11 August 2004 Press Conference Highlights
Opening Remarks
Maharishi: ‘Jai Guru Dev. All glory to Guru Dev, whose blessings have opened the gate of all peace, prosperity, happiness, harmony, and invincibility to every nation.
‘It will be my joy to think with the thinkers of the world if there are any questions on this programme to create a desirable world of peace and happiness for all mankind for all time. This ancient, eternal Vedic Wisdom has been tested and proven in this scientific age to be unfailingly practical and simple. Our offer to the world, from the tradition of Vedic Masters, is invincibility to every nation.’
Question: Meaning and Application of the Word ‘Vedic’
Dr Bevan Morris: ‘The first question comes from a journalist who wrote an article in the Washington Post. She noticed when she was visiting Maharishi Vedic City that many different things were called Vedic. There was Vedic City, for example; there was also Vedic Architecture, Vedic Agriculture, Vedic Education, and Vedic Health. She wanted to know: What does this word “Vedic” mean that it could apply to so many different things?’
Maharishi: ‘ “Veda” means knowledge. “Vedic” means pertaining to knowledge. Now when we say Veda is knowledge, we mean Veda is Total Knowledge. Then what we present is the unified state of knowledge with the knowledge of all the diversified components of the unified structure of knowledge.
‘So there is a Unified Field of knowledge, and there are diversified components of the Unified Field of knowledge. That is why, in every area, when we find Vedic this and Vedic that, what does it mean? It means this aspect of knowledge is connected to Total Knowledge—Vedic Knowledge. Vedic Education, Vedic Health Care, Vedic Defence, Vedic Architecture, Vedic Administration: that means the knowledge of administration with reference to total knowledge of administration. When we say Vedic Health, that will mean all aspects of health with reference to the total knowledge of health.
‘When in the Vedic City, we find Vedic Education, Vedic Health Care, Vedic Agriculture, Vedic Administration, Vedic Architecture, Vedic Economy, that means all these different aspects of knowledge are with reference to the total field of knowledge. The people of Vedic City, very fortunately and wisely, named their city to be “Vedic”—that means pertaining to Total Knowledge. “Pertaining to Total Knowledge” means pertaining to all success, all evolution, no problems, no shortcomings, no weaknesses, no sicknesses, no crying. They have very well and very fortunately named their city to be the city with reference to, or the city established in, Total Knowledge.
‘It’s a very good question that you raise, but the answer is simple with reference to Veda. Veda is knowledge—Total Knowledge.
‘There is one very beautiful, short Vedic expression that defines what is Veda, and where is Veda: “Vedaham”. “Aham” means I. Veda I am, Total Knowledge I am, Unified Field I am. And Total Knowledge thou art, “Tat Twam Asi”. That Total Knowledge you are. That Total Knowledge I am, “Vedaham”.
‘All this is Veda. “Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahm”, all this is Total Knowledge. “Brahm” means Total Knowledge. Total Knowledge means knowledge of all diverse values: total knowledge of north and south, total knowledge of east and west, total knowledge of inside, of outside. All this is self-referral. And self-referral is referring to I, to me, to you, to them. This is the essence of Vedic vision, the Vedic definition of the Ultimate Reality. That is this Total Knowledge: “Vedaham”, I am the Veda. This is the essence of the Vedic Knowledge: I am the Veda.’
Question: The Source of Guru Dev’s Knowledge
Dr Bevan Morris: ‘The press notes that each week you give all the credit for all the knowledge that you are bestowing upon the world to your master, Guru Dev. So the press is asking the question: from where did Guru Dev get the knowledge? They had understood from things that you have said and written that he was a recluse sage in the remote forests of the Himalayas and central India. How did he get all the knowledge that he was then able to give to you, and you have now given to the whole world?’
Maharishi: ‘I got the knowledge from my Guru Dev; my Guru Dev got the knowledge from his Guru Dev; he got the knowledge from his Guru Dev; he got the knowledge from his Guru Dev—all the knowledge descending down, generation after generation. That is why we give credit to the source of knowledge.
‘Ultimately, where is the knowledge? In your question you said, very nicely, “Where is the knowledge?” The knowledge —Total Knowledge—is in the unmanifest, in the transcendental reality. What we want people to know from theory and practice, what we want people to know by way of knowledge and by way of action, what we want people to have is authority over the unmanifest. The unmanifest is now discovered in terms of the self-referral Unified Field. That, in Vedic terms, is Yoga, Vedant—the basis of all action.
‘We want to have our awareness fully awake on that level of reality which is totally self-referral. Being self-referral, it is transcendental. Being transcendental, it is the basis of all life. We always explain this in the example of the hollowness of a banyan seed. The seed is hollow inside. Hollow means the whole tree—thousands of branches, leaves, flower, fruits, and all—is in the unmanifest value within the seed.
‘Our awareness is aligned with this field of the unmanifest, transcendental Being—Transcendental Consciousness. In this is this and that and everything. The total field of knowledge is—we derive it mathematically and experience it personally—on the level of the Unified Field.
‘What is the proof that our awareness is really awake on that level of the transcendental, self-referral Unified Field? The proof of it is: whatever thought we can promote on that level, that thought will be supported by all the Laws of Nature. That's why we say Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature, the thought is supported by all the Laws of Nature. What is the proof? The proof is in Yogic Flying. During Yogic Flying, one sits, one takes one’s mind to the Transcendent, and from there one thinks, “I want to fly”, and then immediately the body lifts up. This means a thought of flying is immediately, practically materialized. This is an example, this is a proof, that one is thinking on that level which is lively in the total potential of Natural Law.
