Transcendental Meditation News - April 2020

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
®
news
Transcendental Meditation
VOL.24 • NO.1 • BRITAIN’S NATIONAL TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION MAGAZINE • APRIL 2020 • £3.95
Strengthen collective
consciousness to overcome
global problems
Also in this issue:
• Daily online group meditation
• Europe-wide projects demonstrate effectiveness of TM in education
• “Very significant results, very powerful indeed”
• UK teaching numbers rise again in February
• Maharishi AyurVeda attracts doctors to TM
• Online courses flourish during lockdown
• Healing the healers
• Science of Mind interview with Maharishi

Transcendental Meditation TM
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Daily online
group meditation
You are warmly invited to join from home for
daily online group Transcendental Meditation
(TM) at 8 am and 6 pm morning and evening.
There will be a 'welcome' 5 minutes before.
Please contact your local TM Centre for the Zoom
joining details.
Each meditation will be for a full 20 minutes and is
synchronised with Meditators throughout the United
Kingdom, the Channel Islands, Ireland, Portugal, and
many other countries in Europe and Africa, including
those in our time zone.
These daily TM group meditations are being
organised in every time zone throughout the world,
with people meditating together at their own local
times.
Most TM Centres are also running regular meetings
for TM Meditators online.
Timing for online TM
Group Meditation:
MORNING
7.40 am: Lines open
7.55 am: Welcome
8.00 am: Online TM group meditation for 20 minutes.
EVENING
5.40 pm: Lines open
5.55 pm: Welcome
6.00 pm: Online TM group meditation for 20 minutes.
If you are unable to join online, then you might like to
synchronise your meditation with the online programme.
MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI, Science of Being and Art of Living.
p 311
“In view of the great benefits that Transcendental Meditation can
®
bring to health, education and social welfare and to the lives of
prisoners in gaols, and to the misguided lives of delinquents, it is
essential for it to be given through the government departments
of health, education, social welfare and justice. It should be
a practice adopted by members of the medical profession,
by teachers and professors in schools and colleges, by social workers trying to
improve the level of behaviour in society, and by well-wishers of life in every field.
“Thus the plan for the emancipation of all mankind in every age lies in
training Teachers of Transcendental Meditation, in constructing meditation
Centres, in bringing the practice to each individual on the level of his need and
nature, and in finding ways and means for its propagation according to the level
of consciousnesss at different times.”
‘Everything that happens
in the outer world is
a manifestation of the
inner world. The deepest
level of life is the field
of pure consciousness
deep within everyone. Through
our individual and group practice
of Transcendental Meditation
we enliven this universal field of
consciousness.
‘This is the most helpful thing we
can be doing at this time, when the
whole world is concerned about the
coronavirus pandemic. Inner peace
will enliven outer peace. We wish
everyone and their families to be safe
and sound during this time.’
Dr Peter Warburton, Leader of the UK
Transcendental Meditation organisation.
Europe-wide projects
demonstrate effectiveness
of TM in education
Over the past three
years, two multination
projects
have introduced
Transcendental Meditation to
schools in Europe and the UK.
Results are helping to lay the basis
for more widespread use of TM in
education throughout Europe.
Both projects were known
by their acronyms - the EUROPE
project from in 2017 and 2018:
Ensuring Unity and Respect as
Outcomes for People of Europe;
and, in 2018/19, the larger
FRIENDS project: Fostering
Resilience-Inclusive Education and
Non-Discrimination in Schools. As
the titles suggest, these projects
were particularly focused on
encouraging inclusive education,
and helping pupils from a troubled
or disadvantaged background. The
managing organisation was Villa
Montesca, and the projects were
co-funded by the EU’s Erasmus+
educational programme.
Disadvantaged pupils have
already been the focus of the
David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet
Time initiative, which has been
hugely successful in the USA and
elsewhere, and organisers of the
European projects adopted the
Quiet Time with Transcendental
Meditation title for that reason.
A UK-based success was,
however, a key ingredient in getting
EU support, according to UK
National Director of Transcendental
Meditation Richard Johnson, who
organised the UK component of the
FRIENDS project.
Maharishi Free School
“One of the things that stood
out when we approached the
European Commission in the first
place, our trump card, if you like,
was the Maharishi Free School in
Skelmersdale,” he says. “The fact
that the British government was
funding it as a free school, teaching
Consciousness Based Education,
this was a huge thing to start off
with. So immediately the EU had to
take it seriously - an EU state had
funded TM in a school - it applies
to Holland and Denmark too, of
course, but here you have a perfect
example of what a school should be
like.”
The other trump card, says
Richard, and one whose influence
was felt throughout both projects,
was Derek Cassells, head teacher
of the Maharishi School for 29
years. Due to his retirement, Derek
was able to be an advisor to the
projects, and had a huge impact.
“What a tower of invincibility he
is!” says Richard. “His focus, and
the way he relates to the staff -
immediately he knows what they
are interested in and what they’re
about. I learned a huge amount
from Derek. You can see how
he created the Maharishi School,
because he has a very strong and
very determined personality, and
a very clear mind. He’s naturally a
kind of chairman of all the head
teachers, he supports all those
involved because he has a natural
affinity to it. If head teachers had
any practical problems with the
projects, they were able to sort
them out with Derek.”
