Meditation is a solitary practice right? Not necessarily. Our latest guest on our podcast is not only creating community through this individual practice, he is also pioneering a study on the effect of deep meditation on the collective consciousness. 

                            

We are delighted to have Barron Hanson on our podcast. Barron is a fellow Vedic Meditation teacher based in Australia, and has a long history of bringing people together, designing transformative experiences, creating films, and generally working to make the world a better place. His latest project, more like a family of projects, is centered on researching and documenting the “Maharishi Effect” which suggests that if 1% of a geographic population starts meditating, it can have a seismic effect on the collective. Barron wanted to see what would happen if 1% of his community in Nowra learned to meditate, and the study and documentary about the initiative is called “Be Here Nowra.” 

 

As a compliment to “Be Here Nowra,” Barron also is spearheading a festival called “Here In Nowra” to invite meditators from all over the world to enjoy a month-long festival in October 2024 devoted to vedic philosophy, practices and teachings. It also will play a role in a study through the University of Wollongong to explore the effects of collective consciousness within the community. 

 

And….Meditation Without Borders is going to be there as to host a talk, a teacher’s workshop on outreach teaching, and a 5-day women’s rounding retreat. 

 

We couldn’t wait to sit down with Barron to hear how all of this came about, and to learn more about the personal journey of birthing such an ambitious and inspiring project.