1 February 2006 Press Conference Highlights

Opening Remarks

Maharishi: ‘Jai Guru Dev. Can we start with questions? I have been speaking introductions for fifty years. So let’s have some fresh questions from the press.’ 

Question: The Importance of All Maharishi’s Programmes

Dr Hagelin: ‘Yes, thank you very much, Maharishi. I could pose one question that has come in from New York, and then ask our reporter-journalist here from the Associated Press to raise questions. I thought this first question was very timely. It has come in several times over the past few months. That question for Maharishi is: What is the priority? Maharishi has many global initiatives that he is offering to the world: his programme to establish large group meditations to promote world peace, his programme to eliminate world poverty, and now his programme to rebuild the world according to Vedic Architecture. Is there a priority to these initiatives? Which programme is most important? Which programme would Maharishi like to see implemented first?’ 

Maharishi: ‘All of them together make that Vedic principle of averting the danger that has not yet come. The ideal of Vedic life is “Heyam Duhkham Anagatam” —three words. The problem, the suffering, the negativity that has not yet come is on the way, coming. Avert it. Let it not come to you.

‘That is the wisdom of life: “Avert the danger that has not yet come.” That is the ideal to be achieved from the point of view of Vedic Science and from common sense, from every logic. If the problem could be stopped from coming, then one is really enjoying freedom, invincibility. That is our target.

‘For invincibility, the body should be healthy, the mind should be healthy, intellect should be healthy, and ego should be healthy. It is not which one is important; it is every one is important. These are the units of life; they make life—the body, mind, intellect, ego, the behaviour, the environment. Each is equally important for integrated life.

‘We have to reconstruct the world because people have not followed the rules of laying out the houses—architecture. There are rules, like the structure of a galaxy. There are rules that the galaxy is a galaxy on its own and in relation to others. Like that, the body is; like that, the house is; like that, the city planning is; like that, the country planning is.

‘So country planning, city planning, house planning—these are all important values. Which is first? None. All are equally important. Body, mind, intellect, and ego—health is each important of each. For the mind, we have Transcendental Meditation, taking our mind to a field of bliss inside—unbounded bliss consciousness, transcendental self-referral consciousness.

‘Fortunately, in this time of hundreds of years of scientific pursuit, what Dr Hagelin is proclaiming to the world has been established. What has been established? The insight into the reality of all diversity. This has been established. There is one unity, unified wholeness, total Natural Law in the transcendental self-referral consciousness, the Unified Field, which can be derived purely from mathematical calculations and equations.

‘And for experience, the Vedic procedure is available of transcending and higher practices of transcending—getting into the ability to function in that transcendental state. This is the human awareness. And this is that which utilizes total Natural Law through every thought, speech, and action.

‘This total Natural Law, we have learned from the Vedic Tradition, is the structure of the Vedic text. Vedic text is the text of the Constitution of the Universe which maintains order in the universe. "Universe": unified, versified value—unified, versified—unity, diversity together.

‘This togetherness of unity and diversity is the discovery of the ultimate reality of life from the physical, objective, scientific approach. Physics, chemistry, and biology—all these different physical sciences—have succeeded in probing into the ultimate reality which has been proclaimed from the innumerable past by the Vedic text. The most ancient Vedic Science of perfection in life has been discovered through the scientific approach of modern physical sciences.

‘With this knowledge, we feel it must be possible for us to have our world structured and administered in the way that the infinite diversity of the universe is structured and administered all the time. That is why our aspiration is to raise the problem-ridden world to a state of problem-free, prevention-oriented administration—the peace that rules the infinite diversity of dynamism.

‘The peace that rules the infinite diversity of dynamism—it is the peace in the empty space that rules and governs the galactic, physical universe. Now we have the knowledge from the scientific point of view and from the point of view of its own value, the Vedic point of view. From the point of view of its own value—the Vedic point of view—and from the point of view of penetrating into the finer fields of physical structure, eventually locating that infinite order that maintains knowledge and its application on the same level of awareness, Transcendental Consciousness.

‘It is a beautiful achievement, and we enjoy—we float in bliss on this level of achievement. From here, we are functioning in the world on a principle that: bring the light, and darkness will disappear. Bring the light, and darkness will disappear. You don't have to fight the darkness to be out of the hall—no. Don't fight.

‘Today’s world is full of fighting. Politics is full of parties, full of fighting. Our principle is peace—lively peace in human awareness. That will create lively peace in the collective consciousness.

‘We have come to know: a few people, practising this dynamism in peace, which is Yogic Flying, the body lifts up in the air. When the body lifts up in the air, the mind and the body—the field of consciousness and the field of physiology—are in perfect attunement. With one impulse, that “I want to get up”, immediately the thought takes the physical body rise up in the air.

