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Section I: Science of Being

What Is Being?

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Being, the Essential Constituent of Creation

Physical science informs us that the whole of creation is built up of layers of energy, one inside the other. The subtlest is at the innermost stratum of creation and builds up around itself different qualities, becoming bigger and bigger.

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There was a time when physics declared the indestructibility of matter because the atom, which was thought to be the subtlest part of matter, was thought to be indestructible....

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The Purpose of Life

Expansion of happiness is the purpose of life, and evolution is the process by which it is fulfilled. Life begins in a natural way, it evolves, and happiness expands. The expansion of happiness carries with it the growth of intelligence, power, creativity and everything that may be said to be of significance in life.

The purpose of individual life is also the purpose of the life of the entire cosmos. The purpose of creation is the expansion of happiness which is fulfilled through the process of cosmic evolution. The significance and purpose of individual life is the same as that of the life of the cosmos. The difference lies in the scale.

The individual life is the basic unit of the life of the cosmos. Evolution of the cosmos is basically served by the evolution the individual life. Thus, if the purpose of individual life is served, the purpose of cosmic life is also served spontaneously and simultaneously to that degree and on that scale.

If one has fulfilled the purpose of his own life, he has done his best to help the cosmic purpose.

If one is not happy, one has lost the very purpose of life. If one is not constantly developing his intelligence, power, creativity, peace, and happiness, then he has lost the very purpose of life. Life is not meant to be lived in dullness, idleness, and suffering; these do not belong to the essential nature of life.

Life is dynamic, not static. It is energetic, progressing, evolving, developing through activity, and multiplying itself. The nature and purpose of life is progress, evolution, activity, and improvement.

Activity maintains the stream of evolution, and the physical vehicle that is responsible for activity is the nervous system of the individual. In species lower than man the nervous system is not so fully evolved and so the activity leading to evolution is on a much smaller scale. The activity of the lower species, while carrying out the process of evolution, does not produce a high degree of evolution. As the nervous system evolves, the rate of evolution increases.

Man's nervous system is the most highly evolved. Therefore, the scope of evolution of man is unlimited in this life. We note how, when a child is born, his intelligence, power, and creativity are low, but as he grows he indulges in the field of activity where his power is great, his intelligence is great, his creativity is great, and the degree of happiness which he experiences in himself and projects outside himself is great. The nervous system is developed to the extent that through proper activity (the revelation of which is the purpose of this book) the man can contact absolute bliss, creativity, intelligence, power, and energy.

To live a life of freedom is the purpose of life in the human species. If one is not able to live such a life, the very purpose of life is blurred. Man is born to live a perfect life holding within its range all values of the transcendental absolute divine of unlimited energy, intelligence, power, peace and bliss along with the unlimited values of the world of multiplicity in relative existence. He is born to project the abundance of the absolute state of life into the world of relative existence.

Man's life is meant to be a bridge of abundance between divine intelligence and the whole of creation. Man's life is to cultivate and give--cultivate the divine power, intelligence, happiness and abundance, and give it out to all of creation. This is the high purpose of the life of man, and it is fortunate to find that every man is capable of reaching this by improving the conscious capacity of his mind and consciously contacting the field of the absolute energy, peace, happiness, and abundance of the eternal, divine consciousness.

Every man is capable of spreading the divine splendor in the whole creation. He is able to project all values of the absolute into the world of relative existence for all creatures to enjoy and to glorify the entire creation of God. Each man is capable of living a life of full values. If one fails to live it, it is a disgrace to oneself, and it abuses the glory of almighty God within and above us.

Here is an invitation for every man on earth to start picking up the divine consciousness of the absolute, and, bringing it through all his activity into the world of variety, enjoy it himself and project it for all others to enjoy as well.

A man projecting himself out in the world through a limited mind is not able to appreciate the real purpose of life. With a small capacity of mind, he engages himself in doing little things of which he thinks in very limited terms. He can engage himself in very limited activity. He can create only a limited number of small things of limited value. The conscious mind of an ordinary man is so limited that he is not even able to enjoy life. He is found to be suffering for the most part on many levels of his life. This state of suffering is merely due to his not using his full potential.

