George Gurdjieff wrote a remarkable book called, Meetings with Remarkable Men, which he began in 1927, and which was published in an English translation in 1963. Fifty years after it first saw the light of day in our language, I’d like to offer this column called, Meetings with Enlightened Men. I had the inspiration for this column while visiting Monticello, the beloved home of Thomas Jefferson, in central Virginia.
Ten years after Gurdjieff’s remarkable book was available in English, I had the great good fortune to spend five months with a remarkable man named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. What follows below are some parallel observations of Thomas Jefferson, whose Declaration of Independence played a major role on the enlightenment of many governments, and Maharishi, whose Transcendental Meditation played a major role in the enlightenment of many people.
Jefferson was a political thinker influenced by Age of Enlightenment (late 17th century and 18th century) thinkers like John Locke and Voltaire; Maharishi inaugurated what he called the dawning of a different Age of Enlightenment in 1973. Both believed strongly in higher education. Jefferson founded and designed the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; Maharishi founded Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, and played a major role in designing the curriculum.
On Happiness In his
famous document that set our original 13 colonies free from England,
Jefferson wrote that people “are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are probably the
most famous words from this most famous of American documents.
Maharishi, also linking the Creator with human happiness, wrote, “The
purpose of Creation is the expansion of happiness.” He echoed those
sentiments when he said, “Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the
expansion of happiness.” He also wrote: “Enjoy your life and be happy.
Being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through
happiness. More support of nature comes from being happy.”
On Serenity From happiness, it’s just a short jump to serenity, of which our third president wrote, “It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give happiness.” Elsewhere, he noted, “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” The guru to the Beatles noted that, “The golden gate to peace in life is the experience of bliss, and it is easy for everyone to acquire this great glory and live it throughout life.”
On Identity Jefferson
wrote: "Do you want to know who you are? Don´t ask. Act! Action will
delineate and define you." Maharishi taught the technique of
Transcendental Meditation to give you the experience of your true Self
at the transcendental level of your mind.
On Consciousness The political thinker wrote that, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” The spiritual thinker said that “Fulfillment is structured in achievement, achievement is structured in action, action is structured in thinking, thinking is structured in knowledge, and knowledge is structured in consciousness.”
On Enlightenment Our nation’s first Secretary of State wrote: “Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day.” Maharishi said, "The goal of the Transcendental Meditation technique is the state of enlightenment. This means we experience that inner calmness, that quiet state of least excitation, even when we are dynamically busy.”
On Government Our
second Vice President wrote that, “My reading of history convinces me
that most bad government results from too much government.” The sage who
taught people how to raise their state of consciousness said, “Nature´s
government spontaneously brings satisfaction to everyone because it
promotes all innumerable, diverse tendencies of life in the evolutionary
direction.”
On the Laws of Nature Jefferson
wrote that, “A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the
laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.”
Maharishi noted: “When the mind is attuned to the cosmic law, all the
laws of nature are in perfect harmony with the aspirations of the mind.
He also wrote: “You are the master of all the laws of nature if you know
the transcendental field.”
On Time Jefferson,
who emphasized doing, wrote, “Determine never to be idle. No person
will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any.
It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing." Maharishi,
who taught how to attain the state of Being - which is the basis of
thinking and doing - wrote “The factor of time is very vital in life.
Those who have accomplished great things in the world have been those
who valued time in their life. “
The Spirit of Jefferson For those who believe in channeling, I’ll close this column by saying that while driving to Monticello recently, I heard an audio recording of a man speaking at a Unity church claiming to be channeling the spirit of Thomas Jefferson.
Interestingly, the enlightened words that came out of this spirit sounded even more like what Maharishi might have said in the 20th century than what Jefferson did in the 18th. From the Unity event it seems as if our President from another age has been turning into an ageless sage. Unity Sermon on Abundance Pompano Beach Prosperity & the Bible
