" Lord Krishna continued: The wise man, realizing that oneness alone is the truth, should neither praise nor condemn anything in the world. Diversity is the result of the soul's sleep, or ignorance! It is a long dream. When such is the case, what is good, what is evil? Whatever is described by speech, and whatever is thought of by the mind, is all false.... Duality is untenable. I alone existed before creation, and shall exist after dissolution. Hence, I alone exist even now by whatever names and forms I may be thought of. Gold is gold always, both before and after its transformation into what is known as ornament, for even an ornament is gold only.... Nothing short of perfection, which is the realization of the self, or unity, can bestow liberation on you. Till that is achieved, the lusts and cravings that are the offspring of this perception of diversity, will return again and again like improperly treated illness."

•••

"As one’s idea of I is never based on the shadow or reflection of the body, or the body seen in dream or imagined by the mind, thus also may it be with the living body." (Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Wisdom, Sloka 165)

•••

"...bliss is omnipresent and eternal, while happiness is the expression of the reflection of the omnipresent bliss on the mind. Absolute bliss being always there, the experience of happiness thus depends upon the degree of steadiness of the mind. If the mind is more collected, more peaceful, it experiences more happiness."

Maharishi's commentary on Ch. 2, v. 66 of the Gita

•••

Maharishi: Don't waste your life. Don't waste your time, because you are the light of God inside yourself.​

"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 a 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 the 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 program. 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 ...."

~Maharishi

~Global Press Conference -- MERU, Vlodrop, Holland -- April 2, 2003 -Video file

•••

Maharishi: Divine help does not come from any outside source, but from the level of the omnipresent within

"The whole philosophy of gaining help from the Divine is just this: that the help does not come from any outer source. The help comes from that area of life, that level of life which is omnipresent because it's on that level that all the laws of nature are functioning. And once the awareness reaches that level, the support from nature is there, the help from nature is there.

For the mind to reach the level of omnipresent, how much time it could take? Omnipresent means omnipresent, that's all. We don't have to go far and wide. Just there. Once one transcends, the help starts to come right from that moment. This is the merciful nature of the Almighty. It doesn't have to come from somewhere. No. The help comes from right there because it comes from that level on which all the laws of nature are functioning. [It's] only a matter of taking our attention there. So if it is to come, it's to come right from where we are; if it's not to come, it's not to come, it won't come from anywhere else.

But wrapped in mysticism, wrapped in the garb of grace -- and then the God's Grace, and then the God's Grace, and then the God's Grace -- this thing has done one great injustice to human life. And that [is]: it kept the awareness of man always to something outside of himself, outside of himself, outside. God, and God, and God, and God, and constantly the awareness falls on something outside, falls on something outside.

Once one has separated oneself from that goal to which one looks on for help, then the whole process is damaging to direct contact, the very process is damaging to direct contact. 'I look to Thee." Always my awareness is outside, awareness is outside. And once my awareness is outside, I'm completely cut off from my Self. And once I am cut off from my Self, I am cut off from that omnipresent because it's the Self which is omnipresent. And that's why I'm cut off from the field of help.

So always such a thing of prayer to God, or some such things to God, all these things have kept man's awareness projected outwards, far away from himself. And when it is far away from himself, then [it is] far away from [the] omnipresent and far away from God. Finished. Simple."

~Maharishi

~Rishikesh, India -- February 2, 1968 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: The whole knowledge is very clear, and it's as simple as lighting a candle.

"The whole knowledge is very clear, and it's as simple as lighting a candle, that's all. Candle lighting removes a big, huge, terrible mess in the darkness, but in itself it's 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."

~Global Press Conference -- MERU, Vlodrop, Holland -- April 2, 2003 -- Video file

•••

Maharishi: The inevitable tragedy of knowledge caused by the gap in consciousness between the teacher & student/How the student can quickly rise to the level of the teacher

"Maybe in some generation, by accident or by providence, the student is not brought up to this level [of the consciousness of the teacher]. He may be one or two steps below. Then that becomes the level of the teacher, and then this much is the difference between the real Reality and the prevalent reality because now this teacher is the teacher of his generation. He can only raise the level of consciousness of his generation to this level which falls short of the real Reality. Now this is the teacher.

Now this goes on for a few generations that the students are raised to this level. Maybe in some one generation the student remains a little behind and the teacher falls away. The gap has increased. The truth is lost more and more with this increase of gap. This is inevitable. And this is how the truth gets lost. There is no way to prevent it; it's Nature just because of the difference in the level of consciousness: the teacher and the student, the teacher and the student. And the student rises, rises, rises, rises, rises. It's the efficiency of the teacher that he is able to raise the student, fine, but if in some generation it can't come up to that -- maybe one step and the body of the teacher falls or something happens -- then this much is the gap between the absolute Truth and the understood reality. This is what [is] the misery of wisdom, the tragedy of knowledge. And this is something very, very inevitable.

Now you see how the knowledge gets lost: because of the gap between the teacher and the taught, [between the] teacher and the student. That is why in order to raise the level of the student to the level of the teacher as soon as possible the requirement is love and reverence, love and reverence, accompanied with the sense of service. These are the three requirements for the student in order to get to the Reality: love for teacher, reverence for the teacher, service to the teacher."

"These are the three things. This minimizes the resistance that might be to the flow of knowledge. The resistance. If the teacher says this, this, this, this -- love and reverence.

Now, the student has all right to question, and question, and question, and question, and question, and question. Innumerable questions he can put [to the teacher]. All doubts he could put. Putting the doubts to the teacher is no disrespect. If one doesn't understand one asks, and asks, and asks, and asks. That is absolutely no disrespect to the teacher.

