Consciousness and Literary Studies

At this present juncture in the history of literature, many critics fear the literary word has been devalued by the twin forces of electronic technology and critical theory. Even so, the field of literature is not without resources to revivify itself as the emergence of new holistic approaches to literature testify. The interdisciplinary influence of the sciences, for instance, opens a window for the humanities. Alternative models to understanding existence, such as quantum, chaos, and system theories which acknowledge an ordering principle, have emerged to challenge current views of life as entropic, random, and based on difference. Nonlinear dynamical feedback systems create patterns in an open-ended manner, folding back on themselves. Like the mechanics of quantum fields, they describe the movements of both difference and unity in nature. Some critics see such theories as paradigms for cultural production, for human art is believed by many to use the same creative mechanics as nature itself, to even become an interactive partner in the evolutionary play of nature. This new move to describe life in terms of unity instead of difference is not a nostalgic return to the logocentric past, but rather a new scientific spirit that promises to mend the old split between the opposing views of existence as: 1) an offshoot of nature and 2) life as a by-product of culture. For the past 25 years the Department of Literature and Languages at Maharishi University of Management has addressed this gap between nature and culture by applying the techniques for developing higher states of consciousness taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to the study of language and literature. As a result, students gain a deep understanding of the full potential of language in both its vertical and horizontal play of meaning while expanding their awareness and discovering themselves in the literary texts they read. Such a method of studying literature is intimate, practical, and fulfilling to the individual. More importantly, it seems especially urgent at this time, for the sake of world and eco peace, to train students to experience themselves and their culture as part of the unity in the cosmos as well as part of its diversity. This paper addresses the importance of consciousness in historical and theoretical issues of literary study in Part I and presents the practical application of a Consciousness-Based literature program in Part I