SUBJECT: Maharishi inaugurates Parliament of World Peace in New York State; announcement for Maharishi's press conferences this week (16 & 17 April). Also click here for press statement and image of the newest Peace Palace inaugurated in USA on 14 April 2003.

(15 April 2003) His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi proclaimed anew his firm resolution to raise the world to permanent peace through the complete knowledge of Natural Law - the light of God - which administers the infinite diversity of the universe with perfect order. And Maharishi inaugurated the Parliament of World Peace in Livingston Manor, New York, to bring this light of peace to all individuals, organisations, and governments throughout the world.

"There are no obstacles on our path," Maharishi declared. "We have the scientifically validated knowledge and programmes to create peace. It is now just a matter of applying it on a large enough scale so that peace and harmony are enjoyed by everyone in our dear world."

The Parliament of World Peace will soon start training peace-creating experts in different countries in local languages.

Maharishi’s pronouncements came during his weekly global news conference on Wednesday, 9 April, and during his global inauguration of the Parliament of World Peace on Thursday, 10 April. Both events were broadcast live via satellite and Internet webcast. Maharishi’s next news conferences will be held on 16 and 17 April (see page 3 for details).

Maharishi announced that the Parliament of World Peace will serve as an administrative centre of world peace and a place of pilgrimage for peace-loving people around the world. It is being established on a beautiful 400-acre site with a 300-room facility on Lake Shandelee in the Catskill Mountains. The knowledge and programmes of the Parliament of World Peace will reach the world through a permanent global satellite and Internet network of television and radio broadcasts.

The five-hour grand inauguration featured in-depth presentations on Maharishi’s Vedic science of consciousness and its applications to prevent problems in all areas of society, and can be watched at www.GlobalCountry.org. Presentations included a special address by His Majesty Raja Raam, First Ruler of the Global Country of World Peace, as well as speeches by His Majesty’s Cabinet of Ministers and other leading scientists and educators.

During the news conference and the inauguration, Maharishi explained that his confidence in creating a bright new future for the world is based on (1) the scientific discovery of the Unified Field of Natural Law − the field of unity that underlies all diversity in the physical universe; (2) the scientifically proven effectiveness of his Vedic technologies of consciousness to enliven this field of unity in the self-referral Transcendental Consciousness of every individual; and (3) the extensive scientific research showing that when individuals practise these technologies together in groups, a powerful influence of coherence and harmony spreads throughout the whole population, neutralising negative trends and promoting peace and harmony in society.

"It is possible for us to create a permanent state of world peace in which the diversity of every nation will breathe life in the unified wholeness of the Unified Field of Natural Law," Maharishi said.

To create permanent world peace, Maharishi is establishing on all continents groups of 8,000 peace-creating experts in his Vedic technologies of consciousness, including a larger group of 40,000 experts in India. In addition, Maharishi is establishing 3,000 Peace Palaces in the world’s largest 3,000 cities, including 51 cities in the UK. Each Peace Palace will be home to 100 to 200 experts. "It won’t take much time, because just a few people are needed to become peace-creators and carry the load for the whole population of the world," Maharishi said.

Maharishi explained that for nearly 50 years he focused on bringing enlightenment to millions of individuals around the world through his Transcendental Meditation technique - and now many people are rising to Unity Consciousness, the supreme level of human development. Then, two years ago, Maharishi established his Global Country of World Peace to set up an example of administration for people in higher states of consciousness and to bring the effect of positivity, harmony, and peace to every government.

"The current administration of every country - in education, health care, economy, defence, agriculture - is ineffective and childish because it is based on man-made constitutions with their inherent human weaknesses and failings," Maharishi said. "We established the Global Country of World Peace as an ideal system of administration that is based on the Constitution of the Universe, which promotes the evolution of everyone and everything, from point to infinity, in the ever-expanding universe. The Global Country of World Peace will engage this supreme organising intelligence of the universe to bring success to every government and create prevention-oriented, problem-free administration in every country."

Maharishi emphasised that only the Global Country of World Peace will be suitable to administer a world in which the whole population is destined to enjoy Unity Consciousness. "Such enlightened individuals will spontaneously engage total Natural Law - the light of God - in their every thought, speech and action, so they won’t make mistakes and create problems for themselves or for others," Maharishi said. "This is the world we are going to create now through the Parliament of World Peace. This is the ideal administration that the world is going to enjoy for all generations to come."