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PREFACE This is a book of revival for the age. If the golden era is ever to dawn on human society, if peace and harmony are to reign on earth, The Science of Being and Art of Living will provide a free way for it to come. A new humanity will be born, fuller in conception and richer in experience and accomplishments in all fields. Joy of life will belong to every man, love will dominate human society, truth and virtue will reign in the world peace on earth will be permanent and all will live in fulfilment, in fullness of life in God-consciousness. This book is the exception that disproves the rule spelled out in the familiar line: East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet. For this book furnishes not only a meeting ground - a point of entry for the mutual understanding: of two heritages and cultures, it formulates a method for each to enter into, complement and enrich the other, to the immediate and practical benefit of both and to the ultimate enrichment of all mankind. If this sounds an extraordinary statement, it is only because the subject matter itself is extraordinary. The West has long accepted as a fact the spiritual wisdom of the East, but pretty much on faith and without any wide understanding of the true meaning of this wisdom. Even by those scholars whose studies have brought them a degree of familiarity, the East's spiritual wisdom has been largely acknowledged as the province of the monkish ascetic, the holy scholar, who lives apart and shuns all but the most necessary contact with the everyday world. Thus the West has been apt to regard eastern religious and mystical teaching as something which, while undoubtedly profound, authentic, perhaps even close to the root answers to questions posed by all men, was still essentially a museum piece to be viewed under glass and of little practical worth to westem man who has to live in the world deal with its problems and meet the responsibilities which it thrust upon him. For westerners teachings which counselled withdrawal from the world and its temptations might be studied as curiosities, but they offered no real possibility of application as a creed to be lived or followed. Here lies the distinction and significance of this work. It contains the essence of Indian spiritual learning, teaching and wisdom: the heritage of India's imperishable tradition of Masters. It formulates a method by which any man - all men - may enter this same heritage, discover its riches and harvest its rewards. The method requires no departure from westem living or ways, but promises enhancement of the individual's capacity to know, to achieve, to live and to worship at the altar of his own chosen faith. The teaching of this book is not limited to any one faith, it deals with the essential truth which underlies all faiths and its message may be lived by Men of all creeds, for its teaching is inconsistent with none. It was written to fill a void - the need of men everywhere - and as the result of increasing insistence by those who had come into contact with the wisdom of His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The full sweep of his teaching is disclosed by the book's title: The Science of Being and Art of Living. The choice of words is deliberate and provocative, for one seldom equates science with spiritual teaching. Yet the system on which Maharishi's teaching is based - a simple method of transcendental meditation (a much misunderstood word in the West, but one which implies simply a means of communication with the infinite) - is indeed systematic and produces measurable and predictable results and is therefore scientific But the product of this science is realisation and fulfilment in the art of life. The key to this knowledge has long been held by the Masters in India and it was long supposed to be their exclusive perhaps obscure province. Surely not, however. Surely God's teaching is for all who will hear it. So says Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; and his book is addressed to all who will read and act on it. To know Maharishi and to be in his presence is to realise at once that here is a man who stands apart from other men, one who truly knows God and lives the earthly personification of highest human attainment. In this he is the direct heir of the tradition of India's great Masters. He was the close and favoured disciple of a Master possessing extraordinary human qualities, His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the most illustrious of the Jagadguru Shankaracharyas of India. Dr. Rhadakrishnan, the world-famous philosopher who is now President of India, addressed him as Vedanta Incarnate, and poets spoke of him as personified Divinity. It was at the feet of this great Master that Maharishi spent thirteen years acquiring the wisdom that he now freely gives to the world. It was in Madras, in 1958, that Maharishi founded the spiritual Regeneration Movement with the aim of spiritually regenerating every man in the world. Since then, in this short time, he has become known and revered throughout Asia, Europe and North America. He has chosen the ancient pilgrimage town of Rishikesh, on the Ganges River at the foot of the Himalayas, as the site of the academy of Meditation and the world headquarters of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. There, each spring for three months, Maharishi trains people from all parts of the world to be teachers of his system of meditation. Also each year, in secluded places in Europe, North America and India, groups of people gather with Maharishi for intensive training in the art of transcendental meditation. Maharishi's plan of action and aim embrace the whole world. It is his stated objective to redirect the course of humanity by means of the widest possible propagation of the knowledge and practice of transcendental meditation. To this end, centres of meditation have been established in the major cities of most countries of the world. The world has known its share of conquerors by force of anger. Relatively few have conquered with love, bringing to the conquered peace and plenty rather than the suffering and privation which follow in the wake of war. Maharishi is a man of peace, but one whose dynamic teaching may well overpower the possibility of conquest by physical force. For Maharishi brings to all those who desire it a direct way to reach the peace which lies within all men; to each man path by which to find the kingdom within himself which Christ and every great prophet knew and described. A man who has discovered this path and who walks it, radiates this peace; it fills the atmosphere around him and communicates itself to all who come in contact with him. A nation or society which discovers and treads this same path would radiate this to the world. Then truly would man have found the golden age he has long and painfully sought. That we are on the threshold of just such a possibility, even probability - is the electrifying implication of this book and the (divine hope that it offers to us. For those who are fortunate enough to read this book, to take up its challenge and experience this path through the subtle technique of transcendental meditation, the hope will flower into reality the only and eternal reality. CHARLES F. LUTES  The Science of Being and Art of Living is the summation of the practical wisdom of integrated life advanced by the Vedic Rishis of ancient India, understood in the light of scientific thinking in the present day western world.  It presents a philosophy of life in fulfilment and offers a practice suitable for all men everywhere to glorify all aspects of their day-to-day life. It deals with the fundamentals of all problems of life and suggests one solution to eradicate all suffering.  This book presents a practical thesis to satisfy man's search for truth through science, religion and metaphysical thought. It offers the principle of a practical technique to enable all men to harmonise their inner spiritual content with the glories of the outer material life and to find their God within themselves. Science explores the actuality of forms and phenomena. All the branches of science are the various ways to realise the truth of existence. Each of them starts from the obvious known and aims at investigating the hidden unknown. The ultimate truth of life is being approached from all directions. All the sciences are exploring the various strata of creation. from the gross to the subtle fields of existence. The science of being, like every other science, starts its investigation into the truth of existence from the gross, obvious level of life and enters into the subtle regions of experience. The science of being, however, eventually transcends these subtle regions and arrives at the direct experience of the transcendental field of eternal Being. The science of being is a deep and practical philosophy of life. It is a systematic investigation into the true nature of the ultimate reality. Although, like any other science, it is theoretical in its nature, its applied aspects, however, reach much farther horizons of the supreme reality of life than those of abstract metaphysical speculations. This book is divided into four parts : Science of Being, Life, The Art of Living, and Fulfilment. The last three parts of the book present the most practical wisdom of day-to-day life, and this practical wisdom is based on the deep philosophical significance contained in the first section on the science of being. The science of being: provides a sound basis for the art of living As a matter of fact, the art of living is the applied science of being. To those who have never had any interest in metaphysical study, the section The Science of Being may at first appears to be highly abstract. But when they come to read the section Life and The Art of Living and have completed Fulfilment, they will find that without dwelling on the abstract features of the science of being the whole wisdom of the book world have no practical basis. A gardener has to have a knowledge of the unseen root of the tree before he can supply proper nourishment at different stages of its growth. Likewise a man in the practical field of life must frrst be given a good understanding of the fundamental reality that lies in the field of abstract Being in order that he may glorify the whole of the rest of life. That is why The Science of Being is placed frrst in this book, and the parts of practical value follow. The word science comes from the Latin root scire, to know. It means knowledge; systematised knowledge is science. The science of being means systematised knowledge of Being, systematised knowledge of existence or the actualitY of life. The field of Being, or absolute existence, was for many centuries considered in terms of mysticism. The present scientific age hesitates to assign value to anything shrouded in the garb of mysticism, and that is why the study of Being, the absolute field of creation, has not been a part of any branch of science until now. The growth of scientific thinking in the present generation has brought Being to the level of scientific study and scrutiny. The present work is the frrst of its kind in the long history of human thought. A systematic method has been developed that enables an individual to experience directly the pure state of Being. It is done by Consciously entering into the experience of the subtle strata of a thought eventually arriving at the direct experience of the subtlest state of the thought and then arriving at the very source of thought. Then the conscious mind attains the pure state of Being. The science of being which gives rise to the practical art of living is a science which is much more valuable for human life than all the sciences known so far. For up to now the basis of all the sciences has been the human mind functioning from a limited field of consciousness, or limited potential the conscious mind. The science of being embodies the principle of transcendental meditation to enlarge the conscious capacity of the mind to the maximum, and thereby provides not only the basis for great expansion of knowledge in every field of science, but also a direct way to fulfilment in any sphere of life. For all this knowledge my indebtedness is to my Master, His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Jagadguru Bhagwan Shankaracharya, the main source of inspiration and the guiding light of all my activities. This writing has many pleasant memories associated with it. Henry Nyburg, head of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in Europe, long ago expressed the need for such a book. And Charles F. Lutes, President of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the United States, made it possible for me to have a few weeks of silence, away from the incessant activity of public life, so that I could at least speak my thoughts on to tapes.The recordings were transcribed and put into the form of this book. For this reason it may read more as the spoken word than as a written composition. Lake Arrowhead, California. MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI January 12. 1963 SCIENTIFIC REALITY Physical sciences inform us that the whole of creation is built up of layers of energy, one inside the other. The subtlest constitutes the innermost stratum of creation. There was a time when physics was governed by two fundamental laws: conservation of energy and conservation of matter. Neither energy nor matter could be created or destroyed the total amounts were separately conserved. At that time the atom was considered to be the smallest particle of matter, basically unchangeable and indestructible. The advent of the theory of relativity brought about a profound change in these ideas. Matter was just another form of energy and not separately conserved. Matter could be created out of the energy of radiation and matter could again be 'destroyed' and transformed into energy of radiation, but the total amount of energy in all forms always remained the same. Thus the whole creation was built up out of indestructible energy. However, the idea of indivisible atoms had to be further revised. Nuclear physicists found that all atoms were made up of just a few elementary particles, the stable proton and electron and the unstable neutron. These particles represent a more subtle, elemental level than the atom. In the last few years our knowledge of the number of elementary particles has increased rapidly; more and more unstable particles have been discovered. Physics now faces the situation when even these particles can no longer be considered elementary. Instead, the physicists are on the search for even more subtle states of matter, which in turn are the constituents of the present day elementary particles. Thus, the search of physics is directed toward ever subtler states of matter or energy. In the physical world, which we shall call the relative or the relative field of existence, several forms of energy are known. These forms are eternally changing into one another, according to the laws of physics. The search of physics leads the scientists to think that there might exist some fundamental form of energy, which is absolutely stable and more subtle than any other form of energy. The relative would then arise as perturbations of this absolute energy, and all forms of physical energy would be manifestations of this absolute state of unmanifested energy. This is the source of all matter and energy. It may be found to be too subtle to be known by physics. Even thought-energy is too subtle to be measured by present-day physics. Clearly, every thought has a process involving energy. The existence of long-distance thought transmission, although not an ordinary phenomenon, confirms the concept of thought-energy The basis of thought-energy we call the state of Being. Thus, Being and the Absolute are synonymous. Growing knowledge of physics in the subtle strata of creation has advanced man's ability far beyond his imagination of a few decades ago. As our knowledge of the fine strata of matter and energy increases through the discoveries of the physical sciences, we gain all the advantages of that knowledge. Our life becomes more comprehensive, more powerful, more useful, our aspirations also increase, and we become more creative and more fulfilled. With the knowledge of the ultimate basis of creation the absolute energy, man's civilisation on earth will reach unthought of glory. As physics continues to explore the finer strata of these finer particles it is bound to strike against the unmanifested aspect of existence which lies beyond the subtlest aspect of an energy particle - the field of Being. This is how science is certain to declare Being a scientific reality. It is only a matter of time. But however long it may be before physicists of some future generation declare Being to lie at the extreme limit of science, man should not remain deprived of the direct experience of that reality of existence which forms the very basis of life and whose realisation glorifies life in all its aspects. WHAT IS BEING? Underneath the subtlest layer of all that exists in the relative field is the abstract, absolute field of pure Being, which is unmanifested and transcendental. It is neither matter nor energy. It is pure Being, the state of pure existence. This state of pure existence underlies all that exists. Everything is the expression of this pure existence Or absolute Being which is the essential constituent of all relative life. The one eternal, unmanifested, absolute Being manifests itself in many forms of lives and existences in creation. BEING, THE ULTIMATE REALITY OF CREATION The question arises, then, how can we understand Being in terms of all the different aspects of life with which we are familiar? How can we know Being in terms of the world, and what its relationship is with the world of forms and phenomena in which we live? How can we distinguish existence from that which exists? Existence is abstract, that which exists is concrete. We may say that existence is life itself, while that which exists is the ever-changing phenomenal phase of the never-changing reality of existence. Existence is the abstract basis of life on which is built the concrete structure of life, which encompasses all aspects of the individual body, mind thinking, speaking, acting, behaving, experiencing and influencing surroundings, and all aspects of cosmic existence. Life expresses itself in different modes of living. That which is lived is the expression of life ; that which exists is the expression of existence. That which is, is the expression of Being. Existence, life or Being is the unmanifested reality of all that exists, lives or is. Being is the ultimate reality of all that was, is or will be. It is eternal and unbounded, the basis of all the phenomenal existence of cosmic life. It is the source of all time, space and causation. It is the be-all and end-all of existence, the all-pervading eternal field of the almighty creative intelligence. I am That eternal Being, thou art That and all this is in its essential nature That eternal Being. Being is life, It is existence.To be is to live, to exist. Being, or existence, finds expression in the different aspects of living : thinking, speaking, doing, experiencing, feeling. All aspects of life have their basis in Being. The knowledge of Being as the ultimate and essential constituent of creation raises all aspects of life to the unbounded status of absolute existence. Relative life gains more of the absolute status and as a result, stability and permanence increase in the relative field. Energy, intelligence and creativity rise to their limitless value, and the limited individual life gains the status of unlimited cosmic existence. This is the glory of the knowledge that Being is the ultimate reality of creation. Experience shows that Being is bliss-consciousness, the source of all thinking, of all existing creation. It lies beyond relative existence, where the experiencer or mind is left awake in full awareness of itself without the experience of any object. The conscious mind reaches the state of pure consciousness, which is the source of all thinking. The almighty creative intelligence of the Absolute is the source of all intelligence. Being is the source of all power. It is the source of all nature and of the natural laws which maintain the different forms and phenomena in creation. The essential nature of Being is absolute bliss-consciousness '. Without knowledge of its basis, absolute bliss-consciousness, life is like a building without a foundation. All relative life without the conscious basis of Being is like a ship without a rudder, ever at the mercy of the tossing sea. It is like a dry leaf on the ground left to the mercy of the wind, drifting aimlessly any direction in which the wind takes it. The life of the individual without the realisation of Being is baseless meaningless and fruitless. Being is the basis of life, that which gives it meaning and makes it fruitful. Being is the living: presence of God, the reality of life. It is eternal truth. It is the Absolute in eternal freedom. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF BEING It has been said that Being is the ultimate reality of creation and that It is present in all strata of creation. It is present in all forms, words, smells, tastes and objects of touch, in everything experienced, in the senses of perception and organs of action, in all phenomena; in the doer and the work done, in all directions - north, south, east and west; in all times - past, present and future; It is uniformly present. It is present in front of man, behind him to the left and right of him, above him, below him and in him. Everywhere and in all circumstances Being, the essential constituent of creation, permeates everything. It is the omnipresent God for those who know and understand It, feel It and live It in their lives. The whole of creation is the field of consciousness in different forms and phenomena. Consciousness is the radiation from the centre of pure Being. For example, electric current reaches the bulb and radiates as a beam of light. As the beam proceeds further from its source, its intensity diminishes until it reaches a point where the light may be said to be nil. Likewise, from the inexhaustible battery of Being, bliss-consciousness radiates and as it proceeds further from its source its intenslty diminishes. In this way bliss-consciousness appears in all the subtle and gross forms of life. Those whose hearts and minds are not cultured, whose vision is held by what is gross, only see the surface value of life. They only find qualities of matter and energy. They do not find the innocent, everpresent, omnipresent Being, the soft presence of which is beyond any relative degree of softness. They do not enjoy almighty Being in Its innocent, never-changing status which lies beyond the obvious phase of the forms and phenomena of matter and energy, mind and individuality Pure Being is of transcendental nature because of Its status as the essential constituent of the universe. It is finer than the finest in creation. It is not Its nature to be exposed to the senses, which are formed primarily to give experience only of the manifested reality of life. And It is not obviously exposed to the perception of the mind, because the mind is for the most part connected with the senses. The constitution of the mind is such that for any experience it has to associate itself with the senses and contact the outer world of forms and phenomena. Experience shows that Being is the essential, basic nature of the mind. But since the mind ordinarily remains attuned to the senses, projecting outwards towards the manifested realms of creation, it misses or fails to appreciate its own essential nature, just as the eyes are unable to see themselves. Everything but the eyes themselves can be seen through the eyes. Similarly, everything is based on the essential nature of the mind which is omnipresent Being; and yet, while the mind is engaged in the projected field of manifested diversity, Being is not appreciated by the mind, although It is its very basis and essential constituent. Being is at the root of everything, yet it is as if It supports the existence of life and creation without exposing Itself. The great dignity the great splendour of Its innocent, almighty, omnipresent nature is present in man as the basis of ego, intellect, mind, senses, body and surroundings. But It is not obvious even though It underlies all creation. It is like a powerful businessman who is rarely found in the actual place of business, who remains unseen and yet effectively controls everything. To see him it is necessary to meet him in seclusion, far from the main activity of the business scene. Likewise the Controller of the universe, influencing everything, remaining at the basis of all universal activity and phenomenal life, dwells in the silent chamber of the heart of everyone and everything. It is the omnipresence of Being which is responsible for hiding Its nature in seclusion, away from the market place of the world. It is the omnipresence of Being which is responsible for hiding Being behind the scenes and giving It the status of the omniscient, omnipotent, supreme Lord of the universe. The Lord of the universe dwells kindly in the heart of everyone to see that no one suffers. To maintain the flow of unlimited love, happiness and evolution of everyone, the omnipresent Lord of the universe is so kind that He abides naturally in everything. No one Can possibly remove himself from Him. It is the omnipresence of Being which is life eternal, the essence of eternal life. BEING, THE FIELD OF ETERNAL LIFE As the omnipresent, essential constituent of creation, Being lies at the root of everything, beyond all relative existence, beyond all forms and phenomena. Because It has Its pure and full status in the Transcendent, It lies beyond the realm of time, space and causation, the boundaries of the ever-changing, phenomenal field of creation. Being enjoys, always has and always will enjoy the status of Its absolute purity. It enjoys the status which knOWS nO change, the status of eternal life. Absolute Being and Its relationship with the relative universe Can be understood by an example. Being is like the limitless ocean, silent and ever the same. The different aspects of creation all forms and phenomena and the ever-changing states of life in the world are aS ripples and waves, having their basis in this vast OCean. The eternal ocean of Being can be conceived of in this way with the difference that the pure status of the ocean of Being lies beyond all relative existence. It is the unlimited vastness of pure existence or pure consciousness, the essential constituent and content of life. It is the field of the unlimited, the unbounded, eternity, pure intelligence, pure existence, the Absolute. In concluding that Being is the field of eternal life, it is significant to mention here that the ever-changing, phenomenal phases of daily life can be supplemented with the unlimited power of the eternal life of Being. This practical aspect is dealt with in later chapters. BEING, THE BASIS OF LIVING Living comprises our day-to-day activity. Being, which is the essential constituent of creation at the basis of all activity, lies in the field of the Absolute. Being forms the basic source of all individual activity, and in It and by It activity is sustained in all the complex and diversified fields of day-to-day life. We know that our life starts with breathing and thinking, and we shall see in later chapters how unmanifested, transcendental Being manifests Itself first in the form of prana2 and mind3 (breathing and thinking) Activity depends upon thinking. We must think first before doing anything. We rarely consider, however, upon what our thinking depends. Thinking is the basis of doing; what is the basis of thinking:' To think, we have at least to be. Being is the basis of thinking, and thinking is the basis of doing. Being is the basis of all living. Just as without sap there would be no root and no tree, so also without Being there would be no thinking and no doing. There would be no living without Being. If we take care of the sap the whole tree will flourish. Similarly, if we take care of Being the whole field of thinking and doing will flourish. The whole field of life can be glorified by consciously taking care of Being. Therefore we find Being at the basis of all activity, behaviour and the various ways and forms Of living. Being is the most glorious, most precious and most laudable basis of all living. Being is the plane of cosmic law, the basis of all the laws of nature, which lies at the root of all creation and evolution. It is possible to glorify all fields of life and living by consciously infusing the nature of Being into all the different fields of activity and behaviour. The unbounded field of Being ranges from the unmanifested, absolute eternal state to the gross, relative, ever-changing states of phenomenal life in the same way as the ocean ranges from eternal silence at its bottom to the great activity of perpetually moving waves on the surface. One extremity is eternally silent, never-changing in its nature, the other is active and ever-changing. Both these states, the relative and the absolute, are the states of Being. Being is eternal, never-changing in Its absolute state and eternally ever-changing in Its relative states. Remaining ever in Its omnipresent, absolute status, It is found to be in the ever-changing phases of phenomenal existence and relative creation. The entire field of life, from the individual to the cosmos, is nothing but the expression of eternal, absolute, never-changing, omnipresent Being in the relative, ever-changing phases of existence. An example will illustrate the nature of Being in a more comprehensive manner. An oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom in one state show the properties of gas, in another they combine and exhibit the properties of water, and in yet another they have the properties of solid ice. The essential content of gas, water and ice is the same but it changes in its properties. Even though the properties of gas, water and ice are quite dissimilar, the essential constituents H and O are always the same. As the oxygen and hydrogen, remaining in their never-changing states, are found exhibiting different qualities, so also Being, remaining in Its never-changing, eternal, absolute character, is found expressing Itself in the different forms and phenomena of diverse creation. Here is a statement which, to some scientifically minded people, might seem to contradict the established theories of physical science. Albert Einstein propounded the theory of relativity and said that everything in the universe is relative and the existence of different worlds and forms and phenomena can only be accounted for in terms of relativity. But here we have made a statement which says that the Absolute, remaining the never-changing Absolute, expresses Itself in the ever-changing, relative states of creation. Are these two statements consistent? Yes. When Einstein says that all that exists in the universe can be understood only in terms of relativity, he is right, since his theory of relativity concerns itself only with the manifested field of creation, which is the realm of physical science. In his attempts to establish scientifically the unified field theory, Einstein seems to have been clearly aware of the possibility of one basis for all diversity, one common denominator for all the multiplicity of creation. He was at least trying to establish one constant as the basis of all relative existence. If physical science should arrive at that conclusion which Einstein was trying to pinpoint with his unified field theory, one constant would be established as the basis of all relative creation. With the rapid pace of development in nuclear physics, the day does not seem far off when some theoretical physicist will succeed in establishing a unified field theory. It may be given a different name, but the content will establish the principle of unity in the midst of diversity, the basic unity of material existence. The discovery of this one basis of material existence will mark the ultimate achievement in the history of the development of physical science. This will assist in turning the world of physical science towards the science of mental phenomena. Theories of mind and Being will supersede the findings of physical science. At the extreme limit of investigation into the nature of reality in the field of the mind will be found the state of pure consciousness, that field of transcendental nature lying beyond all the relative existence of material and mental values. The ultimate field of Being lies beyond the field of mental phenomena and is the truth of life in all its phases, relative and absolute. The science of Being is the transcendental science of mind. The science of Being transcends the science of mind which, in its turn, transcends the material sciences which deal with the diversity of material existence. Being is the ultimate reality of all that exists; It is absolute in nature. Everything in the universe is of a relative order, but eternal Being, the ultimate life principle of unmanifested nature, expresses Itself in different forms and maintains the status quo of all that exists, at the same time maintaining the perpetual process of change and evolution in creation. Absolute and relative existence are the two aspects of eternal Being, which is both absolute and relative. The Upanishads describe it as Purnamadah Purnamidam - that unmanifested Absolute is full and this manifested relative is full. BEING, THE ETERNAL AND ULTIMATE REALITY The glory of Being can be experienced directly and recognised as ultimate reality. By experiencing the subtle states of a sound or a thought, the mind can be led systematically to the subtlest limit of experience and then, transcending this subtlest experience of relative order, can reach the field of the Ultimate. The Upanishads show Being as the ultimate reality which is imperishable and eternal. The hymns of the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita sing of the glory of the imperishable Self, Being, ultimate Reality, the Brahman which is the supreme, ultimate Absolute. They say: Water cannot wet It nor can fire burn It. Wind cannot dry It and weapons cannot slay It. It is in front, It is behind, It is above and below. It is to the right and the left. It is all-pervading, the omnipresent, divine Being. The Upanishads explain the Being in terms of Ananda, or bliss, and locate It at the source of creation in the transcendental region of life, permeating everything - all time, past, present and future, all space and all aspects of causation. The Upanishads explore Being as Brahman in the regions of cosmic prana and locate It within man himself. The great words of enlightenment found in the Vedas express Being as the ultimate reality and they find It within man as his own inseparable Self. They reveal the truth in the expression: I am That, thou art That, all this is That, That alone is, and there is nothing else but That. In these expressions and many like them, which have been a source of inspiration and enlightenment to millions of people from time immemorial, Indian philosophy expounds the oneness of life as the ultimate reality, absolute Being. The idea of Being as the ultimate reality is contained in the oldest records of Indian thought. The eternal texts of the Vedas, crowned with the philosophy of the Upanishads, reveal the relative and the Absolute as two aspects of the one reality, Brahman, absolute Being, which, although unmanifest in Its essential nature, manifests as relative creation. Life is nothing but Being in all Its phases of absolute and relative existence; oneness of Being is the diversity of life, imperishable Being is the ever-changing, perishable universe. The thesis of Being as the eternal, ultimate reality of life is founded on the certainty of a direct and practical way in which every man can experience It. The Bhagavad-Gita gives a very clear exposition of the path of enlightenment, transcendental meditation, and claims that there is no obstacle to it, no hurdle on the way: A little practice will relieve a man of great fears. This practical message of the direct experience of Being as the ultimate reality glorifies all aspects of life. It is unique in establishing Being as the absolute and ultimate reality of all the relative phases of life. Being as the ultimate is of transcendental nature. Therefore the field of Being can only be said to be abstract and not concrete. The words abstract and concrete are relative, and neither truthfully expresses the nature of Being. But if, for the sake of understanding, we have to use a word to convey the nature of Being, we can only say It is abstract and not concrete, even though the experience of It is far more concrete than anything in relative life. Because of Its abstract nature, the study of Being has been shrouded in mysticism, and in consequence, for countless generations, the ordinary man has been deprived of the great advantages of experiencing Being. Now that a systematic way is available to experience directly the ultimate Being, it is not only divested of mysticism but, in entering the field of modern science, it will show man how to use his increasing knowledge for his evolution instead of his destruction. The revelation of Being as the eternal and ultimate reality makes it possible to augment individual life with the eternal life of the Absolute. The ever-changing phases of individual life have to be foundedin on the basis of never-changing Being, the eternal and ultimate reality. Prana connects by a delicate link the never-changing field of eternal Being with the ever-changing phases of relative life. BEING, THE PLANE OF COSMIC LAW Law means a rule of procedure. Cosmic law means the rule of procedure for cosmic life, the rule which governs the purpose of cosmic existence and evolution. Cosmic law means the rule of procedure for cosmic creative intelligence, which creates, maintains and dissolves the universe. Cosmic means all-inclusive; it means belonging to the entire universe. All that there is in nature, either in its static state of existence or in its dynamic state of life, is included when we say cosmic. What we find in the universe is progression of life. Something is created, it grows, develops to its fullest extent and then begins to decay. It decays only to become transformed again. The phenomenon of change underlies creation. It is this change of life-pattern which gives to the universe its status and sustains evolution. We find that things are changing in the universe. But besides change there is maintenance. Life maintains itself and evolves at the same time. The aspect of maintenance is one of stability; the aspect of evolution is one of change. The maintenance of something created is its stable phase. But when it changes, it either evolves to a higher state or degrades to a lower state. This is called the changeable phase. When we think of cosmic law, therefore, we have to consider these two factors: the factor of stability and the factor of change in the universe. And we see that they are found existing simultaneously. This is the law of creation, the law of maintenance, the law of evolution. Something is created, it is maintained, and while it is maintained it evolves, reaches the height of evolution and then dissolves. This cycle of creation, maintenance, evolution and dissolution continues and in this continuity the life of the universe flows on. When we consider universal law we have to consider all the different features of the universe: the creating of life and the creation of things, their maintenance, their evolution and eventually their dissolution. To have a clear picture of the nature of cosmic law, let us take an example: hydrogen is a gas, oxygen is a gas; they combine to make water, H2O. Their properties as gas have changed to the properties of liquid but H and O, hydrogen and oxygen, remain H and O. Again, the water freezes and is transformed into ice. The properties of the water have changed into the properties of ice, but hydrogen and oxygen, the essential constituents, remain the same. That they remain the same indicates that there is some force, some law or system, which maintains the integrity of hydrogen and oxygen. Yet there are certain laws which change the properties of gas into water and water into ice. There is a law which does not allow the essential nature of oxygen and hydrogen to change. Even while allowing hydrogen and oxygen to go through different stages of creation, it maintains their integrity as hydrogen and oxygen. That law is the law which maintains the status quo of the essential constituent; but at different levels of creation this law gives rise to other laws which transform the duality of this plane into that plane, transform the properties of gas into liquid and liquid into solid. Different levels of creation in different forms keep evolving. The appearance of new qualities is due to new laws coming into play while the eternal law continues in its unchanging state. All the changes take place on the unchanging platform of the essential constituent. There is one law of the universe which is the basis of the innumerable laws responsible for all the changes in creation. This law upholds the integrity of the ultimate, essential constituent of creation, yet it continues to bring forth more and more new laws at different strata of nature. This results in the different stages of creation. The essential and ultimate constituent of creation is the absolute state of Being, or the state of pure consciousness. This absolute state of pure consciousness is of unmanifested nature, which is ever maintained by cosmic law. Pure consciousness, pure Being, is maintained always as pure consciousness and pure Being, and yet It is transformed into all the different forms and phenomena. Here is the cosmic law: one law which never allows absolute Being to change. Absolute Being remains absolute Being throughout, although it is found in changed forms at every level. Cosmic law is that absolute state of pure consciousness which knows no change. It is the basis of all the laws of nature and through them maintains the status quo of the different strata of creation, at the same time evolving every strata and thereby maintaining the strength of evolution in conformity with the cosmic purpose. Thus, although the maintenance and evolution of creation is directly carried on by different laws, the basis of all these laws is the eternal cosmic law at the level of Being, the basis of all creation. This gives a clear picture of cosmic law. Cosmic law functions from a level between the absolute and relative planes of life. It harmonises the unmanifested eternal Being and the manifested field of diverse relative existence. It is the power of cosmic law which maintains eternal Being in the absolute state and at the same time maintains the ever-changing phenomenal creation in relative states of life. The unity of life in absolute Being and the diversity of multiple creation are both maintained in their proper spheres. This is the mysterious and all-powerful nature of cosmic law which has its eternal status on the plane of Being. PRANA AND BEING Prana is the expression of manifesting Being. It is the tendency of the unmanifested to manifest. It can be said to be the impulse of abstract, absolute Being. Being is the absolute existence of unmanifested nature. Its tendency to vibrate and become manifest is referred to as prana. Being vibrates, prana vibrates, and creation begins to be manifested. Assuming a subjective nature, Being becomes mind; assuming an objective nature, It becomes matter. Remaining innocent, It serves as a link between subject and object and, creating a subject-object relationship, the divine Being starts Its play in the great variety of multiple creation. Thus we find that prana is the power of Being which is latent in its unmanifested state and which comes into play in the process of manifestation when Being assumes the role of subjective and objective creation. The question may then arise: What makes prana assume subjective and objective qualities? The cosmic intelligence or creative power, which is the very nature of Being, generates prana from itself, from within the absolute Being. Prana comes forth from the fountain-head of unmanifested Being, absolute Being assuming the role of prana. This is how the very nature of Being begins the processes of creation and evolution. What is responsible for this? The very nature of Being is responsible. It is as if the Absolute wants to become creative and relative. One may ask: Why? Because of its own nature; or perhaps for the full of variety ! Expansion of happiness is the purpose of creation. Being, the state of eternal unity, without undergoing any change in Itself, assumes the role of the multiplicity of creation, the diversity of Being. The Absolute assuming the role of relativity, or unity appearing as multiplicity, is nothing but the very nature of absolute Being appearing in different manifestations. This is why, while the Absolute is eternal in Its never-changing status, the relative diversity of creation is eternal in its ever-changing nature. This resolves the enigma of creation. The unity of unmanifested, absolute Being is also the diversity and variety of manifested creation in all its relative phases of existence. The Absolute and relative together present the whole truth of life. One hundred percent of the Absolute and one hundred percent of relative existence combine to form one hundred percent of life in creation. It should be borne in mind that manifested creation and unmanifested Being, although appearing to be different, in reality are one and the same. The reality of duality is unity. Even while they are different in their characteristics, absolute Being and relative creation together form one reality. The whole process of what we understand as creation and evolution is simply the state of Being in prana, and the change belongs to the very nature of Being. Creativity lies in the nature of absolute Being, creation is Its role, and evolution is expansion of Its beingness. Being remains Being, and from this follows creation. Prana is of the nature of Being; it is the motive force of creation and the basic force of the mind. MIND AND BEING Mind can be likened to a wave on the ocean of Being. Unmanifested, absolute Being, stimulated by Its own nature, prana, appears as mind, even as an ocean stimulated by the wind appears as waves. That which acts like the force of wind to produce a wave of mind on the ocean of unmanifested Being is karma. So it may be said that prana, supplemented by the influence of karma, is the mind. This statement suggests that if there were no influence of karma, mind would not exist. The question arises whether karma has to exist first so that the mind may exist. When we examine karma we find that without mind (the doer), karma, or action, cannot be produced. This demonstrates the interdependence of mind and karma, and it thus seems difficult to decide whether karma is produced by mind or mind produced by karma. The answer to the riddle is that mind is born of karma and creates karma, and karma is born of mind and creates mind. The seed produces the tree and the tree produces the seed. It cannot be said which gave rise to which in the beginning. It can only be said that the seed is the cause of the tree and the tree is the cause of the seed. But which one began the cycle cannot be determined. Metaphysics is silent on this point and simply accepts that the cycle of the seed and the tree has existed and continues to exist. Similarly, there is no evidence to prove whether prana gives rise to mind or mind gives rise to prana. To all intents and purposes we are left with the principle of the interdependence of mind and prana. This can be understood in terms of karma. Karma from a past life is responsible for the mind's identity in the present life; the level of evolution gained by the mind in a past life gives it its status in the present life and, on the basis of past karma, the mind begins its present life. Without the life force of prana, karma remains inert. This inert karma, supplemented by the life force, prana, gives rise to the mind. Thus mind is a composite of prana and karma, and through prana is connected with unmanifested Being. Thus it can be said that mind is the second stage in the process of manifestation or creation, while prana is the first. This clarifies the position of mind in the field of creation and its relationship with Being, which is the Ultimate. Prana is the first expression of cosmic intelligence. Reflected upon by karma, prana gains individuality and appears as individual mind. Thus the individual mind is found to be a limited reflection of the unlimited cosmic mind or pure intelligence. Just as prana is the manifestation of the eternal ocean of unmanifested Being, so mind is the reflection of cosmic intelligence on karma. This shows that before the creation of the mind there existed in principle the agency of karma. This leads us to conclude that there was creation before creation. There existed a day before this day and a night before this night. The cycle of creation and dissolution is the eternal cycle in the eternity of Being. In the process of creation, mind comes to exist because there has previously been a mind which has created some karma. This influence of karma continues to exist as the basis of the present mind. Thus we can conceive of two realities at the root of creation. One is the eternal reality of absolute Being, and the other is the reality of karma which, although lying in the ever-changing field of relative existence, finds its eternal status in the ever-continuing cycle of action, experience and impression. The impression of an experience on the mind of the doer is the finest influence of karma. It maintains its existence at the finest level of mind, almost at the meeting-point of mind and prana. It is just on this plane - where Being becomes mind - that creation begins, and by virtue of this finest impression of karma, prana assumes the role of mind. It could be said in principle that the next step in creation is produced almost simultaneously through the mechanics of the senses of perception, which enable the mind to function and materialise the reality of mind and senses. Matter comes into being to form the physical machinery through which the five senses of perception find their expression and to justify the validity of their creation to exist and act as the agents of mind in the process of evolution and creation. By this process are formed the senses, nervous system and body. This clarifies the subtle mechanics of creation and illustrates the principles underlying the creation of mind, senses, nervous system and body and their relationship with Being. Being is the unbounded eternal ocean of absolute life. Since It is of transcendental nature, It is without any attribute. Certainly It is experienced, but this experience is always in Its own field of transcendental existence or pure consciousness, where the mind transcends all the fields of relative experience and becomes one with Being and, gaining the status of Being, is no longer conscious mind. This state of attributeless, absolute existence lies completely beyond the imagination, beyond any intellectual conception or understanding. Naturally the human mind tries to understand ultimate reality and to stand at the shore of the limitless ocean of the wisdom of the Absolute. In its attempt to fathom the unfathomable and to understand the Transcendent, it takes the course of understanding the subtler fields of creation in the hope that if and when the subtlest is understood, it will become possible to understand the real nature of the supreme ultimate. To help such intellectual enquiries into the nature of Being and Its relationship with the subtler fields of subjective and objective creation, we will discuss briefly the status of Being and the successive creation of prana, mind, senses, nervous system and body. It has been made clear that it is not Being which manifests (because of Its transcendental and attributeless nature, Being is not in a position to manifest or to resist manifesting) but that the instrumentality of karma reflects upon Being, or accepts the reflection of Being and becomes the tendency to create, thereby gaining the attribute of prana. From that point, based on that reflection, the whole creation begins to separate from Being, which remains unchanged in Its eternal status of the Absolute. Thus, nothing happens to absolute Being, and creation begins in the multifarious forms and phenomena, based on the instrumentality of karma, propelled by prana and carried out by the mind, leaving Being untouched. Because Being is omnipresent, It pervades all the multiplicity of creation. Nothing is without It, everything is It. Thus, the status of creation is distinct from Being, and Being is at the same time the whole of creation. Mind is distinct from Being, and at the same time its essential nature is Being. The wheel of karma keeps creating, evolving and dissolving phenomenal creation in cycles of existence and non-existence of the whole cosmos, and the individual finds himself a part of it. We find that in essence life is eternal and absolute. In reality there is nothing but the Absolute. All the ever-changing relative forms and phenomena and the entire cosmic existence have their life in eternal Being, while at the same time their phenomenal phase of existence is based on the plane of karma, which has no absolute status in itself. The relative phase finds everlasting status in the cycles of creation and dissolution. This suggests that there are two foundations of life absolute Being and karma. The question arises: Can there be two ultimate realities? If so, this would leave the quest for ultimate reality unfulfilled and the seeker of truth in uncertainty. Certainly there cannot be two ultimate realities - Being and karma. Obviously there can only be one. It remains to be discovered which is the ultimate, Being or karma. It has been seen that Being is in Its essential nature absolute existence and that that alone can be accepted as the ultimate reality of life. But we have also seen that because this ultimate reality, Being, is absolute It is without attribute and therefore unable to create. It has been said that creation comes from the seed of karma, latent in Being, which holds together the instrumentality of prana, karma and mind. Creation comes when karma, by virtue of itself, assumes the role of prana, the vital force of life and creation. The fact that karma assumes the role of prana to begin creation in the omnipresence of eternal Being brings hope to the seeker and justifies his quest for one ultimate reality. The omnipresent nature of Being does not allow karma to be given an independent status as the ultimate. Karma finds itself latent in the very nature of Being, and creation finds its source in It. Thus Being stands as the one supreme reality and has the instrumentality of karma latent in Its own nature for the purpose of creation. The realisation that eternal Being is the one ultimate, supreme reality of existence shows that the cause of creation, or almighty creativity, is latent in the very nature of Being and that It expresses Itself in the form of creation. So we find that absolute, attributeless, eternal Being is the ultimate reality of existence, and that by virtue of Its own nature the process of creation, evolution and dissolution continues eternally without affecting the absolute status of eternal Being. This is a complete picture of absolute, eternal Being in relation to Its own almighty, creative intelligence, or universal mind, as well as to the individual mind. KARMA AND BEING Karma means action or activity. We have seen in the previous section the nature of the relationship that exists between Being and karma and have found that karma in its manifested form is opposed to the essential nature of Being. Being is absolute existence, while karma is the instrument through which the cycle of creation, evolution and dissolution is continuously kept going. Thus we see that the essential nature of karma is certainly not in conformity with the essential nature of Being, which is just to be. No karma can ever reach the state of Being. By the process of karma, all creation must move continuously through the eternal cycle of birth and death, creation, evolution and dissolution. Since karma is opposed to the state of Being, any process which brings karma to all end will result in the state of Being. We have seen that the state of Being is forever the same omnipresent, transcendental, absolute existence. It is forever there. But the life of the individual, moving in the wheel of karma, always remains in the field of relative existence, thereby missing the glory of Being. As we have already seen, the life of the individual and that of the cosmos is created, maintained and dissolved by the force of karma. That is why every individual and all beings in the world are subject to the force of karma. The force of karma maintains life in the relative field, and this results in the individual remaining out of the realm of pure Being. If there were a way to avoid the grip of karma, that would be the way to attain the state of eternal Being. In the next chapter we shall see that through a technique for minimising the activity of experience and eventually transcending the subtlest field of activity, one arrives at the state of Being, the field of eternal life. This truth, that the nature of Being and the nature of karma are incompatible, has been radically misinterpreted by those who do not know this technique for minimising the force of karma and rising above its influence to attain the state of Being. When such people of incomplete vision read in metaphysical books that absolute bliss-consciousness is opposed to the nature of karma, they evolve theories of their own to uphold their conviction that a life of activity in the world is opposed to the state of absolute bliss-consciousness. This misunderstandmg has created the gulf which has existed for many centuries between spiritual and material values. Although the nature of the Absolute and that of the relative, of Being and karma, are incompatible, there exists a technique by which it is possible to glorify the field of karma by the light of Being. This is the point which countless generations have missed, this fine point of knowledge: that only skill in action is needed to accomplish the glorification of karma. This misunderstanding has been the main reason for the growth of suffering, miscry, tension and increasing negativeness in all fields of life. It is high time for this misapprehension to be corrected and for people to realise that through the system of transcendental meditation it is possible for every mind to go beyond the relative state of experience and attain the state of Being. Having been in that state, the mind is infused with the value of Being because, in the Transcendent, it is outside the field of karma, ceases to be individual mind and becomes one with absolute, eternal Being. When the mind is drawn out again into the relative field of activity by the force of karma, it realises that the state of transcendental Being, in its unlimited aspect of absolute bliss, is far better than the relative state of transitory happiness in the field of activity. The bliss-consciousness of the Transcendent makes an immediate impression upon the nature of the mind. Returning into the relative field where time, space and causation hold everything between narrow boundaries, the mind begins to retain some of this unbounded status. And with repeated practice it becomes more and more familiar with the Transcendent. The continued practice of transcendental meditation results in such a strong infusion of Being into the nature of the mind that the mind, while continuing to behave and experience in the field of relative existence, begins to live the nature of eternal Being. This has tremendous practical value for the mind engaged in day-to-day activities. What has been lacking is the skill with which to harmonise the value of Being with the value of activity in the field of karma. This is not difficult to understand. Skill in action lies in bringing the mind back to its source and in beginning conscious activity from the very source of thought. This is the skill in action which infuses the power of Being into the field of karma through the agency of the mind. This glorifies activity at all levels and yet leaves the mind free from the bondage of karma. This freedom of the mind is due to its being established in eternal bliss-consciousness. Just as in bright sunlight candlelight loses its relative significance, so also in the eternal light of absolute bliss do the relative joys of life lose their fast grip on the mind. Thus the mind is freed from the binding influence of karma through the experience of the absolute bliss of eternal Being. skill in action requires that activity should first be reduced to nil and from that point action should be started. It can be compared with drawing back an arrow on the bow in order to shoot it ahead. The skill lies in pulling back the arrow on the bow as far as possible until a state of no activity is reached. From that point the arrow is shot without effort by simply releasing the hold. Skill in action is only a matter of pulling back the arrow and releasing it. Then it will shoot ahead naturally with the minimum effort and maximum force. Likewise, by bringing the activity of the mind to a state of stillness and from that point starting action, the minimum of energy will be required. The action will be performed easily and will yield maximum results. The doer will act while established in eternal freedom of Being and will therefore not be under the binding influence of karma. This is skill in action. We may thus conclude that, although the nature of karma and the nature of Being are incompatible, it is possible to glorify karma by the bliss of Being. It is possible for a man to live in the field of action and yet to live simultaneously a life of eternal freedom in bliss-consciousness of absolute Being. It is possible for a man to act with full interest in the world and yet to live simultaneously in God-consciousness, thereby uniting the values of absolute and relative existence. To reveal this to man is the purpose of this book. It must be borne in mind that while the science of being is complete in its theory, it is essentially a practical science in which results depend on the practice of transcendental meditation. Every one of us can experience this state of Being and create in our lives a state of eternal freedom while bringing greater success to all fields of activity. HOW TO CONTACT BEING The science of being not only affirms the theory of one absolute element at the basis of the entire creation but also provides a systematic way whereby any man may experience directly the essential nature of transcendental, absolute Being. First we shall consider from a theoretical point of view the possibility of directly experiencing the Absolute, and then we shall consider the practical results of such an experience in day-to-day life. We have seen that Being lies in the transcendental field of absolute existence beyond the subtlest stratum of creation. To experience this transcendental reality it is necessary for our attention to be led through all the subtle strata of creation; arriving at the subtlest level, it will transcend that experience and come to the field of transcendental Being. What do we find on the gross level of creation? We find gross things to see with the eyes, gross words or sounds to hear with the ears, gross odours to smell with the nose, varieties of sensations to feel with the sense of touch and varieties of flavours to taste with the tongue. We think, and normally the process of thinking seems to have no connection with these senses of perception. But the process of thinking does include one or many of these senses. Our experience in the field of perception shows that we experience gross and subtle things. We use our eyes to see, our ears to hear and so on; but we know there is a limit to what the eyes can see, the ears hear and the tongue taste. This marks the limit of the experience of gross creation. The eyes can see forms as long as the forms do not become refined beyond a certain point. The ears can hear sounds within a certain frequency range. The nose can smell odors as long as they are gross enough. This is the case with all the senses of perception. They are only able to experience gross objects. Thus we understand that our experience is ordinarily limited to the gross field of creation. The subtle fields are beyond our ordinary range of experience. We know that there are forms much finer than those which the eyes can see and that these may be observed through the microscope. We know that there are sounds which the ears cannot hear but which may be heard with the help of amplifiers. This shows that there exist subtle strata of creation with which we are not familiar because our ordinary capacity for experience is limited to the gross. Therefore to experience transcendental Being it is necessary to develop the faculty of experience. If we could develop our faculty of experience through any of the senses, or develop our ability to experience thought before it reaches the conscious level of the mind, and if this ability to experience thought could be so developed that it reached the source of thought, then, having transcended the source, it would be possible to reach the transcendental state of pure Being. In this way, by progressively experiencing finer states of creation through any one of the senses until the finest experience is transcended, the state of Being is reached. Since Being is by nature transcendental, It does not belong to the range of any of the senses of perception. Only when sensory perception has come to an end can the transcendental field of Being be reached. As long as we experience through the senses we are in the relative field. Therefore Being cannot be experienced through any of the senses. This shows that through whichever sense of experience we proceed we must first reach the ultimate limit of experience through that sense. Then, transcending that, we will reach a state of consciousness in which the experiencer no longer experiences. The word experiencer implies a relative state; it is a relative word. For the experiencer to exist there has to be an object of experience. The experiencer and the object of experience are both relative. When we have transcended the experience of the subtlest object, the experiencer is left by himself without an experience, without an object of experience and without the process of experiencing. When the subject is left without an object of experience, having transcended the subtlest state of the object, he steps out of the process of experiencing and arrives at the state of Being. The mind is then found in the state of Being which is beyond the relative field. The state of Being is neither a state of objective nor of subjective existence, because both these states belong to the relative field of life. When the subtlest state of objective experience has been transcended, then the individual's subjectivity merges into the Transcendent. This state of consciousness is known as pure existence, the state of absolute Being This is how, by bringing the attention to the field of the Transcendent, it is possible to contact and experience Being. It cannot be experienced on the level of thinking because, as far as thinking goes, this is still a field of relative existence; the whole field of sensory perception lies within relative existence. The transcendental state of Being lies beyond all seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting - beyond all thinking and beyond all feeling. This state of the unmanifested, absolute, pure consciousness of Being is the ultimate state in life. It is easily experienced through the system of transcendental meditation. TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION The process of bringing the attention to the level of transcendental Being is known as the system of transcendental meditation. In the practice of transcendental meditation a suitable thought is selected, and the technique for experiencing it in its initial stages of development enables the conscious mind to arrive systematically at the source of thought, the field of Being. THE MAIN PRINCIPLE We have seen that Being is the state of eternal and absolute existence and that the way to experience Being is to experience from the gross to the subtle states of creation until the mind arrives at the Transcendent. We have seen that we could proceed through any sense of perception. For example, through the sense of sight we could gradually experience increasingly subtle forms until eventually our eyes reached a point where they were unable to perceive a form beyond a certain degree of subtlety. If we close our eyes and train the inner eye - the eye of the mind - to perceive the object at the point where we failed to perceive it through our open eyes, we would have a mental image of the object. If there were a way to experience the finer states of that mental image, to experience its finest state and transcend it, we would then reach the state of Being. Likewise, through any sense of perception we could begin to experience an object and eventually arrive at the transcendental state of Being. Through the experience of a thought we can experience the subtle states of thinking and, transcending them, are certain to arrive at the transcendental state of Being. Thinking is, in itself, the subtle state of speech. When we speak our words are audible, but if we do not speak, the words do not become perceptible. Thus we find that thought is a subtle form of sound. The process of thinking starts from the deepest, most refined level of consciousness and becomes grosser as it develops. Eventually it becomes gross enough to be perceived on the surface level of consciousness, the ordinary level of thinking. An analogy will clarify this principle. A thought starts from the deepest level of consciousness, from the deepest level of the ocean of mind, as a bubble starts at the bottom of the sea. As the bubble rises, it gradually becomes bigger. When it comes to the surface of the water it is perceived as a bubble. Mind is like an ocean. The surface layers of the mind function actively while the deeper levels remain silent. The functioning surface level of the ocean of mind is called the conscious mind. Any thought at the surface level is consciously cognized, and it is at this level that thoughts are appreciated as thoughts. A thought starts from the deepest level of consciousness and rises through the whole depth of the ocean of mind until it finally appears as a conscious thought at the surface. Thus we find that every thought stirs the whole range of the depth of consciousness but is consciously appreciated only when it reaches the conscious level; all its earlier stages of development are not appreciated. That is why we say that, for all practical purposes, the deeper levels of the ocean of consciousness are as though silent. Referring to the illustration, the bubble of thought rising from level A grows in size. By the time it reaches the surface level B, it has developed sufficiently to be appreciated as a thought. This is the level of conscious mind. The subtle states of the thought-bubble below this conscious level are not appreciated. If the thought-bubble could be consciously appreciated at the level below B, and at all levels of subtlety from B to A, it would then be possible to bring the level A within the range of the conscious mind. In this way the depth of the conscious mind (represented by Wl) would become greater (as represented by W2), and the power of the conscious mind would be increased enormously. This expansion of the conscious capacity of the mind happens automatically on the march towards Being. It is as if the waves on the surface of the ocean have communicated with the deeper levels of water so that each wave is mightier than the wave before. The full mental potential is thus unfolded and the conscious capacity of the mind is increased to the maximum extent. THE TECHNIQUE Bubbles of thought are produced in a stream, one after another, and the mind is trained to experience the oncoming bubble at an earlier and earlier stage of its development (see illustration). When the attention reaches level A, it has traversed the whole depth of the mind and reached the source of creative intelligence in man. This source of thought thus comes within the scope of the conscious mind. When