The Vedic tradition

Pandits have preserved the Vedic knowledge

The Vedic (VAY-dik) tradition of knowledge, based on the vast Vedic literature, is the oldest continuous tradition of knowledge in the world. The Vedic tradition includes detailed information on a wide range of topics—from astronomy to music, from architecture to health care. But it focuses especially on knowledge about consciousness, technologies of consciousness, and evolution to enlightenment—the highest state of human functioning.

Note: People sometimes assume that the Vedic wisdom is a cultural tradition, relevant only in India. But Newton’s laws of motion are not English or Christian, nor Einstein’s theory of relativity German or Jewish. Scientific discoveries are true for all people, all cultures. Now that central tenets of the Vedic wisdom have been verified scientifically—the unified field, the fourth state of consciousness, growth of the individual toward enlightenment, and the peace-creating effect of large groups of meditators—a large body of objective evidence indicates that Vedic knowledge is universally valid, and useful to people from every culture, tradition and walk of life.

What is the connection to yoga?

This peace-creating approach is a direct application of the science of yoga. In the West, yoga often means physical stretching exercises—which, well-taught and carefully practiced, can be beneficial for both body and mind. But the word yoga actually means union (as in yoke). It refers, most fundamentally, to the union of the individual human mind with the unified field—the attunement of individual intelligence with the cosmic intelligence that governs the vast universe without a problem.

Maharishi explains that this experience of yoga, of union with all the laws of nature at their source, stimulates the unified field—producing a radiating field effect of consciousness that can be measured as reduced crime, warfare and terrorism. Thus yoga, understood most fundamentally, yields that union with cosmic intelligence that transforms both individual and social life.