‘This phenomenon, this programme, comes from the Vedic Literature, which we now understand to be the text of the Constitution of the Universe—the text of total Natural Law. This text of total Natural Law can be made consciously lively in the individual mind. Then the individual mind functions completely within the capacity of total Natural Law.

‘Total Natural Law is the Constitution of the Universe. It is known to us through experience and through understanding from the Vedic Literature—the literature of the Veda—and now, from the discovery of modern physical sciences. So the whole thing is very reliably in our hands.

‘We are establishing these groups here, there, everywhere. Establishing these groups requires training in all the programmes of Transcendental Meditation, the advanced techniques of Transcendental Meditation, and the far-advanced technique of Yogic Flying. These are the programmes for the mind.

‘For the body, the body must be in a house with a set-up which is in accord with total Natural Law. The whole thing boils down to a few principles. These principles are: the entrance of the house should be in the east, and should never be south or west. What happens when the entrance is in the east or in other directions is very explicitly laid out. Without living in proper housing, man’s destiny is shadowed by layers of ignorance. That is why our programme calls for the reconstruction of the world. This is a requirement.

‘This is the requirement. How soon can we do it? We may not do it in this generation. But whenever people live in fortune-creating homes, this is like living in perfect health. As long as an individual is not living in perfect health, he will not be able to think properly, he will not be able to behave properly, and he will make a mess of his life. This will be the problem-ridden life of the individual, and is extended to the problem-ridden life of the nation. That is how the world is, and this is how we are going to amend the world.

‘The question was, “Which is important?” Every aspect is important. If a man with a very clear mind goes and lives in a house which has south entrance, his whole thinking will be in the direction of self-destruction—that is all—self-destruction. If he is a businessman, he will be losing and losing and losing. If he has children, there will be quarrels, and there will be sickness. The eastern entrance is the best. Second best is northern entrance. Western and southern entrances are very specifically narrated to be creating psychological and emotional upsurges which are not healthy to life—that is it, that's all.

‘It is like you take a drop of poison, and then the effect is clear. You take a nectar, then the effect is there. These are the principles of total Natural Law, whether one follows them or doesn't follow them. If one follows, then one will be victorious. In whatever direction his ambition may be, he will always be successful. That is the education we want to promote, and that is the logic we want to tell the people in this generation.

‘It won't take a long time now. We have found India is a poor country, and being poor, it is less expensive. There we have built a few thousand such proper homes in the proper direction. And there we are going to bring people from all countries at a very low cost and train them in three months, in six months, in one year. That is the present programme, and that is what will make world consciousness purer than before, more harmonious than before, more integrated than before.

‘Integrated should mean invincible. Nothing wrong can penetrate into it. Dr Hagelin tells me there are examples of this in the Meissner Effect and zero-point motion. All these things, we have learned from Dr Hagelin’s terminology of the physical way of investigation. The terminology of the physical explanation is from the field of modern science and verified by equations. That means it is fully authentic from the mathematical point of view.

‘For experience, we have the Vedic Technology, Vedic techniques of how to handle the mind to trickle down and take the awareness to the transcendental field where all the Laws of Nature are always lively. This is the way to culture life so that it will not get into the muddle of problems and suffering and difficulties and conflicts—not good, not good. We are going to have civilized politics, where politics will be neat and clean, offering freedom to everyone—not suppressing freedom of one to gain the freedom of the other. No.

‘All is well and wisely put. All the different cultures of different nations, all the different mannerisms, and different languages constitute the individuality of a nation. Every individuality is a unit of the Global Country of World Peace. The concept of the Global Country is the concept of a universe—administration of that by total Natural Law, total Natural Law. The word “total” is underlined, total Natural Law. So we are in the grip of Total Knowledge. And we are going to make our world fairly free from problems and all that.

‘The concept of a silent government—Peace Government: in today’s world, people don't know how a government is run. The fundamental principle is that a government is run by the collective consciousness of the nation. That we have learned. I learned it, because when I saw, that year after year, year after year, I was telling the governments [my message]. All these government people are very wise people—the wisest in their country. They are elected, and they come to be the chosen leader of their masses. Year after year—in five years, one person would be gone; the next year came, I would give the same message to them; the third time, other people came, and I gave the same message. So I thought, “Why is it that no one responds to this beautiful offer—that their nation could become an integrated nation, an invincible nation? Nobody.” Then the conclusion was that the people in the government are not individual people. They are made of the quality of the nation.

‘So I changed my strategy. I thought, “Do not waste my time.” For the last ten, fifteen years, I stopped talking to governments, concluding that talking to governments is a waste of time.

