Consciousness-Based Education: a Foundation for Teaching and Learning in the Academic Disciplines
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Consciousness-Based Education: A Foundation for Teaching and Learning in the Academic Disciplines A Series of 12 Volumes ■ Managing Editor, Dara Llewellyn Executive Editor, Craig Pearson ■ 2011 Consciousness-Based Books Maharishi University of Management Fairfield, Iowa 52557 VOLUME I Consciousness-Based Education and Maharishi Vedic Science ■ Volume Editor, Frederick Travis © 2011 by Maharishi University of Management. Transcendental Meditation®, TM®, TM- Sidhi®, Science of Creative Intelligence®, Maharishi Transcendental MeditationSM, Mahari- shi TM-SidhiSM, Maharishi Science of Creative IntelligenceSM, Maharishi Vedic ScienceSM, Maharishi Vedic Science and TechnologySM, Consciousness-BasedSM, Maharishi International University, and Maharishi University of Management® are protected trademarks and are used in the U.S. under license or with permission. Printed in the United States of America Cover and book design by Shepley Hansen. Published by Consciousness-Based Books, an Imprint of Maharishi University of Management Press Fairfield, IA [www.mumpress.com] Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Consciousness-based education : a foundation for teaching and learning in the academic disci- plines / managing editor, Dara Llewellyn ; executive editor, Craig Pearson. v. cm. “A series of 12 volumes.” Includes bibliographical references. Contents: Consciousness-based education and Maharishi Vedic science -- Consciousness- based education and education -- Consciousness-based education and physiology and health -- Consciousness-based education and physics -- Consciousness-based education and math- ematics -- Consciousness-based education and literature -- Consciousness-based education and art -- Consciousness-based education and management -- Consciousness-based education and government -- Consciousness-based education and computer science -- Consciousness-based education and sustainability -- Consciousness-based education and world peace. ISBN 978-0-923569-16-7 (v. 1) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-21-1 (v. 2) -- ISBN 978-0- 923569-28-41-9 (v.3) -- 978-0-923569-44-0 (v.4) -- 978-0-923569-28-0 (v. 5, pt. 1) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-39-6 (v. 5, pt. 2) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-61-7 (v. 6) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-30-3 (v. 7) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-32-7 (v. 8) -- ISBN 978-0-923569- 42-6 (v. 9) -- 978-0-923569-31-0 (v. 10) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-43-3 (v. 11) -- ISBN 978-0-923569-60-0 (v. 12) 1. Education, Higher--Philosophy. 2. Universities and colleges--Curricula--United States. 3. Maharishi University of Management--Curricula. 4. Transcendental Meditation. I. Llewellyn, Dara, 1947- II. Pearson, Craig, 1950- LB2322.2.C67 2011 378.001--dc23 2010051616 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special acknowledgement goes to Ellen DeLashmutt for her contribution to the production of this volume of the Consciousness-Based Education Book Series: Consciousness-Based Education: A Foun- dation for Teaching and Learning in the Academic Disciplines. Recognition is also due the staff of the Maharishi University of Management Library for their reference, electronic, and archival support. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction to the Series ..........................................................1 Introduction to the Volume ......................................................13 Section I: Maharishi Vedic Science: Introduction 1.1. Maharishi on Modern Science and Vedic Science ........................................................................ 19 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 1.2. Introduction to Maharishi Vedic Science ..............................25 Ken Chandler 1.3. Technologies in Science and Maharishi Vedic Science .............................................................. 61 Christy Kleinschnitz 1.4. Fundamental Principles of Maharishi Vedic Science ..............................................................91 Patricia Oates Section II: Maharishi Vedic Science: Application 2.1. Dharma in the Valmiki Ramayan in the Light of Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology .................................... 141 William F. Sands i CONSCIOUSNESS BASED EDUCATION AND MAHARISHI VEDIC SCIENCE 2.2. Free Will and Determinism ............................................ 189 Sam Boothby Section III: Higher States of Consciousness: Subjective Experience 3.1. King Janaka Questions Yagyavalka .................................. 217 Thomas Egenes 3.2. Higher States of Consciousness .......................................229 Patricia Oates 3.3. Experiences of Growth of Consciousness in Undergraduate Students at Maharishi University of Management ..................................261 Sue Brown Section IV: Higher States of Consciousness: Objective Research 4.1. Pure Consciousness: Distinct Phenomenological and Physiological Correlates of “Consciousness Itself” ........................................................ 