the conscious mind transcends the subtlest level of thought, it transcends the subtlest state of relative experience and arrives at the transcendental Being, the state of pure consciousness or self-awareness. This is how, in a systematic matter, the conscious mind is led, step by step, to the direct experience of transcendental, absolute Being. INCREASING CHARM ON THE PATH OF TRANSCENDING To go to a field of greater happiness is the natural tendency of the mind. Because in the practice of transcendental meditation the conscious mind is set on the way to experiencing transcendental, absolute Being, whose nature is bliss-consciousness, the mind finds the way increasingly attractive as it advances in the direction of bliss. A light becomes faint and dim as we move away from its source, and its intensity increases as we proceed towards its source. Similarly, when the mind goes in the direction of the absolute bliss of transcendental Being, it finds increasing charm at each step of its march. The mind is charmed and so is led to experience transcendental Being. This practice is pleasant for every mind. Whatever the state of evolution of the aspirant, whether he is emotionally developed or intellectually advanced, his mind, by its very tendency to go to a field of greater happiness, finds a way to transcend the subtlest state of thinking and arrive at the bliss of absolute Being. This practice is, therefore, not only simple but also automatic. IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT THOUGHT A right thought is one which, in its nature, is harmonious and useful to the thinker and his surroundings. Every thought, like every spoken word, has some influence on the thinker and his surroundings. Just as a stone thrown into a pond produces waves reaching all the pond's extremities, any thought, word or action produces waves in the atmosphere, and these waves travel in every direction and strike against everything in the atmosphere. They influence every level of creation. The whole universe is influenced by every thought, word and action of each individual. Since the influence of a thought is so wide, it is necessary to consider carefully the quality of any thought arising in the mind. There may be a thought whose influence is detrimental to the thinker and to the rest of the universe. Likewise, there may be a thought whose influence is favourable and useful to the thinker and to the world at large. Because each personality has its own duality, it is extremely important for each man that a special quality of thought be selected whose physical influence will be beneficial and useful to himself and to the whole world. The influence of a spoken word carried by waves of vibration in the atmosphere does not depend upon the meaning of the word. It lies in the quality of the vibrations set forth. Where it is necessary to produce vibrations of good quality for all influence of harmony and happiness, it is also necessary for the quality of vibration to correspond to that of the individual. Individuals differ in the quality of the vibrations which constitute their individual personalities. That is why the right selection of a thought for a particular individual is of vital importance for the practice of transcendental meditation. Since the quality of each man differs, it is all the more difficult to select the right type of vibration or the proper quality of thought. The problem of selecting a right thought, the physical quality of which corresponds to the physical quality of the thinker, becomes increasingly important when we consider that the power of thought increases when the thought is appreciated in its initial stage of development. We know that power is greater in the subtle strata of creation than in the gross. If we throw a stone at someone it will hurt him, but if we could enter its subtle strata and excite an atom of the stone, tremendous energy would be released and the effect would be far greater. Similarly, when we enter the subtler states of a thought, we appreciate its finer levels where the power becomes greater than on the ordinary conscious level of the mind. With this in view, it is essential that, before starting this practice, the right quality of sound should be selected. The question of selecting the right thought for a particular individual presents an enormous problem when we consider the farreaching influence of an action on the entire universe. An action performed by a particular individual in a particular place at a particular time may produce results favourable for the doer and his surroundings. The same action may produce a different influence under different circumstances. The consideration of action and its influence is highly complicated. It is beyond the capacity of the human mind to fathom the influence of all action at any level of creation. Therefore the problem of selecting a right thought for this practice of meditation is something which cannot be successfully decided by any individual for himself. In order to facilitate the finding of a right word for each individual, teachers have been trained in the art of selecting a sound or word to correspond to the special quality of the individual. These trained teachers of meditation are found in almost every country of the world in the centres of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. THE NECESSITY OF PERSONAL GUIDANCE The practice of transcendental meditation has to be imparted by personal instruction. It cannot be imparted through a book, because the teacher must not only show the aspirant how to experience the subtle states of thinking but should also be responsible for checking his experiences as he proceeds on that path. Experiences vary from man to man. Therefore it is not practical to record all the possible experiences. Nor is it to the advantage of the beginner to know in advance all that it is possible for him to experience. Firstly, because he might anticipate a particular experience and in so doing will be dividing his attention, thereby eliminating the possibility of any significant and deep experience. Secondly, because in anticipating all experience he might fall a victim to auto-suggestion and only imagine that experience. In both cases he is deprived of success. In this meditation the mind actually experiences the subtle states of thought without having to imagine, anticipate or aim at any particular experience. It is an entirely innocent process which succeeds under the personal guidance of a teacher. A thought itself is a very abstract experience for all ordinary man. If he is asked to experience the subtle states of a thought, he is being asked to experience the subtle states of that abstract experience. This seems an impossibility, since the mind has always been accustomed to experience only gross objects or gross states of thought on the conscious thinking level. The moment one begins to experience the subtle states of thought, one finds oneself drifting towards increasingly abstract states of experience. It takes a while for the beginner to be able to pinpoint his experience of subtle states of thought, even with the help of a personal teacher. For this reason it is of no practical value to describe in writing the details of the practice. The practice of transcendental meditation must always be taught by expert masters of meditation, who have been trained to impart it accurately as well as to check experiences. The checking of experiences is a vital point in this practice. Again, it cannot be done through books. The practice must result in all good in life, and this depends upon the personal guidance of the teacher together with the obedience and co-operation of the aspirant. It is a highly specialised and delicate practice. It is important that it should only be learned from an authorised teacher of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. HOW TO LIVE BEING Being is not something that exists and can be brought from somewhere and lived. It is existence itself, the very life of everything. It is the all-pervading, omnipresent state of absolute consciousness. To live It, the conscious mind has first to become acquainted with It. In meditation, when the mind transcends the subtlest state of thinking it arrives at the state of Being. This is a state of no experience because the whole field of relativity has been transcended. It is simply the state of transcendence, the state of existence, pure consciousness, is-ness, am-ness. From this state of pure Being the mind returns to experience thought in the relative world. Through constantly entering the realm of the Transcendent and returning to the field of relativity, familiarity with the essential nature of Being deepens, and the mind gradually becomes more aware of its own essential nature. With more and more practice, the ability of the mind to maintain its essential nature while experiencing objects through the senses, increases. When this happens the mind and its essential nature the state of transcendental Being - become one, and the mind is then capable of retaining its essential nature - Being - while engaging in thought, speech or action. To achieve such a state of mind, two things are necessary. One, as ' we have already seen, is the practice of transcendental meditation; the other, equally important for the rapid attainment of the desired goal, is that the mind should not be strained when it emerges after meditation to engage in the field of activity. The whole field of activity should be duly experienced, all necessary actions performed, but the mind should not be overtaxed. Everything should be done in an easy manner. For the rapid infusion of Being into the nature of the active mind, it is very important to take life naturally and easily. When the conscious mind transcends and attains the state of Being, it becomes Being completely. The mind loses its individuality and becomes cosmic mind; it becomes omnipresent and gains pure, eternal existence. In the state of the Transcendent it has no capacity for experience. Here the mind does not exist, it becomes existence. When the mind returns to the field of relative life, it regains individuality but retains some of the great, unbounded, universal status which it had attained. With practice it is able to retain more and more of that state in the activity of daily life. Generally speaking, any engagement of the mind in the field of activity is a strain on the essential nature of the mind which is pure Being. But if the mind engages itself in the activity in an easy, relaxed, simple and natural manner, the infusion of Being into its nature becomes easier. If, on the other hand, the mind is strained during activity, the infusion of Being is less effective. For example, when a white cloth is dipped into yellow dye it becomes yellow. When it is brought out, the depth of colour is not as great as it appeared to be while the cloth was in the dye. If the cloth is put in the shade for a time, the colour fades further. If the cloth is placed in the sunlight it is found that the colour fades even more rapidly. Likewise, when the mind reaches the transcendental state of Being it becomes pure Being. If it is put to activity in a normal and natural manner when it emerges from the Transcendent, the infusion of the nature of Being is retained for some time. But if the mind is strained in activity, then the effect of the infusion is soon lost. Therefore it is very important that one engages in the field of activity in a natural manner so that the activity may serve as a means to develop the state of Being in the mind. Thus we find that the regular practice of transcendental meditation, together with natural, unstrained activity in life, is a short cut to the creation of a state of consciousness where absolute Being and the relative field of life are lived simultaneously and the one is not a barrier to the other. This is the state of cosmic consciousness in which absolute Being is lived together with all the values of relative life. In The Art of Living it is made clear that, by the system of transcendental meditation, it is not only possible but even easy for everyone to cultivate this state. Those who start this practice of meditation feel more energy, greater clarity of mind and better health. They become more efficient and energetic in all activities. They should bear in mind, however, that as their mental and physical efficiency increases, they should not expand activity to such an extent that they become exhausted and find no time for meditation. When the root is watered the tree becomes green and more vital in itS growth. If the activity of growing were cherished by the tree to such an extent that it had no time to draw in water from the root, then the very basis of its growth would be lost. It is important to note that while the infusion of the nature of Being into the nature of the mind is apparent in rejuvenation of personality, clearer thinking and greater energy, it is a very delicate process. This infusion is on the level of Being, the very existence of the individual, and is never on the thinking level of the mind. Therefore we warn all aspirants not to expect to feel Being on the thinking level of the conscious mind. It is like the process whereby a tree receives water at its root, and consequently all parts of the tree naturally receive nourishment and flourish. But no part of the tree is aware of, or experiences, the process of the root receiving the water. Its influence is seen in the increasing freshness of all parts of the tree. Perhaps a leaf would argue that it feels better but does not feel it is receiving any nourishment. It is so constituted that it has always received nourishment from the roots, and this same process is simply continuing on a greater scale. This is why the leaf does not recognise that anything unusual is happening to it. What is happening to it, however, is appreciated by all those who have seen the leaf drying up and who now see it becoming fresh and beginning to flourish. Likewise, when one meditates, one experiences increased energy and clarity of mind but not the actual process of the infusion of Being into the nature of the mind. The whole process is silent, on the level of pure Being. Whatever the experiences of the mind during meditation, they are only the different states of the medium of meditation. These states become finer and finer until eventually nothing remains of the medium, and the mind is left by itself in the state of pure consciousness. The infusion of the nature of Being into the nature of the mind orginates in the transcendental field. The living of Being cannot be described. Description cannot give a complete exposition of that state. It can only be lived. If someone is asked to describe the taste of what he has been eating, it is impossible for him to put the exact taste into words, even though he was able to taste the food perfectly well. Similarly, Being is lived in life and is a state of experience, but It cannot be described. Being can be lived through the regular practice of meditation. To begin with, Being is very delicately impressed on the nature of the mind. As the practice is continued, It becomes more and more deeply infused into the mind and eventually becomes so deep, significant and unshakeable that It is lived all the time, through all experiences of the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states. Then one is living eternal freedom on the level of relative experience. ADVANTAGES OF LIVING THE BEING There are innumerable advantages in experiencing absolute Being through the practice of transcendental meditation. It influences the life of the individual at all levels to such a degree that the whole value of life is transformed beyond the imagination of the human mind. How is it possible for a mortal man to visualise the advantages to his individual life of communion with the cosmic life of absolute Being? How can ordinary human intelligence, on the level of intellectual understanding, comprehend the greatness of cosmic intelligence to be found in the field of transcendental Being? How can an individual, functioning within the limitations of his ordinary mental capacity, conceive of the enormous possibilities of the creative energy of his full potential when he is in tune with the creative intelligence of absolute Being? The mind, body and surroundings are the three main fields of life. The advantages of the direct experience of Being in these aspects of life will be dealt with in the chapters which follow. Experience of Being permits one to live life in its full stature and significance and leads one to live the normal life of man - cosmic consciousness. Rejuvenation of body and mind are the special blessings of the experience of Being, and Its influence transforms health3, education4, and social behaviours. It eliminates fear, tension and suffering, on both the individual and social planes, bringing peace in life6. Through the experience of Being 'an is able to use his full potential and to make full use of his surroundings and of the almighty power of nature. The material and spiritual values of life are brought into harmony: through the art of experiencing Being it is possible to live life in eternal freedom while accomplishing the maximum in the material field. It is not difficult to live Being in all phases of life: the body, mind, nervous system, speech, thought, breath, behaviour, and surroundings. Brought to the level of the individual mind, Being provides the key to clear, purposeful and fruitful thinking which in action leads to self-confidence and increased efficiency in all undertakings. The practice of transcendental meditation brings fullfilment to psychologyl, philosophy2 and to man's religious3 life and is the key to God-realisation. WHAT IS LIFE ? Life is the Light of God, the expression of Divinity. It is divine. It is the stream of eternal Being, a flow of existence, intelligence, creativity, purity and bliss. Life is unity on the basis of the absolute and eternal unity of life. On the surface of eternity we are mortal beings in an ever-changing phenomenal existence. Life is unity in God-consciousness. It is multiplicity in the Light of God. Life is absolute in bliss-consciousness and relative in the variety of phenomenal joy. Essentially life is Being. Life, in its essential nature, is the unbounded eternal ocean of Being. When we state that life is the ocean of Being, we do not mean life is only that. It is also the stream, the flow of Being. The flow of Being means Being in Its manifested, relative aspects. Let us consider the ocean, since we have said that life is the ocean of Being. At the bottom of the ocean the water is cool. As we rise towards the surface we find that the water becomes warmer at each level and that at the surface of the ocean the temperature is highest. The various degrees of temperature at different levels constitute the temperaturc of the ocean. The water is essentially the same at all levels but, according to the temperaturc of each different level, it varies in its density. Likewise, Being is the same and yet different at each level of creation. It is composed of different levels of understanding, different levels of intelligence and creativity and different levels of peace and happiness. All these levels of peace and happiness, creativity, intelligence and power are nothing but the different levels of Being. One extreme of Being is absolute, while the other is the grossest state of relative existence. The different states of Being between these two extremes constitute the different states of manifested Being. Eternally remaining absolute Being, It is found in the different qualities, forms and phenomena of diverse creation. In this way we find that life is the ocean of Being. Another example will serve to illustrate the nature of life. We know that hydrogen and oxygen are gases and that when they combine as H20 they become water. Although gas becomes water, the essential constituents H and O remain the same hydrogen and oxygen. When water freezes to become ice, the properties change again, but the essential constituents remain the same. The fluidity of water has changed into the solidity of ice. The transparency of water has changed into the opacity of ice, but with all these changes the essential constituents, hydrogen and oxygen, have not changed. The same elements are found in all the different states, appearing with different properties, giving rise to different phenomena. It is as if one and the same man is found as an actor on the stage, a player on the playing-field, a student in the class and a customer in the market. When a judge sits in the court-room, he wears robes befitting a judge, but when he goes to his club he appears in clothes suitable for a club. When he is at home he wears clothes that differ from those that he wears on the street, and before retiring at night he changes his clothes yet again. The garments change but the man remains the same. He is addressed in different ways by different people, yet the man is forever the same man. Likewise, all different forms and phenomena in creation differ in their qualities. No two forms are ever the same; even the same form becomes different with the lapse of time, for nothing in creation is stable. Everything is changing, yet, at the basis of all these everchanging phenomena of creation, the underlying reality is the same never-changing, eternal, absolute Being. Life can be explained by the example of a tree. All the components of the outer aspect of the tree - trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit - together with those of the inner root constitute the whole life of the tree. But when we look more closely we find that although the root is the basis of the outer tree, it has no absolute, independent status. The root depends upon the nourishment, or sap, that comes from the area outside the root itself. This sap is the essence of the entire tree. It nourishes the root and, passing through the root, gives rise to all the other aspects of the tree. So the tree is essentially the nourishment, and its basis lies beyond the boundaries of its outer form and root. Thus the basis of its life is transcendental in nature, transcending the boundaries of the inner and outer tree. It is the field where the essential constituent of the tree is found in its pure nature. Similarly, the life of a man or any individual life in creation has three aspects: the outer, the inner and the transcendental. The outer aspect of life is the body; the inner is the subjective aspect of the personality which is concenled with the process of experience and action; the transcendental aspect of life is Being. The various aspects of life may be compared to a coconut. The outer part consists of a hard shell. Beneath the shell is a more refined aspect of the coconut, which is the solidified layer of milk, the kernel. Beyond the kernel is the essence, the milk in its pure form. So the milk in its pure form has solidified into a firm inner layer and surrounded itself with the still harder layer of the shell to protect the precious inner part. Similarly, in the life of the individual the essence or milk is the unmanifested absolute Being, the transcendental aspect of life, which manifests as the ego, intellect, mind, senses. All these subtle states of life constitute the inner man, the kernel, the subjective aspect of life. This differs from its objective aspect which is the body with its various components, the shell, the outer aspect of life. In order to understand life in its totality we must consider it in its transcendental, subjective and objective aspects, and if we succeed in having a clear picture of an individual existence in these terms, then we shall understand the range of life. INDIVIDUAL AND COSMIC LIFE We have seen that life has two aspects, absolute and relative. We have also seen that the relative aspect is simply the expression of the absolute phase of life, which is the omnipresent, unbounded ocean of pure consciousness, or eternal existence. This eternal existence is said to be cosmic life, and its expression in the relative field is called individual life. Thus, for the sake of understanding, it could be said that the absolute state of life corresponds to cosmic life, and that the relative states of life correspond to the individual life. Individual life is the expression of cosmic life, just as a wave is an expression of the ocean. The ocean, while remaining the same, is affected by every wave and its activity. The universe reacts to individual action. If a stone is thrown into a pond, waves are produced that travel throughout the pond. Each wave produces some effect in every part of the pond. Similarly, the wave of individual life, through its activity, produces an influence in all parts of the cosmos. Life is one continuous and homogeneous whole. The waves of individual life on the ocean of life arise without breaking the continuity and all-pervading status of eternal, absolute Being. All the innumerable laws of nature carrying out the process of creation, evolution and dissolution in different parts of the universe, are the diverse expressions of the one eternal, cosmic life. The entire creation is the expression of cosmic life. When individuality begins to exist at different points in creation, the continuity and homogeneity of cosmic life are not disturbed. Life permeates the whole body, and all the different parts of the body are at the command of the life of the individual. But the hand itself, for example, is a composite of millions of cells, each of which has its own life and function to perform. Although the life of the cell is a life in itself and has its own sphere of activity and individuality, it is a part of the whole life of the individual. The life of every cell has its influence on the whole life of man. The smooth function of every tissue in the body produces a powerful, harmonious influence on the individual life. But any defect, inactivity or dullness in even one cell can bring about a corresponding effect in the life of the individual as a whole. In the same way the universe reacts to individual action. Through every thought, word and deed we are producing influences which affect our surroundings. Physics has revealed that through everything we do we produce vibrations in the atomsphere. Waves of activity are set up by the nervous system which are emitted from the body to reach all layers of the atmosphere. Recently we have seem that receivers installed in space-probes travelling at hundreds of miles a minute receive commands from earth at a distance of thousands of miles. The equipment carries out commands and sends back information. This shows the continuity of life, and that it reacts to our actions far beyond our immediate surroundings, in unlimited space. Our every thought, word or action produces an influence in the atmosphere, and the quality of that influence depends upon the quality of the vibrations emitted by us. Everything in the universe is constantly influencing every other thing. This shows how dependent and how powerful is the life of the individual. A man may not be aware of the influence that he produces on the surroundings, but the influence is produced none the less. The expression of goodness, sweetness or love to a child produces a loving and life-supporting influence in the whole cosmos. One harsh, cruel word spoken to a person will produce that influence of harshness and cruelty throughout creation. Experiments with plants are said to have shown that a plant which is properly tended with feelings of love and kindness grows stronger and more quickly than one which the gardener dislikes, though he may attend to it conscientiously. One kind look will draw a child to you. A harsh look makes him cry and run away. This is how, quite silently, influence is produced on the whole of nature. Innocently one becomes the victim of the vibrations of other people; one is subjected to and influenced by the silent emotions and thoughts of other individuals. A creature of the animal kingdom does not know that it is producing a far-reaching influence through every action, but man, with his highly developed nervous system, should know the extent of the influence he produces. If a man has a kind and compassionate nature, he will naturally produce a good influence on his surroundings. When you enter the home of a friend, you may feel elated or depressed. If the friend is virtuous and a man of good intention, thought and action, then he creates a very good atmosphere. Wherever he lives or goes, he carries with him that influence of happiness and harmony. Someone passes you in the street, and you feel attracted to him and begin to feel love for him. Another man passes, and you are repulsed by him. This is due to their qualities and to the reactions they have on your own vibrations. It is well known that many houses attract passers-by. These houses are inviting, they convey a feeling of harmony and peace, and to look at them gives pleasure. Others give an impression of sadness, dryness, coldness - a feeling of antipathy. This is due to the quality of the people living in the house, or to the duality of the person who built it, or to the quality of the wealth with which it was built. When we speak of the quality of wealth, what do we mean? The quality of wealth is determined by the means by which it has been earned, as well as by the effects it produces for others. Wealth of good quality is that which has been earned by means which have helped to elevate society or to improve the lives of people. A house built with this wealth or an act done with it will produce a good influence in the atmosphere. Wealth of bad quality is that which is gained by illegal or sinful means or through a type of business which tends to lower the standards of society, lower its consciousness and directly or indirectly creates a situation whereby the moral, spiritual and religious values of the people are debased. Any work done with this wealth or any house built with it, has an over-all depressing effect. Great wealth earned through an activity which lowers the consciousness or damages the lives of people does not produce a healthy influence for those who inherit it. This tends to show itself in sickness, a low state of consciousness, degenerate ways of life and minds clouded with petty and low thoughts. But one who inherits this wealth does not know that he is suffering from its demoralising influence. These innocent and basically well-meaning people are the victims of the harm perpetrated on society by their parents or forefathers. Apart from its adverse effects upon themselves, their wealth does not engender in them any feeling for helping others. The way out of such a situation is to devote a proportion of the inheritance to any work directly dedicated to raising the consciousness of the people. This counteracts the adverse effects produced at the time the wealth was earned. The relative fields of life are so closely interconnected, and the influence of each aspect of life on every other aspect of life in the cosmos is so complex and diverse, that it is highly important that by some means every man in the world should become a righteous man. Each man's thoughts would then be loving, helpful and compassionate, producing good influences for himself, on his surroundings and in the whole of creation. The only way to achieve this is for each individual to transform the nature of his mind in such a way that it naturally picks up only right thoughts, and naturally engages itself only in right speech and actions. Each man has to rise to this level by himself. No one can possibly raise the level of another person's consciousness. Help by way of information and guidance can be offered by those who know the way, but the responsibility for raising the level of one's consciousness lies with oneself. Each individual has to choose his own path and uplift himself by his own endeavour. Others can at best reveal to him the wisdom of individual and cosmic life and inspire him to establish coordination between himself and the universal state of Being. It should be firmly established in the mind of every individual that he is a part of the whole life of the universe and that his relationship to universal life is that of one cell to the whole body. If every cell is not alert, energetic and healthy, the body as a whole begins to suffer. Therefore, for the sake of the life of the individual, and equally for the life of everything in the entire universe, it is necessary for the individual to be healthy, virtuous and right in every thought, word and deed. That the whole universe reacts to every individual action is rare knowledge, but it is also a scientific fact'. For there exists an intimate and inseparable connection between the individual and the universe; neither is independent. The boundaries of individual life are not restricted to the boundaries of the body, nor even to those of one's family or home; they extend far beyond those spheres to the limitless horizons of unbounded cosmic life. NORMAL LIFE We have already seen that life has two aspects, relative and absolute. Therefore normal life should mean that the values of both these aspects are lived and enjoyed in a natural way. We have also seen that relative life has two aspects: the inner subjective life of the individual, which includes the ego, intellect, mind, senses, prana and absolute Being taken together, and the outer objective aspect, which is the body and the surroundings. The body and mind should function normally, Being should permeate all the fields of relative existence, and the surroundings should be harmonious and useful. When one naturally uses all the resources of mind, body and Being for the natural process of evolution, then life can be said to be normal. When all values of relative life pertaining to the body, mind and surroundings are supplemented by divine values, the blissful nature of absolute Being, then worldly life in the fullness of eternal freedom - in the state of cosmic consciousness - is the normal life of a human being. It is a life of all glory in the material world, supplemented by eternal freedom in God-consciousness. Cosmic consciousness is meant to be the normal consciousness of human beings. The range of human life is not, as is generally thought, restricted to our various ways of living, sleeping, waking, playing, talking or behaving; these are only the gross levels of human values. The real, substantial value of human life is the bliss-consciousness that raises a man to the high estate of eternal freedom while he is engaged in the day-to-day world of transitory values. A man who has not achieved cosmic consciousness has not yet reached the level of normal human life; he is nearer the level of animal life. Wherein lies the difference between man and the animal kingdom? The process of maintaining life is the same for both. Both eat, drink, sleep and are active. Man enjoys the objects of the senses, and so does the animal. Animals shrink from death just as man does. What advantages has man over animals? Man is superior to the animal kingdom by reason of his capacity for greater understanding, his ability to perceive a greater range of life and his power to act independently. Man has freedom of action, whereas each animal species has a set pattern of behaviour which is governed by the laws of nature. No animal has a mind sufficiently developed to deviate from the channels of activity imposed on it by natural laws. Man has a developed nervous system through which he can either maintain his activity in accordance with the laws of evolution or deviate from those laws. Unlike the animals, he has this choice. Man has a brain sufficiently developed to be able to distinguish between right and wrong, and for this reason the great responsibility for right behaviour lies with him. He has the ability directly to experience the abstract field of bliss-consciousness. His nervous system enables him to experience subtler states of thought, to transcend the subtlest thought and arrive at the transcendental state of pure consciousness, the state of absolute Being. This is the inestimable advantage that man has over the animals. When a man does not live a normal life, or a life using his full potential, he feels miserable and tense and suffers in many ways. But the ability to live in the power of unlimited, eternal Being and thereby glorify all aspects of life, lies within man's normal capacity. 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 creation is the expansion of happiness, and this purpose is fulfilled through the process of cosmic evolution. The significance and purpose of individual life is the same as that of cosmic life. The difference is one of scale. Individual life is the fundamental unit of the life of the cosmos. If the purpose of individual life is served, automatically and simultaneously the purpose of cosmic life is served to the same degree. If a man has fulfilled the purpose of his life he has done his best to help the cosmic purpose, for the evolution of the cosmos is basically served by the evolution of the individual life. If a man is unhappy he has missed the very essence of life. If his intelligence, power, creativity, peace and happiness are not constantly developing, he has lost his direction. 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, progressive, evolving and developing through activity and multiplying itself. Activity maintains the stream of evolution, and it is the nervous system of the individual which is the vehicle for this activity. In species lower than man the nervous system is not so fully evolved, so that activity leading to evolution is on a far smaller scale. As the nervous system evolves the rate of evolution increases. Man's nervous system, being complete, is the most highly evolved. Therefore his possibility of evolution is unlimited in this life. When a child is born his means of expression are limited and his powers undeveloped; but as he grows up and engages in the field of activity there is no limit to the development of his powers, his strength, intelligence and creativity, nor to the degree of happiness which he can experience and radiate. The purpose of this book is to reveal that since man's nervous system is so developed he can, through right activity, make use of his unlimited potential. A man of limited mind, busy in the world, is unable to appreciate the purpose of life. His mind is occupied with small things, and he can only create in a limited way. The conscious mind of an ordinary man is so limited that he is not even able to enjoy life. Many aspects of his life cause him to suffer, but his suffering is due only to his not using his full potential. By not using his full potential, man is unable to fulfil the purpose of his life. He suffers in many ways because he is not using the full conscious capacity of his mind or 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 absolute field of creativity and power that lies within himself. He is like a millionaire who has forgotten his wealth and position and goes begging in the street. All suffering is due to ignorance of a way to unfold the divine glory which is present within oneself. Since one possesses the capacity for divine unfoldment, it is ignorance of the technique for experiencing the Being within oneself which is responsible for the misery in life. Without divine consciousness man lacks energy, intelligence and clarity of thought. He is tired, tense and anxious. Human existence and intelligence have reached such a deplorable level that in the field of psychology - the great science of the mind - it is even suggested that tension is necessary for creative intelligence. How tragic it is to believe that tension is necessary to improve life! It is said that poets and artists have created their most inspired work under tension. All such statements are due to ignorance and an inability to distinguish between tensions and pressure of time or circumstances. Pressure of time or circumstances can sometimes produce much finer work but only from minds that are free and relaxed, which do not become tense through this pressure. In our modern scientific age material comforts are certainly increasing, yet the individual life seems to grow more tense. This is only because individuals do not know the way to improve their ability and efficiency through contact with the greater energy and intelligence which every man has within himself. It is only necessary to contact consciously that field of inner life to benefit from it. Man today is blind to the purpose of life, unable 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 the best of his ability. This is commendable, but when activity increases a man often finds himself unable to cope with the resulting pressure and responsibility. Unless his efficiency increases proportionately, 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. When he does not know how to do this he misses the entire purpose of life. Life in freedom is intended for the human race. If a man is not able to live in freedom the very purpose of life is not fulfilled. Man is born to live a perfect life, encompassing the values of the transcendental Absolute - unlimited energy, intelligence, power, peace and bliss together with the unlimited values of the world of multiplicity in relative existence. Man's life is meant to be a bridge between divine intelligence and the whole of creation. It exists to cultivate the divine power, intelligence, happiness and abundance, and to give this out to all creation. This is the high purpose of man's life. Man is fortunate in being endowed with the capacity to reach this level through directly contacting the field of the Absolute, thereby enlarging the conscious capacity of his mind. Every man is capable of spreading divine splendour throughout creation. He is able to project all the 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 he fails to do this he brings shame on himself, and he abuses the glory of almighty God present within and around him. Let every man on earth begin to reach the divine consciousness of the Absolute and, bringing it through all his activity into the world of variety, enjoy it himself and radiate it for all others to enjoy. THE ART OF LIVING The word art implies a graceful and skilful method of accomplishing anything. The art of living any phase of life is to make oneself master of that phase by using latent potentialities and correct techniques. The art of living enables a man to live life to its full value, to accomplish the maximum in the world and at the same time to live a life of eternal freedom in God-consciousness. As the art of making a flower arrangement is to glorify every flower by the beauty of every other flower, so, through the art of living, every aspect of life is enriched by the glories of every other aspect. The art of living enables the transcendental aspect of life to strengthen and bring lustre to the subjective and objective aspects of existence, so that the entire range of subjectivity and objectivity enjoys the absolute strength, intelligence, bliss and creativity of eternal Being. This is the art of allowing the life-stream to flow in such a manner that every aspect of living is enriched with the magnificence of life in all its fullness. When the power of the Absolute supplements all aspects of subjectivity then the ego is full, the intellect is profound, sharp and onepointed, the mind is concentrated and powerful, the thought force is great and the senses are fully alert. When the ego, intellect, mind and senses are fully supported by absolute Being they become effective. Then experience becomes more profound and activity gains power. In this way all spheres of the individual's life become more useful for society and even for the entire cosmos. We have seen that it is the sap which is the basis of the root and the entire tree. In this example we found that the root lay between the transcendental area of the tree and the outer tree. Likewise, the subjective aspect of life, the inner man (ego, mind and senses) lies between transcendental Being (the basis of our life) and the outer gross field of objective existence. The art of living demands a good and effective life. The art of living requires a sufficient infusion of Being into the subjective aspect of life and Its influence in all fields of the objective aspect. The art of living requires that the mind should draw on the power of Being and pass this on to the body and its surroundings. For a tree to grow to maturity, the root must be efficient so that nourishment from the surrounding area is properly absorbed and transmitted to all the different parts of the outer tree. This is the key to the art of living. The inner man should absorb the value of the transcendental, absolute state of life and transmit this to the outer gross relative states, enriching each aspect with the power of absolute Being. Through this technique the mind works in such a way that every individual thought enjoys the strength of cosmic intelligence, every action enjoys the power of unlimited cosmic life and the creative energy of the individual is augmented with the unlimited energy of cosmic Being. Thus we conclude that the art of living requires that the mind be in constant communion with the absolute state of life, so that whatever the mind is thinking, in whatever action it is engaged, it is never separated from the direct influence of the eternal, absolute Being. The art of living, then, lies in the mind cultivating within itself the eternal state of absolute Being. The constant and continuous infusion of the Absolute into the very nature of the mind becomes the living truth of day-to-day life. If a businessman does not invest his wealth in his business he does not gain the maximum possible profit. If the individual mind does not reflect the bliss of absolute Being and experience things in the outside relative field of life while remaining saturated with that bliss, then nothing that is experienced will bring lasting contentment. The mind will always be searching for greater happiness. But if the mind is saturated with bliss, it derives joy from the variety of multiple creation while remaining established in contentment. Only then does the mind fully enjoy variety. If the mind is not based on the bliss of unity within itself, it is tossed about like a football from one point to another, having no inherent stability. The variety of the world will be fully enjoyed only when the mind has gained an unshakeable status in the bliss of absolute Being. Otherwise, the very purpose of multiplicity, of the joyful, glorious variety of creation, is undermined. If experience is only one-sided, if the mind experiences only the variety of the relative, gross fields of life, then it is clear that the values of relative life are not being supplemented by the absolute state of Being. Such a one-sided life is due only to a lack of knowledge of the art of living which alone can enable man to unfold his full mental potential and naturally glorify all aspects of his life. To make this clear we shall first analyse man's full potential and then see how the power of Being can be infused into different levels of life so that advantage can be taken of all aspects of the art of living. MAN'S FULL POTENTIAL We have seen that the nervous system of man is the most highly developed in creation. With such a gift man should live the supreme state of life - at the least a life without suffering and at the best a life of absolute bliss in God-consciousness. God-consciousness is awareness of the ultimate, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent reality of existence, the absolute Being. With God-consciousness a man is constantly attuned to any supreme manifestation of absolute Being. By the full potential of man we mean that a man should live life to his maximum capacity on all levels physical, mental and spiritual. By the full potential of man on the physical plane is meant the possibility of having a healthy body in which all the limbs, the senses and the nervous system function normally in co-ordination with one another. On the mental plane it means the ability of man to make full use of his mental capacity, and on the spiritual plane it means man's ability to live the value of spiritual Being in all fields of his daily life. Man's full potential on these three planes of life also includes the perfect co-ordination between the physical and mental planes and between the mental and spiritual planes. Full potential means a perfect co-ordination of the Divine with the material levels of man's life, the functioning of the full capacity of the mind, perfect:health and the value of divine life or God-consciousness infused in the day-to-day life of man. Man does not generally use his mind fully. The conscious mind is only an insignificant part of the total mind that a man possesses. As long as he functions only on the ordinary level of conscious mind, he is not using his full mental potential. Man's mind can be said to be functioning normally only when he uses it to its full capacity. Moreover, the use of his full potential would enable a man to think, speak and act in such a manner that every thought, word and action would not only accomplish the maximum in material life but would also become a means of his remaining in tune with almighty God, thereby bringing His influence to all levels of life. Each human mind has the ability to include within its consciousness the field of the transcendental, absolute, divine Being. The whole range of creation and the field of the Being lie within the scope of human consciousness. Each individual can embrace the full cosmic rife. Thus the full potential of man is on the level of the unlimited potential of universal Being. To live a normal human life is to live a life of divine consciousness, God-consciousness. A normal human mind should function on human levels and yet have the status of universal cosmic mind. Cosmic consciousness should not be thought of as something far beyond the reach of any ordinary man: it should be the normal human consciousness. Any state below cosmic consciousness can only be considered sub-normal human consciousness. The full potential of man is such that it brings to every man this blessed and graceful state of divine life in a natural and easy manner, without effort, and maintains it through all the phases of daily life. The practice of transcendental meditation unfolds the full potential of the Divine in man and brings human consciousness to the level of God-consciousness. The effect of this simple practice is to permeate life with unlimited creative energy and to harmonise the abstract, absolute values of divine Being with the concrete, physical values of day-to-day life, bringing life to a state of eternal freedom. HOW TO USE ONE'S FULL POTENTIAL We have seen that the boundaries of individual life are not restricted to the boundaries of the body, nor to those of one's family or one's home; they extend far beyond those spheres to the limitless horizons of cosmic life. We have also seen that man's full potential enables him to live the supreme state of life. The art of using one's full potential requires that life as a whole should have a solid basis. Without this, life will be as unstable as a building on a weak foundation. For stability a solid foundation is the first requisite. Stability is the characteristic of the absolute state of life which never changes and is the truth of life, the eternal Being. Life is stable only in its absolute state. Life in its relative stages is ever-changing, and those ever-changing phases of life leave it without stability. Therefore, to be able to use one's full potential the first step is to infuse stability into the everchanging phases of relative life. When the mind is supported by the power of never-changing absolute Being all the ever-changing phases of relative existence are strengthened by the power of stability. This forms the basis for using one's full potential. If life is not based on the stable status of absolute Being, then, apart from being ever-changing in character, it will always remain weak. For example, the art of strengthening a wave is to enable it to contact deeper levels of water. A small wave on the surface of the ocean may not be very powerful but the same wave becomes powerful when it is connected with deeper levels of water. If the wave is to rise high enough to become powerful, the vertical activity of rising must be supplemented by the horizontal activity of drawing in more water at the base. Only in this way can it rise in an integrated manner. If it fails to draw in more water as it rises higher, it becomes weak at the crest and even a slight breeze shatters it. The wave of individual life should not be confined to the surface values of the ocean of eternal, absolute Being. The art of using one's full potential requires that the surface value of relative life be supplemented by the power lying at the depth of the ocean of absolute Being, so that the wave of individual life may gain the maximum possible depth - the wave of relative experience and existence is taken to the limit of absolute experience and existence. When one's full potential is unfolded in this way, then every phase of life strengthens every other phase and life becomes strong and powerful, more useful and worthwhile on all levels for oneself and for others. Every wave on the sea has the opportunity to take in at its base as much water as it likes and to gain infinite power. Similarly, each individual has the opportunity to gain for himself the strength of unlimited, eternal Being and to become as powerful as is humanly possible. When it is possible for a wave to enjoy the limitless strength of the ocean, does it not amount to sheer waste if it is shattered by the breeze. When the opportunity is open to every man of gaining unlimited power, intelligence, peace and happiness, is it not a waste of life if he remains limited and weak. The art of using one's full potential is the same as the art of shooting an arrow: one begins by pulling the arrow back on the bow. As it is drawn back it gains the maximum energy for going forward. If the arrow is not drawn fully back the shot will be ineffective. The art of using one's full potential consists in drawing the mind back to the field of absolute Being before it emerges to face the gross aspect of the relative fields of life. Fortunately, this art of living has been developed to bring the most effective results in life, and all its glory is centred in a technique for bringing the mind to the field of Being in a simple and effective way. Absolute Being, the stable factor in life, is always beyond the field of ever-changing phenomenal creation and experience. The ever-changing phase of relative existence must eternally remain ever-changing. It cannot be transformed into a never-changing phase. This is relative life. But the subject within, the inner man, can gain simultaneously a status in eternal, absolute Being. This is how the never-changing Absolute can supplement the everchanging phenomenal phases of life, and these two together make life complete. A man has two sides, left and right, and it is necessary that they should both be used to full advantage. If the left side only is used, the right side, remaining unused, becomes weak and the left becomes over-strained by action. The right side, too, can feel strained through remaining in a state of inactivity. Therefore, to live life fully it is necessary for left and right to work together in co-operation. The Absolute and the relative are the two phases of existence. Unless they are brought together the Absolute remains transcendental, beyond the field of activity, out of sight and seemingly of no practical value; while the field of relative life is over-strained by constant activity and in its unstable, ever-changing status remains weak. It is the art of living which links together the never-changing Absolute of transcendental nature and the ever-changing field of relative existence, enabling all the values of life to be lived in perfect harmony. Both are brought together by the mind, just as the earth's fertility and the tree are brought together by the root which draws nourishment from the one and supplies it to the other. When the mind proceeds to experience subtler states of thought and transcendental Being, its full potentialityl unfolds and automatically becomes available for use in daily activities. By this process one begins to make use of one's full potential in the fields of senses, body and surroundings, and one lives life in completeness. HOW TO MAKE FULL USE OF ONE'S SURROUNDINGS To understand the technique for making full use of the surroundings it is first necessary to understand how they are constituted. They are not always the same: at home a man's surroundings are different from those in his office. Surroundings are of two kinds: those which are consciously created and those which are created without the conscious knowledge of the individual. For example, if a man builds a new house, he does so consciously and intentionally. If he invites a friend to the house and his friend finds out that there is an ulterior motive in the invitation, the friend may become an enemy. The friend's enmity is the creation and responsibility of the man who invited him, even though it was not the man's intention to make an enemy of him. Looking into this question more deeply, we find that the unintentional creation of surroundings is in accordance with the theory of karma. Our present intentions and efforts have their origin in the influence of the past. But we should remember that our present surroundings are not only the result of the past, because the fruits of our past actions have to be supplemented by our present intentions. Therefore our surroundings are not only the result of our past but the result of a combination of past and present. Take the example of a man whose relationship with others is bad. Many people with whom he is associated speak in of him and misunderstand his actions, although the man knows he has not harmed anyone. This has to be understood as the result of past action. It is nothing but his own creation returning to him in the present. Man has to take his surroundings as they are, knowing that they are his own creation. When we enjoy, it is the result of our own action and when we suffer, again it is due to our own action. So whether we experience joy or misery, our surroundings are not in themselves to blame. When building a house, if we also plant a garden we enjoy it; but if we do not plant a garden we just enjoy the warmth of the living room without suffering from the lack of a garden. This is how we make the best use of our surroundings. Since we create our own surroundings, naturally we intend them to assist us in obtaining what we desire. The technique for receiving help from surroundings lies in our attitude to giving. If we want to receive maximum help at all times, we must have an attitude of giving. It is a law of nature that if you want to receive you must give. In the life of a tree the root has the responsibility of taking the sap from the earth surrounding it and of passing it on to the outer tree. Only when it is prepared to do this is it able to take in the sap. If the sales manager in a factory continues to make sales, the production manager keeps up the production. If the product is not sold, production also comes to a standstill. Production depends upon consumption. It is natural for a man to receive to the extent that he is in a position to give. The mother gives to the child and receives from it in return; the father gives all his love, wealth, strength and mind to his son and in return receives the joy of his confidence, love and happiness. If you are open with a person, he will be open with you. If you want love from someone, give your love to him. If you want kind and sympathetic behaviour from someone, be kind and sympathetic to him. If you want comfort from him, prove yourself comforting. If you want admiration from others, do something to show your admiration for them. If you are sincere in giving, you receive many times over in return. The teacher learns by teaching; in obeying, the student commands the respect of the teacher. If your son is readily obedient to you he captures your heart as a natural return for his obedience. If you are kind to a child, he will respond to you; if you are harsh to him, he will revolt against you. This is action and reaction. That action and reaction are equal is a scientifically established truth. You react to someone in a certain way and he, in turn, reacts to you. If he does not react to you, then nature will bring the reaction indirectly. If you hurt someone, even if he himself does not react other agencies of nature will bring you the reaction. It is a law of nature that as you sow, so you shall reap. In whatever way you want surroundings to react, your behaviour towards your surroundings must be in accordance with your wish. This is the fundamental principle :for making the best use of the surroundings. The laws of nature cannot be deceived; reaction will come. If a man is jealous of you, you will find, when you search your heart, that you have been jealous either of him or of someone else in the past. Be kind to him and to others and your surroundings will be kind to you; be loving to him and your surroundings will be loving to you. Begin to doubt and your surroundings will begin to doubt you. If you hate, surroundings begin to hate you. If your surroundmgs begin to hate you do not blame the surroundings; blame your own inner conscience. It is necessary to clear your conscience. Be compassionate and sincere in your behaviour. Good outward behaviour is certainly of great value in life but a pure inner conscience is of greater value still. If you are clear in your conscience and are loving, kind and virtuous to your fellow men, you will receive good behaviour naturally from everyone and great joy from your surroundings. If you have all these qualities and are clear in your conscience and yet feel there is something wrong with your surroundings, then take them as they come; they are the result of some action in the past. If you retaliate you lower yourself to the level of the wrong. Rather let the wrong be just a drop in the ocean of your virtue. It is a common saying that one should not resist evil. If you resist evil you must stoop to that level of evil, and furthermore you are responsible for the evil influence you produce by retaliating. Let the impurities of the atmosphere find a refuge in the ocean of purity in your heart, in the unfathomable joy of your inner pure conscience. When you forgive, all nature enjoys your brilliance and returns joy to you. Forgiveness, tolerance, purity of heart, sincerity, love, kindness are the bases from which to enjoy and make full use of the surroundings. This is the fundamental principle of giving. Surroundings are of two kinds - animate and inanimate, or living and non-living. It may be said that there is nothing that is not living in the universe; physics tells us that nothing is inert, everything is vibration and activity. Nonetheless, in the field of relative existence we do distinguish a man from a house, a dog from a garden. A house and a garden we take to be inert and the dog and the man we take to be living. Our purpose is to make the best use of both living and inert surroundings and for this the basic principle is the same - the principle of giving. Therefore in all walks of life, under all circumstances, in all kinds of surroundings, animate or inanimate, it is necessary to have a loving, kind and sympathetic heart. Our outward behaviour should be based on that. If you want your surroundings to be of the best use to you, be of the best use to your surroundings. If you want your house to give you joy and comfort, be joyful in it, bring to it beautiful things. If you project love to the plants in your garden, they will reward you with beautiful flowers to give you joy. If you cultivate within yourself a natural state of kindness, compassion, love and forgiveness, you will be rewarded a thousandfold by your surroundings. Develop these qualities to the fullest capacity within yourself. If you can rise to this level where human life has its full value you will receive the maximum and make full use of your surroundings. Again, we find there are two types of surroundings on any level: immediate surroundings and surroundings that are distant and remote. The surroundings near to us are affected by the way we behave, speak and act in relation to them. If a flower is placed in a bowl of water it blooms and remains fresh. If, on the other hand, it is left to wither on the ground in the dust it reflects our negligence. Thus the surroundings near to us are directly affected by our behaviour. But surroundings remote from us also react to our feelings and thoughts. For instance, if we are in India and have a friend in America, his feelings of heart and mind will be according to our feelings of heart and mind. Thought waves are much more powerful than the waves of speech and action. Through every thought, word and action we are creating some wave in the atomsphere, but thought waves are especially penetrating. If we are joyful and full of kindness and love for the whole world we receive love from every quarter. We have seen in detail how thought and action influence the whole universe and we have also seen how the universe reacts to individual thought and action. We create a quality of life in the atmosphere according to the quality of our hearts. The technique for making full use of all types of surroundings, whether near or remote, for our best advantage, is to develop loving, forgiving and sympathetic thoughts for all of them. If we are guided by this principle of giving in order to receive, the receiving will naturally be equal or more, because that which we give returns to us from many parts of our surroundings. We have seen that to unfold and make full use of one's own human potential it is only necessary to be regular in the practice of transcendental meditation. From direct experience of bliss-consciousness is gained that fullness of life to which all types of surroundings will react in the most favourable way. To make really full use of one's surroundings, it is necessary to be a normal man, a fully grown man with a perfectly developed personality - a man of cosmic consciousness. It is only in this state that a man receives full advantage from his surroundings because in this state his heart and mind are established on the level of Being, from which level the laws of nature are sustaining the evolution of all things. Only from that level of cosmic consciousness can one really give. When one lives on this supreme level of giving, then one is in a position to receive likewise. Cosmic consciousness is the state where a man lives in the service of the Divine. His thought, speech and action are guided naturally by the divine will. He is an individual but he is a living instrument of God. Whatever he does serves the cosmic life. He is by nature the most obedient servant of the Divine. Once he has attained the state of cosmic consciousness he need not do anything more in order to derive the utmost from his surroundings. They will naturally be of full use to him and of greatest value to others. Everything in his surroundings will draw the maximum benefit from every other thing. Through the practice of transcendental meditation one automatically makes full. use of one's surroundings. This may appear to be far-fetched but it is a true principle of life. In no other way is it possible to turn one's surroundings to one's maximum advantage. Those who try to change their surroundings and convert them to their advantage by force are recorded in history as having only partially succeeded in their attempts. Even the greatest monarchs and dictators the world has known were not able to make full use of their surroundings. They were unable to mould all circumstances to their wishes because they had not developed themselves on all levels of life to will the favour of the laws of nature. It is necessary to be in tune with nature, raising the level of consciousness so that it enters the realm of all harmony and peace which lies in the eternal status of absolute, transcendental pure consciousness. Not by force, moral pressure or suggestion is it possible to change surroundings or make full use of them for oneself. The attempt by modern psychology to reconcile man with his surroundings by improving his relationships through suggestion and psychological training is doomed to failure because it has nothing to do with the fundamentals of life. It is like an attempt to build a real castle on a beach where only sand is available. Trying to shape and improve human life through psychological suggestions, that is, using only the material available in the conscious mind, is a shallow and limited approach which cannot serve the real purpose of life. lf the petals of a flower start to wither, a skilled gardener waters the root; he does not water the petals. If tension arises in a relationship, very little can be gained by trying to reconcile those concerned on the level of suggestion. Bad relationships can only be handled effectively by improving the qualities of heart and mind. We have seen how quickly the conscious capacity of the mind can be improved. It is well known that if someone is distressed because of some tragedy, it is hard for him to derive comfort from all the suggestions and goodwill by which others try to console him. But if he begins to practice transcendental meditation, his mind rapidly calms down, doubts begin to be dispelled from within, tension begins to resolve and compassion shines. He is able to see the situation from the broader vision of increased consciousness, and immediately he finds himself forgiving, and tolerant of the situation which a few minutes before was a terrible problem. The tragedy is the same, the circumstances are the same. At one moment he fails to derive advantage from his surroundings and is miserable but at the next, by virtue of raising the level of his consciousness, he immediately begins to enjoy his surroundings and derives the maximum advantage for himself and for others. To make full use of the surroundings it is first necessary to raise the level of consciousness; this is accomplished by the regular practice of transcendental meditation, and all surroundings and circumstances will by nature become helpful and be used fully to the best advantage of all creation, near and distant, animate and inanimate. HOW TO MAKE FULL USE OF THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF NATURE In determining the full potential of man it has been found that whereas the individual personality appears to be bound by time, space and causation, the boundaries of an individual life actually touch the unlimited horizon of eternal life. It has been shown that a man is not only a part of divine intelligence, his individual life not only a wave on the surface of the ocean of eternal life, but that he also has the ability to fathom the unlimited field of cosmic life and derive the maximum benefit from the absolute power of Being. It has been seen that not only does it lie within the capacity of each individual to contact and live absolute Being in his day-to-day life, but also that it is simple and easy for him to do so. And it has been seen2 that it is easy for each individual to be in a position to control all the laws of nature and to make use of the almighty power of nature according to his desire, need or convenience. When it is possible for the value of transcendental Being to be infused into the very nature of a man's mind, irrespective of its condition in the waking, dreaming or deep sleep states, then he can gain the level of Being which is the source of inspiration for all the laws of nature; then he can place himself in a position where he is able to use naturally the almighty power of nature. This may sound strange to those who have little understanding of cosmic law or experience of Being because, for a man who is gripped by the tensions of day-to-day life and who finds before him many complicated and unsolved problems, the information that he can use the almighty power of nature is beyond his imagination. He will most likely consider it a flight of fancy which has no bearing on practical life. But it is the experience of many people all over the world that in spite of having undergone much suffering in life they have been able to rise above all miseries and tension and have been able to make their circumstances favourable to themselves. To use the almighty power of nature it is necessary to put oneself in the hands of that almighty power. For the son of a millionaire to be able to take advantage of his father's position in life it is only necessary for him to show willingness to obey the father. The love and sympathy of the son for his father and respect for what he represents will bring the