Richard also pays tribute to the
Montessori organisation. “They
helped guide us through the whole
process of not only how to apply
for an EU grant but also how to
implement it in a way the EU find
understandable,” he says, adding
that the Montessori organisation
had been looking for a form
Richard Johnson
Derek Cassells
of meditation to complement
their school teaching, and were
impressed with TM.
The EUROPE project involved
three countries: Sweden, Holland
and Portugal. The FRIENDS Project,
involved four: Portugal, Belgium,
Italy and the UK.
In each country, several schools
took part to have Transcendental
Meditation taught to their staff
and pupils. Portugal, which
overlapped both projects, has done
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outstandingly well, says Richard.
“Paulo Cortez Real, a teacher in
a secondary school in a troubled
area on the Algarve, near Faro,
organised for 400 children to learn,
and the staff. It was a real joy to go
to the school and meet some of the
pupils, shining faces, really pleased
that they’d learned TM.”
“The parents were so impressed
with the improvement in their
children that they formed their
own organisation, and took part in
the second project because they
wanted to support it and expand
it, and it’s expanded hugely in
Portugal. So much so, that when
we visited the school in Faro, a
representative of the Ministry of
Education came down to meet us
all, to find out what was going on.
It’s in a deprived educational area,
and this school was suddenly doing
extremely well.”
Many more schools in Portugal
took part, and “nine teacher
training colleges in Portugal now
offer an option to learn TM as
part of continuing professional
development,” says Richard.
The final total for those learning
TM on the FRIENDS project was
around 2,000, even though only
600 were required for the study, the
results of which are being prepared
at the moment for reporting to the
European Commission.
Essex and Liverpool
UK successes in the FRIENDS
project were broadly in diagonal
locations across England,
interestingly near to both the
Maharishi European Sidhaland and
Maharishi Garden Village. Pupil
referral units in both Merseyside
and Essex became interested
in trying out TM, even though
mainstream schools showed little
initial interest, says Richard.
In Essex, Rendlesham-based TM
Teacher Barry Spivack had arranged
through his contacts at Essex
County Council to circulate details
of the FRIENDS project throughout
North Essex.
“An alternative provision school
saw the notice from Essex County
Council, and one of their teachers
had just learned TM,” says Richard.
“So they rang us up and said would
you like to come and talk to us, and
we had a very enthusiastic meeting
with the head teacher, Philomena
Cozens.
“She is an amazing lady, who
commands huge respect in the
school; a very impressive person to
meet with and to work with.
“So she got behind it, and then
the senior leadership team learned
TM. A lot of them were quite
sceptical, but when they actually
started they got off to a really good
start (see page 5).
“And then the staff learned, and
then some of the pupils. In the UK,
we didn’t teach so many students,
although it will happen. But we did
very well on the teacher front. We
taught about 120 teachers and
about 40-50 students.”
“Almost exactly the same
happened in Liverpool. A teacher
in an alternative provision school
there learned TM and enjoyed
it, and then went to a meditators
meeting run by local TM Teachers
David Evans and Leesha Gaffney,
who described the Friends Project.
They had written to 50 mainstream
schools in Liverpool but none had
responded.”
The alternative provision school
where the newly-meditating teacher
worked was prepared to try TM,
however.
“The head teacher took it on,
learned TM himself, and did very
well,” says Richard. “The senior
leadership team then learned, the
teachers learned, then some of the
pupils. About 15-20 pupils learned
TM but all have now left the school.
It’s the nature of those schools that
pupils are there for maybe a term
or two, or a year, and then return to
mainstream education.”
Further teaching to members
of staff at two schools in Preston
and Blackpool were carried out by
TM Teachers Bill Stevens, Margaret
Farrand, Leesha Gaffney, Eileen
Leahy and Megan Farmer, with
good results. And three schools in
Stoke ran courses for staff after a
presentation to 17 head teachers
by Derek Casells, with David and
Leesha.
The two projects are now
concluded, but have sown the
seeds of great expansion for TM
in education in many European
countries, not limited to those
nations taking direct part.
Conferences to summarise the
results at the end of each project
were notable for their enthusiasm,
and the number of attendees.
“At the end of an EU funded
project, all the partners put on a
conference, normally about 20 or
30 people turn up,” says Richard.
“150 turned up for the EUROPE
project conference in November
2018. It was wonderful, a real
celebration.” Similar enthusiasm
was shown at the concluding
conference of the FRIENDS project
at the Maharishi Peace Palace last
autumn.
We’’ll be reporting in future
issues on the educational
achievements and spin-offs from
the projects in Portugal, Italy,
Romania, Sweden, Holland and
elsewhere. n
“Very significant
results, very
powerful indeed”
Over the past 24 months,
the UK implementers of the
FRIENDS project have taught
Transcendental Meditation
to members of staff at 3
Essex schools. The project was
co-funded by the Erasmus+
Programme of the EU.