‘What is this level? This is the level of control over the force of gravity. One does not see gravity anywhere, but it is functioning everywhere. The huge galactic universe is governed by the force of gravity—the force that unifies all the different values. It is unifying and unified. The body lifting up by mere thought proves that the thought has been promoted from the level which is the level of the force of gravity, the intelligence of gravity.
‘This is Vedic Education: to gain command to whatever extent, doesn’t matter, even a very minute extent. The body lifting up, just even six inches, one foot, or five feet—any lifting up of the body against the force of gravity—is a very clear demonstration of the power of the mind over the force of gravity, which is the administrative intelligence and energy of the whole diversity of the universe. This is Vedic Education.
‘Vedic Education is not for becoming a servant of someone. It is not employment oriented. We hear these words, “Education should be employment oriented.” Those who do not know what education can be make a very short hit on the ultimate reality of education.
‘The Vedic Tradition is the source of this knowledge. We want to always remain connected with the source of knowledge. That is why we say,“Jai Guru Dev. All glory to Guru Dev.”
‘I am saying this—not that I am saying it. What am I? I am here five years, ten years, a hundred years, and where have I gone? That “I” which is going to evaporate has not much meaning in reality. What is meaningful is the continuation of the total field of intelligence from point to infinity—from Anoraniyan to Mahato-mahiyan—from point to infinity.
‘This is Vedic Wisdom. The Minister of Enlightenment of the Global Country of World Peace has the commandment of His Majesty Raja Raam to start Vedic Education around the world so that no one born in our dear world could remain less than fully developed. Everyone should have a command over total Natural Law. With Yogic Flyers everywhere, it won’t be an exaggeration to say the world is going to be the lighthouse for angels to move around and enjoy.
‘This is our playfield, this is our desire, this is our field of possibility. What the world has been does not matter. Forget about the past. Do not waste time on the past. Have the hidden treasury of all infinity brought to the level of daily living.
‘The world is going to be a world of harmony, happiness, permanent peace on earth. Time is changing. Those who will not change today, they are going to change tomorrow. Tomorrow can mean even in the next generation, next generation, next generation. Very soon we are going to have our world rise above suffering.’
Question: Offensive and Defensive Approaches to Defence
Dr Bevan Morris: ‘The press would like to understand the distinction between defensive defence, offensive defence, and why offensive defence is not an effective approach to defence in the world today.’
Maharishi: ‘It is very obvious. The act of military is “I give you some food and drink, and tomorrow you will die for me.” That is what military means.
‘No military in the world can say it can save the country. Ask any military commander, president, or prime minister, “Can you really save the country through the missiles, or through warring equipment? Can you really save the country? If not, then why you are enlisting the youth of your nation to die tomorrow?” “Today I am giving you this much money; you undertake to die for the nation the next day or next week or next decade”—it doesn’t make sense.
‘This is only because of ignorance of the invincible, inner value of life. A few people practising Yogic Flying will create such an atmosphere of coherence in the national consciousness that the enemy will not be born, either inside the nation or outside the nation. My offer to every government is invincibility. . . .
‘We want everyone to be saved from sin. We are going to create some groups. And Nature is the best organizer. Very soon Nature will lead us on to a level where harmony and coherence will prevail in the whole world consciousness, and there will be no enemy to anyone. It’s going to be.
‘The Vedic Tradition is the tradition of India. That’s why the other day I called for the President of India to find safety, security, invincibility within the nation. . . .
‘Vedic Knowledge is knowledge in its total form—Total Knowledge, total action possibility. Only he who has the torch can be expected to show the beam of light to others. We have the knowledge, and we are proud of the knowledge. We are fulfilling our responsibility as the custodian of Total Knowledge. We are going to establish every nation in our world on a level of invincibility.
‘How it will be? The world press may take time to report it, but everyone is going to see—like the rise of the sun, and everyone is lit up. Light has its own power to eliminate darkness. It doesn’t have to wage a war against darkness. The darkness disappears with the onset of light. With the dawn of Total Knowledge, all ignorance is going to be wiped off. That is why we say, “All glory to the tradition of Vedic Masters.” ’
Question on Smriti (Memory)
Dr Bevan Morris: ‘Another question is about Smriti, about memory. One journalist asks, “Whose memories are they? Usually when we think of there being memories, then there has to be someone to have the memory. Whose memories are they that are there eternally?” ’
Maharishi: ‘They are the memories of that which is called “Puran” which means eternal. They are the memories of infinity—that which is the total assemblage of all that is in existence and in evolution—the total value of that. It itself is the Supreme. It is called self-referral. And self-referral is one unified wholeness, unbounded, eternal.
‘There are two words in the Sanskrit language, in the Vedic expression—Nitya and Apaurusheya. “Nitya” means eternal—non-exhausting, never decaying. And “Apaurusheya” means made by no one. That is called Puran. . . .
‘It is a beautiful field of knowledge. We are opening Vedic Universities, Vedic Colleges, and Vedic Schools, where the individuals will be living cosmic awareness, cosmic life—life of harmony, life of coherence, life that will meld with everyone's life, life where there will be no discord.
‘We will do whatever we are able to do, but our tradition is there and the next generation will continue. Hopefully, it is not going to take a long time. It is going to be very soon that the world will be splashed with coherence, harmony, and invincibility for every nation.
‘We rejoice in our own land of sovereignty, of honour, of dignity, of universality, in our Global Country of World Peace—that is like an umbrella to protect every nation from the heat. It is a very beautiful time. We rejoice in our duty. All glory to Guru Dev.’
