Enlightenment to every individual and Invincibility to every nation
"Religion is a way to God, culture is a way to perfection-so culture is religion. But this is an intellectual perspective of the two areas-culture and religion-they cannot be separated, they are not two things. Religion cultures, and culture achieves the religion, and the object of religion."
—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Culture is the joyful expression of life in Unity in the context of the localised values of Natural Law, according to the prevailing climatic and geographic conditions. Cultural values are those, which culture life, upholding a right sense of values and supporting the life of everyone in the evolutionary direction.

When the collective consciousness of any nation is coherent-which means that individuals are living life in accord with Natural Law and national law-then every individual will naturally uphold his own cherished cultural traditions while embracing all that enriches national life and promotes progress. Impervious to any negative influences from within or without, peaceful coexistence with all other nations is the natural result.

Culture plays a special role in the blossoming of life and creation of national invincibility. This is because culture, including language, dress, diet, customs and traditions, is the expression of the underlying intelligence of Nature that promotes growth and peace in a particular area.

Culture helps a person live in accord with Natural Law and avoid negative consequences that arise when Natural Law is violated. When collective consciousness is coherent, then Natural Law is fully lively and the nation enjoys invincibility as a byproduct. Even a few people practicing Consciousness-Based programs can provide the basis for all positivity in the community or nation.

Culture and Natural Law

Each region of the world has its own unique geographic and climatic conditions and thus its own unique Laws of Nature. The Laws of Nature unique to each geographic region form the ground on which cultural values arise. Culture is the local expression of local impulses of Natural Law. These cultural values and traditions, grounded in the Natural Law of the land, serve to sustain and promote life in that region. The loss of cultural integrity, therefore, does not mean merely the loss of traditional styles of dress or cultural history or even knowledge. Losing one's culture means losing connection with the Laws of Nature that sustain it.

Cultures worldwide can be preserved, can be made invincible, by reconnecting them to their source, enlivening the ground on which they grow - by awakening the unity at the basis of diversity, the Unified Field of Natural Law, the Constitution of the Universe.

This is easily accomplished by creating the Maharishi Effect - establishing coherence in each culture's collective consciousness, strengthening the core vitality of each individual and the nation as a whole. When the unity of life is lively, diversity blossoms. Every culture, language, religion, and race will spontaneously rise to its full integrity, creating a beautiful, invincible mosaic shining with the light of unity.

Enlivening the Fundamentals of Culture

When collective consciousness becomes coherent and total Natural Law lively, nations enjoy what Maharishi calls the Fundamentals of Culture - stability, adaptability, integration, purification, and growth. These qualities harmonize the ever-changing nature of progress with the non-changing nature of culture:

• With STABILITY, a culture will not be overthrown by influences from outside.
• With ADAPTABILITY, cultures can flexibly adapt to change.
• With INTEGRATION, they can absorb from outside any influences useful to their own identity and progress.
• With ADAPTABILITY, cultures can flexibly adapt to change.
• With PURIFICATION, cultures can eliminate values not conducive to progress.
• With GROWTH, outside influences will promote progress without damaging cultural integrity.

Cultural Integrity for National Invincibility

When national consciousness becomes coherent then cultural integrity blossoms and the nation becomes resistant to any negative influences from within or without. A nation that is incoherent is weak, given to conflicts and quarrels. Invincibility does not only mean freedom of fear from invasion and outside disturbance, it also means togetherness within and an absence of natural calamities. Nature becomes more balanced and as a result the seasons come on time, crops are plentiful and no disasters such as floods and famine take place.

Religion is the supreme science and art of connecting back to the source of all life-investigating everywhere the omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent to discover the source of all life in the Light of God. The ideal of religion is living the light of God in daily life, as available in the field of Total Knowledge, the field of the science and technology of Total Natural Law, the Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature.

Since time immemorial the creation of Heaven on Earth has been the highest aspiration of religions. All religions teach, however, that if Heaven is to be created on earth, it can happen only by having enough individuals whose consciousness is fully developed; that is, individuals whose consciousness is so expanded that it becomes one with the supreme intelligence of nature which permeates the whole universe and upholds all of creation.

This level of enlightenment has been expressed in the eternal Vedic literature as Aham Brahmasmi-I am the totality-and has appeared throughout time in all the literature of different religions.

From the perspective of religion it is understood as the light of God in man, which is eternally lively at the unmanifest basis of all creation.

The light of God in man, pure intelligence, expresses itself through the process of self-interaction in the manifest creation and underlies all its expressions, as evidenced by the self-referral activity of DNA.