So in all reverence and love and sense of service, the channel of the heart and mind of the student starts flowing towards the teacher, and then action and reaction are equal. When the heart and mind of the teacher starts to flow for the student and then both start to be more and more harmonious, the flow of wisdom is more complete every day, and more complete, and more complete and soon the student comes to the level of the teacher. And when he has come to the level of the teacher, then he is a teacher, that's all. One doesn't have to remain a student all the time; [one] rises to the level of the teacher, and that's it.

There is a proverb in India which says:

The teacher is inert if he fails to bring enlightenment to his student.

The fault is not in the student; the lack is on the part of the teacher. It is said that he is 'inert', he is no good, lifeless if he has not been able to raise the student to his level. So this tragedy of knowledge is there wherever there is the imparting of knowledge, this difference in the level of consciousness, it's just there.

And to minimize the gap just these three things: service to the teacher, reverence and love; and our Transcendental Meditation is such a beautiful system, love naturally increases, and reverence naturally increases and life becomes better. The whole thing becomes very natural. All the requirements for perfection in knowledge they just grow as a part of life; we don't have to manipulate. Nothing. We just take it easy, and by nature we are more loving, and more respectful, and more serviceful. The whole life takes that form spontaneously and naturally because of the experience in life. Everything becomes spontaneous, so we don't have to bother about anything. We just meditate and take it easy, that's all."

~Maharishi

~Squaw Valley, USA -- August 1968 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: Our endeavor is to help people to develop pure consciousness, the basis of right action

"As far as the right action is concerned: we have the absolute measure of right action in pure consciousness, and that is why pure consciousness is the basis of right action. All our endeavor, all our Movement, all our teaching is to help people to develop pure consciousness in which every aspiration in life will be in accordance with the force of evolution and therefore will be right. We want to create a situation whereby innocently, spontaneously everyone would be functioning in the right channel, in the right direction. That is our effort.

That is why we think it's a waste of time and energy to think in terms of isolated problems: When this situation comes how we shall act?; When this comes how we should act?; When this comes what will be the right decision? There'll be innumerable phases, and it will not be possible to decide on the level of intellectual understanding what is right and what is wrong.

That's why we want to create a situation whereby every thought will be in the right direction, every action will be in the right direction. And right direction means: progress and evolution, and all good for the doer and all good for all others. This is right action. If we define right action in this way that everything that one does is life-supporting for the doer and for all others, then the basis of such a right action will be pure consciousness. Pure consciousness."

~Maharishi

~Amherst, USA -- Summer 1971 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: On the path of evolution, we don't forsake the present for the future and vice versa

"When we are heading towards raising the level of consciousness and aim at living life on the highest level of awareness, we don't want to be closed to the value of the present. The present level of awareness should also give us maximum possible richness in life. It's very important that we don't lose sight of the present. Otherwise, we may slip off into an imaginary state of golden future and not live the present. It's very important that when we have the ideal of life on the level of Unity or God Consciousness or at least Cosmic Consciousness, then meditating morning and evening and being active during the day we should not forget that every day is our day, our life; it must lived fully; it must be enjoyed fully. All the ability to enjoy life that we have [in the] present should not be forsaken in the imaginations of a golden, future life in God Consciousness or in Unity.

It will not be wisdom to forgo the richness of the present because even in the present we have a level of consciousness. Certainly in the past this level was not there. We have through our meditations and good life gained this level of awareness. Every level of awareness is significant to life, because, after all, our efforts to raise the level of awareness are to make more of life, to make the best of life. So every step of evolution should be used to enjoy that more [of life] which it provides.

It's very important that the present should not be lost, and it's very important that [in] enjoying the present level of consciousness we don't lose the sight of future. Both are important. And with all the wisdom that we have gained during all this time and the clarity of understanding about life, we should be able to have our life spontaneously lived to enjoy maximum of the present and rise to maximum in the future. The pattern of life should be such that it spontaneously places us on the richest value of life in the present and at the same time gives us steps of highest evolution. Spontaneously. We don't have keep on brooding about the present and brooding about the future. We don't have to think that we must enjoy in the present. Even this thought will be a terrible thought, a waste of energy and time.

The pattern of life should be such that spontaneously we are deriving maximum from the present level of awareness and that method of deriving maximum in the present should spontaneously lead on to further steps of evolution. Spontaneously. And that we achieve through regular meditations and activity during the day."

~Maharishi

~Rishikesh, India -- March 1970 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: This is the time of truth in life everywhere

"This is the time of truth in life everywhere, the reality of God's will to be lived and enjoyed by every shadow of God. Life is the shadow of God. Life speaks for the Creator, Almighty. And this is going to be the experience of everybody."

~Maharishi

~MERU, Vlodrop, Holland -- Speaking on the One Year Anniversary of the Invincible America Assembly

~July 27, 2007 -- Video file

•••

Maharishi: Searching for and finding the territory of God's will, the total potential of natural law

"All people take recourse to God and try to find Him through their channel of approach. We have found mind to be the dictator, and we have found a way that the mind could rest in the cradle of God, total potential of natural law. [The] mind rests there. There is no more to go, because there is fulfillment for the mind.

[For] what mind is searching? Mind is searching for something more -- whatever more, [more] knowledge, more power, more happiness, more whatever. Mind is searching, everywhere wandering in search of more and more and more. Through the practice of Transcendental Meditation, the mind settles on the lap of God. God, whether in terms of Father or in terms of Mother, the mind settles down in that thing which is, one would say, 'Fulfillment', or one would say, 'Enlightenment' because then the mind is completely open in all directions -- unbounded wakefulness. This is the territory of God's will. This is natural law, total potential of natural law.

