Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:
Science of Being and Art of Living
MIU Press. Kindle-Version 2019
The Science of Being not only postulates a theory of one absolute element at the basis of the entire creation, but also provides a systematic way whereby any man may have direct experience of the essential nature of transcendental absolute Being. First we shall look into the possibility of the direct experience of the Absolute from a theoretical point of view and then consider the practical results of such an experience in day-to-day life. We have seen that Being lies beyond the subtlest stratum of creation in the transcendental field of absolute existence. In order to experience this transcendental reality, it is necessary that our attention be led in a concrete manner through all the subtle strata of creation. Then, arriving at the subtlest level, it must transcend that experience to know transcendental Being. What do we have in the gross level of creation? We have gross things to see through the eyes, gross words or sounds to hear through the ears, gross smells to smell through the nose, varieties of sensations to feel through the sense of touch, and varieties of tastes to taste with the tongue. We think, and the process of thinking normally seems to have no connection with these senses of perception. But the process of thinking does include one or many of these senses of perception. Our experience in the field of perception shows that we experience gross things and we experience subtle things. We use our eyes to see, ears to hear, and so on, but we know there is a limit to which the eyes can see, the ears can hear, and the tongue can taste. This limit marks the experience of gross creation.
Eyes can see forms as long as they do not become refined beyond a certain point. The ears can hear sound within a certain range of frequency. The nose can smell different smells as long as the smells are gross enough. This is the case with all the senses of experience. They are only able to experience the gross objects. Thus we understand that our field of experience ordinarily is limited to the gross field of creation only. The subtle fields are out of our common range of experience. We know that there are forms much finer than the eyes can see and that these may be experienced through the microscope. We know that there are waves which the ears cannot sense but which we hear with the help of radio. This shows that there are subtle strata of creation in existence with which we are not familiar because our common capacity of experience is limited to the experience of the gross only. Therefore, in order to experience transcendental Being, it is necessary to improve the faculty of experience. If we could improve our faculty of experience through any of the senses, or improve our ability to experience the thought before it comes to the conscious level of the mind, and if this ability to perceive the thought could be so improved that it reached the source of thought, then, having transcended the source, it would be possible to reach the transcendental state of pure Being. This establishes a way to experience transcendental Being—to experience finer and finer states of creation through any sense of experience, to experience the finest stratum of creation, and to transcend that to get to the state of Being. Since Being is of transcendental nature, It does not belong to the range of any of the senses of perception. Only when sensory perception has come to an end can the transcendental field of Being be reached. As long as we are experiencing through the senses, we are in the relative field. Therefore, Being certainly cannot be experienced by means of any of the senses. This shows that through whatever sense of experience we proceed, we must come to the ultimate limit of experience through that sense. Transcending that, we will reach a state of consciousness where the experiencer no longer experiences.
The word “experiencer” implies a relative state; it is a relative word. For the experiencer to be, there has to be an object of experience. The experiencer and the object of experience are both relative. When we have transcended the field of the experience of the subtlest object, the experiencer is left by himself without an experience, without an object of experience, and without the process of experiencing. When the subject is left without an object of experience, having transcended the subtlest state of the object, the experiencer steps out of the process of experiencing and arrives at the state of Being. The mind is then found in the state of Being which is out of the relative. The state of Being is neither a state of objective nor subjective existence, because both of these states belong to the relative field of life. When the subtlest state of objective experience has been transcended, the subtlest state of consciousness is then said to be pure consciousness, the state of absolute Being. This is how, by bringing the attention to the field of the Transcendent, it is possible to contact and experience Being. It cannot be experienced on the level of thinking because, as far as thinking goes, it is still a field of relative existence; the whole field of hearing, touching, seeing, tasting, and smelling lies in the relative existence. The transcendental state of Being lies beyond all seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting—beyond all thinking and beyond all feeling. This state of unmanifested, absolute pure consciousness of Being is the ultimate of life. It is easily experienced through the system of Transcendental Meditation.
