Thomas Traherne, a seventeenth-century poet and religious writer, has both enchanted and baffled readers since the discovery of his unpublished manuscripts at the turn of this century. He has been praised for the utter simplicity and originality of his "poems of Felicity" and his prose meditations, titled Centuries of Meditations. However, the basis of the coherent wholeness that some literary critics have sensed his works possess has not been adequately explained, and, as a result, his achievement has not been fully valued.

What has been missing from Traherne studies is a proper understanding of the all-important role that his conception of Felicity plays in his works. Felicity is an experience of "Highest Bliss," according to Traherne, essential to a life of excellence. His aim is to impress upon his reader the soul's transcendent power and beauty through recounting his own "Entrance and Progress" in Felicity, complemented by his reflections upon the transforming nature of the experience.

Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology, the most comprehensive science of consciousness available today, makes possible a new and more complete reading of Traherne. Traherne's detailed descriptions of Felicity suggest parallels with the higher states of consciousness identified and explained by Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology. Seen in this light, Traherne's texts take on new clarity and order.

Part 1

• Introduction: Thomas Traherne and Higher States of Consciousness

Part 2

• Traherne and the Inductive Method
  
• Centuries of Meditations

Part 3

• The Dobell Poems
  
• Traherne's Experience of Felicity

Part 4

• Traherne's Understanding of Felicity
  
• Felicity: Experience and Understanding
  
• Conclusion.

Sweet Infancy!
O fire of Heaven! O Sacred Light!
How Fair and Bright!
How Great am I,
Whom all the World doth magnify!
O Heavenly Joy!
O Great and Sacred Blessedness,
Which I possess!
So great a Joy
Who did into my Arms convey!
From GOD above
Being sent, the Heavens me enflame (sic),
To praise his Name.
The Stars do move!
The Burning Sun doth show his Love.
O how Divine
Am I! To all this Sacred Wealth,
This Life and Health,
Who raised? Who mine
Did make the same? What Hand Divine!
("The Rapture")

Traherne's experiences have remained a stumbling block to a full critical evaluation of his importance as a writer for, as one exasperated critic has noted, after the initial excitement at the discovery of the Traherne manuscripts had worn off, "most critics seemed at a loss what to do with him" (Jordan, 1972, p. 3).-2- His conception of Felicity was summarily labeled "mystical," though some critics charged that it lacked "the profound effort and suffering" -3- which they mistakenly believed to be a prerequisite for attaining higher states of consciousness. It was further alleged in a major literary history that "Neither as Christian nor as philosopher does Traherne seem quite mature [for] a large element of facile, expansive, emotional optimism [mars his writing]," and, additionally, that his work is characterized by an "incoherent diffuseness" (Bush, 1962, p. 158).

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Vedic Science, which includes comprehensive and systematic technologies for investigating consciousness, can contribute significantly to current scholarship on Traherne by providing a scientific approach for interpreting his accounts of the state of Felicity. Maharishi (1972) identifies four higher states of consciousness, distinct from the familiar waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states. They are transcendental consciousness (TC), cosmic consciousness (CC), refined cosmic consciousness or God consciousness (GC), and unity consciousness (UC) (pp. 23-3 to 23-10). These more developed states of consciousness, which unfold through the regular practice of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation technique and the more advanced TM-Sidhi program, exhibit the following psycho-physiological characteristics.

Transcendental consciousness, a fourth state of consciousness, is described by Maharishi (1967):

When the mind transcends during transcendental meditation, the metabolism reaches its lowest point; so does the process of breathing, and the nervous system gains a state of restful alertness, which, on the physical level, corresponds to the state of bliss-consciousness, or transcendent Being. (p. 173)

Scientific research has shown this state of restful alertness to be a unique state of consciousness (Wallace, 1986, pp. 56-72). Transcendental consciousness results when, during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique, the attention turns "inwards toward the subtler levels of a thought until the mind transcends the experience of the subtlest state of the thought and arrives at the source of thought" (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1967, p. 470). In Maharishi's terms, the source of thought is a state of transcendental "pure" consciousness--also known as the state of "unbounded awareness" (1972, p. 6-4), "the least excitation of consciousness" (1980, p. 5), "Self-consciousness," samadhi (1967, p. 144)--which Maharishi (1986) identifies as the direct experience of the "self-referral," self-interacting field of transcendental consciousness, which is the home of all the laws of nature, the basis not only of individual life, but of everything in the outer, objective world (p. 31). In transcendental consciousness, the mind identifies with this "self-referral state of consciousness," which "while remaining uninvolved with the creative process in nature, is an infinitely dynamic, inexhaustible source of energy, and creativity" (p. 30), a field of infinite bliss (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1967, pp. 424-425).

