Global Messaging: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study of Newspaper Advertisements by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Lee Fergusson^*
*Correspondence: Lee Fergusson, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts, School of Education, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia, Tel: +61-(0)7-5546-6977, Email:

Keywords

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi • Advertisements • Explanatory • Mixed Methods • Thematic Analysis

Introduction

Newspaper advertisements can serve as a valuable source of social science data. The investigative work of Dawson on the early use of newspaper advertisements in London between 1651 and 1750 and its relation to body imaging is a case in point because, as she points out, “when it comes to popular assumption advertisements allow us to hear the word on the street… the social depth of newspaper advertising [is] considerable and its reception deeper still” [1].

Mogaji similarly examined the extent to which British newspaper advertisements in 2013 and 2014 evidenced diversity and equality in the United Kingdom [2], Shin, Hong and Kim analysed newspaper advertisements from 1960 to 2010 to understand public perceptions of apartment housing in South Korea [3], and Okuhara T, et al. [4] analysed 2,167 newspaper advertisements for dietary supplements in two major Japanese newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic showing the “increasing need for disseminating accessible information about the appropriate use of dietary supplements, consumer education and warnings to manufacturers”.

Since the late 1950’s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi-founder of Maharishi International University (MIU) [5], Maharishi European Research University (MERU) [6], World Government of the Age of Enlightenment [7], Maharishi Vedic University [8], and the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program [9,10]-placed a series of advertisements in the world’s most widely read newspapers and magazines, including Bulletin Today (Philippines), International Herald Tribune (international), Newsweek magazine (international), The Daily Telegraph (UK), The Economist magazine (international), The Guardian (UK), The Indian Express (India), The New York Times (USA), The Washington Post (USA), The Times (UK), and TIME magazine (international).

His advertisements announced local, regional and international courses, events and programs related to education, health, government, industry and social welfare, many supported with evidence from empirical research and endorsed by government officials. But often, and most importantly, Maharishi also issued appeals and warnings about, and offered solutions to, global problems of war, civil unrest, disease, and other social and political ills. These newspaper and magazine advertisements have never been analysed.

The research objectives for this study therefore seek to: 1) identify a representative source of advertisements issued by or about Maharishi; 2) code and describe the advertisements; 3) provide a coherent organisational structure to advertisement content; 4) systematically analyse the advertisements by applying standard communications methods; 5) articulate the main themes and provide examples of each theme; and 6) thereby present for the first time the results of an in-depth investigation into a genre of communication used by Maharishi and his worldwide organisation throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, with the goal of providing insight into his thinking about then contemporary issues and his responses to them.

To achieve these objectives and to guide the investigation, the study posits two research questions: RQ1-What are the main sources of Maharishi’s advertisements, when and where were they issued, which newspapers published the advertisements, and what were the general content areas covered by the advertisements; and RQ2-What are the main themes discussed in advertisements issued by Maharishi and hence what were his main messages to the world? As many of these advertisements were accompanied or explained by other more in-depth published literature, such as books and journals, where applicable supplementary forms of communication by Maharishi will be referred to in this study. Where possible, reference will also be made to outcomes achieved by the advertisements.

Methods

The present research loosely represents the second part of an earlier study by this author which examined 691 press releases issued by Maharishi and his worldwide organisation between 1959 and 1991 [11]. This study of newspaper advertisements therefore uses some of the same nomenclature and organisational structure as the earlier study. Neither of these studies, however, should be confused with integrative, narrative, scoping, or systematic literature reviews but do share some characteristics with them. For the purposes of this study, an ‘advertisement’ is defined as a paid form of print media communication from an identifiable source designed to either influence a receiver or to persuade them to take some sort of action or to change their views now or in the future (Figure 1).

The archive of Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa was the source of advertisements for this study. One hundred and sixty-seven newspaper advertisements were located in the archive, beginning in 1959, and these served as the raw data used for analysis in this study. Examples of these advertisements are shown in Figures 2-6.

Inclusion criteria applied to selection were: 1) the advertisement was published in English; 2) the advertisement included a date of publication and name of publisher, including masthead if applicable; 3) the advertisement was written and issued either by Maharishi or by a recognised, affiliated, or accredited organisation sanctioned by him (many of which bore his name and/or photograph); and 4) the advertisement included what can be referred to as ‘knowledge content’ as opposed to being merely an announcement or invitation to an event, such as a lecture, conference or symposium.

Twenty-seven (16%) advertisements were excluded from consideration, resulting in N=140 advertisements used for analysis in this study. Of the 27 excluded advertisements, five (3%) were not written in English (two in Cantonese, one in Italian, one in Portuguese, and one in Serbo-Croatian) and 22 (13%) advertisements contained no significant knowledge content. Of the latter, one published in San Francisco Chronicle was dated 7 February 1959 advertising “Free private interviews” with Maharishi seeking to recruit “Guides for tranquility and bliss”, one published in Los Angeles Times was dated 9 May 1959 advertising “Discussion groups” with Maharishi, and a series of others published in Bulletin Today, Metro Manila Times, Philippines Sunday Express, and various other Philippines’ national newspapers were dated 2-4 August 1984 advertising an “International Symposium” on the “Discovery of the unified field and its application to create a problem-free society” in Manila. Examples of excluded advertisements are shown in Figure 2.

Included advertisements were organised chronologically and numbered according to the following convention: number and date (e.g., from AD01-77 for advertisement number 1 issued in 1977, through to AD140-91 for advertisement number 140 issued in 1991). In almost all cases, only the year, but not the day, month or page number, was recorded by the archive. When citing headlines or excerpts of advertisements in this study, original spelling will be applied, including the use of italics. Where appropriate, citations have been made to other published sources of information as a way of cross-referencing and/or confirming data contained in or referenced by advertisements. Examples of included advertisements are shown in Figures 3-6.

After initial selection and coding, the research was conducted in two phases: A) a quantitative (descriptive) phase followed by B) a qualitative (thematic) phase, with B) intended to explain the content of A). This approach represents a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design [12]. Elsewhere, the explanatory design had been referred to as the ‘follow-up explanations variant’ because “the researcher places the priority on the initial quantitative phase and uses the subsequent qualitative phase to help explain the quantitative results” [13]. These two phases and the following seven stages of research, along with a high-level summary of results, are presented in Figure 1.

The quantitative phase included five stages of descriptive analysis: 1) identify the entity that issued the advertisement; 2) identify the date and place of publication; 3) if a direct quote was used in the advertisement, identify the quotee; 4) identify the newspaper that published the advertisement; and 5) determine the main content of the advertisement. The qualitative phase included two stages: on the basis of content coding in 5), determine 6) the main theme of the advertisement using thematic analysis; and 7) identify a representative excerpt from the advertisement. Stage 6) used the six steps of thematic analysis described by Braun and Clarke [14,15], an approach not dissimilar to the work of Koerber R, et al. [16] in their analysis of Canadian newspapers.

