A Maharishi Vedic Science Life

Urska Dolinar writes about her experience as a Maharishi Vedic Science masters student. She  is a former Olympic bobsled athlete and came to MUM from Slovenia.

I’m sitting in my room typing a letter that springs from the field of my creative intelligence. As I am typing, my thoughts flow easily. That is my life here, where I am strengthening myself in a routine that starts at 5 am in the morning, brush my teeth, massage my skin with oil, check subtle values of my pulse, do yoga asanas and a breathing exercise called pranayama, meditate, go for walks, enjoy organic meals, and spend time with people who are on the same road with me. They are all on a journey based in daily experience of the field from which everything springs. This is the field of pure creative intelligence. This is the field of the source of our full potential. This is the reservoir of all the power that one can use to manifest this potential and then live life in fulfillment—live a happy life.

Maharishi in his book Science of Being and Art of Living says that the main purpose of our life is the expansion of happiness. The purpose of life is to live it in fulfillment.  And how true this is! It is like Heaven here.

On the day I have arrived in Fairfield, a campus safety officer helped me find my room. It was a dark night and I was not able to see anything but stars and the moon. I lay down in my new bed, looked around and I saw the dorm room was nothing like my luxurious wooden room in Ljubljana. But I realized that something was moving in my heart, and right away I felt like I was home.

There are no words great enough to describe the happiness I feel here. My flesh is soaked with bubbles of joy, but that is just how the stress is removed from the nervous system. This process of purification occurs very rapidly and it is promoted here all the time. My experience of time here is like it does not exist. It is like everything has come to a standstill. The town is quiet, kind, and distant.

 

The animals in Fairfield act like they are domesticated. Perhaps they sense that we do not eat meat. When I jog and pass by the lake near the forest, I see a family of deer, rabbits, and a raccoon. When I finish running, I go to meditate with a group of other students, because meditation with a group is more powerful than meditating alone. I can feel the group becoming more and more coherent. The coherence can be felt also in my classes.

The classmates in my masters program of Maharishi Vedic Science are my family now. Already I feel like I’ve known them for a long time. During times when someone feels delicate, there is always someone from this family who gives loving support. These are not just words or long intellectual explanations. This is just the experience that I’m having here. It feels as if someone was holding your hand forever. It feels so safe, comfortable, and beautiful in this embrace.

My MA program is very interesting. With eyes wide open I watch my teacher who speaks enlightened words. There is no question that he cannot answer. Although sometimes he might not be able to answer right away, it turns out later how real is his Being.

Maharishi is here with us all the time; not only on the television screen when we listen to his recorded talks, but I feel his presence in all the people, in the food, in the trees around us…everywhere.  Even these words are too limited to convey my experience.  The reality of it is so great that even if I could express it, nobody would believe me. It is so great and yet so simple that it is almost funny!

So there is only one thing that is important—that you decide to meditate regularly. The universe then follows. It moves in the direction of your song. This formula is so simple. A man who is suffering in this world creates problems even if he tries to help society. That is why we need people with courage! We need all those that want to take a giant step towards greater happiness. Here, everything is possible! So many opportunities are waiting for our heroes! Once you remember this…it is beautiful!

Science of Creative Intelligence:

The Science of Creative Intelligence is just one out of the large range of courses that you can take at Maharishi University of Management. After 4 weeks of easy studying here I have gained more than after 4 years of studies at my previous University in Ljubljana. This science is not just knowledge about the field from which everything springs; it also provides a great experience that man can then integrate in his life and live. There was always something missing while I was studying at the University in Ljubljana, at the faculty for sport science. There was always a big gap in the knowledge, always something that I had to leave behind, undiscovered. That was why I was angry, because there was never enough time to understand the wholeness in all the parts being studied. When you experience that you never seem able to learn the whole thing that you are interested in, it causes a big disappointment. After graduating I had received some knowledge, but I also had a lot of frustration. I realized that I had spent 4 years for an experience that I could have gotten a lot faster.

The studies here are very different. They are fulfilling!  Maharishi calls the knowledge that one receives here total knowledge, because knowledge of creative intelligence is the basis of all branches of knowledge. The Science of Creative Intelligence course, which I finished in September, is very well structured. The lectures are from Maharishi’s recorded talks, so the teacher mainly works as an observer; and yet he intervenes with his great knowledge at just the right times. The teacher’s comments are enlightened. And the feeling in the class is good, because the class meditates together twice a day. That is very important because one can feel at home after just a few days in such a class. In such an environment one is relaxed and can improve quickly. You can express your opinion, receive a response, feel supported, and learn. Every day Maharishi is with us. He leads us step by step.

The course can be done by anyone who has a desire to learn. Before I came here, I thought it would be impossible to understand all that Maharishi explains in his videos. And yet here this knowledge is integrated with experience so there are no difficulties understanding it. The lectures of Andrej Rus, whom I visited in Ljubljana, first described life in Fairfield to me. They revealed how important the environment is. In an environment where everybody meditates, it is easier to see the truth.  In this environment students are open and relaxed and can learn knowledge very quickly. To learn, it is only important to be open to receive the knowledge, to want to know. One does not have to struggle and suffer reading heavy books. Learning can be very easy, because life in reality is very easy.

