![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/St.-John.png\" "\\"St.")
Born near Avila, Juan de Yepes \u00c1lvarez entered the Carmelite order when he was 21 and moved to Salamanca, in western Spain, where he studied philosophy and theology at the university there. At 25 he was ordained a priest. <\/p>\n
Around this time he met St. Teresa of \u00c1vila, who inspired him with her work in reforming the Carmelite order, seeking to restore its original contemplative character. St. John worked with her for the next ten years, establishing and helping administer monasteries around Spain. <\/p>\n
A group of his superiors, trying to counter their efforts, jailed him when he was 35. Though a higher Carmelite authority approved his work, he was imprisoned for nine months and treated harshly. Out of his tiny cell came his most famous work, The Spiritual Canticle<\/em>. After nine months he escaped and continued his work. He was canonized in 1726, and in 1926 he was made a doctor of the church, the highest honor.<\/p>\n In his writings, St. John describes experiences that remind us of transcending \u2014 the experience during Transcendental Meditation practice of the mind settling inward, beyond thought and perception, to a state of quiet inner wakefulness and deep peace. <\/p>\n St. John compares this experience to waking up:<\/p>\n [The soul] is moved and awakened from the sleep of natural vision to supernatural vision. Hence [one] very adequately uses the term \u201cawakening.\u201d [1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n St. John <\/p><\/div>\n He goes on: <\/p>\n His soul in its simplicity and purity will then be immediately transformed into simple and pure Wisdom. [2] <\/p><\/blockquote>\n The restfully alert state naturally elicited by the Transcendental Meditation technique is a fourth major state of consciousness, beyond the familiar states of waking, dreaming, and sleeping. Maharishi calls it Transcendental Consciousness and describes it as a state of knowingness<\/em>, the experience of pure knowledge<\/em>, consciousness aware of itself alone \u2014 \u201cpure Wisdom,\u201d in St. John\u2019s words.<\/p>\n In The Spiritual Canticle<\/em>, St. John tells us that though it is ultimately beyond words, it is a state of refreshing bliss in which the soul (consciousness) is unified with itself:<\/p>\n “So little of this is describable that we would never succeed in fully explaining what takes place in the soul that has reached this happy state…<\/p>\n [T]his sweetness takes such an inward hold on her that nothing painful can reach her…<\/p>\n [T]his song is so charming it enraptures and enamors its hearers and makes them forget all things as though they were in a transport. Similarly the delight of this union absorbs the soul within herself and gives her such refreshment.” [3]\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In The Ascent of Mount Carmel<\/em>, St. John describes another benefit of this experience:<\/p>\n This knowledge savors of the divine essence and of eternal life. . . . St. John<\/p><\/div>\n The deeply restful state of Transcendental Consciousness gives the body the opportunity to dissolve stress with exceptional efficiency. At the same time, the mind has settled into in its source, pure consciousness, a field of infinite creativity and intelligence.<\/p>\n St. John gives us his most extended description of this experience in his poem \u201cStanzas Concerning an Ecstasy Experienced in High Contemplation.\u201d He closes each stanza with the phrase transcending all knowledge<\/em>. By this he means going beyond anything that can be known intellectually by the mind \u2014 transcending all thought, all mental content.<\/p>\n I entered into unknowing That perfect knowledge I was so whelmed, He who truly arrives there And this supreme knowledge And if you should want to hear: St. John describes a state in which his senses have turned within, leaving his consciousness \u201cin profound solitude,\u201d awake and alone by itself. In this state of \u201cperfect knowledge,\u201d of \u201cpeace and holiness,\u201d all other knowledge \u201cnow seems worthless.\u201d Here again St. John\u2019s words parallel Maharishi\u2019s description of Transcendental Consciousness.<\/p>\n St. John of the Cross treasured this experience \u2014 nothing was more valuable. It was the source of his spiritual strength and ultimately his greatness.