Maharishi (1967) explains that pure consciousness grows in the awareness through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation, alternated with dynamic activity. When this infusion is fully developed, cosmic consciousness, a fifth state of consciousness, is naturally gained (p. 173). As Maharishi describes:

This gradual and systematic culture of the physical nervous system creates a physiological situation in which the two states of consciousness exist together simultaneously. It is well known that there exist in the nervous system many autonomous levels of function, between which a system of coordination also exists. In the state of cosmic consciousness, two different levels of organization in the nervous system function simultaneously while maintaining their separate identities. By virtue of this anatomical separation of function, it becomes possible for transcendental consciousness to coexist with the waking state of consciousness and with the dreaming and sleeping states of consciousness. (p. 314)

In the state of cosmic consciousness, ". . . the mind has been transformed into bliss-consciousness . . ." (p. 150). Bliss is experienced throughout all activities, even sleeping and dreaming. Maharishi clarifies that in this state of twenty-four hours of bliss each day, in which transcendental consciousness naturally coexists with the waking state, the individual becomes aware of his or her Self as "separate from activity" (p. 307):

Because in this state the mind has become transformed into bliss-consciousness, Being [pure consciousness] is permanently lived as separate from activity. Then a man realizes that his Self is different from the mind which is engaged with thoughts and desires. It is now his experience that the mind, which had been identified with desires, is mainly identified with the Self [pure consciousness]. (pp. 150-151)

needs to be cultured further so that these two levels, which function independently, come to function in an integrated manner. This will give rise to a state of consciousness in which the sense of separation between the Self and activity is dissolved . . . (p. 315)

The bridging of the gulf between the Self and activity "is a natural process, free from effort" (p. 210) and is brought about "on the physiological level . . . by a mental activity of ultimate refinement" (p. 315), which is "the activity of devotion" (p. 211). The sixth state of consciousness, refined cosmic consciousness, begins to grow as the heart, which has become established in unbounded joy in the state of cosmic consciousness,

begins to draw everything together and eliminate the gulf of separation between the Self and activity . . . . The intensity of this Union cultures man's consciousness, which begins to find everything inseparable from the Self; and this is how, in the most natural manner, the Self, which held Its identity as separate from all activity in the state of cosmic consciousness, finds everything in Itself. This happens on the way to God-consciousness, which in its completeness absorbs even the Self, containing all things. (p. 307)

In this glorified state of consciousness, characterized by the most refined appreciation of objects of perception, the duality of Self and activity finds itself pervaded by universal love (pp. 213-214).

In the seventh state of consciousness, unity consciousness, the individual, whose nervous system is now at its optimal level of functioning, spontaneously experiences all objects of perception as expressions of the Self. Maharishi (1972) states that the seventh state of consciousness could be called "the unified state of consciousness," because in this state,

the ultimate value of the object, infinite and unmanifest, is made lively when the conscious mind, being lively in the unbounded value of awareness, falls on the object. . . .

In this unified state of consciousness, the experiencer and the object of experience have both been brought to the same level of infinite value and this encompasses the entire phenomenon of perception and action as well. (p. 23-9)

This is a state of full enlightenment in which "all the diversified structures of knowledge and all the activities, performances, behavior, interchanges, and exchanges" are "all lively in one unity consciousness" (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1986, p. 34). In this most all-encompassing state, everything within one's field of perception is experienced in its fullest possible value as nothing other than one's own Self.

Maharishi (1967) emphasizes that the higher states of consciousness, which are made accessible to any individual through the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program, are natural states of human development (p. 133). Correspondingly, Alexander, Boyer, and Alexander (1987) propose "that the sequence of higher states of consciousness described in Maharishi's Vedic Psychology represents the natural continuation of human development beyond the stage of adult formal operations." They note that

These exalted states are not mystical in the sense of being momentary experiences which are inherently ineffable or incomprehensible, but may reflect a developmental level of subtlety and comprehensiveness that goes beyond the level which can be readily appreciated within the boundaries of ordinary adult thought. (p. 91)

Their proposal is founded upon the impressive body of scientific research, surveyed in the article, which has been conducted on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and the development of higher states of consciousness over the last twenty years. (For more information, see below on pp. 147-148.)