Having taken a trip to this level, Transcendental Consciousness, the mind steps out, it comes out soaked with the evolutionary nature of natural law. Then he begins to behave in the evolutionary manner, in the evolutionary manner. Then we say, 'He is an educated man.'

Someone who does not take a trip to the Kingdom of God, he remains searching for it -- all pursuits, this and this, and greater pursuits. But unless totality is fathomed by the mind, the mind is not going to be continuously fooled by little gains here and little gains here. The mind will not be satisfied. It won't settle down. It will only settle down in something unbounded, infinite, where he could know anything, he could do anything -- that much POWER in man."

~Maharishi

~From Maharishi's interview with Asafa Peled, journalist for the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Achronoth -- MERU, Vlodrop, Holland

~September 24, 1994 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: Only in Unity can diversity be fully-appreciated/If we can't evaluate diversity in its infinite value, then everything feels sorry, feels sad

"Innocent experience of creation means state of Unity, consciousness of Unity where the Unity dominates. Dominates. Dominates. Diversity does not disappear, but Unity dominates. Everything is there -- this thing is there, that thing is there, that thing is there. Unity does not mean nothing is there. No. Everything is there. Everything means all the distinctions and differences are there, but the Unity which till now was underlying all these differences has zoomed up on the surface, so that the differences are not so dominating as the undifferentiated, non-differentiated unified field of existence. So the reality begins to be appreciated.

And then the song of life is in full glory of diversity in terms of Unity. Full glory of diversity is that every particle of creation which has its own characteristic different from everything else, that particle should be appreciated in its full value. And the full value of the particle is: surface value, deeper value, celestial value, transcendental value, all values inclusive. And then the particle is appreciated in its full value.

So it is in the state of Unity that the diversity is well-appreciated in its full value. It is in the state of Unity that one becomes capable of really appreciating diversity for its full value. Otherwise, the full value of diversity is not appreciated if Unity remains in the background. So what we experience in Unity is full value of diversity. Diversity is not lost. It is appreciated in its fullest value. This is the glory of revival.

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "Can a full appreciation of all those values be known while duality exists or can it only be known in full God Consciousness?"

MAHARISHI: "It can only be known when we step into Unity from God Consciousness. This is what I was saying. Only in the state of Unity when Unity dominates our consciousness, then only can we say, 'This is the state of full evaluation of diversity, full evaluation of duality.' "

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "You said, 'When creation takes over.' "

MAHARISHI: "When the Self takes over creation. When the Self takes over. When the Self takes over, then the full value of duality is appreciated, full value. Otherwise, duality is appreciated but not in its full value.

As long as the infinite value of anything is not cognized, so long that thing is not properly evaluated. [Then] that thing curses the evaluator. Any appreciation of a value if it is not in tune with the infinite, then the thing feels sorry, 'In what hand have I come after all?' It's like a diamond, a very valuable diamond fallen into the hand of very poor man. He sells it for four dollars there. And then the diamond says, 'Ah. In what hand I have fallen?' (Audience laughter)

Same thing. Infinite value. Every little bit of creation has its infinite value. And if it's only the surface value you know, everything feels sad, and everything feels sad. And when everything that is evaluated feels sad, it must reflect on the evaluator. Such an evaluator can't feel happy or fulfilled when he is lowering the dignity of everything. That's why stress in life.

When you are devaluating everything how can YOU be evaluated properly by everything else? It's very simple -- as you sow, so shall you reap. Action and reaction are equal, and if you can't bear evaluating or accepting the infinite value in something that is infinite at its core of existence, then how can that thing bless you for YOUR value? Depression comes in life.

That is why we want to evaluate everything in terms of its surface values, in terms of its deeper values -- which at the depth are celestial in nature -- and in terms of the transcendental, infinite value. And there we find that our gross is the gross of this, and our subtle is the subtle of this, and our transcendent is the transcendent of this, so this is nothing but me. And everything in terms of one's Self comes to be evaluated, appreciated, lived. And this is living full value of life."

~Maharishi

~Livigno, Italy -- 1970 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: Creating an air of meditation around us//We are naturally motivated by our own evolution -- cosmic selfishness

MAHARISHI: "It's very important that we should have an air of meditation around us. If we have created an air of meditation around us, then spontaneously the whole air will be conducive to our natural life in maximum richness in the present and maximum possibility for the future. Environment of meditation -- very, very important. Otherwise, if we have not created an environment of meditation, then with all the powerful influence of the environment, the vision of life may gradually be overshadowed for the present and also for the future.

Environment has a very great effect even though it is the individual who makes the environment. And therefore, all our friends, all our relations, all our people with whom we meet, all must meditate. For our sake we teach them Transcendental Meditation because we don't want to meet a weeping face in our relation, or in our friend, or in the store where we go to purchase goods, the market people. Everywhere we want to have smiling faces.

So it is for our joy of life, in order to save depressions of depressed visions we teach TM. We want all the people to meditate. Teaching Transcendental Meditation is for our own self. It's only for ourself that we teach. We don't mind if the other man derives advantage from it."

[Maharishi pauses for a few minutes to say goodbye to someone, and then continues....]

MAHARISHI: "What I was saying? I was saying something very good." (Audience laughter)

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "We don't mind if the man derives advantage from....."

