayors, and leading business executives. He has implemented TM Corporate Development Programs in more than forty companies, including Sony, Kyocera, and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and has taught countless residential courses, seminars, and World Peace Assemblies, reaching thousands of people.  

Along the way, he wrote a best-selling book, Super Meditation: The Miracle of TM, sparking a TM boom in Japan, which sold 130,000 copies, inspiring more than 10,000 people to learn Transcendental Meditation. 

He helped organize for 4,000 Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka and Thailand to learn Transcendental Meditation. And in 2014 he and a colleague constructed a 9.9-megawatt solar plant with 39,600 solar panels in Kyoto, generating 1.6 billion yen ($13.3 million) over 20 years to support Maharishi Vedic Pandits in India. 

“When I speak to the leaders of the society in our country,” Dr. Suzuki said, “I proudly say I am a graduate of Maharishi International University. That’s what I’ve been doing in the past forty years. Now it’s your turn. And please make this world better and happier and healthier. And we, the graduates of MIU, we the graduates of Maharishi International University, are able to do that. We are able to do that. We have wonderful teachers. We have a wonderful school here. And you have that ability. You have that ability.”

The President’s charge

Delivering his charge to the graduating students at the end of the ceremony, President Hagelin encouraged students to “uphold yourself in your vitality, freshness, health.” “Nourish the root,” he said. “Maintain your connection to the field of true life, which is simply your consciousness. Consciousness is the source of the universe.”

“Stay on that path,” he said. “Take that time every day to expand the container of knowledge within, to draw upon the light of life itself. . . . Treasure it, protect it, and your achievements will be limitless, your happiness complete, your heart overflowing, your love unbounded. . . . Go forward, enjoy, achieve, grow to fulfillment, and you will really achieve the goal of life. And there’s no goal better than that.”

Appreciating the parents

In closing the ceremony, master of ceremonies and Dean of Faculty Vicki Alexander Herriott expressed appreciation to all the parents.

“Our students are people of great depth, character, the highest ideals,” she said. “Extraordinary people like this do not happen by accident. As they themselves will tell us, they owe a great deal to their parents — the people who birthed, raised, nurtured, guided, encouraged, supported, and above all, loved them. . . . We honor who you are. We honor what you have achieved in your children. . . . And please, wherever you are, accept our gratitude for raising these extraordinary human beings.”

Photographs by Ken West

The Global Peace Village with six new townhouses was inaugurated on Friday, June 30, with MIU President John Hagelin and Dr. Howard Settle presiding, fulfilling a plan years in the making.

Each townhouse has two stories and two bedrooms. They’re contained within two buildings, three townhouses to a building. Both buildings were designed according to Vastu architecture and are within walking distance of MIU’s two Golden Domes, the Golden Dome Market, and the campus swimming pool.

When completed, the Global Peace Village will comprise one thousand townhouses.

The project provides deeply subsidized housing to those who commit to regular participation in MIU’s peace-creating programs in the Golden Domes — and marks the beginning of a systematic plan to create a permanent group of 2,000 people practicing the Transcendental Meditation and advanced TM-Sidhi programs together as a group to create peace and harmony for the nation.

WATCH A SHORT VIDEO OF THE INAUGURATION HERE

Dramatic results nationwide

Dr. Settle and his wife Mickey supported a group of that size from 2007 to 2010. With that support, creating peace became a profession. It enabled hundreds of people to commit to practicing these programs together for many hours each day, creating a more powerful effect.

The results were stunning. As a half dozen peer-reviewed published studies have now shown, these people transformed the quality of life in the United States.

During those four years, the US homicide rate plummeted more than 21%, violent crime more than 18%, traffic fatalities more than 20%, all other accidental deaths more than 13%, drug-related deaths (including opioid deaths) more than 30%, and infant mortality more than 12%. This translates into 70,000 lives saved and 186,000 fewer violent crimes. The financial savings are almost incalculable, to say nothing of the savings in human suffering.

And these were only the most recent results in a series of studies that began in 1974 and continue to this day. More than fifty studies have been published on the Maharishi Effect, as it’s called. It has been tested in all parts of the world and at all scales of society — cities, states, countries, the world as a whole. Every experiment has produced consistent positive results. zehere open warfare was present, the intensity of fighting dropped and war deaths plummeted. 

Creating a permanent group of peace-creating professionals

Dr. Settle and his wife were unable personally to sustain this support indefinitely. After 2010, they were compelled to dial it back. With declining financial support, the size of the group grew smaller — and so did the coherence-creating effect, much like a light being turned down. Though unfortunate, there was an important benefit — the causal relationship between the group size and US quality of life became undeniably clear.

With such striking results, Dr. Settle determined to create a permanent group — which in fact had been a widespread decades-long desire.

So he went to work.

“It was obvious to me that sustaining any large group on a permanent basis would require some form of endowment to provide the required support to the participants,” Dr. Settle said. “Another critical need was adequate housing for the participants.”

He started by creating financial models identifying the up-front infrastructure costs as well as the ongoing costs of maintaining the infrastructure and supporting the participants.

“I realized that subsidized housing for participants was its own form of endowment — it took care of both infrastructure and participants’ compensation at the same time,” Dr. Settle said.

He developed a grand financial model that supported five goals:

• Building the housing, 1,000 units altogether, housing 2,000 peace-creating experts
• Ensuring the homes will be well maintained over time
• Providing quality subsidized housing near the Golden Domes (with rent about half of Fairfield’s current rate)
• Supporting scholarships for students in MIU’s Enlightenment Leadership program (bachelor’s) and Enlightenment & Leadership program (master’s) — training for the future leaders of Transcendental Meditation initiatives around the world
• Contributing income to MIU.

In April 2021, financial model complete, he worked with President Hagelin to establish the Institute of Permanent Peace at MIU. Its mission: “To implement the technologies of consciousness to create permanent peace using the Maharishi Effect.” They announced the plan publicly.

Under the institute umbrella, Dr. Settle spearheaded a fundraising campaign. Phase 1 raised enough money to build the six townhouses that opened with inaugurating the Global Peace Village.

“The beginning of a total renewal”

“This is the beginning of a total renewal of the northern side of our campus,” said MIU President John Hagelin during the inauguration ceremony. “The growth of our community has been bottlenecked by a lack of housing in town and especially near the Golden Domes.” “This is a great boost,” he added, for our long-standing efforts to create a large, permanent group of peace-creating experts practicing the TM and TM-Sidhi programs together in the Golden Domes. 

President Hagelin expressed his deep appreciation to Dr. Howard Settle, who had traveled to Fairfield from his home in Lexington, Kentucky, for this occasion.

“This was his vision,” President Hagelin said. “This is his plan. This is the first really concrete leap forward in this plan.”

