2 April 2003 Press Conference Highlights

Opening Remarks

Maharishi: ‘Jai Guru Dev. . . I came out of India, the Himalayas, with the blessings of Guru Dev, thinking that the knowledge that we want to spread in the world is so useful, so comprehensive, at the same time so simple, that it can lay open a very bright fortune for all mankind. And that I had expected when I came out of the Himalayas, because life is declared to be bliss. Life is declared to be Totality, “Aham Brahmasmi” in the Vedic literature—“I am Totality”. I am Atma, Brahm—my Self is total expression of Natural Law. And life is a wave of bliss, and life is a field of all possibilities.

‘I had hoped that much sooner than these fifty years that I have spent, the world would be awake. But what I see today is not the fulfilment of that aspiration. It’s a very barbaric world. It’s a very stupid world—from every point of view: religion, politics, economics, education, medicine, defence. From every point of view of life, the great gift of God—human life—is being abused, being wasted. Very, very precious life is being wasted in ignorance.
 
‘Every religion, every religious teacher, every head of religion pronounces God as omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. What is all this humbug!?

‘In every religion, the Light of God is upheld as omnipresent. Take just this one feature of the Light of God: omnipresent. Where is a religion today whose custodians can claim: Here is omnipresence, and here is the Light of God, and you live it!

‘Politics! Big power, big administrative power! You have the laws; you can hang a man, you can do anything, but where is order in society? Is there a nation, is there an administration which has created an ideal administration? The whole thing is a humbug!

‘Economics. Shame to the world economy! Half the world is not even having meals. And half the world, with all the great economy: murder, missile, arms. What is this? Pure stupidity! The world is not worth living.

‘The only way out is: individual, learn my Transcendental Meditation. Spend time morning and evening in the Self-exploration. Find the Light of God, the omnipresence of God—omnipresence. Just play on that one word: omnipresence. Omnipresence. Light of God is omnipresent. Where is omnipresence? Omnipresence is a field beyond boundaries. Beyond space and time is the field of the transcendent. It’s the field of the transcendent. Omnipresence is the field of the transcendent.
 
‘Practice my Transcendental Meditation and make use of the great gift of God. The Light of God is within you. Experience it. Here is a programme of easily experiencing it. And don’t bring a shame to your God, to your parents, to your teachers, to your religion, to your politics, to your economy. Wake up. Wake up or—surrender to mud! Individual, individual, individual, find your omnipresence, find your religion within yourself.

‘Today, it’s very obvious; it’s very obvious. I don’t like to say it: that the religion is non-existent today. Whether it is—whatever you call your religion—all are sailing on the same boat.

‘The call has been there for a year that it’s possible that with some bigger groups practising my [Transcendental Meditation and Transcendental Mediation Sidhi] programme of peace in groups, the whole collective consciousness of the world could be maintained on a high level of harmony.

‘Royalties, very great royalties, sovereignties running away from their sovereign rules—they are running away,finding it hard [to know] where to go, where to go, where to go. It was not necessary if you have heard my voice. Even now, for all future, all these rulers of the world, they can hire groups, and I’ll train them all. Train them according to their religion. I’ll train them according to their system of politics, and then you’ll not be required to run away from country to country, saving your life and family here and there and there.
 
‘What it is the use of all the multitudes of wealth that all these great excellencies have; what is the use that you cannot save yourself, and you are running away? I have been shouting all along that it is possible to have prevention-oriented administration. It is possible to have in any society, in any country, in any group, prevention-oriented administration, either from a religious angle or from a political angle or from the angle of medicine—any angle.

‘Here is a total knowledge of enlightenment, total knowledge of enlightenment. You don’t have to run away from your great, sovereign countries, great, sovereign nations. What is the use of all this? When you are not able to find a place for your own safety, for your own living! What is all this? Plunging into danger, plunging into danger. What is this wisdom? What is this sovereignty? What is this world!?  

‘Let’s have questions from the press. Only on the individual level there is hope for life. On the collective level, life is hopeless, life is cruel, life is suffering, life is a mud! .
 
‘We have the knowledge. We have the knowledge. This knowledge is the knowledge of the Almighty—omnipresent, omnipotent. These are not empty words. These are the words of substance. Here is a programme for experience.

