Maharishi's Message to the World - 31 July 02

To diffuse destructive forces, promote harmony and affluence in the world

Offers royal road to enlightenment

(July 31) Offering a "beautiful panorama of possibilities" where individuals are enlightened and where peace and prosperity reign in the family of nations, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi proclaimed yesterday that "time is taking a turn from suffering to peace, from poverty to affluence."

But, Maharishi cautioned, how quickly that day dawns depends upon how soon 3000 Peace Palaces can be built where 100-200 people will practice his peace-promoting Vedic technologies of consciousness to diffuse the destructive forces growing in the world. As it is, he said, "ignorant and childish" government leaders have left the security of the world on a "sword's edge."

Maharishi's words of hope and reproach came during an extraordinary two-and-a-half hour global news conference from Meru, Holland, that was broadcast live via satellite, Internet webcast, and teleconference call. Maharishi was also connected to a network of local news conferences held in 35 cities worldwide.

This was Maharishi's seventh consecutive weekly news conference-a global forum he has been using to announce his decision to create world peace and to unveil details of his plan to do so. Maharishi's program to create world peace calls for establishing a group of people collectively practicing his Transcendental Meditation, its advanced techniques, and Yogic Flying in every country and major city in the world. Extensive scientific research has shown that such group practice eliminates acute social stress-which fuels conflict and war-and promotes coherence and harmony in the whole population.

Individual and nation
From the outset of the news conference, Maharishi said that his message of Transcendental Meditation is directed to the same people today as it has been for nearly 50 years: "Two words: individual and nation," Maharishi said. "I am speaking to those people who will do things for themselves and their families but do not bother with what is happening in their nation. And I am also speaking to those who sacrifice their lives to do good to the people."

Maharishi said both types of people can fulfill their life ambitions through the practice of Trancendental Meditation, which he described as "a simple, natural technique that increases the power of thought so whatever you think will be fully supported by the infinite evolutionary power of Natural Law. It is good to follow the path of Transcendental Meditation, which is leading to the creation of world peace."

"As you sow, so shall you reap"
As he has done in previous news conferences, Maharishi had strong words for U.S. president George W. Bush, who is threatening war against Iraq, and warned the president of the future that awaits him.

"Here is the mightiest president in the world saying, 'I'll destroy you if you don't follow me.' I say to these destroyers, 'As you sow, so shall you reap.' Killing is a sin. You can destroy the world, but you cannot save yourself," Maharishi said. "If Bush is a religious man, then he knows that if you commit a sin, you go to hell-and if you do good things, if you help thy neighbor, you go on the path of righteousness."

No military can save the nation
Maharishi also said those who rely on the military for protection are living in the past. "No military can say it can save the nation. There is no face-to-face fighting, the enemy is not even seen. Missiles come, and everything is put to ashes. The world is walking on a sword's edge. The only thing that will save the world is enlightenment. Let every individual blossom fully in his own right, and then everyithing will be positive, coherent, life-supporting, and thriving in the world."

Peace Palaces
Maharishi said the negative influence of Bush and other destroyers would be neutralized by the creation in the world's largest 3000 cities of 3000 Peace Palaces-"lighthouses of coherence"-each with at least 100-200 people practicing the coherence-creating Yogic Flying technique.

"Each Peace Palace will generate indomitable coherence-and with this light of coherence in 3000 cities, the whole world will be lit with coherence, and negative tendencies will not arise. It's a very quiet, peaceful way to improve the negative trends that have grown in the world consciousness."

Maharishi issued an appeal to the mayors of these 3000 cities-"the trusted well-wishers of the people"-to voice their support for the building of the Peace Palaces. "I hope good sense in the world will prevail and the Peace Palaces will be quickly built so that the disasters and the destruction of the world will be avoided."

The individual is the unit of world peace
"The individual is the unit of world peace," Maharishi said. "That means world peace rests in individual peace-it does not rest on treaties and talks, which history shows to be fraudulent approaches," Maharishi said. "Conversation and discussion are a childish effort to create world peace A bigger childishness-and a bigger danger-is to try and create peace through waging wars, through punishing the culprit. Only by developing total brain functioning in the individual through proper education and by creating coherence in world consciousness through groups of Yogic Flyers can peace be perptual."

Influence of national consciousness
Maharishi acknowledged that, in truth, he cannot blame or credit Bush or any head of state for how well or poorly they administer their nations. Rather, the actions of a president are the product of national consciousness. "Whatever the national consciousness deserves, that's the policy that will come from the government. And that is why our effort now is to cater to the individual and ignore governments. We will create these Peace Palaces everywhere to radiate the light of coherence, and then the world will be a better world."

The press can save the world
Maharishi made frequent reference during the news conference to the role of the media in society, saying that the press can save the world through the power of their reporting, or they can hasten its demise. He cautioned reporters to consider carefully the impact of their words on their readers. "Every writer should think," Maharishi advised, "'What will be the psychology of a man who reads my writing? Will he be excited and agitated, or will he find peace through my writing?' The choice is yours. No writer should think that by promoting destructive values he is opening his door to heaven."

Removal of poverty
To a reporter who asked about how Maharishi would address poverty, Maharishi said that the problem can be solved through the Poverty Removal Program of Maharishi's Global Country of World Peace. The program utilizes unused agricultural lands in poor countries to grow organic foods, which are then exported to wealthy nations. These wealthy nations then pay enough money for the healthy food to lift the poor countries out of poverty.

Maharishi denounced the policy of markets in the United States and Europe to set extremely low prices for food grown in developing nations, thus ensuring that farmers always remain impoverished.

"The responsibility for the poor is on the wealthy," Maharishi said. "Vegetables are grown by the poor in Brazil, and their cost is determined by the wealthy in Chicago, London, or Paris. This is an injustice, and the curse will go to the wealthy. You're not paying enough to the farmer, who is the father of the nation, and who is providing you food. This wrong will be responded to by God, and the response will be that suddenly so much of your wealth will be gone. Everything is well connected in Nature. Unlike capitalism or communism, in Nature, justice is not arbitrary-it is built on cosmic law, on the cosmic reality of life."

Royal road to enlightenment
Maharishi concluded by offering a vision of a better time dawning in the world. "Even in the darkness of night, a hope for the dawn comes. I'm alerting the press to take notice that time is taking a turn from problems to solutions, from suffering to peace, from poverty to affluence. All the good that every religion has ever taught is going to be exemplified in the life of the people-and all those religions that are a mockery to the light of God are going to be extinguished. Religions fighting in the name of God is such a shame. Coherence and peace will prevail, and man will be in light: Man is made in the image of God. We say to the people, 'This is the royal road to enlightenment that we are establishing for you for all times. This will be available to you, whether you take it today or tomorrow.'"

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