“My life has been transformed since moving in”

So what’s it like to live in the new townhouses? 

“I love my new Vastu townhouse in the Global Peace Village,” said DeArmond Briggs, long-time Fairfield resident and tennis coach. “My life has been transformed since moving in. I have noticed an uplifting feeling of lightness, softness, and comfort in my unit. My sleep has been better, deeper and more peaceful. I have experienced more periods of transcendence during meditation, activity, and sleep. I have received more support from nature too. There is something unique about the experience of living in the Global Peace Village that will only get better as the village grows and the number of participants in the Golden Domes increases.” 

If you’re interested in living in the Global Peace Village as further buildings are constructed, please write Bob Markowitz (bmarkowitz@tm.org) or phone at 641-919-7045.

To make a donation to the Institute for Permanent Peace, go to https://giving.miu.edu.

Thank you to Dr. Howard Settle for his contribution to this story. Aerial photo by Werner Elmer.

This fall, with the launch of its new online bachelor’s specialization in Positive Psychology and Consciousness, MIU will become one of the country’s few schools offering positive psychology at the bachelor’s level. It will also provide the field with the theoretical foundation it has lacked.

Positive Psychology is the study of “what makes life worth living,” according to Fred Travis, chair of MIU’s Maharishi Vedic Science department and chief architect of the new program. It aims to cultivate positive experiences, positive character strengths, and positive relationships.

Travis was inspired to create this program in response to his students’ requests for a more direct connection between Maharishi Vedic Science and modern psychology.  

Positive Psychology explores such questions as who am I? What is my purpose? Do I have agency? What is the meaning of life? How can I find fulfillment and help others along the way? Often overlooked, such questions call for wisdom, not the acquisition of information — a whole individual, not an amalgam of isolated skills.  

The new Positive Psychology program will strive to address these by synthesizing modern psychological perspectives with the knowledge of consciousness in Maharishi Vedic Science.  

Simultaneously, the it will provide practical tools and strategies to help students find their own unique answers. Since positive outer development is based on “experiencing our inner universal nature,” Dr. Travis says, the program is grounded in the experience and understanding of higher states of consciousness. 

Dr. Travis will also design and teach the introductory course. A leading neuroscientist in the field of brain functioning and higher human development, Travis interweaves meditation, brainwave patterns, and cognitive functioning in his far-reaching work.

Fulfilling the lack — a proper theoretical foundation

Travis identifies a fundamental lack in Positive Psychology that hinders it from reaching its full potential. This lack, he believes, can be filled with the integration of Maharishi Vedic Science (MVS).  

“Positive Psychology is a collection of research findings,” he says. “It lacks a theoretical foundation. MVS adds the theoretical foundation that explains these research findings: the importance of self-esteem and an evidence-based means to develop it, i.e., TM practice; how our perspective determines our reality and how our perspective changes as consciousness grows; and the importance of happiness. The natural tendency of life is the expansion of happiness.”  

Also missing in Positive Psychology is the importance of a healthy body.  

“The quality of functioning of the mind and body are synergistic,” Travis says. “We need a healthy body to take us through life to higher states of consciousness.”  

This first course will delve into the intersection of mind and body, examining the cycle of how thoughts and emotions affect our physical health while physical health, in turn, affects our thoughts and emotions — all undergirded by how growth of higher states of consciousness supports overall physical, mental, and emotional health.

The Positive Psychology program represents a significant addition to the MIU curriculum. Nationwide, 90% of adults say mental health is a crisis in the US, which seems reflected at the societal level. 

“Education can lead us to a better future,” Dr. Travis says, “especially if it focuses on developing purposeful, cooperative, and happy individuals who know thyself. That is the aim of Positive Psychology.”

The travel website Far & Wide, in its new list of “Best U.S. Towns With Fewer Than 10,000 Residents,” includes two Iowa towns, Decorah and Fairfield. Fairfield is number 99 on the list.

Referencing the influx of people who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique, the story says, “All the feel-goodness in this town carries over. There are 150 nonprofits and 400 start-up companies here, and the town is attempting to become sustainable in support of the environment.”

The number one town on Far & Wide‘s list? Monowi, Nebraska, just over the border from Iowa.

This is just the most recent in a long list of media recognitions Fairfield has received. Fairfield has become known as a center for entrepreneurship, the arts, and sustainability and has received a wide range of recognition and honors. For example:

• 2021 – “The 25 Coolest Towns in America to Visit in 2021” – Matador Network
• 2020 – Fairfield ranked among America’s top cities for young firms
• 2019 – “Fairfield to remain a ‘Great Place'” (see 2006 below)
• 2016 – Why this Iowa town is thriving when so many aren’t
• 2014 – The online news site Buzzfeed listed Fairfield #2 in its list of “11 Coolest Small Cities It’s Time to Road Trip To.” 
• 2014 — Featured on “Moving America Forward,” hosted by William Shatner, on Youtoo TV, a cable channel carried by Time Warner, Comcast, and others. The show highlights the accomplishments of individual business owners in the US — and Fairfield was the first town featured on the program, which focused on the city’s entrepreneurial spirit and how it affects residents’ quality of life. 
• 2013 – Smithsonian magazine listed Fairfield as #7 in its story about “The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013,” based on Fairfield’s qualities of entrepreneurship, sustainability, arts, and culture.
• 2012 – Oprah’s Next Chapter: Meditation – In ‘America’s Most Unusual Town’ 
• 2012 – NPR: “Fairfield, Iowa: Where ‘Art Belongs To Everyone'”
• 2010 — Milestone Award from ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, in recognition of its commitment to and achievements in climate protection and sustainability.
• 2010 — Fairfield is named inaugural winner of the Grass Roots Entrepreneurship Award from the National Center for Small Communities in Washington, DC.
• 2010 – “Turning Fairfield, Iowa, Into a Rural Renaissance City” — The IEDC Economic Development Journal
• 2009 — MSN.com names Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy one of the 15 greenest mayors in the country, along with the mayors of New York City, Chicago, and Portland. Ed Malloy chairs the MIU Board of Trustees.
• 2006 — Fairfield is named one of “Iowa’s Great Places” and receives $500,000 from the State of Iowa for community development.
• 2004 — Fairfield is named Iowa’s “Entrepreneurial Community of the Year” — the first winner of this award — by the Iowa Community Vitality Center.

The Far & Wide story links to this video about Fairfield:

Photos by Jeff Fitz-Randolph and Werner Elmker.

MIU President John Hagelin gave two talks at the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, held December 12–14, 2022, in South Korea. He also addressed the seventh International Ayurveda Congress, held March 3–5 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

In his talks to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, entitled “Scientific Solutions to Violence and Global Conflict,” he presented a “brain-based” approach to world peace that traces violence to stressed and imbalanced brain functioning and offers a simple, low-cost antidote with strong empirical support.

