Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

introduction to the seriesfor 20 minutes twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon,while sitting comfortably with eyes closed. It is simple, natural,and effortless—so simple, in fact, that ten-year-old children can learnand practice it. It has been learned by more than six million peopleworldwide, of all ages, religions, and cultures.The Transcendental Meditation technique differs from other proceduresof meditation and relaxation in its effortlessness. It involvesno concentration or control of the mind. Neither is it a religion, philosophy,or lifestyle. It involves no new codes of behavior, attitudes, orbeliefs, not even the belief it will work.The Transcendental Meditation program is the most extensively validatedprogram of personal development in the world. It has been thesubject of more than 600 scientific research studies, conducted at morethan 250 universities and research institutions in more than 30 countriesworldwide. These studies have been published in more than 150 scientificand scholarly journals in a broad range of fields, including Science,Scientific American, American Journal of Physiology, International Journalof Neuroscience, Memory and Cognition, Social Indicators Research, Intelligence,Journal of Mind and Behavior, Education, Journal of Moral Education,Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Business and Health,British Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Human Stress, Lancet,Physiology and Behavior, and numerous others. No approach to educationhas as much empirical support as Consciousness-Based education.This approach, moreover, has been successfully field-tested over thepast 35 years in primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools all overthe world, in developed and developing nations, in a wide variety ofcultural settings—the United States, Latin America, Europe, Africa,India, and China.The Transcendental Meditation technique enables one to “divewithin.” During the practice, the mind settles inward, naturally andspontaneously, to a state of deep inner quiet, beyond thoughts and perceptions.One experiences consciousness in its pure, silent state, uncoloredby mental activity. In this state, consciousness is aware of itselfalone, awake to its own unbounded nature.The technique also gives profound rest, which dissolves accumulatedstress and restores balanced functioning to mind and body.3