In so doing, the study design meets acceptable standards of general, internal, and external reliability. General reliability was satisfied by the declaration of researcher’s position, triangulation across many advertisements, and use of an audit trail; internal reliability was satisfied by the use of low inference descriptors and mechanically recorded data; and external reliability was satisfied by use of clearly articulated and explained analytic constructs and premises, as proposed by Zohrabi M [17] and others McGinley S, et al. [18] in the context of dependability for mixed method research designs. Validity (or ‘trustworthiness’ in the second phase qualitative research) was maintained by a combination of triangulation, long-term observations (i.e., of data which spanned several decades), and the aforementioned declaration of possible researcher bias, including control over how potential bias might influence the formation of research questions posited in this study.

Application of the six steps of thematic analysis resulted in the generation of 455 individual codes each representing a key topic in the 140 advertisements. For this study, a ‘theme’ (i.e., a recurring pattern of topics) was classified when a code appeared ten or more times in advertisements. Note, in some advertisements more than one topic was addressed, resulting in many more codes than advertisements. For example: 62 advertisements from AD25-83 to AD87-84 (e.g., AD43-83 left, Figure 4) addressed topics ranging from discovery of the Unified Field, including quantum field theory and supergravity theory, through miscellaneous press reports and quotations, to Maharishi Vedic Science and the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program [10]; and seven advertisements from AD89-84 to AD95-84 addressed topics ranging from discovery of the Unified Field and its qualities, through life aligned with Natural Law and scientific research, to individual and collective problem-free living.

While the author was mostly unfamiliar with the content of these newspaper advertisements prior to the research, he is trained in Maharishi Vedic Science and was founding Rector of Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia [19] and can therefore be considered an ‘insider researcher’ to the phenomena under investigation. Insider research, “which occurs through a process of positionality, involves intentionally aligning one’s self-interests with one’s research” [20]. However, the present research is descriptive-exploratory in nature and not verificatory, thereby minimising or avoiding researcher bias.

Results

In this study, advertisements can be classified as ‘display advertising’ and also generally as ‘advocacy advertising’ [21,22], i.e., advertising to promote a position on a political, controversial or other social issue, although apparently no advertisement was the subject of affirmative disclosure. In almost all cases, advertisements could be further classified as ‘non-commercial advertising’ in that they were apparently designed to educate and promote ideas or institutions not sell a product or service, although some involved promoting an event, such as a conference or symposium, and some also appeared to be public service announcements [23].

General observation and scanning revealed that most advertisements included a photo and name caption of Maharishi in the top left-hand corner (e.g., Figures 3-6), thereby clearly identifying the author or originator of the advertisement’s knowledge content. Maharishi’s name was often also used as an identifier in the headline of advertisements (e.g., Figures 5 and 6 (AD141- 91)) thereby further pinpointing the source of content.

Many advertisements used a series of headlines and sub-headlines as an organising principle (e.g., (Figure 5 (AD119-86) and 6 (AD129-88)), and 58 advertisements directly quoted Maharishi or other affiliated source (e.g., Figure 4 (AD100-84) and Figure 5 (AD119-86)). Indeed, the entire text of AD141-91 (The Washington Post), Figure 6 (AD141-91), was a direct appeal by Maharishi to U.S. President George H. W. Bush regarding the President’s statement: “You can be assured I am leaving no stone unturned” in relation to finding a solution to the first ‘Gulf War’. Notable in the advertisements by Maharishi, however, was the obvious lack of fear as a tactic to generate change, a common trope of advocacy advertising [22].

A series of graphic or schematic elements, along with photographic images, appeared in many advertisements, most with a prominent headline. For example, AD125-87 (International Herald Tribune, Figure 6 ((AD141- 91)) included images of three of the world’s foremost Ayur-Vedic experts with Maharishi.

Similarly, as shown in Figure 7, the link between coherence in collective consciousness created and generated by the Taste of Utopia Assembly held at MIU in 1983-1984 [24], represented by the number of experts in the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (i.e., the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program) present at the Assembly (2 lower left of chart), and the resultant measurable empirical results related to increased cultural integrity (7 upper right), increased positivity in statements and actions of heads of state (1 upper left), and more frequent positive events in the Middle East (6 lower right), was illustrated in AD88-84 (various newspapers). Graphic or schematic elements and photographic images, including complex diagrams associated with ‘Fulfilment of Vedic Science and Modern Science’ in AD5-80 (The Indian Express), also appeared in AD1-77, AD13-82, AD14-82, AD15-82, AD17-82, AD18-82, AD21-83, and AD109-84.

Moreover, advertisements generally met two of the four accepted criteria for effective newspaper advertising: 1) a “single dominant illustration”; and 2) a “short benefit headline” [25]; where they differed was in the proscribed use of 3) “lots of white space” and 4) “very little copy”, as can be seen in Figures 3-6. However, Tolley and Bogart also point out that some theorists disagree on the importance of these four criteria and in fact propose what is most important in successful communication is for an advertisement to achieve its goal. Thus, the “purpose of newspaper advertising is to get at least some of the readers to do something” [25]. To that end, Maharishi’s advertisements appear to have been effective, despite the limited use of white space and maximal copy, as will be discussed below in relation to themes and outcomes.

The following results are presented in order to reflect the sequential nature of the research design, with the first phase quantitative findings being explained by the second phase qualitative findings.

Quantitative phase results

Stage 1: Entities that issued advertisements: As shown in Table 1, 121 (86%) advertisements were placed by six organisations associated with Maharishi. In order of frequency, these were: 1) Maharishi International University (Fairfield, Iowa, e.g., AD43-83, The Indian Express, Figure 4 (AD100-84)); 2) Age of Enlightenment Foundation of the Philippines (Manila, Philippines, e.g., AD100-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, Malaya, and other newspapers, Figure 4 (AD100-84)); 3) Maharishi International University— College of Natural Law (Washington, D.C., e.g., AD10-82, The Washington Post, Figure 3 (AD10-82)); 4) World Government of the Age of Enlightenment (Seelisberg, Switzerland); 5) World Capital of the Age of Enlightenment (New Delhi, India); and 6) Maharishi Vedic University (Vlodrop, Netherlands).

Twenty miscellaneous organisations, including Hong Kong Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence (AD2-79, South China Morning Post), International TM Society in Tokyo, Japan (AD3-79, The Japan Times, Figure 3 (AD3-79)), World Plan Executive Council (AD9-81, The Washington Post), Maharishi World Peace Fund in New Delhi, India (AD119-86, various newspapers, Figure 5 (AD119-86)), Maharishi World Centre for Ayurveda in New Delhi, India (AD125-87, International Herald Tribune, Figure 5 (AD125- 87)), World Medical Association for Perfect Health in Geneva (AD126-87, International Herald Tribune), Maharishi International Institute of Vedic Sciences and Maharishi Ayur-Veda Association of America in Lancaster, Massachusetts (AD136-90, The Washington Post, and AD129-88, various newspapers, Figure 6 (AD129-88)), were the source of individual advertisements. None of the advertisements appeared to have been placed by an ad agency.