‘What will be the proper use of my time? Changing the quality of national consciousness. To change the quality of national consciousness, one will not do. I have to change the quality of world consciousness. Then the formula came out: you have so many people practising Yogic Flying, and the total world consciousness will become infused with the quality of coherence, integration, freedom—free from negativity. T

‘That is what I am doing now. This is from experience—that unless the collective consciousness is handled to become integrated in itself, peace will always remain a question mark.

‘Now the focus is to create those groups of Yogic Flyers here, there, and everywhere—some small, small numbers in each country, in each country, in each country, like that. Then the thought was, “Where to do it?” I chose India, because it is a poor country and the expenses of training will be less, and all the people could be brought in. A few thousand houses have already been built there according to Vastu. So, Vastu buildings are ready there. And the Vedic Scholars are there, who are ready to sing the song of harmony, unity, integration—total Natural Law in the Vedic texts. The scientists could come from everywhere. Dr Hagelin has been there.

‘The Vedic Pandits were astounded and so surprised that even from the approach of physical values, modern science has tapped into the ultimate reality, into that zero-point motion, where the unmanifest is capable of expressing itself. The unmanifest has been made lively through modern science. The theoretical approach of modern science and the practical approach of Vedic Science, both, have shaken hands now. Therefore, this is a complete disclosure of a programme of peace in the midst of all diversities.

‘Our programme is to create these groups [of Yogic Flyers]. The programme is to take some people from every country and train them in India—training will be least costly. The effect will be the same everywhere. The people, trained in India, will come out and establish these groups in their own country. Automatically, the collective consciousness of each country will rise to a high level of integration and coherence. That means a real level of invincibility.

‘So each of these values is important—not one after the other. Reconstruction of the world is absolutely important. Unless the people begin to live in proper homes, they will be subject to misfortune-creating homes. Either they choose to live in fortune-creating homes, or they choose to continue living in misfortune-creating homes and continue to live in sickness and quarrels and problems, difficulties, and think that this is what life is.

‘So we are all right. It is a delight to dwell on these questions from the wise people in the press. The more they are convinced, the more they will radiate what they are convinced.’

Question: On Reporting the News

Dr Hagelin: ‘Thank you very much, Maharishi. That was an extraordinary and comprehensive introduction, which ranged from individual enlightenment—developing the full potential of individual life and bringing mistake-free, problem-free, prevention-oriented behaviour on the individual level—to the reconstruction of the physical structures of the world.

(Dr Hagelin speaks.)

‘While there are many, many excellent questions that have come in from the global press, I think at this time it would be very interesting and quite enjoyable to invite Arthur Max from the Associated Press to pose a question for a major study he is researching. He has driven from Amsterdam today to the World Capital of the Global Country of World Peace here in MERU, Holland. He has a number of short questions for the time that we have. At this point, I would like to invite Mr Arthur Max from the Associated Press to pose his question to Maharishi, and let him respond. Hopefully, there will be time for quite a few of his questions this afternoon.’

Mr Max : ‘Maharishi, you have indicated that we are on the threshold of a new dawn, that the world is moving in a positive direction. And you have asked the world press to report back to you on positive developments. I would like to know exactly what we should be looking for. What kind of good news do you expect? Where do you expect these things to happen? At the same time that good news is happening, there is also bad news. For every step of reconciliation between India and Pakistan, there are new problems in Sri Lanka, or there is news of Iran developing nuclear capability. How do we deal with all this?’

Maharishi: ‘We do not deal with problems, problem by problem. We deal with bringing the light, and all the problems of darkness disappear. We do not waste our time on the relationship of India and Pakistan, or India and America, or India and Holland—no. We create coherence in world consciousness. Then, fighting will stop everywhere. That is the prediction.

‘Bring the light, because in the darkness, people break their knees, break their head, break their this and that. There are all difficulties in darkness. We do not deal with these difficulties individually. We bring the light.

‘What is it that makes Pakistan and India, or India and America, or India and England sometimes shake hands, and sometimes threaten each other with their bombs? What is that thing? It is the quality of national consciousness of India, the quality of national consciousness of Pakistan, of America, of all countries. So we make the collective consciousness of the whole world rise to unity. “Unity” means under the threshold of a unifying force—that is all.

‘To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach. To think of resolving problems by sitting at a table is a childish approach. The wise approach will be when you do not have to face differences in your own mind. Prevention from facing the problems is wisdom. It is the supreme wisdom of politics when you create an integrated national consciousness in your own country. Then there will be no enemy born to your nation, ever. So creating coherence is the clue to having world harmony.’

