Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

CONSCIOUSNESS-BASED EDUCATION AND GovernmentYogic Flying is an important feature of the Rāmāyaṇ narrative, forit becomes the principle means for Sītā’s discovery. In the Sundar KāṇdHanumān journeyed throughout India attempting to locate Sītā, andeventually traveled through the air to Lankā, finally discovering her asa captive in Rāvan’s garden. Most translators, unaware of the mechanicsunderlying TM-Sidhi practice, view Hanumān’s feat as the leap ofa mythically powerful being. But as we will see, the text demonstratesotherwise.Aside from the considerations of Sanskrit translation, even a casualreading of the first sarga of Sundar Kāṇd exposes the error of interpretingHanumān’s flight as a gigantic leap. In jumping from one location toanother, no matter how great the distance, there are invariant characteristics:one goes up, forward, and then lands at the destination. A journeyin which the only method of propulsion is leg strength must followa parabolic path according to the Principle of Least Action; if there is anobstruction it would be necessary, if possible, to leap again. The descriptionof Hanumān’s journey to Lankā in Sundar Kāṇd, however, is quitedifferent. Hanumān began from the peak of Mount Mahendra (SundarKāṇd 1.43), and we soon find him moving through the waves of theocean (69). Several verses later Hanumān was “moving through the sky”leaving a wake of clouds behind him (81). Shortly thereafter, he crashedinto the mountain Mainaka (108), carried on an extended conversation(110–132), and then touched Mainaka out of respect (132). Followingthis interlude, Hanumān soared upward (134) to continue his journey“leaving the mountains and the ocean far below” (134). Hanumān nextconfronted Surasā, a sea creature, and then the Rākshasī Siṃhikā, ineach case interacting with them before proceeding.Clearly this is not the description of a leap predicated upon physicalstrength; rather it was a flight through the air, in which Hanumānchanged direction and altitude by mere intention. Significantly, aftereach obstruction to his progress the text states that Hanumān departed(jg;m) after “coming back to the Self” (a;k;xm;ivÅy ākāshamāvishya). “Self” is from Ākāsh (a;k;x), and though frequently translated“sky” or “air,” Maharishi notes that it often refers to the Ākāshof consciousness—Chidākāsh, the transcendental field. Vishya (ivÅy)means “entering”; the upasarga “ā” (a;) gives vishya the sense of reversingdirection, of coming back. Thus, in this interpretation Hanumān156