Transcendental Meditation
The process of bringing the attention to the level of transcendental Being is known as the system of Transcendental Meditation. In the practice of Transcendental Meditation, a proper thought is selected and the technique of experiencing that thought in its infant states of development enables the conscious mind to arrive systematically at the source of thought, the field of Being. Thus, the way to experience transcendental Being lies in selecting a proper thought and experiencing its subtle states until its subtlest state is experienced and transcended. We shall now deal with the main principle of the system of Transcendental Meditation.
The Main Principle of Transcendental Meditation
We have seen that Being is the state of eternal and absolute existence and that the way to experience Being is to experience from the gross to the subtle states of creation until the mind arrives at the Transcendent. We have seen that we could proceed through any sense of experience. For example, through the sense of sight we could experience gradually subtler and subtler forms and eventually our eyes would reach a point where they were unable to perceive a form beyond a certain degree of subtlety. If we could close our eyes and train the inner eye—the eye of the mind—to perceive the object at the point at which we failed to perceive it through our open eyes, we would have a mental image of the object. If there were a way to experience the finer and finer fields of that mental image, experience its finest state and transcend it, we would then reach the state of Being. Likewise, through any sense of experience we could start experiencing the object and eventually arrive at the transcendental state of Being. Through the experience of a thought we could experience the subtle states of thinking and, transcending the subtlest state of thinking, we would be sure to arrive at the transcendental state of Being. Thinking, in itself, is the subtle state of speech. When we speak, our words are audible to the ears, but if we do not speak, the words do not become perceptible to the organ of hearing. Thus we find that thought is a subtle form of sound. Experience shows that the process of thinking starts from the deepest, most refined level of consciousness and becomes grosser as it develops. Eventually it becomes gross enough to be perceived on the surface level of the ocean of consciousness, on the common level of thinking. An analogy will clarify the principle. A thought starts from the deepest level of consciousness, from the deepest level of the ocean of mind, as a bubble starts at the bottom of the sea. As the bubble rises, it gradually becomes bigger. When it comes to the surface of the water it is perceived as a bubble. Mind is like an ocean, and, as in an ocean, the surface layers are active in waves and the deeper levels are silent. The surface layers of the mind are actively functioning while the deeper levels are silent. The surface functioning level of the ocean of mind is said to be the conscious mind. Any thought on the surface level is conscious mind. Any thought on the surface level is consciously cognized. The level of the ocean of mind at which the thoughts are appreciated as thoughts is the conscious level of the mind. A thought starts from the deepest level of consciousness, travels through the whole depth of the ocean of mind, and finally appears as a conscious thought on the surface. Thus we find that every thought stirs the whole range of the depth of consciousness, but it is consciously appreciated only when it has come to the conscious level; the rest of its many stages of development are not appreciated. That is why, for all practical purposes, we say that the deeper levels of the ocean of consciousness are as though silent. If there were a way to consciously appreciate all the states of the bubble of thought prior to its reaching the surface level, that would be the way to transcend thought and experience transcendental Being. The bubble of thought rising from the level Z becomes bigger (see illustration). By the time it reaches the surface level A, it has developed enough to be appreciated as a thought. This is the level of the conscious mind.
