Journal of Health and Environmental Research

Special Issue

Maharishi Vedic Science: Creating a Sustainable Future

  • Submission Deadline: 30 April 2017
  • Status: Submission Closed
  • Lead Guest Editor: Lee Fergusson
About This Special Issue
A cursory examination of Maharishi Vedic Science suggests it may address issues related to sustainability, particularly when it points out that contemporary approaches to knowledge isolate the individual from his or her environment; in contrast to the modern scientific disciplines, Vedic Science identifies and encourages “a very intimate connection between the individual and the universe”. Moreover, references in Maharishi Vedic Science to a “self - sufficient” and “infinitely correlated” state of intelligence, an immortal state of pure consciousness, which is the source of manifest creation (a level of life which can be lived by every human being), and the need for “creating a global green revolution” to achieve food self-sufficiency indicate this body of integrated ancient and contemporary scientific knowledge may offer valuable insights into and practical programs for creating a sustainable future. Preliminary research has been conducted on the contribution of Maharishi Vedic Science to sustainability, particularly as it applies to activities such as farming and forestry. For example, Fisher has outlined conventional concepts of sustainability and their relation to what he calls “consciousness-based sustainability” in agriculture, Fagan has discussed renewable fertilizers, crop rotation and diversification, soil conservation and natural means of pest control in the context of genetically engineered horticulture, Scaroni-Fisher and Fisher have considered Vedic knowledge in the light of sustainable forestry and architecture, and Wallace has examined Vedic technologies in the context of organic agriculture. More recently, Heaton has similarly investigated the relationship of Maharishi Vedic Science to sustainable architecture and what Maharishi calls “higher states of consciousness”. However, what data that does exist on sustainability and Vedic knowledge, while comprehensive, relates primarily to ecology, organic agriculture, forestry and architecture, genetic engineering, food production, control of pests and soil science (particularly in relation to erosion), but not specifically to its core principles and how these might be applied to “yield a new crop”. This Special Issue will examine Maharishi Vedic Science from multiple perspectives of sustainability, including ethics, urban sustainability, traditional approaches to sustainability, food production, poverty removal, economics, education, peace studies, consciousness studies, etc.

Aims and Scope:

Maharishi Vedic Science
Sustainability
Principles of sustainability
Frameworks of sustainability
Practices of sustainability
Consciousness studies
Ethics
Education
Lead Guest Editor
  • Lee Fergusson

    Vedic Science/Professional Studies, Maharishi Vedic Research Institute/University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Published Articles
  • Human Development and Capability: Reconstructed and Fulfilled Through Maharishi Vedic Science

    David Kettle , Geoffrey Wells , Lee Fergusson

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 79-89
    Received: 12 April 2017
    Accepted: 13 April 2017
    Published: 9 June 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.16
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    Abstract: This paper reconstructs the concept of human development in light of Maharishi Vedic Science. In Maharishi Vedic Science, the fulfillment of human development is realised in higher states of consciousness. In higher states of consciousness, the mind, body and senses still function in daily life, but at a much more refined and integrated state of fu... Show More
  • Addressing the Wicked Problems of Sustainability Through Consciousness-Based Education

    Christopher Jones , Gabriel Akura

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 44-62
    Received: 6 March 2017
    Accepted: 6 April 2017
    Published: 27 April 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.14
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    Abstract: In order to imagine and then create a sustainable future, education will have to be significantly rethought and redesigned. Starting from the UNO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we tackle the competencies, and then the curricula and methods, that education will have to adopt in order to pursue this agenda. After identifying outstanding iss... Show More
  • Responding to Climate Change: The Contribution of Maharishi Vedic Science

    Geoffrey Wells , Lee Fergusson , David Kettle , Anna Bonshek

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 63-78
    Received: 1 April 2017
    Accepted: 6 April 2017
    Published: 27 April 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.15
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    Abstract: The scope and reach of the climate change challenge is clearly unprecedented, as is its level of global urgency. We review the broad results of the scientific program associated with it. These results identify serious impacts on physical, biological, and human systems, as separate systems and as cascading through them. The global risks associated w... Show More
  • The Effect of Coherent Collective Consciousness on National Quality of Life and Economic Performance Indicators—An Analysis of the IMD Index of National Competitive Advantage

    Guy Hatchard , Kenneth Cavanaugh

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 16-31
    Received: 13 January 2017
    Accepted: 16 February 2017
    Published: 20 March 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.12
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    Abstract: The scores of New Zealand and Norway on the IMD Index of National Competitive Advantage increased significantly when they passed the predicted coherence group threshold in 1993 (1% of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation program or the √1% practicing the advanced TM-Sidhi program in a group) when compared to 44 other developed nati... Show More
  • Field Effects of Consciousness and Reduction in U.S. Urban Murder Rates: Evaluation of a Prospective Quasi-Experiment

    Kenneth L. Cavanaugh , Michael C. Dillbeck

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 32-43
    Received: 14 February 2017
    Accepted: 22 February 2017
    Published: 20 March 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.13
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    Abstract: Creation of a sustainable society ideally should include promotion of an enhanced overall quality of life, including freedom from crime, violence, and other key indicators of social stress. This study is part of a comprehensive empirical evaluation of the results of a prospective four-year quasi-experiment that sought to reduce rates of homicide an... Show More
  • Principles and Practice of Sustainability in Maharishi Vedic Science

    Lee Fergusson , Geoffrey Wells , David Kettle

    Issue: Volume 3, Issue 3-1, May 2017
    Pages: 1-15
    Received: 27 October 2016
    Accepted: 4 November 2016
    Published: 17 January 2017
    DOI: 10.11648/j.jher.s.2017030301.11
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    Abstract: Concepts such as the “self-sufficient” and “self-perpetuating” nature of human consciousness and “man must learn to live in harmony with nature”, and programs such as Vedic organic agriculture and creating a “global green revolution”, are situated centrally in Maharishi Vedic Science—the complete science of the Veda and Vedic Literature as presente... Show More