‘But the light is only for those who don’t want to be remaining in darkness. Those who want to be in darkness, they must remain in darkness and face the consequences of tumbling down everywhere in the darkness. So, you have a choice, you have a choice, because your own Self is the Light of God, which is almighty, which is everywhere, omnipresent.

‘If you can engage some people, if you can engage some people, you can save your kingdoms, you can save your sovereignty. Otherwise, your sovereignty is a—don’t want to say too much on that. I think I have, I have been strong enough in the characteristic of the panorama of the world today.

‘Don’t pretend that you are the follower of any religion, or don’t pretend that you are a head of any religion. Don’t pretend that your religion can save you, or anyone can save you!
 
‘You, yourself, can save you through this knowledge of the Self, knowledge of the Unified Field, self-referral Unified Field, Atma, the Self. That is the Light of God. That is the Light of God. And here is a turnkey operation for you to experience it.

‘I leave a question. I leave a question to the press and to all the people who can think for themselves. My question is: how to do a deal with these people who, hearing words, don’t hear the meaning!? So blinded with either their religion or their politics or their education or their health care system. The whole thing is very untidy, very insufficient to handle any aspect of life.

‘The only saviour is one’s own Self within. And Self within is that transcendental field of reality, which is the Light of God. When the Light of God—you say and I say and everyone says [is] omnipresent, and pray to God—fine. But then, the prayer has to be on a level of the reality of the Light of God which is transcendental field, transcendental field of life. Transcendental is very easy of approach now for the last fifty years.

‘It’s easy for everyone to realize the Light of God. Light—it’s easy. I’ll repeat. It’s easy for everyone to realize the light of his God or the Light of his friend’s God or the Light of his enemy’s God. The Light of God is the same transcendental which is the field beyond reproach, a field beyond boundaries, a field which sustains itself all the time, everywhere, day and night.

‘It’s a matter of taking our awareness to the level of the transcendent, which is the level of the Light of God, and then enjoying! All the attributes that you have been saying, you have been hearing from your religious heads, from your religious preachers, from your parents, from everyone you have been hearing: merciful Father, omnipresent, Light of God, omniscient—He knows everything. But, He can’t help you out unless you are in his courtyard. His courtyard is within yourself—transcendental reality, transcendental reality.

‘And that is the field—fearless, fearless, fearless, fearless. All these great royalties running away from their palaces, royalties, this huge amount of fuss about their status, but, in reality, [there is] no place there where they can hide themselves.

‘Dr John Hagelin, you are a scientist, a great scientist. You can ask the viewers, our viewers who are listening: Is there any way to deal with this stupidity—of those who would hear, but hear not, who will see, but see not. All the religious books, textbooks, from all times they have been saying, “God is within you, don’t you see it, don’t you see it, don’t you see it, don’t you see it?”

‘It’s even time for future. If the governments, all these great royalties, to whatever religion they may belong, they should collect thousand, two thousand people, support them, keep them comfortably disposed, and allow them to pray within themselves, and they will create a beautiful world consciousness, a beautiful world consciousness.

‘The world has seen: peace is not in words. Peace is not in consultations, consultations, consultations, congregations—No! Silent prayers, prayers of the heart, prayers of the heart—in different words, different religions describe the Light of God within.

‘Here is a call! The time calls to the followers of all religions, to the preachers of all religions of all faiths, to teach the people to pray in large, large groups, in a manner so that the prayer will be heard. And where the prayer will be heard? The prayer will be heard on a level of reality which is omnipresent—that means, transcendental field of consciousness.

‘For every man whosoever, whether a politician or economist, or all those which I have counted, groups of deep meditations, large groups of deep meditations— doesn’t matter to what religion they belong—they will make this Light of God spread from their inner Being to the whole world. The message is the message of peace, of power, of affluence, of knowledge, of wisdom.

‘Wake up. It does not take long time to dive within yourself. With Transcendental Meditation and all these advanced techniques and Yogic Flying, which has proved to be radiating the Light of God, radiating harmony, peace in the whole atmosphere, this thing is the guiding light for peace on earth.

‘Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your time, because you are the Light of God inside yourself. Make use of yourself for yourself. Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your life. You are the only hope! You are only hope for yourself; you are the only hope for your family; you are the only hope for your nation and for your world—because inside you are lively in that which is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. What more you want? What more you want? What more you can expect of life? All that you can ever expect, all that you can ever demand, all you can ever seek is [in the] field of all possibilities lively within yourself.

