Global Good News: Excellence in Action

In the second of four volumes of pocket-size books for students entitled Maharishi Speaks to Students: Mastery over Natural Law, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi spoke about literature, explaining the quantum theory of literature. He said that the flow of consciousness is at the basis of all literary expressions.

A quantum theory of language is needed in literature to overcome the limitations of the present techniques for studying literature. Literature is the flow of letters, and from Maharishi's Science of Creative Intelligence we know that a letter is a fluctuation of consciousness. The rhythm of language is the flow of consciousness.

'As a poet's words flow more and more naturally and comprehend more and more of consciousness, of life, his literature displays life's grandeur more and more,' Maharishi said. 'It will live longer to inspire life in every generation.'

The flow of consciousness is the basis of all literary expressions. 'Pure consciousness flows on two levels—sound and meaning,' Maharishi continued. 'As it flows, it takes the consciousness of the poet with it and expands his territory of perception and influence. Every great poet incorporates within the flow of his poetry the entirety of the universe.

'When we analyse a literary expression, we can do justice to its writer only if we are completely impartial, and this is possible only when our level of consciousness is exactly the same as the level of consciousness of the writer.

'If the reader has a higher level of consciousness than the writer, he will derive greater inspiration, greater charm, and greater meaning from whatever he reads,' Maharishi said.

By expanding the consciousness of the reader, the practice of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation allows him to derive maximum benefit from literature.

'Since literature is the flow of consciousness, the flow of infinity, it must be studied on the ground of the infinite, unbounded value of consciousness,' Maharishi said.

The rhythm that one finds in a single line of poetry is also utilized throughout a whole work, as exemplified in Shakespeare's plays, for example. The rhythm is between silence and speech, stillness and movement.

'The flow of life progresses through the steps of activity and silence,' Maharishi said. 'When a literary work is in tune with the flow of evolution, then it sets the reader's consciousness in an evolutionary pattern.'

As consciousness becomes clearer through the practice of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation, it becomes more flexible and fluid. On this basis, it can comprehend all the mechanics that structure a literary work. Then the student can appreciate all the deepest values contained in a literary expression in a most natural, effortless way.

The study of literature enlivens the evolutionary nature latent in every student and enables him to develop spontaneous evolutionary action in life.

'The charm of literature grows when contrasting values occur in close proximity,' Maharishi continued, 'because the comprehension of two extremes in one stroke enlivens in one's awareness the total range of the evolutionary process, the total potentiality of life, which is bliss consciousness.

'This value of literature that can comprehend the timeless, transcendental reality along with the flow of boundaries will give a new direction to time.

'If the writer's awareness is established in pure consciousness, the simplest form of awareness and the field of all possibilities, any literary expression will come out in a very spontaneous, natural manner. In this way, the process of literary creation cultures in the awareness the ability to remain completely within itself, and to express from within itself all the mechanics of evolution.

'The study of literature is a great training to enable the Absolute to be lived in all aspects of life. Literature cultures the mind and thereby helps to develop Unity Consciousness.

'When a cultured mind looks at an object, it sees the quantum-mechanical level—the unmanifest level of the object where all the Laws of Nature are functioning. In this state, no matter what one views one sees evolution; and because evolution is one's own nature, one sees oneself in everything.

'The study of literature is to make the individual wise, enabling him to act spontaneously in accordance with all the Laws of Nature. This state is developed through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation Technique. Transcendental Meditation is thus the basis for studying literature.

'The quantum theory of literature brings fulfilment to literature and makes literature a means for man to rise to enlightenment,' Maharishi concluded.

"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