The subtle states of the bubble of thought below the level of the conscious state are not consciously appreciated. If there were a way to appreciate consciously the bubble of thought at all levels of its development, and at the source Z, and if it were possible to transcend this experience, then the mind would gain the state of Transcendental Consciousness. If the bubble of thought could be consciously appreciated at the level below A and at all levels of subtlety from A to Z, it would then be possible to bring the level Z within the range of the conscious mind. In this way the depth of the conscious mind (represented by W1) would become greater (as represented by W2), and the power of the conscious mind would be increased many fold. This expansion of the conscious capacity of the mind will again be, on the mental level, on the way to experiencing Being. The Technique Bubbles of thought are produced in a stream, one after the other, and the mind is trained to experience the oncoming bubble at an earlier and earlier stage of its development (see illustration). When the attention has reached level Z, it has traversed the whole depth of the mind, and has reached the source of creative intelligence in man. This source of thought thus comes within the scope of the conscious mind. When it transcends the subtlest state of thought, the conscious mind transcends the subtlest state of relative experience and arrives at the state of transcendental Being, the state of pure consciousness or Self-awareness. This is how, in a systematic manner, the conscious mind is led on, step by step, to the direct experience of transcendental absolute Being. Increasing Charm on the Path of Transcending To go to a field of greater happiness is the natural tendency of the mind. Because in this practice of Transcendental Meditation the conscious mind is set on its way to transcending and experiencing transcendental absolute Being, whose nature is bliss consciousness, the mind finds that the way is increasingly attractive as it advances in the direction of bliss. A light becomes faint and dim as we go away from its source, and the intensity increases as we proceed toward the source. Similarly, when the mind goes in the direction of the absolute bliss of transcendental Being, it finds increasing charm at every step of its march. The mind is charmed and is led to experience transcendental Being. Thus we find the practice of Transcendental Meditation is a pleasant practice for every mind. Whatever the state of evolution of the aspirant, whether or not he is emotionally developed or intellectually advanced, his mind, by its very tendency to go to a field of greater happiness, finds its way to transcend the subtlest state of thinking and arrive at the bliss of absolute Being. That is why the practice of Transcendental Meditation is not only simple, but also automatic. Increased Conscious Capacity of the Mind We will analyze in detail what has happened to the conscious mind during Transcendental Meditation when it fathoms the subtle states of thought. This, of course, is not a part of our consideration of how to experience Being, but it is interesting to note what happens to the mind on its way to directly experiencing the transcendental. In the diagram, the area of the conscious mind represented by W1 has become the much larger area represented by W2. It is as if the waves on the surface of the ocean have communicated themselves with the deeper levels of water with the result that each wave is mightier than the wave before. On the path to experiencing Being, the conscious capacity of the mind is enlarged and the whole ocean of mind becomes capable of being conscious. The full mental potential is thus unfolded, and the conscious capacity of the mind is increased to the maximum limit. How it is technically achieved is a matter of personal instruction from those who have been trained to impart this technique of experiencing Being.
Importance of a Proper Thought
A proper thought means a thought whose nature is harmonious and useful to the thinker and the surroundings. Every thought, as has every spoken word, has some influence on the thinker and on his surroundings. Just as a stone thrown into a pond produces waves that reach all the extremities of the pond, any thought, word or action produces waves in the atmosphere, and these waves travel in all directions and strike against everything in the atmosphere. They produce some influence in every level of creation. The whole universe is influenced by every thought, word, and action of every individual. When such is the wide range of the influence of a thought, one has to be very particular about the quality of thought one creates in his mind. There may be a thought whose influence is detrimental to the thinker and to the rest of the universe. Likewise, there may be a thought whose influence is favorable and useful to the thinker and to the world at large. Because each personality has its own quality, it is extremely necessary that each man should have selected for him a special quality of thought whose physical influence will be conducive and useful to himself and the world at large. The influence of a spoken word that is carried by the waves of vibrations in the atmosphere does not depend upon the meaning of the word. It lies in the quality of the vibrations that are set forth. Therefore, where it is necessary to produce vibrations of good quality that produce an influence of harmony and happiness, it also is necessary that the quality of vibration should correspond to that of the individual. Individuals differ in the quality of their vibrations which constitute their individual personalities. That is why the selection of a proper thought for a particular individual is a vital factor in the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Since the quality of each man is different from that of every other man, it is all the more difficult to be able to select the right type of vibration or the proper quality of thought for the practice of Transcendental Meditation. This problem of selecting a proper thought whose physical quality corresponds to the physical quality of the thinker becomes increasingly important when we consider that the power of thought increases when the thought is appreciated in its infant states of development. We know that power is greater in the subtle strata of creation than in the gross. If we throw a stone at someone it will hurt him, but if we could enter into its subtle strata and excite an atom of the stone, tremendous energy would be released and the effect would be far greater. Similarly, when we enter into the subtler states of a thought, we appreciate its finer levels and the power is much greater than it would be on the common conscious level of the mind. With this in view, it is essential that, before starting the practice of Transcendental Meditation, a proper quality of sound should be selected. The question of selecting a proper thought for a particular individual presents an enormous problem when we consider the far-reaching influence of an action in the entire universe. An action performed by a particular individual in a particular place at a particular time may produce favorable results for the doer and the surroundings. The same action, however, may produce a different influence under different circumstances. The consideration of action and its influence is highly complicated. It virtually goes beyond the capacity of the human mind to fathom the influence of an action at any level of creation. Therefore, the problem of selecting a proper thought for the daily practice of Transcendental Meditation is something which cannot be successfully decided by any and every individual. For the sake of facilitating the finding of a proper word for every individual, certain individuals have been trained in the art of selecting a proper sound or word to correspond to the special quality of the individual. These trained teachers of Transcendental Meditation are found in almost every country of the world in the centers of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement.