293 Frederick Travis and Craig Pearson 4.2. Autonomic Patterns during Respiratory Suspensions: Possible Markers of Transcendental Consciousness ........................................... 311 Frederick Travis and Robert Keith Wallace ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 4.3. Electrophysiological Correlates of Higher Statesof Consciousness during Sleep in Long-Term Practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation Program ............................... 335 L.I. Mason, C.N. Alexander, F.T. Travis, G. Marsh, D.W. Orme-Johnson, J. Gackenbach, D.C. Mason, M. Rainforth and K.G. Walton 4.4. Patterns of EEG Coherence, Power, and Contingent Negative Variation Characterize the Integration of Transcendental and Waking States .................................................................. 359 Frederick T. Travis, J. Teece, A. Arenander and R. K. Wallace 4.5. Psychological and Physiological Characteristics of a Proposed Object-Referral/Self-Referral Continuum of Self-Awareness ................................................401 Frederick Travis, Alarik Arenander, and David DuBois Resources ......................................................................................... 437 iii INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES Craig Pearson, Ph.D. Executive Vice-President Maharishi University of Management igher education faces a complex set of challenges today. We are seeing resources diminish at the same time we are hearing calls for greater access and affordability. Demands for greater Htransparency and accountability are being sounded by both the general public and the government. Government is exerting increasing controls in this long-independent area. These challenges, however, are merely financial and political, and they are hardly limited to colleges and universities. The fundamental challenges are educational and center around the students themselves. Challenges include high levels of stress, pervasive substance abuse (par- ticularly binge drinking), lack of preparedness for college-level work, and mental and emotional disabilities. In most of these areas, the problem is serious and worsening. Though colleges and universities are striving to address these challenges, few would claim we are turning the tide. An encouraging trend is the increasing focus in higher education nationwide on promoting student learning. Yet these laudable efforts do not take into account the powerful forces working in opposition. It is well known that learning is inhibited by stress, sleep deprivation, alco- hol, and poor diet—and these are among the most conspicuous features of the college student experience. Something new is required. Education needs a reliable means of developing students directly from within. We need a systematic method for cultivating their creative intelligence, their capacity to learn, and their natural humanity. All education aims at these goals, of course— but the approach thus far has been from the outside in, and the results have been haphazard at best. Consciousness-Based education was established to address this need. It integrates the best practices of education and places beneath them a proper foundation—direct development of the student from inside out. The outcomes of Consciousness-Based education have been unprec- edented and scientifically verified. These outcomes include significant 1 CONSCIOUSNESS BASED EDUCATION AND MAHARISHI VEDIC SCIENCE growth of intelligence, creativity, learning ability, field independence, ego development, and moral maturity, among others. These results are remarkable because many of these values typically plateau in adoles- cence—but Consciousness-Based education promotes this growth in students of all ages, developing potentials that otherwise would have remained unexpressed. Beyond this rich cognitive growth, Consciousness-Based education significantly reduces student stress, boosts self-esteem, improves health, reduces substance use, and enhances interpersonal relationships. All of this comes together to create exceptional learning environments. This approach even measurably improves the quality of life in the surround- ing society. Consciousness-Based education was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the world authority on the science of consciousness. First pio- neered at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, Consciousness-Based education is being adopted by schools, colleges, and universities around the world. It is easily integrated into any school, without any change in mission or curriculum. Consciousness-Based education recognizes that student learning depends fundamentally on students’ levels of consciousness or alert- ness. The more alert and awake the student, the more successful and satisfying the learning. Consciousness-Based education consists of three components: