Keynote speakers stir the heart
The first Keynote speaker, Carmen N’Namdi, described how effective the Transcendental Meditation^® program had been in the school she founded, Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse of Detroit.

More than 90 students meet twice daily in the school’s auditorium for their group meditations. “To see 10- and 11-year old boys sit quietly is incredible. And that they know the meaning of ‘quiet.’ So many people don’t. They’re learning basics. The Transcendental Meditation program allows them to grow from a real experience, not from superficial things. We want to help children manage their lives and meditation is a tool to get to the real self.” Students recognize the value of meditation: “I’m not as grumpy,” “I focus much better,” “I really love the afternoon meditation; it makes me feel cooled down.” All of her teachers meditate together before and after school. She emphasizes to them its benefits: “I want to interact with you, not your stress. I want you to interact with your students, not your stress or their stress. I want us to get to the real people.”

Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse of Detroit is certainly succeeding. Called the “Champion of Charter Schools” by the Detroit News, it has a lengthy waiting list for new students. And judging by the standing ovation she received for her address, Ms. N’Namdi connected with the real people who attended the CBEA Conference.

Making connections to The Soul of Education
Connections were also prevalent with the second Keynote Speaker, noted educator and author Rachael Kessler. Ms. Kessler cited statements of concern about the inner emptiness that many students feel, “a spiritual darkness that permeates the moral landscape of the nation, while political leaders measure schools’ success by scores on standardized tests.” “Your work here, and the work I do, is lighting candles to pierce the spiritual darkness.”

Ms. Kessler’s comments focused on the importance of addressing the “inner life of students” to: prevent violence, nurture spiritual development, increase academic motivation, improve focus and cooperation, foster creative and critical thinking, keep more students in school, and help students transcend prejudice.

She works to achieve this by creating a secure environment in which students can discuss questions of deep concern and discover deep connections, what she refers to as “Gateways to the Soul of Education.” “Students can learn about virtues, but their actions depend on what is inside. We want to help them grow to that place where they have, in Gandhi’s words, ‘the will to do no harm,’ to themselves or to others.”

Parallels to Maharishi’s address
Ms. Kessler recalled Maharishi’s address from the previous day: a “wake up!” call to address the root causes of problems in education. Maharishi emphasized that the solution to violence and terrorism lies in proper education: “Now that the self-referral Unified Field has been discovered, put it on all levels of education. Americans should realize that it is highly dangerous that this scientifically discovered knowledge is out of education.”

Maharishi continued: “The solution is in unfolding the cosmic value with the individual value, within the Self of everyone. The principle is to hold a bigger light that will radiate farther away. Yogic Flying radiates harmony all over the world, because it creates the self-interacting dynamics of consciousness. The procedures are there, and they must be utilized.”

These remarks were echoed by a quote Ms. Kessler shared from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1960’s: “Now we have come to see that science can give us only physical power which, if not controlled by spiritual power, will lead inexorably to cosmic doom.”