In 1993 there was a study conducted to measure the effectiveness of meditation in lowering the HRA (homicides, rapes and assaults) crime rate in Washington DC. The results: a 48% drop...in a direct quote from that report:
"Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia."
What can you do to change the world? Based on the findings of that study, it's not a bad idea to just sit there. But I mean REALLY just sit. There.
Or in the case of one humble everyday guy in New York City, remember that the world you have to change is the one within you. You may not be able to read the writing in that photo above, but it says "Peace in me, Peace in the world." The amazing thing isn't just that this ordinary guy took the time to draw this reminder on a little white board in his office. Let's face it, many of us do have little reminders of our greatest selves at work. What is so completely fantastic is that this little white board is sitting on his desk in a cubicle in the middle of what is the heart of the offices of the world's finest police force.
This humble everyday guy, a police officer, father and local-grown Queens boy, not only had the inspiration to draw this and the courage to put it on his desk in plain view of the officers with whom he works, but when asked what made a meditator and guy with the word "sangha" in his email address join the police force, you know what he says? "When the last government job I had ended, I asked myself 'what would be the ultimate place where I can serve?'".
What a yogi.
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