“Dr. Hagelin’s talks at the Summit were widely referenced afterward in formal and informal communications,” said Dr. Ash Pachauri, who attended the event, “and they had a great impact in opening participants’ minds and hearts as we discussed issues of global peace and human security more widely.”

Dr. Hagelin began by noting that human behavior is intimately linked to brain functioning and that stress detrimentally affects the brain and behavior. Specifically, stress shuts down the prefrontal cortex (the higher brain) while activating the amygdala (the fear center), leading to violent, impulsive fear-centered behavior. On a societal scale, social stress fuels crime and social violence.  

“The question is, of course, what do we do about stress and related crime?” he said. “Well, you can reduce the stressors — poverty, oppression, injustice, deep prejudice.” But that’s very difficult. Or, he said, “You can instead just reduce the stress.”

The Transcendental Meditation technique markedly reduces stress and improves both brain functioning and behavior, he explained.

His second talk focused on leveraging this effect society wide. “Just as individual meditation reduces individual stress and improves individual behavior,” he said, “meditation on a societal scale, even by a small sub-portion of a population, diffuses societal stress and effectively reduces crime and social violence.”

“Probably no other approach has a comparable track record of success,” he concluded. “Only a small fraction of the population actually needs to participate to produce demonstrable results. . . . I very much look forward to working with any or all of you on this approach or any evidence-based approach to peace.”

“[Your talks] are super clear and straight to the point,” wrote Pierre Dawalibi, Program Executive Producer of the Nobel Peace Summit, which is based in Italy. “Thank you very much for this amazing approach to education, and we look forward to further collaboration with you on the execution of this concept.”

Dr. Hagelin was invited to give these talks by Ekaterina Zagladina, president of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, who wanted to bring the idea of consciousness into discussions of world peace. Ms. Zagladina was made aware of Dr. Hagelin by Dr. Ash Pachauri, cofounder and Senior Mentor of the Pop Movement (Protect Our Planet) and MIU’s commencement speaker in June 2022.

Because Dr. Hagelin was unable to travel to South Korea at that time and unable to speak live given the 15-hour time difference, he prerecorded his talks. In keeping with the session format, each talk was two minutes. The video below combines Dr. Hagelin’s two talks.

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was founded in 1999 by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union, who served as chair of the Summit for 22 years. A Nobel Peace Laureate himself, he launched the organization to enable his fellow Nobel Peace Laureates to spread peace as a group. 

International Ayurveda Congress

The seventh International Ayurveda Congress, held March 3–5 in Kathmandu, Nepal, attracted 350 delegates from 14 countries, was broadcast live on 35 Internet channels, and received huge daily media coverage in Nepal. “There were experts from India, Nepal, and across the world, a parade of high-level dignitaries, and many distinguished practitioners,” Dr. Hagelin said.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR, head of the international Transcendental Meditation organization, who focused on how the consciousness aspect of Ayurveda, particularly group practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi programs, expands the range of Ayurveda from healing the individual to healing the world by reducing societal tensions. In its highest form, he said, Ayurveda is the science and technology of consciousness, and as such is capable of resolving any conflict in the world.

“We can guarantee the resolution of the conflict [in the Ukraine],” he said. “The resolution is not going to be on the surface level of exchange and discussion. These are only the appearances of where the resolution comes from. The true resolution will be on the level of the collective awareness of the world itself.” And this, he explained, is accomplished by large groups of meditation experts.

“In my talk I presented Ayurveda as cutting-edge, unified field-based medicine, Atma-based medicine,” Dr. Hagelin said. “And I could see that my reference to cutting-edge science in a conference on traditional medicine was an eye-opener as well, reinforcing Dr Nader’s speech.”

During the conference MIU signed a memorandum of understanding forging a partnership with Kathmandu University. “Kathmandu University has a great, rich Vedic tradition,” Dr. Hagelin said. “The main purpose of the partnership is to create a major peace-creating group there.”

MIU also formed a partnership with D Y Patil International University, in Pune, India, one of India’s most successful, advanced, and fastest-growing universities, with ten major medical centers and an advanced Ayurveda hospital program. 

“This will be a boon for Ayurveda research, which they can support with funds and subjects and which MIU can support with our own researchers and approaches,” Dr. Hagelin said. “With our credentials and research track record in the US, we can get these papers published in prominent Western journals.”

The Prime Minister of Nepal, the Right Honorable Pushpa Kamal Dahal, attended Dr. Nader’s speech and later pledged that his government will create a research center, Ayurvedic hospitals, and Panchakarma wellness centers to support tourism, and that he will work closely with the government of India to promote Ayurveda worldwide as an evidence-based medicine.

Thank you to Dr. Kingsley and Leslie Brooks for their contribution to this story.

Is it possible that groups of people sitting quietly with their eyes closed can reduce the homicide rate across the United States? Or reduce the rate at which people die from recreational drugs? 

This is just what two recently published, peer-reviewed scientific studies have found, adding to the ever-growing body of evidence supporting the phenomenon known as the Maharishi Effect — the widespread positive changes that occur in society when the portion of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique individually, or the TM and advanced TM-Sidhi program in groups, reaches certain thresholds.

Both studies focused on the results of a large group of TM and TM-Sidhi program experts practicing these programs twice daly in MIU”s two large Golden Domes. Between 2007 and 2010, the size of this group approached or exceeded 2,000 people, or roughly the square root of 1% of the US population — the size necessary, theoretically, to create a “tipping point,” measurably reversing negative trends. 

Before 2007, both the homicide rate and drug fatality rate had been increasing. But during this four-year period, the homicide rate nationwide dropped almost 20%, or about 27,369 fewer deaths during the study period. 

Similarly, the drug fatality rate plummeted more than 35%, or 86,309 fewer drug-related deaths. 

After 2010, as funding for the group declined, so did the size of the group, falling below the critical threshold. After this happened, the homicide rate and the drug fatality rate both began increasing, slowly at first, and then drastically, as both charts show.

These findings raise questions. 

Where did the data come from?

As in all the research studies on the Maharishi Effect, the data came from publicly available statistics.

Could something else have caused these results?

No other factor could explain the dramatic declines revealed in the statistics.

Many social forces contribute to the homicide and drug fatality rates. Homicide rates, for example, can be influenced by changes in the economy, community policing, community demographics, incarceration rates, even changes in temperature. The drug fatality rate can also be affected by changes in the economy, temperature, and opioid prescription rates. Pre-existing trends might also have had an influence.

But advanced statistical tools enable scientists to isolate the effects of these other factors and determine what influence, if any, they had on the homicide and drug fatality rates, and no other variable exerted a significant influence.