So what is the Science of Creative Intelligence? Pure creative intelligence is the field from which everything springs and is the field that one touches in meditation, when transcending. We can prove the existence and character of this field scientifically, but one can also experience it. Experience of this field gradually infuses its qualities into the mind. And this is how the learning process at MUM works. The intellectual knowledge about human potential, and experience of the source of that potential through daily meditation, integrate in a student knowledge that one cannot forget because he begins to live it.

Self-pulse reading:
In this course I have learned a very simple pulse reading technique, which I have incorporated into my daily routine. I noted how my pulse is changing, depending on different circumstances. During the course I followed a prescribed routine, where we rise at 5:45 in the morning.  Then I  would jog, then do abyanga (body oil self-massage), clean my tongue, shower, do yoga asanas, meditate, enjoy breakfast, go to morning class, eat lunch with my classmates, go to afternoon class, meditate again, do home tasks, and during this class we practiced having an early bedtime around nine o’clock.

As part of this class I had to measure my heart rate and describe my experiences in a notebook. Every day we shared our experiences in the class and were gradually and systematically exposed to new knowledge about measuring the pulse, and its value. After this course, I was able to measure the pulse myself. A new tool in the area of ​​self-development was open to me. In this course students also gain knowledge about how to avoid stress, and how can to regulate the debilitating effects of stress in the body, if one is not able to avoid it.  I found that measuring the pulse is a beautiful experience, through which one can even transcend.

Sanskrit:
Ga ga ga, ka ka ka… In Sanskrit class feel like I am in the first grade and I have begun learning all over again.  But learning the Sanskrit sounds is one of the most beautiful experiences in my life! I feel like a child and there is a sound that is awakening in me—it is so simple, but it contains a great truth. Life is like learning Sanskrit: It is so simple and beautiful, although it does not seem to be at the beginning.

People from Fairfield:
As I write this letter, it is October. It is my third month in Iowa, but I do not miss my home. I feel like I am home here now. I have a family and it feels like I have known these people, who share my same interests,  forever. In this environment I can be myself. I am allowed to be myself in all aspects. I can dress seriously or funny. I can be boring or entertaining. People around me do not mind. They love, and that love is so real. You can hear it, when classmates support you with a loud shout in the class during your presentation. You can feel it, when you flow in the sequence of divine affection. It is so real that it cannot be imaginary. With this love, you grow as fast as any mushroom after rain.

In an environment where everybody is meditating, everybody can see each other clearly, without doubt. Since each of us is focused on improving, there is a consciousness that allows us to be who we really are. No one needs an excuse to be himself.  Each of us is rewarded for all the one’s aspects. It is only important to be honest, to be yourself. And once you act naturally, you attract the people to you that will help you grow quickly. There are no strangers. There are many people who have been working with Maharishi, so everything in this environment is imbued by the presence of this great master. In some teachers, Maharishi is still very alive. It is so alive in them, that you can drown in happiness while feeling this divine presence. This is the society dedicated to personal evolution. This is a society with people of many colors and all shapes. And yet in all this motion, the society is orderly. You only have to look into someone’s eyes, and if the eyes are clear and bright, then there is no question where this person comes from. They all come from Fairfield!

The food:

I used to eat meat. I am vegetarian now. The big jump from the steak to cabbage was not difficult for me at all. Ayurvedic food here is organic and it is nothing like typical American food that is oily, sweet, and salty.  Here I eat things like sweet potato, spinach, Swiss chard, lentils, lasagna, soy beans in 101 modifications, spaghetti, rice, cooked apples, hot milk, vegetables and small pieces of sweets (as a treat for the heart). And the food here has a great advantage. If I wanted to cook this by myself, I would need a lot of money and time to prepare it.  Here I can choose from different tastes and eat something that is good, but not so expensive. There is also a beautiful cafe where one can buy various treats and drink free tea in good company.

Buildings:

Brightness, warmth, soft seating, large windows, orderliness, images of Maharishi, yellow color,  flowers, white carpets, scented rooms and in all these, smiling faces. Everywhere you look, a smiles there. There is no room for anger. There is no room for violence. Here, this simplicity is felt in every corner of every building. These are happy buildings. These are buildings to which one can talk. Once you get used to such beautiful buildings, a building with chaos is like a punch in to the face.

Conclusion:
Going to school at MUM is a complete experience. It is an experience that will infuse throughout subtlest areas of your body. It is not only the structure of the program that is so complete, but also all the surroundings. In such environment a person grows rapidly. It provides a shortcut, because every moment here is a time to grow. And everyone here is pushing this time to its limits. We all are traveling in the same direction. And that is the only way to go, because there is no other than the right way to go, which leads back to the Self—back home. From the point to infinity and then back to the point, back to you. It is something like that…here.

Urska Dolinar is a graduate student in the Master’s in Maharishi Vedic Science program at MUM. She is a former Olympic bobsled athlete from Slovenia