Following is a transcript of a
video about the project in Essex.
Interviews, editing and filming by
Louise McGuire.
Philomena Cozens, CEO
of Keys Co-Operative
Academy Trust
“34 of our staff are practising [TM]
on a regular basis, and they all
reported very significant changes in
how they felt about themselves as
individuals, but also about how they
felt as employees of our company,
about how they felt in their work;
and all of them said they felt
more valued, and they were very
significant results, very powerful
indeed. And it’s renewed my
practice and the practice of those
people in school when I fed back
the results to them.
“We’ve sometimes talked about
how you fit it in, particularly if
you’ve got a busy home life, and
people have talked about stopping
the car in a car park and meditating
and doing all sort of things like that.
I think when it becomes important
to you, you just do find the time
and the space to be able to do it.
“One of the things I was very
impressed with when I looked at
the video footage of other schools
that had used TM was…it was quite
amazing to notice the eyes of the
young people in the videos, and
they were all shining, and their
faces were shining. And one of
the things that worries me about
the young people that we teach is
that they look very down and very
miserable, and I’m quite concerned
about that level of depression and
misery in children as young as they
are. So I’m hoping that that shining
light that comes from within that
I’ve seen on the videos will be
transferred into our schools.”
Phil Davies, Headteacher,
Heybridge Co-operative
Academy
“When I was first approached about
TM, I was reasonably sceptical
about it, because I didn’t have a
great understanding of the impact it
would make, and now I can see the
benefit, both personally and with
our students.
“My family will tell you that I
take less things home, I take less
baggage home, because my day
finishes and I’m much calmer, and
calmer in the way that I deal with
things.
Steve Bolton, Head of
Maths, North East Essex
Co-operative Academy
“I’ve found that even simple things
like minor annoyances at work
where you get a little angry, in the
next free period I go and meditate,
and I deal with it differently - I
definitely do. It’s been a real lifechanger
for me.
“I put so much into being the
father, being the husband, being
the carer for my father, and I was
putting myself bottom of the pile,
or not even in the pile at all. And
I think what TM does, it gives you
that opportunity to reflect on that,
and realise that, if you do that,
eventually there will be payback,
and then you’re no good to
anybody. You have to find that daily
time for yourself.”
Lawrence Terroni,
Headteacher, North
East Essex Co-operative
Academy
“If you’d said to me a year ago that
I would be meditating regularly
over the period of a year, I wouldn’t
have believed you. If you’d said
to me a year ago after listening to
Richard talk, that it was something
that rang true, true to my own
sense of self, and true to how I want
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Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 • 5

to be, I wouldn’t have believed you.
The impact on my life personally has
been significant.
“Not only do I enjoy it, that time
for yourself, that time for almost
shutting a very busy brain down,
has made me feel very much like a
different person.”
Kathy Kershaw, Exams
Officer/English teacher,
Heybridge Co-operative
Academy
“I feel like I’ve been given permission
just to have time to myself, to think,
to relax, to just let everything flow,
and it’s amazing. I love it.”
Tim Morgan, Head of Key
Stage 2 English Teacher,
Heybridge Co-operative
Academy
“Very often the young people we
deal with can fly off the handle, they
can feel threatened, they can feel
like a conversation, particularly with
a person in authority, is something
which is a threat to them, and I
think, certainly, my experience of
meditation, and looking at some of
the research as well, the ability to
react more calmly, I suppose, in a
more measured way, is something
that I think they will benefit from, for
sure.”
Andy Bear, Principal,
Ravens Academy, Clacton
“I’ve started getting up half an hour
earlier so I can do the 20 minutes in
the morning, and in the evening I
just watch 20 minutes less television
when I get in, so that’s easily done,
you know.” n
UK teaching numbers
rise again in February
Numbers learning
Transcendental Meditation in
the UK have remained high
compared to recent years for
the first two months of 2020, reflecting
both a customary new-year-resolutions
boost and the successful facebook and
social media campaigns from the Global
UK NEWS
Marketing Group. In addition, monthly
best-practice workshops for TM Teachers
covering every aspect of promotion,
teaching and follow-up, organised and
hosted by Jonathan Hinde, who teaches
TM in Cambridge, have proved popular
and influential in improving teaching
figures over the past year. n
Maharishi AyurVeda
attracts doctors to TM
Fifty doctors, surgeons
and nursing staff from all
departments of the hospital
in St Helier, Jersey, as well
as local GPs, attended a talk on
Transcendental Meditation and
Maharishi AyurVeda in February,
given by visiting Maharishi AyurVeda
expert and TM Teacher Dr Donn
Brennan, one of the first Western
doctors to train in Ayurveda under
Maharishi’s guidance in the 1980s
and founding president of the
Ayurvedic Practitioners Association.
Jersey TM Teacher Valerie
Murray organised the presentation
through the Jersey Educational
Health Services. She reports great
interest from the audience, who
found the topic of interest both
for their patients and for their own
health and wellbeing, and who have
invited Dr Brennan back for a further
presentation to GPs later in the year. n
Jonathan Hinde
Valerie Murray with student nurses
Online courses flourish during lockdown
A
new dimension in offering
group meditations, meetings
for meditators and advanced
knowledge courses has opened
up during the national lockdown, with
online meetings proving immensely
popular.