Could these results have been due to chance?

The odds that the drop in homicide rate happened randomly were less than one in ten billion, according to statistical analysis. For drug fatalities, it was less than one in one billion. In other words, the chances that these effects happened purely on their own were practically zero.

This analysis gives strong confidence that the observed results were due to the TM and TM-Sidhi program group in Iowa.

How is this possible?

In the theory behind the Maharishi Effect, a single all-pervading unified field of consciousness underlies all of nature, and human beings have access to this field in their own silent awareness. When people experience this field through their Transcendental Meditation practice, they “enliven” it.

Because the unified field is immaterial and all-pervading, unbound by space and time, enlivening this field anywhere enlivens it everywhere — nothing is excluded from this effect. Stimulating pure consciousness through TM and TM-Sidhi program practice radiates an influence of coherence and harmony, reverberating far beyond the confines of the individual mind and body.

Maharishi had predicted the effect as early as 1960, provided the specific meditation techniques to bring it about, and encouraged scientific research on it. Now 50 experiments and 28 peer-reviewed published studies corroborate the phenomenon.

The problem is worsening

Drug fatalities are currently skyrocketing in the US. According to the CDC, drug deaths rose to more than 100,000 per year in 2021 — an increase of 28.5% over the prior year. (By comparison, 55,000 people died in the entire Vietnam war over ten years.) And drugs have been the leading cause of death for young Americans since 2019.

This is largely due to the pernicious spread of fentanyl in this country, fueled by China’s illicit manufacture and distribution network. Fentanyl, 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is an inexpensive way to increase the power of the drugs it is combined with; unsuspecting users then ingest it via recreational drugs or painkillers.

Fentanyl became an issue only after 2010, when the size of the group declined, says Dr. Ken Cavanaugh, one of the authors of the studies and professor emeritus of applied statistics at MIU. But it’s precisely because of that decline, he argues, that the US became vulnerable to such an epidemic.

“Everywhere you look — homicide rate, the crime rate — all these indicators of social stress have escalated unbelievably since that time,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s what happens when people’s behavior is no longer being influenced by that coherence being generated from the meditation group. Their whole behavior changes, their whole way of thinking, their whole level of suffering.”

Convincing governments to provide support

The aim of this research is simple, Cavanaugh explains— to use empirical evidence to convince governments of the urgent societal demand for the TM Sidhi program.

“We want to convince governments to provide support for these programs,” he says. “To do that, you have to convince the scientists who governments rely on for advice.”

Though this has proven to be an uphill battle, Dr. Cavanaugh remains unfazed. He understands the gradual nature of scientific progress and how difficult it is for science to shift to a completely new paradigm.

“Probably 99% of scientists out there fall into the physicalist or materialist paradigm,” he says, referring to the belief that inert matter is the basic stuff of the universe. “Maharishi’s perspective, the Vedic perspective, is that consciousness is fundamental, not matter. We’re now shifting to a radically different paradigm. When you’re doing research in a new paradigm, it’s viewed as unscientific or worthless by those who adhere to the old paradigm. So it just has to be explained as clearly as possible, and people have to be open to hearing it.”

“This is such a fantastic scientific discovery”

One of the investigators in the homicide study was David Orme-Johnson, who has conducted many pioneering studies on the Maharishi Effect as well as on the Transcendental Meditation technique itself.

“What are considered the greatest scientific discoveries of all time?” Dr. Orme-Johnson asks. “Gravity, electricity, the theory of evolution, the theory of relativity, Big Bang theory, and so on. All of these things have been fantastic in giving humanity the ability to do more, be healthier, and understand nature more deeply.

“But in my opinion, there is nothing as great as this simple discovery, the Maharishi Effect, this simple thing that can change everything, almost overnight, in a positive direction. This is such a fantastic scientific discovery.”

REFERENCES

The study on homicide rates, entitled “Evaluating a Field Theory of Consciousness and Social Change: Group Practice of Transcendental Meditation and Homicide Trends,” was published in August 2022 in the journal Studies in Asian Social Science and authored by the research team of Kenneth Cavanaugh, Michael Dillbeck, David W. Orme-Johnson.  

The study on drug fatality rates, “Empirical Evaluation of the Possible Contribution of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program to Reduction in Drug-Related Mortality,” was published in the journal Medicina and was authored by Dillbeck and Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh is professor emeritus of applied statistics at MIU, Orme-Johnson is past chair of the MIU department of psychology, and Dillbeck is past professor of psychology and a member of the MIU Board of Trustees. 

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum delivered a jewel of an address at MIU’s 2023 commencement ceremony, on June 24, interrupted with applause and greeted with a standing ovation at the end.

Below is the full text of her speech. She speaks after the text of her Doctor of Science honoris causa diploma is read.

* * *

That was a little overwhelming and unexpected. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Pearson, members of the Board of Trustees, President Hagelin, faculty, staff, families, guests, most important, graduates. Good afternoon, distinguished Class of 2023.

Congratulations. This is a seminal moment in your life, a significant achievement, and also a pivotal moment when you will take your achievements from here over the past several years and go out into the world and make an impact. So it’s a humbling honor to be here now and be the one who has the privilege to speak with you at this important moment in your life. 

I’ve been here before. It was a bit of time ago, in 2015. I came to visit Maharishi International University on commencement weekend, just like this. I gave a talk to the community about women and heart health. I remember my time here like it was yesterday, because my brief time here had a profound impact on me. 

I most remember the greenhouses. As I entered this lush area full of wonderful vegetables, I heard music playing. I remember thinking, the vegetables listen to music? Do we know what they prefer? Are the tomatoes into classical, the pumpkins into rock?

It was all a bit, I don’t know, quirky to me, no judgment. But when we sometimes encounter something that’s new, we tend to think this way. But then I saw with my own eyes what had happened. The cucumbers that were growing closer to the music were huge. They were this big! And the cucumbers who were growing further away just looked like normal and regular cucumbers. I never, ever forgot that. 

It was a memory that in a snapshot taught me what I’m sure you all know now. This truly is a special place with a very special collective consciousness, a very special energy. You today are an integral part of that energy going out into the world. You’ve had this unique holistic education focused on your well-being, mind, body and soul. You’ve had this incredible consciousness education that has allowed you to flourish academically, but also focus on developing the full creative potential within each of you. 

What you’ve been taught, which is now simply a part of who you are, has grounded you and is now your true superpower that will not only launch you out into the world, but will sustain you through all that life brings you, both the successes and the challenges. You are sitting here in this quiet town of Fairfield, Iowa, certainly far from the hustle of New York City where I live, and away from the prestigious institutions with far more recognition. 

And as a cardiologist working in some of these prestigious hospitals, I’ve been witness to awards and honors provided for institutions that have, yes, done great work.