‘Practice my programme. It’s possible for you. Gather groups, and my teachers throughout the world will train them, and they will radiate the light of peace everywhere throughout the world. This is the only way. Whether you do it today or tomorrow or don’t do it for centuries, [and] continue to suffer in the name of your religion or in the name of your politics, in the name of your democracy! . . . ’

 

Question: On Mechanics of Transcendental Meditation

 

Dr Hagelin: ‘A number of very good questions have come in, several from religious writers first asking: Maharishi described Transcendental Meditation now as a simple, direct way to enliven the Light of God in man. Would Maharishi please explain the mechanics of how his meditation achieves this lofty aspiration?’ 

Maharishi: ‘One word—by nature, this loftiest field is achieved. By nature! We know mind goes where? Wherever there is a field of charm, happiness, good feeling, and all. Deep within the Self, in the transcendent, is the ocean of bliss. And that is why by nature, mind is drawn to it. This is what I have been teaching for fifty years in the world. Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural procedure for mind to descend down to the field of bliss, the Light of God within. And immediately, people begin to feel better and better, and with practice they feel better and better—by nature, by nature, by nature.
 
‘There is no miracle. There is nothing from outside that comes to make the mind open to its own reality, which is the Atman, which is his Self, unified field of Natural Law. By nature, by nature, by nature. There is no miracle—it’s by nature. Transcendental Meditation is a natural procedure which takes the mind to this transcendental Self, and that’s all that transcendental experience is.’

Question: On Modern Science and the Discovery of the Ultimate Reality

Dr Hagelin: ‘The [next] question is: Dr Hagelin has commented that modern physics has discovered the unified field of Natural Law—which Maharishi said is identical to the Will of God in the language of religion. Has modern science truly discovered something as incomprehensively huge as the Will of God? Or is it just moving in the right direction?’ 

Maharishi: ‘Moving in the right direction—and very close to that thing. Modern science needs a scientist to prove it. Vedic Science itself does everything. It is the scientist, [and] it is the process of unfolding the silent reality. It’s a very natural phenomenon, natural phenomenon.

‘Quite a great deal of credit goes to modern science to have discovered one underlying field. And that underlying field can be called—to a great degree of accuracy— “omnipresent” field. Only the scientists are still scratching the ultimate thing—not yet that. That’s how Vedic Science, the science of knowledge, reaches it, and it produces the effect, because that is the ultimate reality.

‘It’s the ultimate reality. It functions, and that is why religion calls it the Light of God, omnipresent, omniscient, all possibilities, all those beautiful words of religion. It’s such a beautiful light post for everyone, for all ages, for all ages, for all ages.’

Question: On Making Religion Effective

Dr Hagelin: ‘Would the addition of Transcendental Meditation make every religion effective again or is more knowledge needed?’ 

Maharishi: ‘Nothing needed! Knowledge is lively only on the ground of experience. Experience is: knowing by Being. That is one hundred percent knowing. So there is nothing— knowledge is not gained through books. Veda is not known through books—no. You experience, and then you know whatever you are reading is the right thing, is a good thing, is a good thing. Without experience, you’ll always keep on searching where is that, where is that, what is this omnipresent, omniscient?

‘It’s the experience that is total knowing-ness, experiences. Knowing by Being is experience. That means Total Knowledge equates with experience. Total Knowledge. “Atma” is a word which has the whole Veda in it. It’s the whole Veda that has the whole universe within it. So it’s an experience. We lay emphasis on experience, not reading. No, no, no, no—by reading, you cannot understand. By Being, you are That. You are That. By Being, you are That.

‘Reading is for those who want to amuse in a known field. In a known field. The field is experienced, and there you say: oh, yes, this is also this, this is also this, this is also this, this is also this. Total Knowledge is not on the level of reading—no! It’s only on the level of Being, Being—experience, experience, experience. And experience is so simple. Experience is so simple, because you don’t have to go out for anything.’

Question: On the Waxing and Waning of the Light of God

Dr Hagelin: ‘If the light of God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, then why does the Light of God seem to wax and wane in the affairs of man on Earth?’ 

Maharishi: ‘Because man has within himself the Light of God. That means man is competent to choose anything. If he wants to be a thorny bush, he can be a thorny bush. Want to be a sweet apple, can be a sweet apple, sweet apple.