Thousands of Meditators and TM-
Sidhas now participate in synchronised
meditations at “super-radiance times”
around the globe, generating a wave
of coherence around the globe every
day, many joining weekly meditations
and knowledge meetings with Dr Tony
Nader, global leader of Maharishi’s
organisations, as well as
enjoying online meetings with
their local TM Centres.
Response to the online
offerings has been enthusiastic.
“The online 6pm group
meditation is the highlight of
my day,” said one Meditator,
“I think doing it the same
time every day is helpful too,
something not always possible
when I’m working.”
Three hundred and
forty people are currently
participating in a live online
course in Maharishi’s Total
Knowledge, run by Dr Peter
Warburton, Chief Executive
of Maharishi Foundation UK.
As we go to press, another
live online course exploring
Vedic Expressions Used By
Maharishi is about to start,
run by Dr Bevan Morris,
Prime Minister of Maharishi’s
worldwide organisation the
Global Country of Work Peace.
We will report in full on current
and future plans for online
courses in our next issue. n Dr Peter Warburton Dr Bevan Morris
6 • Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 • 7

Strengthening collective consciousness
to overcome global problems
On Saturday March 28th,
Dr Tony Nader, MD, PhD,
the head of Maharishi’s
world-wide Transcendental
Meditation organisations, spoke live
to a global Facebook audience of
4,000 Meditators, TM-Sidhas and TM
Teachers, to discuss the coronavirus
pandemic and what we can do during
it.
Dr Nader began by reassuring the
audience that, although the situation
is serious, human intelligence will be
able to solve the problems.
“Human consciousness can do
whatever is necessary to overcome
such threats and challenges,” he
said. “We trust in our creativity, our
potential, and in our togetherness
to bring something that is
absolutely great out of even the
most challenging situations and
circumstances.”
“I’d like to first salute the medical
and scientific professions for their
dedication, their ability to stand in
front of such a threat, and be the
defenders of life, the defenders of
wholeness, the ones who dedicate
themselves to remove suffering
and alleviate pain and disease and
problems.”
Dr Nader also praised health and
governmental authorities for their
recommendations, guidelines, and for
working together as a global family,
sharing solutions and working to
discover what is the best approach.
Overcoming the pandemic can
be done on various levels, continued
Dr Nader. Medicines and vaccines
are being developed, and there are
also things we can do to nourish the
human body so that the immune
system is as strong as possible.
The role of the mind in physical
immunity is often overlooked - but
just how powerful the mind can be
in producing physical changes, Dr
Nader illustrated by describing a rare
disease known as Dissociative Identity
Disorder, or DID. Formerly called
Multiple Personality Disorder, this is a
phenomenon where the psychology
of the sufferer changes from one type
of personality to another. And when
this happens, said Dr Nader, there can
be physical changes as well, such as
an allergic physical reaction present in
one personality which is not present
in another, even though it is the same
individual.
Power of the mind
“Why I am taking this example
is because we realise here the
importance of the mind, the
importance of what is happening
in the psychology,” he explained.
This is the science of psycho-neuroendocrinology,
which looks at the
influence of the mind on the nervous
system, and through that on the
endocrine system and its influence on
how the immune system reacts.
“ I’m saying this to alert us all
that our mind plays a very powerful
role in this situation,” said Dr Nader.
“Because it is dealing with a reaction
to a foreign material, which is the
virus, and it has to balance this
reaction in such a way that it can
destroy the virus but not destroy the
body, not to overreact. The mind
is very important. And we are all
now under situations of isolation,
confinement, lockdown, separation.
And these can create a situation of
stress and strain, or fear and panic,
and these do not help us. We need
absolutely to have a healthy mind as
well as a healthy body.”
For the body, it’s important to
have proper rest, good sleep, regular
nutritious meals, and avoid smoking,
recreational drugs, and excessive
intake of alcohol or of food, he
advised, and make sure we have
essential vitamins and minerals, and
take exercise.
“These are just a few things that we
Let us use this time of inward direction to bring
ourselves back to the inside, back to the Self.
can do on the level of the physiology.
Of course we check with other leaders
and authorities in the field, if they
discover something is needed. We
follow the medical authorities when
they describe and give advice.”
Dr Nader then moved on to the
mental component of good health.
“Now on the mental level, it’s very
important if you practise meditation,
to do it regularly. Transcendental
Meditation has been proven to
strengthen the physiology, to give
deep rest, to strengthen the immune
system, and scientific research has
shown it decreases the exposure to
infectious diseases.”
“If you don’t have Transcendental
Meditation, take time to be inward.
This is the time when the whole
world situation is calling humanity, if
you like, to go inwards.”
And apart from meditation, and
inner reflection, there are other
strategies we can use, he said.