But I’ve also seen how these institutions have perpetuated some of the hardships that we have seen in the health care system, things like inequity of care, polypharmacy, over-medication procedures that have been done unnecessarily, and systemic burnout of their doctors and their staff. 

Yet here at Maharishi International University, there is ground-breaking work focused on the opposite, on resilience, health, well-being, and an enlightened approach to health care and to life. This university has given you an exceptional education and the tools that will provide you wisdom and a foundation to accomplish your purpose, whatever direction you go from here. What other university would prioritize evidence-based meditation, yoga, at the core of your education?

That’s just one of the examples of many in the past two days. I saw and heard so many examples. I’ve been touring your campus, meeting the wonderful faculty, and I’ve seen so much more, and something really, really exceptional happened last night. A woman, I don’t see this often, a woman software coder, Azamit Belew, was honored for her talents in computer science. And let’s talk about Imedia Stewart, who just completed her MFA and honored at 88 years old. 

Where else in the world do these things happen? And by the way, congratulations to all your award winners. I’m sure if I were to ask you, you could think of a hundred more examples that you’ve experienced during your time here that I would never know. But we can celebrate today with immense gratitude. 

When I started my career, I didn’t have the tools that you have learned. I didn’t have an understanding that such a thing existed, different than you. I had to go on a journey to really find it.

But like what you have learned, deep in my heart, I knew I had a purpose. I was determined to fulfill it. When I went out into the world to fulfill this destiny of mine, I began my medical career. And it was about 20 years ago, I observed as a doctor in training that women were dying of heart disease, and they were often misdiagnosed, undertreated and the worst, dismissed.  

At this time, the pervasive thought in the medical community was that women didn’t get heart disease. They were actually taught there was no such thing. Women did not get heart disease. And because of that, women were discharged from the emergency rooms with diagnoses of anxiety and stress instead of what it really was, which was a hidden, hidden disease that was not treated properly and addressed the right way. This neglect and inequity of care eventually brought them back to the hospital, suffering and very, very sick. 

It was so hard for me to watch. I could not stand by any longer and observe what was so obvious to me. Women were dying simply because they were women — women suffering from a man’s disease. In time, the research proved this to be true. One in three women were dying of heart disease, more than all cancers combined. 

I knew that narrative needed to change. So one of the first things I did was to ask for a fellowship, extra training in women and heart disease. Do you know what I was told? There was no such thing. You see, if I didn’t fully understand yet, my purpose, my calling, was determined to make an impact in the world, just as yours will if you allow it. It was that internal voice, that knowing. You all know what I’m talking about.

At the same time, the American Heart Association created a national campaign called Go Red for Women to educate, empower, and conduct research on women’s hearts. There was no such thing as a spokesperson, so I volunteered. Sound familiar? That no such thing. So I asked to speak on their behalf until I eventually became a national spokesperson for the mission.

No such thing. Think about that for a moment. When we hear such things, it’s easy to see them as a barrier. But what I learned is they can also be a beacon, a light in the distance, confirming you’re exactly where you need to be. 

“‘No such thing.’ Think about that for a moment. When we hear such things, it’s easy to see them as a barrier. But what I learned is they can also be a beacon, a light in the distance, confirming you’re exactly where you need to be.”

As a young doctor, I watched the impact of stress, anxiety, and depression on women’s hearts and the juggling act that they were trying to maintain: work family, children, friendship, dogs, gardens — some of them might have had cucumbers — shopping, cleaning, caretaking. 

For so many, this harried life was not conducive to a heart-healthy life. And the worst part was all of their cardiac symptoms were blamed on their brains, and their hearts were ignored. It’s all in your heads, women were told. 

But as a cardiologist, I knew it was right there in their hearts. I needed to understand this better, research and learn more and figure out how to change these statistics. I had an inkling that there was more that we could do, and I went on a journey to find it. I did one of the first preventive cardiology fellowships in this country. I wrote a book. I became the director of Women in Heart Health Programs in three major hospitals in New York City. 

And three years ago, I made a life-changing decision. When I started my career, as I told you, one in three were dying of heart disease. And today it really hasn’t changed. I knew I could stay in the hospital system and continue to be part of the problem or take a risk — follow my purpose and leave the hospital to create a truly impactful solution. 

And now I’m the CEO and founder of a health technology company focused on women’s cardiovascular health, prevention, and wellness through innovative software working with primary care physicians. We’re going to finally change that statistic once and for all. Azamit, call me — I’m looking to hire some coders. 

“Someday soon we will be able to say it is no longer one in three women dying of heart disease. This is my mission. This is my calling.”

Someday soon we will be able to say it is no longer one in three women dying of heart disease. This is my mission. This is my calling. 

I want to share with you something that changed me and my medical practice and helped me on this journey. It was about 2008. As we were entering the recession, I started seeing more and more men come into my office with chest pain, shortness of breath, and palpitations. They had high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, insomnia, obesity, and the common denominator — they were all working on Wall Street. It felt like an epidemic was occurring. But they all described to me the same thing. Relentless stress, fear of the future, and lack of control. 

It was then when I met Bob Roth at the David Lynch Foundation, and I researched the seminal paper regarding TM and its impact on high blood pressure. With $26 million in research grants from the National Institute of Health, Dr. Robert Schneider, the dean of the College of Integrative Medicine and his colleagues from right here at MIU, discovered that TM was not only effective in decreasing blood pressure, but their work also showed a 30% reduction in death rates from cardiovascular causes. 

“These and other discoveries from MIU literally changed our understanding of preventive medicine and specifically of Transcendental Meditation and its role in heart health.”

These and other discoveries from MIU literally changed our understanding of preventive medicine and specifically of Transcendental Meditation and its role in heart health. So I needed to try TM myself so I could decide whether or not I could or should prescribe it to others. I learned it and I loved it. 

As meditation became a regular part of my daily routine, I knew this was not only an answer for those men and all those women with symptoms and diseases as a side effect of their relentless stress. I assure you, at that time my ideas were not wholly accepted by the medical community. Through my own TM practice, I had found a deeper sense of who I was and my mission became crystallized for me. 

I had started to tap into that field of inner stillness, that field of pure listening and knowingness that you have been having access to for years. And it has grounded me in my purpose and calling ever since. 

I wanted to share with you my story, because what it took to reach those milestones and get to where I am today was far from easy. There were so many who thought what I was doing was unnecessary. And as a woman in a male-dominated field, I often was personally dismissed and had to stand up for not only myself but for the cause. 

I had to work harder and be more diligent. I had to believe in what I was doing so deeply that no matter what came at me, I’d be able to handle it, manage it, and overcome it. I had to learn how to be resilient very early on, or I wouldn’t be able to do what I set out to do. 