‘The freedom to man given by God, given by God makes a man whatever he wants to do on the basis of what he has been doing, on the basis of what he has been doing. If one takes all kinds of dirty things to eat and all, for years together, he will have his brain damaged in such a way that he will not be able to understand what is what. He’ll do wild things—as we are seeing in the world today. It’s not a matter of new thing. The world has known all these things for all the time.’

Question: On the Need for Man to Make Laws

Dr Hagelin: ‘Perhaps, Maharishi, one more question on this theme of religion. This is from a student journalist in the United States, a law student: “Maharishi has said that God has given His law through religious texts for man to follow. If that is the case—and every religion says it is—then is there any need for man to make his own laws?” ’ 

Maharishi: ‘Absolutely not! When man makes his own laws—this is what man-made laws make a mess in every country. Today 200 countries—or more than 200 countries—each country is being run by man-made laws. And man-made laws means laws which have human failing and human weaknesses in it. That is why no government is able to be prevention-oriented and problem-free. When man makes his own laws, he makes a mess of himself. But he can do it, he can do it.

‘That is why we have created an exemplary government, a Global Country of World Peace, whose constitution is self-referral, Unified Field-based knowledge. That is Veda. The whole Veda, Vedic Literature, which is all about the source, is the Constitution of the Universe. It’s not man-made, it’s not man-made. When man-made, then made by boundary-full intelligence. Boundaries, space-time boundaries, space-time boundaries, space-time boundaries—they make a mess of things.

‘What is free from mess—messing-up—is the transcendental area, the Light of God, the self-referral Light of God. That is the guiding light for anyone, individually and collectively, individually and collectively. That is why [there exists] the concept of a most evolved state of consciousness, Unity Consciousness. We have created a Global Country of World Peace with the Constitution of the Universe as it’s constitution, which is the Self, Self-sustaining field of intelligence—Self-sustaining, Self-evolving, Self-evident. That is the guiding light, and that is the goal of all the guiding lights.

‘So, the whole total goal of life is so easy for everyone. It’s more difficult to live a life of problems than to live a life of no problem. Life of no problem is the life of Unity Consciousness, which is simplest state of life, simplest state of life. The complicated state of life, most complicated state of life, is life in ignorance—deep sleep state. Less than that is dreaming state. Less than that is waking. That’s why: Transcend the waking; get to the fourth state of consciousness. There you have the reality of life. And then bring that light to be lived in all the waking, dreaming, sleeping states of life. And then you have Unity Consciousness.

‘So, we have created for the world of all future an exemplary administrative service, exemplary administrative theme. We call it “world peace”—a theme of perfection for prevention-oriented, problem-free administration. And this will create Unity Consciousness, and Unity Consciousness will have this level of administration where everything will be in the Light of God. In the Light of God means harmony, happiness, affluence, great, everything nice, nothing limitation, all possibilities in life—that is what we have generated in the world. And as the time goes on and on, more groups will be living like that, and they will be radiating that harmony and happiness, which is the Light of God, in the whole world consciousness.

‘So, in the midst of all these wrong things in the world, something very, genuinely blissful has been established, and this is the grace of Guru Dev—our Tradition of Vedic Masters—who was lively in the theme of prevention-oriented administration, prevention-oriented, problem-free administration.

‘These are the words! They are very difficult to be comprehended by these people who are full of man-made constitutions. They’ll listen and say: yes, you’re right, yes, very good idea. But it’s not for them to follow. The whole thing, it may take one or two generations of the government when a proper government will be established where prevention will be the guiding light. Unity Consciousness. More of that will be through education—education and proper health care.

‘Health care is so very dilapidated these days. Health care is so dilapidated these days. And every country is very—laws are there: You can’t practice in my country anything other than these—what they call it? You take one, one, one relief, and you bring in the seed of another disease. Modern medicine is a very—whatever good is there is all right, but because it’s not from the basic level of life, it’s not from the field of consciousness, that is why the influence is not all that is needed for a healthy health care system.

‘We are very soon bringing out Vedic health care system based on consciousness. We are going to bring out this consciousness-based education, consciousness-based education. You have been hearing [about] consciousness-based education even today.