“We want to come out of it with
a healthy mind as much as a healthy
body, and for this there are some
recommendations we can give. For
example, listening to music - there
are specific chantings that can be
listened to; there are breathing
exercises called pranayama, where
you breathe from one nostril and
8 • Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 • 9

then from the other. And there are
yoga exercises that can be helpful.
Solutions not problems
“If we are at home and we are facing
a situation of stress and strain, then
don’t think of the problems, think
of the solution of the problems. Of
course in order to find the solution,
you have to analyse the problem, so
of course we use our intellect, and
we think how to be happy, how to
be healthy in mind and body. And try
to be inward during certain periods
of the day. The Transcendental
Meditation organisation, for
example, has created what we call
a Super Radiance Programme, that
is people are coming at the same
time to practise their Transcendental
Meditation technique and all the
advanced techniques that they
have. On the website drtonynader.
com there is a chart showing the
time zones. So if you are practising
Transcendental Meditation, check out
these times and join them. And if you
are not, you can choose these times
and close the eyes and be within.
Thinking of others
“What is very important also is to
think of others. Which means, instead
of being too attached to one’s own
situation, try also to be giving time to
others and thinking of others. This is
very nourishing to the mind, it’s very
positive, it’s very unifying, it’s very
strengthening.
“If you think of others, and others
Creating clarity and strength in collective
consciousness will allow us to overcome not only
this epidemic, but all other kinds of issues and
epidemics that we might face
think of you, there is so much richness
that comes, and so much strength and
ability to enjoy.
“Now we talk a lot about social
distancing, which is very important,
and we follow the rules very strictly on
the physical level. Maybe this is also
a time to think of spiritual closeness
and to be together, all kinds of people
from all kinds of faiths and all kinds of
backgrounds are now together in this
problem, and we are all, as humanity,
facing it and trying to solve it.
“Always think of positive things,
and things that are bringing us all
together, because there is something
very profound about life, and that is
the unity on the level of consciousness,
on the level of Being.”
Consciousness
Dr Nader then moved on to describe
this unified level of consciousness.
“Life is like a movie that is taking
place,” he explained, “but this movie
is happening on a screen. And the
screen is a screen of consciousness, a
screen of awareness. If you don’t have
a screen, you don’t have a movie.”
To really see the movie clearly, the
screen needs to be completely clean,
he said. “If this screen is clear, and
perfect, then you can enjoy the true
aspect of life, and you can actually see
more.”
There is also, he continued, an
individual reality of consciousness, and
a collective reality of consciousness.
“I sometimes use the example of
a neuron in the brain,” he explained.
A neuron has its own reality, it has
a physical structure that has a brain,
which is its DNA, that has a digestive
system, that transmits information,
electrical and chemical, and
exchanges information with the other
neurons, Each neuron, together with
the other neurons, creates a collective
reality of our brain, of our nervous
system. Therefore with our brain, we
have a higher level of consciousness,
because we can see everything that
these specific neurons can see, and
together we can see much more.”
“Now its the same situation on the
social level, on the collective level.
We as individuals are like neurons
in the brain, which is the collective
consciousness of society. And if the
neurons individually are working
properly, and in coherence, and
connecting with each other properly,
then the wholeness, the brain itself,
the collective awareness of the nation,
or even the world in this case, is more
awake. There is more light, more
ability to see.
“So by going back to the Self,
we are bringing the collective
consciousness into a state of greater
calm, greater clarity, and bringing the
collective awareness to a level where
it can start seeing more in the same
way as when a dark room is lit, there
is more ability to see what is in the
room.”
This phenomenon has been
studied scientifically, he said, citing
results including decreases in crime
and conflict and improvements in
the economy when people practise
Transcendental Meditation, especially
in groups.
“So this is one more thing we can
contribute.”
Going within is important, he
repeated, and explained that the
more settled the mind becomes, the
more powerful the effect.
“We say that the mind is like an
ocean, it’s active on its surface, and
the more you go in its depths, the
more quiet it is. So when you are on
the surface, you are kicked around
right and left by the waves; and when
you go deeper, and deeper, this
quietness is what gives strength and
power to the waves, they are using
the entire power of the ocean.
The deeper we go, the more
powerful effect we can create, he
explained. Praising the religious
and spiritual leaders who have
called for prayers, he commented
that “Prayer on the surface is not
so profound, and it doesn’t reach
its ultimate goal as effectively,
because you are having a desire on
an excited, surface level. Whereas
in the silence, inwards, you are
projecting your thoughts from
the most powerful level of natural
law. And from that level, then the
desires can be fulfilled.”
The secret to how the mind can
create an effect on the outside, he
explained, is to desire from the
deepest level of consciousness. And
in fact, he added, all achievements
come from actions, which
themselves come from thoughts.
“So the origin of any
achievement, of action, is thought,
and the origin of thought is
consciousness. It’s on the platform
of consciousness that everything is
achieved.”
“So let us use this time of inward
direction to bring ourselves back to
the inside, back to the Self.”
Creating clarity and strength in
collective consciousness, concluded
Dr Nader, will allow us to overcome
not only this epidemic, but all other
kinds of issues and epidemics that
we might face, in terms of energy,
the climate, the environment,
the use and control of artificial
intelligence, genetic engineering
and so on.
