Mozambiques Secret Weapon

Mozambique's invincible "national armor" prevented an enemy from arising within or outside the country.

Mozambique had one of the worst and longest civil wars in recent history, but after the civil war they have made great strides in maintaining peace and rebuilding an infrastructure ravaged by war. There has been very little foreign investment.

Surprisingly, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Mozambique added another duty which involved a human resource-based technology. The Joint Chiefs assured selected military units of the Mozambique Ground, Naval and Air Forces that this radically different approach could unite the national spirit and prevent the civil war from flaring up again. At the same time, the new technology would prevent enemies outside the country from attacking. Even more surprising, the new "weapon" turned out to be a simple meditation technique practiced by groups of soldiers twice daily. In the beginning, conventional military strategists scoffed at the novel strategy. However, today, due to Mozambique's success on many fronts, other governments may be attracted to the new strategy. The Mozambique military may have harnessed universal laws of nature. The basic principle is seen in physical systems. Certain "internally" coherent systems have the ability to protect themselves against disruptive influences, while "incoherent" systems are easily penetrated by disorder from the outside.

Meditation? I thought this article was a joke .... surely meditation is some new-age mumbo jumbo? I read further and found some actual scientific theory behind it:

One example of such an "invincible shield" is the Meissner Effect (see figure). It takes place at the quantum level of superconductivity. In a superconductor, the coherent functioning of the electrons spontaneously excludes an external, disruptive magnetic field. This system maintains its impenetrable status because no random or chaotic activity can take place within it. Ordinary electrical conductors are not impenetrable because the random activity of incoherent and disordered electrons allows penetration of an external magnetic field.

Link

The results speak for themselves:

Dai attributed the dip in coherence to the demobilization of the troops and anticipated ending of TM courses for future police officers. Dai also said in 1994 that "until now, although with several difficulties, the maintenance of peace has been possible during these 2 years, and free and just elections have been carried out..." Coherence-creating groups of meditators were re-created. A year later, the US National Defence council dropped Mozambique from the list of conflicts in the world, and stability has since been sustained. Perhaps it will not be long before Mozambique's military leaders are ranked along with other pioneers such as the Italian airpower advocate Giulio Douhet. General Douhet's strategy still applies today: "Victory smiles upon those who anticipate the change in the character of war, not upon those who wait to adapt themselves after the changes occur." In the tradition of military pioneers, the U.S. military could conduct its own coherence-creating group which could hasten the progress of another dream--the prevention of war and conflict.

Further reading:
War and Peace in Mozambique - A timeline
Daily Mail Article

The Maharishi Effect

When a small, but sufficient, proportion of a population regularly experiences transcendental consciousness (defined below), through the Transcendental Meditation® (TM) or TM-Sidhi programs, an influence of progress and harmony spreads through the whole society. This phenomenon was named the Maharishi Effect after Maharishi, who first predicted it. Both the TM technique and the more advanced TM-Sidhi program were derived by Maharishi from the ancient Vedic tradition. The Vedic tradition is thought to be the oldest recorded tradition of knowledge in the world. (Endnote 15) The TM technique is a natural and effortless mental procedure practiced 15 to 20 minutes twice daily which fosters experience of a fourth (after sleeping, dreaming and waking) major state of consciousness called "transcendental" consciousness. This self-referral experience in which consciousness is aware of itself is held to be the least excited state of consciousness, deeply restful but awake and alert. (Endnote 16), (Endnote 17) The TM-Sidhi program adds other procedures which cultivate the ability to act while established in transcendental consciousness. The practice of these programs does not require changes of lifestyle or religious beliefs. Research to date indicates measurable results from the Maharishi Effect can be generated through this technology in two related ways: 1) when approximately one-percent (or more) of the population practices the Transcendental Meditation program (9 published or presented papers); or, 2) when the square root of one-percent of the population practices the more advanced TM-Sidhi program as a group (38 published or presented papers).

Link

I don't know what to think. Can this really be a new type of Defence Strategy? Does it really work as some countries are convinced it does and have actually adopted this methodology?

What are your thoughts?


[edit on 17/3/2009 by deltaalphanovember]

I'll make the claim that it's probably a load of nonsense, and they'd be filled with holes just as fast as anyone else if they faced an opponent stronger than various sub-Saharan African irregulars.

It all smacks of the Lakota-Sioux ghost shirt movement, or the society of the righteous fists of harmony during the boxer rebellion.

Thanks for the input. I agree with you that their military is about as good as most African countries ie. next to useless, but the fact remains that they pulled themselves out of a devastating civil war and have not looked back since.
They ascribe a large part of this to a mindset, a non-violent paradigm shift in thinking. It is something other countries should at least consider.

Their civil war lasted 30 years! Imagine the American civil war lasting 30 years and the country recovering as well as they have.

I think this medidation very well might be their secret weapon.

How?

It makes people calm and more relaxed. A major source for civil wars in africa and history in general have been dissatisfied soldiers. This daily medidation technique nicely counters that.

I think this medidation very well might be their secret weapon.

How?

It makes people calm and more relaxed. A major source for civil wars in africa and history in general have been dissatisfied soldiers. This daily medidation technique nicely counters that.

reply to post by tomcat ha



I think meditation should be taught in school ... the basic principles, at least. If everyone had the ability to put themselves into a state of peace everyday, the world would be a better place.

hmmm I sound like John Lennon!

Originally posted by mdiinican
I'll make the claim that it's probably a load of nonsense, .

And yet you provide no corroborative evidence for the claims you put forth...

...Predictable.

In any case, similar studies have been conducted in the USA - but I don't see how that matters, unless you're an irrational racist/nationalist and have concluded that only your nation's science is credible..

Here is an example of a similiar experiment conducted in Washington D.C. (use google to find more):

"A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Social Indicators Research reports on one of the most dramatic sociological experiments ever undertaken. Researchers predicted in advance that the calming influence of group meditation practice could reduce violent crime by over 20 percent in Washington, D.C., during an 8-week period in the summer of 1993.

In fact, the findings later showed that the rate of violent crime--which included assaults, murders, and rapes--decreased by 23 percent during the June 7 to July 30 experimental period. The odds of this result occurring by chance are less than 2 in 1 billion."

Edit: I have found you an American who agrees that the experiment was valid and results worthy of further study:

"This work and theory that informs it deserve the most serious consideration by academics and policy makers alike."
Dr. David Edwards, University of Texas- Austin

[edit on 21-3-2009 by Exuberant1]

Apparently meditation does work.

I saw a show on the history channel where this guy meditated for a few minutes, put a sword to his throat (one of those samuri type things) and shoved against it so hard he bent it in half.

Another guy hoisted himself up and laid on his stomach, the only thing underneath him was six swords.


If meditation can do that, what else can it do?


[edit on 21-3-2009 by jd140]

reply to post by jd140


Meditation can do incredible things, I remember seeing someone who practiced meditation to centre their chi, he'd been doing it for 18 years, said he couldn't remember ever being ill and people recieved shocks from touching him. (this was on a documentary in the middle of a busy street in a run down area of china, no television studio etc)

Don't think thats any form of the technique being used here but it has several uses. I'd go with the calming aspect I noted someone mentioned a few posts back