In the beginning, I didn’t have all the tools to do so. You are so lucky that you do. I don’t say this all to tell you what I’ve done, but to inspire you. What you will do if you simply recognize that because of this education you’ve had here and who you have become because of it, the world is calling you to create that thing that will fulfill your purpose. 

I changed the narrative by instead of talking about sickness, I talked about wellness. Instead of researching medications and procedures, I focused on nourishment and movement. Instead of telling people what was best for them, I asked them to tell me how they were feeling and what they needed. 

And instead of prescribing Xanax, Valium, or antidepressants, I prescribed Transcendental Meditation. 

And you know what? It worked.

I have a career of stories and can see in my mind the faces of people who would have otherwise been a statistic. But this approach healed them, and it gave them a path towards wellness and vitality. Through my path, I’ve been an outlier in my fields. I’ve pushed the boundaries that have been established by the medical system. And I’ve challenged it to think differently. And I’ve proven it works with countless lives over the course of my career. 

I believe it is partially because of what TM brought to my own life at a fundamental level. That pure sense of knowing, you know what I mean? I have a phrase that I would like to share with you: Live from the heart. What this means is really knowing who you are. Knowing what makes you happy. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and knowing what’s important to you. 

I’ve been talking about this approach and treating patients with it for two decades. Finally, we can talk about the depth of research validating this approach medically. In 2017, the American Heart Association published the scientific statement entitled “Meditation and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction.” I was in awe. It was finally happening.

The spark of the idea that changed medicine today. That idea that generated the research funded by the National Institute of Health and reported by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association began right here at MIU, right here at your university. It happened right here in Fairfield, Iowa. Not those prestigious hospitals that I worked in in New York City. 

“You’re part of a legacy that is changing the world for the better, that legacy you carry with you today. And now it’s your turn.”

You should all be proud of that. You’re part of a legacy that is changing the world for the better, that legacy you carry with you today. And now it’s your turn. Your time to make your stamp on the world just the same. So as you go forward, use all that you learned. And I dare you all to live from the heart. Find what inspires you. Compels you. Drives you. Find the thing that can only be done by you, that you are uniquely suited for. Pay attention to who you want to be in the world, and don’t let anyone define or dissuade you. 

This is what I mean when I say Live from the heart. It is living a life of passion, purpose, wellness, and vitality. When you listen to who you are and what you can be, you will find your unique place in the world. And when you do that, you will powerfully and positively impact everyone around you for the better. 

In the past four years, the world and you have endured quite a bit of political, social, and economic upheaval. A pandemic shut down the world. And you lived through it. Our government became so polarized that we witnessed unprecedented violence at the Capitol building. We watched the destruction of human life by Russia and their war against Ukraine. And every day we hear of innocent lives taken by the violence of guns. 

If we are not careful, we can become immune to it. When you look around, many people have become withdrawn, angry, anxious, even self-absorbed. Society in some ways is living in survival mode, some living in the state of fight or flight and others falling back on their innate instincts to just keep going. 

But we know better. There are those of us who will continue to live from the heart, knowing that there is possibility for change, for a shift, for an impact, and for pushing the boundaries. 

You have survived a tumultuous time in history and arrived here at this stage of success in your academic journey. You, grounded in your innermost selves and profound awareness, can see the potential for a different world than this one. 

“You, grounded in your innermost selves and profound awareness, can see the potential for a different world than this one.”

You have also had the unique education that has set you up to succeed. Your education taught you to find your purpose and have a deep-rooted resiliency. So as you move to the next chapter, continue to do what you have learned to do. Continue your path to live from the heart. Listen. Pay attention. Be willing to try and also be willing to fail. Be willing to stand up for what you believe in, even if you are right, even if you are in the minority. 

Listen to what your heart is telling you is right and is real for you. Live in a way that makes you feel energized, invigorated, stimulated, and fulfilled. And know that it takes time and often some bumps in the road to get there. And if you’re being propelled forward and hear those words, “There is no such thing,” rest assured, you have chosen to create it from “no such thing” into your most essential thing. 

You can take joy in the challenge ahead and knowing full well that you are where you are destined to be. So can we get back to those cucumbers a second? What made them grow so large? You’re not going to believe this. A study out of Sydney, Australia, by Hendricks Gin, do you believe was able to publish research now? Hendricks Gin — you know, the ones that make the classic gin and tonic with a cucumber. They looked to see how the cucumbers could grow the largest. They describe that cucumbers respond to acoustic energy. And in fact, this study showed that plants, especially these cucumbers, reacted to outside stimuli and reacted to the energy around them. 

But we all knew that already, didn’t you? Did you know that they actually have taste in music? Of course you do, right? They grew larger to rock music and apparently they hated jazz, which quite frankly, my ex-husband was a jazz musician. So I get it. Those cucumbers. I know this sounds funny, but in a real sense, they are living from the heart. They are growing in a way that is the most authentic, healthiest version of themselves. 

“Ultimately, my greatest wish for each of you is to truly live from the heart, that true sense of being the most authentic version of yourselves. But you all are ahead of the game. You already know how to do this.”

Ultimately, my greatest wish for each of you is to truly live from the heart, that true sense of being the most authentic version of yourselves. But you all are ahead of the game. You already know how to do this. And we know, when we live from a place of passion and purpose, we live longer, healthier lives, and the whole world will be better for it. 

My call to action to you is to go out in the world and be exactly who you are meant to be. Be those massive cucumbers. How are you going to do it? You are equipped and ready. You are capable. You are kinder. You’ve learned the tools to navigate and master a complex world. You have chosen through your unrelenting self-care that you can give more and do more. You have found power in your stillness. 

Finally, I leave you with this, a quote from our friend David Lynch. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. 

May you all continue on the journey you began here at MIU. Go deeper. The world will thank you. 

Congratulations, Class of 2023.

TEXT OF THE DIPLOMA

MAHARISHI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
By Authority of the Board of Trustees 
HEREBY CONFERS UPON 
Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum 
THE DEGREE OF 
Doctor of Science honoris causa

We honor you for your lifelong service in promoting health, wellness, and well-being as a medical doctor and educator. You have touched and enriched the lives of millions of people, starting with your own patients and extending to the countless people you reach through your books, events, and media appearances. 

To guide people to health is to guide them to wholeness, happiness, a richer and fuller life. In a world where individual and social health seems increasingly imperiled, you are a shining light. 

Your career choice may have had something to do with your growing up in a family of doctors, including your grandfather, where you may have been his most frequent visitor, watching as he practiced from an office adjoining his home. Your father modeled the life of an oncologist. 

Yet you charted your own course in medicine. With cardiovascular disease as women’s number one health threat, claiming the lives of one in three women worldwide, you elected to specialize in women’s health and women’s hearts, focusing on preventive care. 