MAHARISHI: "That's it, yes. (Audience laughter)

It's very evident that every action as we have seen is motivated basically by the force of evolution. The basis of every action is the force of evolution. It is the force of evolution that does not allow even the inert particles of objective existence to remain where they are. They keep on changing in values. Change is natural to creation, and through change comes evolution. So when the force of evolution, the cosmic force of evolution does not allow even the inert existence to remain without evolution, then it certainly can't allow the active aspect of life to be without evolution. And this is how the mind is active.

All the activity of the ego, of the intellect, of the mind, of the senses, of the prāṇa [breath], and all our physical activity, all experiences, understandings, feelings, the entire course of activity is basically motivated by the force of evolution. And therefore, whatever one does, knowingly and unknowingly, the first effect is, the first natural effect is [on] his evolution. Many things one doesn't know, and they are done by nature for one's own evolution. When many things are accomplished by nature for our evolution, then certainly everything that we do must have a bearing on one's evolution.

Nothing but the force of evolution makes us go ahead on our undertakings, consciously and unconsciously. No matter what we do, we are motivated by our own evolution. It's natural. It is not selfishness; it is the nature of creation. Everyone, if one is active, is active on the basis of the need for evolution, one's own evolution. This is life.

And the situation is that either we enjoy or we don't mind if others are benefited by our actions. Either we enjoy others being benefited by our undertaking, or we don't mind. This is the flat situation in life. We meditate for our own evolution. If the atmosphere is filled with more harmony and some nice feelings, fine, we enjoy. We enjoy over it, and if someone comes and enjoys it, fine, we enjoy that, also. So this being the basis of all action, no matter what we do we are doing it for ourself. It is a cosmic selfishness -- the selfishness of cosmic nature, of cosmic value. It's a cosmic selfishness."

~Maharishi

~Rishikesh, India -- March 1970 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: The experience of death for the enlightened & for those who have never transcended & gained Transcendental Consciousness

QUESTION: "Maharishi, is there not some difference in the experience of dropping off of the body of a man who has not gained God Consciousness, or Supreme Knowledge, versus someone who has gained the state of Supreme Knowledge, some difference in the length of time of experiencing the dropping off of the body in these two situations?"

MAHARISHI: "When an ordinary man leaves his body, it's a very great pain; when a realized man leaves the body, it's the experience of greatest happiness, bliss. Why? Why that difference? Because the state of enlightenment comes by many times becoming unaware of the body. Metabolic rate comes to nil. A million times the metabolic state has come to nil, and in that state what we had experienced? Bliss consciousness during Transcendental Meditation. Because the state of enlightenment is the result of millions of times getting to that time of pure awareness, transcendental, that means physically the body comes to that restfulness, and comes to that restfulness, and comes to that restfulness.

During TM the mind becomes finer and finer and finer and finer, and then disassociates itself from the body. Prāṇa also, that is breath, becomes finer and finer and finer and finer, and then eventually in the Transcendental Consciousness disassociates itself from the body. So [also] the senses: the finer aspects of the senses start functioning finer, finer, finest aspect of the senses starts functioning, and then the senses remain behind, the area of the senses remains behind and they are no more in the transcendental awareness.

What is happening during that? The prāṇa is disassociating itself from the body, and the mind is disassociating itself from the body, and the senses are disassociating themselves from the body. All this disassociation of the the subtle body, or the inner man, has been a habit. And the experience has been: when all these disassociate from the body, then bliss consciousness is the direct experience.

And therefore, as long as the machinery is functioning with the disassociation of these subtle aspects, the experience is that of pure consciousness or bliss consciousness. So the last experience that the body can give will be of bliss consciousness when the subtle body starts disassociating itself and drops off. This is at the time of death. So the death of an enlightened man is just the same phenomenon of transcending and gaining Transcendental Consciousness.

Whereas in the case of others who have not experienced the inner man's disassociation from the body, who have never experienced that [never transcended], then it is a very terrible thing for the eyesight to disassociate itself from the eyes; it's a very terrible thing for the sense of touch to disassociate itself from the hands, like that; it's a very terrible experience of pain -- very great -- for the sense of hearing to disassociate itself from the ears, from the whole machinery, like that, like that.

You can imagine how a man cries if his house is not insured. (Laughter) If he is not hooked to safety, not insured, then if the house begins to fall and burns away, he cries out and sees that, 'Oh, what a beautiful ceiling! I made it with such great labor and such great love and this and this, and now it is falling off and falling off and falling off.' Everything that he built so dearly and with such great love and joy and labor, all that is falling off. He starts crying at the fall of everything. Such a great pain, very great, at the time of death for someone who has not known how to disassociate himself from the body.

And in Transcendental Meditation, every time we get disassociated from the body, and [at] that time the experience is bliss consciousness. Great experience. It's like someone whose insurance is much greater than the value of the house. (Laughter) When it begins to burn, he puts a little more petrol there! (Laughter and applause). He enjoys that because it is hooked to safety, so it's no loss.

So the experience of the death of an enlightened man is the same experience of transcending as we have when we meditate. So death is BLISS to the enlightened, and it's the greatest suffering to the ignorant [to someone who has never transcended]. This is the difference. And that's why he [the enlightened one] is always ready to die, doesn't matter what. 'Always ready to die' means: he is not ready to die, but he doesn't mind dying anytime, not that he's awaiting death. (Laughter)"

~Maharishi

~Squaw Valley, USA -- August 1968 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: The supreme state of prayer

"The LIFE becomes the prayer, the prayer which sings the glory of God. The life, the life. When the individual first pulsates in God Consciousness, that is the glory of God pulsating in the world of man. And this is the resonance of prayer. Just as through the prayer the glory of God is sung aloud and the echo thrills the atmosphere with divine influence and radiance, so when the life in God consciousness thinks, or speaks or acts what pulsates is the divine breath. And that is the living song of God even though it may be silent OR speaking, but the whole impulse of the individual life in God Consciousness is the pulsating song of God, the praise of God, the glory of God. The whole life is in the rhythm of the song, of the praise of God, the glory of God. And that is the prayer.

