Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

Introduction to the SeriesCraig Pearson, Ph.D.Executive Vice-PresidentMaharishi University of ManagementHigher education faces a complex set of challenges today. Weare seeing resources diminish at the same time we are hearingcalls for greater access and affordability. Demands for greatertransparency and accountability are being sounded by both the generalpublic and the government. Government is exerting increasing controlsin this long-independent area.These challenges, however, are merely financial and political, and theyare hardly limited to colleges and universities. The fundamental challengesare educational and center around the students themselves. Challengesinclude high levels of stress, pervasive substance abuse (particularlybinge drinking), lack of preparedness for college-level work, and mentaland emotional disabilities. In most of these areas, the problem is seriousand worsening. Though colleges and universities are striving to addressthese challenges, few would claim we are turning the tide.An encouraging trend is the increasing focus in higher educationnationwide on promoting student learning. Yet these laudable effortsdo not take into account the powerful forces working in opposition. It iswell known that learning is inhibited by stress, sleep deprivation, alcohol,and poor diet—and these are among the most conspicuous featuresof the college student experience.Something new is required. Education needs a reliable means ofdeveloping students directly from within. We need a systematic methodfor cultivating their creative intelligence, their capacity to learn, andtheir natural humanity. All education aims at these goals, of course—but the approach thus far has been from the outside in, and the resultshave been haphazard at best.Consciousness-Based education was established to address this need.It integrates the best practices of education and places beneath them aproper foundation—direct development of the student from inside out.The outcomes of Consciousness-Based education have been unprecedentedand scientifically verified. These outcomes include significantgrowth of intelligence, creativity, learning ability, field independence,1