‘Invite Dr Morris, if he is still with us, to give some ideas on Vedic health care system. That is the health care from the very basis of life, consciousness, which is the Light of God, which is the Light of God.’

[Dr Bevan Morris speaks.]

Maharishi: ‘Health is a very primary thing, and it must be handled from the most primary level of life, which is consciousness or intelligence, which is Light of God, omnipresent. The whole knowledge is very clear, and it’s as simple as lighting a candle, that’s all. Candle lighting removes big, huge, terrible mess in the darkness, but, in itself, is a simple operation. Like that, experience of the Self is a very simple operation, but it enlightens the whole field of cosmic life, which is the potential of the individual.

‘John Hagelin, why not you give your message of a more perfect system of administration that you are inviting your scientists to uphold in the world?’

[Dr John Hagelin speaks.]

Question: On the Role of a Peace Palace

Dr Hagelin: ‘Right now, here is a question from Houston. The Maharishi Vedic Centre in Houston is holding a news conference today to announce their plans to build a Peace Conference. Their news conference is being held across the street from Jones Hall where Maharishi once delivered an historic, keynote address to the annual meeting of the National Education Association. Their question is: What role will the Peace Palace play in the life of a large, metropolitan city such as Houston?’ 

Maharishi: ‘They’ll house peace-creating programmes. And peace-creating programmes are the programmes to enliven the Light of God within everyone. The Light of God is hidden. It has to be brought to awareness. It’s like: the house may be fitted with all electric wires, but one has to press the button. You don’t press the button, you remain in dark; you press the button, suddenly you are in light. So, inside everyone there is Light of God, which is the seat of all the—what?—the goal of seekers of different religions.

‘All the administration of a country is for people not to suffer. Prevention-oriented administration is administration. Any administration which is not capable of prevention, is not an administration. It’s pollution! It’s pollution!

‘And now, I think the time is fast approaching that the phrase that we have been hearing will be brought to practice. The phrase is: You cannot fool all the people all the time. You can fool some people some time, but not all the people all the time. So, the whole field of politics has been fooling the society. The whole field of religion, I would say strongly, they have been motivated in the right direction but without delivering the goods— no! I’m a religious man. I’m not criticizing religion. . . .

‘So the time is there. Either the governments wake up or tomorrow, they’ll find themselves on the streets. More competent people will come and guide the destiny of administration in every country, in every country. Time is gone that you will continue to fool your whole population.

‘Either the ruling parties will rule properly or the opposition will take over and rule. You cannot fool all the people all the time. No. All this administration is not done on the basis of proclamations. These political people just proclaim. Great proclaim! Great proclamations! They fool their people. But time is coming, they’ll be ruled out. Either [they] accede to knowledge, or [administration in] ignorance will be rooted out [as] not necessary.

‘I have been hearing the response of all these developing countries: “Ah, the idea is very good, the idea is very good”. But the appreciation of my ideas will not do any good to you. You have to do it. It’s very necessary that all this stupidity should end now, quickly.’

Question: On the God's Role in Conflicts

Dr Hagelin: ‘Maharishi, this is an interesting question on many people’s minds. “During conflicts people pray to God for victory. Both sides are convinced God is on our side. God is universal, God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscience, as you said. So whose side is God really on when soldiers go to war?”’ 

Maharishi: ‘God is well aware of the hypocrisy of man. You can’t hide behind the name “God” and do wrong things—you know? He has set the laws: As you sow, so shall you reap. Period! As you sow, so shall you reap. This is the kindness of God, who has given man that freedom. You like—what you like, you can do. You like, you can do. But what you do, you cannot undo the result of your own doing. You have to bear the fruits of your doing. As you sow, so shall you reap. As you sow—it’s a law. It’s a universal law. It’s a universal law.

‘God is not after each man: You do this, you do this, you don’t do this, you don’t do this. No, no. God is God, Administrator of the galactic universe! He rules by one law. The law is: Freedom to you, do what you want to do, and you will get the results of what you do, that’s all. You can fool yourself, but you cannot fool the Almighty Intelligence, the Administrator of the universe, the Light of God.

‘Time is now, the world has suffered a lot. The world has suffered a lot. Thousands of years of suffering will not continue. Now the Light of God is more awake than ever before. Religion or no religion, politics or no politics, economy or no economy, the whole life has to be a living reality! That’s all.’