The whole life becomes a prayer. And then the prayer finds living reality in the day-to-day action, thought or speech. That's the climax of prayer: where one breathes the rhythm of prayer, one speaks the words of prayer, no matter what one speaks, but that is the radiation of prayer or the glory of God. And it is in this state that the prayer finds a significant meaning in the individual life. This is the supreme state of prayer where the whole life is the expression of the glory of God.

So Being provides a solid, an unshakeable basis to such a life in which the whole life is just nothing but the expression of prayer, expression of the glory of God. When we are meditating we are proceeding on to that state gradually, but steadily and certainly towards that supreme state of living the prayer in life, making the prayer significant to the living reality, making the prayer a living reality."

~Maharishi

~Rishikesh, India -- February 2, 1968 -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: The difference between Ātman and Brahman

"What is the difference in Ātman [Ātmā] and Brahm [Brahman]? Ātman is with reference to the individual; Brahm is the same material, but with reference to the universe. The Self of the entire universe is Brahm; the Self of the body is Ātman. Material is the same."

~Maharishi

~Rishikesh, India -- March 1969 -- Audio file

* * * * * * *

Mahāśhivarātri

"To speak out on the night of Lord Śhiva is to speak on eternity. And to speak on eternity is to either continuously keep on speaking or be quiet (Laughter). All the Vedas, revealing the truth of life, are pulsating in the breath of Lord Śhiva. The entire manifest creation is the manifest breath of Śhiva. The unmanifest Absolute is Śhiva."

~Maharishi

~Mahāśhivarātri -- Maharishi Nagar (Noida), India -- February 1987

~Vedic Expressions in Maharishi Vedic Science (p. 301) -- Compiled by Maharishi Purusha Program --2012

•••

Maharishi: What would be the role of apology? Is it not correct to apologize?

QUESTION: "What would be the role of apology? In other words, when we do flare out spontaneously, is it not considered correct and loving to go and apologize?"

MAHARISHI: "Very good. It's a good quality. Apologizing to someone, by mistake you say [something] then in the next moment we can correct the mistake. Correction of a mistake is not unnatural. It's natural, correction of a mistake. So if I say something to someone and next moment I want to correct that statement, fine -- 'Excuse me, I meant this.' -- even if it's completely opposite. Because if I can say something, I can say the other thing, also. (Laughter) If nothing has stopped me to say this thing, why can't I say this [other] thing? Nothing would stop me from correcting myself. And correction is very sincere, and it shows good life. It just shows good life.

If I have written something, next moment I say, 'No, I shouldn't have written.' I write to him, 'No, don't take notice of that letter. I meant like this.' It shows simplicity, sincerity, good nature, good character. It shows the character of a man. If I have made a mistake, fine. Mistake means what? I can amend. If I can say something like that, I can also say something like that. What is this? And everyone knows that after some thinking the ideas change. It's very natural.

But if I don't come out straight, and then to try go round and prove that I was not mistaken but yet I meant the other thing. That manipulation kind of thing, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. Apologizing for one's mistakes is bold, is good character, it shows good, neat life. That's all.

But still better is that state where we don't make a mistake, so we don't have to correct. Correcting means: an artist puts a dot, and then he erases the dot. It's good to erase a wrong dot or a spot, but it's better not to put it in the first instance."

~"Growth of Love is Spontaneous" -- Advanced Lecture Audiotape Series, Volume 2, Released in 1972 -- Actual date/location of lecture not given -- Audio file

•••

Maharishi: Unconditioning of the mind & reconciliation of opposites occurs only on the level of Being -- Harmony in society cannot be created by eradicating differences

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "I think that some children in earlier stages are indoctrinated from their environment, and [as a result] they may harbor a resentment toward a race not even wanting in their conscious mind to do it. They have been conditioned. I wonder if during Transcendental Meditation this will be released?"

MAHARISHI: "Completely, because once the mind transcends, it goes beyond all conditioning. It goes transcendental which is cosmic. Immediately the vision broadens. And once the vision broadens, clear understanding and clear thinking will be the direct result.

It's only necessary to uncondition the mind, and this is the only way to uncondition it. And then once it is unconditioned -- and 'unconditioned' means: cosmic, unbounded, eternal, limitless, free from time and space -- once the consciousness comes on that level of universal awareness, then this thing, and that thing, and that thing, and that, two opposite things then become reconcilable. But the reconciliation comes on the level of the fundamental of both.

Two things of opposite nature: the flower and the thorn. The two [are] completely of opposite nature -- one so pretty and delicate, the other is so ugly and hard, completely -- but these two opposite qualities are reconciled on the level of the sap which is the basis of both. On the level of the sap, which is the basis of the two, there is no difference. The sap of the thorn and the sap of the flower are the same.

So that which is the Being can reconcile all the opposite ends, and opposite qualities, and opposite behaviors in life, because that is equally present everywhere, that is equally the basis of all opposite things. Being is the Being of good, and Being is the Being of bad, just like the thorn and the flower. So when our consciousness comes on the level of Being, then that consciousness is able to reconcile between all odds in life. This is the whole principle that it is possible through Transcendental Meditation to bring a sense of harmony and love with all compassion amongst all those who do not think the same way.