influence and strength of the father to the son. In the same way one is able to make use of the almighty power of nature. If a man is able to submit himself to nature then nature will react to his needs. Almighty nature is all-powerful and all-loving, for all the laws of nature are for the creation and evolution of all beings and creatures throughout the cosmos. There is no greater kindness than the kindness of nature. When a man, because of some misdeeds, seems to be punished by nature and to suffer as a result, this is also the manifestation of the kindness and helpfulness of nature If a child has smeared himself with dirt, his mother will wipe off the dirt. Even if the child dislikes the process of being cleaned, nevertheless it is good for him because the dirt could harm his skin. The child, however, does not understand the harm that the dirt might cause and he rebels against his mother's efforts. When a surgeon operates he uses his knife in all kindness, but he can only start operating for the patient's benifit after the patient has entrusted himself completely to his care. If one submits oneself fully to the will of nature, nature helps one and in this way one begins to make use of its almighty power. It is certainly not possible for man to understand all the laws of nature intellectually, nor is it possible to know the intention of nature in a certain place at a certain time for a specific individual. So an intellectual understanding of the laws of nature, when attempting to put oneself in accordance with the natural flow of evolution, is quite impossible. The eternal process of creation and evolution of the multiple variety of life is so complex and diversified that only an almighty intelligence could possibly conceive the unlimited universe, set it in motion and maintain it. But there is one fact about creation which can make it possible for any man to live completely attuned with nature. It is that all the laws of nature function in the direction of evolution. The individual can consciously place himself in this eternally evolving stream of nature, thereby allowing himself to be carried forward by the natural flow of cosmic evolution. This inevitable flow of nature is a flow into which the individual can consciously put himself to let nature work on him for his evolution in accord with the natural flow of cosmic evolution. Thanks to the great tradition of the yogis of India and to the blessings of Shri Guru Deva we have this possibility. A simple system of transcendental meditation offers mankind a technique whereby the individual consciousness can naturally be maintained within the flow of evolution and by which the evolution of the individual can even be accelerated. This is the simple way of making use of the almighty power of nature. In losing oneself and gaining the power of the Almighty, one's life finds its fulfilment. From this springs the ideology of devotion and surrender. The basis of it all is that the life of the individual is both relative and absolute. The individual is already in contact with absolute Being, only this contact has to be brought to a conscious level. We have seen that the practice of transcendental meditation requires from the individual only innocence and simplicity. He must be devoid of any intellectual play or emotional twist. Simplicity and innocence are already deeply rooted in the very nature of each individual. This meditation is a technique for surrendering to the almighty power of nature and arriving at the absolute, eternal field of divine intelligence. Having reached that plane, the individual begins quite automatically to enjoy the power of nature for his own good. This is only possible on the level of cosmic law ;it cannot be from the level of human understanding. The field of surrender is never on the level of thinking: it is only on the level of Being. Many who want to surrender to God or to nature try to surrender on the level of thought. In this way they make a mood of surrender to God, and mood-making is always on the conscious thinking level. Unless the conscious mind extends to the level of Being, the individual does not enjoy the power of the Almighty. Just thinking: I have surrendered to God, and making a mood of that surrender creates dullness of mind in the individual and deprives him of the opportunity to advance. True surrender to God cannot be on the level of thought. It is always on the level of Being and, unless the level of Being is consciously gained by the mind, any attempt to make a mood of surrender will only result in a state of fanciful passivity and will not be genuinely in tune with the almighty power of nature. Unless the conscious mind transcends thinking and feeling it cannot arrive at the plane of Being. Unless the individual consciousness is infused with the state of divine Being, surrender does not result. The ideology of surrender is not easy to grasp intellectually. Surrender to the almighty will of God, surrender to almighty nature, is the most advanced ideology in life. If one really surrenders, one loses the petty individuality of the time-space-causation-bound mind and gains the unlimited, eternal status of absolute Being. This is possible only in a state of transcendental consciousness. The words 'surrender to the will of God' are very significant and provide a direct way for the individual to gain almighty power. But because an easy technique for transcending the limits of relative existence was lacking, this expression has had, to all intents and purposes, no practical meaning for centuries past. It has come to express merely an abstract, metaphysical or mystical view of life. But with the practice of transcendental meditation, these words begin to have significant practical meaning. They are no longer shrouded in mysticism. They are now a truth of daily experience, and through this experience comes the ability to make use of the power of the Almighty. To those unaware of the practice of transcendental meditation, the idea of making use of the almighty power of nature remains only a fascinating and fanciful thought. However, through this meditation, the idea of making full use of this almighty power becomes practicable. For the son of a millionaire, the use of the power of his father's wealth should be natural and normal. Similarly for man, the son of Almighty God, it should be natural and normal to make use of His power in nature, and this is within the scope of each individual. Only the regular practice of transcendental meditation brings a man to that condition in which he finds himself placed where the almighty power of nature works for him. It is not that he is required to make use of it, but that he is given its full advantage. Without rising to a state of cosmic consciousness, or at least putting himself on the path, it is simply not possible for him to make use of even the partial strength of nature, let alone its almighty power. Fortunate is he who has established himself in a natural harmony with cosmic Being. The whole of nature moves in accordance with his needs, all his desires are in accord with the cosmic purpose, and his life serves the cause of cosmic evolution. He is in the hands of God for the purpose of God, and God is for him and his purpose. He uses the almighty power of nature, and nature uses his life for the glorious purpose of creation and evolution. There are some who try to use the supernatural power of creation by contacting the spirit world through a medium or by invoking spirits. This represents a very limited level of strength because no spirit is in possession of the total power of nature. There may be spirits more powerful than man, but invoking these spirits or acting as a medium for them is not a practice to be encouraged. There are two reasons for this. First, the power gained through these spirits is an insignificant, infinitesimal fraction of the power of almighty nature; secondly, to receive this fraction of the power of nature one must give oneself completely to that spirit's influence. To become a spirit's medium one must give oneself to it completely or else it will not co-operate. Instead of giving oneself completely to a spirit and only gaining a small amount of power, one should give oneself completely to the divine Being through transcendental meditation and gain the unlimited, almighty power of nature. When you invest your money in a business, why not invest it in a business which will bring you the maximum profit in the minimum time? Contacting spirits in the hope of contacting God is a mistaken practice. No one can surrender to God through the medium of spirits. Those who try to achieve these supernatural or psychic powers are misguided. They themselves are not at fault. They are seekers for something higher than that which man's life apparently presents; the wrong is only in the lack of proper guidance. Man's aspiration to contact the higher powers and accomplish great things in life is legitimate, but to contact spirits is an attempt at a very low level and will not accomplish very much. There have never been enough teachers of transcendental meditation, and that is why spiritualistic and similar teachings have become fairly popular, especially in Western countries. The desire to gain higher powers has led many people, lacking proper guidance, to try anything out of the commonplace. In order that people may receive the right technique for making full use of the almighty power of nature it is necessary that large numbers of teachers of meditation be established everywhere. This will make it possible for the life of all people to be set naturally on a sound foundation. There is yet another type of person who, in his enthusiasm to develop higher power within himself, takes to practices of concentration and control of the mind. After much time spent in these practices he seems to achieve something in line with his aspirations, but the great effort put into them is out of all proportion to the small advantage gained. All this amounts to a waste of human aspiration and a waste of the great possibilities open to man on the way to higher powers. If there is a fort which commands a whole territory, it is wise to go straight to the fort and capture it. Then everything in the surrounding territory, all its gold and diamond mines and other riches, will come naturally into one's possession. But if one sets out to capture each mine separately, all one's time and strength may well be exhausted in securing even one. All psychic powers naturally belong to the field of Being since there is a way of directly contacting and becoming familiar with the field of Being, all the psychic powers and all the powers of nature belonging to almighty, eternal Being are available. Therefore, when there is a chance for everyone to contact Being in an easy manner, it is both unwise and a waste of time to practise any form of concentration or control of mind. Is not this an inducement to all seekers of power to start the practice of transcendental meditation and raise the level of their consciousness to the plane of cosmic consciousness They will gain the advantage of being placed in a position where, without intention or effort, the almighty power of nature will be at their disposal and will serve naturally the purpose of their lives. All their needs and those of their associates and surroundings will be fulfilled in the most magnanimous and glorious way. There are other people who have been led to believe that the power of positive thinking is the greatest power in nature. They are told to base their lives on positive thinking. It is foolish to base one's life on the level of thought. Thinking can never be a profound basis for living. Being is the natural basis. Instead of wasting one's time in positive thinking and waiting for the positive thought to materialise, it is better to be. The state of Being realised through the practice of transcendental meditation gives the greatest status to life by bringing the possibility of the power of almighty nature into day-to-day practical life. Thinking, on the other hand, is only imaginary. We shall see that it is necessary to be in order to make thinking powerful. The technique for achieving the state of Being is also the technique for making thought powerful. While positive thoughts are better than negative thoughts, if we base our life on POSitiVe thinking it will be only on an imaginary basis. Positive thinking may have its value as against negative thinking but it has little value when compared with the power of Being. To try to attain the powers of nature from the basis of thinking is to delude oneself. If anyone starts to think: I am a king, he may delude himself with the idea to such an extent that he begins to feel he is a king, but that feeling of kingship will be far removed from the reality of being a king. The philosophy of positive thinking must be replaced by the philosophy of Being. It is not the science of mind that is the highest and most usefull science of life: it is the science of Being which has the supreme status among the sciences of life and living. To live in the hope of gaining abundance and fulfilment of life through positive thinking simply amounts to running after mirages or building castles in the air. The mind must be supplemented by the power of Being; it is the power of Being, not the mind, which is the real basis of life. All the material sciences are in the relative field. Mind is also in the relative field of existence. The science of mind, like any other science, is merely a science of the relative fields of life. It is the science of Being which is the science of the absolute, eternal existence. It is the science of Being which can bring stability, intelligence, the almighty power of nature and the eternal bliss of the Absolute into the relative fields of day-to-day life. It is the power of Being which must be acquired, and it is easy for all people in the world to acquire it even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of modern life. Thus it is in the science of Being that we find the principle of making full use of the almighty power of nature; and the technique is the regular practice of transcendental meditation. THE ART OF BEING Every field of life should be handled and lived in such n way that the maximum benefit is gained for the individual and the universe. We will consider the different fields of life and find the technique which makes it possible to use them to the best advantage. Being, as we have seen, is the basic element of life. It is of transcendental nature and ordinarily It has Its value in a field beyond the obvious features of day-to-day life. The art of Being implies that the value of Being should be used more thoroughly for the good of the individual and the universe. The art of being means that not only is the value of Being not lost in the complexities of life, but It is naturally and fully retained in all spheres, under all circumstances, in all states of consciousness and is used to glorify all aspects of life and to lead to fulfilment. The different aspects of life are the nervous system, body, mind, senses, surroundings, karma, breathing, thinking, speaking, experiencing and behaving. The three states of consciousness are waking, dreaming and sleeping. Being exists even without the art of living the Being, because nothing could exist without It. What could there be without Being? Being is the basis of the existence of everything, even though it is hidden behind the obvious. The nature of Being is bliss-consciousness; It is concentrated happiness of all absolute nature and permanent status. Therefore the art of being means that the concentrated state of happiness should be lived constantly under all circumstances. The art of being demands that at least Being should not be lost and that normally It should dominate life. This means that by nature life is blissful, naturally free from suffering, misery, tension, confusion and disharmony. All spheres of life thinking, speaking, acting and behaving - should become and remain permeated with a natural awareness of Being, so that life may be lived in the full value of Being. The art of being is, therefore, a technique to fathom Being in the innermost levels of one's own life and then to draw It out from the transcendental field of unmanifested nature into relative existence. Thus the art of being consists of a technique which has two aspects. First it explores the region of Being by transferring the conscious mind from the gross, relative field of experience to the field of unmanifest Being and then it brings the mind out infused with the value of Being. Thus the art of being, or the technique of gaining the state of Being, lies in contacting and naturally living the Being. A techniquc or an art necessarily means a process performed and accomplished without strain. Transcendental meditation is a practical technique for the art of being. In considering the scope of the art of being we will take the different aspects of life and examine them in detail. THINKING AND THE ART OF BEING We have seen that when Being is naturally maintained in the mind all thoughts are on the level of Being. This is the art of being while thinking, where thinking and Being co-exist. When thinking is established on the level of Being, Being is maintained naturally through the process of thought. So the art of being with regard to thinking necessitates the infusion of the value of transcendental Being into the nature of the mind. Being is the source of thinking. The process of thinking draws the mind away from its own essential nature, the Being. So we find that the process of thought is opposed to the state of Being. This is the reason why the mind is only able to arrive at the state of Being when it transcends the subtlest stage of thinking during transcendental meditation. When it begins thinking again it must emerge from the transcendental field of Being. Thus the conscious mind is either engaged in the process of thinking or is in the transcendental state of pure Being. Thinking is, therefore, like a challenge to Being. This is, however, only because the mind has not been trained to maintain simultaneously its state of Being and the process of thinking. Generally speaking, the mind's ingrained habit of usually remaining in the field of thinking is the reason why the process of thinking appears to be opposed to the state of Being. When, by the practice of transcendental meditation, the conscious mind reaches the source of thought and becomes familiar with the state of Being, then the state of pure Being is so blissful and harmonious that the mind will not part with it under any circumstances. It is then that the nature of the mind is transformed into the very nature of Being so that, while yet remaining n thinking mind, it is naturally established in the field of Being. This is the art of being in the field of thought. If the mind is not established in the State Of Being the process of thinking is, as it were, lifeless, and when the mind is not familiar with Being the force of thought is very weak. The resultant activity, therefore, will be weak, accomplishment will remain unsatisfying and the fulfilment of life will not be gained. So the art of being while thinking is the basis of all accomplishment and fulfilment in life. When we consider the art of being while thinking, we must make it clear that the art of being lies in creating a condition of Being in the mind, and this is done when attention is brought to the transcendental field of Being. It cannot be accomplished by any other means. Any attempt to become aware of Being without bringing the conscious mind to the field of transcendental Being can only lead to the conscious mind cherishing the thought of Being. And when the conscious mind cherishes the thought of Being it is devoid of the state of Being, because the thought of Being is not the state of Being. Any attempt to hold the thought of Being in the hope of maintaining awareness of Being on the conscious level will only divide the mind between the thought of Being and another thought. The practice of cherishing the thought of Being will not cultivate the state of Being in the mind neither will it allow the full mind to be engaged in any other thought. This means that the influence of Being will not be profound, nor will the thinking be forceful. There are some misguided schools of thought which encourage seekers of truth to try to maintain Being on a conscious level while engaged in thinking, speaking or acting. Any attempt to maintain Being or to try to maintain self-awareness on the level of conscious thinking without first allowing the mind to transcend is a vain attempt to live Being in life. It only creates an illusion of the realisation of Being during thought or activity. Those aspiring to truth and those who wish to make thinking powerful through the power of Being, should be aware of the mental effects of only thinking about Being. Being is a state of life which cannot be lived by simply thinking about it. Being is lived naturally without having to think about it. The reason why we fail to live this natural state of Being is that we are not sufficiently acquainted with the transcendental field of life. The only way to achieve this is to transfer the attention from the gross to the subtle states of thought so that the field of Being is reached consciously. Through this regular practice, the art of being in the field of thinking is attained. SPEAKING AND THE ART OF BEING; Speaking is the gross or manifested aspect of thinking. Speaking requires more energy than thinking, and therefore the process of speaking engages the mind more than does the process of thinking. So the art of being on the level of speaking is necessarily a greater art than on the level of thinking. While dealing with the main principle for enlarging the conscious capacity of the mind', we have seen that thought starts at the subtlest level of consciousness and becomes bigger and bigger until it is eventually appreciated on the conscious level as n full thought. The same process of the thought bubble becoming bigger continues until the thought, appreciated as a thought on the conscious level, is expressed as speech. Basically, the process of speaking is in no way different from that of thinking. The only difference is in scale, because the energy consumed in speaking is greater than in thinking. The art of maintaining Being on the level of speaking is more demanding than the art of maintaining Being on the level of thinking. Thus it is clear that the art of maintaining Being on the level of speaking is basically the art of maintaining Being on the level of thinking. The difference is in the intensity of practice; greater practice of transcendental meditation is needed to maintain Being on the level of speaking. When, with continued practice, the state of Being begins to be maintained at the level of speaking, all speech naturally flows from Being and is, therefore, naturally in accordance with cosmic law. Speech then produces an influence congenial to all the laws of nature. This is how Being begins to be naturally maintained at the level of speech, and when speech supplements and reinforces the functioning of the laws of nature it becomes an aid not only to the well-being and evolution of the individual life but also to cosmic life, maintaining harmony and rhythm in nature. In this way the art of being on the level of speaking results in great harmony everywhere. Again, it should be borne in mind that any conscious attempt to hold the thought of Being while engaged in the process of speaking results in dividing the mind between the thought of Being and the process of speaking. Part of the mind is engaged in maintaining the thought of Being, while part is engaged in speaking; this division of the mind produces retardation of speech. There are philosopher-teachers who instruct their followers to maintain awareness while speaking. By trying to maintain on the conscious level of the mind an inner awareness of Being while speaking, the processes both of thought and speech are impeded. This leads to retardation of activity and produces dullness in life. This is not the art of being while speaking. The art of being at the level of speech lies in the regular practice of transcendental meditation, which naturally maintains Being in fullness on the level of the mind at all times. BREATHING AND THE ART OF BEING It is breathing which lies between individual existence and cosmic life, between the individual stream of life and the eternal cosmic existence. It is as if breathing starts as an individual stream from the cosmic ocean of Being. Breathing in its subtlest aspect is referred to as prana. Prana is the vibratory nature of Being, which creates the manifested life-stream of individuals from the unmanifested ocean of Being. When transcendental, omnipresent, absolute, cosmic Being vibrates into manifested streams of life by virtue of prana, which is Its own nature, prana assumes the role of breathing and maintains the individual life-stream and keeps it connected at its source with the cosmic life of the Absolute. At every rise of breath cosmic prana receives the identity of individual life-force, and at every fall of breath the stream of individual life contacts cosmic Being, so that between the fall and the rise of breath the individual life is in communion with cosmic Being. This is how breathing on the one hand produces individual life from cosmic life and on the other maintains the harmony of the individual with cosmic Being. The art of being as applied to breathing means that even during the process of breathing the contact of the individual lifestream with the eternal life of cosmic Being is not broken. How is this accomplished? To discover the formula for maintaining the state of Being during the process of breathing, it is first necessary to see how breathing starts and what makes breath, or prana, emerge from Being. We have said that prana is the vibratory nature of Being. But how and why does the vibratory nature of Being adopt a particular pattern, giving rise to a specific stream of individual life by virtue of breathing Something more than prana is needed, however, to bring forth the life of a particular individual. What is responsible, other than prana, for the set pattern of breathing? We know it is the earth's fertility which maintains a tree. But no amount of fertility is able to produce any tree unless the seed of the tree is there. It is the seed which determines the tree's pattern; without it, the fertility has no medium through which to express itself. Let us think of fertility as transcendental Being and the tree as the individual stream of life. Being is eternally present, but in order to have a specific pattern of individual life Being needs the seed of that pattern. Without a specific seed no specific individual life can be manifested out of unmanifested, omnipresent Being. What is the seed of the individual through which the Omnipresent by Its own nature, prana, becomes manifested into an individual life-stream, The seed of individual life is like the seed of the tree, which is nothing but unnanifested fertility in its most subtly evolved expression. Passing through all cycles of evolution, this fertility reaches the highest evolutionary state in a fully grown tree where it appears as a seed. Thus the seed signifies the tree at its subtlest development and is fertility in its most concentrated state. Then that seed attracts more fertility and grows into a tree again. Being expresses Itself as prana, on which is based the growth of a thought, which in turn develops into a desire leading to action. And when the action is completed, the fruit of the action marks the full growth of the tree of thought or desire. The experience of the fruit of an action leaves an impression which, like the concentrated seed, is capable of giving rise to future desires and actions. So we find that the cycle of seed and tree is like the cycle of thought, desire, action and the fruit of action and its impression. Here the seed is like a thought, and the soil from which it draws its nourishment is Being, which lies at the basis of thought. It could well be said, for the sake of understanding, that Being grows or manifests as a thought, evolves into action and having evolved further as the fruit of action, becomes concentrated into an impression and regains the state from which It began to manifest. This analogy helps us to visualise the stream of individual life emerging from universal life by virtue of prana. Omnipresent Being of unmanifested nature, having manifested as a thought and gone through all the stages of its evolution, reaches its climax in the fruit of action, which in its turn becomes the seed for future thought. By virtue of the seed-thought, Being begins to express Itself in the stream of an individual life. Thus we see how Being expresses Itself in different degrees of manifestation and passes through different stages of evolution to arrive at a point where It is capable of becoming the seed for future life. We have seen that prana is the vibratory nature of Being. Unmanifested Being does not need any outside instrumentality to vibrate. It does so by Its own nature. In fact, to maintain Itself as eternal, absolute Being while vibrating and sustaining the transitory levels of existence, life after life, is Its true nature. The true nature of Being is to maintain Its eternal status as absolute Being and because of the oneness of life, to be a basis for the ever-changing aspects of manifested, relative existence. So when prana manifests, Being vibrates and in vibrating assumes the role of a particular pattern of breathing to produce a specific pattern of individual life. The individual seed of life is the unfulfilled karma of the past life of man. The sum total of all unfulfilled desires from a previous life is the seed which moulds vibrating Being into the specific life-stream of an individual. So prana, in conjunction with desire, forms the mind. And prana, devoid of its association with the mind, forms matter. This is how the subjective and objective aspects of individual life come into existence. Individual life is essentially Being. As in the life of a tree it is the sap which expresses itself in different aspects of the tree, so in the life of an individual it is Being which expresses Itself in different aspects of life and living. Just as it is the seed which shapes the pattern of a tree, so in an individual life it is the impression of experiences in a past life which shapes Being into the specific pattern of individual life-force or prana. Thus we find that prana or breathing - its gross aspect - is the fundamental aspect of an individual's life and is the link between the individual life-stream and the ocean of cosmic life-energy. By virtue of mind in conjunction with prana the whole stream of individual life is set in a specific pattern. The art of being as applied to breathing lies in maintaining the value of Being in the nature of the mind, because breathing is the result of a combination of prana and mind, and prana and mind are not two completely different things. Mind includes within itself the presence of prana; without prana the mind could not exist, and without the mind prana is simply the nature of Being, something of absolute value beyond relative life. Therefore to maintain Being on the level of breathing, it is first necessary to bring Being to the level of the mind. When, with the practice of transcendental meditation, the mind becomes saturated with Being, breathing is on the level of Being. Breathing is found to be in harmony with the rhythm of nature, and the individual life whose breathing has been transformed to the level of Being, breathes to the harmony and rhythm of cosmic life. Breathing then gains the subtle state of vibrating prana. The breathing of an individual is thus in harmony with the nature of cosmic Being, the level of prana. The art of being as applied to breathing is the art of raising the status of the individual to the level of eternal, cosmic Being. EXPERIENCING AND THE ART OF BEING The experiencer experiences the object when the object is connected through the senses with his mind. The object, coming into contact with the senses of experience, leaves an impression on the mind, and the mind's essential nature is overshadowed. So the process of experience is a process which overshadows Being. This is called identification of Being with the object. It is as if the 'I' becomes identified with outward objects and loses its essential nature. Thus we find that an experience draws the experiencer away from his own state of Being. The art of being on the level of experience means that the experience of an object does not overthrow the status of Being in the mind; that is, the mind is able to maintain the state of Being while experiencing the object. We have seen how the mind begins to maintain the pure state of Being together with the experience of an object. We have also seen how Being begins to be maintained at the level of experience or perception, the experiencer remaining unbound by the impact of experience. The experiencer lives in the complete freedom of fullness of Being, at the same time experiencing the outer world around him. In a state where Being is fully maintained the process of experience becomes powerful, and the experience of the object becomes deeper and fuller than before. This art of being on the level of experience is natural in a fully integrated life where one is able to live all values of the transcendental, absolute bliss-consciousness of Being together with experiences of the various aspects of relative creation. It is the art of being on the level of experience which keeps the life of the individual integrated with cosmic life. The purpose of individual life is fulfilled in the art of being on the level of experience. Without this, when the process of experience brings the subject into contact with an object, the subject becomes so fully identified with the object that the impression of its value becomes very strong in the mind. This impression of the experience is held fast in the mind as a seed of future desire for a similar experience. This is how the cycle of experience, impression and desire continues, resulting in the cycle of birth and death. To understand the cycle of birth and death caused by impressions of experience it should first be understood that the cause of rebirth is the unfulfilled desires of past life. If a man wants to accomplish this or that and fails to do so before the body ceases to function, he dies unfulfilled. Because of this the inner man, the mind, goes to create another body through which that desire from a past life may be fulfilled. Thus it is one's own desire that is the cause of rebirth. When a man is born, he is born with the impressions of past experiences deeply rooted in his mind. These impressions serve as the seeds of desires. The cycle of experience, impression and desire takes a man from birth to birth; the cycle of birth and death continues until the cycle of experience and impression is broken. The maintenance of Being on the level of experience does not allow an object to make a deep impression on the mind; the impression is just enough to give the experience, just enough to allow perception. Because the mind is full of the value of Being, and Being is in Its nature bliss-consciousness, impressions of a transitory experience naturally fail to make a deep impression on the mind. The impression is not deep enough to act as the seed for future action. Just as the tongue, saturated with the taste of the concentrated sweetness of honey, is unable to register an impression of other varieties of sweetmeat because the taste they offer is not as sweet as that of the honey, so the mind, filled with the bliss of Being, feels so contented that although it experiences the objects, their values fail to register a deep impression. When Being is maintained, the impression of an object on the mind is just enough to give an experience. It is like the impression of a line drawn on water which is simultaneously erased. When Being is not established in the mind, the impression made by an object is like the impression of a line cut into stone, difficult to erase. A mind without the value of Being is always in bondage to experience, the cycle of impression, desire and action. It is the technique of transcendental meditation which establishes Being in the mind and brings fulfilment to the art of being on the level of experience. HEALTH AND THE ART OF BEING Good health means existence in harmony with evolution. The simple fact that Being is the never-changing, eternal phase of existence and that It pervades the diverse forms of phenomenal creation gives us the hope of bringing all the diversified phases of our lives into harmony by co-ordinating their values with the value of absolute Being. All suffering in life would be alleviated if Being were to be established on the conscious level of life where discord and disunity prevail. Since there is a way to establish Being on the level of mind, body and surroundings, perfect health is possible at all levels. The all-pervading, eternal existence of Being is the basis of the body, mind and surroundings of the individual, as the sap is the basis of the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit of a tree. But when the sap fails to reach the surface levels of the tree, then its outer aspects begin to suffer and wither away. Likewise, when Being is not brought to the surface level of life, the outer aspects of life begin to suffer. If health and harmony are to be enjoyed, the transcendental value of Being must be brought out and infused into all aspects of life: body, mind and surroundings. It is also necessary to establish healthy coordination between them. The one thing common to all these aspects of life is Being. So we shall consider how the value of Being can be brought to the surface level of mind, body and the surroundings so that co-ordination is established between them by the link of Being; or alternatively, how the values of mind, body and surroundings can be brought to the level of Being. Either way the purpose of health will be served and harmony will be established on all levels, leading to integration of life. MIND AND THE ART OF BEING The art of being as applied to the mind means that the value of Being is retained by the mind in all circumstances. When the mind thinks or experiences, the thought or experience does not overshadow the mind's essential nature. The mind holds Being naturally while engaged in thinking or experiencing. Not allowing the mind to be overshadowed by any thought or experience is said to be the art of being on the level of the mind. Although the full mind is acting, the overshadowing influence of thought and experience is at a minimum; even when the mind is deeply engaged in thinking and experiencing, the experience or thought does not overshadow its essential nature. This state of mind brings eternal freedom in life. There is yet another factor which is important in respect of Being and the mind. When Being is on the level of the mind, the mind's flow of thought or experience is in accordance with the laws of nature. We have discussed how, in thinking and experiencing, the natural flow of the mind can be in accord with the laws of nature. Thus, while the thought is forceful and the experience complete and deep, the influence of the thought and experience on the individual and his surroundings is in the natural stream of evolution and both the individual and the universe gain. The art of being on the level of the mind means that Being is maintained by the mind in any state of consciousness. If the mind is in the wakeful state, Being is lived together with all experiences; if the mind is in a dream state, Being is not overshadowed; if the mind is in a deep sleep state, Being is not lost. Being permeates the mind in every state. This is accomplished through bringing Being to the level of the mind. For the mind to maintain Being during the day's activities it is first necessary for it to become acquainted with the pure state of Being. Being is of transcendental nature; It is absolute consciousness. By the practice of transcendental meditation the conscious mind fathoms the deeper levels of the thought process and eventually transcends the subtlest thought to arrive at and gain the state of Being. Thus, transcendental meditation is the art of bringing the conscious mind to the level of Being, or of bringing Being within the range of the conscious mind. When, with continued practice, the mind becomes more and more familiar with Being until eventually It is rooted in its very nature, then even when the mind is engaged with external surroundings Being remains permanently on the level of the conscious mind. This art of bringing Being to the level of the mind simultaneously enlarges the conscious capacity of the mind and enables the full mind to function. It has the advantage of bringing into action all the potentialities of the mind; nothing remains hidden, nothing remains subconscious, everything becomes conscious. This makes each thought a very powerful thought. Again, while considering cosmic law, we have seen that when the mind reaches the field of Being it is naturally set in rhythm with all the laws of nature and in tune with the process of cosmic evolution. Because the nature of Being is absolute bliss-consciousness, the mind becomes filled with It and everlasting happiness reaches the conscious level of the mind. Being is eternal and permanent, imperishable and unchanging. Therefore the imperishable, eternal, unchanging aspect of Being becomes infused into the very nature of the mind. Such a mind is stable, unwavering and steady, and at the same time blissful, contented, self-contained and alert. Because absolute Being is the source of all thought and all creation, when the conscious mind reaches that level it comes into contact with the unlimited creative intelligence of cosmic life. When the mind becomes attuned to the field of Being it gains the source of unlimited energy. Such a powerful, energetic mind naturally has very powerful thoughts. Each thought stimulates the nervous system with vitality and vigour, putting it to sustained, powerful activity, which in turn stimulates its end-organ, the body, with such force and fixity of purpose that immediately and without strain the thought is translated into positive action. The possibility of thus materialising as thought is so great that each action becomes forceful. This is how the art of bringing Being to the level of the mind affects the individual in his practical everyday life. It is necessary to know that the whole process of transcendental meditation consists in experiencing subtle states of thinking, and that because thinking depends primarily upon the physical state of the nervous system any factor which influences the physical condition of the nervous system directly influences the process of meditation. The physical state of the nervous system is nourished and maintained by the processes of eating, drinking and breathing. Activity and rest also have an influence. It is obvious, therefore, that if all factors are properly adjusted to maintain the ideal physical state of the nervous system, the practice of transcendental meditation will be ideally successful. If one eats unsuitable food or breathes unsuitable air, creating a dullness in the nervous system, or if one engages in activities which result of fatigue and tension, then naturally the mind will not be able to fathom the deeper levels of the thought process, meditation will become less effective and the infusion of Being into the nature of the mind will be unduly delayed. Therefore it is highly important that care be taken in the selection of food, drink and air. With regard to discrimination in the matter of food and drink, it is obvious to those who have made a study of the subject that unwise eating and the drinking of alcohol are very detrimental to the over-all well-being of a man. But this does not mean that one should suddenly make radical changes in dietary habits. It is enough if one changes gradually. THE INFLUENCE OF FOOD Food has a very great influence on the mind because everything we eat and drink is transported by the blood which sustains the nervous system. Therefore the quality of food has a great deal to do with the quality of the mind. Apart from the quality of material in the food, it is important how that food has been earned. When a man earns his livelihood by honest means the food has good influence on his mind, but food bought from dishonest earnings will produce dishonesty in his mind. Food is likewise affected by the tendencies of the cook who prepares it and by the tendencies of the mind and the quality of thoughts while it is being eaten. So the frame of mind in which one eats and the company and conversation at the time are highly important. This is the real meaning of saying grace, or giving thanks, before meals. In Thy fullness, my Lord, Filled with Thy grace, For the purpose of union with Thee And to satisfy and glorify Thy creation, With thanks to Thee with all our hearts And with all our love for Thee, With all adoration for Thy blessings We accept Thy gift as it has come to us. The food is Thy blessing and in Thy service We accept in all gratitude, my Lord. Such a frame of mind, inspired by the thought of God and His service and a feeling of gratitude, certainly has a good effect. Activity and inactivity have an important effect on the state of the nervous system. Over-activity tires it; lack of activity makes it dull. The balance of activity and inactivity maintains the nervous system in a state of alertness, which is essential for the success of the art of being on the level of the mind. When the body is fatigued the nervous system is dull and the mind becomes drowsy, losing all capacity for experience; in such conditions the ability to experience subtle levels of thinking and attain the state of Being is not possible. The state of Being is the most normal and self-contained state of mind. When, during meditation, the mind transcends the subtlest state of thinking, it is left by itself and this is the state of self-consciousness or the state of pure Being. Therefore to attain the state of Being the mind must be devoid of all experience of objects, yet must not lose its ability to experience as in deep sleep. In order to allow this state of Being, the nervous system must be in a condition where it is suspended in such a way that it is neither subjected to activity nor allowed to be inactive. This will be the state of Being. When the nervous system functions it conveys the experience of objects through the senses of perception and it engages itself in activity through the organs of action. Functioning in this manner it becomes fatigued. If the fatigue is slight, perceptions become less sharp and the man begins to feel drowsy. If the fatigue is greater, perceptions cease because the mind fails to experience. This shows that states of mind depend upon the physical condition of the nervous system, and we find that fatigue diminishes the ability to experience. This leads us to conclude that if the nervous system is subjected to fatigue it will be impossible for the mind to gain the state of Being. Fatigue is, therefore, an important factor when considering the art of being. Activity during the day should be such that it does not leave the body too tired nor the nervous system unduly fatigued. Ln addition to excessive activity, unwise eating and drinking also cause dullness of the nervous system. This is harmful to the state of Being. It is therefore advisable to cultivate regular habits of right diet and activity. When the mind is brought to transcendental Being, it is naturally set in harmony with the laws of nature and is attuned to the source of unlimited energy. This keeps the field of activity smooth and the nervous system unstrained. But it is necessary to be cautious so that the energy gained is not over-spent, otherwise the nervous system will lose effectiveness and again become strained and fatigued. In order to provide the nervous system with the right conditions of rest, activity and nourishment it is necessary to cultivate a balanced state of mind. This can only be created by the experience of bliss-consciousness which is achieved automatically through the system of transcendental meditation. THE SENSES AND THE ART OF BEING There are five senses of perception and five organs of action. The senses of perception are sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. The organs of action are the hands, feet, tongue and the two organs of evacuation. Through the five senses the mind perceives and through the five organs of action it acts. For perception the mind is brought to bear upon the external world through the senses; and for action it is brought to bear upon the world through the organs of action. The art of being on the level of the senses exists when the senses and organs retain Being under all circumstances. To make this clear: the senses should remain senses and the organs should remain organs in the fullness of their respective values. This means that they should always be ready to function and always succeed in functioning to their full capacity. The art of being on the level of the senses will be achieved when the full value of the senses and organs is used so that there is full perception of the object and full accomplishment of the action. The senses of perception should always be strong, alert and free from tension, delusion, malice and narrowness of vision so that they naturally produce full perception of the object. The organs of action should be energetic, strong and in co-ordination with the senses of perception so that they may act with precision and success and bring fulfilment to any action. The art of being with regard to the senses is that while the senses remain saturated with the essential nature of Being, the bliss of Being, they experience the object. As a result the object is thoroughly perceived but fails to overpower the senses to the extent that they become its slaves. When the intensely sweet taste of pure honey is on the tongue, the taste of other sweets makes no impression. Similarly, when the senses are saturated with the bliss of Being, small. transitory joys fail to bind them and do not make a lasting impression. To have Being on the level of the senses means that the senses receive full contentment in bliss-consciousness; while experiencing the variety of joys in objects, the senses are not bound by them because they exist in the eternal value of the unlimited bliss of the Absolute. Enjoying such a state of contentment, the senses do not tempt the mind to wander in search of greater happiness. This is because bliss already permeates the level of the senses by virtue of the saturation of the mind with Being. When the senses experience an outer object, the result is complete harmony between the body and mind of the individual and his surroundings. When the eyes see a beautiful scene the sight is pure, the vision is full and free from malice or sinful perceptions. On the level of perception all is right, moral and in the natural stream of evolution. If the bliss of Being has not permeated the level of the senses, the senses cannot be in a state of contentment. By nature they wish to enjoy as much as possible. This is a legitimate desire. But it is only by bringing the bliss of Being to the level of the senses that they become established on a level of contentment which is unshakeable and irresistible. Maintained in contentment, they are no longer in bondage to impressions of experience. This is the result of practising the art of being on the level of the senses. How is this infusion of Being on the level of the senses achieved First it is necessary to be aware of the full range of the senses. Ordinarily when we see, our eyes are open, the mind associates itself with the open eyes and contacts the object before it. This is how perception occurs. But we know that the sense of sight is not limited to seeing with open eyes. Even with the eyes closed it is possible to perceive an object. This mental perception or cognition of an object also occurs through the sense of sight. From this it is clear that the sense of sight is able to cognise from the gross to the subtle levels of perception, from the outer to the inner sensory levels. For example, in the diagram, A, A, and A2 represent the gross and subtle levels of the senses and objects. The mind, associating itself with the gross levels of the senses (A), perceives the corresponding gross levels of the object A; the mind, associating itself with the subtle levels of the senses (A,), perceives the corresponding subtle levels of the object A,; the mind, associating itself with the subtlest level of the senses (A2), perceives the corresponding subtlest level of the object A2. The open eye represents the gross level of the sense of sight. Similarly, when a word becomes audible, gross sound is perceived as a result of the mind associating itself with the gross level of hearing. When one speaks inwardly and the mind hears, it is because the mind associates itself with the subtle level of the sense of hearing. When, during the process of transcendental meditation, the mind perceives very refined states of thought, this is due to the mind's association with very subtle states of the sense of hearing. Thus we find that during transcendental meditation the subtlest sense of perception is put to use, whereas ordinarily in our daily life we use only the gross levels of the senses. When the mind makes use of the subtlest level of the senses, the whole range of the senses becomes alive. In this manner, on the way to transcending during meditation the mind enlivens all the levels of sense through which meditation is performed. When the full range of the senses is made alive, Being comes to the level of the senses. This results in the increase of the capacity of the senses for perception. They become more capable of experiencing greater happiness. So long as only a small part of a sense is used for experiencing the objective world, the faculty of the sense of experience is not fully used. In such a state the senses are captured by the minor joy of the object. At the gross level of creation contact of the sense with the object does not produce great joy. The degree of joy increases as the sense appreciates subtler levels of creation. During the process of transcendental meditation the mind, through the organ of speech, experiences subtler states of thought, and charm increases at each subtler level. As the charm increases the organ becomes more capable of experiencing subtler states, thus giving ever-increasing happiness to the mind until, through the first aspect of the organ of speech, direct perception of the subtlest state of thought takes place and the mind becomes capable of experiencing the highest degree of happiness in the relative field. When the mind transcends that happiness and goes completely beyond the realm of sensory perception, the bliss of the Absolute is a direct experience and the mind identifies itself with it completely. When the mind, fully saturated with Being, returns to the field of objective experience, Being reflects on the level of the senses. The art of bringing Being to the level of the senses is the art of transcendental meditation. This is the art of enabling the senses to experience an object in all its subtle and gross states. Just as the mind is like an ocean of great depth, so also are the senses. With transcendental meditation the mind begins to activate the deepest level of the senses. In this way the whole range of the senses becomes alive. Eventually the senses reach their source and from there they are fed, as it were, with the value of transcendental, absolute Being. This is how Being is brought into the field of the senses to enable them to work with full capacity and at the same time to free them from the binding influence of experience. This is the art of being on the level of the senses. THE BODY AND THE ART OF BEING The body is the end-organ or external expression of the nervous system. Therefore the art of being with regard to the body means the art of being as applied to the nervous system, only carried further so that the body can function to its fullest capacity without losing the level of Being. The art of being with regard to the body is also the skill. in maintaining it so that the nature of Being is infused into the nature of the body - the permanent never-changing, undying nature of Being infused into the impermanent, ever-changing, ever-dying nature of the body. We have seen that through the practice of transcendental meditation a state is created where the entire nervous system is held in suspension without activity or passivity. When the nervous system is brought to this state, Being comes to the level of the body. The entire nervous system and the body reach that state of suspension which knows no change and allows the body simply to be in the fullness of life. The study of the art of being with regard to the body will be complete when we have dealt with the art of being in relation to the nervous system, the senses and prana, all of which are essential parts of the body. When we study this in detail we should have clearly in mind that Being is in Its essential nature pure bliss-consciousness, the unmanifested Absolute. Looking at Being from the absolute point of view, we find that It cannot be qualified by any attribute whatsoever; It is attributeless. On the other hand, from the relative point of view, all the attributes of relative life and all the attributes of differing phenomena in the relative field of existence have their basis in Being. When we consider the art of being with regard to different aspects of the body, we must clearly understand that the art of being in connection with any aspect of the body leads to more permanence, stability, health, joyfulness, creativity and life energy. The art of being must be based on becoming more in tune with the laws of nature, so that the influence of the individual life on the surroundings strengthens the purpose of natural laws and creates a greater harmony in the universe. The art of being, therefore, for any particular aspect of the body would mean that this aspect is strengthened in itself, in its value for the individual and for the universe as a whole. Through the art of being the different parts of the body function in co-ordination with one another, and the co-ordination of the body with the mind through the nervous system is always strong; its relationship with outer surroundings is stable and useful both to the body and the surroundings. For such a condition of the body to be created it is necessary for the mind to be brought to the level of Being, so that the nervous system and its end-organ, the body, are simultaneously established on the level of Being. We have seen that through transcendental meditation the body is brought to a state between activity and no activity, the level of Being. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND THE ART OF BEING The art of being with regard to the nervous system means that the nervous system functions to its fullest capacity under all conditions without losing touch with Being. Before proceeding further it is important to note that for any experience to occur the nervous system must be in a particular condition. Whatever the experience, in any state of consciousness - waking, dreaming or sleeping - it is only possible by virtue of a corresponding condition of the nervous system. The sight of a flower is possible only because the nervous system adjusts itself to a specific condition which makes it possible for the eyes to remain open and the image of the flower to fall upon the retina of the eye, thus enabling the necessary impulses to reach the cortex. If the nervous system does not condition itself in the required manner no experience of the flower will occur. This conditioning of the nervous system holds true for all experiences. The art of being in relation to the nenTous system is such that, whether the nervous system is subjected to the conditions of the waking, dreaming or deep sleep states, it should never deprive itself of the state gained during the experience of pure Being. At first sight this retention of pure Being seems impossible. Experience shows that the nervous system cannot be subjected simultaneously to two different conditions in which two different states of consciousness are maintained. It can only be subjected to one state at a time either a waking, a dreaming, a deep sleep or a transcendental state. A close scrutiny, however, will reveal that it is within man's capacity to subject the nervous system to a state that will permanently maintain the level of Being as the basis of all the conditions of the nervous system responsible for an experience in any of the waking, dreaming or deep sleep states. The nervous system of man is the most complete in all creation. The skill which will create such a permanent state in the nervous system - a state which will maintain the level of Being yet allow experiences to occur - is the art of being with regard to the nervous system. What is this art in practice? To produce an experience of the waking state the mind is brought into contact with the outside world through the machinery of the nervous system, which stimulates the senses and the body and brings the mind into contact with the world around, producing specific experiences. When, owing to sustained activity the senses and the entire nervous system connected with them become fatigued, the mind loses contact with the senses and the outer world, and experience of the waking state ceases. As long as the mind is discontented it continues to be active. When the nervous system is tired on the level of the senses it fails to experience the outer world of the waking state. But because the mind desires to be active, another part of the nervous system receives the commands of the mind. This other part of the nervous system then becomes active and stimulates the subtler regions of the senses which are not commonly used in experiencing the waking state, giving rise to the illusory experiences of the dream state. When functioning on this level for some time the subtler regions of the nervous system become tired, and the ability to perceive illusory experiences is lost. This gives rise to a state of no experience, that of deep sleep. During transcendental meditation, however, the nervous system is subjected naturally to a condition unlike those which produce the experiences of waking, dreaming or deep sleep states. In this condition it is capable of experiencing pure Being - the experience of transcendental consciousness, the very state of transcendental consciousness. This is how, through the practice of transcendental meditation, the nervous system, which commonly fluctuates only between the conditions of waking, dreaming and deep sleep, receives a new status. This status can be located at the junction of any two of the three states of consciousness. At that point lies the attainment of the art of being on the level of the nervous system. Because the state of the nervous system which results in the experience of Being is a state unlike those which produce the experiences of the waking, dreaming or sleeping states; because it is located between any two of the three states; because it is a state where the entire nenTous system is suspended between activity and inactivity; and because in none of the three states is the entire nervous system subjected to one type of conditioning, it is possible to maintain permanently the condition necessary for the state of Being even while allowing activity or inactivity in certain parts of the nervous system to give rise to the experience of the usual states of waking, dreaming and sleeping, one after the other. This is the art of being with regard to the nervous system, which finds its fulfilment in the sustained practice of transcendental meditation. THE SURROUNDINGS AND THE ART OF BEING When discussing how to make full use of one's surroundings we found that through transcendental meditation, during which the mind is brought to the level of Being and then returns to function in the outer world, the atmosphere radiates the value of Being. The art of being in relation to the surroundings means that Being is maintained whatever the surroundings or circumstances. The fullness of life is maintained irrespective of the surroundings, whether good or bad, favourable or unfavourable, harmful or useful, virtuous or sinful. Under all circumstances Being, the fullness of life, of intelligence, love, joyfulness and energy, is maintained. The maintenance of Being results in the improvement of the surroundings in every way. They become useful for the individual, for the purpose of cosmic evolution and for the universe. This is how the quality and status of the surroundings is improved by the art of being. If the individual maintains Being under all circumstances and in all surroundings his actions certainly improve the surroundings if they are in any way in need of improvement, because to be established in Being means to be established in contentment, intelligence and creativity while in harmony with the laws of nature. KARMA AND THE ART OF BEING Karma is a term which has various meanings according to the context; such as action, force of action, fruit of action, impression of the experience of action. Generally in the West karma is associated with bad action and the results of bad action. But the word karma makes no distinction between good and bad; it simply pertains to action. Good karma means good action, bad karma means bad action, but karma itself simply means action. The philosophy of karma is a simple philosophy of action and reaction: as ye sow, so shall ye reap. The law of the conservation of energy supports the theory of karma. Every action has its result or reaction for the performer and for his surroundings. When one thinks, the process of thinking is the performance of the action of thinking. Similarly, speaking, acting, behaving or experiencing are all different levels of the performance of action. When we throw a stone into a pond the stone sinks but leaves waves in motion on the surface. The waves travel until they reach the shore, where they strike against sand particles and produce an influence on them, either pushing them away or drawing them into the pond. The influence is everywhere, over the pond and at the shore. This is how an action influences the performer and his surroundings. Through every thought, word and action a man produces waves of influence in the surrounding atmosphere. The quality of the influence depends upon the quality of action performed; the degree of reaction spread through the surroundings depends upon the strength of the action performed. Thus we find that every moment in life produces some influence in the atmosphere by the actions of breathing, thinking, speaking and behaving. We shall see how far the influence of an action spreads. In the case of a pond, the influence of a wave, however small, extends over the whole pond. Similarly, the vibratiom set forth by the performance of an action strike everything in the surroundings both near and far. They strike everything on earth, the moon, sun and stars and travel throughout the entire universe influencing everything they meet. The influence depends upon the quality and the force of the action. The reaction created by these vibrations as they strike against everything in the universe travels back to the performer as a rubber ball thrown against a wall bounces back to the thrower. Obviously a reaction reaches the performer more quickly from nearby surroundings than from distant ones. For example, a man speaks a word; by speaking this word he produces vibrations. These vibrations spread and strike a tree; producing some influence on the tree they rebound to the speaker. They spread further and strike against a mountain; from there they take longer to rebound. They reach the moon, and their return takes even longer. To reach the sun and return to the originator will take a longer time still. There are stars in the heavens whose light takes many millions of years to reach the earth; therefore, for the influence of an action to reach them and return to its originator will take many millions of years. This shows how an action, having spread its influence throughout the cosmos, eventually returns to react upon the doer. The question then arises: how can the fruit of an action reach the performer after thousands or millions of years? A man sends a letter to his father who lives far away. If, when it reaches the address, the father has moved to another town, it is redirected to him. lf necessary, the letter is repeatedly redirected until the father is traced. The results of an action which are destined to return in a thousand years will reach the soul wherever it may be in the universe. Those who do not understand the philosophy of rebirth and continuity of life after death will find it hard to understand this philosophy of karma. How can a man continue to receive the fruits of his actions for millions of years? Until the soul is liberated, as long as the individual soul has not merged into cosmic existence, so long will it preserve its individuality in whatever world or body it may be. The individual will continue to exist as an individual and will continue to receive the fruits of karma from the past. When a man is liberated and his individuality has merged into cosmic existence, then the influence of his past karma will be received by his son or grandson or by those who have blood affinity with him. The reaction will continue, and if no member of his family is left the influence will reach those nearest to his blood relations, their friends and connections. Karma, the reaction or the fruit of action, unfailingly reaches the doer. As in a large herd of cows a calf finds its own mother, as a letter addressed to a man reaches him and no one else, so the fruit of his action reaches only the doer. According to the philosophy of karma, if a man is happy it is the result of his good actions in the past, the result of his having produced good, happy and harmonious vibrations in the atmosphere by his virtuous deeds. If a man suffers in the present it is the consequence of his having spread an influence of misery, ill-health and suffering in the atomsphere. He alone is responsible for his own happiness or suffering. If he enjoys, he enjoys from his own actions; if he suffers, he suffers from his own actions. If a man comes to us bringing much joy, we think he is by nature a man brim-full of happiness. But the philosophy of karma says that he is only a man brim-full of happiness to us because he is at that time returning to us the happiness that we ourselves once spread in the world. The reaction of our good karma returns through him. He is only delivering it to us just as a postman delivers our letter. If he really had been a man brim-full of happiness, then he could never at any time bring unhappiness to others. If a man appears to be good to some and bad to others he cannot be all good, or he would seem to be good to everyone. If he is all bad he would seem to be bad to everyone. But no one is all bad or all good. Everyone is sometimes good and sometimes bad. In this way a man becomes the carrier of other people's good or bad karma. He creates unhappiness for you when he becomes the carrier of your bad deeds, and he brings joy to you when he returns the influence of your good actions. Therefore when misery comes we should not blame others, and when happiness comes we should maintain equanimity, the state of harmony in divine nature. Knowledge of the philosophy of karma should inspire us to be intent on doing good. How can we decide what is good and what is bad? Society lays down a broad conception of good and bad; there is a common understanding among people regarding good and bad. The laws that govern a country provide another criterion; we should at least obey the laws of the country in which we live. If we wish to go deeper into the values of good and bad we should study the scriptures. Whether we are Hindus, Christians or Buddhists our individual scriptures tell us what is right and wrong. We should not analyse how these scriptures differ one from another but should content ourselves with the religion to which we belong. The truth is present in the scriptures of all religions; therefore the followers of one religion may read the scriptures of others, but it is better not to confuse ourselves by studying comparative religion. It is better to follow the scriptures of one's own religion. So the scriptures may be accepted as the criterion of good and bad. Sometimes statements in the scriptures may appear to be contradictory. This is because in the relative field of life values change according to time, circumstances