Growth of Consciousness

In many circles of discussion, spiritual development is thought to be a matter of choice. Deepak Chopra recently wrote an article for the Huffington Post stating that "evolution or personal growth -- choose whatever term you will -- becomes voluntary once a person reaches biological maturity. You must choose to grow into insight, wisdom, love, and compassion. Our brains can adapt to all these states. Experiments with Tibetan monks have proved that their brain functioning is different and more intense in the prefrontal cortex where higher thought is centered." 


According to the science of consciousness revealed by Maharishi, evolution is not merely "voluntary" and doesn't wait to kick in when a person reaches "maturity."  The force of evolution and laws of cause and effect are always at work, propelling everyone forward and returning karma, good and bad. One can grow in wisdom without "choosing" to. The universe has a way of organizing what lessons we need to work through in our life's journey. It's not just a matter of choice—every creature must evolve. "All actions end in knowledge," says Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita : A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6. One is propelled towards higher consciousness even though some detours may be taken along the way. Of course there are choices like learning the Transcendental Meditation technique to speed one's personal growth.

The article refers to experiments on Tibetan monks where it was found that the pre-frontal cortex of the brain was activated during their meditation. In comparison, during the practice of Transcendental Meditation, the entire brain is found to be in a state of total alpha coherence, indicating a highly alert yet restful state of mind and body. Science is validating that the spiritual experience of meditators is coorelated with increased order and coherence in the brain.