You have connected with women in just about every way possible. 

You have reached them through your work as an attending cardiologist and director of Women’s Heart Health at the Heart and Vascular Institute, part of Lenox Hill Hospital, the nationally ranked research and academic medical center in New York City. 

Through your weekly news show, “Focus on Health,” broadcast on WLNY-TV out of New York City. 

Through your appearances on ABC News, Good Morning America, NBC, CNN, CBS News, and Inside Edition and your talks all over the country. 

Through your book Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book: Every Woman’s Guide to a Heart-Healthy Life, which, as one reviewer observes, “transcends traditional medicine and focuses on a woman’s entire well-being.” 

Through your service as a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative, designed to educate women worldwide about heart health and empower them to take charge of their own health and that of their loved ones. 

And through your initiative as the founder and CEO of Heart-Tech Health, where you developed its secret weapon, The Adesso Wellness Digital Platform, a comprehensive free platform with advice, news, events, research, and expert contributors that achieves massive financial savings through preventive care while immeasurably improving women’s quality of life. 

As you have written, “When we love our hearts enough to take care of them, the best within us emerges.” 

You are among those forward-looking physicians who recommend the Transcendental Meditation to your patients, recognizing its effectiveness in dissolving stress and restoring balance together with its application to a wide variety of disorders. As you have remarked, “I very clearly say to my patients: ‘Let’s treat blood pressure. Let’s treat your cholesterol. Let’s treat your stress. And the way we’re going to treat these is with Transcendental Meditation practice.’” 

Beyond your work in caring for women’s hearts, we honor you for the great heart you yourself bring to your work. You reflect the qualities of an enlightened physician — brilliance and joy, compassion and creativity, humor and humanity, knowledge and wisdom. It’s not surprising that when people see you, they want what you have. 

Your work has been widely cited in the media, and you have been widely recognized for your work, receiving the American Heart Association’s Young Heart Award for Achievement in Cardiovascular Science and Medicine and being named a “Super Doctor” by the New York Times. 

Our country and our world are healthy to the extent that its people are healthy, and in this respect you have played an outsized role in guiding the country back to balance and wholeness. 

Wishing you perfect health, a long and rewarding life, and the fulfillment of your goals for healthy people and a healthy world. 

With admiration and gratitude from the entire MIU community. 

Presented this 24th day of June 2023 

John Hagelin
President of the University

Ed Malloy
The Board of Trustees

In an event that many consider the most inspiring of the year, 44 students received 52 awards in the annual Student Awards Ceremony in Dalby Hall on Friday night, June 23, 2023, the night before graduation.

The event followed the annual Graduation Picnic, where hundreds of graduating students and their families along with MIU faculty enjoyed Mexican cuisine beneath the trees in front of the Argiro Student Center on a warm, early summer evening.

With Rod Eason, Vice-President of Enrollment and Student Affairs, officiating, the evening began with the Development of Consciousness Awards. These awards recognize students for their regular practice and deep understanding of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs, honoring them for their personal growth of consciousness and the positive effect they had on the community.

These awards went to Enrique Baker, Elizabeth Foley, Richard Morell, and Dimitrios Karasis (pictured below, with Professor Karen Aoki Kouider presenting).

Next came the awards to the honors graduates — the graduates with the highest grade point averages. See below for the list.

Viktoria Luhaste received the Veda Vyasa Award, given for the most outstanding PhD research, for her study on the beneficial effects of Maharishi AyurVeda treatments. Involving nearly 100 subjects over six weeks, her study found significant health benefits from Maharishi Ayurveda, including reduced anxiety, emotional distress, and depression, reduced fatigue and sleep disturbances, reduced Body Mass Index (BMI), and improved digestion.

Then followed the awards from each academic program. Faculty presenters spoke glowingly of the students’ achievements, while the students spoke movingly about their experiences at MIU.

“I’ve been given something that’s way more than a credential. I’ve been given a certainty that is establishing itself daily in me as sovereignty, wholeness, and love.”
— Victoria Thomas

Victoria Thomas, winning the Outstanding Student Award in the Bachelors of Applied Arts and Sciences program, said, “I am 54 years old and waited 23 years to get my son through college before returning to finish my bachelor’s. The administrative staff here at MIU made it so effortless, and I’m so grateful for the masterful way it unfolded for me.” She added, “I thought I was simply checking off a box of completing my bachelor’s degree. . . . Instead, I’ve been given something that’s way more than a credential. I’ve been given a certainty that is establishing itself daily in me as sovereignty, wholeness, and love. This certainty has dissolved all prior goals, and I can trust that, and that trust is priceless.”

Bojenna Gaquer won the Outstanding Student Award in art and will continue next semester in the MFA program in Studio Art. “I never saw myself going to college,” she said. “I didn’t think I had the brain for it, and now I’m graduating with an award, which is feels really good. I’ve loved my time here at MIU. I love my fellow students and all of my professors, and I’m so excited to continue my education and my creativity here.”

Timothy Kacena, receiving the award in the undergraduate business program., said, “This isn’t really about me or the outstanding student piece. It’s more about the class and the classmates and the professors for constantly pushing each other to be our best. . . . Our class called it the MIU magic. . . . Thank you to MIU for making me a better person, a better husband, a better son, a better friend. That’s what it’s all about. And the connections that we built here.” 

Kendra Morrison, winner of the Outstanding Student Award in Cinematic Arts and New Media, emphasized the value of the community she found here. “Community has been a big theme in my work, and it’s been the main lesson I’ve learned since coming to NYU,” she said. “I thought I would never go to college. I was very proud of that until I found MIU, and something just felt right the first day I came onto campus. I was welcomed by peers who just wanted to create and express the same as I had been wanting to do for so long. And it felt right. We immediately started collaborating on projects. And this was very foreign to somebody who prided themselves on independence. So thank you to MSU for the community that you have cultivated.”

“While much of the modern Western world urges us to go go, go at an ever increasing pace, MIU encourages us to slow down and be still to cultivate that inner spaciousness, prioritize inner peace, and nourish the fertile foundations, the roots of our being.”

— Laura Laboone

Laura Laboone, receiving the award in BA program Creative and Professional Writing, appreciated the focus on going within. “It’s simple yet pivotal, as most life lessons are, and that is just how important rest and rejuvenation are to all aspects of life, but especially the creative process,” she said. “It’s something I obviously hear all the time and knew intellectually but experientially has become very clear in my time here at MIU. While much of the modern Western world urges us to go go, go at an ever increasing pace, MIU encourages us to slow down and be still to cultivate that inner spaciousness, prioritize inner peace, and nourish the fertile foundations, the roots of our being. Simply being immersed in a supportive environment like this is enough to empower anyone to create, in my opinion.”