and surroundings. When we speak in terms of good and bad, what is considered good in one situation may be considered bad in other circumstances. Similarly an understanding of good and bad even in the scriptures may be found to differ according to a difference in time, circumstances or surroundings. But a great deal of wrongdoing could be prevented if we followed the scriptures even according to our limited understanding. This is better than not following them at all. Absolute good should be lived in our lives. But where can the criterion of absolute good be found? Who will tell us how we should mould ourselves and our surroundings so that we may live a life of absolute good? If we wish to have an absolute standard of right and wrong it is within our reach. We shall see how karma or action can be based on absolute good, according to the philosophy of karma. But first let us try to understand what we mean by good or bad, virtue or evil. A good action is one which produces a good influence in the present for the performer, secures his future good and produces a good influence on all levels of the surroundings. Any action which produces a life-supporting influence for the performer and his surroundings is a good action, a virtuous action. Any action which produces life-damaging influences for the performer or the surroundings at any level of life, either in the present or future, may be called bad, wrong, sinful and immoral. Thus we have a criterion of right and wrong action. Action should result in all good to the performer and the universe, in the present and for all time. This is a definition of absolute good. Who then can decide what kind of influence is produced by a man's action at any particular time? Who can know how it will affect a particular stratum of the universe in the present or in the future ? The extent of the influence of an action is incalculable; it ranges through all time, space and causation; it goes beyond the range of the human mind. Since this is the case, who can decide what is right and what is wrong and whether an action should be performed or rejected? It does not seem possible to establish right and wrong from an intellectual level, and even to attempt it would be highly complicated. But it is possible to adjust the whole stream of life so that every action performed is naturally good or right. Let us analyse this possibility and discover how each thought, word and action can be directed towards the good of the individual and of the life of the entire universe. By the life of the universe we mean its maintenance and evolution. The maintenance and evolution of innumerable beings at the innumerable levels of creation are carried out by a natural and automatic process governed by natural Iaws. We have seen that on the basis of the eternal, never-changing cosmic law all the laws of nature, inflexible in their character, continue to function on different planes, maintaining and evolving life. The whole cosmic process of evolution is carried out by the laws of nature, which are ultimately based on the cosmic law. Since there is a way to direct the life-stream of an individual to the plane of cosmic law, the entire process of maintaining individual life and its progress and evolution can be carried on naturally and automatically. Since there is a way to regulate one's life by the laws of nature, then all one's thought, speech and action can produce an influence in accordance with these laws working for the maintenance and evolution of all things. We have seen when considering the cosmic law, that the mind of the individual can be attuned to the transcendental, absolute pure consciousness through a simple process which may be practised by any man, anywhere, at any time. This should encourage each individual to attune his life to the natural laws which maintain life and evolution. In this way he can through thought, word and action, produce a good influence for himself and for others, both now and for eternity. This is the philosophy of karma, which reveals to us the unlimited scope of karma, the ever increasing influence of karma on the doer. It reveals to us that, even though the range of the influence of action is far beyond the reach of human understanding, by performing the action (karma) of transcendental meditation we can reach a plane of life where everything we do will naturally be in harmony and rhythm with cosmic life and will maintain and help the evolution of all beings throughout the universe and so do all good by being all good. When Being is infused into the field of relative existence, into the very nature of the mind, all karma becomes a karma of absolute righteousness. This is a direct and practical way to do all good for all time to all beings and yet to live in absolute freedom from the binding influence of karma. How can a performer be free from the binding influence of karma? Before we deal with this question we should understand what is meant by bondage and freedom. Being is unmanifested in Its nature. It is karma which makes It manifest. Karma is temporary, perishable; Being is eternal, absolute. Being is pure consciousness of absolute nature; karma is based on conscious mind. By virtue of karma, the pure consciousness of Being is transformed into conscious mind. In Its nature Being is eternal unity; karma creates multiplicity within unity. So we find that the nature of karma is opposed to the nature of Being, even though Being is the origin of karma. This is the fundamental relationship between Being and karma. We have seen that the nature of the mind is overshadowed by every experience, the performer overshadowed by his action, the thinker overshadowed by a thought. This overshadowing of the essential nature of the mind is described as the binding influence of action or karma. With the practice of transcendental meditation, however, the value of Being is fully infused into the mind of the performer and the action fails to overshadow his nature. Being, his essential nature, is then maintained and action is performed in such a way that it fails to overshadow his nature. He then remains unbound by action. In this way, when Being is maintained, karma fails to bind. It is not possible to eliminate karma. Action must continue because life is activity, its very nature is dynamic. Thus it is not possible physically to escape from karma or to avoid action. So we see that until Being has grown into the nature of the mind it is not possible to avoid the bondage of action. Freedom from karma is gained by attaining the status of eternal Being. By the action of allowing the mind to reach Being it is possible to create a situation within ourselves whereby we shall always produce good influences for ourselves and for the entire universe. At the same time we rise above the binding influence of action and live a life of eternal freedom. This is the philosophy of karma. It not only deals with right and wrong and the far reaching influences of action, but also suggests a technique to rise above its binding influence. Furthermore, it analyses the structure of karma and provides a technique to strengthen action to ensure more powerfull and successful results. This we shall consider further. A weak action will naturally produce a weak effect, and a strong action a strong effect. The strength of an action depends primarily upon the strength of the thought behind it. Action based on a powerful thought wiu yield powerful influences and results. Consequently, to produce a powerful result and enjoy the fruit of action it is necessary to take the mind to the field of Being and for Being to be infused into the nature of the mind, so that the conscious mind is always filled with the value of Being. When the mind is infused with the power of Being its creativity is infinitely great, and powerful actions may be performed to produce the desired result with the expenditure of very little energy. Karma, or action, from the level of Being has infinite value. It is performed with the minimum of energy and results in maximum good for the performer and the world. The performer, enjoying the results and living on the plane of Being, remains ever free from the binding influence of karma. The philosophy of karma teaches us this skill in action. It develops naturally in the individual through the simple practice of transcendental meditation, which brings our conscious attention to the field of Being. So when action is performed frOm the level of Being karma helps to fulfil life's purpose, which is evolution of the highest degree. The purpose of life is to enjoy bliss-consciousness and evolve to the eternal state of liberation while accomplishing and enjoying the maximum in life, achieving the greatest good for oneself and for others. The philosophy of karma teaches us how, by performing this action of taking our attention to the field of transcendental Being, we can fulfil the purpose of our life and play our part in the cosmic evolution. Action performed by a mind which is not functioning on the level of Being may or may not be right for the doer and may or may not be right for the entire universe. Any wrong action throws a strain on the functioning of the natural laws which govern the process of evolution of all beings. Such action is weak; it needs great effort for its accomplishment and causes great tension in the individual life and its surroundings. Above all, it binds the mind. Therefore whatever the purpose of karma, only one technique is able successfully to produce the best, most effective and powerful results. This is to draw the mind within, to let it reach the field of transcendental Being and return to perform actions which will be strong and satisfying on all levels. Whatever the activity, whatever action is performed by the mind, senses, body or surroundings, Being should be eternally maintained. It is the art of being in the field of karma that, even though karma is by nature opposed to Being, karma itself is brought to the level of Being. Being is maintained in Its status and karma fails to challenge Its validity. When both karma and Being are maintained at the level of the mind, this is simultaneously the art of karma and the art of being. The art of thinking lies in producing the most powerful thoughts with the least expenditure of mental energy. A thought should be expressed without strain or tension. This is the art of thinking; the least exertion and the maximum result. The thought should not only be powerful but should also be right. The art of thinking does not allow useless or wrong thoughts to occupy the mind. Only virtuous and moral thoughts naturally fill the mind, thoughts that will help evolution. Another aspect of the art of thinking is that thoughts come in such a way that they produce the greatest good for the thinker and spread harmony in his surroundings. Without the art of thinking, random thoughts will come at any time. Useless, wrong, weak, misleading or degenerate thoughts are a barrier to evolution. Evolution will be assured only when loose thinking is replaced by the art of thinking. Thinking will then be in harmony with cosmic law, the laws of nature and the purpose of evolution. The art of thinking means that a thought, while setting the mind in action in the relative field, at the same time leaves it free from bondage or attachment'. The mind should be free while engaged in thought and should be used as a means to eternal freedom in God-consciousness. The art of thinking is cultivated by bringing the mind to the source of thought, consciously gathering there the seed of thought and bringing it out with limitless energy from the field of transcendental Being. The thought becomes saturated with Being and becomes a means of bringing transcendental Being into the relative field of multiple phenomenal creation. The art of archery lies in first drawing the arrow back on the bow as far as possible and then releasing it so that it hits the target with great force. Likewise, the art of thinking lies in drawing the mind back to the source of thought and from there releasing it to produce a forceful thought, supplemented by the power of Being. This will bring more efficiency into the field of thinking and action. It will give power and success to life and it will bring the infusion of Being into outer activity and become a means for transcendental self-consciousness to grow into cosmic consciousness, the most highly evolved state of human consciousness. Thus the art of thinking is the most vital aspect of life. The art of thinking includes clear thinking. Clarity of thought depends upon the state of the mind and nervous system. The nervous system should not be fatigued, and the full mind should be able to act on the nervous system and express itself in the outer world. Clear thinking results from a full mind in co-ordination with a strong nervous system; then thoughts are clear and thinking is effective. Efficiency in any action depends upon efficiency of thought, which in turn depends upon the ability of the mind to catch the thought at its subtlest level. If the thought is picked up at the source, it is picked up where it is strongest and most vital. So the art of thinking lies in having (I) right thoughts; (2) useful, creative thoughts; (3) powerful thoughts; (4) thoughts by whose influence the thinker is not bound, remaining established in freedom, in Being. We shall deal with these four points separately. (1) RIGHT THINKING It is very necessary for the mind to entertain only right thoughts. A right thought is one which produces a good, harmonious, useful and life-supporting influence for the thinker and the entire universe, now and for all time. A right thought is a thought which is in accordance with the natural process of evolution and which produces no harmful effects whatever for the thinker or anyone else. How could the mind entertain only constructive thoughts! We saw while discussing the cosmic law that when the mind is in the state of transcendental Being it gains that level of consciousness which is the basis of all the laws of nature. And in this state the mind will naturally entertain only constructive thoughts. It does not seem possible to entertain thoughts which are always right by merely trying to think in the right way. Conscious attempts to entertain only right thoughts strain the mind. For the mind to succeed in entertaining only right thoughts it should be so cultured that it naturally picks up only right thoughts. If the mind is not established on the plane of cosmic law, then the discontented mind will not succeed in having only right thoughts. There is no way of ascertaining intellectually which thought is absolutely right. Even if the rightness of a thought could be judged intellectually, this could only happen once a thought had already arisen and been scrutinised to find whether it were right or not. But by then the thinker and the atmosphere would already have been influenced by its quality. So it is not possible to ensure only right thoughts until the mind develops within itself a state whereby it could not entertain wrong thoughts. We have already seen2 that it is easy for everyone to achieve such a state of mind. (2) USEFUL AND CREATIVE THINKING Every thought consumes life-energy in the process of development If a thought is not useful the energy consumed is wasted. Its repercussion on the surroundings will at best not be useful and at worst positively harmful. Therefore it is essential for the mind to entertain only useful and creative thoughts. Day-dreamers exhaust their minds on fancies. Such impractical thinking is a great waste of life energy, robbing the thinker of the ability to think precisely and to make decisions. A 'useful thought is one which is creative and has a constructive purpose in life. A thought is entertained by the mind so that it may be developed and used for the fulfilment of some desire. Thought is the foundation of action. If the thought is useful and creative, then the action will be useful and productive. To have one such useful thought is far more valuable than to waste mental energy in entertaining innumerable useless thoughts one after another. The art of useful and creative thinking lies in the regular practice of transcendental meditation, which cultivates the state of Being in the very nature of the mind so that it is always contented in the bliss-consciousness of absolute Being. Thus contented it entertains only useful thoughts, thoughts that arise to fulfil the need of the hour for the thinker and the surroundings, thoughts that will fulfil the purpose of the evolution of the individual and the entire cosmic life. (3) POWERFUL THINKING For a thought to be powerful two things are necessary. First, the full power of the mind should be used to create and develop it, and secondly, the forces of nature should support it. A thought will be at its most powerful only if both the thinker and the world around provide maximum power. If the full potential of the mind is behind a thought but the thought is not cherished by the surroundings nor welcomed by nature, then it will not succeed in maintaining its force to its ultimate fulfillment. Transcendental meditation can create a state in which every thought is supported by the mind's full potential and enjoys the goodwill of all the laws of nature. (4) THINKING TO LIBERATE THE THINKER The art of thinking demands not only that thoughts should not produce a binding influence on the thinker but that they should also serve as a means of liberation from bondage. When the mind thinks, it is identified with the thought. This identification of the mind with the thought overthrows the validity of Being. Such a mind, whose essential nature or Being is overshadowed, remains under the bondage of thought. Thercfore the art of freeing the mind from the binding influence of a thought lies in the ability to maintain the state of Being while thinking. When the thinker is able to entertain a thought at its origin, the thought develops under the custody of the mind and fails to bind it, becoming a means to liberation. But when the thinker ignores the thought until it has developed to a point where it can no longer be ignored, then the thought captures the mind, influences it and binds it. A child that is properly taken care of in infancy by its mother naturally grows up to serve and respect her. But if the child is ignored in infancy, it grows in arrogance, becoming a means of bondage to her. In order to gain proficiency in the art of thinking the mind must be trained to maintain Being at all times. This is possible for everyone through the practice of experiencing Being. THE ART OF SPEAKING The art of speaking consists of: (1) Speaking with a minimum consumption of energy. (2) Speaking rightly. (3) Speaking harmoniously. (4) Speaking pleasingly. (5) Speaking powerfully. (G) Speaking usefully. (7) Speaking in such a manner that the speaker remains free from the binding influence of speech. (1) SPEAKING WITH A MINIMUM CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY This is possible when the mind is clear and capable of using its full potential in a natural manner. This, in turn, is only possible when there exists effective co-ordination between the mind and the organ of speech and when the surroundings and circumstances are favourable to the nature of the thought. When thinking is clear and powerful, the thought flows into easy and natural speech without meeting resistance. If, on the other hand, a thought is weak it needs more energy to reinforce it and transform it into speech. Clarity of mind obviously results in clear and precise thinking, which in turn results in clarity and precision of speech. Such speech not only consumes far less energy, but also creates a good impression and achieves the purpose of the speaker. Vague and lengthy speaking, on the other hand, is exhausting and extremely irritating to both speaker and atmosphere. Co-ordination between the mind and the organ of speech requires a clear and powerful mind and a strong nervous system functioning normally and capable of bringing the full potential of the mind to bear upon the external world. When discussing mind and the art of being and the nervous system and the art of being, we have seen how this can be achieved. The influence of the surroundings is also a vital factor. If the surroundings and circumstances are not favourable to the nature of the thought, considerable effort will be needed to put the thought into speech and a still greater effort will be needed to prevent the thought from bursting out as speech. If a child wishes to pick a flower from a vase but is aware that his mother will not like it, he feels strain in expressing his thought and even greater strain in repressing it. If, however, surroundings and circumstances are conducive to the thought, the process of transferring thought into speech brings with it a resurgence of life-energy, joyfullness and creative intelligence and becomes a means of gaining energy instead of consuming it. Therefore the art of speaking with a minimum consumption of energy lies in giving expression to thoughts which are in harmony with the surroundings and circumstances. The practical formula will be: Speak according to the moment. Speak in accordance with the surroundings. the level of conscious receptivity of your surroundings. Speak in accordance with your own circumstances. Do not speak impulsively. If the surroundings and circumstances do not at the outset seem in accord with a particular thought, or if your own circumstances arc unfavourable to the thought, the art of speech lies in using such words as will first suit the surroundings and circumstances and will then gradually express your purpose. In this manner, without using much extra energy, speech may be able to achieve its purpose in a graceful manner. Such a manner of speech, however, cannot possibly be cultivated on an intellectual basis. If one strains to adjust one's manner of speaking, weighing all one's words, one will be under constant inner strain and will appear unnatural. This will be another way of wasting a great deal of energy, which will defeat the whole purpose of speaking. This purpose is fulfilled by the regular practice of transcendental meditation, which brings the value of Being into the mind while making the surroundings and circumstances favourable. (2) SPEAKING RIGHTLY We have seen that a correct evaluation of right and wrong is possible only from the plane of Being. Therefore the art of right speaking is necessarily based on the state of Being. Speech is simply a projection of thought. Therefore all that is valid for the art of thinking is valid for the art of speaking. Right speech has its basis in right thinking. Speech is the expression of the heart together with the mind. Therefore for speech to be right it is necessary for the heart and mind to be right2. One word from a man reveals his inner quality. Softness of speech expresses the nature of the heart, and the degree of logic, imagination or creativity of the expression reveals the culture of the mind. The extent of a man's evolution can bejudged by a single word uttered by him. Speech is a delicate medium between a man and his surroundings. It is highly important for the well-being of man and his surroundings that everyone should be skilled in the art of speech, because one wrong word produces a wrong inAuence in the atmosphere. A man may change his attitude or his manner of behaviour, but the word that he has spoken can never be withdrawn. The influence that he has created on those who hear him and in the atmosphere around him can never be withdrawn. Therefore it is highly important to possess the art of right speech. Although speech is a projection of thought, one must be more selective in the art of speaking than in the art of thinking, because not every thought that arises in the mind need be expressed in speech. Take, for example, a business man sitting with his friend in the evening, who suddenly thinks of something that he must tell his manager the next day. It would be quite out of place if he began to express his thought there and then. This is what is meant by the art of speaking being more selective and, consequently, a more advanced art than the art of thinking. Speech must be in keeping with the atomsphere. A thought and its expression as speech should be such as to be welcomed by the surroundings. Hundreds of words unsuitable to the atmosphere will prove futile where one right word will achieve the purpose. Thus the art of right speaking embraces not only the art of right thinking but also the skill of using expressions in keeping with the atmosphere. (3) SPEAKING HARMONIOUSLY For speech to be harmonious and suitable, thought must be clear and sharp, at the least harmless and at best life-supporting to the whole environment. The art of speaking lies in clear thinking and in an innocent, simple way of expression. One should speak as one feels, provided the thought is suitable to the occasion. If one feels in a certain way, and if the surroundings will be harmed by the expression of that feeling, then it is better not to speak. Even though it is considered better not to suppress one's feelings, the art of speaking demands that words should not be spoken if they will displease anyone or produce disharmony in the atmosphere. Even if 'no' must be said at some point, the art of speaking demands that it should be expressed in words which will not appear abusive or harsh. The art of speaking lies in truthful speech, but at the same time truthful expression should not hurt anyone. Many people think truthfully by nature, and they think that truthfulness lies in saying exactly what they think. This may be truthful speech, but it may also be tactless and displeasing to the listener and result in a disharmony which mars its very purpose. Even if you must give a ruling against something, express it in acceptable words. This quality of kindness and delicacy of the heart develops as the heart begins to melt from the experience of bliss and the great happiness of transcendental Being. The heart becomes softer, and then a man cannot by nature be harsh or displeasing to anyone. Speech will flow naturally in all harmony. (4) SPEAKING PLEASINGLY The technique of the art of speaking is that, although we are truthful in our thinking and speaking, the words that emerge are pleasing, soft and of right quality. The habit of speaking pleasingly lies in cultivating that nature - politeness, softness and kindness of heart - which will not produce harshness of speech at any time. Speech must be spontaneously truthful and pleasing to those who hear it and for this, simplicity and all affectionate nature need to be developed. Merely trying to be polite or kind is of no use. No amount of trying will enable a man to master the art of pleasing speech. Any contrived attempt to shape speech in order to sound pleasant makes it artificial and will not produce a smooth and harmonious effect on the listener. Affectation in the speaker results in inner strain for himself and his listeners. There are many teachers who train people in speaking. Their methods produce some improved quality of voice, but these teachers themselves know that there is no way to improve speech until the tensions of the mind and muscles are relaxed. The art of speaking pleasingly does not lie in speaking any less or any more. It lies in speaking in a simple and natural way. Although it seems to be common practice among politicians to speak less or more for purely political reasons, nevertheless even in this field the technique of speaking pleasingly lies in truthful and simple expressions which will produce a desirable effect. Length of speech has little to do with creating the right impression; it is sincerity and truth in speech and the intelligence behind it which make an impression and accomplish its purpose. If speech is pleasant and at the same time purposeful, then this is the art of speaking. Speech that is pleasing can make even an enemy work for us. Blessed are those who speak sweet words. The art of speaking pleasantly lies in filling the mind and heart with love. Love is the natural quality of a happy heart. Fullness of heart is naturally maintained in bliss-consciousness. Experience of Being is a direct way to it. (5) SPEAKING POWERFULLY The power of speech depends on the power of thought, on thorough knowledge of the subject of speech and on purity of heart and mind. It has been seen that purity of heart and mind are gained by increasing the purity of consciousness through the regular practice of transcendental meditation. That also helps to increase intelligence and thereby makes a man more capable of a thorough knowledge of the subject of speech. (6) SPEAKING USEFULLY Speaking usefully is an art belonging naturally to the contented mind and heart; these are easily gained by the development of bliss-consciousness. (7) SPEAKING IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE SPEAKER REMAINS FREE FROM THE BINDING INFLUENCE OF SPEECH The art of gaining self-consciousness and rising to the state of cosmic consciousness is the art of remaining free from the binding influence of speech. THE ART OF ACTION There is a Sanskrit proverb in India which says that the success of the actions of great men depends more upon the purity of their hearts than upon the means of action. This proverb reveals how the power of nature can be influenced to help us to succeed in our undertakings. While discussing cosmic law it was made clear that when the mind acquires absolute purity in the field of Being, it comes into complete harmony with the laws of nature and gains the favourable influence of the surroundings. So the art of action lies basically in the art of transcendental meditation, which washes away all the impurities of the mind and leaves it in purity and in conformity with the laws of nature. In explaining the philosophy of action it was shown that the art of being underlies the art of action. More effective action requires more effective thinking, and more effective thinking requires more Being in the nature of the mind. So the basis of the art of action is the art of being. The quality of any action depends upon the quality of the performer, upon the circumstances and upon the influence of the surroundings. The quality of the performer may be good, his habits orderly and his life pure, his mind strong and his thinking clear, but unless the circumstances and surroundings are favourable to his action it will not be fruitful. We have considered in detail how, through the practice of transcendental meditation, surroundings and circumstances are made harmonious and conducive to the fulfilment of desire and action. Another aspect of the art of action is the performance of an action with the expenditure of minimum energy and the achievement of maximum work; at the same time the quality of the work is better, so the least strain and the greatest gain result from the art of action; both the individual and the universe are amply rewarded. Skill in action is another aspect of the art of action. Skill in action means that the performer derives great pleasure from the action but at the same time remains free from its binding influence and from the binding influence of its fruit. Skill in action is such that although the performer is fully identified with the thought of the work, the process of action and the enjoyment of its fruit, all that remains is a state of eternal freedom, saturated with the bliss-consciousness of absolute Being. For the art of action the mind must be saturated with Being in order that It may be freely expressed in the outer world of forms and phenomena. So the art of action lies in first fathoming the deeper levels of the ocean of mind, taking the attention to the source of thinking, the field of Being. This process brings the mind's full potential to fruition. In this way the whole field of thought and action becomes a means for transcendental, absolute Being to enter the relative field and vibrate through all activity. The entire field of thought, of action and its fruit becomes a plensure, because the laws of nature and all the surroundings are conducive to the fulfillment of desire. It is as if all creation and taken it upon itself to fulfil the thought and action. The thought becomes a thought of the Divine. Action then becomes a means to fulfil the divine purpose, while at the same time the purpose of the individual is served to the maximum capacity. The purpose of individual life enters a glorious phase in the fulfilment of the divine purpose. This is the art of action: one is only required to dive deep within oneself before beginning an action. Thereafter the entire process of thought and action automatically moulds the art of action. An action should be done for the greatest good to the performer. In this connection his safety should be his first concern, which means that he should not be bound by his actions. Neither the binding influence of action nor the binding influence of its fruit should touch the performer. There is very little understanding of the binding influence of action in the world today. An action is done simply for the sake of satisfying life at the sensory level. This is because the conception of Being has been largely forgotten. Action is never thought of in terms of the level of Being but is thought to exist only on the level of the mind, senses, body and environment. The whole range of life today exists on a very superficial level. When we consider the art of living we must take into account the entire field of life - Being, thinking, doing and the whole universe. Therefore action has to be considered not only in terms of completion and fruitfulness but also in terms of the impression and influence it creates on the performer and his surroundings. The main points of the art of action are as follows: (1) The art of the proper planning of an action. (2) The art of performing an action with minimum expenditure of energy. (3) The art of performing an action in minimum time. (4) The art of performing only useful action. (5) The art of performing an action to produce the most effective and desirable results. (6) Fixity of purpose in the performance of an action. (7) The art of performing an action without harming anyone. (8) The art of performing an action to yield maximum results. (9) The art of performing an action so that the performance remains a joy. It is necessary to deal with each point thoroughly, because the art of action is the primary constituent of the art of living. (1) THE ART OF THE PROPER PLANNING OF AN ACTlON Successful economy in all fields of life is the main purpose of planning. Proper Planning of an action depends upon clarity of mind. Unless an action is rightly thought out and its steps rightly planned, every stage of its performance will probably remain vague and therefore unsatisfactory for the doer and all those concerned. Effective planning depends primarily upon one's state of mind and secondarily upon the circumstances and resources at hand. A survey of resources and an estimation of the possibility of gaining additional resources, or of completing the work with the resources already at hand, is a necessary part of planning. If an undertaking is started from a pure, expanded consciousness, then the resources come to hand according to the need. In the case of a man of highly evolved consciousness there is hardly any need for planning. That which comes to mind leads the course of action, and nature provides resources for its fulfillment. The evolved souls speak as they feel, spontaneously, without forethought. Their feeling finds concrete expression in results, and success follows their aspirations. Nature provides for their desires. There is no plan. It is only necessary for them to start the work, and the work will take care of itself. The whole force of nature is behind such an undertaking. The way of achieving this automatic planning is to raise one's consciousness to the level of cosmic consciousness, where all the forces of almighty nature will be conducive to the fulfilment of the desire. But for all practical purposes, until the consciousness has been raised to a sufficiently high degree, it is necessary before starting work to look into the surroundings and circumstances and to gauge the possibility of successful performance, taking into account the resources at hand. It is necessary to be realistic at one's own level of consciousness and to live within one's means. When we consider the importance of planning, we should bear in mind that automatic machinery produces the faultless product, free from irregularities and imperfections; if the machinery is not automatic, the finish of the product may be uneven. If we could adopt a system of automatic planning by raising our consciousness to a state where planning and execution of work occur simultaneously, the chances of variation and error would, of course, be far less. But as long as we have not gained such a state of mind it is to our advantage to spend some time in proper planning. If the planning is efficient, the action will take less time and will be performed with the minimum of energy, giving the maximum results possible in the circumstances. It is necessary, however, to review the plan from time to time in the light of progress. Planning should be done properly, but there should be a limit to it. The time factor, which is the most valuable factor in life, must not be lost sight of. A higher consciousness should be cultivated to develop a broad vision, foresight, clear thinking, intuition, power of imagination and precision of thought, all of which form the basis of proper planning. This will provide the master key to successful economy in all fields of life, which is the main purpose of planning. Once the action has been planned, it is very important that it should be carried out in the most effective manner. (2) THE ART OF PERFORMING; AN ACTION WITH MINIMUM EXPENDITURE OF ENERGY For this it is first necessary that the thought behind the action should be powerful. A weak thought will require a great deal of exertion to produce the desired result, whereas a powerful thought will achieve its aim easily. A highly developed power of thought is achieved through the process of transcendental meditation. Surroundings and circumstances should also be favourable for the performance of an action. If the surroundings feel the need of an action and hope to receive something useful from it, then the surrounding atmosphere is favourable and the performance of the action becomes easy and harmonious. The action should be harmless. If it is meant to harm someone there will be opposition to its performance from the surroundings and it will be necessary to exert more energy to meet the resistance. The doer should be powerful and energetic. If he is not energetic, he lacks confidence in performing an action and at every moment is afraid to take a step. In the state of Being the conscious mind is attuned to the field of limitless life-energy and gains such vitality that any action is easily and quickly performed with the minimum expenditure of energy. (3) THE ART OF PERFORMING AN ACTION IN MINIMUM TIME To work quickly one needs self-confidence and decisive thinking. Much time is lost in starting ill-considered actions and in repeatedly trying to undo them in the hope of improvement. This lack of confidence is a great barrier to performing actions in the least possible time. The increasingly fast tempo of modern life demands great presence of mind, a developed intellect and an energetic and vital personality. Sluggish action does not fit in with the nature of things today. Speed is the tendency of the age. Those who are unable to keep pace with the fast tempo of modern life create tensions in themselves. Speed in action is essential to a joyful life in the world today. The aspiration of modern man is to live on earth when the sun shines during the day and to fly to the moon at night. Success in action demands that man should be energetic, intelligent, quick and self-confident. If these qualities are not present, he does not belong to the modern age. The time factor is a vital factor in life. Those who have accomplished great things in the world have been those who valued time. Time is limited in this life, and much evolution must be accomplished for fulfilment. The time factor must, therefore, be valued above everything else. It is said that time and tide wait for no man. Experience shows, however, that if we gain ground in the timeless eternity of absolute Being, then time serves us most because the absolute existence of unbounded eternity is the source and basis of all time past, present and future. Supplemented by Being the life of the individual becomes free from all forms of resistance, inward and outward. Great self-confidence, clarity and power of mind dawn in the individual, and all harmony and favourable influences in his Surroundings naturally create a congenial atmosphere for an action to be performed in minimum time. (4) THE ART OF PERFORMING ONLY USEFUL ACTION It is necessary to acquire the ability to select right action. The usefulness of an action differs from man to man, depending upon his state of consciousness. No action in life can be said to be absolutely useful unless it is performed from the level of absolute consciousness. Every action in the world may be looked upon as useful from some angle, but from other points of view it may prove to be completely useless. A deeper consideration of an action's usefulness for the doer and his surroundings leads us to conclude that there could be an action which he likes, the fruit of which he may cherish, but which may yet be harmful to other people either close to him or at a distance. When action is only partially useful it cannot really be called useful action. For example, a thief quickly collects great wealth. This is an action with results which the thief enjoys; but the action is not cherished by the surroundings. Such an act is called sinful and wrong; it seems useful to the doer but only from a very gross point of view; in reality it is not useful even for him. lf an individual has the vision to distinguish betwecn right and wrong and to foresee the results of his action, that alone will lead him to choose actions that are useful both to himself and others. This ability will result from the individual's high level of consciousness. We have seen that it is impossible to determine the absolute usefulness of an action on the intellectual level. When the individual mind becomes attuned to the cosmic law, action and behaviour are in harmony with the stream of evolution. Only then can the individual perform really useful action. (5) THE ART OF PERFORMING AN ACTION TO PRODUCE THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND DESIRABLE RESULTS To perform an action which will produce the most effective and desirable results, a man must have the following qualities: A. Strong thought-force. B. Great energy. C. Favourable surroundings and circumstances. D. The ability to perform right action. E. Self-confidence. A. Strong Thought-Force The power of thought depends on four factors: (a) the ability to use one's full mental potential; (b) the ability to concentrate; (c) the capacity to conserve mental energy; (d) effective co-ordination of mind and nervous system. (a) Full Mental Potential In the chapter How to Live Being, we saw that through transcendental meditation it is easy for everyone to use his full mental potential. (b) The Ability to Concentrate It is generally considered that the ability to concentrate depends upon the quality and strength of the mind. However, the ability to concentrate actually depends upon the degree of joy or happiness provided by the object of attention. If a rose is beautiful, the mind will quite naturally be concentrated on its beauty. If the rose is in some way not fascinating or attractive, the mind will not remain concentrated on it. Anything that is charming attracts the mind. The greater the charm and happiness provided by the point of attention, the longer the mind will concentrate on it. Every mind has the power of unlimited concentration. it is not necessary for the mind to acquire this ability because it is already there. No mind will remain on something that is ugly or which does not provide happiness. Every mind is attracted to something which is charming and joyful. Everyone therefore has the ability to concentrate to any extent. It is common experience, however, that the mind is unable to remain concentrated on any particular point. The reason is that wherever the attention moves, the point of attention fails to provide sufficient happiness and the mind wants to move on to a field of greater happiness. Because there does not seem to be in the world any point of joy so great that it can satisfy the mind's thirst for happiness, it cannot remain concentrated at any point but is always seeking greater happiness in variety. Since this is the situation, is it possible for the mind to remain one-pointed? Yes, but only when it is based on the greatest permanent happiness. From birth, the mind has flickered through transitory joys. For this reason wandering is considered to be the nature of the mind. It is generally thought that the mind is like a monkey, jumping from branch to branch. To change the mind's nature from wandering to steadiness, it is thought that the mind and desires must be controlled. But since to wander is not the nature of the mind, it is not necessary to control it to make it steady. Its nature is, in fact, to remain steady. Although a bee flies here and there in search of a honeyed flower, flying should not be considered its essential nature. It flies with the purpose of drawing honey from a flower; as long as it does not find a flower containing honey it will wander. But when the flower is found, the bee immediately alights on it. Similarly the mind wanders, but not by nature. It wanders because it does not find a place in which to rest or a medium of happiness. The mind is not like a monkey; in fact, it is like a king. Every mind is like the king of kings. It will go to a place it likes and stay there; it will. do the work it likes. If a king is found wandering about his country, it is wrong to conclude that his nature is to wander. He is wandering only in the absence of a throne to sit on. In the absence of his proper seat he continues to wander. No self-respecting man will sit in all untidy place unworthy of him. So although it is not in the nature of a king to keep wandering, he will do so even though he feels tired. He will not sit down until he can find a seat worthy of him. Similarly the mind, like the wandering king, will not rest in any place unworthy of it and will not want to be removed from a place worthy of it which provides attraction and happiness. In such a place the mind may rest, sit, enjoy and remain in enjoyment. It is wrong to conclude that the nature of the mind is to wander. Work done in accordance with our nature pleases us. Anything done against our nature displeases us. If it is our nature to run about, then we feel better when we are allowed to run about. If it is our nature to sit, then we feel happier when we are allowed to sit. If it is our nature to sit and we are asked to run about, then naturally we become miserable and tense. A mind which does not have a place in which to rest, which does not have a medium of enjoyment and so is compelled to run about, begins to feel miserable and tense. If wandering were the nature of the mind, then it would feel happier if allowed to wander freely. But on the contrary, we find that when the mind does not have a place to rest, its desires remain unfulfilled and it begins to feel restless. For the mind to remain steady in one place, it is only necessary to provide it with something it likes. When something charming is given to it, the mind remains steady; this steadiness is the state of concentration. We know that ordinarily the mind is able to concentrate on something pleasant and joyful, yet is unable to concentrate on something ugly. This is because ugliness is contrary to the nature of the mind. So it is not a question of the mind having to acquire the ability to concentrate; it only needs to be led to a place of joy and happiness where it will remain naturally. Nothing in the field of gross creation is so joyful that it will satisfy for all time the mind's thirst for happiness. Experience shows that the subtle things of creation are far more charming than the gross. So if the attention can be led to the subtle fields of creation and if these can be experienced by the mind, they will naturally attract it by being more charming than the gross strata of creation. When the attention is led from the gross to progressively subtler strata of creation, the mind will find increased charm at each step. By transcending all the relative states of creation and reaching transcendental bliss-consciousness, the mind will find that great joy transcending the greatest joy of relative existence, eternal, absolute bliss. Having gained absolute, eternal bliss, the mind never loses it. It holds it to such a degree that bliss-consciousness becomes infused into the very nature of the mind and the mind becomes bliss-consciousness. When the mind is thus established it remains steady and does not need anything else, because there is nothing in the relative field of existence which can challenge the validity of absolute bliss-consciousness. Therefore, once the mind becomes rooted in bliss-consciousness, eternal contentment becomes its very nature and it remains steady, even when it is associated with outer experiences and activity. The mind can only remain concentrated in the state of bliss-consciousness. Any other attempt to cultivate concentration amounts to hard work without achievement. The practice of transcendental meditation, which is so simple and which brings bliss-consciousness into the very nature of the mind, is the most practical way to gain concentration. As we have seen, it is not the ability to concentrate which is gained: a state of bliss-consciousness must be created in the mind so that it remains steady and concentrated by nature. People enter into an ascetic way of life thinking that in the busy world or in the life of the householder the senses are too much attracted by pleasure in outer objects. They believe that to control the mind the joys of the senses must be sacrificed and the senses not allowed to come into contact with these joys. This belief has led to practices for controlling the mind and has given rise to unnecessary asceticism in seekers after truth who wish to increase the capacity of their minds. Controlling and thereby straining the mind is based on the erroneous principle that its nature is to wander. The effort of control is not necessary. There are two ways of keeping a dog at the door. One is to run after it, forcibly bring it to the door and tie it there with a chain. But this is a difficult job. Even if the dog is tied it will pull against the chain and try to run away. It will be difficult to keep it quiet at the door. The second way is not to run after it and tie it with a chain, but to put down some food at the door for it to eat. The dog will eat the food and will willingly remain at the door. In the same way, it is not necessary to try to control the mind. The best, easiest and most practical way of allowing the mind to be naturally concentrated is to put it to the practice of transcendental meditation so that it may acquire bliss-consciousness. When the mind remains concentrated it does not wander but remains steady wherever we put it. (c) CONSERVING MENTAL ENERGY A great deal of mental energy is consumed when the mind is perpetually thinking and wandering. Each thought consumes mental energy, and if thoughts arise one after another, mental energy is consumed all the time. if fewer thoughts come, less mental energy is consumed, so that if the mind is established in bliss-consciousness it remains contented in itself and does not wander here and there thinking uselessly. If a thousand thoughts were entertained every hour before the mind was established in bliss, and if after it was established only ten thoughts came in an hour, then each thought would have a hundred times more power. The only natural way of conserving mental energy for a constructive purpose is the practice of transcendental meditation. (d) Co-ordination of Mind and Nervous System For strong thought-force it is necessary that the co-ordination between mind and nervous system be well maintained. This requires that both the nervous system and the mind should be strong. The nervous system is physical; the mind is abstract. For strong thought-force the physical as well as the mental aspect should be strong. The mind naturally becomes strong when the whole of the subconscious becomes conscious. Proper functioning of the nervous system depends upon its physical condition, which is controlled by the food eaten and the exertion made. If the food is right it keeps the nervous system energetic and lively under normal functioning conditions. If the nervous system is not strained it will function normally. But if the body is strained by flickering or indecision on the part of the mind, then the nenTous system becomes exhausted and stops functioning. If we eat spoiled and stale food the nervous system becomes weak. If we drink alcohol the nervous system becomes inactive and dull. If We work too hard the nervous system becomes tired and does not function normally. This lack of normal functioning makes co-ordination of body and mind weak. The nervous system should be intact; right food and drink and regular habits of eating, rest and activity will keep it so. Life should be ordered by comfortable, regular habits of sleep, food and rest. Activity should be moderate so as not to exhaust the body. If the body is exhausted then the nervous system does not function well, and when co-ordination between body, nervous system and mind breaks down, the mind is disconnected from the body and the nervous system, and the whole charm of life is lost in deep sleep. The practice of transcendental meditation helps to strengthen the physical condition of the nervous system as well as the mind; it enables the mind to use its full potential, remain concentrated, con serve its energy, establish good co-ordination with the body and thus cultivate a strong thought-force whereby actions are performed in such a way that the most effective and desirable results are produced. B. GREAT ENERGY For effective action and desirable results it is necessary that increased thought-force be supplemented with greater physical energy. We saw that individual life is like a wave on the ocean of cosmic life, and that each wave has the possibility of drawing any amount of water from the ocean, the whole ocean could rise in one wave. Likewise, each individual can communicate with the unlimited ocean of cosmic energy to gain the strength to perform actions which will produce the most effective and desirable results. The energy we derive from what we eat, drink and breathe is limited. That is why, when we have worked for some time, the energy produced from food is used up and by evening we begin to feel hungry and exhausted. This shows that to perform action for the most effective and desirable results we should have some additional source of life-energy. We should realise that life-energy appears as the power of thinking, intelligence, creativity and joyfulness. The same life-energy is used in different functions. If we want more life-energy than we ordinarily get from food and drink, it will be necessary to find a means of drawing it from the atmosphere. In addition we must learn how to obtain more life-energy through the power of thinking and being. We know that the source of all creation - of the atomsphere, of food, drink and air, of thought and the thinking ability - is Being. Therefore communication between our conscious mind and the ocean of Being will be the way to draw upon this limitless source of energy. There are many methods for drawing more energy from the air. There are saints in the Himalayas who live on life-energy drawn from the atmosphere, but they are accomplished yogis who can draw, in the early morning hours, enough life-energy to sustain them throughout the day. These methods are not for people active in the world. The system of transcendental meditation, however, is the most effective way to bring the mind to the field of transcendental Being, where it will naturally acquire life-energy for performing any amount of hard work and for producing the most effective and desirable results. This drawing of energy from the field of Being is the most striking aspect of the art of living, for it brings the active life of the day-to-day world into communion with the source of limitless life-energy, power, intelligence, creativity and bliss. If this message that limitless life-energy can be drawn from the field of eternal Being were to reach the people of the world, and if they were to take advantage of it, life would become free, joyful, full of creativity, intelligence, peace and happiness. And if all the people of the world were to rise to this high state of consciousness, the world would be a paradise to live in. Fortunately, the present time is most suitable for spreading the ideology of transcendental meditation; the need for such a formula is now felt more than ever, since man has virtually lost the anchorage which religions and metaphysical studies offered him in the past. The alert minds of the scientific age seem to find futility in the promises of religion and the different schools of philosophy and psychology. Tensions are fast increasing at every level of life throughout the world. On the one hand, the individual feels a lack of energy and an increase in tension and on the other, the fast tempo of modern life does not allow him a moment of real silence. The individual is torn between the pressing call for greater activity and the lack of energy to meet it. The result is an increase in heart disease and general suffering. Each man is seeking that which will help him to cope with the increased pace of living which modern civilisation demands. Transcendental meditation directly attunes the energy of the individual with the energy of cosmic life. At this perilous hour for civilisation it is a gift from heaven. C. FAVOURABLE SURROUNDINGS AND CIRCUMSTANCES Surroundings contribute a great deal to the success of action. Either surroundings must be favourable, or the performer must have great strength of mind to persist whatever the circumstances. It should be inherent in an action that harmony is maintained with the surroundings. The greatest force that a man can ever possess to keep his surroundings harmonious and favourable to his actions, comes from the purity of his mind. Fixity of purpose and dedication to the activity strengthen this force. Through the practice of transcendental meditation the individual maintains the purity of Being in the very nature of his mind and comes into harmony with his surroundings, and his surroundings come into harmony with him. Other attempts to maintain harmony with the surroundings are not as effective as this practice. Good behaviour towards others, kindness, compassion and helpfulness all. have their value, and one must be guided by these high principles of life. One must be helpful to one's neighbour, kind to friends, compassionate to one's surroundings , but all this kindness and compassion and help for others will be more fruitful and valuable if the individual's inner life is pure. Fortunately for our generation, purity of life is no longer difficult to attain because direct experience of Being is easy. D. THE ABILITY TO PERFORM RIGHT ACTION Right action springs frOm COntentment and the natural need for action. It should be natural that a man performs only right action. Right action is action which fulfils a legitimate need. By legitimate we mean that the doer is justified in his need and in the manner of action which he adopts to fulfil it. As we have seen, the question of right and wrong in the relative field of life is very complex. We have seen that right action can be determined only on the level of the laws of nature, and that a man established in the state of Being naturally moves in accordance with the laws of nature. Only on that level of heightened pure consciousness is it possible for the mind to be righteous. Right action is always endorsed by the moral code of conduct. Any lack of morality, any deviation from the diversity of life's purpose, results in deviation from righteousness. Ordinarily it is difficult for a man to know what right action is. The law of the land provides one criterion. Right action is that which is at least not against the law. In this sense lawful action is right action. ln general it could be said that the law of the land is based on the laws of nature. In countries whose civilisation is old and where tradition has value the law of the land is derived fundamentally from the laws of nature. The law of the land and the traditions of a country are general guides to what is right and wrong. So a guide to right action is that it must not be against the law of the land and that it should, if possible, be directly in accordance with the laws of nature. Great delicacy and sensitivity are required for any significant consideration of the laws of nature, for they govern the process of evolution at all levels of creation. They either complement or contradict each other, depending on the stratum of creation on which they are functioning. A thorn and a rose are produced from the same sap subjected to different laws. Only a mind infused with Being can naturally function in accordance with the laws of nature. At that level, however, it is not a matter of determining the rightness of an action but rather that the mind, by its very nature, knows only right action. Therefore the state of cosmic consciousness offers an absolute basis for right action. Earlier we said that the law of the land and its traditions provide criteria of right and wrong. These are criteria in the relative field and do not provide a perfect guide. Only cosmic consciousness can inspire right action at all times. Many people have the ability to choose a right action naturally because the structure of society is such that from childhood they are brought up to distinguish, roughly at least, right from wrong. Deeper criteria of right and wrong are established when the individual grows older and comes to know the laws and tradition of the land more thoroughly. A more and more exact sense of judgment betwecn right and wrong comes naturally as one's consciousness grows; but when the consciousness is highest, and Being is infused into the nature of the mind to the fullest extent, the mind knows without doubt what is right or wrong. By natural inclination, by natural taste, wrong actions and wrong thoughts are not even considered. So the real art of performing right action lies in possessing a mind which is right at all times. To be right, the mind must be in that state of lasting contentment and purity which belongs only to the state of pure consciousness. Acquisition of the highest purity of consciousness, therefore, is vital for inculcating and maintaining a natural tendency for right action. E. SELF-CONFIDENCE Self-confidence is a necessary ingredient in performing an action which aims at the most effective and desirable results. We have seen that self-confidence depends upon the state of mind. To have confidence in the Self, the Self must at least be known and brought to the conscious level. One who is unaware of his Self cannot possibly have self-confidence. Any attempt to improve self-confidence without gaining familiarity with the Self will always be ineffective. Gaining familiarity with the nature of the Self is a first step in gaining self-confidence. When familiarity with the essential nature of the Self has been gained so profoundly that it never leaves the level of awareness, then a state of profound self-confidence is reached. Unless one is firmly grounded in an unshakeable state of bliss-consciousness of eternal Being, unless one has developed that cosmic consciousness which alone is capable of establishing the Absolute in the relative field of day-to-day life, it is not possible to have a natural state of unshakeable self-confidence. No businessman ever gains self-confidence in the market unless he has great wealth invested in his business. When the individual mind is enlarged to gain the state of cosmic mind, only then can it remain self-confident at all times. (6) FIXITY OF PURPOSE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF AN ACTION Before any action can begin it is first necessary for the mind to have a purpose that will be served by that action. If an action is begun and the purpose is forgotten the action will not be continued. For success in action it is necessary that the process of action be sustained, and for this a fixity of purpose must be maintained by the performer. If the mind wishes to conduct the action effectively and arrive at the most desirable results, it is essential that it should not deviate from its purpose. This fixity of purpose might be called the backbone of success of any action and also serves as the driving force for the process of action. How can this ability be acquired? The answer lies in cultivating a state of mind where attention does not waver but remains concentrated and fixed on action. It is the wavering mind which tends to be distracted, and it is this condition which is always a threat to the continuance of action and thus to fixity of purpose. Maintaining fixity of purpose depends on the mind being habituated to beginning an action only after having considered all the points for and against the results of action. For this it is most necessary to possess the ability to follow steadfastly one line of action until the action is completed. In the life of a man there is not just one thing to be done all the time. There is not just one condition of life that has to be constantly lived. There is not only one kind of aspiration to be constantly cherished. From the beginning of the day until it is time to sleep there are hundreds of fields of activity and experience, all of which have value in life. Therefore we must not forget that, together with fixity of purpose, there has to exist the ability to move from one type of action to another and from one field of activity to another. The mind does not have to be fixed constantly on one thing. This moving from one plane of activity to another should be as natural to the mind as remaining fixed on the performance of one action. Thus the mind must have this double ability so that a man is able to participate in the multiple activities and experiences of different spheres of life. If a man wishes to build a house, his fixity of purpose in performing the action of building should not be so great that he becomes oblivious to everything else in life. He should continue to conduct a normal life of eating, resting, lighting his lamp and performing his normal activities whatever they are. All such activities and other interests in life should be allowed to co-exist with the fixity of purpose of building the house. Therefore, when we aim at cultivating fixity of purpose, we should remember that we must not become absorbed in the performance of an action to the extent that we lose sight of other aspects of life. Often when someone, such as an artist, musician, or scientist, is engaged in an activity well suited to his nature he becomes absorbed in his work to the exclusion of other activities. It is good to be one-pointed about actions which are natural and are enjoyed, but other aspects of life should not suffer. For example, if a man who is a devoted scientist spends all his time in the laboratory, his wife suffers, the children miss their father's love and companionship and the home lacks his care. The culture of the mind should be on a broad scale and on an all-round basis. The whole of the mind must be cultured and its ability improved on all levels. We have seen that the practice of transcendental meditation enlarges the conscious area of the mind and makes it more profound and more practical on all levels. It is through this practice alone that it is possible to cultivate the important ability of single-mindedness in action and at the same time of not allowing it to bind one to the extent that it robs one of pleasure in other aspects of life. (7) THE ART OF PERFORMING AN ACTION WITHOUT HARMING ANYONE The art of performing an action without harming anyone lies first in choosing an action which win bring good to oneself and all others in one's surroundings, and secondly in adopting legal ways and means to carry out the action. If the results of an action are useful to the doer and his surroundings while the process chosen for performing the action is illegal, tension will be created in the surroundings. When choosing a useful action, it is necessary to choose a process of action which is also harmless. Without having attained the state of cosmic consciousness no one can be sure of performing actions which will not harm others, because the question of what influence actions have on different strata of creation at different times cannot be judged by human intellect. The effects of action are so complicated and far-spread in the universe that it is beyond the range of human intelligence to describe an action in terms of the harm or good done to creation. Therefore the only way to perform an action without harming anyone is to raise intelligence and consciousness to the level of absolute, divine consciousness. When the doer is established on that level, any undertaking will naturally be in accordance with the rising stream of evolution, harmless to him and the entire creation. (8) THE ART OF PERFORMING AN ACTION TO YIELD MAXIMUM RESULTS The art of performing an action to yield maximum results rests solely on the doer, on his intelligence, energy, fixity of purpose, precision of thought and action, power of concentration, and ability to control the surroundings to favour the action. To obtain maximum results it is necessary for the action to be performed to the best ability of the doer. Maximum ability demands the most highly developed intelligence and energy on the part of the doer. Greatest energy and intelligence are gained when individual consciousness is brought to the level of cosmic consciousness, while at the same time individual energy is brought to the level of cosmic energy'. When this occurs, great contentment and the ability to concentrate and persevere develop naturally in the mind. With these qualities a man is able to act with great precision, gaining maximum results with the least expenditure of energy. However, something more than inner ability and efficiency is needed to give maximum results from an action. This is the ability to control circumstances and surroundings. Results are restricted by the resistance of surroundings and circumstances. lf one has the ability to perform an action so that the surroundings and circumstances automatically become congenial and favourable to success, then one will certainly succeed in obtaining maximum results from an action. If surroundings can be made favourable to the performance of an action, there is no limit to the results an action can yield. An innocent, simple approach to action in accordance with the laws of nature is naturally successful. People generally consider that the success of their actions depends upon their ability, their intelligence, their creative mind and their energy. But all these factors are of secondary importance. The main factor for the success of an action is the doer's own purity. If the mind is one hundred percent pure, that is if the man is evolved in cosmic consciousness, then the result will be one hundred percent. If the purity of the mind is fifty percent, that is if the evolution of the man is fifty percent, the result of each action will be fifty percent of the total possibility. It is the purity of a man's heart and mind, and his innocent and faithful approach to action with the purpose of all good to everyone, which really succeed in yielding maximum results with minimum effort. One more factor plays an important part in producing results from action. This is karma, the fruit of actions performed in the past. A good, virtuous man has in the past done good, virtuous deeds which were in accordance with the process of evolution. The results of those good deeds now add to the success of his present actions. So we find that his present ability of mind and body, his intelligence and energy, bring success to his actions in proportion to the influence of good or bad karma from the past. The influence of good karma from the past brings him more energy, clarity of thought and the ability to make right decisions, and also produces influences in the surroundings which are favourable for the performance of the action in hand. The