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"I discovered that when Maharishi refers to India as the 'Land of the Veda,' he not only means the Veda has been preserved there, but also that the Veda is totally lively there!"
With these words, Richard Hobbs of England summed up the experience of 23 fortunate Maharishi University of Management Continuing Education students who spent a delightful four weeks touring India in February and March, 2001.
Participants of all ages and backgrounds had enrolled in a special one-month Rotating University course titled "History of the Movement and Unfoldment of Total Knowledge." Together they retraced the unfoldment of Maharishi's Movement—from his first lecture in south India in 1955 to today's emphasis on Total Knowledge.
The first half of the course in southern India emphasized the early days of Maharishi's movement. We started in Chennai, visiting Congress Field where Maharishi inaugurated the Movement with an audience of 10,000 on January 1, 1958. We also enjoyed the blissful children and teachers of Chennai's Maharishi Vidya Mandir, a school of nearly 2,500 boys and girls.
Another highlight in Chennai was a visit to Maharishi Institute of Management with its new Sthapatya Vedic building, where more than 50 men and women are acquiring MBA degrees accredited by Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.
We continued to enjoy the warmth and relaxed pace of the south by flying to Trivandrum, Capital of Kerala. We met a man who had known Maharishi from his earliest visit in 1955, and enjoyed seeing the library where Maharishi gave his famous first series of seven lectures.
Our final stop in the south was Kanyakumari, the great pilgrimage town at the southern tip of India, where the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal form a Sangam (confluence) of three powerful bodies of water. As we immersed in the Sangam waters, we felt a clear, deep connection to the Transcendent.
The northern half of the course included more than a week in the fabulous cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh on the Ganges. Our trip to Agra to see the wondrous Taj Mahal reminded us that India has unsurpassed cultural depth and beauty.
The highlight of the course was a visit to Maharishi Nagar near Delhi, and a call from Maharishi. Maharishi told the group that it's not in his nature to look to the past. He said that our movement's habit is to move forward, go ahead, hasten the achievement of the supreme quality of life—Brahmi Chetana.
Marguerite Hobbs of South Africa summed up her experience in these words: "I found the course gave me a chance to experience 200 percent of life: 100 percent of the outer—the tastes, sounds, sights, colors and feel of India; and 100 percent of the inner—the silence and dynamism of doing our meditation program with the group in India. What bliss to experience what Maharishi tells us about every day!"
Next Stop: Thailand
Maharishi University of Management students and other practitioner's of the Transcendental Meditation program from all over the world are invited to come and enjoy the rich and colorful culture of Thailand next November while taking a course on Ideal Leadership.
The course will be led by Ken West, assistant professor of Management, and his wife Paula, instructor of Maharishi Vedic Science and Sanskrit. Participants will enjoy weekly trips to cultural sites, including the ancient capital of Ayuthaya, as well as outings within the city of Bangkok. Thailand's breathtaking architecture, beautiful gardens, ideal climate, and genuinely friendly people will provide a truly inspiring environment for absorbing Maharishi's knowledge.
For information on upcoming Rotating University courses, visit the Web site
http://mum.edu/programs/international/welcome.html, send an e-mail to
cont_ed@mum.edu, or call 641-472-1135.
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