Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

consciousness-based education and govermentand world peace while preserving cultural integrity and stimulatingprosperity and progress.Maharishi’s Technologies of Consciousnessas a New Method of Gaining KnowledgeThe bold assertions about what is practically possible through the applicationof Maharishi’s technologies of consciousness must be understoodin the context of the new method of gaining knowledge thatMaharishi has founded. The history of science testifies that as newmethods of gaining knowledge of deeper and more unified levels ofnatural law become available, more powerful and useful technologiesbecome available. Maharishi’s technologies of consciousness are basedon the deepest and most unified level of knowledge of nature. It shouldnot be surprising, therefore, that this technology provides a radicallynew source of organizing power to fulfill the highest goals of mankind.These technologies of consciousness offer a fundamentally newapproach to knowledge that has not been available before. In assertingthat it is possible for one individual to know all the laws of natureand the entirety of the universe within his or her own consciousness,Maharishi is well aware that he is introducing an account of humanpotential that goes well beyond the concept of the limits of knowledgethat has dominated in the scientific era. This new paradigm of knowledgemust be examined in a new light.It is a widespread belief in the modern age that the only valid methodof gaining knowledge is by moving outward through the senses, that is,through the methods of the empirical sciences. It is, however, only thehistorical failure of subjective approaches that has led to this belief. Itcannot be thought that the senses are the only way of gaining knowledge,and those who cling to the belief that it is, only allow old habitsto stand in the way of exploring new possible sources of knowledge.Subjective approaches to knowledge in the past failed to bear fruitbecause they failed to provide an effective and reliable method of accessto an invariant and universal domain of direct experience. They thusfailed to establish independent standards of knowledge, they failed toproduce methods of distinguishing truth from error, they failed to produceconsensus even among those practicing the same method, and598