Literature from around the world suggests that individuals throughout history seem to have had glimpses of these higher states of consciousness.-4- Thomas Traherne is a case in point, for his canon contains evocative descriptions of an unbounded state of awareness which strongly resembles descriptions of transcendental consciousness in Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology. The following passage from Select Meditations (Traherne, circa 1660-1665), a Traherne manuscript which was not discovered until 1964 and is still unpublished ( Day, 1982, p.131), -5- will serve as an example:

[W]ere nothing made but a Naked Soul, it would See nothing out of it Self. [F]or Infinite Space would be seen within it. And being all sight it would feel it self as it were running parallel with it. And that truly in an Endless manner, because it could not be conscious of any Limits: nor feel it self present in one Center more than another. This is an infinite sweet mystery: to them that have Taste [sic] it. (III. 27)

Traherne's thought-experiment depicts a state of pure awareness in which the mind is experienced in and of itself. In such a state the unbounded nature of the mind, or "Naked Soul," becomes readily apparent. It is perceived to be spreading infinitely in all directions, unaware of any limits. He compares this experience of inner unboundedness to endless sight: sight extending through space with nothing to stop it. (Similarly, in Select Meditations he describes his soul as "An extensive & Immaterial Being, which is Like an Indivisible Atom without Bulk, all eye and sight" II. 92). The content of Traherne's "meditation" parallels the "self-referral state of awareness" described by Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology as the direct experience of the "self-interacting field of transcendental consciousness" (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1986, p. 31):

When consciousness is flowing out into the field of thoughts and activity, it identifies itself with many things, and this is how experience takes place. Consciousness coming back onto itself gains an integrated state, because consciousness in itself is completely integrated. This is pure consciousness, or transcendental consciousness. (p. 25)

Traherne's concept of Felicity bears a marked resemblance to this state of inner fullness, as also attested to by another entry in the Select Meditations, which records one of his most personal and explicit accounts of the experience of Felicity:

This Endless Comprehension of my Immortal Soul when I first saw it, so wholly Ravished and Transported my spirit, that for a fortnight after I could scarcely Think or speak or write of any other Thing. But Like a man Doting with Delight and Ecstasy, Talk of it Night and Day as if all the Joy of Heaven and Earth were Shut up in it. . . . There I saw the foundation of man[']s Excellency, and that which made Him a Son of God. Nor ever shall I be able to forget its Glory. (IV. 3)

This "meditation" evidently preserves one of Traherne's most dramatic experiences of bliss ("[it] so wholly Ravished and Transported my spirit") as the essential nature of the mind. He characterizes it as a state of unbounded awareness ("Endless Compre-hension"), a direct participation in the "soul's" or self's transcendental or "Immortal" nature. Maharishi (1967) describes transcendental consciousness similarly as the basis of profound bliss:

The bliss of this state eliminates the possibility of any sorrow, great or small. . . . No sorrow can enter bliss consciousness, nor can bliss consciousness know any gain greater than itself. This state of self-sufficiency leaves one steadfast in oneself, fulfilled in eternal contentment. (p. 424)

Maharishi clarifies the relationship of this state to ordinary experience by distinguishing between a "lower self" and a "higher Self." The former is "that aspect of the personality which deals only with the relative aspect of existence. It comprises the mind that thinks, the intellect that decides, the ego that experiences." The "higher Self," on the other hand, is "that aspect of the personality which never changes, absolute Being [pure consciousness], which is the very basis of the entire field of relativity, including the lower self" (p. 339).

The existence of an inner unbounded Self, which Traherne seems to be referring to by his use of the term "soul," is the cornerstone of his philosophy (Balakier, 1988). Its experience locates or is associated with a state he names Felicity. Felicity is Traherne's word for infinite happiness. Why, it may be wondered, was Traherne such a blissful person, as the testimony of contemporaries seems to corroborate, -6-and why did he write such blissful poems? The basis of his profound experiences of happiness, as will be substantiated more fully in the body of this essay, may be explained from the perspective of Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology as the result of deep experiences of subtle values of the mind, including the source of thought--transcendental consciousness--a state of pure, unbounded silence. Maharishi (1967) explains that as an individual grows into higher states of consciousness through the alternation of transcending and daily activity, unbounded transcendental consciousness begins to move and thereby enlivens bliss in activity (p. 184). The overwhelming bliss Traherne claimed repeatedly that he experienced in activity would be consistent with descriptions, in Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology, of the growth of higher states of consciousness based upon repeated exposure to transcendental consciousness.