By not using his full potential, man is not able to fulfill the purpose of his life. He is found suffering in many ways because he is not using the full conscious capacity of his mind; he is not using the great energy he carries within himself. He is not experiencing and expressing in his life the abundance of absolute bliss that he naturally possesses, the great absolute field of creativity and power that he has within himself. He is like a millionaire who has forgotten his wealth and status and who goes begging in the street and every moment feels the lack of money.

All suffering is due to not knowing a way to unfold the divine glory present within oneself. Lack of ... Not having the capacity for divine unfoldment, the ignorance of a technique for diving within oneself is responsible for the misery in life. Without divine consciousness, man is found lacking in energy, intelligence, and clear thinking. He is tired, tense and anxious.

This state of human existence and human intelligence have come to such a deplorable condition that from the field of psychology--the great science of the mind--it is found suggested that tension is necessary for creative intelligence. What a shame it is to believe that tension is necessary to improve life!

It is said that poets and artists have created their inspiring literature and art under tension. All such statements come from ignorance and from an inability to release tensions.

Our modern scientific age unfortunately is increasing in tension. The individual life seems to be growing in tension instead of growing in ease and comfort, even though material comforts certainly are increasing. This is only because the individuals have no way of improving their ability and efficiency through contact with the greater energy and intelligence that every man has within himself. It is only necessary to consciously contact that field of inner life and profit by it.

The man of today is blind to the purpose of life, not able to see that he is born to enjoy, create, and live a life useful to himself and others. He plunges into whatever activity lies ahead, working hard to put forth his best effort in that field. It is commendable to work hard for things; to be creative in any aspect of life is what man is here for. But when activity increases, a man often finds himself unable to cope with the increased pressure. His efficiency declines, or he does not find energy enough to cope with the increased activity. This is why tension and strain develop.

As a man engages in greater activity he should be able to produce more energy and greater intelligence within himself to deal with this increased activity. This he does not know how to do, and, therefore, he loses the entire purpose of life.

Normal Life

While dealing with ...

Section III: Art of Living

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ART OF SPEAKING

The art of speaking obviously consists of: speaking with a minimum consumption of energy; speaking rightly; speaking harmoniously; speaking pleasingly; speaking powerfully; speaking usefully; speaking in such a manner that the speaker remains free from the binding influence of speech.

Now we shall discuss these one by one.

Speaking with a Minimum Consumption of Energy

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Speaking Rightly

While dealing with "Right and Wrong", it will be made clear that a correct evaluation of right and wrong is found in its absolute value only on the plane of Being. Therefore, the art of speaking rightly necessarily has its basis in the plane of Being.

However, the basic considerations of the relative nature of the art of speaking involve the projected art of thinking; so all that is valid for the art of thinking is valid for the art of speech. Right speech has its basis in right thinking.

Speech is the expression of both the heart and mind together. Therefore, for the speech to be right, it is necessary that the man be right in his heart and mind.

Speech is the expression of one's state of evolution. One word from the mouth of a man reveals his inner quality. The softness of speech gives an expression to the culture of the heart, and the logic, imagination, or creativity expressed through the speech reveals the culture of his mind. A man could be screened for his whole state of evolution and development through one word of his speech.

Speech is a very delicate medium between the man and his surroundings. It is highly important for the well-being of the individual and his surroundings that all the people should cultivate the art of speech, because one wrong word spoken gives wrong impressions in the atmosphere. The man may change his attitude, his decision, or his course of behavior, but the word that has gone out of his mouth can never be withdrawn. The influence that he has created in the audience and in the atmosphere around him can never be withdrawn. Therefore, it is highly important that one should know the art of speech and should know how to speak rightly.

Speech is a projection of a thought, and, while the art of speech fundamentally lies in the art of thinking, it is much finer than the art of thinking itself, because every thought that arises in the mind need not be expressed as speech.

