Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

Ideal Government in the Vålm⁄ki RåmåyaÔ“entered” pure consciousness by bringing his awareness back to theSelf, away from diversity, and then departed.Interestingly, research on the TM-Sidhi program has demonstratedthat the greatest degree of brainwave coherence and the most significantindications of improved mind-body coordination occur at the momentof “lift-off” during Yogic Flying (Orme-Johnson, Clements, Haynes, &Badaoui, 1977). Research also indicates that EEG coherence in frontalbrain areas during Yogic Flying is correlated with enhanced intelligence,creativity, moral reasoning, and emotional stability (Dillbeck,Orme-Johnson & Wallace, 1981; Orme-Johnson & Haynes, 1981).These findings are highly significant in the context of political theory,for they provide hope for leaders to improve their clarity of mind,intellectual capacity, and even their ability to engage in more profoundmoral reasoning.Collective ConsciousnessAccording to Maharishi’s Absolute Theory of Government, the effectivenessof Yogic Flying for enhancing governmental performance relieson the phenomenon of collective consciousness. Collective consciousnessrefers to the wholeness of consciousness produced by any group:“When we talk of community consciousness, we merely put togetherthe consciousness of all the individuals comprising the community orthe nation” (Maharishi, 1978a, p. 87). Community refers to any specificgroup, and while there are innumerable divisions and organizationsof collective consciousness, Maharishi describes seven principallevels: family consciousness, community consciousness, city consciousness,state or provincial consciousness, national consciousness, worldconsciousness, and universal consciousness, each created by the individualswho make up the group (World Government News, Issue 10,October, 1978, p. 3).Maharishi describes a reciprocal relationship between individualand collective consciousness such that “as individual consciousnessgrows, collective consciousness rises; and as collective consciousnessrises, individual consciousness grows” (1976, p. 124). Thus, an individualinfluences all levels of collective consciousness in which he orshe participates simply by unfolding the perfect order and harmonyinherent within self-referral consciousness. This increased orderliness157