Necessity of Personal Guidance
By necessity, the practice of Transcendental Meditation is verbal; it is imparted by personal instruction. It cannot be imparted through a book because it not only involves telling an aspirant how to experience the subtle states of thinking, but an even greater responsibility lies in finding out what the aspirant experiences when he proceeds on that path. A thought itself is a very abstract experience to a common man, and if he is asked to experience the subtle states of thought, he is being asked to experience the finer states of that abstract experience. To be able to do this seems to be an impossibility to the ordinary mind, which has always been used to the experience of gross, concrete objects. The experiences on the path of Transcendental Meditation are very subtle, and the experiencer himself often is not certain that he is experiencing anything, because the moment he begins to experience the subtle state of thought, he finds himself drifting away to nothingness. It takes a while for the beginner to be able to pinpoint his experiences of the subtle state of thought. That is why it is not possible to put into writing how the mind passes through the experiences of the subtle states of thought. The practice of Transcendental Meditation must always be given by the expert teachers of Transcendental Meditation who have been properly trained to give it and who have been trained to check the experiences. The checking of experiences is a vital point in the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Again, it cannot be done through books. The practice must result in all good in life, but by its nature it is delicate and therefore highly technical. Under personal instruction and guidance the way is smooth and easy.
HOW TO LIVE BEING
Being is not something that exists and can be brought from somewhere and lived. It is existence, the very life of everything. It is the all-pervading, omnipresent state of absolute consciousness. In order to live It, the conscious mind first has to become acquainted with It by the means described under the heading, “How to Contact Being.” In Transcendental Meditation, when the mind transcends the subtlest state of thinking, it arrives at the state of Being. It is the state of no experience because the whole field of relativity has been transcended. It is just the state of transcendence, the state of existence, pure consciousness, is-ness, am-ness. From this state of pure Being the mind comes back again to experience thought in the relative world. Through constantly going into the realm of the Transcendent and back out into the field of relativity, familiarity with the essential nature of Being deepens, and the mind becomes gradually more aware of its own essential nature. With more and more practice, the ability of the mind to maintain its essential nature while experiencing objects through the senses increases. When this happens the mind and its essential nature, the state of transcendental Being, become one, and the mind is then capable of retaining its essential nature—Being—while engaged in thought, speech, or action. In order to achieve such a state of mind, two things are necessary. One, as we have already seen, is the practice of Transcendental Meditation, and the other, equally important for the rapid attainment of the desired goal, is that the mind should not be strained when it comes out after meditation to engage in the field of activity. The whole field of activity should be properly attended to, everything experienced, and all necessary action performed, but the mind should not be overtaxed. Everything should be done in a very easy manner. Taking life naturally and easily is very important for the quick infusion of Being into the nature of the active mind. When the conscious mind transcends and attains the state of Being, it becomes one hundred percent of the state of Being. The mind loses its individuality and becomes cosmic mind; it becomes omnipresent and gains pure, eternal existence. In the Transcendent it has no capacity for experience. Here the mind does not exist, it becomes existence.