Question: The Status of Governments

Mr Max: ‘Maharishi, in today’s world, do you see this happening? Do you condemn all governments equally, or are some better than others? Are some moving in a right direction?’

Maharishi: ‘There will always be a comparative status of each. Some will be more aggressive; some will be less aggressive. Some will be more accommodating; some will be more rejecting. All kinds of differences are very natural, up to that time when the total world consciousness rises to harmony. All these differences are natural, as natural as unity is natural. We are for unity. Reconciliation through negotiation, we think is a waste of time. Others think that is the way; let them do it. Whatever they know, they use; whatever we know, we use.’

Question: The Uniqueness of Maharishi’s Teaching

Dr Hagelin: ‘Thank you very much, Maharishi. I would like to interject another related question from the global press for Maharishi. It is on the same subject. For thousands of years, the world has been beset with wars and violence. Maharishi himself has spoken of the long, bloody history of mankind. But now Maharishi has told the world press that a new time of peace is coming that will be completely free of violence, destruction, problems, negativity. Even more so, Maharishi has said that this time of peace is not coming in some far-distant time, but it is coming soon, and that the signs of this new time will be obvious for the world press to report within the next few months. What is Maharishi doing or teaching now, that other great spiritual leaders have not done or taught in the past, that will bring the onset of this new age in just the coming months?’

Maharishi: ‘Reconstruction of the world. That means to demolish misfortune-creating homes as soon as possible. The second thing, along with that, is to create groups of Yogic Flyers. It will take four, six months, to create groups of Yogic Flyers. That will purify the collective consciousness and make collective consciousness integrated. And that will resolve all the disintegrated trends of national consciousness everywhere.

‘Also, put this knowledge of total Natural Law in education to be experienced by the children. Transcendental Consciousness should be a matter of experience, and knowledge about it should be introduced in education. Another thing is to put this integrated state of consciousness at the basis of all health programmes, so that health will not remain weak in any sense. Another programme is our agriculture programme. Save agriculture from poisons. That will be Vedic Agriculture. Vedic Defence will eliminate your enemy before he is born. No enemy will be born. That is the supreme quality of defence—invincible defence.

‘So we have properly understood and sorted out each area of human concern. We have an effective programme for each area, and all approaches simultaneously will bring the total renaissance of the world—a renaissance. The time is very, very ripe in this scientific age. We can talk in terms of science, in terms of logic, in terms of abstract philosophy; we can talk in terms of the abstract and concrete values of religion. This is the time we can express it in any language of any field of life. That is what we are doing. And soon, soon, soon, we expect the dawn of a very beautiful time for human destiny.

‘What is happening today, what was happening yesterday, what will happen tomorrow: that will happen. But our contribution will be that what is happening today is better than yesterday and what will happen tomorrow will be better than today. And very soon, after a few tomorrows, we will have a bright platform of all good in the life of the individual and in the life of the nation.’

Question: Continuance of Maharishi’s Message

Mr Max: ‘Maharishi, so many gurus, people like yourself, have given so much thought to the direction of the world and tried to lead great numbers of people in their direction. But by the very nature of their personalities and their own thinking, one has to wonder what happens to their Movements when they are no longer around. Would you like to speculate on what will happen to the ideas of Maharishi when the day comes when he’s not here to give us his own personal thoughts?’

Maharishi: ‘It doesn't matter. There is a phrase: “Man is the master of his own destiny.” So the destiny of every man doesn't depend on the existence of Maharishi, or his absence. Man is the master of his own destiny. Maharishi is showing a way. Whoever comes on the lighted way, he will get to the target; he will get to the goal of the way. Those who don't, they don't—that's all.

‘Man has a choice. Education is so very limited today. Whether this generation understands the words of Maharishi or not, those who do understand will be better off. They'll be the masters of their own destiny. Others will remain slaves of circumstances and situations.

‘Doesn't matter. Maharishi’s message does not remain limited to his physical body. This is the message that was there before the body of Maharishi, and it will remain there when the body of Maharishi will not come up.’

Question: Invincibility and Sovereignty of Nations

Dr Hagelin: ‘Thank you, Maharishi. This is a question on sovereignty and the invincibility of nations. Maharishi has said today that there are no truly sovereign nations, that poor nations are economic servants to wealthy nations, and that even powerful countries cannot ensure the safety and security of their people. How will your programme of group meditations make a nation that is poor, and without a large military, sovereign and invincible?’

Maharishi: ‘Military—that means protection from fighting the enemy—is a very, very wrong principle. The ability to die for the nation is no safety to the nation. The youth are dying for the nation— that is the military. Where is the nation when the youth are gone? The whole thing is a misnomer, a great field of ignorance.