Stage 2: Date and place of publication: As shown in Table 2, 140 advertisements were issued between 1977 and 1991 (with three appearing across two different years), of which 133 (92%) were placed in the 1980s. Ninety-eight (70%) advertisements placed in the 1980s were published in 1983 and 1984. Maharishi issued advertisements beginning in 1959 and these continued through the 1990s [26], but after applying the search criteria only those for 1977-1991 appeared in this study.

As also shown in Table 2, a total of 793 individual impressions were published, with 689 (87%) advertisements published in Asia, Europe and North America, and 104 (13%) published in Africa, Australia and the Pacific, and Latin America and Caribbean. In many cases, the same advertisement simultaneously appeared in multiple regions (e.g., AD134-90, appeared simultaneously in 96 newspapers in all six regions).

Location data are skewed, showing the emphasis of publications in Asia, Europe, and North America, the main population centres of the world. However, Maharishi did focus attention on Africa, Australia and the Pacific, as well as Latin America and Caribbean, as documented for Africa in the work of Anklesaria and King [27], Camelia and Hawkins [28], Maharishi European Research University [6], and Maharishi Vedic University [29]. For example, AD134-90 appeared more or less simultaneously in early 1990 in various newspapers and included Nouvel Afrique Asia (Algeria), Cameroon Tribune (Cameroon), People’s Daily Graphic (Ghana), Voix d’Afrique (Ivory Coast and Zaire), Daily Nation and Kenya Times (Kenya), The Guardian and The Times (Nigeria), The Daily News (Tanzania), The Times of Zambia (Zambia), and The Herald (Zimbabwe) in Africa, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) and Listener (New Zealand) in Australia and the Pacific, and La Nacion (Argentina), El Diaro (Bolivia), El Mercurio (Chile), El Tiempo (Colombia), La Nacion (Cost Rica), Listen Diario (Dominican Republic), El Comercio (Ecuador), El Diario de Hoy (El Salvador), Prensa Libre (Guatemala), Le Matin (Haiti), Le Prensa (Honduras), Daily Gleaner (Jamaica), Excelsior (Mexico), Amigos (Netherland Antilles), Estrella de Panama (Panama), El Comercio (Peru), and De Ware Tijd (Suriname) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

International advertising’, i.e., advertising which promoted a product, service, or advocacy position in a country other than where the advertisement originated [30], also seems to have played a part in Maharishi’s approach to global messaging.

Stage 3: Direct quotations: Eighty-five (60%) advertisements used direct quotations and 55 (40%) did not. Table 3 presents the findings on direct quotations as they appeared in the advertisements. In the 85 advertisements which used direct quotations, 108 individual sources of direct quotes were identified.

Forty-five (42%) advertisements quoted Maharishi, for example when he declared “Student life is for gaining knowledge. Knowledge has organizing power. Knowledge and experience of the total potential of natural law, the level of pure intelligence, has infinite organizing power. The well-being and progress of every individual and of the nation as a whole are spontaneously organized when individuals enliven the unified field of natural law in their own awareness through the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Now every student has the opportunity to raise the nation above problems and guide the destiny of the whole world for peace, harmony, and happiness” (AD21-83, various newspapers) and “The governments which succeed in the 1990s will be those governments that make alliance with natural law through my Vedic Science and Technology” (AD133-90, South China Morning Post).

Twenty-six (24%) advertisements quoted a government or other official, for example President Ronald Reagan who said “I have always believed… that your army is really doing its job if it never has to fight” (AD32-83, The Washington Post) and Pope John Paul II who said “There is one good that all of humanity together hopes to taste, and that is peace. Peace requires from man the sincere force of a coherent and generous inner renewal” (AD60-83, The Washington Post).

Thirteen (12%) advertisements quoted an educator or researcher affiliated with Maharishi, such as Dr John Hagelin, now president of MIU, who said “Law seeks to establish order. Perfect order is available in nature’s functioning. Now with the discovery of the unified field we possess the most precious knowledge of the mechanics of nature’s functioning and therefore we in this generation should be able to eliminate disorder, negativity, and crime. This will raise the competence of national law to that level of authority where it will not be violated by anyone. The knowledge of natural law will bless the nation through the judges, who maintain the strength of national law in the interests of all” (AD24- 83, Reno Gazette Journal).

Ten (9%) advertisements quoted the Vedic literature. For example, AD45- 83 (The Daily Telegraph) states “Ancient vedic science sees the creation of RASTRIYA KAVACHA (invincibility) as a direct result of the enlivenment of SATTVA (natural law) in collective consciousness, bringing victory before war. Vedic science locates complete self-sufficiency in the ATMAN (the self), the unified field (Bhagavad Gita, 11.45). Vedic science declares immortality to be the natural birthright of every human being-amritasya putrah (sons of immortality). In this regard, prevention is advocated: Maharishi Patanjali states ‘by coming in alliance with the unified field (Yoga), avert the danger that has not yet come—heyam dukham anagatam’ (Yoga Sutras, 11.16)”. Many of the topics discussed in these quotes are more fully discussed in relation to the following main themes.

Stage 4: Newspapers: One hundred and fifty-three separate newspapers (mostly broadsheets) published the 793 advertisements by Maharishi or his affiliated organisations, with the four most frequent newspapers being The Washington Post (46 advertisements, 6%), Philippines Daily Express (26 advertisements, 3.5%; ceased publication in 1987), Bulletin Today (26 advertisements, 3.5%; now called Manila Bulletin, one of the Philippines’ oldest newspapers), and The Daily Telegraph (16 advertisements, 2%). The other 149 newspapers published the remaining 646 (82%) advertisements, as shown in Table 4. One hundred and forty-seven (195) advertisements were published in eight publications. In many cases, newspapers appear to have been selected due to their large circulation (for example, in 1985, The Washington Post had a rate base for its domestic edition of approximately 3.0 million and an international circulation of 655,000, and in 1987, The Daily Telegraph had a national circulation of approximately 1.1 million).

As noted above, the same advertisement often appeared simultaneously in six or more newspapers. For example, AD13-82 appeared concurrently between 28 June and 3 August 1982 in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Diplomatic World Bulletin, Honolulu Advertiser, and The Los Angeles Times, all in USA.

Similarly, AD22-83 appeared concurrently between 12 August and 22 October 1983 in: Tribune de Geneva, Journal de Geneva, Der Bund, Tagensanzeiger, Weltwoche, and Luzerner Neueste (Switzerland); Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Der Speigel, Stuttgarter Zeitung, and Stuttgarter Nach-Die Presse (Germany); Die Presse (Austria); International Herald Tribune, Jeune Afrique, and Jeune Afrique Economie (France); The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, and Nature (Great Britain); El Pais (Spain); The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Diplomatic World Bulletin, TIME, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report (USA); Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Veja (Brazil); Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong); The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and The Statesman (India); and Corriere Dells Sera (Italy).