Humanity has made mistakes,
he said, and created problems, but
these problems can all be corrected.
“Let no-one put humanity
down just because there are some
mistakes here and there. Humanity
has done something absolutely
wonderful. Human beings are a joy
to Creation, and they can continue
to be a joy to Creation if we raise
our collective consciousness and
live the dignity of life that this
human physiology, this human
nervous system, has given us.”
This is an edited version of the talk.
To watch the full broadcast and
others, and to access information
about times for collective meditation,
podcasts, and to keep in touch with
latest information and advice, go to
www.drtonynader.com n
Healing the
healers
A
new initiative - Heal the
Healers Now - launched
by the David Lynch
Foundation together with
the Transcendental Meditation
organisations in the USA and the UK
will offer TM courses to those on the
medical frontlines who have been
heroically defending their nation’s
health during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch
Foundation USA, launched the initiative
in the USA on April 6th, and discussed
the project, and the health benefits
of TM, in a special edition of Good
Morning America.
Says Deirdre Parsons, director of
the David Lynch Foundation UK: “This
is an opportunity to give back to those
in the NHS who have given so much
in the past months, and are always
there for our health. We know TM to
be highly effective in reversing the
damage of trauma, and to give deep
rest and refreshment in a busy and
stressful lifestyle.”
Even before the pandemic, nearly
40% of NHS staff reported feeling
unwell in the previous year due to
work-related stress, according to a
2019 survey, and the problem is now
likely to be much worse.
See www.healthehealersnow.org.uk
for how to donate to support free and
subsidised TM courses for NHS staff, to
begin when the lockdown is relaxed. n
Robin Roberts, anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, with Bob Roth
10 • Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 • 11

Science of Mind: Transcendental
Meditation, which you developed,
has enjoyed phenomenal
international success. What is it,
exactly?
Maharishi: Transcendental Meditation
is a simple, natural programme for the
mind, a spontaneous, effortless march
of the mind to its own unbounded
essence. Through Transcendental
Meditation the mind unfolds its
potential for unlimited awareness,
transcendental awareness. Unity – a
lively field of all potential, where every
possibility is naturally available to the
conscious mind. The conscious mind
becomes aware of its own unbounded
essence, its infinite potential.
Transcendental Meditation provides a
way for the conscious mind to fathom
the whole range of its existence –
active and silent, point and infinity. It
is not a set of beliefs, a philosophy,
a lifestyle, or a religion. It’s an
experience, a mental technique one
practises every day for 15-20 minutes.
Science of Mind: What are some of
its practical benefits?
Maharishi: Scientific experiments with
people who practise Transcendental
Meditation indicate that it tends to
produce normalization in all areas of
life. It reduces stress, improves health,
enriches mental functioning, enhances
personal relationships, and increases
job productivity and job satisfaction.
Science of Mind: Can other kinds of
meditation produce similar results?
Maharishi: They can, of course.
However, one advantage of
Transcendental Meditation is its
extreme simplicity. It is very simple
for anyone to learn. In addition, it has
been the object of scientific research
for over 30 years, and its beneficial
effects are well-documented.
Science of Mind: What gives
Transcendental Meditation such
great potential for positive change?
Maharishi: To answer that, we
must look at the nature of creation
itself. Creation has two sides:
intelligence, which is the cause of
everything, and the manifestations
of intelligence, which are the
physical and psychological features
of the everyday world. Because
Transcendental Meditation directly
Science of Mind
interview with
Maharishi
An interview with Maharishi by the magazine Science of Mind in 1993
approaches intelligence, rather than
the manifestations of intelligence,
it solves problems by introducing
harmony and well-being at the most
basic level, and not by dealing with
problems themselves. That’s why it is
so effective.
Consider this example: The
gardener supplies water to the root of
a tree. That water, that nourishment,
then reaches all parts of the tree
– leaves, branches, flowers, fruit –
through the sap. We can think of the
sap as analogous to intelligence and
the green leaves or yellow flowers as
analogous to the manifestations of the
intelligence. The leaves and flowers
are the intelligence of the sap, after it
has been transformed. So intelligence
– like the leaves and flowers of a tree
– appears as the many different forms
of manifest life. Those manifestations
include every aspect of existence,
from the material and physiological,
through the psychological, intellectual,
and spiritual. All of those features
of life come from transformations of
intelligence. In meditation, we directly
meet this essential intelligence.
Therefore, we have the possibility of
nourishing all of its other levels, and
thus all levels of manifestation, in a
way that is harmoniously related to the
whole universe.
Science of Mind: How is
Transcendental Meditation different
from the various other forms of
meditation?
Maharishi: The basic difference is that
Transcendental Meditation, in addition
to its simplicity, concerns itself only
with the mind. Other systems often
involve some additional aspects with
which the mind is associated, such as
breathing or physical exercises. They
can be a little complicated because
they deal with so many things. But with
Transcendental Meditation there is no
possibility of any interference. So we
say this is the all-simple programme,
enabling the conscious mind to fathom
the whole range of its existence.
