Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

absolute principles of societytransform human life at any level, individual or collective, from sufferingto enlightenment:It may not be necessary for everyone to go through the entire Vedic literature,but the seven hundred verses of the Bhagavad-Gītā, in the lightof personal experiences, should be good enough to elevate one’s awarenessto the totality of Natural Law and enable one to live life completelyaccording to Natural Law. (p. 20)Historically it is clear that more comprehensive knowledge contributessignificantly to quality of life in a society: Newtonian physics, forexample, underpinned the industrial revolution; quantum physics theelectronic age. Maharishi (1967) emphasizes this role of knowledge inproviding a foundation for the quality of life in the preface to his commentaryon the first six chapters of the Bhagavad-Gītā. He presentsthe Bhagavad-Gītā as that universal knowledge, on the basis of whichalone, society can be properly organized to provide for the unrestricteddevelopment of its citizens and for the fulfillment of its collective purpose.Maharishi explains that over time this knowledge has been lostand revived many times, but that the result of this loss for society atlarge has been catastrophic. This paper reviews the principles that comprisethis knowledge of society—absolute principles, in that they derivefrom an understanding of the absolute basis of life, the field of pureintelligence—as given in the Bhagavad-Gītā and as commented uponby Maharishi.Maharishi’s commentary is presented from the perspective of thehighest state of consciousness—unity consciousness—and includescommentary on each of the other major states of consciousness as well.Maharishi (1972) has explained that in higher states of consciousnessperception is more refined and comprehension unbounded (pp. 9-3, 9-4).In the highest state, perception is faultless and completely comprehensive(1972, Lesson 32). Maharishi’s commentary therefore provides the mostcomplete explanation of the universal principles of society. For this reason,throughout this paper we rely on Maharishi’s commentary to illuminateand explain fully the dialogue between Arjuna and Lord Krishna.Viewed as a narrative, the Bhagavad-Gītā is an account of theconversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on the battlefield ofKurukshetra. Although many commentators have portrayed Arjuna asweak and confused, Maharishi (e.g., 1967, p. 77) emphasizes repeatedly103