NEWS RELEASE                                                                              

For Immediate Release: July 13, 2022                                                   

Dateline: Mason City, IA

Is Meditation in Schools a Future Supreme Court Issue?

(MASON CITY, IA) – A meditation researcher and author is predicting the recent Supreme Court decision permitting a coach to lead prayer on the football field opens the door to opportunities – and protests – for religious-based meditation in schools.

Jim Collison, author of "Simply How to Meditate," explains in his statement issued today: "The Supreme Court's recent decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District actually invites lawsuits from parents and teachers demanding the right to teach religious-based meditation in tax-funded schools."

Collison noted thousands of teachers in the United States are teaching mindfulness meditation in schools. "Mindfulness," he explained, "is a Buddhist meditation technique popularized in the United States in the past 30 years. Its Buddhist origins are downplayed, even papered over, to permit funding of its training by schools, colleges, and even the U.S. military."

Collison believes it's only a matter of time before fundamentalist and evangelical Christian parents will demand prayer-based meditation in their schools. He asks, "How will this Supreme Court spin a decision to approve that?"

"And when this conservative Court does spin it's approval," Collison says, "get ready for a Muslim teacher in Michigan to start teaching Islamic meditation in a Michigan public school. And get ready for a Wiccan teacher in Wisconsin to start teaching Wiccan meditation in a Madison school. I'm waiting for the lawsuits to hit the Supreme Court's fan when that happens. How will the conservative judges twist themselves into pretzels to affirm the right of Christians to teach their kind of meditation but deny the same to teachers and parents of other religious beliefs?"

About Jim Collison.

Jim Collison's meditation experience began when he was a child. Now at age 89, he's been meditating nearly 80 years.

His career as researcher, writer and editor began as sports editor of his hometown's two weekly newspapers in Blue Earth, MN. He is a graduate of St. John's University (Collegeville, MN).

Jim taught on both the high school and college levels and served as an educational consultant. He designed an educational program called ALERT (Adult Literacy and Employment Reading Training) and wrote and conducted such workshops as: Start on Success in Your Own Business, Power Over Fear, How to Take Advantage of Crisis and Change, and How to Help, Energize and Lead People.

Jim is the author of Simply How to Meditate: Meditation Made Easy for Beginners and Busy People, Skill-Building in Advanced Reading, Mental Power in Reading, NO-How Coaching: Strategies for Winning in Sports and Business from the Coach Who Says "NO!" and HIDDEN RICHES: How You Can Discover Hidden Wealth from Your Employees' Ideas.

He was co-founder and president of Employers of America, a national association for employers, managers and supervisors. He was a founding member of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Committee in Waterloo, Iowa. He served as a member of the advisory council for the Center for Industrial Research and Service, associated with Iowa State University.

He lives in Mason City, Iowa.

Media Contact. For a review copy of "Simply How to Meditate" or to arrange an interview with Jim Collison, contact him by phone at 641-423-6156 or email him to: AuthorJim@SimplyHowToMeditate.com.