Answers to frequently asked questions

Please click on the question below for answers to questions often asked by charter school developers (including parents, educators, and philanthropists) about the Consciousness-Based education program.

What exactly is Consciousness-Based education?
Consciousness-Based education is education that develops the consciousness or intelligence of the student—the knower—and awakens the student’s unlimited creative potential. Students need more than just information, they need to have the knowledge and technology to develop their inner intelligence, the basis of their success in learning, achievement, and happiness and in life. Consciousness-Based education systematically develops the total functioning of the brain through the Transcendental Meditation technique.

What is the Transcendental Meditation technique?
Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practiced for 15–20 minutes in the morning and evening, while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. During this technique, the individual mind settles down to transcend all mental activity and experience the simplest form of awareness, Transcendental Consciousness; the field of energy, creativity, and intelligence that lies deep within everyone.

By enlivening this most basic level of life, the Transcendental Meditation technique is that one simple procedure which can raise the life of every individual and society to its full dignity, in which problems are absent and perfect health, happiness, and a rapid pace of progress are the natural features of life.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is systematic and scientific, requiring neither specific beliefs nor adoption of a particular lifestyle. The practice does not involve any effort or concentration. The benefits of the technique are confirmed by hundreds of scientific research studies and by the experiences of people of all ages, educational backgrounds, cultures, and religions in countries throughout the world.

How is the Transcendental Meditation technique used in the school?
The Transcendental Meditation technique is easy to learn and practice, and does not involve any beliefs, concentration, or lifestyle change. Students sit comfortably with eyes closed for a few minutes at the beginning and end of the school day.

During the practice, the mind settles and becomes increasingly peaceful, wakeful, and alert, while the body gains a deep state of rest. This experience of restful alertness enlivens the total brain, and prepares body and mind for optimal learning and success in school, and for dynamic activity and harmonious relationships.

The wide range of cognitive, psychological, and physiological benefits from the practice have been extensively validated by over 600 scientific research studies, conducted at more than 200 universities around the world during the past 30 years. For a brief review of some of the research results most important for the educational process, please click here.

Is the CBE program non-sectarian?
Yes, the CBE program is non-sectarian. More than 40 years of experience and over 600 scientific research studies in over 250 schools around the world have shown this non-sectarian program to improve educational outcomes, reduce stress and antisocial behavior, increase creativity and intelligence, and unfold the inner happiness of students and teachers of all cultural and educational backgrounds.

What kind of curriculum is used in Consciousness-Based education?
In addition to the school’s curriculum, students study the Natural Law curriculum; an interdisciplinary course in which students explore universal principles of natural law, and thereby discover patterns of order and growth in their own daily life, in the lives of great men and women, and in the natural world. They learn that the “unified field” of natural law—described by physics as giving rise to all the diversity, order, and harmony in the universe, can be experienced as the simplest, most wakeful level of their own awareness—Transcendental Consciousness. This study, together with the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique, enables students to understand and systematically develop their unlimited potential and their connection to everything in the universe.

What curriculum should we use in a new charter school?
This decision would be up to the founders of the school. We would suggest you consider adopting the curriculum of the school district in which you are starting the new charter school. This together with the CBE program will provide ideal education for the children in your area.

How is this program implemented in a new public charter school?
The Consciousness-Based education program is easily integrated into any public school setting, without making extensive changes to the existing curriculum or schedule. The program has three features:

• Transcendental Meditation program
  Professionally trained instructors teach this technique to school faculty, then to the students, after which the faculty supervise the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique in class for 10 to 15 minutes twice daily.


• Natural Law curriculum (optional)
  In addition to the Transcendental Meditation technique, the Natural Law curriculum may be taught at least once per week. In age-appropriate language it presents universal principles —natural laws—which the students find common to all academic subjects and to their own experience as their creative intelligence develops.


• Teacher preparation
  In-service programs are provided to prepare teachers to teach this curriculum.

For More Information
For more information on how to establish a new charter or private school that utilizes the Consciousness-Based education program in your area, please fill out and submit the following form.