Take the example of a businessman who is sitting with a friend in the evening, when suddenly an idea comes to his mind regarding some matter that he had to speak to his manager about the next day. It would be very odd if he began to give expression to his thought right there. This is what is meant by the art of speech being much finer and thus a more advanced art than the art of thinking.

Speech has to be in keeping with the atmosphere. The thought and its expression as speech should be such that they are welcomed by the surroundings. Hundreds of words unsuitable to the atmosphere will prove futile against one word of value.

Thus the art of speaking rightly gains fulfillment in the art of thinking, together with the skill of proper expression suitable to the atmosphere. This, as has already been said, depends upon the man being right in his heart and mind, and this, as we have seen, is only possible by the infusion of Being into the nature of the mind, which is easily accomplished through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation.

Speaking Harmoniously

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Speaking Pleasingly

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ART OF ACTION

There is a common proverb in India which says that ...

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The Art of Performing Action to Yield Maximum Results

The art of performing action to yield the maximum results rests in two factors. ...

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This is how, by due amount of performance of Transcendental Meditation, supplemented by the power of charity and virtuous deeds of helping others, the negative influence of the past karma can be counteracted in order to smooth the path of the present karma. And then the action will be performed without resistance or obstacles, yielding maximum results.

So, the formula for producing maximum results is not to mind the obstacles and negative influences trying to offer resistance to the performance of action. The doer should put himself in action and continue it until the desired results are achieved. The process of meditation, of bringing the conscious mind in tune with transcendental absolute eternal Being, which is the source of all life energy and intelligence, raises the standard of consciousness. When the standard of consciousness is raised, the action performed from that raised level of life energy and intelligence will certainly have an overriding influence over the karma of the past to produce maximum results.

This is how, by the power of present action or karma, destiny is improved. Herein lies the full meaning of the proverb, "Man is a master of his own destiny."

The Art of Performing an Action So That the Performance Remains a Joy and Does not Become Tiring, Tedious, or a Boring Task

The process of any action will remain joyful for the doer and for the surroundings only when the doer has very great energy and intelligence and he encounters no resistance on the way and receives all cooperation from everywhere. ...

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ART OF BEHAVIOR

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Really good behavior will be possible when the minds of both the parties are broadened, when they are able to see the whole situation, understand each other more thoroughly in their true perspectives, and succeed in locating the needs of the other and formulating their behavior on the basis of attempting to fulfill these needs. This naturally necessitates a fully developed consciousness and right sense of judgment and all the qualities that only a strong and clear mind possesses.

Small minds always have a very narrow vision and they fail to perceive the total situation; in their narrow vision they create imaginary obstacles and close themselves in their narrow scope of imagined forms, which are neither useful to themselves nor to anyone else. Then their behavior towards others only results in misunderstanding and increase of tension. ... Transcendental Meditation.

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Behavior and the Surroundings

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PATHS TO GOD REALIZATION

The conception of the word path indicates ... and ending at another. The paths to God realization mean ... in order to reach God. To understand ... and how far he is from man.

God

God is the most ...

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God is found in two phases of reality: as a supreme Being of absolute eternal nature, and as a personal God at the top of phenomenal creation. Thus, God has two aspects, the personal and the impersonal. They are the two realities of the word God.

Impersonal Aspect Of God

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The impersonal God is that Being which dwells in the heart of everyone. Each individual in his true nature is the Impersonal God. That is why the Vedic philosophy of the Upanishads declares: "I am That, thou art That, and all this is That". No one need be afraid of his own Self, no one need be afraid of the result of bliss, no one need be afraid of the kingdom of heaven, where there is all bliss and fulfillment.

The God almighty, impersonal unmanifested Being, is the eternal reality of life. It is imperishable, It is abundance, It is life, It is fulfillment. It is at hand for anyone to realize It. One has only to be, and the technique to be lies in Transcendental Meditation.

Personal Aspect Of God

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