Subtitled ‘the truth of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’, this book tackles our serious social divisions at a new level within the context of the well-researched Maharishi collective meditation effect that challenges the conventional view that consciousness is simply a by-product of brain function. The essence is the experience of pure consciousness giving rise to a field coherence that has been shown in peer-reviewed articles to be effective. Barry discusses the relevant background of a non-ideological and transcendent rather than transhumanist approach. Given that government is a reflection of collective consciousness, its overall evolution is critical to our future of both unity and diversity reflecting greater openness and tolerance as well as the development of values leading to social harmony. This represents a paradigm of connectivity of consciousness as well as an enlargement of our moral circle. The first step, as outlined in this instructive book, is to take its proposals seriously as a practical and knowledge-based approach to healing social divisions – in this respect, the increasing popularity of meditation is a good sign and may make a vital contribution to a more peaceful world. ~ David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

I consider Barry Spivack's work very important. ~ Maeve Cooke, Professor of Philosophy University College Dublin

For anyone vexed by the problem of conflict and hatred, this book has good news. Healing Social Divisions offers a line of intervention that is relatively straightforward: Meditation can heal social divisions even if only a small fraction of people practise it. Analyzing the effectiveness of meditation interventions is challenging but the book does a great job borrowing from particle physics to explain social behavior. It is easy to follow and truly entertaining. ~ Bernard Reinsberg, Lecturer in International Relations, Glasgow University

Conflict and hatred have real economic costs in addition to reducing individual and collective well being. In this book, Barry Spivack lays out both the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence for the practice of Transcendental Meditation in healing social divisions and reducing conflict and hatred in society. This is a very timely book and one that should inspire policy makers across the globe. ~ Huw Dixon, Professor of Economics, Cardiff University

Healing Social Divisions opens our eyes to a welcome and urgently-needed new possibility for humankind. It provides a vision both sweepingly grand and immediately practical. ~ Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation and author of the best selling book Strength in Stillness

Barry Spivack's book is well grounded in this work and ventures further, exploring the body of research that suggests groups of meditators can positively affect the wellbeing of societies. ~ Miguel Farias, DPhil, co-author of The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? and lead editor of the Oxford Handbook of Meditation