<\/p>\n St. John of the Cross<\/p><\/div>\n We are fortunate today in having a simple, natural, effortless procedure, the Transcendental Meditation technique, that enables anyone to have the beautiful experience of transcending described by St. John of the Cross, also by St. Teresa of Avila, and by so many other great figures across time and across the world. <\/p>\n The Transcendental Meditation technique is not a religious practice. People of every religion and cultural background practice it \u2014 and often find that the resulting growth of consciousness deepens their appreciation of the true meaning of their religion. This in addition to the countless other benefits documented in more than 650 scientific research studies \u2014 increasingly integrated brain functioning, increased creativity and intelligence and moral maturity, improved health and well-being, balanced personality development, warmer personal relationships, and much more. <\/p>\n Every person on earth has the natural ability to transcend, to experience this fourth major state of consciousness and enjoy the multitude of benefits it brings. The experience of transcending is natural and universal and profoundly valuable. Thanks to Maharishi, there is now a simple technique that opens the door to this inner treasury to everyone.<\/p>\n REFERENCES ————————————————-<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/strong><\/a> He holds a PhD in Maharishi Vedic Science from MUM and is the author of two books on the development of full human potential, The Complete Book of Yogic Flying<\/em><\/a> and The Supreme Awakening: Developing the Infinite Potential Within<\/em> (forthcoming). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Born near Avila, Juan de Yepes \u00c1lvarez entered the Carmelite order when he was 21 and moved to Salamanca, in western Spain, where he studied philosophy and theology at the university there. At 25 he was ordained a priest. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,123],"class_list":["post-7314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditation","tag-consciousness","tag-enlightenment-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/st-john-3.png\" "\\"St.")
\nSome of these divine touches produced in the substance of the soul are so enriching that one of them would be sufficient not only to remove definitively all the imperfections which the soul would have been unable to eradicate through its entire life, but also to fill it with virtues and blessings from God. [4]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/St.-John-4.png\" "\\"St.")
\nYet when I saw myself there
\nWithout knowing where I was
\nI understood great things;
\nI shall not say what I felt
\nFor I remained in unknowing
\nTranscending all knowledge.<\/p>\n
\nWas of peace and holiness
\nHeld at no remove
\nIn profound solitude;
\nIt was something so secret
\nThat I was left stammering,
\nTranscending all knowledge.<\/p>\n
\nSo absorbed and withdrawn,
\nThat my senses were left
\nDeprived of all their sensing,
\nAnd my spirit was given
\nAn understanding while not understanding,
\nTranscending all knowledge.<\/p>\n
\nCuts free from himself;
\nAll that he knew before
\nNow seems worthless,
\nAnd his knowledge so soars
\nThat he is left in unknowing
\nTranscending all knowledge.
\n.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002.\u2002\u2002\u2002
\nThis knowledge in unknowing
\nIs so overwhelming
\nThat wise men disputing
\nCan never overthrow it,
\nFor their knowledge does not reach
\nTo the understanding of not understanding,
\nTranscending all knowledge.<\/p>\n
\nIs so exalted
\nThat no power of man or learning
\nCan grasp it;
\nHe who masters himself
\nWill, with knowledge in unknowing,
\nAlways be transcending.<\/p>\n
\nThis highest knowledge lies
\nIn the loftiest sense
\nOf the essence of God;
\nThis is a work of His mercy,
\nTo leave one without understanding,
\nTranscending all knowledge. [5]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/St.-John-5.png\" "\\"St.")
\n[1] The Living Flame of Love<\/em>, 4:6.
\n[2] The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross<\/em>, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez (1964; reprint, Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1973), 149.
\n[3] Collected Works<\/em>, 494.
\n[4] Collected Works<\/em>, 195.
\n[5] Collected Works<\/em>, 718\u2013719.<\/p>\n![\"Craig](\"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Pearson-Thumb.jpg\" "\\"Pearson-Thumb\\"")
<\/a><\/strong>Dr. Craig Pearson<\/strong> is Executive Vice-President of Maharishi University of Management<\/a> in Fairfield, Iowa. He has served the University in a variety of roles over the past 33 years, including Dean of Faculty, Dean of Students, Director of Maharishi University of Management Press, Director of Freshman Composition, and Professor of Professional Writing.<\/p>\n