Imedia Stewart, at 88 years old, won the award in the BFA program in Creative and Professional Writing. “At eighty-eight years old,” said program director Nynke Passi in presenting the award, “she was always the first in class and the first to bring what she learned to her community to inspire others with her passion for life, her keen and poetic observations, deep connection to consciousness, sincere wisdom, and endearing wit.” Ms. Stewart thanked her fellow students. “For two-and-a-half years, making this experience truly unforgettable,” she said, “you have challenged me and supported me in more ways than you could ever know. You even inspired me to feel twenty-five years old instead of eighty-eight.” 

This year’s Alumni Distinction and Service Award went to Tara De Santis, who graduated with honors in media and communication in 2017. She then returned home to Montreal to pursue a career as a singer, songwriter, and producer, performing under the name “Veda.” With her distinctive vocals and lyrics, she has become well known the music industry.

Before coming to MIU, she said, she had family, friends, a rugby team — “Everything was set up, you know, for like a normal, fun life.” But, she said, “I just felt like I needed something more, something I hadn’t found in Canada yet.”

“Three months later, after coming here,” she said, “I took a digital music production class with Cody Olivas. And for me, I just fell in love with music. . . . I knew that I had to create music every day. That was my purpose. I had like an epiphany. . . . Music that is uplifting and positive to the world.”

“I make music, I work in this cutthroat industry. You know, it’s very demanding, but it’s amazing. And I feel like I have an edge because I took a leap of faith. I wanted to explore, and I did. So to all of you, my message is, don’t be afraid. Don’t live in fear. Just do what you’ve got to do. Have fun with life. And explore as much as you can.”

See the full list of award recipients below.

STUDENT AWARDS CEREMONY

Opening remarks – Dr. Rod Eason, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs

DEVELOPMENT OF CONSCIOUSNESS AWARDS
Dr. Dimitrios Karasis
Elizabeth Foley
Richard Morell
Enrique Baker
Presented by Dr. Karen Aoki Kouider, Director of the MIU Transcendental Meditation Center

HONORS GRADUATES

SUMMA CUM LAUDE
Shreya Sood (Valedictorian)
Laura Laboone (Salutatorian)
David Machado Sanchez
Meghan Pflepsen-Zender
Summer Silva

MAGNA CUM LAUDE 
Ambiya Binta
Jordan Curcio
Sean Nestor
Victoria Thomas
Jenna Doran
Moriah Harris

CUM LAUDE
Rose Krajnik
Cassandra Ellner
Alexis Hardin
All presented by Dr. Vicki Alexander Herriott, Dean of Faculty

VEDA VYASA AWARD
Dr. Viktoria Luhaste
Presented by Dr. Fred Travis, Dean of the Graduate School

APPLIED ARTS AND SCIENCES
Victoria Thomas
Presented by Matthew Beaufort, Associate Professor of Humanities

Alexis Hardin
Presented by Dr. Cathy Gorini, Professor of Mathematics

ART
Nayiah McPhaul
Presented by Genevra Bell, Assistant Professor of Art

Bojenna Gaquer
Presented by Gyan Shrosbree, Associate Professor of Art

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BA PROGRAM
Timothy Kacena
Presented by Dr. Vicki Alexander Herriott, Dean of Faculty

MBA IN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Meagen Anderson
Richard Wolfson
Presented by Dr. Ayako Huang, Department Chair and Director, MBA Sustainable Business Program

MBA ERP PROFESSIONALS PROGRAM
Ramsharan Nepal 
Glynis Baillies
Presented by Naveed Abbasi, Director, MBA ERP Professionals Program

PHD PROGRAM
Dr. Ayesha Sengupta
Presented by Dr. Dennis Heaton, Dean of the College of Business Administration

CINEMATIC ARTS AND NEW MEDIA
Jordan Curcio
Presented by Amine Kouider, Department Chair

Kendra Morrison
Presented by Cody Olivas, Assistant Professor of Cinematic Arts

MFA IN SCREEENWRITING PROGRAM
Ajai Tripathi
Presented by Matthew Kalil, Assistant Professor of Screenwriting

COMPUTER SCIENCE
Ayaleneh Yilma
Presented by Dr. Anne Dow, Chair of the Mathematics Department

Azamit Belew
Presented by Thao Vu, Instructor of Computer Science

Ahmed Mokhtar Abdelgawad Ibrahim Albahrawy
Presented by Obinna Kalu, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Quoc Vinh Pham
Presented by Peter Vonderheide, Associate Dean of Faculty for Computer Science

CREATIVE AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING

BA PROGRAM
Laura Laboone
Presented by Leah Waller, Department Co-chair and Undergraduate Program Director

BFA PROGRAM
Almedia Stewart
Presented by Nynke Passi, Department Co-chair and Director of the MFA in Creative Writing

MAHARISHI VEDIC SCIENCE

BA PROGRAM
Genesis Buitrago
Presented by Dr. Karen Aoki Kouider, Undergraduate Program Director

MASTER’S PROGRAM
Elizabeth Foley
Presented by Dr. Patricia Saunders, Graduate Program Director

Nancy Gibson
Presented by Dr. Rod Eason, Vice President of Enrollment and Student Affairs

MA PROGRAM / ONLINE
Julie Zavaro
Presented by Dr. Keith Wegman, Online Graduate Program Director

PHD PROGRAM
Dr. Dimitrios Karasis
Presented by Dr. Sue Brown, Associate Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science

MATHEMATICS
Seth Hillsberry
Presented by Dr. Cathy Gorini, Professor of Mathematics

PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM – on campus
Gabie Raydan
Presented by Dr. Liis Mattik, Associate Chair and Dean of Undergraduate Studies

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM – online
Ambiya Binta
Presented by Natasha Durand, Online Undergraduate Program Director

MASTER’S PROGRAM
Bhuvaneswari Ramalingam
Presented by Dr. Paul Morehead, Director of the Maharishi Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine Program

Chin Ting Mann
Presented by Andrew Stenberg, Instructor of Physiology and Health

Dr. Shraddha Ravani
Presented by Robert Schneider, Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine

SUSTAINABLE AND REGENERATIVE LIVING 
Shreya Sood
Presented by Mark Stimson, Department Chair

REGENERATIVE AND ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
Jennifer Nunez
Presented by Tyler Wilfley, Undergraduate Program Director

Denise Cagley-Jefferson 
Presented by Jodi Hill, Assistant Professor of Regenerative Organic Agriculture

ALUMNI DISTINCTION AND SERVICE AWARD
Tara De Santis 
Presented by Brad Mylett, Vice President of Development

PARENTS AWARD
To the parents of all our graduating students
Presented by Dr. John Hagelin, President