Maharishi Vedic Psychology Brings Fulfillment to the Aspirations of Twentieth-Century Psychology

Twentieth-century psychology has studied specific active processes of knowing—such as perceptions, thoughts, or feelings—but lacked an understanding of deeper levels of the mind underlying and integrating all active mental processes. Therefore, it has spawned isolated areas of investigation rather than successful grand theories. Maharishi Vedic Psychology provides complete knowledge and experience of transcendental consciousness, the cosmic psyche, at the basis of the individual psyche. The cosmic psyche is identified as an unrestricted field of intelligence and creativity at the foundation of not only human nature but Nature’s functioning as a whole. The applied aspect of Maharishi Vedic Psychology—which includes the Transcendental Meditation and TMSidhi programs—provides the means by which the cosmic psyche can be fully enlivened in daily life through the progressive unfoldment of four higher states of consciousness beyond waking, sleeping, and dreaming. By providing complete knowledge and direct experience of consciousness, Maharishi Vedic Psychology resolves the fundamental questions plaguing twentieth-century psychology. (1) Who is the knower, or self? Maharishi Vedic Psychology reveals that the ultimate status of the knower is the cosmic psyche. (2) What is the full range of mental processes through which one can know the self and the world? It describes a hierarchy of levels of mind from the most fundamental self-referral level of the cosmic psyche through progressively more expressed levels of functioning comprising: The individual ego, feeling, discriminating intellect, thinking mind, perception, physiological functioning, behavior, and ultimately the whole environment. (3) Can ideal behavior and relation-ships be developed with others? By fully attuning individual awareness with the cosmic psyche—the source of order and progress in Nature—thought and action becomes spontaneously progressive and nourishing to all levels of life. (4) Can we create a truly peaceful and harmonious world? By enlivening the underlying unified field of consciousness, the cosmic psyche, in only a small proportion of the population, an orderly and harmonious influence is created throughout society as a whole, establishing the basis for a heavenly life on earth. Over 500 scientific studies have verified the unique effectiveness of the applied programs of Maharishi Vedic Psychology in addressing these questions and solving the fundamental problems facing the individual and society. Maharishi Vedic Psychology Brings Fulfillment to the Aspirations of Twentieth-Century Psychology Psychology emerged at the turn of this century with the mission of applying the tools of modern science to address the grand unanswered questions in philosophy: who is the self (knower), what is the full range of mental processes through which one can know the world (processes of knowing), and how we can develop ideal relationships with others (the known). It considered consciousness as its constitutive issue in a like manner that energy and matter were for physics, and envisioned purely psychological laws that could explain mental events (James, 1890; Miller, 1981). The definition of conscious-ness embraced by the field has shaped the questions that were asked, the models that were developed and tested, and the practical applications that were generated. Despite its lofty goals, twentieth-century psychology has not solved the questions which motivated its inception. Twentieth-century psychology has failed because it was based on a limited understanding of consciousness. It studied active processes of knowing—perceptions, thoughts, or feelings—and lacked awareness of deeper levels of the mind underlying active mental processes. Because its understanding of consciousness has been incomplete, psychology has remained a fragmented study of more superficial expressed aspects of the individual and has spawned only isolated areas of investigation, rather than successful grand theories. Working from fragmented models, the complex and multi-dimensional problems facing the individual and society have not been adequately addressed. The basic argument of this paper is that through understanding of a unified level of consciousness posited to underlie all aspects of life—mental, physical, behavioral, and environmental—one can answer the fundamen-tal questions of psychology and fulfill its practical promise to mankind. This full understanding of consciousness is the contribution that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has made to bring fulfillment to the aspirations of twentieth-century psychology, as formally structured in Maharishi Vedic Psychology. The contemporary view in neuroscience is that consciousness is produced by the functioning of the nervous system (e.g., Gazzaniga, 1997). In contrast, Maharishi Vedic Psychology proposes that consciousness is a fundamental universal field that underlies and gives rise to all individual nervous systems and psyches (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1963, p. 61–63). Maharishi Vedic Psychology gives complete knowledge and experience of this transcendental field of consciousness, which it calls the cosmic psyche, at the basis of individual thoughts and feelings. The cosmic psyche is identified as an unrestricted field of intelligence and creativity at the basis of not only human nature but Nature’s functioning as a whole. The full understanding of consciousness as inclusive of the cosmic psyche completely transforms our understanding of (1) who the knower is; (2) what is the full range of processes through which we can know the self and the world; (3) how to develop ideal behavior with others; and (4) how to create a peaceful and harmonious world. This paper explores these four basic issues from the perspective of twentieth-century psychology and then from the expanded perspective of Maharishi Vedic Psychology. The final section provides an overview of research documenting the practical benefits of application of Maharishi Vedic Psychology to the individual and to society.