In a January 26th talk, broadcast on the Maharishi Open University Channel, Maharishi said, "There are enough people practicing Transcendental Meditation— and even not knowing it, they are floating in the field of Cosmic Consciousness, where their daily routine of life is conducted with the light of Transcendental Consciousness— some Unity is there. "They are more harmonious, more unified, more friendly, and are creating fewer problems for themselves and others. So due to many, many people practicing Transcendental Meditation, this unifying quality has been rising in the world."

Transcendental Consciousness
For 50 years, Maharishi has spoken of seven states of consciousness, explaining that each state of consciousness is its own world. Everyone experiences the three "relative" states: waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. Those of us who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique also experience, during meditation, how our mental activity becomes less and less active, and then comes to its own silent state—Transcendental Consciousness.

The Vedic expression for Transcendental Consciousness is Parame Vyoman—the unbounded, unmanifest field of Wholeness. Maharishi describes this world as "total fullness of consciousness, Self-referral consciousness, always on its own level, infinitely expanded—all things there are in a unified state."

Our daily experience of Transcendental Consciousness serves as the bridge between the three relative states and higher states of consciousness.

Seven States of Consciousness
Cosmic Consciousness develops as we alternate meditation with our daily activity. Each day, we live more and more of the inner silence of Transcendental Consciousness along with the waking, dreaming and sleeping states, until that transcendental silence of our own Self, our Atma , is never lost.

Life in Cosmic Consciousness provides a foundation for the development of more refined perception, leading to the appreciation of the finest relative value of creation in God Consciousness.

Unity Consciousness dawns when our intellect realizes this finest relative field of life to be identical to our own Self or Atma , and that our Atma is Brahm, the Totality of life. This seventh state of consciousness is celebrated in cherished Vedic expressions such as:

• Aham Brahmasmi, I am Totality
• Tat twam asi, That thou art
• Sarvam khalu ida Brahm, All this is Brahm—Totality.

Awakening Unity in Our Lives
Maharishi’s great gift to the world is an open door to the world of Unity Consciousness, which is gained through our regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs.

Maharishi says, "The awakening of that timeless Reality is not achieved by effort, it is achieved by its own Reality, eternally fully awake on the level of everyone’s Atma . Through regular practice, morning and evening, we begin to deserve, and one day our awareness opens to it."

The name "Maharishi" means "Great Seer," and Maharishi is now seeing a unifying influence dawning in world consciousness, a blossoming of Heaven on Earth. In his January 26th talk, Maharishi said, "Heaven is described in terms of all possibilities, in terms of enlightenment, in terms of no shadow of ignorance, in terms of nothing which may be called a problem.

"We have been wanting to identify our intelligence with that supreme quality of intelligence where everything is possible, and to use that to create a society, a nation, a world without problems. We were searching for that thing, and now we have found it in Transcendental Consciousness."

With Maharishi’s blessings we have awakened the world of Unity, within ourselves, and for the whole world to enjoy.

Rolf Erickson is the editor of Enlightenment magazine