This self-referral activity of the unified field of pure intelligence, from the perspective of religion, is the will of God that gives rise to all creation and creates man 'in the image of God'.

Good followers of every religion find the value of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation expressed in the precious scriptures of their religion. While religion establishes the relationship between man and God, Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation enlivens and purifies the relationship of man with himself and his environment.

In the light of this, it is not surprising that religious leaders of all denominations have adopted this practice of TM in their own lives and recommended it to their followers as a means of strengthening their own religion and creating Heaven on Earth.

The experience of transcendental consciousness, which is easily gained through Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation technique, is clearly expressed in the sacred texts of all religions and in the writings of saints of all cultures and traditions.

Maharishi's Master Plan to create Heaven on Earth, enjoying endorsement from the holiest of the holy scriptures of all religions, has the authenticity of God's will. Heaven on Earth will soon be a reality for us all-one's own Heaven through one's own religion.

Sanatan Dharm
'Be without the three gunas, 0 Arjuna, freed from duality, ever firm in purity, independent of possessions, possessed of the Self.' Bhagavad-Gita II:45

'Again and again he brought his attention back to Ram (who was seated within his heart).' Tulsidas Ramayan, Sundarakand, V. 3

Judaism
'Be still, and know that I am God.' Psalm 46:11

Shintoism
'Do not search in distant skies for God. In man's own heart is He found.' Shao Yung

'The human mind, partaking of divinity, is an abode of the Deity, which is the Spiritual Essence. There exists no highest Deity outside the human mind.' Shinto-Dinju

Confucianism
'What the undeveloped man seeks is outside; what the advanced man seeks is himself.'

Buddhism
'It is only when all outward appearances are gone that there is left that one principle of life which exists independently of all external phenomena.' Parinirvana Sutra XXXIX

Christianity
'The kingdom of God is within you.' Luke 17:21 'No movement in religious life has any value unless it is also a movement inwards to the "still centre" of your existence, where Christ is.' Pope John Paul II at Maynooth, Ireland 1 Oct. 1979. '

Islam
'And do thou (0 Reader!) bring thy Lord to remembrance in thy very soul, with humility and with reverence, without loudness in words, in the mornings and in the evenings.' Quran 7:205

All experiences are the experiences of consciousness. The structure of pure knowledge-the eternal Ved-structured in consciousness, promotes all streams of knowledge, all streams of organizing power, and all values of experience.

Achieving Cultural Integrity, Ensuring Social Harmony

Conflict among cultural groups in society is growing more and more each day. Governments are witnessing a fragmentation of national identity and are address the underlying causes of stress and tensions that are now manifesting into acute problems for the nation.

A simple and effective solution that any wise government or cultural leader may now adopt is now being offered by the Ministry of Religion and Culture of the Global Country of World Peace.

Governments throughout the world are grappling with the challenge of how to maintain unity in the rising diversity of their citizens. It is well recognized that the movement of ethnic and cultural groups-either within a nation or from one nation to another-has brought together differences in identity and lifestyle that overshadowing the institutions through which harmony might be maintained. Stress and tensions are bubbling up again and again to burst into conflict and violence along the divisions of culture, language, religion and traditions.

This dangerous situation is the direct result of incomplete education that does not train the brain to function holistically. Maharishi Ji has provided simple but profound educational technologies to develop consciousness and awaken the total potential of the brain physiology. When the brain is fully awake and functioning coherently, the individual experiences unity in the midst of diversity. Scientific research shows that they grow more and more in the fundamental values of cultural integrity-stability, adaptability, integration, purification and growth-that promote harmony in society. Their thought and action becomes more and more in tune with the evolutionary intelligence of nature, which upholds the infinite diversity of the ever-expanding universe in perfect harmony.

Such individuals will not be threatened by outside influences but will be able to maintain a personal identity in the face of differences. On this basis, the coherent and holistic brain functioning of the individual will manifest as the coherent functioning of society that prevents any negativity from arising from within or outside the nation.

All cultures will feel secure and rich, they will be able to maintain their individual identity amongst different cultures in a society and all communities will enjoy their integrity and will be protective to others at the same time.

" My Transcendental Meditation program, bringing the experience of Transcendental Consciousness, pure consciousness, nourishes all areas of life and purifies human awareness, rendering life worthy of reaching the altar of God-one's own God-through one's own religion.

Here is the key to living life in accordance with the will of God-Natural Law-and enjoying Heaven on Earth."
—Maharishi Mahesh Yogi