Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

success in governmentof religion or of education or the humanities. But all these areas alsoreflect the community’s or the nation’s level of consciousness. Becausethe fundamental blockages to the achievement of satisfaction lie in therealm of consciousness—individual and collective—they can only bedealt with effectively at that level.Again, it might be argued that finding fulfillment surely is theresponsibility of the individual. It is certainly true that each individual,given the simple knowledge of how to do so, must make the decisionsthat will lead to his or her own fulfillment. It is also true that, as stressis removed from individual consciousness, the collective consciousnessof the community or nation benefits accordingly. But whatMaharishi’s Absolute Theory of Government now tells us is that collectiveconsciousness can be quickly transformed through the technologiesof the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs, whichare exponential in their effect, so that the process of achieving societalfulfillment does not rely just on the slow and incremental build-up ofindividual experience.If governments are to succeed in bringing together and deliveringpolicies, which meet the needs of their people and satisfy their aspirations,then ways must be found to reduce and eventually eliminatecommunity stress. The remarkable but very practical reality is that itis possible to create this vital underpinning of successful government.Government has a central role to play in the application of the technologiesof the Maharishi Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhiprograms. The promise that they offer—a promise validated by a largeand growing body of scientific research and practical experience—isthat government can become an instrument for the renewal of society,for the reduction and removal of collective stress, for the effortlessachievement of social cohesion, of vastly improved health, and of effectiveeconomic performance reflecting harmony rather than conflict incollective consciousness.C. Conflict-Driven Political ActivityThe conflict-centered paradigms which underlie the administration ofgovernment, judicial procedures, and much economic activity withindemocratic societies today reflect community stress. Although communitystress obviously represents the aggregate of individuals’ stress, it35