AD121-86 also appeared concurrently between 1 and 13 January 1986 in The Indian Express, Free Press Journal, The Statesman, Hindustan Times, Amrit Bazar Patrika, The Tribune, Newstime, Northern India Patrika, Deccan Herald, Indian Nation, and Assam Tribune, all in India.

In 1984, many advertisements appeared in eight national newspapers in Manila across the political spectrum. For example, AD89-84 titled “Discovery of the Unified Field” and AD106-84 titled “Offering Assistance to Universities, Colleges, and Schools” appeared in Balita, Bulletin Today, Business Day, Malaya, Manila Evening Post, Metro Manila Times, Philippines Daily Express, and Times Journal. These advertisements, along with others in both English and Tagalog which did not appear in the archive, were published between 7 July and 23 December 1984 in newspapers, magazines, and journals throughout the Philippines, including Bandillo, Bannawag, Cavite Ngayon, Countryside Journal, Focus Philippines, Liwayway, Mabuhay, Mindanao Journal, Nuevo Horizonte, Sun Star Daily, Tempo, The Economic Monitor, The Freeman, The Lawyers’ Times, The People’s Free Press, The Republic News, Thunderer, Visayan Herald, Weekend, and Women’s Journal. These advertisements were subsequently collected and published in a volume of 390 advertisements titled “Philippines: Celebrating the Rising Sunshine of the Age of Enlightenment- Press Reports” [31].

Stage 5: Content areas: Based on a review of headlines and body copies, nine main content areas were identified. For the purposes of this study, a ‘content area’ is defined as a social or professional practice domain or discipline and must be cited in at least ten advertisements. Across the 140 advertisements, a variety of content areas were addressed, with many advertisements devoted to more than one area (i.e., 293 content areas were identified in the 140 advertisements). As shown in Table 5, these content areas have been grouped into nine main categories; in order of frequency, they were: 1) 96 (33%) advertisements concerned social change and welfare; 2) 91 (31%) concerned physics, modern science and/or scientific research; 3) 23 (8%) concerned education; 4) 19 (6%) concerned peace, war or conflict; 5) 14 (5%) concerned Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi program; 6) 14 (5%) concerned health or medicine; 7) 13 (3%) concerned commerce, economics or industry; 8) 13 (4%) concerned government or politics; and 9) ten (4%) concerned rehabilitation or law.

These content areas will now be explained and conceptually connected to the main themes identified in advertisements.

Qualitative phase results

In this section on qualitative phase results, and in keeping with the explanatory design, themes will be used to help explain the nature, scope and substance of the nine content areas, using representative excerpts to highlight meaning.

Stages 6 and 7: Main themes and excerpts: Eight themes were identified in the advertisements: 1) Discovery of the Unified Field; 2) Invincible Defense Strategy; 3) Maharishi Ayur-Veda; 4) Maharishi’s Philosophy of Education; 5) Maharishi’s Solutions to All Problems; 6) Maharishi Vedic Science; 7) Taste of Utopia Assembly; and 8) Unified Field Based Civilisation. The relationship and some of the main conceptual linkages, between content areas and themes is shown in Figure 8.

In addition to the eight primary themes, a total of 119 secondary themes were also identified, but these did not have the required minimum ten advertisements needed to reach a main theme. Secondary themes included: agriculture; alliance with Natural Law; Maharishi Gandharva Veda; Maharishi University of Natural Law (UK); Maharishi Vedic University (USA); scientific principles and empirical research; and World Government of the Age of Enlightenment and its activities and achievements. Tables 6 and 7 present the main thematic findings in relation to content areas with representative excerpts, including headline, quote, code, date and publication.

Theme 1: Discovery of the unified field: Eighty-six (61%) advertisements referred to discovery of the Unified Field or was the focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: education; physics, modern science or scientific research; and Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.

Since the 1930s, physicists have posited the existence of an un-manifest, non-physical field which is the source of energy and matter and thus the source of all the laws of nature which express themselves as the manifest universe. In the 1970’s, this field was referred to as the ‘vacuum state’ or ‘quantum field vacuum’, a non-perturbative state of pure potentiality [32]. During this time, Maharishi worked with some of the world’s foremost thinkers in quantum physics to discuss the parallels between what physicists thought and knew about this un-manifest field and how the ancient Vedic literature explained it. Among those Maharishi worked with were Nobel Laureates Professor Brian Josephson and Ilya Prigogine, and Dr E. C. George Sudarshan, professor of theoretical physics at University of Texas. At this time Maharishi identified the vacuum state as a field of pure consciousness [32].

By the 1980’s, Maharishi went further and pointed out that “the recent discovery by quantum physics of the unified field of all the laws of nature is the most advanced and penetrating discovery of modern science. Supergravity theory of quantum physics has recently brought to light the unified field as the unified source of all the fundamental forces of nature and therefore as the basis of the infinite creativity and organizing power of all the laws of nature” (AD89-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, and six other Manila dailies). The Unified Field could thus be described as the home of Natural Law.

As shown in Figure 9, unification of the four fundamental forces of nature was presented graphically in multiple advertisements, including AD18-82.83, published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), The Economist and Times of London (UK), Aftenposten (Norway), TIME, Newsweek, The New York Times (USA), and Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong), AD19- 83, published in Nairobi Times, and various other newspapers (e.g., AD20- 83, Daily Nation, and AD21-83, various newspapers of major universities throughout the U.S.). A later, more detailed, version of this graphic linking the Unified Field to pure consciousness, appeared in AD138-90, published in various international newspapers.

According to Maharishi, the then recently formulated Lagrangian of supergravity theory represented “the complete mathematical expression of the unified field and reveals the qualities of the unified field. Since it is a field of all possibilities, the qualities of the unified field are innumerable. Some of its major qualities are: all possibilities, freedom, unboundedness, self-sufficiency, bliss, integrating, self-referral, invincibility, perfect balance, fully awake within itself, total potential of natural law, simplicity, un-manifest, harmonizing, infinite correlation, infinite dynamism, infinite silence, pure knowledge, infinite organizing power, perfect orderliness, infinite creativity, purifying, evolutionary, nourishing, immortality” (AD89-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, and six other Manila dailies).

A detailed rebuttal advertisement to a letter which questioned the discovery of the Unified Field was also presented at this time, in which theoretical physicist Dr John Hagelin said “Even before this new development [of the discovery of the Unified Field], unified supersymmetric field theories had become the mainstream of modern theoretical physics—they constitute the primary focus of research activity in elementary particles theory today” (AD109- 84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, and Philippines Daily Express). Hagelin JS [33] would later state: “It was Einstein’s deep conviction that the laws of nature had a simple, geometric, unified foundation, and that this unification could be understood by the human intellect”. Alongside these announcements, a series of important publications explained the discovery of the Unified Field in historical context along with supergravity theory as it relates to the Unified Field and the qualities of the Unified Field [34], and presented the detailed equations of the Lagrangian, rhetorically asking: Is the Unified Field a field of consciousness? [35].