influence of bad karma from the past brings him dullness, inefficiency, loss of energy, weakness and every tension and suffering as well as adverse influences in his surroundings, which begin to obstruct the successful performance of his actions and to hinder progress toward any substantial results. This aspect of karma from the past is beyond the control of the doer. The best he can do to neutralise this influence is to engage in the practice of transcendental meditation, which will raise his consciousness and produce a favourable influence in his surroundings. When the consciousness is raised, energy and intelligence are increased. Then, whatever the influence from the past, that influence will not be able to nullify present action. Certainly the influence of past karma will be there, but it will not be able to guide the destiny of present action completely. If a businessman loses five hundred pounds, the loss is a loss for all time. But although the loss will always remain a loss, if two thousand pounds are earned the next day the gain overshadows the loss. The formula for producing maximum results is to disregard the obstacles and negative influences which offer resistance to the performance of action. The doer should engage in action and continue until the desired results are achieved. When the standard of consciousness is raised through the process of meditation, the action performed at that higher level of life energy and intelligence will have an overriding influence on karma from the past and will produce maximum results. This is how, by the regular practice of transcendental meditation supplemented by the power of charity and virtuous deeds, the negative influence of past karma can be counteracted and the path of present karma smoothed. Then the action will be performed without resistance or obstacle, yielding maximum results. This is how, by the power of present action on karma, destiny is controlled. Herein lies the full meaning of the saying that man is master of his own destiny. (9) THE ART OF PERFORMING AN ACTION SO THAT THE PERFORMANCE REMAINS A JOY Any action will remain a joyful process throughout for the doer and his surroundings only when he has great energy and intelligence and encounters no resistance on the way, receiving all possible co-operation from everything. The action must not become taxing to his ability. He must have self-confidence, efficiency and the ability to concentrate so that he feels no action is beyond his capability. When a businessman has great wealth he does not feel concerned about what he spends in the market. The whole field of business remains a joy to him because it does not matter very much whether he loses or gains; he already has more than enough for his purposes. Likewise, when the doer has more energy than is required to perform any action, the action is easy and remains a joy. Anything done in accordance with the nature of the mind pleases it, and anything done against its nature displeases it. So if the action undertaken by a man is in accord with the nature of his mind and within his capacity, that action cannot be taxing or wearisome. Only an action which suits his temperament can be enjoyed. For example, a boy is told to take a football to a house two miles distant. If he can keep kicking the football towards the house, then he gets it there in a pleasant and joyful manner. The delivery of the football to the house does not become a burden because he has played with it all the time. If, however, he is asked to carry it instead of being allowed to kick it, its delivery will become a burdensome task. If there were a means of raising one's daily actions to the level of joy, this would be a technique for gaining the ability to perform them with joy, and they would never become trying, tedious or boring. If a mother is loving to her child, the child is filled with joy. If the mother asks him to run an errand for her, the wish of the mother becomes an additional wave of joy to the child. He jumps up and does what he is asked in a playful, joyful mood. But if the mother has beaten him, making him cry and become unhappy, and then orders him to do an errand, her order becomes an additional wave of misery to the child. He would do the errand but the task would be a burden to him. So if the mood is joyful, the performance of any action will be joyful. lf the mood is miserable, tense and worried, then any action will become a means of added tension. If the mind is not in a natural state of happiness, then no attempt to be joyful and happy while performing an action will succeed. Only when the very nature of the mind is saturated with joy can an action be joyful. This is possible only when the mind has gained the status of pure consciousness. Only when the conscious mind has become so familiar with the bliss of transcendental Being that it never loses touch with it, is it possible to perform all action in joyfulness. Otherwise, any attempt to be happy in performing an action will add tension, because energy is divided between the performance and the need to feel joy. The modern practice of playing music in factories to bring happiness to the workers has the effect of dividing the attention. Although the work is there and must be completed under pressure, it is natural for the mind to want to listen to the music. Performing the work is against the normal tendency of the mind, which is to enjoy the music. In this way, not only is tension created in the minds of the workers but also the work loses quality. The employer provides music in the workshop to make the workers happy, but the net result is an increase of tension and a gradual decrease of efficiency. Any artificial attempt to produce joyfulness in the field of activity brings adverse results. The only way to make the entire field of action joyful is to fill the mind with joy. This can only be accomplished through the experience of Being. The art of behaviour influences not only the surface values of life, making people happier and better in every way, but also touches the inner core of life and advances it to the higher levels of evolution. The purpose of social behaviour is to give and receive for mutual benefit. One should meet another either to give or to take; or rather, mainly to give. When two meet to give the best of themselves to each other both gain the maximum. If, on the contrary, both meet and just expect the maximum from each other, each has closed the door to giving, and neither gains anything from the relationship except disappointment, resulting in tension on both sides. The fundamental rule of behaviour should be to give. When you go to meet someone, think what you can give him: a concrete gift such as a beautiful object, words of greeting, warm sympathy, praise, adoration, love, elevating advice or good news for body, mind or soul, or whatever you are capable of giving. There must be something you can give when you meet someone. Merely a 'hello' or a 'how do you do' is insufficient to produce a wave of love and joyfulness at the meeting. The art of behaviour demands that the first moment of a meeting should have something of real value for the meeting of two hearts. The first fundamental in the art of behaviour is : meet with warmth and meet to give. Behaviour should be on the level of giving. Give, and it shall be given unto you. If all people in society behaved on this level of giving, social behaviour could only result in the advancement and glorification of everyone's life. Then only would the purpose of society be fulfilled. A sincere sense of giving can only arise on a level of contentment. Only contented hearts and minds can think in terms of giving. Eternal contentment can come only through the development of bliss-consciousness. How to behave has become a concern of society today, because the qualities of heart and mind are not given a fair chance to evolve. Social relationships should always be a means of joy. They become a problem only when the fundamentals of life are misunderstood. To behave rightly with others one must think lucidly and have clear, good intentions; one must have a decent way of life. One should possess the qualities of tolerance, love, kindness and joyfulness. Joyfulness is a quality which cultivates and spreads love; it is the result of the overflowing love of the heart and forms the basis of good social relationships. If there is no tolerance, ill-feeling and disharmony result. Take, for example, someone making an ill-humoured remark. If one is not able to withstand the remark without reacting to it, ill-feeling springs up in the repercussions that follow. If a man does not have the quality of love, if his heart is hard, he begins to hate the person who has offended him. It is the love of a mother for her child which makes her look kindly on his mistakes. In fact, a mother enjoys the child's mistakes because then she is able to give him more of her love. In that love the child is better able to overcome the weakness of committing mistakes. This is how, by the tolerance and love of his mother, a child improves, and the art of behaviour is infused into him naturally. What is the shortest way to the art of behaviour? Language is one facet of behaviour; we can polish our language. Good manners are a part of behaviour, but good manners come only from sound methods of bringing up children; children from good families are brought up to be well-behaved. But the root of the art of behaviour lies in a polished state of mind. This refined state of mind depends upon the conscious mind being brought into communion with the bliss of absolute Being. So the basis of the art of behaviour is the technique for bringing the mind to the bliss-consciousness of transcendental Being. This leaves both parties to any relationship with added joyfulness, energy and love, while at the same time an influence of peace, harmony and freshness in the atmosphere is created. Really good behaviour between people will only be possible when their minds are broadened, when they are able to see the whole situation, to understand each other more thoroughly, to be aware of each other's need and attempt to fulfil that need. This naturally necessitates an expanded consciousness, a right sense of judgment and all the qualities that only a strong and clear mind possesses. Small minds always fail to perceive the whole situation and in their narrow vision create imaginary obstacles and restrictions which are neither useful to themselves nor to anyone else. Then their behaviour towards others only results in misunderstanding and increase of tension. Good social behaviour is based on a strong, clear and contented mind. In any social relationship the minds of both parties should be established on the level of Being, or Being should be established on the level of their minds, so that the bliss and contentment of Being are deeply rooted in the hearts of each. Then their behaviour produces influences of peace and harmony in the surroundings. The art of behaviour is such that not only do the people concerned gain but the entire atmosphere vibrates wild their influence of love, kindness, harmony and peace. BEHAVIOUR AND SURROUNDINGS Established in Being one is able to make the best use of surroundings; what they are does not matter; they are made conducive to the fulfilment of the individual's desire. No surroundings can be considered absolutely bad or completely useless. If a mind is unable to take advantage of its surroundings, this is through its own weakness. For example, a man is sitting in a room that is full of dust and dirt. If his mind is grounded in contentment, joyfulness and peace, he radiates these qualities around him and does not pay attention to the dirt and dust. Or he begins to sweep the room, to wipe off the dust, and in doing so he does not feel miserable because even the particles of dust reflect back the joyfulness of his heart. On the other hand, if he is sad or tense he becomes more miserable and tense. The misery of his mind has multiplied itself and is being reflected back from the particles of dust in the room. It is the inner state of mind that is responsible for making a man joyful or miserable in any surroundings. A strong mind is tolerant; a weak mind is easily overcome by the surroundings. If one doubts another man's behaviour one will continue to have doubts even if he expresses love and joy when one meets him, because the doubts were present before the conversation started. So a doubting or unkind mind fails to enjoy even the joyfulness and sincerity of the prevailing surroundings. The influence of the atmosphere on the individual depends upon his own state of mind. According to his state of mind, the nature of the atmosphere changes. If he puts a red glass to his eye he sees everything as red; if he looks through a green glass he sees everything as green. Whatever the individual's state of mind, the atmosphere is evaluated accordingly. The individual is responsible for the atmosphere. He creates it and in turn is influenced by it. When his mind is strong, functioning at its full potential, then he is able to make the best use of his surroundings and circumstances. The art of action and the art of behaviour lie in making the surroundings favourable instead of unfavourable to us. The atmosphere is there for us to use and not to make us miserable. If someone has said something, it is his action, his responsibility. If it is useful to us we enjoy it, accept it, think about it, act on it and derive benefit from it. But if it is not useful or elevating to us, then we do not think of it again, we pay no attention to it. We do not bring it to mind and brood over it. If we do so we shall be polluting our mind with a bad thought. Therefore we must so cultivate our minds that we think and act naturally in a manner which is elevating and beneficial. In this way we will benefit ourselves and others. We do not encourage damaging or malicious thoughts either by rejecting or accepting them; indifference is the weapon to be used against negative situations in life. This is the art of behaviour. If someone has done us an injustice, we do not harbour it or think about it; perhaps it was a mistake. If we allow it to affect our future actions towards him we are not giving him the opportunity to improve his relations with us, and we also suffer. Even if he does harbour ill-feeling towards us, we heap benefit on him and ourselves if we behave towards him with love and tolerance. In this way, we help the atmosphere to improve and the improved atmosphere serves us better. As we have seen, when the mind is brought to the level of Being the body is also brought to the same level. Thus by our thoughts, words and actions and even by our presence, we radiate an influence of life, peace, harmony and joyfulness. To improve relationships we must first improve our minds and then we shall begin to behave well. Surroundings respond to us best if we are grounded in the art of being, which is the technique that places our lives on a high level so that we naturally and innocently behave well in harmony and joyfullness. We must never in any way be unnatural in our behaviour. If people everywhere would begin to meditate for a few minutes morning and evening the whole of social behaviour would reach an ideal state, for contact with Being not only improves and satisfies the individual life but improves the atmosphere, increases harmony and reduces fear, hatred, tension, cruelty and antagonism. In the absence of the art of behaviour quite the contrary effect is produced. Tensions grow in the family, in society and in international relationships. When Being is infused into the minds of individuals social relationships improve in the most automatic and natural way, great harmony is produced in the atmosphere, tension is released, and the world is made better for people to live in. The problem of health is the most vital problem in life. Everything depends upon health: the inner peace and happiness of man, his attitude and behaviour towards others, his accomplishments in life; above all, life itself depends upon health. To consider health fully we should take into account both the health of the individual and that of the cosmos - man and his atmosphere. Let us look at the following table: The two main aspects of man's life are the relative and the absolute. The relative aspect is perishable, the absolute imperishable. Relative life has three aspects: mental, physical and environmental; or mind, body and surroundings. So we find that man's whole life has four different components: Being, the mind, the body and his surroundings. Healthy Being, healthy mind, healthy body and healthy surroundings, together with healthy co-ordination between Being and mind, between mind and body and betwecn body and surroundings will constitute perfect health in an individual. To determine the nature of good health we must therefore consider: 1. Being. 2. Mind. 3. Body. 4. Surroundings. 5- Co-ordination of Being and mind. 6. Co-ordination of mind and body. 7. Co-ordination of body and surroundings. Unless all these seven points are taken into account the consideration of health will remain incomplete, and no completely correct solution can be provided to the problem of ill-health. We invite the health organisations of the world to consider these principles so that they may do what is needed to solve the problem of ill-health and to alleviate man's suffering. It is lamentable that for centuries past the problem of ill-health has been considered primarily on the physical level. Thanks to recent advances in medicine, investigations into the causes of disease have revealed that for a great majority of ailments the disease may be of a physical nature though its cause is not physical. Such findings have emphasised the validity of mental phenomena as the cause of disorders in the physical body. Psychology and psychiatry were developed to remove mental stress, thereby eradicating the mental cause of physical diseases, while the medical profession continued to treat the diseased part of the physical body. How far medicine helps to restore physical health, and how far psycho-analysis and psychiatry succeed in helping man to overcome the mental causes of psychosomatic disease are questions for the experts who guide the destiny of medical science, psychiatry and psychology. The least that can be said about the problem of health in the world today is that the measures so far adopted are insufficient to maintain the health of the people. Even in countries where medical science is most advanced and psychiatrists and psycho-analysts are the fashion of the day, the health record shows that a large number of people suffer from weak hearts and die of heart failure, and that the number of mental patients is fast increasing. This is a serious situation which can only be resolved by the health authorities all over the world. But before this can be achieved it is necessary for them to add to their existing knowledge. This requires on the part of the medical associations a sympathetic attitude to new suggestions and a readiness to give them a trial. If a leaf begins to wither and dry up it may be either because the particular leaf has been affected by undue heat or because the supply of nourishment from the root has decreased. If the cause is excessive heat, attending to the individual leaf and protecting it from heat will remove the cause and save the leaf from dying. But even when the leaves are being attended to individually from outside it is necessary to see that a supply of nourishment reaches them from the root. Whenever a leaf shows signs of withering it is essential to maintain an adequate supply of nourishment from the root to all parts of the tree. When a boil appears on a finger a good doctor will test the blood and investigate the cause, even though he treats the boil on the surface. We therefore arrive at the principle that those interested in the prevention or cure of disease should have a knowledge of all. gross and subtle aspects of the body. These range from the body, which is the end-organ of the nervous system, to the mind, which in turn extends from gross to subtle levels of thinking and touches the field of Being. It is necessary, therefore, for the medical profession to have a knowledge of the whole range of life, from the outside cosmos to the body and through all the subtle regions of the mind to the state of pure consciousness, Being. It would also be invaluable if the health authorities possessed the formula for contacting the field of ultimate Being, which is the very basis of all the different levels of individual life. A gardener who knows how to take care of the root and who sees that it receives the nourishment it needs will succeed in maintaining health at all levels of the tree. A medical man who possesses the knowledge of all the different aspects of individual health, knowing how to care for the basic stratum of life - the field of Being - will succeed in restoring and maintaining good health at all levels. A formula exists to take care of the very root of individual life, to maintain and restore health on all levels of mind, body and surroundings. We offer this formula in no spirit of competition or challenge but out of love for man and with all goodwill towards those people all over the world who are endeavouring to alleviate suffering by whatever means they have found useful. To build more hospitals to alleviate sickness and suffering for people who have already fallen in is a laudable act of charity. But it is infinitely more important to find ways and means of preventing people from falling sick and of ensuring that they will always enjoy good health. Since a way does exist of preventing people from becoming sick, the introduction of it to people all over the world would be a much greater act of charity. We shall see how this new goal of good health may be achieved. Preventive medicine is already an established and important part of the health programme in every country. But real progress in this field depends upon the application of new findings as they come to light. Something new which has proved its value for the preservation and improvement of health in body, mind and surroundings is put forward in the following pages. Mental health depends upon the state of the mind, which is an abstract factor, and upon the state of the nervous system, which is concrete. The nervous system is the vehicle for the functioning of the mind, since it serves to connect the subjective nature of man, the mind, with the objective world around him. So in considering mental health we must take into account both the state of the mind and the state of the nervous system. But first let us form a clear conception of what the mental aspect of the personality is, of what mind is in relation to the body and to the whole personality. The mind lies between Being and the body. The mind is simply a link to connect Being of unmanifested nature to the body and to the manifested aspects of the relative world. It is a link to co-ordinate the absolute and relative aspects of life. At one extreme the mind, in its fullest aspect, touches the core of absolute existence, Being; at the other it touches the gross levels of relative existence. In terms of Being, mind could be defined as vibrating consciousness. In terms of the body, mind may be defined as the fountainhead of the nervous system and as such is the source of the body. So the mind stands in the same relationship to man as the root to the tree, and the function of the mind is similar to that of the root. The root has a dual function to perform. It has to draw nourishment from the ground and it must pass on that nourishment to the outer tree. The mind, by virtue of its position between Being and the body, likewise has a dual function. It must draw in life-energy from absolute Being and pass it on to the body and to the other fields of relative existence. If the root successfully maintains the process of drawing in and giving out, then the health of the tree is ideally maintained. Any failure to maintain this process results in ill-health for the tree. Likewise, failure on the part of the mind to draw sufficient life-energy from Being naturally results in weakness or ill-health of the body and personality. So we find that co-ordination of the mind with Being and with the body is the key to good health. We shall now deal with the different aspects of health - mental, physical and environmental. MENTAL HEALTH Mental health depends upon the normal functioning of the nervous system, so that the whole mind is brought to bear upon the external world. Normal functioning of the nervous system results in good physical health, enabling the body to carry out the dictates of the mind, to fulfil its desires and the purpose of existence. So long as co-ordination of mind and nervous system is intact, mental health is maintained. When co-ordination breaks down because of some failure either on the part of the mind or of the nervous system, ill-health results. Such failure of the mind is brought about by its constant inability to fulfil its desires. The main reason for this is a lack of clarity and power of thought, so that the nervous system is not stimulated to the extent where it can carry out the activity needed to fulfil the desire. Thorough coordination and perfect functioning require a profound power of thought on the part of the mind together with a correspondingly efficient executive ability in the nervous system. The integrity of the organic nature of the nervous system is as essential as the power of the mind, for they are interdependant in their functions. It has been found that while the nervous system remains unchanged, an improvement of the state of the mind results in an improved state of thinking and a better co-ordination between the mind and the world around it. What the whole mind is capable of expressing itself in the external world, the subject comes into a more perfect and rewarding relationship with the object. Happiness is clearly a result of the fulfilment of the needs of the mind, and this provides the basis for normal health. It has also been found that if the physical state of the nervous system is improved through medicine while the state of mind remains the same, thinking becomes more profound and the mind functions more energetically and more efficiently. Thus we find that the mind and nervous system are interdependent. But since the mind is obviously of a more subtle nature than its organ, the nervous system, it seems wiser to give greater importance to the mind, particularly when considering mental health. Any number of factors might interfere with the growth of a tree, but weakness in the seed itself will overshadow them all in importance. In the same way, any number of factors might prevent the fulfilment of a need, but weakness in the power of thought must certainly overshadow all others. A strong seed will produce a tree even in a desert, whereas no amount of nurturing will help a weak seed. If the basic power of thought is strong it will find its way to fulfilment. If, because of failure to satisfy its needs and desires, the mind feels discontented and therefore tension begins to arise within it, the way to remove these tensions will be to strengthen the mind by increasing its power to think. This is achieved by enlarging the conscious mind through meditation. When tensions build up in the mind they are reflected upon the body through the nervous system. The anxious mind, constantly flitting back and forth among its problems in a discontented state, exhausts and irritates the nervous system and the body. Just as a servant whose master constantly gives indecisive and confusing orders becomes tired and irritable and eventually fails to do anything, so the nervous system and the body become tired and exhausted and eventually fail to function efficiently when the mind is in a state of stress. In this way mental stress produces disease and even organic changes in the body. Obviously the cure for all such suffering is to create a situation in the mind whereby it becomes and remains unwavering and steady. This is achieved by expanding the conscious area of the mind and thereby making it strong. As a result of strengthening the conscious mind a better co-ordination between mind and nervous system is established, and a smooth and efficient functioning of the body is the natural result. Perfect mental health is maintained by this co-ordination of the mind with the nervous system and its end-organ, the body. This is already being accomplished by individuals in many countries all over the world by the regular practice of transcendental meditation. PHYSICAL HEALTH Medical research has shown that a large proportion of physical disorders arise primarily from mental tension as a result of anxieties and failures in life. When dealing with mental health we have seen that the process of transcendental meditation strengthens the mind and releases tension, and that this is how all psychosomatic suffering can be relieved at its source. There are, however, purely organic diseases for which there is no evidence of a mental cause. But it is well known that a sick man has a mental and emotional attitude towards his illness which, while not causing the illness itself, may still have profound effects on its course. Meditation will certainly remove these anxieties. It will develop mental strength to endure and rise above suffering. In this respect also meditation's contribution is of real value. But let us now consider what effects meditation can have upon the physical structure of the body in order to find out its effects upon purely organic disease. THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION ON HEALTH When, during transcendental meditation, the attention is drawn towards consciously experiencing the subtler states of a thought, respiration is found to become greatly reduced in amplitude; breathing becomes soft and refined. Physiologically it is clear that for this to take place there must be a fall in the level of carbon dioxide in the plasma. This can only occur as a result either of forced over-breathing which washes the carbon dioxide out through the lungs, or by a fall in the production of carbon dioxide through metabolic processes. Because there is no forced over-breathing during meditation we can only conclude that the softening of the breath is due to a fall in the production of carbon dioxide. The production of most energy for activity in the body finally involves the oxidation of carbon and its elimination as carbon dioxide. Greater activity needs greater energy, which is produced by the increased oxidation of carbon and its elimination as carbon dioxide. Less activity needs a smaller amount of energy, which results from less oxidation and elimination of carbon dioxide. This shows that when during transcendental meditation less carbon dioxide is eliminated by softer breathing, the process of oxidation must be less, which naturally produces lesser amounts of energy. That is why the activity of the body and the nervous system is reduced during transcendental meditation. This explains why the whole body becomes calm and quiet as the mind proceeds to experience finer states of a thought. This quietening of the body naturally allows an unusual degree of rest, which conserves energy to a considerable degree. It is certain that the activity of mind and nervous system is least in this state and that the mind becomes quiet and calm. In this quiet state both the mind and the nervous system are alertly poised like the arrow drawn fully back upon the bow ; they are without activity, but the entire system is alert in stillness. At the same time all the mechanisms of the body are acutely balanced and steady. It is this restful alertness of the nervous system which represents its most healthy state and is the basis of all energy and action. This restful alertness is a state of suspension where the nervous system is neither active nor passive. This state of no activity and no passivity is the state of Being. This is how the nervous system is brought to the level of Being and, becoming attuned to Being reaches a level of limitless energy. Thus the nervous system attain its most normal and healthy state. Here lies the key to good health. The fall in carbon dioxide output has another effect: that of causing a tendency for the reaction of the blood to change from acidity towards alkalinity. This has in turn widespread effects upon the chemistry of the blood, all of which are beneficial to the entire system. The existence of the body depends upon the activity of the metabolic process. Activity belongs to the relative field, whereas Being is of transcendental, absolute nature. Maintenance of the body is dependent upon both the subtle and gross fields of activity. If the body could be brought to a state where its activity stops but the nervous system is not allowed to be passive, if it could be in a state where it is neither active nor passive, the activity of the body would then be on the level of Being. If the metabolic process could simply remain still without rendering the body passive, it would place the activity of the body on the level of Being. When we talk of the level of Being let us first see clearly what we mean. Being is the essential constituent of the individual. It is simply there, in Its unmanifested state, forming the basis of everything and all phenomena. It is the basis of all mind and matter, the basis of the entire manifest creation. This state of Being is beyond all relative existence; that is why it is called transcendental and absolute. Transcendental, because it is out of all relative creation; absolute, because it does not belong to relative existence. It is never-changing, eternal existence. Like the sap in a tree, Being is omnipresent in creation. It is the ultimate source of all energy, intelligence, creativity and activity. It, in Itself, is neither active nor passive. It is the source or fountainhead of all activity and passivity. In the relative field of life there is either activity or passivity. Absolute Being belongs in its essential nature neither to the field of activity nor to the field of passivity. Any state of life which belongs neither to activity nor passivity lies outside relative existence and naturally belongs to the field of absolute Being, and that which belongs to the field of absolute Being gains the status of absolute Being Itself. For nothing other than Itself can be It. The meaning of the words absolute Being should now be clear. In the light of our present thesis it mean the state of life which is neither active nor passive. Thus it is clear that if the metabolic process, which keeps the body alive and maintains its co-ordination with mind in the relative field of existence, could be brought physiologically to a state of restful alertness, life could be placed on the level of Being. It can be said that awareness depends upon the state of the nervous system. When the nervous system is active in the waking state, the mind has no opportunity to dissociate itself from the surrounding world; when the nervous system is tired the mind has no chance to use its conscious capacity, and awareness is lost in deep sleep. If the nervous system could be brought to a state where it could hold the mind so that it neither uses its conscious capacity to experience an outer object nor yet completely loses its awareness - that is, if the mind could simply remain conscious without being conscious of anything in the outer world - it would attain a state of pure awareness where it is neither active nor passive. This pure awareness is the state of Being. Simultaneously, the nervous system gains the state of restful alertness which becomes the meeting place for relative and absolute states of life. The nervous system, as far as its ability to produce awareness is concerned, is then on the plane of Being, the field of eternal existence. This would be the state of perfect health in mind and body. How is this possible1 What approach could be adopted to produce such a physiological state of the nervous system:' Physiologically, the functioning of the nervous system depends upon the metabolic process. The metabolic process depends mainly upon the breathing. If by any means the breathing could be slowed down or made softer or reduced in amplitude, the metabolic process would be reduced. If the breathing could be brought to a state where it is neither active nor passive, that state of extreme delicacy of breath where it could be said to be flowing and not flowing, the metabolism would be established in a state of suspension between activity and no activity on the level of Being. This would harmonise the body with Being. Life would be sustained but its expression would be silent in the relative existence. This is the state of the nervous system which would keep the mind awake in itself, and through this state of self-awareness of the mind the whole body would be sustained in itself. A state of no physical change will exist in the body; the whole physical structure of the body will be suspended on the level of the pure state of life. This will be a state where the process of evolution, or the process of change, will have stopped building up or decaying; change will have ceased to be. The whole body and mind will be placed on the level of Being. Both mind and matter, forming the gross and subtle aspects of the individual, will have been raised to one level of never-changing existence, the level of eternal, absolute Being. Here they will lie together in unity, for both will have gained the same level of life. The desired results can, therefore, be achieved in any of the following ways: 1. Psychological - where only the mind is involved. This in practice is the system of transcendental meditation. 2. Physiological - where the metabolic process is reduced by working on the body or breathing. This practice is achieved through yogic physical culture and appropriate breathing exercises. 3. Psycho-physiological - where both mind and breathing are made to function at their levels in order to bring both the mind and the body to that state of suspension on the level of Being. We shall now see how breathing can be brought to a state of neither activity nor passivity. This state of breath has to be created in a very natural way because any unnatural method will cause strain. It cannot be achieved by attempting to slow the breath because slowing it will strain the process of breathing. The problem is how to create a natural state of extremely soft breathing in which breathing would almost transcend activity. One possible way of slowing the breath is the extended practice of controlled breathing so that the body becomes used to maintaining itself when the breath is either in or out. This practice does result in maintaining the body with very soft breathing and eventually creates a physiological state where the breath is brought to a condition which is neither active nor passive. The aim of bringing the body to the level of Being is achieved as a result of such a practice of controlled breathing. But because success through this method demands long practice of great control under the expert supervision of a competent teacher it is quite unsuitable for the householder's way of life, especially in the modern age. However, there is the psychological way to achieve this state of the breath. Let us first consider the principle that governs this way. Experience shows that breathing becomes faster when we run and slower when we sit. It is faster after we have eaten because more oxygen is needed for digestion of the food. Breathing is slow or fast according to the work the body has to do. The work to be done by the body depends on how the mind wants the body to function. This means that the activity of the mind, or thinking, is at the basis of the activity of the body. So we find that the body's activity, which directly controls the process of breathing, is governed by the process of thinking. As we have seen the thought process on the level of the conscious mind is the result of much greater activity than at the starting point of a thought. Increased activity naturally needs greater release of energy in the system, and this necessitates correspondingly heavier breathing. But, on the contrary, if the thought can be consciously recognised as a thought right at its source, then the energy required to raise the thought to the ordinary conscious level of the mind would naturally be saved, and the result would be a lower production of energy in the system. This would necessitate a general reduction in the process of oxidation, which in turn would soften the breathing. The goal of bringing the breath to a state in which it is neither active nor passive would be achieved. This shows that as the mind begins to experience subtler states of thought during transcendental meditation it engages itself in correspondingly less activity, and as a result breathing simultaneously begins to be shallower, more refined and reduced in amplitude. When the mind reaches the experience of the subtlest state of thought the breathing reaches the shallowest level of its flow and eventually, when the mind transcends the subtlest thought and gains the level of pure consciousness, the breathing comes to that State Which is neither active nor passive, the level of pure Being. Thus we find that the practice of bringing the mind to the level of Being simultaneously brings the breath to the same level and establishes the nervous system and the body on the plane of absolute existence. In this state there is no release of energy by the metabolic process, no change or decay in the state of the body. This is the state of perfect health in mind, nervous system and body. The body is then a fit medium through which the omnipresent, absolute Being can shine and radiate in the relative field of existence.When a glass of water is placed in the sun, the sun is reflected in it. The sun is always shining but shows no reflection unless a proper medium is found through which it can reflect. Similarly, Being is always everywhere but It has no opportunity to manifest Itself directly in relative existence unless a suitable state of the nervous system is created for it to do so. When the nervous system is brought to this condition either by the practice of controlled breathing or controlled thinking, or by both together, the body can be brought to the level of Being to enjoy life and good health. Such is the blessing of transcendental meditation. The atmosphere of an individual is made up of the radiations from his mind and body, and its quality depends upon the influence spread by his thoughts and actions. The atmosphere created by a lazy man is dull and depressing, whereas an energetic man carries with him a dynamic influence. To produce a healthy and elevating atmosphere one has to be healthy. Every man produces his own atmosphere, and every man's atmosphere is influenced by that produced by every other man. We have seen that health depends upon the state of Being. Therefore the formula for the good health of our surroundings must be based on the manner in which Being can be brought to the level of the atmosphere or the surroundings can be brought to the level of Being. To produce the influence of Being in the atmosphere it is necessary for the mind and body to be established in Being. When they are established on this plane the surroundings naturally receive the corresponding influence of harmony, happiness, peace and purity. By bringing the mind and the body to the level of Being, the atmosphere is naturally infused with the value of Being. After meditation, when the mind emerges from the state of transcendental Being and engages in the field of thinking, the entire thinking process is influenced by Being. The vibrations emitted by the process of thinking have the quality of Being; by experiencing Being the mind radiates continuously the influence of Being in the atmosphere. When the mind is brought to the level of Being it is established on the level of cosmic law. When, through the practice of meditation, Being continues to be held on the level of the conscious mind even when it engages itself in outer activity, the mind remains in constant communion with cosmic law. When the mind functions from the level of cosmic law all the laws of nature are in complete harmony with it, and the whole of nature around the individual is set free from disharmony and strain. Disharmony in nature is due to the mind not being attuned to cosmic law. When body and mind are attuned to cosmic law all thoughts, actions and words vibrate transcendental Being and bring It to the level of the surroundings, and the entire atmosphere surrounding the individual is set in accordance with the cosmic purpose. All the different strata of creation are nothing but different stages of vibrating Being. But when the mind of a man is not in direct union with Being the vibrations of the mind may be out of accord with natural laws. When he is established in cosmic Being the vibrations of the individual are the vibrations of Being. Being, already present in all the different strata of nature, becomes as if alive and vibrates in perfect unison with all levels of creation. The different levels of creation are then correlated with each other according to their natural affinity and with the laws of nature functioning at their respective levels. This eliminates the disharmony which may exist between the different planes of creation around the individual when the mind is not in accord with cosmic law. This is a very subtle consideration but it is the truth of nature. When the mind is not in tune with cosmic law, not in tune with Being, it is not functioning in complete accord with the laws of nature. Such a mind may emit an influence of disharmony unknowingly and without intention. Either the mind functions naturally so that all the laws of nature are in perfect accord with cosmic law and all atmosphere vibrant with the value of Being is created around the individual, or the harmony is disturbed because the mind is not established naturally on the level of Being An individual's atmosphere cannot possibly be made as quiet and calm as his body becomes when the mind transcends and Being is established. The nervous system is brought to a state of activity and no activity, a state which is neither static nor dynamic, and there gains the level of Being. It is not possible to produce this state of perfect equilibrium in the surroundings because these are eternally activated by the laws of nature operating in accordance with the cosmic purpose of evolution. Nature moves ever on, eternally evolving the whole of creation. lt is not, therefore, possible to bring nature to the level of transcendental Being. But because the eternal, ever-changing field of nature is forever permeated by the state of Being, it is possible to make transcendental Being vibrate in the surroundings by eliminating the disharmony which might be radiated by an individual who is not cosmically evolved. This disharmony should be properly understood. Take the case of a man who is not cosmically evolved and who acts and thinks according to his level of consciousness. His desires may not accord with the cosmic purpose because they have no cosmic basis and therefore all that he does may not be in harmony with the cosmic purpose. Any thought or activity carried on by the individual which is in accordance with natural evolution and the cosmic purpose creates an influence that accords with natural laws. But if it is not in accordance with the cosmic purpose it is against the natural way of evolution and the entire atomsphere is strained; all the laws of nature subjected to that influence are strained. Currents antagonistic to the natural conditions of evolution are set in motion in the atomsphere, and the natural stream of individual and cosnlic evolution is distorted. Here we find the reason for a virtuous way of life. All that is moral, virtuous and truthful in life is in accord with the laws of nature. All that is immoral, sinful and harmful is against evolution. When a man thinks wrongly, speaks wrongly or acts wrongly, he strains the laws of nature functioning in his vicinity and causes discord in them. This can be felt. If you enter the room Of a bad man )10U begin to feel his harmful influence. If you enter the room of a good man you immediately sense the influence of harmony. His influence is held by the walls around him; he is, so to speak, found on the wall, the ceiling and the floor of his room. That influence of harmony is felt in turn by you as inward pleasure. When you are pleased the sense of harmony and goodwill you create in your friend's room accords with the process of evolution. When an individual has risen to cosmic consciousness all his thoughts and actions are a part of the cosmic purpose. Whatever he does, speaks or thinks helps the process of evolution and helps to neutralise the unnatural influence created in the atmosphere by minds which remain unintegrated. By raising one's consciousness to the level of pure consciousness one sets the surroundings and circumstances naturally in harmony with the cosmic purpose, that is, in accordance with cosmic Being. This means diffusing the value of Being into the surroundings or bringing the surroundings to the level of Being. What do we mean by saying we bring the surroundings to the level of Being ? We mean that the individual does not emit vibrations or influences which might in any way be opposed to the natural process of evolution or which might create disharmony in the natural functioning of creation at all its different levels. Therefore in order that Being may remain in perfect accord with all the different strata of nature in the atmosphere of the individual, it is only the individual who has to rise to the state of pure consciousness. This is how the individual brings his surroundings and atmosphere under the grace of Being and avoids creating resistance between the cosmic law and the innumerable laws of nature functioning at different strata of existence. When the breath of an individual becomes the impulse of eternal life the health of the individual is brought to the level of the eternal health of cosmic life. When Being is established on the conscious level of the mind then the body serves the purpose of cosmic evolution. Such a mind and such a body breathe perfect health into the atmosphere. Thus only when Being is established on all levels of individual life is it possible to have a state of perfect health on all the levels of individu31 life. When all the different aspects of the tree are saturated with sap only then does the entire tree breathe in perfect health; if any part of the tree loses its direct contact with the say it begins to dry up. Similarly, when any aspect of individual life loses co-ordination with Being it begins to suffer from lack of Being. When the atmosphere fails to receive the influence of Being through the individual then it loses health and becomes strained. This, as we have said, is felt by the individual. It does not bring the individual a sense of harmony and peace, but rather one of strain and agitation, fear and tension. When the body has no opportunity to come to the level of Being it loses the strength of life. When the nervous system is not brought to that state of restful alertness the body becomes strained, just as a machine which continuously functions without ever stopping suffers great wear. But if the machine is given rest at intervals it suffers less wear and has a longer life. Similarly, when the body is brought to that state of restful alertness where the nervous system enables the mind to experience transcendental Being, the body is rested and is not continuously under strain; it begins to maintain its level of normal life, free from strain and tension. When the mind is always wandering in the field of desire, wavering between different paths and goals in relative life, it does not find the great goal of eternal bliss. Nothing in the world could possibly give lasting contentment to the mind because everything is perishable and ever-changing. So the mind, its quest for happiness unsatisfied, wanders all the time, seeking in the field of variety a point where it can rest in eternal bliss. A man with such a mind gains lasting satisfaction and contentment only when be becomes attuned to the bliss-consciousness of Being. It is this state which brings eternal contentment to the mind and gives it steadiness. It brings the mind fulfilment, and this is its most healthy state, for here it has acquired the purpose of life, eternal bliss-consciousness. So we find that by attuning the mind to Being through the process of transcendental meditation it is possible to remain in perfect physical and mental health and to maintain the health of the atomsphere. This is the way to gain perfect health at every level of individual life. The problem of health is not solved until we consider it from all aspects of the individual's life: his mind, body, surroundings and Being. If we do not take Being into account the purpose of physical and mental health will not be served; just as by not taking the sap into account the health of the tree, its branches, flowers and fruit could not be maintained. A skilled gardener seeing a withering leaf, does not bother to attend to it by itself. He sees it as a danger-signal for the whole tree. So he directs his attention to the root, waters it, and by so doing enables the sap to reach all parts of the tree. Similarly, when a man finds his atmosphere is strained, his mind tense or his body suffering from some disease, he knows these are symptoms of danger to his whole life. A wise man will go to the root of the problem. Wrong influence of any type emitted from the mind and body of an individual creates tension in the atmosphere. Tension in the mind is produced by a wrong type of activity. When the process of thinking does not accord with the cosmic purpose of the laws of nature it creates strain and suffering in the body and mind and produces strain and a negative influence in the atmosphere. Failure of achievement and unfulfilled desires result when the individual life-stream is not in harmony with the laws of nature. How call this be remedied:' Physics, chemistry, biology, physiology, anatomy and all the different branches of learning explore the different laws of nature. Innumerable are the strata of creation and the laws of nature, and varied is the pattern of their interrelationship. It is not humanly possible to know all the laws of nature. But by bringing the mind to the level of cosmic law it can be attuned to every law in nature. Unless a man's life is in tune with nature he will always produce strain in the natural stream of evolution. Strain produced in the atmosphere has its greatest reaction upon the individual himself. This is why discord, disease and suffering exist. If the health of an individual is to be properly considered it cannot be considered in sections. The health of a hand can only be understood in terms of the health of the entire body, and the health of the entire body can only be understood in terms of the entire nervous system, which in turn can only be understood in terms of the mind. The mind can only be understood in terms of Being, because ultimately it is Being which is the essence of individual life and its very basis. Only if co-ordination exists between the mind and Being, between the body and the mind and between the atmosphere and the body can the problem of health be solved. It is not enough to consider the health of man only in terms of physiology or psychology. The problem of health will only be solved when the problem of life as a whole is solved. But it should be remembered that the separate consideration of these different aspects of individual life is not sufficient. Consideration of the co-ordination between them is also of vital importance. The result of research in the field of medical science is that the new theories of psychology and findings in physiology deal with the problem of health from a very limited point of view. Therefore only partial aspects of health can be considered. That is why suffering continues to exist. It is not our intention to emphasise the harm done to the whole personality by dealing with the problem of health in a partial manner, for the medical profession and psychologists are themselves aware of the limitations by which they are hindered. When the problem of suffering - physical or mental - has to be tackled, it must be tackled at the root cause in order to produce lasting results. The cause of all causes in life is Being. And all the causes of suffering arise from inadequate co-ordination between Being and the different planes of individual life. So if perfect health is the aim, there is one formula for sound health in all spheres of life. This formula is based on co-ordination between Being and the mind, between Being and the body, between Being and the environment. The cause of mental and physical suffering in the world is ignorance of Being and ignorance of the fact that by infusing the value of Being into the mind, body and environment the basic cause of all disease and suffering can be eliminated. It is time that the medical profession in different countries considered the value of Being and put to scientific test the physiological and psychological effects of transcendental meditation so that the mental and physical health of all people may benefit from Being. At this time, in almost every country of the world, there are people practising transcendental meditation who would make good subjects for tests to determine the physiological and psychological changes due to the influence of Being. Many thousands of these people have found that their health becomes better, their behaviour towards other people improves and harmony in the atmosphere is maintained at all levels. The purpose of education is to culture the mind of a man so that he can accomplish all his aims in life. Education, to justify itself, should enable a man to use the full potential of his body, mind and spirit. It should also develop in him the ability to make the best use of his personality, surroundings and circumstances so that he may accomplish the maximum in life for himself and for others. There are tremendous latent possibilities which are never unfolded by young people during their student life, the most precious time for laying the foundations of their careers. When one travels and meets people of different nations one finds that public opinion in almost every country is dissatisfied with the prevailing system of education. In no country of the world are people really satisfied with it. There may not be many who can point out exactly what the system of education needs and indicate what is lacking in the present curricula of schools, colleges and universities. Nevertheless, it is evident that there is dissatisfaction everywhere with existing curricula. Not only are the masses dissatisfied, but enminent authorities on education also speak of its deficiencies. What is lacking is a complete system of education which will give depth to a curriculum and enable students to become responsible citizens, fully grown in all the values of life, established in higher consciousness and understanding. Subjects should be taught in such a way as to bring home to students the full scope of life. Whatever subject they choose should be so presented as to give them a complete panorama of full values of living. At the present time, with the advent of new ideas in all fields of learning, more and more subjects are being added to the curricula, and each specialised subject becomes a new branch of learning in itself. Obviously each branch of learning ranges from the most elementary to the most advanced study of its particular subject. But no branch of learning has yet reached the peak of knowledge in its own field. Every branch of learning presents great findings, but still greater findings lie in store for coming generations. The highest knowledge of any subject is beyond the present range of study. So every branch of learning is in a very incomplete state. It is necessary that the wisdom of the Absolute should supplement every branch of learning. Study of the Absolute will reveal to students the great and hidden values of life which lie beyond the obvious, phenomenal phase of existence. It will give them a deeper sense of existence, a broader vision of life and insight into the unfathomable ocean of wisdom. It will also reveal to them the possibilities of attaining values in life much greater and higher than those found on the level of relative existence. If the technique of transcendental meditation were practised, together with the study of the Absolute, the purpose of education in the true sense of the word would really be served. Enterprising students in many countries are already finding this out for themselves by practising transcendental meditation. But they and their fellow students, who far outnumber them and who as yet do not know of this technique, would be helped inestimably if the education authorities all over the world would introduce this practical study of the Absolute into the curricula of all colleges and universities. Present systems of education only give students superficial knowledge. There is nothing in education today to develop the inner values of mind, body, and spirit. Whatever education is received is simply on the surface level. In every subject certain information is given about that subject, and if a student is able to remember the information he passes the course. The current system of education only prepares the student for a career geared primarily to earning a living. Information about the inner world of the mind and spirit is unobtainable. It is surprising how the inner aspects of life, which form the very basis of all outer life and existence, have been ignored for so long all over the world. It is now time that, together with the outer nature of the different branches of learning, education in the inner spheres of life should be provided for students. Without knowledge of the Absolute and without the practice of transcendental meditation to unfold mental faculties, education remains incomplete. This generation of students is kept without contact with the inner values of life and the permanent basis of existence solely because of ignorance of this system of transcendental meditation on the part of those who organise the present curricula in each country. When the student is given only superficial education in his subject he has no basis from which to fathom that subject in any real depth. How much of the world could be physically investigated and known through examination of phenomenal The universe is so vast and creation so unlimited that it is not possible to analyse and dissect everything in the entire creation. This is why the present system of education fails to quench the thirst for knowledge. It excites the thirst but does not have the means to satisfy it. It is almost always true that as a man studies in any field he finds a greater field of the unknown lying ahead. However much is known about a subject, more advanced study can eventually only reveal to the student a far greater range of knowledge which is yet unknown and to which he has no access. Present systems of education help more to expose the ignorance of a subject than to provide knowledge of it. This will always remain the case so long as they are based only on information. The only way to advance from this deplorable state is to find the means of culturing the mind from within to make it strong, so that when a subject is studied on the informatory level one is also able to explore its deeper regions. If this inner culture were provided for the student of any branch of learning together with his usual course of education, this would be supplemented by a development of the mind and of all the mental faculties from within. A really well-educated man would be the product of such a system. This would be an education which would leave no door of knowledge closed to the mind and which would enable every student to command a full knowledge of his subject. Then the citizens of the world would really derive benefit from what we call education. Such a system would not merely create the ability to maintain life by means of a job, but would reveal to the growing man the real significance of his inner life. He would develop a bold character and shine in his career. Every man would be profusely equipped to gain great knowledge of any subject. The provision of a wide variety of subjects does no more than enable the student to choose one of them. But every man has such tremendous mental faculties latent within him that if he could develop them properly during his student career every citizen of the world would be a highly developed personality, using his full potentialities for the good of himself and others. Without a technique for unfolding mental faculties the genius present within man is only wasted. We have seen that during the inward course of meditation the conscious capacity of the mind is developed to its fullest extent. On coming out of meditation the inner potentialities of man, the spiritual nature of transcendental consciousness, emerge to be lived in the midst of all the relative values of the world's forms and phenomena. This system, which is an easy approach to mental development, to the unfolding of all latent potentialities and a direct way to fathom the spiritual values of inner life and to glorify material values by the light of the inner self, is a simple and direct technique of education from within. It should be placed in the curricula for students, at least in the colleges and universities, so that a new humanity may arise, developed in fullness of personality, free from shortcomings and from ignorance of the inner values of life. This is the need of every country. Any country into which it is introduced will soon gain great advantages over other nations. Its citizens will be far more capable in all fields of thought, speech and action, because they will be using their full potential. Such a country will have better businessmen, technologists, statesmen, scientists, sociologists, better people in every field of life. Its people will be more integrated in their personalities, happier and more peaceful. The system is there; it has been tried and its value proved in every part of the world. Whether it is adopted may not rest entirely with the education authorities. It is more than likely that a demand for it will come from the students themselves, since many of them are already practising it with outstanding success. Let us now analyse different subjects of study in the light of meditation and see how this practice and the study of the Absolute can enrich every subject and glorify the whole field of education, fulfilling its over-all purpose. ECONOMICS Economics is the science of production, distribution and consumption of resources to satisfy human needs. The aim of economics would be achieved if and when it could create a state of abundance in life to satisfy fully all the needs of all the people. Such a state of material abundance could be created, but whether it would satisfy man and leave him contented is difficult to say. Even today those who have material abundance in their individual lives are not entirely satisfied. If man's contentment is not achieved the very purpose of economics is defeated. It may be stated emphatically that unless a man achieves permanent happiness he will not be contented and satisfied with life. To bring about this permanent contentment is the final aim of economics. It therefore appears that the field of economics should not be restricted to material production and consumption alone, but should be extended to bring the greatest happiness of a permanent nature within tile reach of all mankind. Experience of the Absolute is a direct means for achieving inner happiness, the great happiness which could be made an integral part of everyone's nature. Thus we find that meditation brings fulfilment to the highest goal of economics. Leading economists have only to introduce this transcendental meditation into their studies. Meditation also improves the ability and efficiency of all men's work and will directly enrich the field of economics on that material plane with which it is at present most concerned. Thus we find that meditation is a requisite for economics even within its present range. Research students would find this a rewarding subject for study and development. The realisation that the Absolute is indispensable to the fulfilment of economics would take the subject beyond the limitations of its present theories, extending its range to its true limits. If the field of economics is limited to creating material abundance alone it would appear to defeat its own purpose. THE HUMANITIES The humanities - philosophy, theology, literature, history - are concerned with recording what men have held of value and what should be of value in the different spheres of human life. The basis of all relative values in life is the Absolute, which is the source and end of everything. Without proper knowledge of the Absolute, therefore, progress in the humanities will remain incomplete. The scope of the humanities should be extended beyond its present range to include direct experience of the Absolute. It seems essential that the study of the Absolute be introduced as a part of the study of the humanities. Philosophy does aim at the study of the Absolute. But without direct experience of the Absolute, Its nature remains inconceivable in the field of logic and discrimination. Without meditation the mind can never experience the finer realms of relative existence and never know the nature of the Absolute, and so the study of the humanities will remain incomplete. The humanities as taught today do not help anyone to have strong convictions about life and its higher purposes. A study of the humanities will be completed only by the practice of transcendental meditation. This alone can fill the pressing need to expand the range of the humanities beyond their present limit, enabling them to fulfil their purpose. POLITICAL SCIENCE The purpose of the study of political science is to learn how best to organise human beings for the increase of peace and happiness in their lives. This has been the accepted view of the role of political science since the time of Confucius. To improve the world, improve the nation; to improve the nation, improve the community; to improve the community, improve the individual. As the individual perfects himself the family tends towards perfection; from the family the effect is felt in the community; from the community in the nation and in the world. Merely to study political institutions in different countries and their political parties and customs in no way helps a man to improve as a man. Therefore if the scope of political science is restricted to this kind of study its purpose will remain unrealised. Transcendental meditation uncovers latent faculties and improves man's ability in all walks of life. It therefore seems essential that the practice of meditation be included within the study of political science. When knowledge of organisations is based on fully developed inner faculties so that man's qualities and abilities are improved, the study of political science will have reached its full scope and will achieve its object. Sociology studies group and community behaviour. it aims at improving man's condition by perfecting his social institutions. The mutual relations of the members of a community set the standards of a society. The social behaviour of the members depends upon the state of their individual minds. When an individual suffers from inner discontent his behaviour towards other people is impelled by hidden motives to achieve his own ends. This brings artificiality to his relationships and in the long run corrupts them, and thus the harmony of community life is broken. Unless sociology aims at increasing the inner contentment of individuals and their love for others, its purpose remains unfulfilled. The social scientist whose own personality is not properly integrated cannot satisfactorily study human relations or apply a knowledge of social science to improve them. Transcendental meditation leads the mind to inner happiness, bringing inner contentment which results in right thinking and a true sense of values. Inner contentment leads naturally to increased tolerance and the capacity to harmonise conflicting relationships. Spontaneous love of others brings mutual harmony. The improvement of social relations depends upon a willingness and an ability to adjust to different natures and varying circumstances within society. Social relations improve by developing the qualities of mind and heart in individuals. One whose heart and mind are not in harmony will fail to have a complete view of life, of his surroundings or of relationships between people. A social