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Art and Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence This lecture was given to the faculty of Maharishi University of Management (then known as Maharishi International University) in Fairfield, Iowa, USA, in 1975. The main points are published in the second of four pocket-sized volumes entitled Maharishi Speaks to Students: Mastery over Natural Law. Since the beginning of time art has been an integral part of man’s evolution and has influenced every step in the development of his consciousness. Maharishi explained that art is a measure of the greatness of a civilization. At its highest level of development, art has captured the Divine, the eternal; and thereby transformed ordinary reality into expressions of beauty, truth, and infinity. Since even the greatest artists have not had the means to systematically develop the full potential of consciousness, art in the past has given only a faint glimpse of its inherent possibilities. Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence unfolds the full potential of the creation and appreciation of art. ‘The value of a work of art depends on the value of the artist’s consciousness,’ Maharishi said. ‘When the artist’s awareness is more expanded, his creation is more spontaneous, harmonious, and profound. ‘The quality of appreciation of art depends on the quality of the viewer’s consciousness. When the viewer’s awareness is more expanded, his enjoyment of art is richer and more complete.’ The practical aspect of Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence, Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation, provides a direct method of developing the full potential of consciousness, thereby unfolding maximum creativity and responsiveness in every individual. In this way Transcendental Meditation ensures the full development of the artist and the viewer. ‘The form of successful art depends on its completeness, appropriateness, and unity,’ Maharishi said. ‘When we study a work of art, we experience the subtler aspects of its meaning, and these spontaneously unfold deeper levels of our own awareness. The Science of Creative Intelligence explains that this vertical expansion of experience from the outer boundaries of the object to the inner unboundedness of the viewer’s awareness is the ultimate meaning and universal content of art.’ The Science of Creative Intelligence reveals three universal qualities of Creative Intelligence—self-sufficiency, discrimination, and integration—which are parallel to the principles of completeness, appropriateness, and unity in the field of art. The Science of Creative Intelligence thus reveals that the structure of art reflects the structure of consciousness. Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence also reveals that the function of art is to give a glimpse of the unifying wholeness of life. By portraying the boundless within boundaries, art reflects the experience of Unity Consciousness, in which the infinite becomes perceptible even on the surface of material existence. Maharishi explained that the ultimate purpose of culture is to unfold unboundedness in all aspects of life. The artist serves this purpose by expressing the timeless truth of unbounded existence. ‘The Science of Creative Intelligence provides a verifiable, integrated vision of the fundamental Laws of Nature and of consciousness,’ Maharishi said. ‘This holistic vision enables the artist to comprehend and apply even the objective scientific knowledge in his subjective expressions. Thus, the Science of Creative Intelligence provides the artist with complete objective and subjective knowledge of the wholeness in life. ‘Through the Science of Creative Intelligence the artist will create from the field of all possibilities, the simplest form of his own awareness, and he will enrich the traditions of his own culture by drawing freely from the ocean of unbounded creativity in his consciousness. ‘The art of the Age of Enlightenment will celebrate Unity Consciousness through the artistic actualization of the Absolute in every aspect of man’s environment. Expressing the full knowledge of life and reflecting the full glory of higher states of consciousness, the art of enlightenment will be enriching to every level of society.’ © Copyright 2008 Global Good News®
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