When the mind comes back into the field of relative life, it gains individuality again, but it also seems to retain some of the great unbounded, universal status which it had just attained. With practice it is able to retain more and more of that experience in the activity of daily life. Any engagement of the mind in the field of activity is naturally a strain for the essential nature of the mind, which is pure Being. But if the mind engages itself in the activity in an easy, unstrained, simple, and natural manner, the infusion of the faculty of Being into the nature of the mind becomes greater. If, on the other hand, the mind is strained during activity, the infusion of Being into the nature of the mind becomes less effective. For example, when a white cloth is dipped into yellow dye it becomes yellow. When it is brought out, the depth of color is not as great as it appeared while the cloth was still in the dye. If the cloth is put in the shade for some time, the color fades still more and, if the cloth is placed in the direct sun, it is found that the color fades even more rapidly. Likewise, when the mind gets to the transcendental state of Being, it becomes pure Being. If it is put to activity in a very normal and natural manner when it comes out of the Transcendent, the infusion of the faculty of Being is retained for some time. But, if the mind is strained in activity, then the intensity of infusion is much less. Therefore, it is very important when one engages oneself in the field of activity that it is done in a very natural manner so that the activity serves as a means to culture the mind to be in the state of Being. Thus we find that the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation and regulated activity in life is a direct way of living Being, or, a short-cut for creating a state of consciousness where absolute Being and the relative field of life both will be simultaneously lived, and one will not be a barrier for the other.
In the “Art of Living,” it is made clear that, by the system of Transcendental Meditation, it is not only possible but easy for everyone to cultivate the state of Cosmic Consciousness in which Being is lived along with all values of relative life. Those who start the practice of Transcendental Meditation feel more energy, greater clarity of mind, and better health. They become more efficient and energetic in all fields of activity. They should bear in mind, however, that, as their mental and physical efficiency increases, they should not blow themselves up into activity to such an extent that they become exhausted and find no time for meditation. When the root is watered, the tree becomes green and more vital for the purpose of growing more. If the activity of growing is cherished by the tree to such an extent that it has no time to draw in the water from the root, then the very basis of the growth will be lost. It is important to note that, while the infusion of the faculty of Being into the nature of the mind apparently results in rejuvenation of personality, clear thinking, and greater energy, it is a very delicate process. It is on the level of Being, the very existence of the individual, and it is never on the level of the conscious mind.16 Therefore, we caution all aspirants not to expect to feel Being on the level of the conscious mind. Whatever influence of Transcendental Meditation there is takes place in the field of Being. It is like a tree which receives water at its root and consequently all the parts of the tree automatically receive nourishment and flourish. No other part of the tree, however, knows or experiences the process of the root receiving the water. Its influence is seen in the increasing freshness of all parts of the tree. Perhaps a leaf puts up the argument that it feels better but does not feel that it is receiving any nourishment. Its constitution from the beginning has been such that it naturally received life energy from the roots. The same process is just continuing on a greater scale. This is why the leaf does not recognize that anything is happening to it. What is happening to it is appreciated, however, by all those who have seen the leaf drying up and who now see that it is becoming fresh and is flourishing. Likewise, when one meditates, one experiences increased energy and clarity of mind, but does not experience the actual process of the infusion of Being into the nature of the mind. The whole process is silent on the level of pure Being. Whatever the mind’s experiences during meditation, they are just relative states of the medium of meditation. These states become finer and finer until eventually nothing is left of the medium and the mind is left all by itself in the state of pure consciousness. With regular practice, one does succeed in living Being. The infusion of the nature of Being into the nature of the mind is on the level of Being, the very nature of the mind.
Therefore, living Being is a state which cannot be described; It can only be lived, because description cannot give a complete exposition of that state. It is as in the case of someone who has been eating something and is asked to describe the taste. It is very difficult to put the exact taste into words even though he was able to taste the food perfectly well. Similarly, Being is very well lived in life and is a state of experience, but It cannot be expressed precisely. In the beginning of the practice, Being is very delicately impressed on the nature of the mind. But, as the practice is continued, It becomes more and more deeply infused in the mind and eventually becomes so deep, significant, and unshakable that It is lived all the time through all the experiences of the wakeful, dreaming, and deep-sleep states. Then one lives eternal freedom in the life of relative experience..