Transcendental Meditation ranges
from active mind – or performing mind
– to quiet mind – or resting mind. In
this resting mind, one has purity and
simplicity, uninvolved with anything
other than the mind, uninvolved with
any other practice. In Transcendental
Meditation, because we deal only with
the mind, we nourish all expressions
of intelligence. The mind meditates,
gains Transcendental Consciousness
and brings about transformation in
different fields of manifestation. All
fields of life, which are the expression
of intelligence, are nourished or
transformed and made better
through experiencing Transcendental
Consciousness.
The mind, of course, is always
concerned with other aspects,
such as the physiology of the body,
the environment, and the whole
universe for that matter. But since
Transcendental Meditation deals only
with the performance of the mind,
from its active states to its settled
state, it remains unconcerned with
those other aspects, though it deals
with them all, because intelligence
deals with them all.
Science of Mind: Can you offer us
more understanding of the “settled
state”? Why is it so important?
Maharishi: The settled state, as we
know from physics, is the state of
being from which nature’s intelligence
functions and administers the whole
universe. The settled state is where
we find the principle of least action,
through which natural law operates.
It is important because it is the
fundamental level of life.
Science of Mind: And being in
the “settled state,” or the state
of least action, is equivalent to
transcendence?
Maharishi: Yes. Transcendence is
the state where the mind has moved
beyond everything other than itself.
That means it has transcended
all kinds of activity, small and big,
and it has settled down in its own
authority, in its own sovereignty,
into the unbounded dignity of its
own intelligence. And in this state,
Transcendental Consciousness
turns out to be a lively field of all
possibilities.
Science of Mind: So, while the mind
usually operates in an active, or
“unsettled” state, Transcendental
Meditation takes it to the settled
state?
Maharishi: Exactly! To understand
this process, we must ask: how
does the mind work? What does
it do? We know the mind is always
subject to its own nature, which is
to evolve. Evolution is the essential
nature of existence. The mind is
always searching for more and more
and more - more knowledge, more
happiness. The mind moves on, always
toward more and more.
But the mind has two sides. One
side is in the direction of diversity, in
the direction of many, many. The other
is in the direction of unity, the unified
state. Gaining unity means rising to
Transcendental Consciousness, the
settled state, while gaining diversity
means moving toward more and more
activity. Unity is on one side, diversity
is on the other side. Both sides belong
to the nature of the mind.
The mind moves to diversity in
search of more and more, and it
moves in the direction of unity - a
quiet state of unbounded awareness,
unbounded consciousness,
unbounded intelligence - in search
of less and less. The move of the
mind from its active state to its quiet
state is part of nature. Its potential
is unbounded, infinite; it enters the
field of all possibilities. When the
mind gains its unified state, that is
Transcendental Meditation.
Science of Mind: What is the nature
of transcendental consciousness?
Maharishi: It is unity consciousness,
an encounter with the field of unified
consciousness. In Transcendental
Consciousness, the mind experiences
itself, intelligence experiences itself.
The mind is the observer of its own
reality. In that state, the mind is
Transcendental Consciousness.
Just as the quiet surface of the
ocean is the source from which all
waves arise, so the self-fulfilled state
of mind, which we call Transcendental
Consciousness, is the unified field of
natural law, from which all the different
laws of nature emerge and conduct
their specific activities in the relative
world.
Science of Mind: Is the state of
unbounded awareness maintained
during the day, even after the
formal meditation period ends?
Maharishi: As a result of regular
practice, it is maintained more and
more, The situation is as though we
were to take a white cloth and dip
it in yellow dye. We bring the cloth
out and put in the sun and the yellow
fades away. Then we put it back again
and again into the color and back
again and again into the sun. It keeps
on becoming yellow and yellow and
yellow, then fading, fading, fading.
But over time the color becomes
permanent. That happens to the
mind through regular practice. That
unbounded awareness, that pure
consciousness, the field of all the laws
of nature, becomes ingrained in all
activities of the mind. Then the mind
begins to live in Unity Consciousness.
That’s how Unity Consciousness
becomes a living reality.
Science of Mind: How does a person
learn to practise Transcendental
Meditation?
Maharishi: Through instruction.
What happens is that the mind, in its
active state, learns to experience its
own less active states, experience
its progressively minimized active
states, until eventually it cognizes the
transcendental state of consciousness.
But in learning to do this, we must
remember that the mind has usually
been allowed to wander around so
long in the realm of knowledge or
power or the pursuit of happiness
that it must be taught how to know
itself again. That’s why teaching
becomes necessary. After learning
Transcendental Meditation one knows
what the natural state is. But to realize
this, one has to be liberated from
unnatural programmes, performances
and experiences.