scientist's intellect must be so sharp, acute and comprehensive that he combines the innocence of a child with the wisdom of all elderly father. Only then can he understand the fullness and completeness of the relationship between father and son. A social scientist should furthermore be able to understand and bring about an improvement in behaviour between unscrupulous tyrants and innocent, helpless, oppressed people. PSYCHOLOGY Psychology takes as its area of study the scope of the human mind. Physiological psychology studies how the function of the mind is affected by the nature of the body, while the psychology of personality focuses on individual differences in the field of thought. The purpose of both these branches of psychology is to understand abnormal and normal human behaviour and to use this knowledge to help individuals to integrate their personalities. The integration process first promotes the normality of the conscious mind and then aims at unfolding the subconscious mind. The aim of psychology is to correlate the conscious and the subconscious states of mind. This is a glorious ideal and so far as its practical realisation is concerned, the method for bringing an abnormal mind to a normal state may be justified; but the attempts of present-day analysis to correlate the conscious with the subconscious are very disappointing in their results. Attempts to bring out suppressed memories of traumatic experience fathom only the deeper levels of the conscious mind, which may be considered the upper levels of the subconscious, called by Freud the pre-conscious. The mind at the deeper levels of the subconscious possesses the ability to experience the subtler fields of creation which lie beyond ordinary perceptions. The inner discontent felt by the great majority of people who are neither neurotic nor psychotic certainly indicates the need of a technique for achieving inner happiness. If modern psychology could satisfy this need then the study of the mind on modern lives could be considered useful and worthwhile. But what is the use of a study of the mind which fails both to unfold latent mental faculties and to quench the thirst for happiness? The system of transcendental meditation is a method for sharpening the mind to its ultimate point of refinement. It is a process which makes active the latent levels of the subconscious mind and which develops hidden faculties, bringing out into life the inner happiness of the soul and improving every aspect of a man's thought, speech and action, for his own good and that of society as a whole. Psychology will only become worthwhile if this meditation is made an integral part of its study and is adopted by psycho-analysts and psychiatrists. It is true that many advanced psychologists who are capable of judging the validity of their science do find something wanting in modem psychology, because they have found in practice that they are not able to produce such intensive effects as they desire. The effects of transcendental meditation go beyond the limits set by psycho-analysis, which strives to bring to a conscious state only the repressed material in the pre-conscious area of the psyche but which fails to correlate the conscious mind with the deeper levels of the subconscious. Psycho-analysis fails to uncover latent faculties, to say nothing of failing to reach the state of pure consciousness beyond the subconscious. Research workers in psychology can easily experience for themselves the validity of this method and would then be in a position to work out theories beyond the scope of present psychology. THE NATURAL SCIENCES The natural sciences study the cosmos at various levels of organisation: at the sub-atomic, the atomic, the molecular, the cellular and the biological organism levels of objective creation. They are concerned with the way in which matter and energy operate to produce the different aspects of creation. Their purpose is to give man a degree of command over these forces to improve his material well-being. By striving to get at the subtler aspects of creation and eventually to find the ultimate cause of creation, the natural sciences aspire to use knowledge of the ultimate cause of creation to control phenomena and thus to make man the master of the cosmos. All this is the proper province of the mind. If the mind of the scientist is free from the worries and miseries of life, is peaceful, happy and contented; if his intellect is sharp and his discriminating capacity refined; if he has a developed intuition and increased foresight; then he will certainly be able to find out much more than has yet been discovered during many centuries of scientific research. All these qualities of mind are easily developed through the system of transcendental meditation. In their absence, the findings of modern scientists are more those of chance or accident in the course of what is called a systematic method of research. Such accidental findings by incomplete minds in the field of natural forces have produced the means of destruction for humanity. Like a child who plays with anything he finds, even with a burning branch or charcoal, the incomplete minds of present-day scientists all over the world are playing with whatever they find by chance during their experiments, including atomic and nuclear forces. Serious thought must show that without the study of the Absolute, education is meaningless. Let us hope that those who shape the course of education in all parts of the world will seize this opportunity to pave the way for the complete education of present and future generations. The need to rehabilitate offenders and crimmals is an age-old problem which has plagued many civilisations. So far no effective solution has been found to the problem of making useful individuals out of delinquents and criminals. Crime is a short-cut to satisfy a craving - a short-cut which goes beyond normal and legal means. Crime, delinquency and the different patterns of anti-social behaviour express the tensions which arise from a deep discontent of mind, from a weak mind and from unbalanced emotions. A weak mind is one which lacks balance and a sense of proportion. No approach to the problem of delinquency and crime can be truly effective unless the basic weakness of the mind is remedied. The solution lies in enlarging the conscious capacity of the mind and strengthening it. There are many with talent among those who, because of their misguided behaviour, are shut away behind bars. If they could be successfully rehabilitated instead of being a burden, they could become useful citizens making a genuine contribution to the progress of society. The practice of transcendental meditation has been found to relieve all kinds of tensions and to change a hard, cruel nature to one of tolerance and compassion. Therefore it is only necessary to introduce this practice to ensure the speedy and effective rehabilitation of delinquents and criminals. Continuous activity results in wear and tear of the body mechanisms. Rest is a means of checking this process. A man works throughout the day and by the evening is tired. He rests during the night and feels fresh in the morning. Then he is tired again by evening. But if he engages in an activity which provides increasing charm as it continues, then he does not become tired. The experience of happiness is a direct means of replenishing life-energy and revitalising the mind. If great happiness is experienced the replenishment of energy and revitalisation of body and mind will be correspondingly great. The real purpose of recreation is not only to divert the mind from one type of activity to another, not only to provide amusement and entertainment on the physical or mental level, but actually to recreate. Its real purpose is re-creation of body and mind, re-creation of a fresh body and mind, re-creation of a healthy body and mind. It should serve to re-create healthy co-ordination between body and mind is well as healthy co-ordination with one's surroundings and circumstances and a healthy relationship with one's fellow beings. The state of absolute Being is the field of absolute bliss-consciousness. Therefore the purpose of recreation is best fulfilled by the state of Being which provides a direct experience of absolute bliss. We have seen that body, mind, surroundings and circumstances are all enriched by the direct influence of Being. Thus the purpose of recreation and rejuvenation is best served by gaining direct experience of the bliss of Being. Recreation today - games, sports, crafts, entertainment - serves only to consume life-energy instead of conserving it for the regeneration of body and mind. The methods of rejuvenation commonly used lie exclusively within the fields of physical manipulation, diet and the use of cosmetic. Experience shows that none of these measures produces profound results. On the other hand, it has been shown that the regular practice of transcendental meditation produces marvellous and highly gratifying results in re-creating and rejuvenating the body and mind. RIGHT AND WRONG Everything in creation is so intimately connected with every other thing that it is not possible completely to distinguish the existence of one from another. And the influence of one thing on all other things is so universal that nothing can be considered in isolation. We have already discussed how the universe reacts to an individual action and have seen that the question of right and wrong is a highly complicated problem. Only someone who knew everything about the whole of creation and was able to determine the influence of an individual's action on any stratum of existence would be able to say for certain whether an action was right or wrong. Right is that which produces a good influence everywhere. Certainly right and wrong are relative terms and, therefore, nothing in relative existence can be said to be absolutely right or absolutely wrong. But even so, right and wrong can only be judged by their influence for good or bad. If something produces a good influence everywhere it can be said to be right. The human intellect has no adequate criterion for right and wrong because reason is limited and the vision of the human mind is minute when compared to the vast and unlimited field of influence produced by an action in the whole universe. In the state of cosmic consciousness, however, when the individual mind gains the status of cosmic mind, then the intellect could be considered adequate for judging right and wrong; but this judgment is from the level of Being and not from intellectual understanding, thinking, discrimination or reason. Those whose consciousness is raised to the level of cosmic consciousness function on the high level of right life and are naturally unaffected by influences of wrong. For them the question of a suitable criterion by which to judge right and wrong does not arise. We must find all adequate criterion for right and wrong for people whose consciousness is not raised to the level of cosmic consciousness. The authority of the scriptures is the supreme criterion of right and wrong in relative life. All that the scriptures say, when they are understood correctly, should be regarded as authoritative when considering right and wrong. Since there are scriptures of many different religions, the question may arise as to which one should be the authority. Although the language of the scriptures differ and there have been different exponents of the scriptures recording at different times in the long history of the world, the essential truth in all is the same. It is not necessary to go into a detailed history of the scriptures but it is recorded that the oldest of them are the Vedas. The same essential truth of life propounded by the Vedas can easily be discovered in all the scriptures that have emerged from time to time in different parts of the world, to guide the destiny of man and to provide an authoritative measure of right and wrong for the well-being of all people. The followers of any religion, therefore, will find a criterion for right and wrong in the correct understanding of their of scriptures. A man leading a life according to the scriptural code of his own religion will find the truth of life without confusing himself by a comparative study of different religions. People not grounded in the truths of their own religion who try to understand the truths of other religions only become more confused. If a man establishes his own 1 level and measures the different heights of the mountains, it is possible for him to calculate precisely the differences in the mountains' heights. If he does not establish his own level before measuring the various heights he is sure to become confused, having no fixed level of reference. If one is not living the truth of any one religion then it is not possible to fathom the depths of wisdom of other religions, because religion has to be lived. It is not a hypothesis for intellectual understanding. It is not like metaphysics which scrutinises the nature of truth and comes to certain intellectually understood conclusions. Religion is something practical which must be followed and lived and the truth of which must be realised by living the principles laid down in the scriptures. The reality of life is understood intellectually through metaphysics, and is lived in day-to-day life by putting one's religion into practice. When the truth of a religion has been realised through living it there is no harm in reading the texts of other religions. It will then be found that the truth of one's own religion is essentially the truth of the religions of others. These truths are the proper criteria of right and wrong. The field of karma - action - is so vast, unlimited and complex that it is not possible to understand the proper criterion of right or wrong actions intellectually. In this area of uncertainty the scriptures are the chief criteria of right and wrong. Many people talk of inner feelings. They say: I feel like doing this, so I do it. But my feelings and my doing can only be right or wrong according to the standard of my consciousness, and who knows whether my consciousness is absolutely pure or not? It is the state of pure consciousness alone which can be unbiased and absolutely right in its inspiration, and this consciousness belongs only to the field of cosmic consciousness. The ordinary consciousness of man is motivated by many selfish ends. Consciousness overshadowed by selfish motives cannot possibly produce feelings, thoughts, words or actions which could be justified as really right or wrong. But if a judgment is based on scriptural authority we have every right to feel within ourselves that we have acted correctly. It is true that one must always feel within oneself the right or wrong of a situation. But it is always safer to test this feeling in the light of scriptural authority. One's inner feeling alone cannot be taken as the criterion of right or wrong. If someone with no knowledge of the scriptures is unable to decide for himself whether something is right or wrong, the problem should be decided by the older people in society. They have a greater experience of life, they have been through the stresses of human existence, have dealt with many types of people and have lived all phases of man's life. They know and understand from experience the play of nature and the influence and effect of right and wrong actions much more than do the young. They have seen people flourishing and being useful to themselves and others by right actions, and they have seen people who, having taken the path of wrong behaviour, exhibit cunning and cruelty, deception and dishonesty. They have seen such people reap the consequences of their own misdoings and their families suffer as a result. They speak with authority, and their advice can help to decide what is right or wrong in certain situations. The example of great men could also be a criterion. History records the actions, the successes or failures of great men both good and evil at different times in different lands. The paths they took and the consequences they reaped from a particular way of life are yet another criterion by which to decide right and wrong ways of life. Apart from these criteria it is common knowledge that it is right not to harm anyone and wrong to do harm. It is right to see good in others and wrong to see bad in anyone. It is right to love people and wrong to hate them. It is right to admire men for the good in them and wrong to rebuke them for their shortcomings and bad behaviour. It is right to give advice to a man if he is doing wrong and wrong not to advise him to do good. It is right to do things which will be helpful to oneself and others and it is wrong to do things which will harm others. It is right to speak the truth but wrong to speak words that will harm others even if they are the truth. It is right to be good to others and wrong to be unpleasant to anyone. This distinction between right and wrong is to help the individual and the whole of creation because, as we have seen, the whole universe reacts to the action of 3n individual. Therefore the great responsibility for right and wrong lies with the individual himself whatever his level of consciousness. It will be good to scrutinise these points. We say that it is right not to harm anyone. We see that action and reaction are equal. If a mother slaps her child in anger then she has slapped or beaten the whole universe and produced an atomsphere of crying and hatred, suffering and discord, not only in the child but in everything around and in the whole universe. Perhaps this influence is much greater on the child and very faint in the surroundings, but the influence is none the less there. If each day the majority of people in the world slap someone and create this same atmosphere, the influence of discord, suffering, sorrow and hatred will certainly be intense enough to have an effect in the world. Therefore it is very necessary not to harm anyone. This is the least a man can do; the best he can do is to produce an influence of harmony, goodness, kindness and helpfulness. We have seen2 that a man's action rebound on him from all fields of creation, so that if he has harmed someone that harm will return to him from the innumerable strata of creation and for an uncountable length of time. The best policy, therefore, is not to harm anyone so that we may not be harmed at any time, and to do as much good as possible to others so that the maximum good may return to us from the entire creation. We have said that we should love others for the good in them and that we would be wrong in rebuking anyone for his weaknesses or for bad behaviour. It is highly beneficial to see good in others. No man can, in fact, be all good or all bad because human life is the result of a mixture of good and bad. Had it been only good we should be in the world of angels where there is no suffering and where dwell only happiness and joy. In life, however, we find happiness and suffering mixed, which shows that human existence is the result of both good and bad action. Before we can admire a man for his good qualities we must first have seen the good in him. When we see good in him we receive a reflection of the good. If we try to see bad in someone we receive a reflection of the bad which pollutes our minds and hearts. If we see good in someone then naturally some good reflects also on to him. The very action of seeing good in someone reflects that good on the mind and heart of the observer and, therefore, the observer gains the good he sees in the other man. In life it is a great art to see the good in others. Everyone has some good in There is a story in India about a wise man living in Benares, the seat of learning in Northern India. He would always admire others and no one had ever heard him speak ill of anyone. People were astonished that this man could see good in everything in creation. He would only admire, he would never allow his mind and heart to become impure from seeing bad in anything or anyone. One day a mischievous man thought he would find something that was all bad and show it to the wise man so that he would certainly be unable to see any good in it. He found a dead and rotting dog lying in the street and, having invited the wise man to have dinner with him, he took him along the street where the rotting dog lay. A bad smell was coming from it, and it was an obnoxious sight. When they reached it the mischief-maker pointed to it and remarked: 'What a horror to come across in the street. But the wise man exclaimed: 'Look at the clean white teeth, how they sparkle like pearls'. As he praised the sparkling whiteness of the dog's teeth the mischievous man fell at his feet, and the wise man said: 'If we do not wish to ignore it we will find some good in everything in the kingdom of God'. This world is the garden of almighty God and He has made the flowers in all their variety. You may pick the one you like but you have no right to say another is bad. Even if you do not like that flower, God created it for someone who can admire it and who will be happy to see it. Do not always go about lost in your own taste; admire the great variety in the garden of God. We have said that it is right to advise a man to do that which is right and good and which will help himself and others. We have also said that it would be wrong not to advise a man as to what is right or wrong, if we know the difference. This is a highly significant point for the world today. A general feeling has developed in civilised society that we should not infringe upon the feelings, likes and dislikes of other people. This has gone so far as to create a widespread belief that not even children should be told what to do. It is said that they should not be told what is right or wrong and should not be guided to do good and avoid what is bad. This comes from the ideas of psychology which lay down the principle of growth in freedom. But it is unfortunate to allow this criterion of freedom to overshadow the fundamental principles of growth and development in life. If someone does not know that the thing he does will harm him either now or later, then someone with that knowledge must tell him in a spirit of love, kindness and sympathy. If a child is going to pick up a burning coal thinking it is a lovely bright toy for him to enjoy, it is only right for the parents to stop him even if he resents being prevented from playing with the fire. Such freedom is ridiculous and dangerous to the development of man, to the development of the younger generation and to the development of the innocent and ignorant who do not have wisdom and experience of life. It is the responsibility of the older generation to advise the young. Even if young people resent and do not obey direction, it is right to tell them. They will find out for themselves the result of not obeying their elders, but if their elders do not speak at all and leave the child to find out for himself what is wrong, then they have wasted his time and by implication have been cruel to him. In failing to speak while knowing what was not right or helpful in his life, they failed to help him on the right way. It is a regrettable tendency in parents today that although they believe that whatever they say should be followed by the child, if they see the possibility of the child resenting their advice they keep quiet and do not give it. It is not kindness or love, and it is not right for the parents to take this attitude. The child is young and inexperienced and has not a broad vision or experience of life. The parents should tell the child freely and in love and kindness that this is wrong and that is right. If he resents it the parents should not insist, because if he disobeys it will naturally result in an experience proving to him that they were right. This is the way to cultivate a child's tendency to obey and act according to the wishes and feelings of the parents. If the child is resentful and does not obey, at least the parents have done their duty by informing the child. It is also their duty to see that the child is informed of right action by their friends, teachers and neighbours - by someone whom the child really loves and obeys - for it is the duty of the parents to see that the child grows in wisdom and goodness. Children are flowers in the garden of God and must be nourished. They themselves do not know the way that is best for them. It is for the parents to lead them on to a path which is free from suffering. It is part of a parent's role to punish a child if he does not obey and does wrong. But children should be punished in all love. The modem tendency to put the fate of children completely in their own hands is highly dangerous. It only leads to uncultured growth in the younger generation. There is a school of thought, accepted by many educational organisations in some Of the imPOrtant countries leading modern thought, which advocates giving freedom to students. Teachers are not allowed to punish them for wrong behaviour. The reason given is that genius grows better in freedom and when it is not suppressed by authority. Such an ideal must have been initiated by very compassionate hearts wild only good intentions; but a few decades of experience have proved that it lacks merit. The increase in child and juvenile delinquency and in criminal tendencies in society has alarmed the authorities in almost every country where only a few years ago this principle of growth in freedom was approved of in schools and colleges. It is a very wrong principle. it is cruel and greatly damaging to the interests of society not to guide and shape the thought and behaviour of the younger generation through a combination of love and discipline. Young people today do not understand or respect the standards of traditional, decent behaviour in their own country. Increase of crime is the product of the undisciplined growth of undeveloped minds lacking the background of any traditional culture. It is the responsibility of statesmen, patriots and intelligent people to look into the disastrous results of such a pattern of education perpetrated in the name of child psychology, and to amend the system of education and the bringing up of children. Children have to be nurtured in love, and they have to be punished if they are wrong in order to help them to succeed in life at all levels. Each nation has a tradition of its own, and its people have their religion and faith. Children should be given all understanding of their own tradition, religion and faith. Educators today are profoundly mistaken when, in the name of democracy, they no longer give any traditional understanding to children. Such ideas rob the people of their national traditions and the dignity of their heritage; this weakens the nation. To root out tradition in a society is the greatest damage that can be done to the welfare of a nation. A society without tradition has no basic stability or strength. It is like a leaf at the mercy of the wind, blown in any direction, without stability or basis of its own. In the name of modern education the culture of many countries is drifting away from old traditions. The result is a cancerous growth of faithless people without tradition who live only on the superficial, gross level of life. It is highly important that the flow of wisdom be maintained betwecn the mature generation and the young. And it is only right to tell people what is good and to refrain from telling them to do something wrong. It is necessary to speak rightly and to express right feelings on a dignified level and in a moderate manner. If a man who has the ability to discriminate between right and wrong does not speak up he is guilty of not sharing his knowledge with others. We have said that it is right to speak truth but wrong to speak words of a nature or in a manner that will harm others. Harmful words spoken by an individual will certainly have repercussions on him. The harm is spread over the entire universe and will return to the speaker from many sides. Speech should always be on a high level of love, admiration and forgiveness for others. lf expressing truth damages surroundings and atmosphere, it should not be spoken. Truth is to glorify the creation of God, and its expression must, therefore, necessarily be on that high level. It is not good to displease even by the expression of truth because truth is the light of God; it is precious and pure and should not be brought down to the level of harm or hatred in life. It should be preserved at the high level of the purity of consciousness, the height of love and godliness. The whole of life for the individual is a field of give and take. It is always reciprocity of behaviour that helps to sustain the life of the people and aids their evolution. Therefore those who know the truth always behave correctly. There is no greater act of charity than to provide a man with something that will directly elevate him and assist his evolution. There could be no greater virtue than to offer a formula whereby people naturally rise to a state of life where their energy flows only in right channels. All the virtues have to be assimilated into the very nature of the mind so that they may be properly lived in life, so that right may be lived naturally. We have seen that the only direct way to do this is to make available the technique of transcendental meditation to all people. A great effort should be made everywhere by responsible people to see that this technique is given to all young people so that their consciousness is raised. Greater energy, clarity and purity of mind and the unfoldment of mental faculties are available to all. If every student had this technique the oncoming generation would grow in a sense of right values. Citizens of every country would then have a broad vision in life and a true sense of right and wrong. Life is lived in freedom when all its different aspects are harmonised and function in full co-ordination with each other, fulfilling their ultimate purpose by gaining eternal, absolute freedom in divine bliss-consciousness. Freedom in life means that life on all its planes - physical, mental and spiritual - should be full, unrestricted, unbounded and complete. Completeness of life on the physical plane means that surroundings should be conducive to the fulfilment of life. The body should be perfectly healthy, all its components functioning in perfect co-ordination, so that it neither detracts from the value of life nor obstructs the flow of evolution. Individual life will enjoy a state of eternal freedom and remain in the fullness of its values at all levels if life is free from resistance both within the body and outside in the surroundings. When one produces a wrong influence in the atmosphere the smooth functioning of the laws of nature, which sustain the natural process of evolution, is disturbed. This resistance to the natural process of evolution restrains the growth of things and keeps them as though bound in less evolved states. This is the binding influence of a wrong action upon the surroundings. The doer of wrong binds himself and his surroundings to a lower state of evolution. Freedom on the level of the mind should mean that the individual mind is capable of doing what it likes, able to materialise its desires without encountering difficulties or obstacles. This would confer the status of freedom on the mind and enrich life on all levels, because everything that concerns life is connected with the mental plane. As long as the mind does not function with its full potential and is not in a position to use all the faculties it has, its freedom is restricted. Therefore the first important step in making the mind really free is the full unfoldment of its potentialities. Another important point regarding freedom of the mind is liberation from the bondage of experience. On this point rests the whole philosophy of freedom in life. This question of liberation from the bondage of experience has been widely misunderstood over many centuries and this misunderstanding is responsible for the loss of the direct path to freedom. The phenomenon of experience is the main field of metaphysical study and it is a correct understanding of this phenomenon which provides a direct way to eternal liberation. A little misunderstanding in this field strengthens the bondage of life in the name of gaining freedom. Because of a long-standing misconception, students of metaphysics have failed to discover the essential nature of divine Being and so to liberate themselves from bondage. We shall deal with the phenomenon of experience in detail and see where the key to liberation lies. We shall also discover the direct path, knowledge of which has been lost by the different schools of metaphysics over the past centuries. Let us analyse the phenomenon of experiencing a flower. The process of experience begins when we open our eyes and see a flower. In this process the image of the flower travels to the retina of the eye and reaches the mind. The image of the flower impressed on the mind gives the experience of the flower. The result is that the mind, as it receives the impression of the flower, is overshadowed by that impression. The mind's essential nature is obscured; the image of the flower remains impressed on it. The observer, or the mind, is as though lost in the experience. The essential nature of the subject, or the experiencer, is lost in experiencing the object; it is as though the object has annihilated the subject and the subject loses the value of its own essential nature while engaged in the experience. Only the object remains in the consciousness. This is the common experience of everyone. When the object predominates and the subject is as if lost in the object, the subject is said to be in bondage. The value of the object has bound or overshadowed the nature of the subject and has become predominant, leaving no trace of the subjects essential nature. This is called the bondage of the subject. In the metaphysical field it is called the identification of the subject with the object. Logically it seems correct to conclude that identification is the nature of bondage. But this conclusion is incorrect and highly damaging. Led by this erroneous conclusion, thinkers and philosophers who guided the destiny of metaphysical thought for many centuries advocated practices for gaining freedom which proved damaging to the lives of seekers after truth. It was their conclusion that identification is the nature of bondage. This conclusion is incorrect, but to investigate the wrong done by it we shall, for the time being, take the statement as true and analyse it more thoroughly. When it was thought that identification was bondage, freedom was naturally thought of in terms of non-identification. It was considered that if one does not identify oneself with the object experienced, then one is in a state of freedom. This metaphysical understanding which is really a misunderstanding, has given rise to various practices to gain freedom. It has advocated maintenance of self-awareness as a technique to avoid falling into the bondage of identification. Those who attempted to gain freedom by trying to maintain self-awareness took to practices which involved the remembrance of God while they were engaged in the process of experience in the world or during the activity of daily life. Another method was to attempt to remain conscious of one's own Self while engaged in experience and activity. By trying to maintain awareness of the Self while looking at a flower, the aspirant began to think: I am looking at the flower. The emphasis of his thought was on 'I am'. Those who tried to maintain God-consciousness held the idea of God in their minds, remembering God while engaged in action. It was thought that if anyone were identified with the idea of God then his mind, engaged with God, would be free from identification with the object of experience. Such practices of trying to maintain self-awareness or God-consciousness were undertaken in all sincerity. The result, however, was fatal. Trying to maintain self-awareness or God-consciousness on the level of thinking and at the same time engaging in activity, only divided the mind. While half the mind was engaged in maintaining self-awareness or the remembrance of God, the other half was engaged in outer activity. This practice of dividing the mind simply made the mind weak. Work suffered because it did not receive full concentration of the mind, and self-consciousness or God-consciousness remained only an act on the level of gross, conscious thinking. The aspirant was found to be neither fully in the field of activity nor fully in a state of God-consciousness. Long practice of dividing the mind in this way resulted in weakening the personality. Those who practised this neither cultivated self-consciousness nor God-consciousness, nor were they successful in the world. The reason is obvious. When practical people found that the lives of those devoted to God or to metaphysics were half in and half out of the world a strange attitude developed: they began to mistrust techniques of spiritual unfoldment because they saw that those devoted to these techniques were impractical in life, weak and not dynamic. A thought of freedom, although it seems good, is only a thought and is not a state. A thought of freedom is as binding as any other thought. Thought by its very nature takes one out of one's Self. When the mind begins to entertain a thought it enters the field of duality, and the thought overshadows the mind's essential nature. Therefore any thought causes identification. Thus the problem of identification was not solved at all by thinking of the Self or of the Divine or of God. That is why such practices failed to bring freedom, and why the quest for freedom remained unsatisfied and became muddled by these practices of cherishing the idea of the divine Self or God on the thinking level. The fundamental error was that identification was itself thought to be bondage. As a matter of fact, identification is not bondage. What is bondage is the inability to maintain Being together with identification. What is bondage is inability to maintain Being while indulging in experience and activity. If identification were bondage, freedom would be possible only in a state after death where one ceases to experience and ceases activity. As long as a man is alive he continues to experience and act, and so it is impossible for him to avoid identification during his lifetime. Identification is not bondage because freedom must be lived in the world, and living in the world entails identifying oneself with everything in it for the sake of experience and activity. Identification should not be a terror to the seekers of truth. It is simply that n state of mind must be cultivated so that the mind, engaged with outer things, does not allow the pure state of Being to be overshadowed. The maintenance of Being can never be achieved by merely thinking about Being. Being can be spontaneously lived on the level of thought only when the very nature of the mind is transformed into the nature of Being. Then all experiences will be on the level of Being. Only then is it possible for experience not to overshadow or overthrow the validity of Being. Being will be lived together with identification. If one thinks about Being, it is only a thought of Being and not the state of Being. For Being to be established in the very nature of the mind so that during waking, dreaming or deep sleep states, through all activity and inactivity in life Being is not obstructed or overshadowed, it is necessary for the mind to be transformed into the nature of Being. For this it is necessary that familiarity with the state of Being be gained by the mind to such a degree that it lives Being through all life's conditions and situations. This is possible by allowing the conscious mind to experience the subtle states of thinking, eventually to transcend the subtlest thought and arrive at the transcendental state of Being. Through the regular practice of transcendental meditation the nature of Being becomes steadfast in the nature of the mind to such an extent that it can never be overshadowed by any experience. This permanent infusion of absolute bliss-consciousness establishes the mind in n state of everlasting freedom, and when the mind identifies itself with the objects of experience or activity, even then Being is maintained. This is the state of eternal freedom which cannot be obstructed or overshadowed by any state of experience, activity or passivity in relative existance. Thus freedom in life belongs to the field of Being. This eternal freedom can never be established merely by maintaining a thought of Being or a thought of God. Being, or the Divine, or God, is something to be lived; a fanciful thought of Being does not help much in practical life. A thought of God can be cherished in the mind but, although it may provide psychological satisfaction, it does not provide the advantages of actual contact with almighty God. Such a thought is only abstract imagination; it is not a concrete state. This is the fundamental difference betwecn really succeeding in establishing eternal freedom in life and remaining hovering in the thought of freedom. Such misunderstanding in the field of metaphysics has for many centuries only helped to mislead genuine seekers of truth and has created a great gulf betwecn the spiritual and the material. The whole conception of freedom and the way to establish it in life is so delicate and subtle that it is easy for it to be lost in the passage of time. Once the fine thread is lost the whole field of the understanding and experience of reality becomes confused. Freedom in God-consciousness is gained by leading the mind to the field of bliss-consciousness, not by thinking about bliss-consciousness and making a mood of it. Unfortunately realisation of God, or eternal freedom on earth, has remained only on the level of ordinary thinking. That is why mystical practices in the name of enlightenment and God-realisation have left most aspirants suspended in the mere thought of the Divine or in the hope of realising it some day. With the thought of God the mind can plunge into the abstract. The thought can envelop the mind, and the aspirant may lose a clear conception of the outer surroundings and feel that he has experiencened the state of cosmic consciousness. This is sheer delusion. By being intent on the idea of being a king a man can never attain the status of a king. By thinking that he is a king over and over again no one can really attain kingship. To be a king it is necessary to be enthroned and thus enjoy the status of a king. To achieve God-consciousness and to live God-consciousness in life it is nceessary to put oneself in the field of the Divine. God is omnipresent; the Divine is present everywhere. This is common knowledge. So unless the mind is brought to the level of omnipresent Being the omnipresence of God cannot be appreciated. The practice of thinking of God and the Divine has created a great barrier to realisation in metaphysics and religion and has caused people to remain unfulfilled. God-realisation is a positive, concrete experience on the level of pure existence. It is more real, more substantial and sublime than the existence of anything on earth. The nature of divine Being is absolute and can easily be lived if the mind is led from the field of relativity to the transcendental field. It is only necessary for the mind to transcend and return to the relative field. This is the direct way to cultivate real freedom in life. We have seen that while transcending, the conscious capacity of the mind increases; therefore when one comes out of meditation and engages in experience and activity the experience of objects becomes deeper, fuller and more substantial. 011e engages in activity with greater energy, more intelligence and improved efficiency. This is the glory of divine realisation. On the one hand, the state of Being is infused for all time into our very nature, and on the other, the field of activity becomes more substantial and rewarding at all levels. This brings harmony between the inner spiritual and outer material glories of life. This state has been the object of man's great quest from time immemorial because it glorifies all aspects of life. The material life of man is enlightened by the light of the inner Self. The emphasis of the scriptures of all religions and the whole of metaphysics is upon gaining self-realisation and God-realisation because this is the goal of man. On the way to this goal man naturally makes his world better. He enjoys the world more on all levels while enjoying the Divine. The individual enjoys the world to the maximum because the nature of his mind is now bliss-consciousness, and bliss-consciousness is the basis of all his experience and activity. This is the state of a God-realised man. This is the state of a man successful in the world. These states go hand in hand, bringing eternal freedom to life. This eternal freedom in life glorifies all fields of thinking, speaking, acting and behaving, together with the whole field of karma, past and present. The way to eternal freedom is also the way to success in the world, and the key to it is the regular practice of transcendental meditation. The problem of peace will only be solved fully and finally through a state of divine consciousness, or God-consciousness in eternal freedom. The way to peace in all its aspects has always been a great problem in the world: the peace of the individual, the peace of the family, the peace of society and the peace of the world. The basis of peace is bliss. Unless one is happy one cannot be at peace. Peace without lasting happiness is only passivity. When one sleeps at night there is an absence of activity. This is called peace. But when one wakes in the morning and once again enters the field of thought, speech and activity one finds that the peace felt by the absence of activity is not lasting. The peace gained by emptying the mind of thoughts and holding the mind in suspension is only due to the lack of thought-pressure. When such a mind returns to thinking and acting again it begins to feel the pressures of thought and action. Then the individual begins to feel a lack of peace. All such practices of silencing the mind are wrong and if continued for any length of time will only make the mind null. There are many groups where people sit in silence and try to hear their inner voice, or the voice of God as they term it. All such practices make the mind passive and dull. Those who practice silencing the mind begin to lack animation. Their faces are dull and they are not energetic. They look peaceful but are passive in life. Such all experience of peace is at the cost of efficiency in life and at the cost of life itself. Any attempt to silence the mind in the hope of experiencing pure consciousness is merely pursuing a mirage. When thoughts are kept out of the mind it becomes passive because it remains on the conscious level of thinking but without a thought. What is needed is not an attempt to empty the mind but for the conscious mind to be led to the subtle states of thinking, eventually to transcend the subtlest state and arrive at the positive state of Being. Keeping the mind empty on the conscious level is only taking it out of the field of activity and allowing it to be passive or inactive. People who practice silencing the mind may feel peace in life because they are practising the negation of thought. When a mind that has become sluggish and dull through such practices is no longer energetic in the field of experience and activity, the inactivity of the mind brings a sense of peace. But whenever serious problems arise or the individual has to be active and alert, the mind feels a strain because it has fallen into the habit of inactivity. Such practices are damaging to the progress of the individual and society. peace can be lasting only if the very nature of the mind is transformed to bliss-consciousness. The quest for peace should be pursued by bringing the mind to the field of the Transcendent, the source of all happiness, through the practice of transcendental meditation. When one is not peaceful, fear, lack of self-confidence and all the pettiness of life arise and one becomes so miserable that one cannot think or accomplish anything worthwhile. Fear is simply lack of self-confidence, and the basis of confidence is the contentment which can only come from the experience of bliss. There is nothing in the world which can really bring the mind lasting contentment because nothing in the world can provide a happiness which is intense enough to satisfy the mind's great thirst. The only field of contentment is the transcendental field of bliss-consciousness. Unless one arrives at this state one's peace will always be threatened by anything in the world. The golden gate to peace in life is the experience of bliss, and it is easy for everyone to acquire this great glory and live it throughout life. An individual influences the entire cosmos by every thought, word and action. Therefore someone with peace in his heart naturally radiates peace and harmony and influences the whole universe. Those who are restless, worried or troubled and who have no experience of bliss-consciousness continually produce unfavourable influences in their surroundings. All unrighteous, immoral and sinful activity produces a degenerating influence in the atmosphere. When large numbers of people are unhappy, tense and unrighteous the atmosphere of the world is saturated with these tense influences. When tensions in the atmosphere increase beyond a certain limit the atmosphere breaks into collective calamities. The great exponents of medical science in ancient India, Charak and Shrushut, have shown that as long as people behave righteously the atmosphere remains full of harmonious vibrations. The crops are good, the sun shines, it rains at desirable times, and the whole of creation enjoys everything in the atmosphere. But when people lose righteousness and act against the moral codes of life the balance of nature is disturbed, and the atmosphere breaks into such collective calamities as famines, floods, disasters and all that damages life in the world. This gives us a measure for assessing the health of the world. So to produce a harmonious and healthy atmosphere for the good of all creatures in the world it is necessary for man to live in happiness and peace. Each man has the chance to live in this way. The problem of world peace can be solved only by solving the problem of the individual's peace, and the problem of the individual's peace can only be solved by creating in him a state of happiness. Therefore the problem of peace in the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the whole world would be solved by transcendental meditation, which is the direct way to establish bliss consciousness in life. Where there is disagreement and dissension in families or in a group of friends the disharmony seems to occur only in a small area. Individuals do not realise that, through ill-feeling, malice, bad behaviour, harsh words and suffering, they are contributing to the disruption and destruction of the peace of the world. All international conflicts are caused by the collective effect of tensions which individuals have released into the atmosphere. And the individual does not realise that by thought, speech and action he constantly emits all influence of hatred, building up tension which at some point will break and return to him the effects which he has created around him. It is now time that those interested in world peace should attend to the peace of the individual. To try to solve the problem of international conflicts while ignoring the problem of the individual is a wholly inadequate attempt to establish world peace. If a crisis is created in Berlin the minds of all statesmen turn to that city. If something happens in the Congo their whole attention switches to the Congo. If there is fighting in the Himalayas all their attention is directed there. Trying to solve these problems individually is exactly like trying to make a leaf healthy by spraying it with water instead of watering the root. By now man should be wise enough to know that only by watering the root can the leaf be really helped. In their attempts to create world peace the statesmen of the world should also by now be wise enough to adopt ways of bringing happiness and peace to the lives of individuals. All the praiseworthy aims of the United Nations only scratch the surface of the problem of world peace. If the minds and resources of statesmen in all countries could be used to popularise and effectively bring to individuals the practice of transcendental meditation, the face of the world could be changed overnight. It is tragic that with all the intelligence and sincerity spent in attempts to help people, hardly anything is done to improve the life of the individual from within. As long as statesmen remain ignorant of the possibility of improving the lives of individuals from within and of thereby bringing them abundant peace, happiness and creative intelligence, the problem of world peace will always be dealt with only on the surface, and the world will continue to suffer its cold and hot wars. History records the attempts of statesmen to establish lasting world peace, but because all attempts are made on the surface of international life and not on the level of the life of the individual the problem of world peace continues to be a problem for every generation. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation tries to improve the lot of individuals, but again all attempts deal only with the surface value of life. Attempts to develop cultural relations between nations and to bring literacy to the less developed areas of the world are simply scratching the surface of the problem of world peace. The able minds engaged in the work of Unesco now have the opportunity to use their vast resources to bring this simple system of transcendental meditation to each individual everywhere. If they were to take this upon themselves a natural state of lasting world peace would be established. There would be love, kindness, sympathy, gratitude and mutual appreciation on all levels of national and international life. This is something of practical value which can really change the face of the world from suffering misery, doubt, hatred and fear to happiness, peace, creativity, kindness and love. Any generation whose leaders sincerely try to apply this principle widely will succeed in creating lasting world peace. If present statesmen and public leaders do this, the credit will be theirs and they will have the satisfaction of leaving a better world for coming generations. A solid foundation for permanent peace and happiness in the world can be laid down now. Success depends upon those who have the ability, resources and will to do something of practical value. If the present generation took the opportunity to lay a solid foundation, and the fortunate leaders of coming generations maintained the regular practice of transcendental meditation in the lives of their people, the glory of life would be enjoyed by all generations. Let it be so is our sincere prayer to the Almighty and is our humble appeal to all leaders and well-wishers of mankind. Fulfillment of life lies in gaining the status of divine life and living the life of eternal freedom in the fullness of all the values of human existence. Fulfilment of human consciousness lies in the attainment of divine consciousness, God-consciousness, which brings together the absolute and relative values of life. The bliss-consciousness of absolute Being and the relative joys in the variety of creation should be lived simultaneously. This means the fulfilment of life in cosmic consciousness. For the sake of clarity we shall consider what cosmic consciousness is. We have seen that during transcendental meditation the conscious mind arrives at the transcendental field of absolute Being of unmanifested nature. Here in this field the mind transcends all that is relative, and is to be found in the state of absolute Being. The mind has transcended all limits of the experience of thought and is left by itself in a state of pure consciousness. This state of pure consciousness, or the state of absolute, pure Being, is called self-consciousness. When this self-consciousness is forever maintained, even when the mind emerges from the transcendent and engages in the field of activity, then self-consciousness attains the status of cosmic consciousness. Self-consciousness is then established eternally in the nature of the mind. Even then the mind is awake, dreaming or in deep sleep, self-consciousness is maintained naturally and this is called cosmic consciousness. Cosmic consciousness means that consciousness which includes the experience of the relative field together with the state of absolute Being. This state of cosmic consciousness is one where the mind lives in eternal freedom, remaining unbound by whatever it experiences during all activities in the relative world. This freedom from the bondage of experience gives the mind a status of cosmic consciousness, a condition of eternal freedom in all the relative states of life - waking, dreaming and sleeping. Perfect mental and physical health is natural in this state of fulfilment of life where divine intelligence speaks in all phases, where God-consciousness permeates all daily experiences and activities, where universal love flows in and overflows from the heart and where divine intelligence fills the mind. In such a state of integrated life where behaviour is in PerfeCt harmony and where all the planes of living are infused with divine consciousness, universal love for everything overflows and becomes concentrated in devotion to God, and life finds fulfilment in the unbounded ocean of divine wisdom. The world is the Divine made active, everything rising as a wave on the eternal ocean of bliss-consciousness. Every perception, the sound of every word, the touch of every little particle and the smell of whatever may be, brings a tidal wave from the ocean of eternal bliss. Every rising thought, word or action is a rising of the tide of bliss. In every static or dynamic state of existence the divine glory of the unmanifested is found dancing in the manifested field of life. The Absolute dances in the relative. Eternity pervades every moment of transitory existence. Life is ultimately fulfilled only when cosmic consciousness is centred in devotion to God. Such is the ultimate of perfection in life, where a cosmically evolved man rises to the heights of devotion. Fortunate are those evolved, cosmically conscious men in that devotion becomes possible for them, raising the value of infinite bliss-consciousness to a concentrated state. In comparison with this state of devotion, the life of cosmic consciousness can be described as mere cosmic consciousness. It is as if gaining cosmic consciousness is not actually attaining the ultimate fulfilment of life, but is merely gaining the ability to acquire real and ultimate fulfillment. Unless one is cosmically evolved, unless one lives eternity in the day-to-day, transitory field of life, it is not possible to overflow on the level of universal love. Unless one overflows on the level of universal love, where is the possibility of having universal love in a concentrated state? Personal love for a mother or a father, for a husband or wife, is simply symbolic of the concentrated state of universal love to which a cosmically evolved soul attains in a state of devotion to God. The love in a child's heart for his toys, games and studies is spread over those objects, but his concentrated love is for his mother. This is an analogy of the degree of love possible when, having attained the state of cosmic consciousness, one is devoted to God. A child's innocent fancy has in it a certain amount of love and that love is concentrated in love for his mother. A student has a certain amount of love in his heart for various branches of learning, but all this love is concentrated in love for his teacher. A husband 11as a certain amount of love flowing in his heart towards many things in life, but he finds the concentrated state of all his love in love for his wife. In the same way, a man with cosmic consciousness has an unbounded, unlimited amount of love overflowing in all directions for everything. When this overflowing, unlimited, unbounded, cosmic, universal love becomes concentrated in devotion to God, then that concentrated state of universal love is of such a degree as to bring ultimate fulfilment to life. Far more concentrated is the state of cosmic consciousness in devotion to God than is any love that could ever be in any sphere of existence. To live this state of concentrated, universal love is the ultimate fulfilment of life. It is an unbounded flow of love at the sight of everything, at the sound of everything, the smell or taste of anything, the touch of anything; the whole of life in its multifarious diversity is nothing but the fullness of love, bliss and contentment, eternal and absolute. The capacity for fulfilment comes to an individual when, through the constnnt practice of transcendental meditation, he gains cosmic consciousness and then surrenders in devotion at the feet of God. Unless the state of cosmic consciousness is achieved, devotion in the real sense of the word does not even begin to mean anything. A man whose heart does not flow in universal love dues not gain much from devotion because real devotion results in surrender, and surrender means losing one's identity and gaining the identity of the beloved. The path of love, the path of devotion, is successfully traversed only by cosmically evolved souls. A man who has not risen to cosmic consciousness, who is shrouded by his limited individuality and is only awake in the identity of his individual self, can have no clear or significant conception of love or devotion. Although people on all levels of consciousness feel love in their hearts and feel devotion to God and practise devotion, the charm of devotion in the state of cosmic consciousness is a charm beyond the limits of imagination. Devotion and love belong in their full value only to the life of cosmic consciousness. Below that standard, devotion and love do not have much significance or value. The devotion of an unrealised man is merely an attempt, an effort, a strain. At best it leads to imagination of the greater and more intensified states of love. But the love and devotion of a cosmically evolved man have a significant and substantial value which embraces eternity, and that love and devotion bind eternity into a single universal individuality. Such is the power of love, such is the power of devotion. Below the level of cosmic consciousness the power of love and devotion is limited and insignificant. Therefore all who want to follow the path of devotion are invited to begin the practice of transcendental meditation, which enables the individual to rise to a state of cosmic consciousness without struggle or strife, without penance or austerity. The individual then becomes attuned to cosmic life, his movements accord with the movements of the entire cosmos, his purpose is found in the purpose of the entire cosmos, his life is established in cosmic life. The will of man then is the will of God, the activity of man then is the desire of God, and man fulfils God's purpose. When a man accomplishes God's purpose, when he breathes God's desire then the son of God is the word of God. Then the Father in heaven and man on earth are united in the same ideal of eternal good. Man through all his thoughts, words and actions produces an influence which serves the purpose of creation, and on all levels of his individual life he gains fulfilment in the purpose of cosmic life. Then is the selfishness of man the selfish end of God; the individual mind of man the cosnlic mind of God; the individual breath of man the cosmic breath of God; the individual speech of man the expression of cosmic silence. The Lord speaks through him; omnipresent, cosmic life gains expression in his activity; the omniscient is expressed in the limitations of his individual personality; the cosmic intelligence finds expression in his individual mind; the thought of cosmic life is materialised in his process of thinking; the immutable silence of eternal Being finds expression in his thought, speech and action. The man's eyes behold the purpose of God, his ears hear the music of cosmic life, his hands hold to cosmic intentions, his feet set the cosmic life in motion; he walks on earth, yet walks in the destiny of heaven; he sees, yet sees the glory of God; he hears, yet hears the silence; he speaks, yet speaks the word of God; he speaks, yet speaks the intention of God; he speaks and draws out the purpose of cosmic life; he speaks and gives expression to the cosmic purpose; he speaks yet his words speak eternal Being. The man is the living expression of omnipresent, omniscient, cosmic existence. Here is he who can speak for God, here is he who can speak for cosmic law, here is he who acts for God, here is the image of God on earth. His life is the stream of cosmic Being. His individual life-stream is a tidal wave from the eternal ocean of cosmic Being, a wave which holds within itself the entire ocean of cosmic life. He is the expression of inexpressible, eternal Being. He moves in the ever-immovable status of the Absolute. His activity in relative existence expresses the eternal stillness of the Absolute. In the radiance of his relative life the Absolute finds in him an expression of Its Being. Angels and gods enjoy his existence on earth; the earth and heavens enjoy the existence of the bliss of eternal Being embodied in the form of man. The formless appears in form, the silence becomes vibrant, the inexpressible is expressed in a personality, the cosmic life is breathed by the individual. This is how, when the breath of the individual becomes the impulse of eternal life, his individuality breathes universal existence. Then is gained the fulfilment of life. The fulfilment of religion lies in man gaining a direct way to God-realisation; this is all that is necessary to make him a complete man, a man of fully integrated life, a man of great intelligence, creativity, wisdom, peace and happiness. The fulfillment of religion lies in gaining for man that for which the word religion itself stands. The word comes from the Latin infinitive religare : re, meaning back, ligare, to bind; or, that which binds one back. The purpose of religion is to bind man back to his source, to his origin. If religion succeeds in bringing a man's life back to its source by bringing the mind back to its source, by bringing the activity of the body back to the source of all activity, religion succeeds in fulfilling its purpose. Mind is the pivot of life. If the mind can be drawn back to its origin the whole of life will be drawn back to its source and the purpose of religion will be fulfilled. Religion is a way, or at least should be a way, to raise the consciousness of man to the level of God-consciousness and the human mind to the level of divine intelligence or universal cosmic mind. The purpose of religion is to attune the individual life to the laws of nature so that it flows naturally in the stream of evolution. Religion should co-ordinate the individual life with cosmic life and so improve all the values of human life. Religion provides a practical way to the realisation of the supreme reality brought to light by philosophy. Philosophy is descriptive, whereas religion has a practical value in providing a direct way to God-realisation. It is a direct means of enabling human beings to evolve to the level of the Divine. Religion dictates the do's and don'ts of life to guide the activity of the individual towards attaining the highest purpose of human existence. All these do's and don'ts of religion are meant to provide a direct way to the realisation of the ultimate reality or freedom We need not describe in detail the deplorable state of religion in the world today; it will suffice to say that only the body is found; and the body is devoid of the spirit. Only the rituals and dogma are found: the spirit has departed. That is why the followers of religion do not find fulfilment. This does not mean that religious rituals have no value. Ritual and the dogmatic aspects of religion are certainly necessary, because for the soul to exist so must the body. Their value is that they constitute the body of religion for the purpose of providing an opportunity for the spirit of religion to guide the destiny of the people. The rituals of the various religions represent the body, and the practice of directly experiencing Being represents the spirit. Both are necessary and should go hand in hand. One will not survive without the other. When the spirit leaves the body, the body begins to disintegrate. This is the case with religions today. They seem to be in a state of disintegration because they lack spirit. Religion today is like the corpse of a man without the man himself. The rituals remain without elevating the consciousness of the people. The inner spirit of religion does not seem to exist. If it does exist at all it fails to appeal to the people. Because of its ineffectiveness it has practically ceased to capture the imagination of modern man. There is hardly a religion in the world today whose custodians and preachers have an understanding of the direct method of experiencing the ultimate, absolute Being, even though the Scriptures of every religion contain this practice as the central pivot of their teachings. This is why all over the world religion has lost its effectiveness and fails to fulfil its purpose. The purpose of religion should not only be to indicate what is right and wrong ; to fulfil its purpose it should elevate man to a state of life where he will choose only that which is right and will by nature avoid that which is wrong. The true spirit of religion is lacking if it merely lays down what is right or wrong and creates the fear of punishment and hell and the fear of God in the minds of men. The purpose of religion should be to take away all fear. It should not seek to achieve its purpose by instilling a fear of the Almighty. Religion should further a way of living where life is naturally established in tune with the cosmic purpose of evolution and every thought, word and action of the individual is guided in a natural way by a higher purpose. It is not that a man is required to make an effort to do right and to aspire to higher values, but that all his thoughts, words and actions should by nature be placed on the level of attainment of the highest purpose of life. Religion should be strong enough to bring to the individual in a natural manner a state of fulfilment in life without strenuous practices or long years of training. If it is fully integrated in itself, a religion should enable man to live fulfilment naturally. A really live and integrated religion should be able to induce a spirit of fulfilment in man. By the time a man attains maturity his nervous system is fully developed. At maturity he should have gained, by following his faith, the status of fulfilment of life. The rest of his days should be lived in fulfilment. A fully alive and integrated religion will be one through which each man becomes a man of realised God-consciousness, a man enjoying the full values of life, a man of God; the Divine manifested in the form of man on earth. Through the practice of transcendental meditation it is now possible for people of all religions to acquire within themsclves an integrated state of life and gain absolute, pure consciousness, the state of divine Being. A religion which brings to its people a message to do good but which fails to develop their consciousness or to raise them to live naturally a life of good, is a religion merely of words. A religion worthy of the name should be of real practical value. It should set a man directly in a way of life full of good and free from evil. It is the responsibility of religion to see that good shines from the faces of its followers. If religious teachings fail to inspire people to live naturally a life of good in God-consciousness, the preachers of those religions should renew their strength and do Justice to their teachings. The inner light of religion is missing from religious teachings; this is the case all over the world, with the result that peace and happiness are absent from the lives of people and everywhere tensions are increasing. Religious people who seem to have peace in their lives are often found to be men of passive attitude, lacking dynamic force, but this is not a feature of true religious life. The passivity springs from a misguided application of religious ideals. The life of a religious man should show good and dynamic activity on the surface and underneath should have that unshakeable, eternal peace which is found at the depth of the ocean. Life should be such that religion is lived naturally with its purpose fulfilled. It should not be a struggle to live or attain fulfilment. Life should be lived in fulfilment of all its values. Man on earth, a man of a real, lively and integrated religion, should be a living god, the Divine speaking, not a struggling man with faith in God searching for the meaning of the Divine. The substance of God, the status of God, the existence of God, God-consciousness, divine consciousness - all these should be the natural life of man. Faith in God and faith in religion are supposed to have a purpose in life. Any faith for the sake of faith alone is just a drain on people's energy. If faith is unable to relieve a man from suffering and to bring him good, then that faith needs something more to make it productive. People belonging to different religions do have faith in their religions, and endure in their faith through all the stress of life. It is for the preachers of religions to provide them with something of practical value through which their faiths will lead them to the goal of life. The ministers are the ministers of God, standing between man and God. Their responsibility is to serve as a link between humanity and divinity. Likewise the priests in the temples stand as mediators betwecn man and God and as such their responsibility is great. Their life must be a life integrated in God-consciousness, and if they fail to live life in god-consciousness they cease to be a link between man and God. It is time for the custodians of religion to be awakened. This meditation is offered to them out of love of God and of that for which they stand. It is time that transcendental meditation is adopted in churches, temples, mosques and pagodas. Let all who are proud of their religions, who are living their own ways of life in their own faiths, enjoy the fulfillment of life - the divine life in the life of man - through the precepts of their own religion. Here in a simple practice is the fulfilment of every religion. It belongs to the spirit of every religion; it existed in the early days of every faith and has SinCe been lost. The principle is still contained in the scriptures. It has only been lost in practice. Unfortunately, religious teachers seem to have put the cart before the horse. They advise man to behave righteously, teaching that through right action he will gain purity and be able to realise God. The right approach would be to offer a direct way of gaining God-consciousness. Established in higher consciousness man would naturally behave righteously. Man behaves from his level of consciousness. Therefore any teaching of right action without a means of raising consciousness will always be ineffective. It is much easier to raise man's consciousness than to get him to act righteously. Religious life is the result of God-consciousness ; God-realisation is not the result of a religious life. Unless this is understood the goal will never be achieved but will always be a far-fetched dream, forever in the realms of unattained hopes. For many generations man has been deprived both of God-consciousness and a good life. It is painful to see how many generations have gone by without the real gift of life. Certainly no one can be held responsible for that. The responsibility for the loss of the spirit of religion lies with the eternity of time. But now is the time for its revival. ; This practice has fortunately come to light during the present generation. Let it be adopted by the people of all religions and let them enjoy it while remaining proud of their faiths. Let the intelligent minds of all religions and the custodians of the various faiths delve into the deeper essence of their scriptures and there discover transcendental meditation; let them learn the practice and adopt it in the light of their own teachings. The basic premise of every religion should be that man need not suffer in life. A man belonging to any religion should have no place in his life for suffering, tension, immorality, vice, sinful thought, speech or action. None of these negative aspects of life should exist for a man following religion. It is not necessary to dwell on the unfortunate state of the followers of religion today, the increasing tension in life, the suffering, disease and decline of human values in all faiths. These failures on the part of religion are responsible for the modern drift away from religion. Even though people subscribe in name to one religion or another they fail to live the values of a religious life. A religious life should be one lived in bliss, joyfulness, peace, harmony, creativity and intelligence. The stream of religious life should at least flow on the level of common sense. It should be a life of love, kindness and tolerance with an innate desire to help one's fellow men. These qualities should make up the natural state of mind of a religious man. If these qualities together with the state of God-consciousness are not naturally found in a religious man, then the name of his religion is only a burden to him. Religion should not only provide a solid foundation but should be able to build a high edifice of divine life in the life of man, and this can be accomplished only by transforming man's nature into divine nature. It will be difficult for religious rituals to transform inner tendencies into the essential qualities of the divine nature. But unless this is done, life on earth can never be virtuous, moral and dignified. Teaching which touches only the surface of the conscious mind has little effect on the transformation of the inner mind. In teaching truthfulness, kindness, love for others and fear of God, religions have failed to provide any significant degree of evolution in human life because they have not used any practical technique for directly raising the human mind to divine values. Unless the mind rises to high values and attains a fair degree of divine intelligence man will continue to err. While man remains bound in the field of humanity he is apt to err. It is necessary, therefore, to take him above the field of error, to bring divine intelligence within the range of the conscious mind and thereby to infuse divine nature into his human nature. Raise humanity to divinity and then it does not matter what rituals are followed on the gross level of religion and life. As long as the spirit of religion dominates the life of the people, it does not matter what name they give to their religion or what rituals they follow in their churches, temples, mosques, synagogues or pagodas. As long as they are established in the spirit of religion and have risen to a state of God-consciousness, as long as the stream of life is attuned to the cosmic stream of evolution, it does not matter whether they can themselves Christian, Mohammedan, Hindu, Jew or Bnddhist - any name will be significant. On the gross level of life these names carry significance, but on the level of Being they all have the same value. What does matter is that man should have a life of God-consciousness in eternal freedom, a life of complete integration. The key to the fulfilment of every religion is found in the regular practice of transcendental meditation. We invite the custodians of all religions, the masters of philosophy, the leaders of metaphysical movements all over the world to test for themselves the validity of transcendental meditation and to offer to their followers the gift of fulfilment of life. This meditation is in no way a threat to the authority of priests or ministers. It is something which belongs to their religions but which has been forgotten for many centuries. This is something that will restore to them their followers. Let them know that this will re-establish in society the value of the temples and churches, and will restore to the priest the status which should be his. Religion in many countries seems to be either discredited or ignored by the governments whose constitutions have a secular basis. The government no doubt has the welfare of the nation at heart, but it is not enough to allow people to profess and practice their religion freely. It is necessary that the authorities should be alert to see that the religion followed by the people produces in them the right spirit of life and giving, and that they do not become indolent and restless, which is the result of following only the surface value of religion. If religion fails to produce the effect it promises then it needs help, and the national authority should be able to provide that help. Otherwise, any efforts to improve the nation will always be undermined by the very life of the people weakened by ineffective religious teaching. Transcendental meditation is the practice which cnables man to live all that religions have taught through the ages ; by this practice he easily rises to the level of divine Being and this brings fulfilment to all religions. The fulfilment of psychology lies in: 1. Making the mind strong. 