In Maharishi’s teaching, ‘discovery of the Unified Field’ was critically important for several reasons. First, it established a ‘scientific’ basis (i.e., a theoretically and empirically developed basis) for the existence of an unmanifest source of physical creation, as described by Vedic Science. Second, it provided explanatory support for the notion that this un-manifest source of creation is a field of intelligence, a home of all the laws of nature (i.e., of the laws which governed the material universe and its orderly expression from the Unified Field), and is therefore the source of all knowledge and all modern academic disciplines (for example, a detailed analysis of the relationship of the Unified Field to modern disciplines like physiology and chemistry, and the creation of ‘Unified Field Charts’ which explain the relationship, as discussed in Fergusson L, et al. [36], was the subject of AD118-85, various newspapers).

Third, it paralleled the proposition and knowledge provided by ancient Vedic Science that “In any unified quantum field theory, the most obvious and essential property of the unified field is that it exists. As in Maharishi’s Vedic Science, everything else may be said to exist by virtue of its existence” [33]. Fourth, Unified Field theory provided the objective modern science equivalent to the ancient Vedic view of consciousness, the purely subjective field of unbounded, self-referral experience. Fifth, the Unified Field could be experienced as the least excited state of consciousness, pure consciousness or Ātmān in the language of Vedic Science, through Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. During the 1980s, Maharishi sometimes referred to this program as the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (e.g., AD96-84, AD97-84, AD98-84, and AD99-84).

And finally, Maharishi went on to show how his technology of the Unified Field could be integrated into systems of education to create Maharishi Unified Field Based Integrated System of Education (e.g., AD96-84, AD110-84, AD111- 84, AD117-85, and AD139-90), into systems of health to create Unified Field Based Health (AD97-84 and AD139-90), into systems of economics to create Unified Field Based Economics (AD98-84 and AD139-90), and into systems of rehabilitation to create Unified Field Based Rehabilitation (AD99-84 and AD139-90). In each case, Maharishi’s technology did not replace conflict or otherwise subsume the current systems but supplemented them and brought them to levels of greater efficiency and effectiveness. Other advertisements which detailed ‘Discovery of the Unified Field’ include AD90-84, AD91-84, AD92-84, AD93-84, AD94-84, and AD95-84.

Theme 2: Invincible defence strategy: Thirty (21%) advertisements referred to an invincible defence strategy or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: government or politics; peace, war, or conflict; and physics, modern science or scientific research.

Maharishi defined ‘invincibility’ as “great stability” or maintenance of the “integrity” of physical and biological systems (AD1-77, various newspapers); invincibility was also identified as a quality of the Unified Field, according to the Lagrangian. Thus, a national invincible defence strategy is an approach to social and cultural defence which relies on the inner strength or integrity of the nation rather than the ability to fight one’s enemies. In fact, “when the fear of annihilation has enveloped the family of nations, and the inevitable dependence on other nations has robbed each country of its natural freedom, Maharishi has made available the integrated science of natural law composed of the objective approach of modern science and the subjective approach of ancient Vedic Science which provides a technology [i.e., the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field] to raise any nation to command the infinite power of natural law. Here is the opportunity for every nation to restores its dignity and freedom and perpetually maintains its sovereign status” (AD18-83, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, International Herald Tribune, The Economist, TIME, and 18 other national and international publications).

To explain such an invincible national condition, Maharishi drew from the principles of superconductivity, specifically the Meissner Effect (Figure 10), “whereby certain metals gain the property of infinite conductivity when the temperature is reduced to a very low level-near absolute zero. The principles of quantum mechanics tell us that states of least excitation are of necessity the most coherent and harmonious states. The onset of superconductivity-a phase transition from a disordered to a very highly ordered state among the electrons of metal-is an example of the generation of a very highly ordered state by means of simply reducing the activity to a sufficiently quiet level. In this it [i.e., superconductivity] resembles extremely closely the state of the Transcendental Meditation technique which is [designed] to reduce the ‘mental temperature’ to a state of least excitation and maximum harmony. The state of superconductivity has many remarkable properties issuing from its high degree of coherence” (AD1-77, various newspapers).

Such a state of invincibility can be achieved by a parallel phenomenon in society, according to Maharishi, “when citizens taken together collectively possess coherence of national consciousness, then any foreign destructive influence will meet an immediate neutralizing effect. This principle for human life was recognized in the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali wherein it is said that ‘Nonkilling being established, in his presence all enmities cease’ (II, 35)” (AD1-77, various newspapers). Maharishi [37] published multiple books and journals explaining this phenomenon, including World Government of the Age of Enlightenment [7,38], and Maharishi Institute of Supreme Military Science [39]. Other advertisements which detailed ‘Invincible Defence Strategy’ include AD12-82, AD13-82, AD14-82, AD17-83, and AD23-83.84.

Theme 3: Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Fourteen (10%) advertisements referred to Maharishi Ayur-Veda or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: health or medicine; and physics, modern science or scientific research.

According to AD-125.87 (International Herald Tribune, Figure 5 (AD125- 87)), “Ayurveda, the most ancient traditional system of natural medicine in the world, revived and raised to its full dignity by Maharishi, presents the most complete and scientifically developed programme for perfect health. It recommends that the herbs growing in countries be used for the prevention and cure of illness, preservation of health, and promotion of longevity for the people of that country”.

The advertisement goes on to declare that “Maharishi Ayurveda is the only system of health which can create a society free from sickness and suffering because of its emphasis on prevention, absence of harmful side-effects, and cost-effectiveness”. The headline of this advertisement captures the content: “Maharishi Ayurveda, Invitation [to an] International Conference—Creating a Disease-Free Society and Bringing Self-Sufficiency in Health Care to Every Nation through Maharishi Ayurveda”.

AD126-87 (International Herald Tribune) went further to state that Maharishi Ayur-Veda is competent to fulfil the gaols of WHO [i.e., World Health Organization] because it is the only system of health care in the world which: has an effective and comprehensive approach to prevention; is holistic and free from harmful side-effects; is the most ancient system of natural medicine, is authenticated over thousands of years; and is scientifically verified. It is based on the use of local flora, through which: it is most cost-effective; it brings selfsufficiency in health care to every nation; it opens new avenues for agricultural and industrial development; [and therefore] it lays the foundation for economic self-sufficiency in every nation.

Beginning in the early 1980s, Maharishi, with input from the world’s three most important Ayur-Vedic master physicians (or Vaidyas)—Dr V.M. Dwivedi, Dr B.D. Triguna, and Dr Balraj Maharishi—began an initiative to restore the complete knowledge and experience of Ᾱyur-Veda [40] with the goal of reviving “the system in its comprehensive and integrated form—with the help of leading Vaidyas of our time, and in accordance with the classical texts. Most especially, [Maharishi’s] intent was to restore the role of consciousness to its central position—both theoretically and through practical techniques” [41].

