Sowing Seeds of Peace in Colombia
Father Gabriel Mejia and Luis Alvarez, Ph.D.
Abstract
The Hogares Claret Foundation, founded by Catholic priest Father Gabriel Mejia, operates more than 50 children’s shelters across Colombia, serving more than 5,000 abandoned children. The mission of the Foundation is to develop the full creativity and intelligence of each of these youths through Consciousness-Based education, which utilizes the Transcendental Meditation program and its advanced techniques.
The Foundation finds Transcendental Meditation to be a very effective technique to expand the heart capacity and spirituality of the students, thereby building within them an inner temple of peace and promoting lifelong learning and growth. True happiness means going beyond the small ego to experience transcendence and to develop spirituality and trust in oneself. Transcendental Meditation helps accomplish this, allowing these children to live in the present, let go of the past, and not dwell in expectations for the future.
The 50-year civil war in Colombia forced over 7 million Colombians to relocate. Thousands of children have come to the Centers directly from the war, from the guerillas, and find that this program eliminates all the stress of the war they’ve experienced. For thirty years the Hogares Claret community has been open, trusting, and peaceful.
Thanks to the profound influence of coherence generated by thousands of Hogares Claret children practicing the TM program and its advanced techniques, the 50-year war in Colombia has now ended. Only peace remains—and the natural human right to live a dignified and joyful life.