He is currently the Director of Maharishi University of Management’s Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy. On January 14, 2001, Dr. Hagelin was installed as the Minister of Science and Technology of the Global Country of World Peace.

In this interview, Dr. Hagelin gives us a glimpse into his remarkable new research—developing a true physics of mind and consciousness, which can explain scientifically the deep physical mechanisms that underlie the Maharishi Jyotish and Maharishi Yagya programs.

Enlightenment: According to the Maharishi Jyotish program, the planets are influencing us all the time; they create our destiny. How does a Maharishi Yagya change our destiny?

Dr. Hagelin: The planets are influencing us all the time, but they don’t create our destiny. First, it is we, and we alone, who create our destiny. The planets merely reflect the influence of our past actions back upon us. Second, no matter what we have done in the past, there are positive actions we can take now to offset those past influences. Next to Maharishi Yoga (the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs), Maharishi Yagya performances are the most powerful actions we can take to create the desired positive effect now.

Enlightenment: I think many people would be curious to know how a Maharishi Yagya performance actually works. What is the theory behind its functioning?

Dr. Hagelin: A Maharishi Yagya is a very specifically formulated life-supporting action, engineered to bring about a desired benefit. For example, sometimes a Maharishi Yagya is designed to counterbalance and offset an impending negative influence that may have been caused by some life-damaging behavior in the past.

Therefore, Maharishi Yagya is essentially a sophisticated application of cause and effect. My current research focus is merely to derive the detailed physical mechanisms through which the effects of a Maharishi Yagya are communicated.

Enlightenment: How can a Maharishi Yagya change the negative influences of the planets? What are the mechanics of that?

Dr. Hagelin: In principle, if a 1,000-ton projectile is hurtling toward you from 93 million miles away, a well-aimed arrow is more than sufficient to deflect the projectile from its path enough so that it misses the target. But for a more detailed explanation, we need to consider how the planets influence us in the first place. We are looking at those mechanisms now.

For example, the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn are all known microwave emitters. The brain’s subcortical structures, known as basal ganglia, appear ideally sized and configured to serve as sensitive microwave receivers, providing a plausible link between the brain and the planets that correlates with Dr. Nader Raam’s scientific discovery of the Veda in the human physiology. And we hope to find new communication links between the mind and the planets which are based on hidden-sector mechanisms that are far stronger.

Enlightenment: It will be fascinating to see how quantum physics might explain some of the effects of Maharishi Yagya performances. For instance, how can a Vedic pandit do a Maharishi Yagya performance in India that impacts a person’s life in North America?

Dr. Hagelin: Quantum physics opens up new mechanisms for long-range communication and for the transmission of influences over distances which would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Laboratory demonstrations of "quantum teleportation" show that hidden quantum-mechanical "correlations" between far distant objects can be used to transmit huge amounts of information—and to greatly augment, and amplify, any conventional communication link. The research we are doing now should shed further light on these mechanisms for long-range communication.

Enlightenment: You have made significant contributions to the Superstring theory of quantum physics. Can this theory explain some of the mysteries of the mind?

Dr. Hagelin: Yes. A remarkable feature of all Superstring theories is the presence of "shadow" matter, or "hidden sector" matter. It appears plausible, theoretically, that this shadow matter aggregates around our physical bodies, and may actually constitute a subtler level of our physiology (i.e., a subtle body) that "thinks." Moreover, if shadow matter possesses the remarkable properties that we believe it does, it may provide a natural link between our material brain and the Unified Field of Consciousness.

It was previously assumed that our interaction with shadow matter was through the gravitational force alone, and hence, far too weak to be of any practical consequence. In fact, our calculations show it is highly plausible that we interact with this unseen world via the (far stronger) electromagnetic force.

This electromagnetic interaction with shadow matter provides a plausible scientific explanation for mind and thought, for fulfillment of desire, for Jyotish, Yagya, the Maharishi Effect— for numerous phenomena of consciousness that had previously seemed mysterious.

Enlightenment: What is the overall goal of your new research?

Dr. Hagelin: I am working intently on the development of a true physics of mind and consciousness. As a quantum physicist and brain researcher, I have long been frustrated that our "modern" scientific understanding of consciousness is so primitive. There is no physical explanation of "mind" or "thought" in terms of the known particles and forces, a fact which has caused many of my scientific colleagues to deny the very existence of consciousness.

In the past, under Maharishi’s guidance, I have identified the most fundamental state of human awareness—pure consciousness—with the Unified Field, or "Superstring" field, which lies beyond space and time at the Planck scale of Nature’s functioning.

What we have lacked, so far, is a concrete link between this fundamental field of consciousness and the material brain—i.e., between the physics of the Planck scale and the physics of our brain cells, which are a million-billion-trillion times larger.

This giant gap between pure consciousness and the gross physical body—between the Unified Field and the brain—is the domain of "mind." We need a physical understanding of it— and the conventional forces and particles are not enough.

So, I have launched an international collaborative effort to develop, under Maharishi’s guidance, a precise scientific understanding of mind. I feel fortunate to have assembled a world-class team of physicists, physiologists and neuroscientists to tackle this traditionally thorny subject. What makes this latest effort so promising, in my opinion, is that it is grounded in the latest scientific revelations about the universe, based on the Superstring.

Enlightenment: Thank you very much Dr. Hagelin. We wish you great success and look forward to hearing more insights from this profound research project.

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A Beginner’s Glossary of Physics Terms

Maharishi Effect—the influence of coherence and harmony generated when about one percent of a population practices the Transcendental Meditation technique, or the square root of one percent practices Yogic Flying together.

Planck scale—an extremely small scale used in quantum physics. The Planck scale is as small in relation to an atom as an atom is to the planet earth.

Quantum physics—the mathematical theory of physics that explores the structure of atoms and describes the Laws of Nature which govern subatomic particles and their interactions. It provides an understanding of how our vast universe emerges from the very tiny activities characteristic of the Unified Field

Superstring field—the latest and most successful scientific formulation of the Unified Field. Unified Field—a single, universal field of Nature’s intelligence that underlies all forms and phenomena in the universe; the source of all the elementary particles and forces of Nature

Unified Field of Consciousness—the Self-referral state of consciousness— Transcendental Consciousness.