Maharishi’s two main contributions to the restoration of the completeness of Ᾱyur-Veda can therefore be summarised as: 1) his identification that the source of Ᾱyur-Veda is in the field of pure consciousness, the unified state of intelligence underlying all physical creation, the Unified Field; and 2) as part of his restoration and systematic reorganisation of the 40 aspects of Veda and the Vedic Literature, Maharishi was able to relocate the place of Ᾱyur-Veda within the totality of Vedic knowledge, and thereby reorganise and illuminate its various components, creating what is now known as Maharishi Ᾱyur-Veda.

The published literature on Maharishi Ayur-Veda is extensive, and includes a comprehensive review of the research findings associated with it [42,43], specifically its approach to the prevention and treatment of cancer [44]. Other advertisements which detailed ‘Maharishi Ayur-Veda’ include AD116-84, AD118-85, AD129-88, AD132-89, AD133-89, and AD139-90.

Theme 4: Maharishi’s Philosophy of Education: Twenty-three (16%) advertisements referred to Maharishi’s philosophy of education or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: education; and Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Maharishi’s philosophy of education forms the theoretical and conceptual basis of the Maharishi Unified Field Based Integrated System of Education [45,46] and is closely aligned to his Absolute Theory of Education [47]. The most detailed description and explanation of Maharishi’s philosophy of education was published in AD113-84 (Bulletin Today, Business Day, Malaya, and five other Manila dailies). In that double-page spread, Maharishi presented the 14 key points of his philosophy as:

1. Maharishi’s philosophy of education is competent to usher in the Age of Enlightenment and structure an ideal society free from problems and suffering in this generation.

2. Maharishi’s philosophy of education calls for higher consciousness through higher education.

3. The human brain is that cosmic computer which can deliver anything through proper programming.

4. All possibilities are latent in the human mind. Through proper education, the individual can be trained to accomplish anything.

5. Maharishi’s concept of a university, which enlivens the field of all knowledge in one human brain, surpasses the age-old concept of a university, which provides all knowledge on one campus.

6. Maharishi’s philosophy of education calls for the protection of the tender human values of student life. It demands that the delicate hearts and minds of the growing generation be protected from the hardships of struggle, strife, controversies, and discordant tendencies in society.

7. The field of knowledge is infinite. No one can gain the knowledge of all disciplines. Therefore, education should be such that it delivers all knowledge in seed form and enlivens the seed of all knowledge to blossom into the fruit of all knowledge.

8. All problems of society can be eliminated through proper education. Proper education should mean training in developing the ability to spontaneously think and act in accordance with the laws of nature.

9. Students can really contribute to the well-being and progress of society students, through their group practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in their classes, can radiate a powerful influence of coherence in national consciousness, which will create a powerful and successful government.

10. Maharishi’s Unified Field Based Integrated System of Education requires the group practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in the classrooms to sharpen the student’s mind for his studies while simultaneously spreading a positive evolutionary influence in the whole environment, thereby neutralising negative tendencies in society born of stress which has been accumulated in the collective consciousness of society through the violation of the laws of nature by the whole population.

11. Maharishi’s philosophy of education calls for educating the people in the science of life and the art of living so that they are fully enlightenedcapable of fulfilling their own interests without jeopardizing the interests of others.

12. Maharishi’s philosophy of higher education calls for developing the full creative potential of the growing youth first and then inviting him for vocational training of his choice.

13. Maharishi philosophy of education practically accomplishes the highest goals of education.

14. The benefits of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field for the individual, the society, the nation, and the world are so great that it will be the highest level of improvement in the educational system in the country to introduce one period a day of the theory and practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field in all levels of education without changing the present structure of education in any way.

Maharishi’s philosophy of education has underpinned the curricula and administration of schools, colleges, institutes, and universities in many countries, including MIU (USA), MERU (Europe), the Maharishi Schools of the Age of Enlightenment primary and secondary school systems in several countries (e.g., UK, USA, and Australia), Maharishi Institutes of Management (India), Maharishi Institute (South Africa), Maharishi University of Information Technology (India), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya (India), and the Maharishi Vidya Mandir primary and secondary school system of about 150 schools throughout India. Other advertisements which detailed ‘Maharishi’s Philosophy of Education’ or its related Maharishi Unified Field Based Integrated System of Education include AD15-82, AD89-84, AD96-84, AD106-84, AD108-84, AD111-84, AD112-84, AD114-84, and AD117-85.

Theme 5: Maharishi’s Solutions to All Problems: Twenty-two (16%) advertisements referred to Maharishi’s solutions to all problems or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: commerce, economics or industry; government or politics; rehabilitation or law; and social change and welfare.

According to AD20-83 (The Nairobi Times and Daily Nation), “The results of ten years of scientific research in all continents have demonstrated that in the ultimate analysis all problems have their basis in the violation of the laws of nature. It is obvious that the existing educational systems in the world today do not educate and train the individual to think and act spontaneously according to natural law. Therefore, the whole population in every country is violating the laws of nature. Violation of natural law must result in stress, problems, and suffering”.

To the Kenyan people and government, Maharishi therefore said “Our ability to apply this scientific knowledge of natural law to raise society above problems is the basis of our inspiration to celebrate the rising sunshine of the Age of Enlightenment” (AD20-83). Thus, the solution to all individual, social, governmental, and environmental problems is to raise the level of coherence in the collective consciousness of a population through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field (AD13-82, The Wall Street Journal and various newspapers). In this advertisement, Maharishi also showed how to break the ‘vicious circle of dependence’ of governments and create a ‘virtuous circle of mutual enrichment’ in the family of nations.

Maharishi’s [48-51] concern for people and solving the problems of stress, suffering and ill-health has been central to his teaching since the late-1950s. At the centre of his teaching on how to solve problems in life is the principle of aligning thinking and action to spontaneously reflect the intelligence and orderliness of Natural Law, the home of all the laws of nature, the Unified Field [52]. Benefits of such an approach to solving problems in other fields and disciplines beyond government, include: education [53,54]; defence [55]; health [56]; rehabilitation [57] (AD93-84 and AD99-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, and six other Manila dailies); agriculture (AD23-83.84 and AD139-90, various newspapers); and business and industry (AD92-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, and six other Manila dailies). Other advertisements which detailed ‘Maharishi’s Solution to All Problems’ include AD3-79, AD9-81, AD22- 83, AD89-84, AD94-84, AD106-84, and AD118-85.

Theme 6: Maharishi Vedic Science: Seventy-four (53%) advertisements referred to Maharishi Vedic Science or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: education; physics, modern science or scientific research; and Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.

The entirety of Maharishi’s teaching is formally called Maharishi Vedic Science. As a consequence, the body of knowledge associated with Vedic Science [58] is well documented and extensively represented in published literature [33,34,59-63].