Most people have no experience
with Transcendental Consciousness,
pure consciousness, the pure nature
of the mind. They are aware of active
mind, which is the waking state of
consciousness. They are also aware
of the complete forgetfulness of
the mind, the sleep state, And they
are aware of the middle stage, the
dreaming mind. But they are not
aware of pure or Transcendental
Consciousness. So the experience
of that consciousness is taught in
Transcendental Meditation, though it's
nothing other that the very nature of
the mind. n
12 • Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1 • 13

SUMMER TM RETREAT
with a special Arts theme
Two weeks that can be taken separately or consecutively
Contacts: Maharishi’s programmes in the UK and Ireland
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Transcendental Meditation
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01695 51213 http://uk.tm.org
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TM National Offices:
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Course Office 01394 421136
courses@peacepalace.org.uk
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Maharishi AyurVeda Products
01695 51015
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Maharishi AyurVeda Health
Centre, Skelmersdale
01695 735351
www.maharishiayurveda.co.uk
Maharishi AyurVeda Health
Centre, Rendlesham
01394 548764
www.ayurveda-rendlesham.
co.uk
Maharishi AyurVeda
Practitioners
London
Dr Donn Brennan
0208 749 5442
Angela Hope-Murray
0118 933 2135
North West & Scotland
Dr Donn Brennan
01695 735351
East Anglia
Susan Lincoln
01394 549985 / 07980 335757
slincoln@ayurveda-rendlesham.
co.uk
Midlands & South of England
Susan Lincoln
(details as above)
EASY & TASTY
A collection of vegetarian and vegan recipes, by Rosie
Marriott. All profits from sales go to Maharishi School.
£6.99 + p+p
Available online: www.maharishischool.com/shop
Maharishi School
01695 729912
www.maharishischool.com
Maharishi Aroma Therapy
Consultants
London (Victoria Centre),
south and South West England
Frances Knight: 07950 862246
fknight1008@gmail.com
London (Shepherd’s Bush TM
Centre)
Mahnaz Emami 0208 749 5442
mahnaz.venus@talk21.com
Skelmersdale, North of England,
Scotland, Wales & Midlands
Peter and Bibette Leadbetter
01695 722240
vedaroma@AofE.net
Rendlesham and East Anglia
Liselotte Svan 07511 449411
liselotte@svan.dk
Maharishi Light Therapy with
Gems
Peter and Bibette Leadbetter
01695 722240
MLG@AofE.net
Wales & South West England
Helen Evans 02921 158968
07905 899345
London (Shepherd’s Bush TM)
Mahnaz Emami 0208 749 5442
mahnaz.venus@talk21.com
Maharishi Garden Village & East
Anglia (residential options)
Diana Harding 01394 421699
dharding108@gmail.com
Blakeney, Norfolk
Marion Chalmers, 01263 741028
norfolk.uk@tm.org
Maharishi Sthapatya Veda
Consultants
John Renwick 01394 421048
07944 562480 john.renwick@
naturalbuildingdesign.co.uk
Andy Pringle 0151 528 6677
07740 298456
andy.buildinggreen@gmail.com
National Vastu Office
Henry Brighouse
hsbrighouse@aol.com
Maharishi Jyotish & Yagya
Services
Peter and Bibette
Leadbetter 01695 722240
maharishijyotish@AofE.net
maharishiyagyas@AofE.net
Cashmere Throws
From £200. Also wonderful cashmere duvets
organic cotton bedlinen and more.
Call Marion at Natural Fibres 01263 741028
Week 1: Friday 3 – Friday 10 July*
World Art: A Mirror of Consciousness.
Professor Matthew Beaufort takes
you on a journey to explore how art
from around the world mirrors one’s
own consciousness. Matthew is a TM Teacher and
Associate Professor of Humanities at Maharishi
International University (MIU) specialising in
Art History. Discover how the greatest art gives
glimpses of higher states of consciousness – and
thus continues to inspire people throughout
time. Create an artwork to take home with you:
a personal mandala – a
beautiful, coherent design –
that mirrors your own life. (You
do not need to be an artist!)
* All course dates are
subject to review
LIVING THE ARTISTIC VALUE OF LIFE
Week 2: Friday 10 – Friday 17 July*
Dr Anthony Miles will lead us on a
journey of deepening experiences of
consciousness in light of Maharishi’s
total knowledge, with profound
insights into art, music, literature
and world peace. Special presentations and
performances by experts on consciousness and
the Arts, who are working with Dr Miles on the
new Academy of Arts for Enlightenment, to bring
fulfilment to the goals of all artistic expression,
including artists Lawrence Sheaff and Frances
Knight, Brenda Boozer – Mezzo-Soprano for 15
seasons with the Metropolitan
Opera of New York, who will
perform a recital and Rebecca
Busch and Yagyaa Srivastava –
Vedic Dancers, who will present
a special performance at the
conclusion of the Retreat.
One-week course fees: Standard ensuite room single £755, shared p/p £565; Exec room single £895, shared p/p £675
Two-week course fee: Standard ensuite room single £1385, shared p/p £1035; Exec room single £1665, shared p/p £1250
£50 scholarship available for all new Meditators within their first year of Transcendental Meditation
For more information about all our courses please go to https://peacepalace.org.uk/tm-retreat-about-dates
14 • Transcendental Meditation News • April 2020 • Vol. 24 • No. 1

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*
*
* All course dates are
subject to review