People don't have to think the same way. No generation will produce millions of people thinking the same way. It's just not possible. It is the differences that make the world.

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "Interesting."

MAHARISHI: "It's very interesting. It is the differences that make the world. It's not possible to eliminate differences, but by taking the consciousness on the level of that which is the basis of all the diversity and which is evenly present everywhere -- bringing the awareness to that level, bringing our consciousness to that fundamental level of life -- it is possible to reconcile between all the extreme odds in life. There is no other way.

Attempts have been made throughout the ages to establish harmony by eradicating differences, but the whole approach was wrong. Differences can't be eliminated; thinking can't be the same. Let all the people think differently because all cannot think the same way. It's physically not possible. And this is the reason why no generation has been able to establish unity, or harmony, or peace, or love, nothing, because the whole approach has been unnatural. And any unnatural approach would not be accepted in nature."

~Rishikesh, India -- February 7, 1968 -- Audio file

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Maharishi: Is there such a thing as an individual mission in life?

ASAFA PELED: "Is there such a thing as an individual mission in life, in one's life?"

MAHARISHI: "Individual mission of one's life will be fulfilled only when and only when there is nothing more to go. The river only stops flowing when it is resting in the ocean. Till then it starts going, starts going, starts going. So the mission of the river is: to become the unbounded ocean. So the mission of everyone's life is to [become] more and more in whatever one enjoys -- this way knowledge or power or whatever one enjoys -- but then this will come to a fulfillment when one would not find anywhere more to go.

So the mission of life seen from this perspective is to unfold the inner field of knowledge, the Veda, and then life becomes a field of all possibilities. Then there is no more to go; one has come home; and then there is no more path; one has come home, and there is no more to go -- you get down from the car and you be at home and be at home and all the time at home. (Laughter)

So in this perspective we can say that the target of life is to unfold one's own, inner value -- Veda, the field of knowledge -- which is the field of infinite organizing power available in the simplest form of human awareness. This is how we put it. The total potential of natural law is available to the simplest form of human awareness. Transcendental Consciousness is the simplest form of human awareness, and once the human awareness is lively in its simplest state: no more to go, the path has ended in the state of enlightenment, fulfillment, all possibilities, and then that's it."

~Maharishi

~From Maharishi's interview with Asafa Peled, journalist for the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Achronoth -- MERU, Vlodrop, Holland

~September 24, 1994 -- Audio file

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Maharishi: ''Today, today, today."

MAHARISHI: How could Brahman, which is flat unity, become a living reality? [The answer is:] By virtue of prāṇa (breath). That means that as long as a man is alive, by his very being alive, he can enjoy the state of Brahman. And the indriyas [the five senses] are the means to enjoy -- that is why the prāṇas are compared with the indriyas."

VERNON KATZ: "That is why this German lady you talked about yesterday is absolutely right. How few people there must be who can attain Cosmic Consciousness, God Consciousness, and Brahman Consciousness in one life."

MAHARISHI: "Why not in one life?"

VERNON KATZ: "It's sort of a miracle."

MAHARISHI: "It's a normality of evolution."

VERNON KATZ: "Maybe it was in Sat Yuga, but it certainly isn't today."

MAHARISHI: "Today, today, today."

~Conversation at Kashmir, India -- 1969

~Conversations with Maharishi, Volume II (pp. 326-327)

~Dr. Vernon Katz --

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Maharishi: Does God have an evil counterpart?

QUESTION: "Maharishi, you often speak of God. Is there an evil force, say the devil, something along the lines of God, representing the dark forces?"

MAHARISHI: "Lack of appreciation of God, and that ignorance could act as a devil."

QUESTION: "No, I mean could there be one incarnate being of evil?"

MAHARISHI: "God incarnates, evil does not; God incarnates, evil does not."

~Squaw Valley, USA -- August 22, 1968 -- Audio file

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Maharishi: Anyone who is born in this family must be enlightened//That is the world we want to create

MAHARISHI: "Now, there is a picture of perfection in the scale of time. There are such times when all the people are cosmically conscious. And this is the time of Sat Yuga. The proclamation of the seers of that time, they proclaim, they feel proud, they say:

'Nāsmin kulé abrahmavid-bhavati' -- Not in this family the unenlightened is born.

It's a very great privilege to say that. Anyone who is born in this family MUST be enlightened."

COURSE PARTICIPANT: "Enlightened before they're born, or..?"

MAHARISHI: "It won't be, principally, but the phrase means that anyone born in this family cannot remain ignorant. He must find enlightenment -- Nāsmin kulé abrahmavid-bhavati. Either born or, as they say, 'exist' -- unenlightened does not exist in this family; anyone who is born has to become enlightened.

That is the world we want to create if we can."

~Rishikesh, India -- March 11, 1967 -- Audio file

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Maharishi: The real nature of the ego

QUESTION: "The question is: is there something like a pure ego which is different or distinct from one's body or one's senses? Is there something at the center of one's individual existence that can be perceived by itself or recognized throughout one's existence?"

MAHARISHI: "Right.

We have five senses: eyes to see, and ears, and nose, [etc.]. Each of these senses has a limited channel. The sense of sight can see. What sees? The sense of sight is the means to see. What actually sees? The subject of seeing is the I. I see. I think. The mind is an instrument, is a means to think. Through the mind I think. Mind associated with the sense of sight, I see. What is I? Certainly not the sense of sight, not the mind, but something different from the mind.