Maharishi Vedic Science has been described as “the science of Veda. Veda means knowledge. Therefore, my Vedic Science, the science of Veda, is the science of complete knowledge. Knowledge results from the coming together of the knower, the process of knowing, and the object of knowingknowledge blossoms in the togetherness of knower, knowing, and known” [64]. Therefore, “knowledge is the Unified Field of knower, knowing, and known; therefore, my Vedic Science, the science of knowledge, is the science of the Unified Field of knower, knowing, and known. In Vedic terms the Unified Field is called SAṂHITĀ, the knower is called ṚISHI, the process of knowing is called DEVATĀ, and the known is called CHHANDAS; therefore, my Vedic Science, the science of the Unified Field of knower, knowing, and known, is the science of the Saṁhitā of Ṛishi, Devatā, Chhandas. As the Saṁhitā of Ṛishi, Devatā, Chhandas is available to us as Ṛk Veda Saṁhitā, my Vedic Science is the science of Ṛk Veda”.

“Those who practice Transcendental Meditation”, Maharishi goes on to explain, “have the experience that Transcendental Consciousness is unbounded awareness-it is pure wakefulness; it is fully awake within itself; it knows only itself and nothing else. Knowing it only, Transcendental Consciousness is the knower, it is the process of knowing, and also it is the known-it is all three itself-it is the togetherness of the knower, knowing and known. It is the Saṁhitā of Ṛishi, Devatā, Chhandas, therefore my Vedic Science, the science of the Saṁhitā of Ṛishi, Devatā, Chhandas, is the science of Transcendental Consciousness, which is self-referral consciousness or pure consciousness; therefore [my Vedic Science] is the science of the three-in one structure of the most basic element in Nature-the prime mover of life, the field of consciousness or intelligence”.

In this definition, Maharishi explicitly links his Vedic Science to the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program, as well as to other themes, such as discovery of the Unified Field and the following Unified Field based civilisation. In other contexts, he explains the association of his Vedic Science to education, physics, modern science and scientific research, and to physiology and health [e.g., 47,65].

Of particular interest to this study are advertisements AD04-80 and AD05-80 (The Sunday Standard) and AD06-81, AD07-81, and AD08-81 (The Indian Express) because these explain the details of a World Assembly on Vedic Science, held in New Delhi from 5 November to 2 December 1980. According to Maharishi, “This World Assembly is to unfold the full potential of Vedic wisdom to create a powerful influence in world consciousness and give its benefit to the world to eliminate the age-old problems of mankind in this generation” (AD04-80). “Thousands of traditional Vedic Pandits performing their cherished yagyas [Vedic performances to enliven coherence in collective consciousness]”, Maharishi went on to explain, “and thousands of Governors of the Age of Enlightenment during their morning and evening yoga practice [i.e., the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme] are contributing an intense influence of sattva [or influence of positivity] for the entire world’s population to enjoy” (AD04-80). Other advertisements which detailed ‘Maharishi Vedic Science’, include AD23-83.84, AD25-83, AD118-85, AD121- 86, and AD139-90.

Theme 7: Taste of Utopia Assembly: Eighty-six (61%) advertisements referred to the Taste of Utopia Assembly, held at MIU between 17 December 1983 to 6 January 1984, or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: peace, war or conflict; physics, modern science or scientific research; social change or welfare; and Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.

The Assembly was announced in November 1983 and involved the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field by 7000 experts. At this time, Maharishi said “It is fulfilling to proclaim, that with the discovery of the unified field of all the laws of nature by modern science and the development of the technology of the unified field and with the authority and love of the people that every government enjoys in its country there is nothing that cannot be accomplished by sovereign government for its people and there is nothing that cannot be accomplished by the people for their government. Every nation has the chance to create heaven on earth” [24].

Thus, it was predicted the Assembly would be a “unique demonstration of global coherence, originating from one place and reaching all parts of the world, [and] will inspire governments to follow this example in their own countries and create a group of experts in the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field so that negative trends do not arise in the country, law and order are spontaneously maintained, and administration becomes simple, effective, free from problems, and free from the elements of fear and punishment. Real freedom will be enjoyed by the people and by the government” (AD23-83.84, various newspapers).

A series of 61 advertisements collectively titled “Today’s Taste of Utopia- (Date)” appeared between 19 December 1983 and 12 January 1984 in The Daily Telegraph (e.g., AD42-83, AD45-83, AD50-83, and AD87-84) The Statesman and The Hindustan Times (e.g., AD35-83, AD37-83, AD39-83, and AD43-83), The Times (e.g., AD49-83, AD54-83, AD57-83, and AD62-84), and The Washington Post (e.g., AD25-83, AD26-83, AD40-83, and AD64- 83). These advertisements documented national and international outcomes of the Assembly on a daily basis from the perspective of ‘world events’, and were summarised in AD88-84 (various newspapers) in an advertisement titled “World Press Reports: Documenting the Reality of the Global Taste of Utopia”. The Assembly was also the subject of a large volume titled “A Global Taste of Utopia: Success of the Assembly of 7000 Experts in the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field” [34].

Findings related to outcomes of the Taste of Utopia Assembly were organised into categories such as: increased harmony in international relations; greater national strength and unity; increased freedom and tolerance; indications of worldwide economic recovery; expressions of heads of state indicating rising strength and coherence in national and world consciousness; decreased negative trends-increased positive trends; increased balance in nature: stabilizing of world weather patterns; major discoveries of natural resources; and important scientific breakthroughs (AD88-84).

Some of the notable empirical quantitative findings linking the Assembly to salutary global outcomes included: an increase in progress made by heads of state in reversing negative trends and in accelerating positive trends (p=.02); a shift of events in world trouble-spots towards greater positivity as measured by the International Conflict Scale (p=.002); increased progress towards peaceful resolution of the Lebanese conflict (p=.006); increase in 19 world stock markets (p=.0001); and a decrease in U.S. highway traffic fatalities (p=.0001), crime (p=.000002), and notifiable diseases (p=.0001) [66,67].

Some of the notable empirical qualitative findings linking the Assembly to global outcomes included: increased harmony in international relations as reported in The Times on 29 December 1983, which said relations between then East Germany and West Germany “seem to be brighter than for many years… after…extraordinary momentum in strengthening links”; greater national unity as reported in The Washington Post on 26 December 1983 which said “the President [Ronald Reagan] is riding a tide of good feeling” and TIME magazine called President Reagan and Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov “Men of the Year”; increased freedom and tolerance when steps were taken to recognise and restore the rights of minorities in Hungary, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Uganda, and Sri Lanka; and indications of rising coherence in world consciousness when China Premier Zhao Ziyan said on 25 December 1983 “a new world war can be prevented so long as all peace-loving people unite for world peace” and when Premier Andropov said on 26 December 1983 “People have been working with greater desire. In general a change for the better in the national economy has begun to show. The most important thing now is to not lose tempo and the generally positive intent to get things going” (AD88-84, various newspapers).

In conclusion, President Reagan said on 6 January 1984 “all of us can look forward to 1984 with even more confidence” (AD88-84, various newspapers). Other advertisements which detailed the ‘Taste of Utopia Assembly’ include AD25-83, AD26-83, AD27-83, AD28-83, AD29-83, AD85-84, and AD87-84.

