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AVA CARMEL
ISRAEL
Meditating at Kibbutz Yahad.
Special to The Jewish News
f one percent of the
population of a country
practiced transcendental
meditation, there would be 15
to 20 percent fewer road ac-
cidents and incidents of
crime, arson, rape and di-
vorce," claims Helen Doron, a
teacher of the technique in
Israel.
Israel's transcendental me-
ditation movement reached
its peak in the early 1970s.
Says Israel Dvir, 38, "We us-
ed to hold weekend courses
and feel so wonderful to-
gether, that every time a
course ended, it broke our
hearts to separate. The idea of
forming a nucleus group slow-
ly evolved and we began look-
ing for a place to live
together."
In 1980, Hararit, the first
TM communal settlement in
Israel, was established. The
site was Mount Netufa in
Lower Galilee, where the air
is clear, the environment
unspoiled and the panoramic
view magnificent — a very
conducive environment for
meditation.
David Doron says, "We were
naive then. We thought we
could earn our living as TM
instructors, but everyone in
Hararit already knows how to
meditate?' Doron now grows
organic herbs on the Galilee
hills surrounding Hararit
while Helen, his wife, teaches
children English using a pro-
gram of tapes and workbooks
I
Deep Thought
Israel's two Transcendental Meditation
communities will soon re-unite.
she created. Other members
work in computer software,
insurance, clothing manufac-
turing and several are artists.
In 1983, the single
members broke away to form
their own settlement, a kib-
butz named Yahad, which
means "together." Since that
time they have been living in
caravans in a valley about 30
miles from Hararit; "a tran-
sit camp," members jokingly
call it. Many have since mar-
ried and there are now 20
children in Yahad.
In Hararit, the emphasis is
on individuality. In Yahad,
togetherness is definitely the
key word. The 70 members
meditate together twice dai-
ly, eat their vegetarian meals
in a communal dining hall
and work together in an elec-
tronic and computer factory,
a CAD (computer aided
design) studio, a ceramic
jewelry workshop and a
health clinic employing the
Maharishi Ayurvedic medical
In 1980, Hararit,
the first TM
communal
settlement in
Israel, was
established. The
site was Mount
Netufa in Lower
Galilee.
techniques, which include
vigorous massage and herbal
remedies.
One would think so much
togetherness would get on
each other's nerves, but the
members claim otherwise.
Dvir, head of the CAD studio,
says, "Everyone here is very
tolerant. There are no ex-
plosive arguments and people
don't speak badly of their
neighbors. Coming to a kib-
butz of meditators was a corn-
promise in my life. I knew I
could forget about a well-paid
job in the city, but I decided
to go in the direction of
spiritual development."
While Yahad was searching
for a permanent home, the
Jewish Agency's settlement
department offered them a
site adjacent to Hararit,
assuming that the only two
TM settlements in Israel
would want to be neighbors.
Members of both com-
munities, however, are ap-
prehensive about the pending
marriage. Although they will
share municipal services,
each settlement will be
economically independent.
One reason that both set-
tlements have agreed to this
unique symbiosis is that after
morning and evening medita-
tion, many members practice
siddhi techniques. These are
advanced practices, the most
controversial of which is "fly-
ing," effortless hopping
crosslegged on a soft mat-
tress. The aim of the techni-
que is to "strengthen the
stability of pure con-
sciousness" and adherents
profess to occasional levita-
tion. A "flying dome" is to be
built to serve both
communities.
"If the square root of one
percent of a population prac-
tices the siddhi techniques
under one roof on a regular
basis," they claim, "it will
bring peace, harmony and
prosperity to the country."
This adds up to 200 peple in
Israel. More than this
number of Israelis have
already learned the techni-
que, but the problem is how to
attract them to come live on
an isolated mountaintop in
Galilee.
With the combined popula-
tions of Yahad and Hararit,
there will be about 70 siddhis.
Members hope that the twin
settlements will attract
enough aspiring siddhis to
reach the 200 necessary to
improve the political situa-
tion in the volatile Middle
East. May they succeed.
❑
World Zionist Press Service
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