And what is that? I come to know when the mind ceases to function, and this is Transcendental Meditation: mind's activity becomes less and less and less and less, and I am the experiencer of the activity of the mind. The activity of the mind -- mantra becoming fainter, fainter, fainter -- and it stops. [The] I remains a witness. A witness of what? Witness of nothing other than my Self. And that is the real nature of the I. That is pure awareness, pure existence, Being. When the I or the ego is not involved in the experience of the relative, when the ego is not involved in the experience of the limited things, then in Itself it finds Itself to be unbounded, unmanifest, pure existence.

And there the ego is located in its essential nature. Mind is no more there; senses are no more there. What is there is pure existence, and that is the real nature of the ego, the real nature of the I. It's like the silent surface of the deep ocean. It's all widespread ocean without the sign of an individual wave. Pure Being."

~Maharishi

~Humboldt State University, Arcata, USA -- Date unknown -- Audio file

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Maharishi: The TM-Sidhi Program and release of atmospheric stress

MAHARISHI: "Now what is very important is, all these courses on unfoldment of full potential of consciousness, all possibilities -- the siddhis, will do it. Now every man should have his siddhis, because that only will make a man really worthy of being the citizen of the Age of Enlightenment -- an enlightened man.

This is a new phase. See, everyone wants the fulfillment of desire, and becomes miserable if the desires are not fulfilled. And the whole secret of it is: capture the home of all the laws of nature and that's it -- finished; capture the home of all the laws of nature. That phase was not in education. It was completely out of sight. And in all the legends that one comes across here and there, it is never taken so seriously. They [the siddhis] have become so far remote from normal consciousness that one doesn't feel inspired to look deeply into it. This is the general kind of cloud over human consciousness. The record is there; in every literature there is some record of very beautiful abilities displayed on the human level, but one doesn't bother about them. This is just because human consciousness is so intensely clouded with ignorance. And now, with so many meditators in the world, clearing some of tamas*, the situation [the possibility of developing these abilities] is presenting itself to us."

VERNON KATZ: "It really is very beautiful -- how every aspect comes in ..."

MAHARISHI: "Comes in."

VERNON KATZ: "Every aspect -- nothing is left out. And when the time is right ..."

MAHARISHI: "It just unfolds."

VERNON KATZ: "The right thing comes. It's there in the Yoga Sutras, so it must be part of the teaching."

MAHARISHI: "That is it -- it must be there. The whole Veda -- Yoga has made the Veda practical, and if it speaks of all these things, then there should be a way to have it for all mankind. ​"​

VERNON KATZ: "Just at the right time when there are lots of people who are in that particular state where they are able to have thoughts in the transcendental state."

MAHARISHI: ​ ​"That is the right time."

VERNON KATZ: "I suppose eventually you'll come onto yagya. I'm just thinking of what will be the next phase after this."

MAHARISHI: "We might close the advancement once the siddhis [are established] -- but with Unity and Brahman Consciousness, what will unfold is: immortality. It has started already on the way to this research, MERU [Maharishi European Research University] research on aging will take it in that direction."

VERNON KATZ: "That would be a little more difficult, I think."

​ MAHARISHI: "No, no. When the atmospheric stress is gone, then the individual system will not be clouded, will not be overshadowed, and then there will be more release and more release. The children of the coming generation will have less stress. And when they start at the age of ten, by twenty-five they will be in Cosmic Consciousness, and God Consciousness and all that will follow from there."

VERNON KATZ: "It's a pity you can't do it in this generation for yourself, because that would preserve the teaching."

MAHARISHI: "But we will continue for some time, there is no hurry on that. I think the time is coming when everything will be possible. But the basic thing is this release of atmospheric stress, being brought about by meditators, and being strengthened thousand-fold by the six-month program [TM-Sidhi courses]."

VERNON KATZ: "I'm not very sensitive, but I could notice that the atmosphere was really ..."

MAHARISHI: "Something very sublime is happening -- Sat Yuga, something of Sat Yuga there." ​

~Courchevel, France, June--August 1975--Conversations with Maharishi, Vol ​ume​ II (pp. 298- ​301​ )

~Dr. Vernon Katz -- 2014

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Yogic Flying demonstrates command over the force of gravity

Maharishi described an invincible individual as one who can fulfill all his desires without struggle or obstacles. “When one thinks from the Unified Field—the self-referral level of consciousness—then all thoughts are fulfilled because on that unbounded level of intelligence there is nothing that can obstruct his desires,” said Maharishi, who cited Yogic Flying as an example. “You think a thought from the Unified Field for the body to lift up, and the thought gets materialized, and instantly the body is up in the air. This demonstrates, to whatever little extent the body is in the air, command over the force of gravity—the Unified Field. With practice, the Unified Field grows in human awareness, which means that invincibility grows in the daily life of the individual.” Maharishi added that with just few groups of 8,000 individuals practicing Yogic Flying and enlivening the Unified Field in world consciousness, invincibility will grow to become a living reality for everyone in the whole world family.

“The experience of Unity Consciousness is like an oasis in the desert”

In response to a press question, Maharishi described life without Unity Consciousness—the supreme state of human development—as a desert. “But the experience of Unity Consciousness is like coming upon an oasis in the desert,” Maharishi said. “That is why we are establishing schools, colleges, and universities to provide students with the knowledge and experience of the Unified Field. Then every student will rise sequentially from waking state of consciousness to Cosmic Consciousness, to God Consciousness, and finally to Unity Consciousness, where he will enjoy life in supreme fulfillment.”