Theme 8: Unified Field Based Civilisation: Twenty-three (16%) advertisements referred to ‘Unified Field Based Civilisation’ or was the main focus of them. The primary content areas linked to this theme were: physics, modern science or scientific research; social change or welfare; and Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program.

The theme of a Unified Field based civilisation, also referred to as ‘Ideal Civilisation on Earth’ (AD23-83.84, various newspapers), is closely aligned to Maharishi’s teaching on the creation of ‘Heaven on Earth’ [e.g., 68,69, and AD129-88, various newspapers], and represents the culmination of all knowledge content in the advertisements during this period. A Unified Field based civilisation is characterised as a “disease-free, problem-free peaceful world family” and creates a “pollution-free, healthy environment” (AD129-88).

At the First World Assembly of Unified Field Based Civilization, inaugurated on 19 August 1984 in Manila, it was declared that “Over one thousand Governors of the Age of Enlightenment-experts in the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field-are arriving from all over the world to participate in this grand national festival, which has been inspired by the enthusiastic response of the people of the Philippines to the knowledge of the unified field presented here [i.e., in Manila] during the past five weeks” (AD101-84, Bulletin Today, Business Day, Malaya, and five other newspapers).

Maharishi explained that “with increasing stress in society, widespread environmental pollution and the emergence of new life-threatening diseases every individual’s health and well-being is being challenged. Furthermore, with the rise of terrorism and the threat of nuclear war brought about by the dangerous rivalry of the superpowers the very existence of everyone is at stake” (AD129-88). To counteract these unhealthy tendencies, “what is urgently needed is to neutralize stress in world consciousness [through the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field]. However, political efforts are not succeeding and religious endeavours are equally ineffective” (AD129-88).

Maharishi’s plan to create Heaven on Earth is presented in AD134-90 (96 newspapers, including The Economist, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Sydney Morning Herald, Financial Times, and The Guardian). The advertisement is dominated by the diagram outlining the “reconstruction of the whole world” according to two strategies: glorification of inner life; and glorification of outer life. Elements of ‘inner life’ include “development of higher state of consciousness, blossoming of noble qualities and bliss, and gaining support of nature from within—happiness, peace, and fulfilling progress through Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program, the practical aspect of Maharishi’s Vedic Science. Elements of ‘outer life’ include building ideal villages, towns and cities, creating a global green revolution, achieving ideal education through Maharishi’s Vedic Science and achieving perfect health through Maharishi Ayur-Veda. Other advertisements which detailed ‘Unified Field-Based Civilisation’ and Heaven on Earth include AD130- 88, AD135-90, AD136-90, and AD139-90.

Discussion and Conclusion

The research questions posited for this study have been answered. For RQ1-What are the main sources of Maharishi’s advertisements, when and where were they issued, which newspapers published the advertisements, and what were the general content areas covered by the advertisements, we can report: based on data from the MIU archive, Maharishi issued 140 advertisements between 1977 and 1991 under the name of 26 different organisations, and these advertisements were published in every global region by a total of 153 different major and minor newspapers and magazines, including Bulletin Today, Newsweek, The Economist, The Daily Telegraph, The Indian Express, The New York Times, The Times, The Washington Post, TIME, and 144 other publications. Many advertisements were simultaneously published in multiple newspapers, resulting in a total of 793 individual impressions. The 140 advertisements included 108 direct quotations, many by Maharishi, and covered nine different content areas.

For RQ2-What are the main themes discussed in advertisements issued by Maharishi and hence what were his main messages to the world, we can answer: there were nine themes identified in the 140 advertisements, including discovery of the Unified Field, Maharishi Ayur-Veda, Maharishi’s philosophy of education, Taste of Utopia Assembly, and Unified Field based civilization. Overwhelmingly, Maharishi’s combined message can be summarized in his own words as: “The Vedic programme [including my Technology of the Unified Field] is purifying world consciousness and creating an evolutionary influence by enlivening natural law so that life everywhere on earth is evolutionary for everyone and health, happiness, peace, and prosperity reign in society” (AD04-80, The Sunday Standard).

Although newspaper advertising, particularly display advertising, has historically been associated with the sale of products and services, its association with advocacy and change is not uncommon [22]. However, the confluence of knowledge content, advocacy, and newspaper advertising for the communication of advanced themes in Vedic Science to produce salutary change in human interactions and relationships that help transform cultural, political, and social institutions is unique, and Maharishi’s use of newspaper display advertising to make direct appeals to both the general public and to world leaders also appears exceptional.

For example, Maharishi’s use of display advertising in The Washington Post in “Maharishi’s Message to President Bush” (AD140-91, Figure 6 (AD141- 91), 16 January 1991) and the “Open Letter to President Bush” from “Oneand- a-Half Million Americans Who Have Learned the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field” (AD136-90, 9 April 1990) is remarkable for its forthrightness and offer of help. In the former, Maharishi presciently pointed out to President Bush (and to the world) that “military action and destruction in the Gulf will not stop the birth of aggression in the world in the future” but that a group of “7,000 Yogic Flyers [i.e., experts who practice the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field]-will end once and for all the birth of aggression in the world”.

In the latter, it was revealed to President Bush that “Throughout this week, from April 8 to 15, five thousand of us are meeting at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa” and “Every time we have held such assemblies we have been gratified to see life in this country improve”. The open letter goes on to disclose that “Stock markets have gone up, and disease, accident, and crime rates have gone down. All around the world, conflicts have abated and nations have made significant progress towards peace and freedom” as a result of these assemblies. In this study we have introduced published evidence to support these conclusions. The peer-reviewed research findings from 600+ studies on these and other impacts of Maharishi Vedic Science can be found in Dillbeck MC, et al. [70-72].

Nevertheless, further work on these and other newspaper advertisements by Maharishi is possible. Viewing advertisements through the theoretical lens of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of public service announcements and environmental, political, and health advertising would aid interpretation of meaning and determine how persuasive Maharishi’s advocacy messages have been. For example, this study has not sought to understand how ELM’s central processing and peripheral processing routes relate to these advertisements [22]. Central route processing requires “a greater investment of mental effort or elaboration in considering the worthiness of a message and relevance—and attitudinal impacts from this route are shown in many studies to be stronger, more enduring, and more predictive of future behavior” while peripheral route processing “provides a short-cut of sorts for individuals to make quick assessments of a situation without much elaboration—relying instead on cues that are external from the message such as source credibility or the reaction of others” [22]. How these approaches to processing Maharishi’s message have yet to be examined, but would provide greater understanding of effectiveness of his message and the ways he chose to communicate it.

In the same way that Dawson MS [1] maintained newspaper advertisements allow us to hear the ‘word on the street’, so too do these advertisements allow us to hear what Maharishi thought about government, politics, education, healthcare and the innumerable systems which governed and guided society in the late twentieth century. But most importantly, they provide an alternative view of, along with practical advice and tangible solutions to, many of the world’s modern ills.

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