‘In this scientific age, all these whims of life: "I save my nation’s by a bigger military, bigger military." It is a whim of life. In this scientific age, all these principles are being exposed and they are condemned. Those who still believe it will be out of place.

‘No military, even now, can save itself from the onslaught of other military. Amassing a military means sacrificing the youth. That means sacrificing the nation for the sake of protecting the nation. It is a very false notion, and it's ignorance. We don't build up on that level—no. We don't take that to be a right thing.

‘Military and safety through the military are false notions for a nation’s protection. It's false; it's false; it's false. Those who think that that is the only way, we think they are not right. It doesn't matter to them whether we say they are right or not, in the same way as it doesn't matter to us if somebody says I am not right. Those who wear green glasses will look at me as green; those who have red glasses will say I am red. I let the people make remarks about me, but it doesn't touch me, all those remarks.

‘Today's sovereignty—what word? a mild word, if I use, or I strong word, if I use—is nonexistent. Sovereignty is a notion that is nonexistent. It exists only in the imaginary world of some people, “I am a sovereign nation; I am a sovereign nation; I am a sovereign nation.” Every nation today is dependent on the other nation.

‘In hard words, I say that every nation is a slave of many other nations today. Take any nation—that nation is a slave of a few nations. Analyse it, and you will find that any nation is not really sovereign. It is a slave of this nation or that nation. That is the reality of sovereignty today. It is nonexistent, if we speak the truth about it. And if you garble about it, “I am a sovereign nation, I am a sovereign nation”, it is vain talk, empty talk with no substance in it.

‘I want every nation to be really invincible, and I am going to make it, because my formulas are so simple—just a few thousand people in this country, in this country, in this country. I am going to create it. I have started to move the wheels of it.’

Question: Limits of the Human Brain

Dr Hagelin: ‘Thank you, Maharishi. This is a question on a deep principle of knowledge. The question is: The human brain is a product of the universe; the human brain is a creation of the universe. The human brain is not a creator of the universe. So are there limits to what any one human being, with a human brain, can know about the universe?’

Maharishi: ‘The human brain has the ability in its function that could function parallel to the absolute orderly functioning of the cosmos, of the universe. It is not that, but it has the ability to function like that. It is beyond any logic or anything.

‘It is so obvious that in the functioning of so many millions of moons and stars and galaxies, there is order in the functioning. There is order in the functioning. That order can be appreciated by human mind, and therefore, the world of a human being can be put parallel to that most orderly functioning of the universe, total Natural Law. We don't mind those who don't understand it; they will remain on their own level or whatever.

‘I need a few hundred people. A thousand people in Holland—they will make an integrated national consciousness in Holland. That will be the level of invincibility for Holland. Then no country will say, “Now, you send your youth to that country to die for me.” This is slavery to foreign powers. Holland is going to come out of that very quickly. Germany is going to come out of that. I am now going country by country, country by country, and very soon, these countries will show up with integrated national consciousness.

‘Every government is governed by the collective consciousness of the nation. I can improve the quality of collective consciousness of the nation, and thereby the government will function on a level of invincibility. Without that quality of collective consciousness, the government—whichever it may be—it must remain a slave, a football of situations and circumstances in the international world.’

Question: Basis of Effectiveness of Maharishi’s Programmes

Mr Max: ‘Maharishi, first of all I would like to thank you for all the time you have given us. I have just one more question. It is about the programme that you have been promoting recently to collect funds for the eradication of poverty—on the scale of trillions and trillions of dollars—which, of course, seems on such a vast scale that it is hard to believe. It is hard to comprehend how this can come about in any reasonable time frame. There are so many organizations involved in trying to alleviate poverty around the world, such as the United Nations and many of its organizations. Why is your programme more efficient? Why would it work better than any other?’

Maharishi: ‘Because we work on the level of the working of total Natural Law. Find out about the buildings of the United Nations in Geneva and in New York. They are all topsy-turvy buildings. The men there are well-intentioned people, but they are living in [buildings with] wrong orientation. Therefore, their brain functioning is not orderly to the extent that it could be.

‘Look to the buildings of the United States. You are a writer; you challenge the thing—that the people in the United Nations are well-intentioned people, but for years they have been rambling on about the same thing; for years, they have not succeeded. They should take the formulas of Vedic Architecture: demolish their buildings, rebuild their office workers' centre and living places. Then they will succeed in their intentions. Otherwise, the United Nations, year after year, is a laughingstock. . . simply, because their living conditions do not promote that orderly functioning which Dr Hagelin was describing. There will not be synchrony in the brain if the brain is put in a disorderly house. It is very important.’