Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

consciousness-based education and governmenta habit of spontaneously functioning according to Natural Law, then weare naturally getting out of that old habit where some negativity couldarise. All difficulties, suffering and failures in life belong to violation ofthe laws of nature. Life according to Natural Law will always be orderly,evolutionary, and nourishing to everyone. (p. 98)The field of pure consciousness is described here as “transcendentalconsciousness” in that it lies beyond the thinking process, and as“unbounded awareness” in that it is beyond and is indeed, the source ofspace and time.Although it hardly needs to be emphasized, one may note that thetrue reality of war is clearly recognized by Maharishi. In his commentaryon I.47, Maharishi (1967) remarks:Arjuna, as a great archer, was aware of the pathetic records of bloodstainedconquests in history. He could foresee great damage to thecivilization of his time. He could picture in his mind ruins of war everywhere;he could hear within himself the cries of children and lamentationsof women, tales of calamity and oppression. Arjuna, a hero with agood human heart, would do anything to hold back from the situationthat seems imminent. (p. 82)There is nothing here of the glory of war. It is seen in its stark realityfor what it has always been: a catastrophe for human life in every generation.From the universal perspective, as Maharishi (1967) teaches,war may have its place in the path of evolution: “The event of war is anatural phenomenon. It is a process of restoring the balance betweenthe negative and positive forces of nature” (p. 108). It remains, nevertheless,a path of disaster for those on whom it falls. Hence there is wisdomin following the advice given by Maharishi to prevent the growthof the influence of negativity at its source—to “nip it in the bud.” Thegreatness of the knowledge given by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gītā, Maharishi emphasizes, is that it provides a simple and practicalmeans to effect such prevention, while simultaneously promoting allthat is good in society in the direction of its ideal.Fulfillment of SocietyIt is abundantly clear from Maharishi’s analysis of the absolute principlesof society that the key to the prevention of national and international128