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Maharishi: The process of evolution is designed by cosmic intelligence. In TM we innocently give ourself to that process, give ourself to our own nature & live integration of life

"It's the cosmic intelligence which has set up the whole creation. It is that which is responsible for the creation and evolution of everything. Motivated by that invincible force of nature, the process of evolution is going on and going on and going on. What we do in Transcendental Meditation is put the mind in that natural process of evolution, and [then] the seeker finds the goal motivated by that force of evolution. And that force of evolution has instilled in the mind the desire to enjoy more, the desire to know more, the desire to be more. This desire is instilled in the mind by that invincible force of evolution, the impact of cosmic intelligence, so that the soul having reached this state of evolution, the soul having reached the man's species, may find integration and live integration of life in the world. So the whole process of evolution is designed by that cosmic intelligence. In TM, we give ourself to that process and start living the intended state of integration, the state of integration intended by cosmic intelligence for every man to live.

As long as we are channelizing our desires -- I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want to go there, I want to do this thing -- as long as we are channelizing our desires so long we are not giving ourself to the desired impulse of the cosmic intelligence. The desired impulse of the cosmic intelligence for every mind is, for every man is: the seeker should find the goal because the tendency of the mind is already there to find greater peace, greater happiness, greater harmony, infinite intelligence, infinite energy. So when the machine is already designed for that infinite, fine, we give ourself to it for a little while -- half an hour morning and half an hour evening is not much time. For a little time we give ourself to that cosmic intelligence, let it work out our integration, and then we live that integration. And then we start -- having been in tune with that cosmic intelligence, having allowed cosmic intelligence to design our activity -- we then come out [with] more of it incorporated in our individual nature and then we channelize our desires on the individual basis [and] work in the world -- work in the world soaked with that divine intelligence which is that which has the greatest goodwill for us.

There is no other friend who could think of us in such brilliant terms of life as the cosmic intelligence, the mind of the Creator. It wants us to enjoy. God is given the adjective 'of merciful nature', [of] 'being merciful', 'almighty merciful'. So the will of the Merciful, great; there is no greater friend than that. And when we incorporate that Will in us and act as an individual, we are better off in every way: we enjoy more, accomplish more, get tired less, get rejuvenated more.

All this happens by giving ourself to that Mother Divine, to that force of Mother Divine, that automatic force of evolution, that force of Mother Divine, like a mother. It's the desire of the mother to do everything for the child. The child himself does not know what would be good for him, what would be bad for him, or which way he can go. It's the will of the mother, it's the eternal love of Mother Divine for every child of hers that designs the activity so the child may not suffer. Not only [that] the child may not suffer, but the child must ENJOY to the extent that joy is possible for him. This is the design of the Mother Divine, or the will of the Almighty God, or cosmic intelligence which has naturally set up life on that increasing pattern of evolution in the most spontaneous way.

A few minutes morning and evening we give our minds to that. Our meditation is just giving ourself to that mechanism of nature, to that design of nature which takes the seeker to the goal, takes the mind to bliss consciousness spontaneously. Any interference in that, we have seen, it doesn't work. The process of Transcendental Meditation is innocent, [and] any thought from our side, any desire from our side, any analysis from our side, any expectation from our side only becomes resistance to it. That's why the proverb has been: 'You have to be a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' All innocence. Giving ourself to that divine intelligence means giving ourself to our own nature. We give ourself to our own nature, let the mind work out its own steps of march, and what we find is it has taken a very right course and has started to enjoy the bliss."

~Maharishi

~Location and date unknown -- Audio file

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Maharishi: What is the light of God?

QUESTION: "Literally, what is the light of God? Is that the same as Heaven, and can the light of God be seen with human eyes?"

MAHARISHI: "It is the light of God through which the eyes see. It is the faculty or the quality of consciousness. Consciousness is the light of God. Consciousness is that level which we say, 'The light of God,' and religious textbooks throughout the ages have been describing the light of God as omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent.

The light of God is that wakefulness of consciousness, consciousness fully-awake in itself. That is Transcendental Consciousness. Experience of that we have been teaching for fifty years in the world through Transcendental Meditation. Mind, roaming about in fluctuations, gets to finer fluctuations, finer fluctuations, finer fluctuations, finer fluctuations, finest fluctuations, NO fluctuation -- pure light of God.

We can talk about it in terms of a candle lamp, a lamp. Now the light, the light of the flame, the flame and then radiance from the flame as the rays of light. So the flame itself we can think in terms of light of God, and radiance? Radiance will be through different senses -- through eyes one sees, through ears one hears, through the sense of touch one touches, like that, five senses of perception. So these are the rays, but when it is on its own, shining on its own, that is the light of God, the flame, the flame. The rays are the rays of the light of God throughout the creation. That is consciousness or intelligence -- intelligence, consciousness.

So it is the total value, and it is the partial radiance from that. The light of God is intelligence. It is the intelligence that sees through the eyes, that hears through the ears, that tastes through the tongue, intelligence, and intelligence in itself is the light of life, the light of God, the light of natural law.

Natural law. We call it 'natural law' because everything is set. When something is to be heard, it will be through the ears. It's set, so it's a law. You see through the eyes; you hear through the ears. It comes within the range of law. This is how natural law makes the intelligence behave through the senses. So it is the light of God.

The light of God is not an imaginary thing. Everything ELSE is imaginary, but that is the basic thing -- the light of God, intelligence."

~Global Press Conference -- MERU, Vlodrop, Holland -- May 21, 2003 -- Audio file

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Maharishi: The laws of nature support infinite momentum of evolution and maximum progress for the enlightened and support constant correction of mistakes for the ignorant