His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Founder of Maharishi Purusha Program

Maharishi: Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural program 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 Consciousness — 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 dignity, its unbounded essence, its infinite potential.

Maharishi: Scientific experiments with people who practice 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.

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.

Maharishi: No, No. Everyone knows sleeping is very natural. No one has to work hard to sleep. So resting is a natural process. One rests, one feels better, one feels relaxed. 'Work hard' is a wrong principle. Instead, one should draw the mind inward, pull the arrow back and release. This is the way to fulfill our desires. The desiring mind should be pulled back to a state of silence, and there, in that Transcendental Consciousness, the desire will get fulfilled. It is a great science of life, which does not require hard work. Enjoy and fulfill your desires.

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 program, 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.

Maharishi: Enlightenment is the normal, natural state of health for the body and mind. It results from the full development of consciousness and depends upon the perfect and harmonious functioning of every part of the body and nervous system. When one is using the full potential of the mind and body in this way, every thought and action is spontaneously correct and life-supporting. This is life free from suffering, life lived in its full stature and significance.

The goal of the Transcendental Meditation Technique is the state of enlightenment. This means we experience that inner calmness, that quiet state of least excitation, even when we are dynamically busy.

Maharishi: What you just asked: "What is enlightenment?" Because enlightenment is total knowledge, it is everything. That is the best question.

• founder of Transcendental Meditation^® program and the worldwide Spiritual Regeneration Movement (1957);
• introduced research in the field of consciousness and brought to light seven states of consciousness (1957-1967);
• created a new science; the Science of Consciousness, the Science of Creative Intelligence^®—and trained 2,000 teachers of this science (1972) [by now 40,000];
• discovered the Constitution of the Universe—the lively potential of Natural Law—in Rik Veda, and discovered the structuring dynamics of Rik Veda in the entire Vedic Literature (1975);
• celebrated the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment on the basis of the discovery of the Maharishi Effect (1975);
• introduced the TM-Sidhi^® program and the experience of bubbling bliss in Yogic Flying to create supreme mind-body coordination in the individual and coherence in world consciousness (1976);
• formulated his Absolute Theories of Government, Education, Health, and Defense to raise every area of life to perfection (1977);
• brought to light the commentary of Rik Veda, Apaurusheya Bhashya, as the self-generating, self-perpetuating structure of consciousness (1980);
• organized the centuries-old scattered Vedic Literature as the literature of a perfect science Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology^SM (1981);
• brought to light the full potential of Ayur-Veda, Gandharva Veda, Dhanur-Veda, Sthapatya Veda, and Jyotish to create a disease free and problem-free family of nations (1985);
• formulated the Master Plan to Create Heaven on Earth for the reconstruction of the whole world, inner and outer (1988);
• brought to light Supreme Political Science, introduced automation in administration (1992);
• inaugurated Global Administration through Natural Law (1993);
• now establishing Maharishi Vedic Universities and Maharishi Ayur-Veda Universities throughout the world to offer mastery over Natural Law to every individual, and to perpetuate life in accordance with Natural Law—perfection in every profession-and create Natural Law-based problem-free government in even country—governments with the ability to prevent problems (1993-94);
• discovery of the Veda and Vedic Literature in the human physiology which has finally estabIished the grand unity of all material diversity of creation, of all sciences, and of all religions (1994);
• introduced programs to create a Prevention Wing in the Military to Bring Invincibility to Every Nation (1994);
• established Maharishi Universities of Management (1995).