Traherne pledges himself to the task of revealing Felicity, this "foundation" of human excellence, to others at the beginning of each of his most prized works, namely the Centuries of Meditations, and the Dobell Folio poem sequence. In Century I. 4, for example, he assures his friend and supposed fellow-member of a local "religious family," Susanna Hopton (Wade, 1944/1969, p. 82), that he will teach her "profitable wonders," and lead her "into Paths Plain and Familiar. . . . [where] nothing appear but Contentment and Thanksgiving," pure contentment being one of Traherne's many designations for Felicity. Similarly, in "The Author to the Critical Peruser," a prologue to the Dobell series of poems, Traherne boldly promises:

At that we aim; to th'end thy Soul might see
With open Eyes thy Great Felicity,
Its Objects view, and trace the glorious Way
Whereby thou may'st thy Highest Bliss enjoy.

(ll. 6-10)

Traherne's statement that Felicity can be seen "with open Eyes" and "has objects," if taken literally, may imply that he has experienced not only transcendental consciousness, in which pure silent bliss is experienced within, but also higher states of consciousness, which involves refined and therefore blissful sensory perception as well.

Traherne, it should be noted, did not have access to an effective, effortless technique like Transcendental Meditation for gaining enlightenment. In Centuries of Meditations he comes perhaps his closest to recommending a procedure which he seems to believe will gently encourage the flowering of inner bliss. He advises the reader to simply feel the Self's, or "soul's," "Incomparable Excellency" and "let all your Affections extend to the Endless Wideness " (II. 92). This directive presupposes that the mind has the innate ability, when allowed to follow its single strongest inclination, to become unbounded. This "Principle of Nature," as Traherne calls its, appears to parallel the concept in Vedic Science which Maharishi (1963) refers to as the "natural tendency" of the mind:

To go to a field of greater happiness is the natural tendency of the mind. Because in the practice of Transcendental Meditation the conscious mind is set on its way to transcending and experiencing transcendental, absolute Being [pure consciousness], whose nature is bliss-consciousness, the mind finds that the way is increasingly attractive as it advances in the direction of bliss. . . . The mind is charmed and is led to experience transcendental Being [pure consciousness]. (p. 49)

Traherne's recommendation for stimulating and strengthening the presence of Felicity in the mind by allowing the feelings to "extend to the Endless Wideness" seems to be grounded in this same realization that the mind is already drawn to unbounded happiness--in fact, that it was designed to experience it. But without a reliable technique for fostering the growth of consciousness in the individual, his well-intended goal to actually show his reader "with Open Eyes thy Great Felicity" could only be a limited, though inspiring, endeavor.

Still, consideration of Traherne's writings in the light of Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology and the research on consciousness alluded to above can, I believe, open to view the great subtlety as well as the coherent wholeness that his biographer, Gladys I. Wade, sensed his works possessed, but that has always eluded Traherne specialists (Wade, 1944/1969, p. 144). Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology provides detailed descriptions of the characteristics of higher states of consciousness that naturally evolve with regular experience of pure consciousness and the refinement of the human nervous system that accompanies and supports this experience. Maharishi has also brought to light and systematized mental techniques from Vedic Science that allow anyone to verify these descriptions on the basis of one's own experience. With over three million individuals in the world practicing these techniques, a substantial empirical base verifying these experiences has been established (see, for instance, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 1976, pp. 75-79 or Maharishi's Programme to Create World Peace: Global Inauguration, 1987, pp. 570-571).

Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology thus makes it possible to interpret Traherne's poems not simply as exaggerated metaphor, but as descriptions of sublime experience of finer values of awareness. Although it is not possible to know the precise experiences that inspired Traherne's writing, certainly wherever his language parallels Maharishi's descriptions of higher states of consciousness the possibility that Traherne at minimum had glimpses of experiences associated with higher states of consciousness becomes reasonable.

Traherne's mode of presenting the "infinite sweet mystery" of the mind's infinite nature will be of special interest in this essay. He adopts the position that the existence of Felicity, the "Highest Bliss," can be validated objectively and he seems to explore its full nature through imitating the inductive method, popularized in the first half of the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon. In so doing he seems to anticipate contemporary scientific investigations of higher states of consciousness. The thesis of this essay, in short, is that Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology allows one to understand and appreciate Traherne's poetry in terms of the systematic development of higher states of consciousness; interpreting Traherne's work in the light of Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology thus illuminates his philosophy and his art.

The University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission • www.ncacihe.org
Maharishi University of Management • Fairfield, Iowa 52557 • (641) 472-7000
Office of Admissions: (800) 369-6480 or (641) 472-1110
Copyright and Service Mark Notice • Right to Know and Other Disclosures