2. Enlarging the mind's conscious capacity. 3- Enabling a man to use his full mental potential. 4. Developing techniques whereby all the latent faculties of the mind can be unfolded. 5. Bringing to each individual greater contentment, peace and inner happiness, increased efficiency and creativity. 6. Developing the power of concentration, together with increased will-power and the ability to maintain inner poise and peace even when engaged in outer activity. 7. Developing self-confidence, tolerance, clear thinking and a greater power of thought. 8. Establishing the mind in eternal freedom and peace in God consciousness under all circumstances, in the midst of all the activity and silence of relative existence. The ultimate fulfilment of psychology lies in enabling the individual mind to attune itself to the cosmic mind and to remain so attuned; that is, in establishing a lasting co-ordination of the individual mind with the cosmic mind, so that all activity in the individual mind conforms with cosmic evolution and the purpose of cosmic life. Psychology should not only enable a man to overcome the strain produced by failures or pressure of work in his day-to-day life, but should also give such strength to his mind that it never suffers under strain nor falls victim to psychosomatic diseases. The purpose of the study of psychology should be to enable man to overcome obstacles in life and to live without suffering. It should provide that strength and clarity of thought which will enable his desires to be satisfied so that he will live a life of fulfillment. The aim of psychology, the study of the mind, should be to enable a man to live all values of life, to enjoy all phases of existence, to create more, to have greater understanding and to live life to the maximum in eternal freedom in God-consciousness. When we consider the immense possibilities in the field of psychology and review the achievements made so far by that science. we find them discouraging. This is not surprising, for psychology is yet in its infant stage of development. It should not be a function of psychology to remind a man that his past was miserable, or that his surroundings and circumstances were unfavourable, or that his associatiom were depressing and discouraging, or that there was lack of love and harmony with those near to him. To remind anyone of such things will only result in lowering his consciousness. It should be considered criminal to tell anyone that his individual life is based on the inefficient and degencrate influence of his past environment. The psychological influence of such depressing information is demoralising, and the inner core of the heart becomes twisted by it. On the other hand, to remember the greatness of one's family traditions and the glory of one's parents, friends and environment, helps to elevate the consciousness and directly encourages one to rise above weaknesses. Analysing an individual's way of thinking, and bringing to the conscious level the buried misery of his past, even for the purpose of enabling him to see the cause of his stress and suffering, is deplorable, for it directly helps to strengthen the impressions of a miserable past and serves to depress his consciousness in the present. It is a blessing of God that we normally forget the past. Certainly the present is born of the past, but the fact remains that the past re presents less developed states of consciousness, and the present belongs to a more developed state. Therefore it is only a loss to overshadow the more evolved present with memories of the less developed past. By looking back into the past one's vision is expanded, but it expands only to bring to a conscious level less developed states of life. One's vision is thereby enlarged, but at the same time the genius and the brightness of intelligence are overshadowed. If there could be a way to enlarge the mind to more evolved states of consciousness so that it would eventually gain cosmic consciousness, then indeed the subjects of psycho-analysis would be saved from the unfortunate results of digging into the mud of a miserable past. It is for the statesmen of all natiom to realise the harmlul aspects of modem psycho-analysis and to replace it with the practice of transcendental meditation. This directly elevates the consciousness and thereby not only strengthens the mind of the individual but also enables him to use his full potential, making him more effective and more powerful, peaceful, happy and creative. This technique for gaining transcendental consciousness brings to a conscious level the subtle levels of thought. In this way the whole process of thought comes within the range of the conscious mind. The conscious capacity of the mind increases to its fullest scope. This is how it is possible to enable a man to rise to his full mental potential in both thought and action. When the mind becomes familiar with the deeper levels of the thought process it becomes aware of the subtle levels of creation. And when the mind becomes familiar with the subtle regions of creation, the ability is gained to stimulate those regions to every advantage. This amounts to unfolding the latent faculties of the mind. This unfoldment of latent faculties can be clarified by an example: when a man dives into a pond he passes through the surface levels of water to the deeper levels, reaches the bottom and then comes up. A second and a third dive will take him through all levels of the water in the same way. The practice of diving makes the man familiar with all the levels of the water and, as familiarity with the deeper levels grows, the diver is able to remain longer at the bottom of the pond. when he is able to remain at the bottom for some time, with increased practice he can acquire the ability to move around at any level of the pond at will. This is the result of gaining familiarity with the deeper levels of water. With a little more practice he can make himself comfortable at any level and be active there so as to produce a desired activity on the surface of the pond. Eventually it will be possible for him to stay comfortably at any level and to produce a desired activity anywhere he chooses in the pond. When this ability is acquired, the diver becomes master of the pond. When the mind becomes familiar with the deeper levels of consciousness it gains the ability to work from any subtle or gross level of consciousness. Then it is able to stimulate any stratum of creation for any desired advantage. This opens the door to the mastery of creation. Students of philosophy and psychology would do well to consider psychology as exemplified in the Bhagavad-Gita. It presents a study of the development of the mind from a profound state of indecision to that most highly developed state in which the intelligence is established in the eternal Being, the most evolved state of human evolution. The Bhagavad-Gita describes the psychology of the individual mind and the cosmic mind and marvellously brings about their correlation, where eternal life is infused into the temporal, phenomenal existence of man. If this does not take place, the individual remains forever subject to the temporary aspect of his nature and is consequently overtaken by suffering. The way in which surroundings and circumstances influence the individual mind is demonstrated at the very beginning of the text. Here, Arjuna, the most highly evolved man, the greatest archer of his time, the hero of the Mahabharata, although awake to a complete knowledge of right and wrong, is unable to solve the dilemma before him. Surroundings have so strong an effect upon his mind that all persuasion and suggestion are powerless to help him. The Bhagavad-Gita teaches that the effect of surroundmgs and circumstances upon the mind depends upon the mind's strength; that the intensity of the effect of an impression is in inverse ratio to the strength of the mind. At first Arjuna is found in a perilous state of indecision, but after putting into practice the psychological teaching of the Gita, it is not long before he is infused with the spirit of action, although the circumstances remain quite unchanged. A close study of Lord Krishna's discourse reveals a great depth of psychological insight; it shows that the individual mind, however intelligent on the superficial conscious level, can be overcome by its failure to understand and encompass a situation which obviously lies beyond its control unless it is attuned to the unlimited cosmic mind. To establish conscious co-ordination between the individual and the cosmic mind is the only way to ensure that the individual becomes entirely free from the possibility of failure to understand a threatening situation and of successfully rising above its adverse effects. A pond is apt to dry up in the heat of summer, but there is no such danger in the case of the ocean. The psychology of the Bhagavad-Gita presents a master technique for bringing about co-ordination of the individual mind with cosmic mind: the attention is brought to the field of the Absolute. This transforms the weakness and limitation of the individual mind into the unbounded strength of cosmic intelligence. This great achievement is so easy that every individual on earth can succeed in it and make all the petty complexities and innumerable sufferings in life unnecessary. The technique of transcendental meditation is the key to the wisdom of psychology; it has a scientific basis which can satisfy any intellect. Herein lies the fulfilment of modern psychology. The fulfilment of philosophy lies in: 1. Unveiling the mystery of nature. 2. Revealing to man the reality of life. 3. Fulfilling the quest of the human mind. 4. Providing direct experience of the ultimate reality of life and thereby bringing to the level of direct experience all the various levels of life and creation. The fulfilment of philosophy lies in revealing to man that the transitory values of day-to-day life co-exist with the permanent and imperishable values of eternal life. Philosophy should lead a man to become the knower of reality, established in the truth of life, free from doubts regarding anything in the field of creation. He should not only be a knower of reality but should also live reality with the fully integrated values of life. He should be a man eternally contented in divine consciousness, living fulfilment in life. He should be a master of the art of living through his knowledge of the science of being. The modern study of philosophy does not do full justice to the scope of the subject. For many years past it has merely skimmed the surface of this glorious field of wisdom. What is now needed is a clear vision of the fulfilment of philosophy and a way to bring the great values of this study to the level of common intelligence and experience in day-to-day practical life. Fortunately for the present generation, the fulfilment of philosophy may be found in a technique to explore the unseen regions and the ultimate reality of life. This technique makes transcendental, absolute Being available to everyone as all actual experience. Absolute Being is the ultimate in creation, the ultimate reality, the truth of life. By truth we mean that which never changes. Transcendental, absolute Being is eternal in Its nature; It remains ever the same. It is the ultimate constituent of creation, never-changing because change belongs to the relative field. All the different strata of creation are made of that substance which is called absolute Being. We call it a substance in order to understand more clearly how all this creation has come from pure consciousness or absolute Being. It is as if absolute Being is the material from which all creation is made, which in itself never changes and yet gives rise to the ever-changing diversity and multiplicity of forms and phenomena in creation. The experience of absolute Being leaves no doubt about the essential constituent of the whole structure of creation. In diving deep within the mind the attention passes through all the subtle strata of consciousness, the different strata of creation. That is why, in the practice of transcendental meditation, not only does the inner range of consciousness unfold but the entire field of subtle creation is traversed. Between the gross and the transcendental strata of consciousness lie all the different strata of creation. When the mind unfolds and activates the deeper levels of consciousness it passes through all these strata of creation. This is how the mind gains an increasing ability to understand the entire universe. This meditation unfolds the mysteries of nature, revealing to man the truth of creation and the entire field of life. Nothing remains hidden, everything becomes clear to the mind as it progresses to the transcendental state of pure consciousness. Here is the fulfilment of the age-old quest for the experience of reality, of the age-old quest of seekers after truth. Philosophy is fulfilled in this simple system which is now available to every man in the world - this simple technique for unfolding the inner realms of life and understanding the essential nature of the ultimate reality. Every man is thus able to know for himself from personal experience the truth behind creation. The experience and understanding of eternal reality set a man free from the bondage and authority of his own inner thoughts and desires and from the influence of outer ideas, surroundings and circumstances. All the great expressions of Vedic wisdom found in the Upanishads which declare the ultimate oneness of life in the phrase: I am That, thou art That and all this is That, remain fanciful imagination or, at best, an intellectual mood without the actual cognition of the Ultimate. Without direct experience of transcendental Being the study of philosophy leaves man in uncertainty about the nature of supreme Reality. It is the actual experience which succeeds in eliminating the intellectual confusion caused by the study of different schools of philosophy. We give thanks to the great glory of His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Bhagwan Shankaracharya, whose devotion has revealed the key to the fulfilment of philosophy and made easy of accomplishment the path of the seekers after truth. This path has been reduced to almost no path; it has been reduced to the achievement of the goal. Through learning the technique of transcendental meditation and practising it every day one arrives at the goal itself many times during daily practice. In this lies the fulfilment of philosophy. The word path pre-supposes a distance, starting from one point and ending at another. The paths to God-realisation mean the methods or practices adopted by man in order to reach God. To understand the paths clearly it is first necessary to clarify what we mean by God and how distant He is from us. God is the most highly cherished word for hundreds of millions of people everywhere. The idea of God is, for those who understand it, the most highly cherished idea in human life. The conception of God is a reality greater than the reality of any conception which the human mind has developed at any time. The idea of God is neither a fanciful thought, nor a thought to be concealed, nor a thought to be used as a shelter or place of refuge. God is a reality more concrete than any of the realities in the entire cosmos. The existence of God is all existence more permanent and substantial than the ever-changing, temporary existence of the forms and phenomena of creation. God is found in two phases of reality: as a supreme Being of absolute, eternal nature and as a personal God at the highest level of phenomenal creation, the celestial level of creation. Thus God has two aspects: the personal and the impersonal. They are the two realities of the word God. The impersonal aspect of God is formless, supreme; it is eternal and absolute Being. It is without attributes, qualities or features, because all attributes, qualities and features belong to the relative field of life, and the impersonal God is of absolute nature. It is absolute, impersonal and attributeless, but is the source of all relative existence. It is the fountainhead of all the different forms and phenomena of creation. All the attributes of relative existence have their source in the attributeless, absolute Being. This Absolute is of unmanifested nature; It manifests in different degrees and forms in the various strata of creation. Everything in creation is the manifestation of unmanifested, absolute, impersonal Being, the omnipresent God. The impersonal, omnipresent, absolute God is by very nature progressive. It manifests as the different aspects of creation, but even when found in the variety of forms and phenomena of manifest creation It maintains Its status as unmanifested Absolute. So the impersonal, omnipresent God, remaining always impersonal and omnipresent, appears in the relative field in the form Of creation, guided by Its own nature. To understand how the unmanifested impersonal assumes the form of the manifested phenomena of creation, let us take the example of hydrogen and oxygen. Remaining as hydrogen and oxygen, they take on different qualities and appear as vapour, water and ice. Similarly, omnipresent, impersonal, almighty Being, while remaining as the Absolute, manifests variously in qualities, forms and phenomena of creation. The Absolute is the ultimate reality of life. It is life eternal and knows no change in Its character. It is the ultimate of creation, the source, the be-all and the end-all of the entire creation. It is through the power of the impersonal God that the world was, is and will be. Just as there is only one essential constituent, H,O, in vapour, water and ice, so the ultimate constituent of the entire creation - the See: Prana and Being, Mind and Being and Karma and Being on pages 40, 41 and 46 respectively. impersonal, absolute God - is one; It appears as many. The appearance of the one as the many is only phenomenal. The reality of the one impersonal God is eternal and absolute. All ever-changing forms and phenomena are grounded in neverchanging, eternal, absolute Being which is the creator, maintainer and sustainer of the world. It is called the creator because It is the basis of all creation coming from It. To create is Its nature, to exist is Its nature, to expand is Its nature. So creating, existing and expanding are different aspects of the nature of the almighty, impersonal God. It is the maintainer of creation in the sense that It is the essential constituent of creation. Since It is the very basis of all creation, naturally all beings dwell in It, their ever-changing existence having their basis in unchanging, unchangeable, eternal Being. Thus we find that the world is the creation of the impersonal, absolute God. It is sustained by It and eventually dissolves into It. To understand how the world dissolves into its source, consider again the example of hydrogen and oxygen taking on the different forms of water and ice. As the qualities of water dissolve into oxygen and hydrogen, the qualities of ice dissolve into oxygen and hydrogen and the qualities of vapour dissolve into oxygen and hydrogen, so all the forms and phenomena of relative existence dissolve into their essential constituent which is Being, the impersonal, absolute, eternal God, the Almighty. The Absolute is said to be almighty but not in the sense that It is able to do everything. This is because, being everything, It cannot do anything or know anything. It is beyond doing and knowing. It is almighty in the sense that without It nothing would exist. All that exlsts is in the absolute state of Being. In this sense the impersonal God is creator, maintainer and sustainer of the world, remaining eternally in an unmanifest state, and only in that sense almighty. We have seen how absolute, impersonal, transcendental Being vibrates and enters the relative phase of existence as a thought, the thinker and prana. We have seen2 that as the process of the evolution of a thought is continued its subtle state becomes the gross state and is then transformed into speech and action. So it is Being, pure consciousness, the impersonal, almighty God, which appears as the subject and the object. The individual in all his various aspects is the light of God, impersonal, absolute Being. That is why life is defined as the light of God, the radiation of eternal, absolute Beingl. Impersonal, absolute Being, or God, pervades all fields of existence as th.e essential constituent of creation. It is omnipresent, of transcendental nature, beyond everything of relative existence. It is beyond belief, thought, faith, dogma and ritual. It lies beyond the reach of understanding, beyond mind and intellect. Since It is transcendental, It cannot be comprehended by thought and is beyond contemplation and intellectual discrimination and decision. It is the state of Being. The Being of all is the omnipresent, impersonal God. It is beyond knowing: It is knowingness itself. Because it is the Being of all, to realise It means to be simply what one is. Realisation of Being is the realisation of the impersonal, omnipresent God. No path to one's own Being could be thought to exist, no path to realising the impersonal God, omnipresent Being, could be shown because the very conception of a path removes the Self from one's own Being. The very idea of a path introduces the conception of something far away, whereas Being is the essential Self. A path means a link between two points, but in omnipresent, cosmic Being there cannot exist two different points or states. Omnipresent means present everywhere, pervading everything; there is absolutely no question, therefore, of a path. It is just a question of being ; even when established in the different states of manifested creation one is established in the state of Being but in a different form. So Being can never be different from what one already is, and this leads us to conclude that the question of a path to realise the Absolute simply does not arise. Therefore the realisation of the omnipresent, almighty, impersonal God is the realisation of the natural state of one's Being. If a way to realise the impersonal Omnipresent could be expressed, it could only be said to be a way of coming out of what one is not. To be is to enter the realm of impersonal nature; so in order to be one's Self it is only necessary to come out of personal nature, to come out of the field of doing and thinking and to be established in the field of Being. The state of Being is the impersonal state of life. It has been shown that it is only necessary to gain the habit of arriving at Being by coming out of the gross into the subtle levels of thinking and eventually transcending them. So it is clear that realisation of the impersonal God is simply arriving at one's own Being. And this shows that no path exists between the experiencer and the impersonal God. What exists is the eternal existence of the omnipresent Impersonal. The Impersonal is permeating the entire field of creation as butter permeates milk or oil permeates a seed. A practical way to reach the level of the oil in the seed is to enter into the subtle strata of the seed and reach the field of the oil. Likewise if the level of the butter is to be reached in milk, it is necessary to enter into the subtle strata of milk. The only way to realise almighty, impersonal God is to enter into the subtle strata of anything and to transcend the subtlest experience. There will be found the field of the Impersonal, the field of pure Being, the state of pure consciousness which lies in the transcendental field of everything. The world today has a very vague conception of God. There are those who like to believe in God, those who love God and those who want to realise God, but even they do not have a clear conception of what God is. God has remained for the most part a fanciful, pleasant thought and a refuge during suffering and misery in life. For the custodians of many strange religions the word God is a magic word to control the understanding and religious destiny of many innocent souls. God, the omnipresent essence of life, is presented as something to fear. God is not the power of fear; It is not anything from which fear could emulate. God is the existence of bliss-consciousness of absolute and eternal life. No fear of the name of God should have been instilled into the lives of people; no religions should have been based on the fear of God. Unfortunately there are religions existing in the world today which base their teachings mainly on the fear of God, and this fear is instilled into the children of God. It is cruel and damaging to life to spread fear in the name of God. God is life eternal, purity and bliss. The kingdom of God is the field of all good to man. God is to be loved and not to be feared. The impersonal God is the Being which dwells in the heart of everyone. Each individual is, in his true nature, 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 bliss-consciousness, no one need be afraid of the kingdom of heaven where there is all bliss and fulfilment. God, almighty, impersonal, unmanifested Being, is the eternal reality of life. It is imperishable, It is abundance, It is life, It is fulfilment. It is at hand for anyone to realise. One only needs to be, and the technique to be lies in transcendental meditation. THE PERSONAL ASPECT OF GOD God in personal form is the supreme Being of almighty nature. It is not 'It' but can only be 'He' or 'She'. 'He' or 'She' has a specific form, a specific nature, certain attributes and certain qualities. To some the personal God is 'He' and to others 'She'. Some say It is both 'He' and 'She', but certainly It is not 'It' because of the personal character. 'It', we have seen, belongs only to the impersonal aspect of God. The personal aspect of God necessarily has form, qualities, features and likes and dislikes; and, having the ability to command the entire existence of the cosmos, the process of evolution and all in creation, the personal God is Almighty. God, supreme, almighty Being, in whose person the process of evolution finds fulfilment, is at the highest level of creation. To understand how the processes of evolution and creation and fulfilment in the personal God we must review the whole range of creation. We find that there are grades in creation. Some forms, some beings, are less powerful, intelligent, creative and joyful; others have these attributes to a higher degree. The whole of creation is composed of the different strata of intelligence, peace and energy. At the lowest level of evolution we find the inert states of creation. From there the species begin and creation develops in intelligence, power and joyfulness. The progressive scale of evolution continues through the different species of the vegetable and animal kingdoms and rises to the world of angels. Ultimately, on the highest level of evolution, is He whose power, joyfulness, intelligence and energy are unlimited. All-knowing is He, all-powerful is He, all-blissful is He, almighty is He who dwells on the highest level of evolution. What do we mean by saying He has an almighty nature ? Almighty means having the power to do, be and understand everything. This one supreme, personal Being would have a nervous system so highly developed that His ability on every level of life would be unlimited. His senses would be the most powerful senses, His mind the most powerful mind, His intellect the most powerful intellect, His ego the most powerful ego. When we see different levels of evolution in the strata of life below the species of man right down to the inert, we can intellectually conceive of some stratum of evolution on the highest level of creation where life will be perfect. Perfection of life would mean that the senses, mind, intellect, ego and personality are perfect. Between this highest state of evolution where life is perfect and the lowest state of evolution where life begins, lies the whole range of creation. So it is as if this supreme, almighty God controls the entire creation. All the laws of nature are controlled by His will. He, being almighty, has arranged the entire creation and the whole field of evolution to operate automatically or, we could say, in complete harmony and conformity with all the laws of creation. With the dissolution of creation the almighty, personal God also merges into the impersonal, absolute state of the Supreme, and with creation comes back again to dwell on the highest level. This is how the personal God eternally maintains the cycle of creation, evolution and dissolution. The whole field of relative existence is governed by the laws of nature functioning automatically in a perfect rhythm. That rhythm, that harmony of life, is maintained by the almighty will of the almighty God at the highest level of creation, controlling and commanding the entire process. He is God, the almighty He. Intellectually at least we can hold Him to be the supreme Being. So we find that we can understand intellectually the possibility of the existence of some supreme Being in the form of a personal, almighty God. To have a clear conception of the almighty nature of a personal God we should understand that the almighty nature lies in the perfection of the senses, mind, intellect and ego. When we say perfection of the senses we mean that if He has eyes, His eyes will be perfect in the sense that they will be able to see all things at one time. If He has a nose, His nose will be able to smell all the varieties of smells at one time. If He has ears, His ears will be able to hear all the sounds of the entire cosmos at one time. His almighty mind will naturally be aware of anything on any level at any time. His almighty intellect will be able to decide everything at any moment. All the innumerable decisions that are the apparent results of natural laws in the process of evolution are the innumerable decisions of the almighty, personal, supreme God at the head of creation. He governs and maintains the entire field of evolution and the separate lives of innumerable beings in the whole cosmos. All we have said about a personal God we can understand intellectually, and we can see the possibility of such an almighty supreme Being as the head of creation. If we can conceive of this, then we should also be able to ascertain intellectually whether there could be a means of communion with that almighty, supreme power, since the life of the individual would greatly benefit from the blessings of such communion. We can understand intellectually that if He or She is a personal Being, certainly He or She would have a particular nature of His or Her own, and the way to achieve His or Her blessings would be to attune the individual life to His or Her nature. Such an attempt would improve life at any level of creation. This would hasten the progress of evolution and permit the individual life to arrive as quickly as possible at the highest level of evolution. If the individual can, by moulding his thought, speech and action in accordance with the nature of the supreme God, succeed in attuning himself to Him or Her, then certainly his unevolved, insignificant life will be blessed with God's all-powerful, merciful nature. In this way the height of evolution can be gained by any man. If the existence of the supreme, almighty, personal God cannot be intellectually conceived of, it would appear to be the result of poor understanding. Anyone who can see the inert or least evolved creation at one end of exlstence and can recognise the different grades of creation, should be able intellectually to conceive of an almighty, supreme Being at the highest level of relative existence, and having done so, to aspire to the great realisation. Inability to appreciate the conception of the personal God, and inability to realise the personal God, are understandable. But to refute the existence of the personal God can only be the result of an undeveloped state of mind. God is the holiest of holy words because it brings to consciousness the supreme state of existence, the almighty status of the supreme Being. It has been said that God-realisation is the aim of life. An individual at any level of evolution can be said to have God-realisation as his ultimate goal, because if and when he is attuned to the almighty, supreme Being, this will be a state of fulfilment and abundance, unlimited energy, creativity, intelligence and bliss. We shall now see the possibility of God-realisation and analyse the different ways to realisation of the impersonal and personal God. In our consideration of the two aspects of God - impersonal, omnipresent, absolute Being and personal, supreme Being - we saw that realisation of God could mean realisation of the impersonal God or the personal God. We shall discuss the realisation of these two aspects of God separately, because realisation of the impersonal God will naturally be on the transcendental level of consciousness. Nothing in the relative field can be omnipresent; relative means bound by time, space and causation, and the omnipresent is unbounded. The realisation of the personal God, on the other hand, has to be in the relative field of life, on the level of human perception, on the level of sensory experience. Realisation of the personal God means that the eyes should be able to see that supreme person and the heart to feel His qualities. Thus the realisation of the impersonal God is in transcendental consciousness and the realisation of the personal God is on the level of sensory experience in the waking state. We saw that the nature of the impersonal God is transcendental, absolute bliss-consciousness. To realise It our conscious minds must transcend all the limits of relative experience and enter a field beyond relative existence where the conscious mind remains conscious all by itself. This necessitates realisation of the transcendental field. It is necessary for the conscious mind to be brought from the present level of experience to the subtler levels and eventually to transcend the subtlest level and consciously arrive at the transcendental field of existence. Let us consider how many possible ways could bring the conscious mind to the field of transcendental Being. The machinery of the body or nervous system is the physical mechanism through which the abstract mind experiences. For any experience, the nervous system must adapt itself to certain specific conditions. When a man sees, a particular part of his brain functions in a particular manner. When he hears, thinks or smells, diffkrent parts of his brain function for each activity. So according to the activity in the mind a corresponding activity is set up in the nervous system. To produce a particular experience in the mind, the nervous system must be brought to a state of specific activity. Let us suppose that the mind is thinking of the sun. The thought of the sun can be experienced only when a particular part of the brain functions in a particular manner. This leads us to conclude that a thought can be experienced by the mind in two ways. Either the mind begins the process of thinking and stimulates the nervous system until the particular portion of the brain comes to that level of activity which makes the mind experience the thought of the sun; Or, if such activity were produced in the brain physiologically, the mind would experience the thought of the sun. Since a thought can be experienced in two ways, an experience may occur in two ways. Either the mind begins the process and stimulates the nervous system for a particular experience, or else the nervous system is stimulated so as to create an activity which will enable the mind naturally to experience the desired object. The realisation of transcendental Being is an experience; therefore the realisation of the impersonal God must be a positive experience of transcendental reality. Realisation means experience. The experience of transcendental reality establishes the nervous system in a particulnr state. The experience of the transcendental, impersonal God necessitates a particular condition of the nervous system. If this activity in the nervous system could be produced by physiological means, then this would be the physiological approach to realising the impersonal God. We will see in detail how this could be possible. THE FIVE PATHS Having established the possibility of a physiological path to God-realisation, we come tO the possibility of God-realisation through (I) the process of understanding; (2) the process of feeling; (3) the process of action or perception. Perception is also all action of the mind and can be called a mechanical process. In order to see something we just open the eyes and see. To see, we do not need to stimulate the intellect or excite the emotions. Thus the process of perception is simply a mechanical process which does not include within its range any quality of emotion or intellect. So we come to five main approaches to realisation of the impersonal God: 1. The psychological or intellectual approach. 2. The emotional approach. 3- The physiological approach. 4. The mechanical approach. 5. The psycho-physiological approach.
 * n God-consciousness. Religion serves a practical purpose.

Any one of these five paths to God-realisation would suffice for any one man. The intellectual approach will only suit those who are intellectually cultured and whose intellectual capacity is high. The emotional approach will generally suit those whose qualities of heart are highly developed. Those who are cultured neither emotionally nor intellectually are left with two approaches to realisation; the physiological and the mechanical. The psycho-physiological approach is, as we shall see, a combination of the physical and mental. The physiological approach necessitates bringing the body and nervous system to a state which will establish the mind on a level of cognition of the transcendental nature of existence. The physiological way will suit those people who are physiologically normal and whose nervous systems are normal or almost normal. If their nervous systems are normal, the physiological approach will raise their level of consciousness regardless of their intellectual or emotional culture. To produce a particular state in the nervous system without training the mind or heart will, however, require a great deal of sustained physical or physiological training. The psycho-physiological approach is a way which will suit people who would prefer to approach the question of God-realisation from both the physical and mental angles, training the mind and body simultaneously. The mechanical path, however, will suit any man no matter how undeveloped may be his mind, heart or nervous system. THE INTELLECTUAL PATH TO GOD-REALISATlON When considering the omnipresent state of the impersonal God we said that the transcendental, omnipresent Divine is, by virtue of Its omnipresence, the essential Being in everyone. It forms the basis of every life; Ie is nothing other than one's own Self or Being. Therefore no path for realising It can be conceived of. So to talk of a path to realisation of one's own Being seems unjustifiable. But because throughout our life our attention is directed to the outer, gross, relative field of experience, we are as though debarred from direct experience of the essential nature of our own Self. or transcendental Being. That is why it is necessary to raise the attention to the transcendental level of our Being. This raising of the attention is said to be a path to realisation. Thus we find that the idea of a path to realisation is metaphysically absurd but on a practical level highly significant. Discrimination, or the power of the intellect, is the vehicle which enables a man to advance on the path of knowledge. The intellectual approach to God-realisation is one of knowledge. On this path it is mainly the intellect that functions; here the approached used on the emotional path, the path of mechanical perception or the physiological path to realisation have no place. On this path everything must be scrutinised and understood through discrimination based on logic; everything must be exact and precise; the intellect has to be wide awake. It is a very delicate path to realisation. Three steps are necessary on this path. First one must hear about the nature of life from a realised man who has travelled this path. One must delve deep into the nature of experiences of the world. What one hears from the realised soul is that creation is perishable and that everything is changing; the manifested creation of forms and phenomena, bound by time, space and causation, is the perishable aspect of life. Having heard this one must come to distinguish the perishable aspect from the imperishable. This discrimination is the second step. The third step is to assimilate this principle into practical life. Discrimination between the different phases of life leads to the conclusion that the whole of relative life is perishable and that the imperishable, ultimate Reality underlies it. This is the significant understanding on the intellectual path of enlightenment. First one must know that the world is not real, even though it appears to be. The mind concludes that forms and phenomena are always changing and that that which is always changing has no lasting status. On the sensory level, however, the world seems real enough. But through the intellect we decide that because the world is everchanging it cannot be real; the real is that which is always the same. But the world cannot be simply dismissed as unreal, because we do experience it. We experience that a wall is here, a tree is there. We cannot say that a tree is not there. If we say that a tree is unreal, we shall have to say that it does not exist and we are not in a position to make such a statement. We acknowledge that the tree is there but must also say that it is always changing. Because it is always changing it is not real, but because it is there we have for all practical purposes to credit the tree with the status of existence. What is that status between real and unreal ? We call it phenomenal existence. The phenomenon of the tree is there even though it is not real. So the tree has a phenomenal reality. Ln Sanskrit this is called mithya. The world is mithya, phenomenal, not really existing. The conclusion is that the world is neither real nor unreal. A man possessing a strong, cultured mind analyses his life in the world with discrimination and eventually comes to the conclusion that the world is mithya, or only a phenomenon. The seeker, using discrimination in assessing the values of the world, will eventually realise the perishable nature of the entire creation. Contemplation on the perishable nature of creation will begin to take his mind to some deeper reality underlying the ever-changing phase of existence. When he gains some insight into the reality of inner life he will be able to contemplate the abstract metaphysical reality of imperishable nature and to realise hidden secrets of existence which lie beyond the ever-changing phenomenal phase of life. He sees that a tree has many aspects - trunk, branches, flowers and fruit. The tree changes every day; new leaves come out, old leaves decay, branches fall and new ones grow. The whole existence of the tree seems set in an ever-changing pattern. But behind these ever-changing phenomenal phases there is one which does not change; the nourishment, or sap, which is drawn from the root is always the same. It is the sap which manifests as branches, leaves, flowers and fruit. The different aspects of the tree change, but the sap remains sap. The transformation of the sap into the different aspects of the tree reveals the hidden mystery of nature. Beyond the ever-changing phases of phenomenal existence there seems to be some reality of an unchanging character which gives rise to all the changeable aspects of phenomenal creation. When his power of discrimination reveals to the seeker the possibility of the existence of some never-changing reality as the basis of ever-changing, phenomenal creation, he enters a second phase on the path of knowledge. He is set to contemplate the never-changing, permanent phase of life, the unchanging aspect of existence which is the reality. When he has thoroughly assimilated the idea of the impermanence of creation and the phenomenal nature of the world, when his intellect is firmly established in the idea that the world is perishable, ever-changing and phenomenal, then he begins to contemplate the permanent, never-changing level of life. Analogies from the world of material creation, such as the example of the sap in a tree, help the seeker to discover the metaphysical truth which lies beyond the phenomenal phase of existence. Chemistry tells us that beneath the phenomenal existence of water there is the reality of oxygen and hydrogen. Water changes in its form, becoming vapour, snow and ice, but the essential constituents do not undergo any change. The permanent value of oxygen and hydrogen gives rise to various perishable values - water, snow and ice - everchanging values of differing forms and phenomena. This is a simple example to indicate that, underlying the different levels of creation, there is something which remains constant in its value even while on the surface it continues to give rise to qualities of an ever-changing nature. Contemplation on the inner value of life eventually reveals to the aspirant that the ever-changing world is based on a never-changing state of life devoid of form and phenomena. All forms and phenomena belong to the relative field of existence, and that which lies beyond all forms and phenomena belongs necessarily to a field which is out of relativity. Intellectual discrimination finds that the world has only a phenomenal existence but that a permanent element underlies the phenomcnal phases of life. This is how the seeker after God, treading the intellectual path to enlightenment, finds his mind firmly established in the impermanence of creation and the permanence of its transcendental nature. The intellect is thus able to come to a point where it call appreciate the idea that the essential nature of transcendental reality is permanent, never-changing, eternal and absolute. All that remains is to attain realisation. Because he is on the intellectual path to realisation he tries to ascertain again and again the reality of transcendental, absolute nature which underlies the phenomenal existence of creation. As the practice of contemplation continues, his mind becomes more and more established in eternal Being which grows increasingly familiar to him. He begins to contemplate in terms of: I am That, Thou art That and all this is That. This idea becomes so deeply rooted in his consciousness that, with prolonged practice, this principle becomes part of him and he begins to live this understanding through all the experiences of daily life. When he can fix his understanding in the oneness of life his mind begins to be held in this oneness even in the midst of all the diverse experiences of daily life. A state of mind is created which is as if he were deeply hypnotised by the idea: I am That, thou art That and all this is That. His consciousness is captured by the idea of the oneness of life, and the obvious diversity of existence and phenomenal creation begins to co-exist with this oneness. This is the beginning of the experience of transcendental reality on the level of intellectual understanding. So the first step on the intellectual path to God-realisation is discrimination between the real and the unreal and contemplation on the transient, futile, ever-changing, perishable nature of the world. The second step is to contemplate on the oneness and the eternal features of the never-changing existence which lies at the basis of all the ever-changing phases of life. The third step is to live this principle in practical life through the practice of establishing in the depths of consciousness the oneness of eternal life in terms of the first person, second person and third person: I am That, thou art That and all this is That. This path of enlightenment is, we could say, a path of self-hypnotism. Discrimination in assessing ever-changing, phenomenal existence while trying to locate an unchanging underlying feature is one thing ; attempting to associate one's Being with the cosmic Being is another. This is the intellectual path of enlightenment where only the intellect functions. Unless the understanding of the oneness of life goes deep in consciousness and begins to be lived in the midst of all the multiple, diverse experience and activity of life, it will not become a state of realisation. Therefore the aspirant on the intellectual path of realisation understands, assimilates and tries to live the unchanging, imperishable oneness of absolute Being in terms of his own Being. The idea of the oneness of life goes so deep in the aspirant's consciousness that the association of his mind with the experiences of the wakeful state, the dreaming state and the deep sleep state do not weaken the conviction that he is himself imperishable, unchanging, eternal, absolute Being. When this becomes fixed in the consciousness, he begins to live that oneness of life through all the diversity of the wakeful, dreaming and sleeping states. When he rises to a state of eternal Being, while yet remaining in the field of relative experience, then is his consciousness complete, then is his life fully realised. This is realisation of the omnipresent, impersonal God by way of the intellectual path. The nature of this path is such that it cultures the mind so that it gradually loses interest in the experiences of practical day-to-day life. Such a mind is by nature contemplative. It is first engaged in thinking in terms of the negation of creation, of the futility and the evanescent, perishable nature of phenomenal existence, and secondly in contemplating the imperishable nature which lies behind the obvious phases of life. The mind is always thinking and contemplating, trying to distinguish transcendental reality from the perishable outer world, and in trying to live this reality it loses the charm of the outer world. Such a mind necessarily becomes divorced from practical life; therefore the intellectual path to God-realisation through contemplation is certainly not a path for practical men. It is not a path for the householder. No man remaining active in the world, bearing the responsibilities of family and society and the pressure of business, can possibly succeed in infusing the divine nature into his mind through this method of contemplation. This intellectual path of divine revelation suits those who have nothing to do with practical life, who have kept themselves apart from the responsibilities of life, who have shunned business activities and chosen the way of a recluse. The silence which a recluse enjoys is such as to keep him away from work. He spends most of the time in silence, contemplating, discriminating and assimilating the divine nature as his own. Only the aspirant who leads this secluded type of contemplative life can succeed in realisation by the path of contemplation. Take, for example, a man who keeps repeating: I am a king, I am a king. By concentrating on being a king he could eventually produce within himself a state of mind in which, even when walking in the street, he would continue to feel that he was a king. So firm and convincing a state could be created that even if he had to beg in the street he would continue to feel within himself that he was a king. In this way, irrespective of circumstances or surroundings, he could create a state of mind in which he would always feel that he was a king. Such is the state of the contemplative seeker after truth who treads the intellectual path to realisation. It is important to note that success in this type of contemplation depends on long devotion to this path. If a man has much time at his disposal to dwell on the idea that he is a king, then it will be possible for him to establish deep in his consciousness the feeling that he is a king. But if he does not have time for lengthy contemplation on the idea of being a king, the idea will not become firmly rooted in his mind. In order to establish oneself in the oneness of life through contemplation it is necessary to be contemplative for most of one's life. Much time is needed for the aspirant to be established in the idea of the one-ness and permanence of life. This is certainly not the path of a house holder because a householder has responsibilities on many levels. This type of contemplation will either result in the householder re signing from the responsibilities of his way of life or will make him irresponsible. The carrying out of responsibility requires attention and devotion to work and this type of contemplation requires negation and abstinence from work. The practice of Raja Yoga, being accomplished through contemplation, belongs to this type of intellectual approach to God-realisation. This is certainly not the way of an ordinary householder. For God-realisation the householder needs a path through action and not through contemplation. It is impractical for a man of the world, with the responsibilities of family life and social obligations, to think of everything in terms of evanescence, futility and impermanence. The intellectual method of discrimination, when practised while living all active life in the world, results in a state of divided mind which disturbs the co-ordination of the mind and nervous system and thus prevents the possibility of any development in higher consciousness. For centuries past many seekers of enlightenment have unfortunately, been victims of this state which results in failure in the world as well as failure in the divine quest. True enlightenment through the intellectual path means intellectually rising above the field of the intellect and arriving at the field of transcendental, divine consciousness. This necessitates bringing the conscious mind to the transcendental reality of Being. No kind of intellectual mood-making can succeed in bringing anyone to this level of consciousness. So it is clear that complete God-realisation is not possible merely by the process of intellectual discrimination and understanding without the actual experience of transcendental Being. Direct experience of the Absolute not only reveals the nature of the supreme reality or God, but also enlightens the intellect, enabling it to hold an unmistakably clear understanding about lt. This is the reason why those who are traditionally initiated into the path of intellectual understanding, into the recluse way of life, are necessarily initiated into the practice of transcendental meditation. Those who try to follow the path of intellectual realisation through reading books remain in the field of mood-making without the joy of bliss-consciousness - the main blessing of the realisation of God. THE EMOTIONAL PATH TO GOD-REALISATION: THE PATH OF DEVOTION The path of devotion proceeds by the qualities of the heart. All paths of devotion are emotional paths to God-realisation. The qualities of the heart are the qualities which enable a man to feel. They differ from the qualities of the mind which enable a man to think and understand. On the intellectual path to God-realisation the predominant factor is knowing and understanding. Here, on the path of devotion, the main factor is feeling. The feeling of love is the vehicle which enables a man to advance on this path. Love, emotion, happiness, kindness and surrender are the qualities of heart which sustain the path of devotion. Love increases and as it progresses it leaves behind the fields of lesser happiness and gains ground in more stable and valuable regions of happiness. The path of devotion is a path of happiness, a path of love, the path through the qualities of the heart. Love of God is the greatest virtue that a man can ever cultivate; through this develops love for the creation of God, for the children of God. Kindness, compassion, tolerance and helpfulness to others emanate from the heart in which the love of God grows. Fortunate are those whose hearts melt in love of God, who feel abundance in love and devotion to God, whose hearts flow and overflow with His remembrance, with the name of God. Fortunate are those whose life is dedicated to almighty God and to the good of His creation. Increased devotion means increased love, and this brings with it increased happiness, contentment, glory and grace. A man on the path of devotion finds himself increasingly aware of ever greater degrees of happiness. The path of love is like the relationship between a child and the heart of his mother. As the child takes his first step towards his mother her heart swells. Her happiness radiates and reflects on the child, so that at each step he enjoys greater happiness, and this again reflects in the heart of the mother. The mother's joy increases and reaches its height when the child arrives in her arms and finds himself one with his mother's heart. As love increases in his heart the devotee gains a greater degree of happiness. His heart finds its goal when his love rests in the eternal existence of God. The devotee and God become one. The drop of water finds itself in the fullness of the ocean and the two unite. The unity is complete, and in its fullness the unity alone is. Here is the one leaving no trace of the other. The two are there no more; the path of union is extinct and only the union stands. The lover of God is drowned in the ocean of His love, and God is drowned also in the ocean of the lover's love. This is the great union in all its simplicity. There is no discrimination, no elimination, no negation; there is no understanding. The path of love is the path of blinding bliss. On the path of love there is only one direction: from the field of lesser happiness to a field of greater happiness. The river of love flows down the steep slope of God-consciousness. It runs rapidly and quickly loses itself, and in losing itself attains the unbounded status of the ocean of love. Loss is a victory on the path of love. It is a blessed loss which marks the gain of fulfilment in life. Blessed are those who lose themselves in this path of love, and more blessed yet are those who lose the path as well and gain the goal and live it. The beauty of this path is that the loss of the self is incurred for the sake of love. The lover knows only how to lose, and this process of losing has no motive of gain. He only knows himself to be without any aim. The love begins and he accepts it as it comes, and as it comes it increases. He keeps losing himself but does not know that he is losing himself, does not even know when he is completely lost. For when he is lost he is God; or rather, it is not that he is God but that God is God. Oneness of God-consciousness, one eternal existence, oneness of eternal life, oneness of absolute Being; only the One remains. Then the varieties of life are like the varieties of waves on the eternal ocean of the love of God. The multiplicity of life finds itself in the oneness of God-consciousness. The many forms and phenomena of the world around are like ripples and waves, a mirage which only appears to exist in the unbounded existence of God. The waves of love rise on the surface of life simply that life may be felt and known and lived in its variety ; so that the path of love may continue to be found on the surface of life and that love may continue for everyone who comes into life; so that the lovers of life may find life in losing it and find God in losing themselves in God-consciousness. All this is in order that again and again devotees may continue to need and find God, and God may continue to descend on the devotees and rest in them, and the devotees may continue to rest and live in God. The path to God, the path of love, leads in one direction only; from lesser degrees of happiness to greater degrees of bliss and to bliss eternal; from lesser degrees of intelligence to absolute, eternal intelligence. To speak of the increase of intelligence on the path of love seems inconsistent, because love is a quality of the heart and has little to do with intelligence. It does not seem reasonable to say that intelligence grows as love grows. With an increase of love the light of God increases and becomes the light of love. The light of God increases and through it intelligence and all which rests on it are nourished. Yet no place is left for intelligence because everything is conquered by the great influx of love. Not that intelligence is annihilated; it is only as if the light of intelligence merges into the light of love, the light of life. As the different colours of the spectrum merge together to give rise to a powerful beam of white light, so the light of intelligence, happiness and creativity unite to produce a forceful stream of love. The light of love is the blinding light of love alone, and the greatness of intelligence and power and all else is present there, but in latent form. They are all lost in the light of love; not actually lost: it is as if their identities are forgotten in the love of God. Love and intelligence, power and intelligence, and all the variety and vanity of life merge in the oneness of God, leaving God in the love of the devotee and the devotee merged in the ocean of God's love. All the qualities of life and the manifold forms of phenomenal existence sink, to leave the fresh waters of eternal life full in the ocean of God-consciousness. On the path of love the variety of the universe finds fulfilment in the unity of God. In love God is found in the world and the world is found in God. And for the glory of God to be experienced happiness must increase. For what is there on the surface of life that can increase happiness? The attention has to go to the finer fields of life, the subtler levels of creation, the deeper levels of consciousness. Bringing attention to the deeper levels of consciousness is the key to experiencing greater happiness. This is the principle of transcendental meditation. This is what brings fulfilment to the path of love. The path of devotion without the practice of transcendental meditation, without greater experience of greatest happiness, remains unpractical. Transcendental meditation fills the heart of man with great happiness; the heart feels completely filled. The practice of this meditation increases the ability to experience greater happiness in the heart, and so enables the devotee to continue even while he feels the fullness of eternal bliss, not ceasing until the ocean of love is full of absolute glory in grace and overflowing into everything in creation. Meditation makes absolute love a real, significant, personal experience in whatever is experienced in that eternal state of God-consciousness. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GOD-REALISATION It may seem strange to speak of a physiological approach to God-realisation. But we belong to a scientific age, and to explore the paths to God-realisation we should explore them from all sides. The physical universe of multiple experiences is before us. Can there be a physical means to God-realisation? Can the physical plane provide a means to rise to cosmic consciousness. Can the physical plane provide a means to rise to the fulfilment of life? How can we produce a state of all tranquillity in the midst of all activity? How can we reach that pinnacle of human development from the physical side of life? To understand how this is possible we should know that the state of divine existence, divine life, or God-realisation, is a state of positive experience. It is all experience, not a fanciful thought; it is not a mood, neither is it on the thinking level. It is a positive experience of life. It is the state of life, it is Being. For any experience a specific activity must be created in the nervous system. The nervous system must be set in a particular order. The machinery of the nervous system must reach a specific condition to give rise to a specific experience. If we hear a word, hearing it is the result of some activity in the nervous system, and this activity is responsible for providing the experience of the word. If we see a flower and its image passes through the retina of the eye to the mind, there is a highly complicated activity in the nervous system which gives rise to the perception of the flower. If we smell something, some activity in a specific part of the nervous system produces the particular experience of smelling. If we touch something, the experience of touch produces a particular activity in that part of the nervous system which gives the experience. So whatever the experience, it is based on a particular activity of the nervous system. Those who meditate know that during meditation they experience the subtle states of thought. To experience a very subtle state of thought there must be a correspondingly subtle activity in a more sensitive region of the nervous system. When the thought has been transcended and the mind reaches the transcendental state, it arrives at a state of suspension and silence and gains the full awareness of pure consciousness. This is a positive experience. Although it is not an experience of any outside object, it is an experience of its own kind where the experiencer is left by himself. This is the state of pure consciousness, the experience of pure Being. The experience of pure Being and the state of Being mean the same thing. For this experience to be possible there must be a particular condition in the nervous system, a particular state of poised alertness where the nervous system is not passive. It is active but has no activity because there is no experience of any object. This is not the usual condition of the brain during the wakeful, dreaming or sleeping states. When the thought is experienced during meditation, a particular condition is created in the functioning of the brain mechanism. At each level of subtle experience of the thought the brain functions at an appropriate level of activity. In the state of transcending there is a specific state of the brain mechanism which gives rise to the experience of transcendental pure consciousness. This particular state of the brain mechanism is arrived at by the process of experiencing progressively subtle states of thought, that is, through the agency of the mind. This is dlc mental approach to God-realisation. The mind is brought from experience to experience, progressing from an experience of a gross nature to an experience of a subtle nature, finally reaching the particular experience of the transcendental state. When the body functions for a long time the nervous system becomes tired and sleep follows. This fatigue is a physical state of the nervous system brought about through continuous functioning without rest until a state is reached which fails to give rise to any experience. In some way it should be possible to create physically a particular state of the nervous system which would correspond to that state which is responsible for the creation of transcendental consciousness. Just as when the nervous system is tired a state is created in which the brain does not experience anything, so it should be possible by physically stimulating the nervous system to create transcendental consciousness. If this is possible it will constitute a physiological approach to God-realisation. In Hatha Yoga we find a system which has existed since ancient times in India: a physiological approach to God-realisation whereby the nervous system is brought to a state which causes the brain to function in a particular manner. In this condition the brain enables the mind to gain transcendental consciousness. During sleeping, dreaming, waking and through all experiences breathing continues and the brain continues to function; this causes incessant activity in the body. We have seen that to create transcendental consciousness the activity of the brain must cease, but the brain must not be allowed to become static. The brain is held in a. suspended state of activity yet is not passive. It is alert without activity. If the brain is to be held like this in a state of suspension, then the entire functioning of the nervous system must be held in a particular state of neither activity nor inactivity. For this to be possible the breath must be held in a state of neither breathing out nor breathing in. The breath must be between flowing and not flowing, and must be suspended there. To bring the functioning of the nervous system to that state of suspension the body must be trained because its habit has been either to remain active in the waking state or to be inactive in the sleeping state; these are the normal conditions of the body. It must, therefore, be trained to be still, yet not to enter a passive state. When the body is functioning normally the general experience is one of being either awake or asleep. To some extent we are aware when sleep comes for increasing dullness overtakes us. The ability to experience becomes less, and we do not know when sleep actually comes. We do feel when we are about to sleep, and we do feel that our consciousness becomes gradually fainter, and then we do not feel anything. Consciousness fades to nil, but we do not experience the final fading of consciousness. This shows that the body or the mind is not completely normal. If the whole nervous system were normal, then we should be able to experience pure awareness, that state of awareness which is almost one with deep sleep and at the same time almost one with the subtlest state of the waking state. It is as if our constant subjection to outer experiences had set a pattern to the system. Normally we should experience the start of a thought. This should be our normal experience if the body is perfectly pure, that is, if the brain is physically perfectly pure. To be physically pure means that it must be free from dullness and tension. In our ordinary state of mind when a thought arises the mind is overshadowed. The mind is then engaged with that thought. When the thought is transformed into action and its purpose achieved, the desire is fulfilled. If we want to smell a flower the thought arises, and when it reaches the conscious level our mind tells the hand to grasp the flower, bring it to the nose and we smell the flower. Now the desire to smell the flower is complete, that is, the desire has come to an end. If the brain is functioning normally, once the desire is fulfilled and before another desire arises, the mind will experience the state of pure Being, or pure consciousness. This is what happens in a realised man when he experiences a desire. When one desire is fulfilled and before another desire arises, he enjoys the natural state of Being. This is because there is no activity in the brain. Being free from activity the brain does not enter a state of passivity. It cherishes the state of Being, or pure consciousness. Between two thoughts is the state of pure Being. Every thought arises from the state of pure Being, and between two thoughts there is a gap. The gap should not be a gap containing no experience. If the brain is functioning normally, if the mind and nervous system are pure, then between every two thoughts a state of Being will be experienced. This, however, is not generally the case. When we become tired the mind becomes dull and ceases to function. The inability of the brain to function is the result of impurity. This may be due to physical reasons. Alcohol, for example, affects the brain and causes dullness of mind. The effects of activity also make the mind tired and dull and so exhaust the nervous system that the mind is unable to experience even the gross, let alone the subtle. The ability of the nervous system to cognise extra subtle states of experience is marred through contamination of the brain matter by impure physical matter, through fatigue or through wrong thinking, all of which exhaust mental energy. Fatigue is the main factor. It does not allow the mind to experience subtleties. Wrong food also can make the mind dull, put one to sleep or make one irritated. We eat and drink, and whatever we eat or drink may contain some impure element which affects the mind. If a material factor can influence the mind to become dull, then a material factor can influence the mind to become sharp. If exhaustion can make the mind dull and produce sleep, then freshness and energy can revive the mind and make it alert. The physiological approach is meant to remove from the nerVOus system the physical conditions which cause dullness. It therefore attacks the impurity in the body and the reason for fatigue. We want to purify the nervous system to such an extent that this will eventually create the exact condition in the nervous system which will give rise to the state of transcendental consciousness. Therefore we create such a physical state in the nervous system as to cause the body to be in its most normal condition. The human nervous system is perfect because it has the ability to gain transcendental consciousness. But consuming wrong food and drink and breathing poor air cause the system to become physically unfit to attain transcendental consciousness. Thus we find that the physiological approach to divine consciousness consists of (1) choosing the right quality of food; (2) choosing the right type of activity; (3) eliminating from the system the influence of wrong food and wrong activity. All this naturally requires much discipline at all levels of life. Therefore such an approach is suitable only for those who lead a hermit's life. Only they can afford to spend the required time under the personal supervision of a teacher. It is certainly not the path of the householder whose pattern of life is such that he cannot make use of laborious and time-consuming practices. There are, however, other ways to enlightenment more suitable to the modern householder. THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO GOD-REALISATION The psycho-physiological approach to God-realisation, as the name implies, involves the simultaneous use of the body and mind. We have seem how the body and mind are closely interrelated. The state of the mind directly effects the body and the state of the body influences the mind. In describing the physiological approach to God-realisation we saw that by culturing the body and breath a state of restful alertness can be created in the nervous system so that the individual may experience Being. This brings the hope of accelerating progress on any path to God-realisation, intellectual or emotional, by supplementing it with a physiological approach. This combination of the physiological with the intellectual or emotional paths constitutes the psycho-physiological path to God-realisation. It may be said that the main feature of the psycho-physiological path is the culture of the body and mind to produce simultaneously the state of transcendental consciousness in the mind and a state of restful alertness in the body. The purpose is to provide help from the physical plane in culturing the mind and from the mental plane in culturing the body. The sole intention is to arrive at the goal with greater ease in the shortest time. Seen from this point of view the psycho-physiological approach seems fascinating because there is no lover of God, or seeker after truth, who would not be lured to follow the path offering greater ease and more rapid realisation. But as has already been made clear, the physiological path necessitating rigorous practices of physical control and breath control is not suitable to the householder's way of life. So, in spite of its scope, the psycho-physiological path cannot be a universal one. As we have seen, culturing the body and the breath needs close personal supervision by a teacher if the health of the aspirant is to be safeguarded. There are, however, some light exercises for breathing and for the body which may be practised as an accompaniment to the intellectual or emotional paths, and which do not require strict personal supervision. These would certainly help to accelerate progress on these paths. The psycho-physiological path to God-realisation, however, finds fulfilment in the practice of transcendental meditation, which simultaneously influences the body and the mind. Without control of ally kind on any level, it automatically places the mind in the state of transcendental consciousness and brings the body and the nervous system to that condition of restful alertness which is essential to the state of enlightenment. THE MECHANICAL PATH TO GOD-REALISATION It is unusual to conceive of a path to God-realisation proceeding and succeeding in a mechanical way. But a close scrutiny of the process of perception will reveal that God-realisation is indeed possible in a mechanical way. Perception is the result of the natural radiation of consciousness from the centre of pure Being in man to the object perceived. An example will illustrate this. The current from a battery cell reaches the bulb and projects as a beam of light. As the light proceeds, its strength diminishes until eventually a limit is reached where the light may be said to be nil. Likewise, from the inexhaustible energy of Being, consciousness radiates through the nervous system, reaches the senses of perception and passes to the object of experience. As it radiates outwards the content of consciousness, the degree of bliss, diminishes. The whole process is automatic and mechanical. The nervous system is the means by which consciousness manifests and projects itself into the outside world, giving the phenomenon of perception. The process of perception is both mechanical and automatic. To see an objeCt we have only to open our eyes and sight of the object comes automatically without the use of intellect or emotions. For perception to take place it is not necessary to involve intellect or emotions. This is what is meant by the statement that perception is mechanical. The radiation of consciousness starts from the abstract, absolute, pure state of bliss and carries the bliss in a diminishing degree as it proceeds outwards. The oneness of Being, appearing in its infinite variety of creation, is an automatic projection of consciousness. So perception in the outer world results mechanically from the diverging process of consciousness. The degree of bliss decreases as we proceed to the outer gross levels of experience and increases as we move inwards towards the subtler levels approaching the source, the Being. So whether we experience on the levels of outward projecting consciousness, or on the levels of inward projecting consciousness, the process of perception remains both mechanical and automatic. Perception remains automatic whether it is directed outwards or inwards; whether it is perception of the gross or the subtle fields of life or perception of the transcendental state of Being. This is how realisation of Being is possible on the plane of mechanical perception. This justifies the mechanical process of perception as a means to God-realisation. We shall now analyse the process of perception which brings about this realisation. The process of perception of the outer world begins in the unmanifested field of pure consciousness and is carried through the instrumentality of the mind and nervous system to the manifested field of gross creation. This means that the process of perception is the result of the inner consciousness projecting outwards. If, however, the state of pure consciousness is sought, it will be necessary for this process of perception to be reversed. The consciousness must be gathered from the outer gross field and directed inwards. The perception of pure Being, therefore, necessitates stopping gross activity and appreciating instead successive stages of diminishing activity until the least activity can be appreciated and transcended. This gives rise to the state of pure consciousness, or the perception of transcendental Being. The appreciation of activity from the gross outer to the subtle inner levels of perception is obviously the path in the inward direction. Whether perception is outward or inward it is automatic and mechanical. Perception in the outward direction is the result of a progressive increase of activity in the nervous system; perception in the inward direction is the result of diminishing activity until the nervous system ceases to function and reaches a state of stillness, a state of restful alertness. This is the state described in the words: Be still and know that I am God. This stillness is achieved ideally when activity in the nervous system is brought to that state of restful alertness where even the mind's activity is reduced to nil, where the thinking process has been reduced to a point at the source of thinking. At this point perception remains in a state of absolute consciousness, the state of enlightenment is gained and absolute transcendental Being comes to be on the conscious level of life; or the conscious level of the mind reaches the transcendental level of Being. The inward movement of the mind brings it mechanically to a state of full enlightenment. This mechanical process of perception in the inward direction causes the nervous system to arrive naturally at the state of restful alertness, and is the mechanical path to God-realisation. In its practical form it is known as transcendental meditation It is called a mechanical path to indicate that the process of inward perception is innocent and does not need intellectual or emotional help. It does not proceed through discrimination or feeling. This mechanical path of perception succeeds independently without intellectual or emotional interference. The activity of the mind in the inward direction brings it to the field of the transcendental Absolute and fills it with the power of eternal Being. Then, as the mind moves outwards again, its activity brings the light of transcendental, absolute Being into the outer world, thereby increasing the intensity of bliss in the perception of the gross, manifested fields of creation. This is how the innocent path of mechanical perception quietly serves to take the mind to transcendental, absolute Being, or to take man to the field of God and from there to bring him out with the glory of God to brighten all fields of his life in the world. This explains the high significance of action and justifies its status as a path to enlightenment. This innocent, natural, simple process of perception and experience from the outer gross to the inner subtle and on to the Transcendent, and from there returning outwards to the gross, comprises the path of action for enlightenment. The mechanical path of perception succeeds in harmonising the values of eternal Being with the transitory field of activity in the world. Because the realisation of Being entails inward perception, and because infusion of Being in outward activity entails outward perception, we find that it is the glory of mechanical perception which fills the whole field of life with the glory of divine Being and brings individual life to a state of cosmic consciousness. This is how we find that the mechanical path to God-realisation lies in the simple process of inward and outward perception. Therefore any man is capable of realising God by this path, irrespective of his intellectual or emotional state of development. It is only necessary to know how to use one's ability to experience, and this knowledge opens the highway to God-realisation. The mechanical path to God-realisation as found in transcendental meditation is so simple and comprehensive in its results that it attracts all lovers of God and seekers after truth proceeding on any of the paths to God-realisation, intellectual, emotional, physiological or psycho-physiological. It is so graceful that anyone treading any path in life will find it comforting and elevating. It supports and strengthens any path to fulfilment, any path to the great goal of God-realisation. Generation after generation man is born anew. Each generation gives rise to new aspirations in life, new standards of thought and action, and brings a new quest for fulfilment. It may be that each man in his generation has aspirations in common with those around him, but they are his own new aspirations to bring fulfilment to his life. Each man needs sound physical and mental health, greater ability in action, a greater capacity to think clearly, increased efficiency in work and more loving and rewarding relationships with others. He needs freedom from suffering and misfortunes ;l day-to-day living. He needs enough intelligence and vitality to satisfy the desires of his mind and bring contentment to his life. In addition to all these things man should have a life of permanent freedom in God-consciousness. We have seen that all this can be gained by the regular practice of transcendental meditation. Regularity in practice and simplicity and innocent natural behaviour towards others will accomplish all this in the individual life. Therefore a strong and effective system must be created so that each man in the world may receive the technique of transcendental meditation. He will then fulfil his own purpose and create an atmosphere conducive to the fulfilment of the lives of others. A solid foundation should be established for all generations of men to gain fulfilment in life at all levels. The responsibility lies on the shoulders of the great-hearted and intelligent leaders of the present generation. In order to formulate all effective plan for the emancipation of the entire human race generation after generation, we must give primary consideration to the factor of purity. Purity is life. Absolute purity is eternal life. Surival depends upon purity. At the root of the plan should be purity. When we speak of purity let us make it clear that in the state of highest evolution, in the field of cosmic consciousness, when the mind receives the fullest infusion of absolute Being, then by nature it functions on the plane of purity in accordance with all the natural laws. which carry out the eternal process of evolution in creation. Any system of life which is based on the natural evolution of creation will certainly survive through the age because evolution is the process which conducts the march of time through the changing conditions of all life. The sole purpose of the plan should be to maintain continuity and purity in the teaching of transcendental meditation. In view of these considerations such a plan should contain the following points: 1. In order that the teaching of transcendental meditation may be imparted on the level of the, laws of nature governing the process of evolution, it is necessary for the teachers who impart this knowledge to be established on the plane of cosmic law, or at least to be working sincerely towards this end in their own lives. For this it is necessary to provide special facilities which will ensure that the teachers of meditation are trained thoroughly in the practice and understanding of its principles. An Academy of Meditation has been built in the foothills of the Himalayas on the bank of the holy river Ganges, where people from all over the world can be trained under conditions ideal for meditation. The plan should include the building of similar academies in every country. 2. For teaching to be imparted to every man on the level of his evolution it must be imparted according to his natural tendencies. Natural inclinations should not be disturbed because they are the path of a man's evolution. The teaching should allow people to be what they are, allow them to do what they like and not to do what they do not like. If the teaching is such as to bring fulfilment of a man's desires, then it will not only be readily accepted but will certainly bring greater momentum to his path of evolution. The technique for imparting transcendental meditation lies in discovering what are a man's aspirations, what he wants to accomplish and what his desires are, and then telling him of the gains from transcendental meditation in terms of his desires, needs and aspirations. If transcendental meditation is taught in relation to each individual's aspirations, then it will be in accordance wild the level of his evolution and will regulate his life in conformity with natural laws. The whole: stream of his life will begin to flow in accord with the eternally progressive rhythm of nature. The harmony of his life will become the eternal harmony of nature. 3. The purity of the system must be maintained at all costs from generation to generation because the effect of the teaching depends upon its purity. For this it is necessary to train the teachers thoroughly in the practice and theory of transcendental meditation so that the purity of the system is engrained in their hearts and the teaching is passed on to others in its pure state. To maintain the purity of the system it is also most necessary for organisations to have their own premises. Centres of transcendental meditation, temples of human evolution, should be constructed everywhere in the world so that dedicated teachers may work with ease and maintain the purity of the teaching. Moreover, the history of different religions shows that it is the temples, churches, mosques and pagodas which have provided a centre for teaching the wisdom of their religions. If it were not for these great edifices the message would long ago have been lost. Certainly the structures themselves do not have any significance in maintaining the purity of the tradition, but they are a strong safeguard. It is not the buildings which carry on the message but they are fixed places from which the message is given to all generations. 4. To maintain the teaching for all time, it is also necessary for the practice of this meditation to be made an integral part of daily routine. It should fall into the pattern of life, it should be a way of life so that every man always lives in harmony and the world is glorified. To bring such joy to living it is only necessary to ensure that everyone in the coming generation is cultured in the science of being and the art of living. The only direct way is to introduce this teaching into the field of education, so that no man enters the world of responsibility without the technique of integrated life. Every educational institution should have a meditation centre. But to build meditation centres only in the colleges and universities will not suffice: sanctuaries of silence should be constructed in the midst of the noisy centres of big cities, so that before going to work and after leaving it people may spend a short time in silent meditation rooms and, diving deep within themselves, profit from undisturbed and regular meditations. Such centres should also be constructed in holiday resorts where people go at week-ends. There they may have long hours of meditation and return home renewed in spirit, intelligence and energy. The practical realisation of this plan for the emancipation of all mankind generation after generation requires the construction of a world centre for training spiritual leaders and the construction of silent meditation rooms in colleges and universities, in the business areas of cities and at holiday resorts. It is hoped that lovers of life and well-wishers of humanity will come forward to begin the building of these meditation centres. If and when in the passage of time the right understanding of the teaching becomes obscured through being mixed with other ideologies and the teachers fail to produce beneficial effects in society, then these permanent buildings will stand as symbols of the message. Although unable to carry the message effectively, they will speak silently, from generation to generation, of the existence of a simple way to liberate mankind. A building serves as the home of an ideology. Both body and spirit are needed to make all effective personality. Without the body the spirit will not be found, and without the spirit the body cannot function. So the spirit of the message will be in the evolved state of consciousness of the teachers and the purity of the system; the body of the message will be those buildings and books which will endure and help to preserve its spirit. 5-If the teaching is to be maintained from one generation to another it should accord with the general tendency of each generation. The level of understanding and tendencies change from time to time. The teaching must maintain its integrity at all times and yet accommodate itself to all changes. There was a time when religion guided the destiny of man, but when the message of religion failed to provide a means of peace and inner harmony or a direct way to God-realisation, people lost faith. History shows that when religion is reduced to ritual and dogma alone the human mind, in its attempt to find a true understanding of life, turns to philosophy, the quest for truth on an intellectual basis. Dogmatic religions lose their importance and naturally fade into the background of people's lives. Until about fifty or a hundred years ago religion held sway over the consciousness of people in general. When religion lost its hold, metaphysical movements or the comparative study of different religions became predominant. When, in spite of all its endeavours to describe reality, metaphysics could offer no practical formula for the realisation of abstract, metaphysical truth, the human mind needed to turn to something else. The study of philosophy remained the interest of some, but mass consciousness turned to political awakening. With the spread of the democratic ideology, mass consciousness was caught up in day-to-day political events all over the world. In a democracy each man has a political responsibility and this draws political consciousness into his life. As democratic governments became more widespread political consciousness began to dominate life. People looked to politics for the fulfilment of life. Politics can never provide an adequate formula for the fulfilment of individual life. Today politics seem to dominate mass consciousness. Anything that happens in the field of politics receives wide publicity, is talked about and attracts the attention of all nations. But times are changing fast, and the day is not far off when political consciousness will be replaced by economic consciousness. Economists are already influencing the direction of politicians in most countries. The teaching of transcendental meditation should accord with the consciousness of the masses at any particular time. In view of the changing phases of mass consciousness it follows that the level of the teaching of transcendental meditation should not be rigid or restricted. The policy of its propagation should accept changes in the level of consciousness at any time so that it can be imparted easily to every man of each generation. When religion dominates mass consciousness, transcendental meditation should be taught in terms of religion. When metaphysical thinking dominates the consciousness of society, transcendental meditation should be taught in metaphysical terms, aiming at the fulfilment of current metaphysical thought. When politics dominate mass consciousness, transcendental meditation should be taught in terms of politics, aiming at bringing fulfilment to the political aspirations of the time. When economics dominate mass consciousness, transcendental meditation should be taught in terms of economics, with the aim of bringing fulfilment to the economic aspirations and goal of the time. Today, when politics are guiding the destiny of man, the teaching should be related primarily to the field of politics and secondarily to that of economics. It will then be easier to spread it through all countries and to make it not only popular but available practically to all people everywhere. When after a few years economies gain the ascendent the teaching should be related primarily to aspirations in this field. Politics should then come second and metaphysics and religion third. The teaching of transcendental meditation should be based on that influence which is guiding the destiny of mass consciousness at a particular time. For the present it seems that transcendental meditation should be made available to everyone through the agency of governments. This is a time when any effort to perpetuate a new and useful ideology can succeed only with the help of governments. It is the governments of democratic countries which have the trust and goodwill of their people. The leaders are the representatives of the people and every leader naturally wishes to do something good for those he represents. If conscientious leaders who understand that this meditation is for the good of each individual accept it for its truth and value, it will easily and effectively reach every home on earth. In view of the great benefits that transcendental meditation can bring to health, education and social welfare and to the lives of prisoners in gaols, and to the misguided lives of delinquents, it is essential for it to be given through the government departments of health, education, social welfare and justice. It should be a practice adopted by the members of the medical profession, by teachers and professors in schools and colleges, by social workers trying to improve the level of behaviour in society and by all well-wishers of life in every field. Thus the plan for the emancipation of all mankind in every age lies in training teachers of transcendental meditation, in constructing meditation centres, in bringing the practice to each individual on the level of his need and nature, and in finding ways and means for its propagation according to the level of consciousness at different times. Transcendental meditation in its pure form will help people at all times to alleviate suffering and to remove shortcomings and ignorance; it will usher in a new era for a new humanity developed in all life's values - physical, mental, material and spiritual - and enable man to live a life of fulfilment established in the eternal freedom of God-consciousness. The peace and prosperity of people everywhere will be secured. Higher consciousness will guide the destiny of man. All will be established in the true values of life. Accomplishments will be great in the family, the society, the nation and the world. And man will live naturally in fulfilment, generation after generation.

JAI GURU DEV The following speech war delivered to the WORLD PARLIAMENT ASSOCIATION in Paris, in October, 1962 by Prince Giovanni Alliata de Montereale, a member of the Parliament of Italy Dear Colleagues: In my contact with parliamentarians for the last fifteen years, ever since the birth of this World Parliament Association, I have come to the conclusion that something has to be done by us to improve the peoples of our countries. On the international scene our aim is to establish unity among the nations and for this high purpose we have been working and our efforts will continue. On the national scale all of us are directly concerned with the integrity of our own nations. We want our industry and commerce to grow; we want our technology to develop; we wish our scientists great success in their undertakings; we want our agriculture to be better ; we want our nation to be more integrated and more powerful in every way. In order to achieve all these aims we should plan for our people to be healthier, more intelligent and more creative. This could be achieved by developing the power of each man within himself and unfolding the faculties latent in his mind. The study of psychology has shown that whatever a man is able to express of himself is only a part of his whole. The greater part of man does not find expression in his behaviour and activity in life, because the conscious mind is only a part of the total mind that a man possesses. So what we need is to make available to every man in our country a technique of enlarging his conscious mind, a technique of enabling him to use his full mind. For example, if a man is using only a fraction of his mind, by enabling him to use the whole of his mind, he will become infinitely greater as a man. He will think much more deeply and more fully than he now does. Suppose that the conscious mind of man is only one-fourth of his total mind. Then whatever he thinks and does is only a quarter of his real potential. If we want him to use his full potential then his full mind should be made conscious and only then his thought force will be four times more powerful and he will be four times stronger and four times more sensible and happier than before. His love for his fellow man and the harmony in his home and his surroundings will increase four times. In the field of science, in the field of industry and commerce, on the level of civilization as a whole, great improvement will be found. For this purpose we propose adopting one simple method which will enlarge the conscious mind and thereby simultaneously improve man on all levels - physical, mental and spiritual - and also increase his creative intelligence and improve his relations with his fellow men. This one simple Method of improving each man as a whole is available in the world today. We have only to incorporate it in our system of education, health and welfare. To accomplish this I propose that we, the members of Parliaments assembled here from all over the world, unite in presenting to our respective govemments the bills incorporating these ideas, the details of which are available for your examination. I propose that we present four bills in our Parliaments to cover the scope of the Ministries of Education, Social Welfare, Justice and Health. I trust that you will certainly examine this matter carefully and that you will be one of those who will introduce this in your Parliament. As I previously remarked, a simple method of improving each man as a whole is available in the world today. I can, with confidence, say something about it because of my own experience. The method is known as transcendental meditation. Its practice has been introduced to people throughout the world by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I have personally practised Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's simple system of transcendental meditation for enlarging the conscious mind. On the basis of my own personal experience and on the basis of my observations of Some hundreds of people from England. Germany and Italy, who are also following this practice, I urge you most earnestly to practise it yourselves. In the name of peace and happiness of the individual, in the name of the solidarity of our nations and in the name of world peace, I urge you, my friends, to introduce this tried and proven method to all the people of your countries through your Parliaments in a systematic and effective way. All our peoples will be healthier, happier, more intelligent and more creative. By improving our peoples we will be improving our civilization on all levels. Our present generation will be better and will leave a better world for the oncoming generations. This, I am sure, is an effective way of creating a natural situation for lasting world peace. Now I take this occasion to propose a theme for our next conference. As the aim for our World Parliament Association has always been the peace and progress of mankind and in our past meetings we have been discussing the Iegislative, economic and other topics of national and international importance, for the next year, I propose we meet to discuss: Maharishi explains his principle of expansion of the conscious mind by the analogy of a wave on the sea - When the wave makes contact with the deeper levels of the water, it becomes more powerful. Likewise, when the conscious mind expands to embrace deeper levels of the subconscious, then the conscious mind becomes more powerful. In order to achieve this Maharishi uses a technique whereby the sub-conscions area of the mind is made conscious. This is done by consciously experiencing the thought in its infant state in the sub-conscious. The correctness of the process is verified directly by the results - the mind begins to feel instantaneous release of mental fatigue and tension. Increase of compassion, feeling of increased energy, clarity of thought along with increase of self-confidence are some of the obvious experiences that justify the exp,vlsion of the conscious mind. To picture this principle more thoroughly, let us examine the process of thinking. THOUGHT PROCESS The origin of a thought is in the deepest level of the sub-conscious from which it rises to pass through all the levels of the sub-conscious to reach the conscious level of the mind. It is here, at the conscious level, that the thought is appreciated as a thought. A thought starts from the deepest level of the sub-conscious as a bubble starts from the bottom of a pond. As the bubble comes up it becomes bigger. Only when it reaches the surface does it become large enough to be perceived. The bubble of thought arising from the level Z becomes bigger (see illustration). By the time it has reached the surface level A. it has developed enough to be appreciated as a thought. This is the level of the conscious mind. The subtle states of the bubble of thought below the level of the conscious state are not consciously appreciated. If there could be a way of conscious appreciation of the bubble of thought at all levels of its development, and at the source Z, then the small area of the conscious mind represented by W1 will become a bigger area represented by W2. If the bubble of thought could be consciously appreciated at the level below A and at all levels of its subtlety from A to Z, then it would be possible to bring the level Z within the range of the conscious mind. In this way the depth of the conscious mind represented by W1 would become greater as represented by W2 and the power of the conscious mind would be increased manifold. APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE Bubbles of thought are produced in a stream one after the other and the mind is trained to experience the oncoming bubble at an earlier and earlier stage of its development, from A to Z, in sequence (see illustration). When the attention has reached level Z, then it has traversed the whole depth of the mind and has reached the source of creative intelligence in man. The source of thought, the source of creative energy, thus comes within the scope of the conscious mind and fills it with strength over and above the strength gained by the conscious mind in fathoming the deeper levels of the sub-conscious. The depth of the conscious mind represented on the diagram by WI has thus been transformed into greater depth represented by W2. This is how the conscious mind is enlarged to its maximum capacity, embracing within its fold the source of creative intelligence mind thus becoming infinitely powerful. It is noteworthy that this technique of enlarging the conscious mind is so simple that it can be practised by anyone. It does not need any preparation to start nor does it depend upon the person's power of concentration. It is not dependent on the intellectual or emotional state of one's mind. Although the technique has become famous as transcendental meditation, it is non-sectarian in its character. It is purely a scientific method of enlarging the conscious mind. It does not conflict with any religion or faith. It is already being practised by over fifty thousand people in twenty-five different countries. This simple technique of enlarging the conscious mind has been found beneficial in the various fields of: 1 Education 2 Social Welfare 3 Delinquency and Crime 4 Mental Health This is the reason why it is intended that this technique be made available in a systematic and effective way to all the people through government departments concerned with Education, Social Welfare, Justice and Health. This finding of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is unique and has no parallel in the findings of modem psychology This technique of enlarging the conscious mind is scientific because: 1. It is systematic. 2 It is not opposed to any methods of scientific investigation. 3 It is universal in its application. 4 It is open to verification by personal experience. 5 The end result is found to be the same by everyone. As it is, our present system of education is lacking in a technique to enlarge the conscious mind by developing the potentialities of the sub-conscious. It has the capacity of exercising the conscious mind, but it fails to develop the potentialities of the sub-conscious. It has been made clear, while dealing with the main principle for the expansion of the conscious mind, that the conscious mind is only a small portion of the total mind that man possesses. and that through Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's system of transcendental meditation, the whole mind becomes conscious and the potentialities develop. This is highly important in the career of students. That is why we propose to introduce this system into the curricula of our schools and universities. This is the unique approach to improve our present system of education. The introduction of this single principle of transcendental meditation will vitalize modem education and will usher in an educational renaissance all over the world. It will develop the potentialities of the minds of students to their fullest extent and enable dull minds to become bright. It will develope balance in life and understanding of right values. It will improve the memory and power to retain knowledge. It will increase self-confidence and self-reliance. It will develop creative intelligence. In fact, it will supply that which is needed to make modern education complete. It is therefore proposed. that this simple system of transcendental meditation should be introduced into the curriculum so that the students may start practising it from about the age of IS years (in Italy this is the last year of the compulsory education. It is also proposed to introduce it into the curricula of university classes so that before the students enter the full responsibilities of life they develop the full capacity of their minds. The following is the outline of the way in which this aim could be achieved: Teachers could be fully trained to give the technique of transcendental meditation for the development of the conscious mind to the students for whom they are responsible. This can be accomplished in three ways: 1. Several teachers could be sent to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Academy of Medita tion in India for three months, so that they could return and train others. 2. Some of our teachers could go to participate in the meditation guides' training courses, which Maharishi Mahesh yogi conducts annually in different parts of Europe. America and India. 3. Arrangements could be made so that a large number of our teachers could be trained in our own countries. For this, arrangements could be made by contacting any of the centres of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, whose addresses are listed on page 331. DELINQUENCY AND CRIME REHABILITATION OF THE DELINQUENT AND THE CRIMINAL THROUGH TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION The need to rehabilitate the offenders is the age-old problem of society. Crime, delinquency and the different patterns of anti-social behaviour arise from the deep discontent of the mind. A weak mind loses its balance and sense of proportion. Crime is evidently a short-cut to satisfy a craving - a short-cut which goes beyond the normal and legal means. No approach to the problem can hope to be truly effective unless the basic weakness of the mind is remedied. While dealing with the main principle for expansion of the conscious mind, it has been made clear how the conscions mind is enlarged to its fullest capacity and strengthened to its utmost extent by the practice of Maharishi's simple system of transcendental meditation. Therefore it is necessary to introduce this system of transcendental meditation for the speedy and effective rehabilitation of delinquents and criminals. Many with potential talent are among those who are shut behind bars because of their misguided behaviour. Instead of being a burden they could become useful citizens making a genuine contribution to the progress of society if only they could be successfully rehabilitated. It has been found that all kinds of tensions are released and the hard and cruel nature of man changes to one of tolerance and compassion through the practice of transcendental meditation. The following is an outline of the way in which this aim could be achieved: Social welfare workers, prison officials and others who are engaged in the rehabilitation of delinquents and criminals, could be fully trained to give the technique of transcendental meditation to develop the conscious mind, to the offenders with whom they are concerned. This can be accomplished by utilizing trained meditation guides of the Spiritual Regeneration movement who are conducting meditation centres in the country. In addition to this, any of the following methods may be employed: 1. Some of our welfare workers could be sent to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Academy of Meditation in India for three months, so that they could be trained to teach the method. 2. Some of our welfare workers could go to participate in the meditation guides' training courses which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi conducts annually in different parts of Europe and America. 3. Arrangements could be made for training courses to be held in this country. For this. arrangements could be made by contacting any of the centres at the addresses listed on page 33. The need to improve the quality of human relationships is deeply felt in every country in the world. Within the family, within the larger sphere of industry and on the international scale, the need is there. There can be no improvement on a larger scale until harmony is established on all the smaller scales within it. Everything is finally dependent upon the individual mind, for the only actuality of any group, however large, is the individuals of which it is composed. The basis of all disharmony is the inability of man to satisfy his needs. This may be due to loss of energy or to lack of intelligence, to poverty of imagination or to his inability to make the best out of the situation in which he finds himself. These are the human incapacities which must be overcome in order to improve the whole man and thus improve his total situation and his accomplishments on every scale. To achieve this end, it is necessary to develop and strengthen the individual mind. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's work in all parts of the world during the last six years has proved that this is precisely what his simple systen of transcendental meditation does achieve, and in this way the whole man is improved. It is within the easy reach of every human being to improve the quality of his mind and of his heart. This meditation enlarges the mind's conscious capacity and enhances its ability to perceive and respond significantly to its situation. Generally, a man does not use his whole mind, and therefore he perceives only a part of his situation. Responding to that alone, his behaviour remains inadequate to his total position. Transcendental meditation brings into conscious activity areas of the mind which, before, were active only below the level of conscious mind and so the conscious mind is made larger, and therefore more alert and powerful. A fully developed mind succeeds in perceiving the total situation and is thus enabled to respond fully and successfully to that situation. Maharishi illustrates this by describing how a wave on the surface becomes powerfull when it includes within itself the deeper levels of the ocean that lie beneath the surface. Likewise, when the conscious mind embraces the deeper levels of the subconscious, it becomes more powerful; all the latent faculties of the sub-conscious are unfolded. With the expansion of the conscious mind, the latent potentialities are fully developed. The increased contentment of the heart gives rise to compassion, and the sharpness of the mind gives rise to understanding. Such a complete individual mind accomplished more in life, while it remains fully secure, established in the inner peace, harmony and happiness. Such a mind is of value to the individual and the society. These enlarged capacities improve a man's relationship with his fellow man in a natural and spontaneous way, whereas contemporary methods of improving individual relationships by counsel and advice, and social relationships by meetings and discussions, can only scratch the surface of the situation. A gardener seeing a leaf withering away in the sun does not direct his attention directly upon it, but hastens to water the root, whereas, and he been more skilful. the root would have been watered before the leaf begin to wither. Today, those wl,o conceal themselves with the inter-relationships of people seem unable to do much more they hurry from one withering leaf to the next. uttering vague cries of consolation and goodwill. To try to bring harmony only in this way is like running after a mirage in the hope of obtaining water. For it is obvious that as group-therapy techniques multiply, problems also multiply and tensions continue to grow. Problems of relationship and its tensions cannot be solved at the group level. The root of every situation, on whatever scale it is, is the state of the individual mind, and it is this root that needs to be vital and healthy. Rather than attending to effects at the level of the group, it is essential to attack the cause. This lies always in the individual mind. A man's incapacity to cope with his environment, to dominate it. and to use it to its fullest advantage, to gain the most from it and to satisfy his needs within it - this incapacity leads to frustation and rising tension, for he becomes unable either to tolerate the situation as it is, or to change it for the better. He is then forced by the increase of tension within him to burst out into revolt and aggression against everything around him and even against himself. In this way he makes the situation continuously worse and creates confusion and unhappiness. A man of powerful mind. in the same circumstances, interprets the situation quite differently. He behaves in such a way to make the best out of the existing circumstances for himself and at the same time brings about an improvement of the situation for everyone involved in it. Thus he fertilizes and enriches his whole field of inAuence. All anti-social behaviour, even crime and delinquency, arises from inner discontent, which finds a fertile field in the weak mind which is unable to properly come to grips with the world around it and to achieve a stable and rewarding relationship with it. No approach to these problems can hope to be truly effective unless the basic incapacity of the mind, which is their cause, is fundamentally remedied. This can be achieved simply and without effort by the practice of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's system of transcendental meditation, for this brings the mind to its full stature. so that it not only becomes content in itSelf but is also, at the same time, able to act with strength and decision in the fields of choice. It is therefore proposed that this simple system of transcendental meditation should be brought to the people of our country through the departments concerned with social welfare. The following is an outline of the way in which this aim could be achieved: Social welfare workers could be fully trained to give the technique of transcendental meditation to the people whom they are helping. This can be accomplished in three ways: 1. Trained meditation guides who are already conducting meditation centres of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the country may be utilized by the Welfare Department of the State. 2 Several of our social welfare officers could be sent to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Academy of Meditation in India for three months, so that they could return and train other social workers in our country. 3. Some of our social workers could go to participate in the meditation guides' training courses which Maharishi Mahesh Yogi conducts annually in different parts of Europe and America. 4. Arrangements could be made so that a large number of our social workers could be trained in our own country. For this, arrangements could be made by contacting any of the centres of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, whose addresses are listed on page 331. To build more hospitals in order to remove the suffering when people have already fallen in, is certainly the responsibility of the government, but a far greater responsibility lies in finding ways and means whereby people will not fall sick. We propose to show how the new goal of good health may be achieved. We note that preventive medicine is already an established and important part of health programmes of governments. Progress in this field depends upon the application of new findings from time to time. Here is something new which has proved its value for the preservation and betterment of health. Individual health has both mental and physical aspects. These are very closely interdependent and it is only for the sake of clarity that we shall consider them separately to see how health is affected by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's system of transcendental meditation. MENTAL HEALTH The mind functions through the nervous system which serves to connect the subjective nature of man with the objective world around him. Mental health depends upon the strength of the mind. A strong mind establishes a thorough coordination with the nervous system and enables it to function normally. When the nervous system functions normally the full mind is brought to bear upon the external world. The normal functioning of the nervous system results in physical good health as well, and thereby the body is able to carry out the directives of the mind, and fulfil its desires. As long as the co-ordination of the mind with the nervous system is intact, mental health is maintained. When this co-ordination breaks down, in health is the result. Such lack of co-ordination is mainly due to the weakness of the mind or lack of thought-force. A weak thought fails to stimulate the nervous system to a sufficient extent to carry out successfully the activity that is needed for its fulfilment. For the most thorough co-ordination and perfect function, a profound power of thought on the part of the mind, together with a correspondingly efficient executive ability in the nervous system. is required. An improvement of the state of the mind results at once in an improved co-ordination between the mind and the world around it; thus the full mind is brought to bear upon the external world and the subject comes into a more perfect and rewarding apposition with the object. Happiness is clearly the result of the fulfilment of the desires of the mind, and happiness is the expression of sound mental health. If, because of the failure to satisfy the needs and desires of the mind, discontentment begins to produce tension within it, then the way to remove these tensions will be to strengthen the mind by increasing its power to think - the force of thought. This is achieved by enlarging the conscious mind through the practice of transcendental meditation as has already been explained while dealing with the main principle of transcendental meditation for the expansion of the conscious mind. When tensions build up in the mind, they are reflected through the nervous system upon the body. The anxious mind, constantly flitting back and forth amongst its problems in its discontented state, exhausts and irritates the nervous system and the body. As a servant, to whom his master constantly gives indecisive and confusing orders, becomes tired and irritable and eventually fails to do anything, likewise, the nervous system and the body become tired and exhausted and eventually fail to function efficiently when the mind is in a state of stress due to confusion and indecision. In this way, mental stress produces disease, and even organic changes in the body. Obviously the cure of all such suffering is to create such a situation in the mind that it may become, and remain, unwavering and steady. This is achieved by expanding the conscious mind, and thereby making it strong. As a result of strengthening the conscious mind, a better co-ordination between the mind and the nervous system is established and smooth and efficient functioning of the body is naturally the result. perfect mental health is maintained because of this co-ordination of the mind with the nervous system and with its end organ, the body. It has been seen in hundreds of cases in many countries that worried and tensed people naturally lose their tensions within a short time of starting the practice of transcendental meditation. Thus we find that this practice of meditation is a boon for mental health. It is a means for preservation of mental health; it serves as a mental tonic and at the same time is a natural and effective cure for mental illness. PHYSICAL HEALTH Medical researches have shown that a very large proportion of physical disorders arise primarily from mental tension as a result of the anxieties and failures in life. While dealing with mental health we have seen how the process of transcendental meditation releases tension and this is why we find that all suffering that could be described as psychosomatic is relieved at its source by transcendental meditation. There are, however, purely organic diseases in which there is no evidence of a mental cause - but it is well known that a sick man in his situation, has a mental and emotional attitude to his illness which, while not causal to the illness itself, may still be having profound effects upon its course. Certainly meditation will remove these secondary anxieties, but let us now consider what effects meditation may have upon a purely organic disease. To do this we must consider the physiological effects of transcendental meditation. PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION As the attention is drawn to consciously experience the subtler states of a thought during transcendental meditation, it is found that respiration becomes greatly reduced in amplitude; the breathing becomes soft and refined. Physiologically it is clear that for this to take place there must be a fall in the level of carbon dioxide in the plasma. This can occur only as a result of either forced overbreathing. which washes the carbon dioxide out through the lungs, or by a fall in the production of carbon dioxide through metabolic process. Because there is no forced over-breathing during transcendental meditation we can only conclude that the softening of the breath is due to the fall in the production of carbon dioxide by metabolic process. The production of most of the energy for activity in the body involves finally the oxidation of carbon and its elimination as carbon dioxide. Greater activity needs greater energy which is produced by a greater amount of oxidation of carbon and its elimination as carbon dioxide. A lesser amount of activity needs a lesser amount of energy, which is produced by a lesser amount of oxidation of carbon and its elimination as carbon dioxide. This shows that when a lesser amount of carbon dioxide is eliminated by way of softer breathing, during transcendental meditation. the process of oxidation is lessened and this naturally produces a lesser amount of energy. That is why the activity of the body and that of the nervous system is lessened during transcendental meditation. This explains why, during meditation, as the mind proceeds to experience finer states of a thought, the whole body becomes calm and quiet. This quietening of the body naturally allows in unusual degree of rest which itself stores energy to an unusual degree. Certainly activity of the mind and the nervous system is least in this state and the mind quietens and becomes calm. If by means of deep meditation one does not produce this state even for a few minutes daily, then one has no chance of providing any rest to the inner machinery of the body which otherwise is kept functioning twenty-four hours of the day, for the whole of one's life as long as the breath keeps flowing. Obviously it is to the advantage of health and longevity of life that the ever-functioning inner machinery of the body is allowed a few moments of rest and silence each day. In this quiet state the mind and the nervous system are alertly poised like the arrow drawn fully back upon the bow; they are without activity but the entire system is alert in stillness. At the same time all the mechanisms of the body are acutely balanced and steady. It is this restful alertness of the nervous system that is its most healthy state and is the basis of all energy and action. The fall in carbon dioxide output has also another effect - that of causing a tendency to change the reaction of the blood from acidity towards alkalinity. This in its turn has widespread effects upon the blood chemistry, all of which are beneficial to the system as a whole. These considerations lead us to the following: That Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's system of transcendental meditation is beneficial in the field of health in two ways. It is both preventive and curative - 1. It is a means of preservation of mental and physical health. 2. It is a means of providing complete rest and relaxation to body and mind which restores energy and greatly aids medical treatment toward a speedy recovery from ill-health. Following is an outline of the ways in which this could be achieved : 1. Trained meditation guides who are already conducting meditation centres of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement may be utilized by departments of health. 2. One professor from each medical college could be trained either in Maharishi's Academy of Meditation in India or in training courses that Maharishi holds in Europe or America. This trained professor will be able to train medical students so that the future medical practitioners will be competent to impart the technique of transcendental meditation to their patients. 3. Officers of the Health department, doctors and nurses could be trained to give the practice of transcendental meditation to the sick and the needy. India, Italy, Greece. Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, England. Scotland Ireland, Norway, Sweden. Denmark, Finland, Canada. Iceland, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Hongkong, Singapore, Malaya, Burma, East Africa, South Africa. Information and details on training courses for the teaching of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's method of transcendental meditation may be obtained from the following S.R.M. Foundation Centres: 1 THE PRESIDENT The Academy of Meditation Shankaracharya Nagar RISHIKESH, U.P. India 2. THE GENERAL SECRETARY The Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation of Great Britain 20 Grosvenor Place London, S.W. 1 England 3- THE PRESIDENT International Meditation Center of The Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation of America 3475 West Sixth Street Los Angeles 5 California United States of America TIMELY CALL TO THE LEADERS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW This is the text of an appeal made by Members of Parliament from all the States ofIndia, in the Spring of 1963. Their names are mentioned at the end of the appeal. Live in peace or perish is the challenge of the nuclear age. The state of increasing tension cannot continue indefinitely; it must give way to peace or annihilation. Hundreds of educated, intelligent, energetic and devoted persons are needed to serve the cause of world peace, by popularising the practical formula of peace and harmony in the life of the individuals in every corner of India and abroad. His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the world-wide Spiritual Regeneration Movement, expounds a simple system of transcendental meditation whereby any man may turn his mind within himself and tap the source of unlimited energy, happiness, peace and creative intelligence. Maharishi's simple system of transcendental meditation bridges the gulf between the inner and outer aspects of life. It regenerates the personality improving all phases of life, resulting in a harmonious development of body, mind and soul. Thousands of people all over the world are now enjoying 'a tension-free life' through Maharishi's simple system of transcendental meditation. Three times Maharishiji has gone round the world establishing Meditation Centres in India, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, Hongkong, United States of America, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, ltaly, Greece. East Africa, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Hundreds of Meditation Guides trained by Maharishiji in India and abroad are satisfactorily conducting the Meditation Centres in all these countries. This is an attempt to spiritually regenerate all mankind and create a lasting world peace for which Maharishiji started the Spiritual Regeneration Movement four years ago, and for which His Holiness has recently established the Academy of Meditation as the world headquarters for training Meditation Guides. The need for more Meditation Guides is increasing day by day with the universal acceptance of Maharishi's philosophy of simple and transcendental meditation. A forty-day training programme of Meditation Guides will commence from 20th May, 1963 at the Academy of Meditation at Shankaracharya Nagar, near Rishikesh. THE NATIONAL OUTLOOK Experience has shown us that we, even in India, cannot live in peace if we have not spread peace in our surroundings. Even to maintain a balance of mind and peace within our society it is imperative that we should rise to the challenge of the day and carry the practical message of peace and harmony to every part of the world. The present grave situation of the national life of our country demands strength and unity which is only possible by increasing the consciousness of our people. Increased consciousness means greater energy, creative intelligence, better health and also greater harmony in social relationships. Maharishi's simple technique of transcendental meditation is a direct way to it. It is only necessary for us all to adopt it. We are by tradition a peace-loving nation. We know by experience that peace is not possible in weakness. Let us rise to strengthen ourselves. Let us unfold our latent faculties. and begin to use our full potential. Let each of us realise that in the strength and intelligence of each one of us lies the strength of India. Let us not forget that every one of us is responsible for our national crisis. What is the cause of such a collective calamity1 It is the collective tensions of the individuals. And what causes collective tensions? Individual tensions appearing as anger. fear. hatred, greed, jealousy, wrong thought, speech, action and corrupt practices of all sorts. Individual tensions accumulate in the atmosphere as collective tensions and produce collective calamities, national crises and international conflicts. Elimination of the existing tensions in the atmosphere is the urgent need of India. When a boil develops on any part of the body surgery is, of course, necessary. But treatment to purify the blood is also of vital importance. Meeting the national crisis on its level is certainly necessary but a remedy to eliminate the existing tension in the atmosphere must be considered to be of equal importance if not more. It is our national duty to alleviate the atmospheric tensions as soon as possible by eliminating the tensions in the lives of every individual. This can best be accomplished by giving the people a simple technique of creating powerful influences of peace and harmony from the deepest level of their consciousness - by a few minutes of daily practice of transcendental meditation. His Holiness is now travelling throughout India to make available to all the people his simple technique of transcendental meditation to combat the fear of war, and enable everyone to live in peace and strength. INVITATION Those desirous of participating and helping in this nation-building project of training Meditation Guides and establishing Meditation Centres all over the country are invited to participate in the forthcoming programme of training Meditation Guides at the Academy of Meditation, Shankaracharya Nagar, Rishikesh (U.P.), India. Read Maharishiji's book, written in America: 'The Science of Being and Art of Living.' Maharishi's simple system of transcendental meditation has opened interesting avenues for scientific research in the physical, mental and environmental spheres of individual life. Interested research scholars are advised to read the pamphlets entitled 'Health', and 'New Fields of Research' for lines of possible experiment.