Global Good News: Excellence in Action

The name, 'Maharishi Vedic University', may seem unusual to some of us, presenting unfamiliar terms. Yet, a consideration of the meaning of the name not only provides a definition of words but also insight into the significance of this great university. Even the familiar term, 'university,' can be seen from a new, expanded point of view shedding light on the true value of meaningful university education.

Beginning with 'Maharishi'
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi defines the words in the university title for us right at the beginning of his book entitled, Maharishi Vedic University, Introduction*, naturally starting with the first word, 'Maharishi'.

'Maharishi' is composed of the two words, 'maha' and 'rishi,' 'maha' meaning great and 'rishi' meaning 'seer.' While 'rishi' alone refers to one who sees the truth, the Veda, the inner reality of everyone's life, combined with 'maha', a rishi of a new status is reached.

A 'Maharishi' not only sees the truth, but he is a teacher, enlivening the truth, the knowledge and experience of the Veda, the total potential of Natural Law within everyone. 'Rishi cognizes the Veda; Maharishi, the great seer, applies the Veda to the practicalities of daily life.'

The word 'Vedic'
Maharishi explains in his book that 'Vedic' refers to something pertaining to Veda and that 'Veda means knowledge, pure knowledge, complete knowledge.' He writes, ' "Vedic" includes the whole path of knowledge from the knower to the known—the whole field of subjectivity, objectivity, and their relationship; the whole field of life, unmanifest and manifest; the whole field of 'Being' and 'Becoming'; the whole range of knowledge from its source to its goal—the eternal source, course, and goal of all knowledge.'

'The word 'Vedic' encompasses the whole unbounded field of space and time, from point to infinity.'

The Vedic perspective of 'University'
In considering the more familiar word, 'university,' Maharishi starts by dividing it into its components, 'uni-' and '-versity'. 'Uni-' refers to unity, to unified knowledge; '-versity' speaks of diversified knowledge. Maharishi gives great significance to the sequence, 'unified knowledge', then 'diversified knowledge'. The Vedic theme of giving knowledge honours this sequence, and is used at Maharishi Vedic University, first bestowing upon the student 'unified knowledge' and following that with 'diversified knowledge'.

Maharishi explains that 'unified knowledge' is knowledge of the whole, which means knowledge of consciousness because consciousness is the fundamental level, the fountainhead of all creation. He puts forth its great significance in the context of university education, writing: 'The name 'University' is justified only if it first provides the holistic structure of knowledge, the knowledge of consciousness—the unmanifest, basic reality of life, the total potential of the organizing power of Natural Law—and then provides the knowledge of the parts—the knowledge of the expressions of consciousness in the whole manifest, diverse universe.'

Without the direct experience and intellectual understanding of consciousness, study of all the different subjects which describe the creation, the expressions of consciousness, remains baseless and, therefore, fruitless and unfulfilling. The name 'University' therefore requires complete theoretical and practical knowledge of consciousness to have any true significance. Knowledge and experience of consciousness, the holistic aspect of knowledge, must be provided and must be provided first.

'Maharishi Vedic University'
The wholeness of the name, 'Maharishi Vedic University', refers to, in Maharishi's words, 'University of Veda, university of pure knowledge and its infinite organizing power, university of pure and applied knowledge, the University of Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology'.

Maharishi continues: 'As knowledge is structured in consciousness, Maharishi Vedic University, the university of pure knowledge and its infinite organizing power, . . . is the University of Consciousness.

'As consciousness is the most basic element in creation, and as all matter and everything in the universe is the expression of consciousness, Maharishi Vedic University, the University of Consciousness, is the university of all knowledge of everything in the universe. Maharishi Vedic University is the university of pure and applied knowledge of everything in the universe.'

Why 'Maharishi Vedic University'
In understanding the name, 'Maharishi Vedic University,' one also quickly realizes why a student would be drawn there. By first gaining the knowledge of the holistic field of consciousness, the student gains the ability to spontaneously think and act from that field. Established there, in the home of all the Laws of Nature, he is served by that holistic value of consciousness; all the Laws of Nature work for him to fulfil his desires. He enjoys the 'fruit of all knowledge,' mistake-free, problem-free life in higher states of consciousness, and, in Maharishi's words, 'the spontaneous ability to do everything right and achieve anything'.

This is the gift of a significant 'University', a 'Maharishi Vedic University—education bestowed by a Maharishi, a teacher of truth, 'a custodian of supreme intelligence' offering pure knowledge, complete knowledge, knowledge of the holistic field of consciousness, the unified basis of all streams of knowledge, the basis of all of creation, and then, following that, offering diversified knowledge.

*All quotations in this article are from Maharishi Vedic University, Introduction, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

"The potential of every student is infinite. The time of student life should serve to unfold that infinite potential so that every individual becomes a vibrant centre of Total Knowledge."—Maharishi