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A school of thought

Ashok Easwaran in Fairfield, Iowa

The Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in the American Midwest has a record any school can be proud of.

Its students have scored in the 99th percentile in standardised tests in the past decade. It has 10 times the national average for merit scholar finalists. It has the state record with the tennis triple crown two years in a row as well as the record for the American high school maths exam for four years in a row.

The school is an outgrowth of the Maharishi University and is run by people who practise transcendental meditation, which in fact is basic to its educational system.

Students, even the youngest, begin their day with meditation.

The students study Sanskrit, and except for a few upper-level courses, are in gender-separate classes all day long, a practice rare in Iowa public schools.

Students stand when called upon to recite in class. They rarely watch television and appear to take their studies very seriously.

"We can take any student and make him more intelligent," says principal Ashley Deans.

Deans, a doctorate in physics, explains how meditation helps students in precise terms: "There is a natural tendency of the mind to go where it is more blissful, more creative. TM (transcendental meditation) is not concentration or contemplation.

"Rather, it is a technique that allows the mind to transcend thoughts. Ultimately, the mind experiences inner peace and the body experiences deep relaxation. Students' minds are fresh and alert and their bodies have more energy. That makes them ready to learn."

"Studies we conducted with TM practitioners and control groups have shown an IQ increase of five points with people who practised TM for a year," says Craig Pearson, executive vice-president at Maharishi University.

"Additionally there was an IQ increase of nine points with people who practised TM for four years. The age of the practitioner didn't matter," he adds.

The teaching method at the school uses a holistic approach, says Deans. The students are taught how all subjects grow in an orderly fashion from the simple to the complex, and how all subjects are connected to one other.

The study of time, for instance, can include studying the earth's rotation and how time was measured throughout history. Maths is connected as students calibrate the time to send e-mail to Sweden.

"Students relate subjects to each other, and ultimately, to themselves. The subject must be meaningful to them. Otherwise, students have no interest in learning about it," remarked a teacher.

Mark Hall, 17, a senior at the school, said meditation had helped him become "more alert, more awake, with a better understanding of who I am".

He started practising TM when he was 10 and immediately noticed a difference in his performance at school.

Like his classmates, Hall started reading Sanskrit when he was in kindergarten. "In the second grade, I began reading Vedic literature in the Devanagari script. It was very enjoyable."

Hall also studies the Vedic approach to health, the importance of yagnas (sacrificial rituals) and naadi vigyan (self pulse reading).

Another student, Michael Cook, 14, a ninth grader, said TM had improved his "problem-solving ability, improved creativity and team work. I have less stress, more energy and fewer illness."

"We don't have fights of any kind," said Hall, "and we don't have locks on our lockers."

Indo-Asian News Service

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