CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION

EDWARD TARABILDA: It has become almost trite to point out how the increasing specialization of knowledge has resulted in its fragmentation. What isn't so obvious is that interdisciplinary education has been largely a failure in rectifying this fragmentation. Why?

I maintain that until a true science of the stars is used as the basis for interdisciplinary education, such education cannot flourish, because it isn't based in a natural law which can be easily applied to each individual.

Not that the true science of the stars is the only statement of the archetypal organizing principles which link the various disciplines of knowledge together. The major oracles of antiquity such as the I-Ching and the Tarot perfectly mirror the principles of a true science of the stars.

THEOSOPHIST: How many principles are there?

EDWARD TARABILDA: It depends on how detailed you want to get, but I like the number sixty-four, or eight times eight directions.

THEOSOPHIST: But the Tarot has seventy-eight cards.

EDWARD TARABILDA: The Tarot includes sixteen principles not normally included in the other oracles, but represented by the sixteen basic sub-horoscopes in Vedic astrology. It also excludes a few principles included in other oracles.

53 - 64 The twelve houses

Let's take an example -- the eleventh hexagram of the I-Ching expresses the same principles as the sign Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. Another example -- the sixty-fourth hexagram of the I-Ching is essentially the same as the twelfth house in astrology. Showing how these ancient oracles express the same archetypal principals in the same order appears to be unique to the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living. At least we have not been able to find any other sources of these remarkable correlations. Of course, you have to have a sense of the underlying archetypes of nature in order to read the oracles correctly and avoid getting lost in the myriad different interpretations. But the correlations are truly remarkable.

ANTHROPOSOPHIST: So did all of these oracles come from a common set of principles?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes, and if you carefully read our book on this subject, you will understand that this is the case.

EDUCATOR: May I join in here?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Certainly, you are welcome.

EDUCATOR: Are you suggesting that each one of these astrological principles, or their corresponding principle in any of the other oracles, becomes an interdisciplinary principle?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Yes.

EDUCATOR: Then I'll need an example.

EDWARD TARABILDA: The sign of Aries indicates the law of conservation of energy. This principle can be seen in physics, in chemistry, in sociology, in psychology and even in religion. When students begin to study these principles they immediately feel that knowledge is one magnificent whole. They lose that feeling of fragmentation and isolation.

If they can see how this principle relates to their own life, then they really feel at home with this knowledge. The same principles that describe the external world also describe their internal experiences. It is no longer abstract and impersonal. It becomes highly relevant and personal!

I'm not suggesting that I have worked out in detail the interdisciplinary aspect of each principle of creative intelligence. That is work for a great many people. But the foundational knowledge has been established.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi tried to do something similar without tying it to the science of the stars. He created the "Science of Creative Intelligence" (SCI), to teach key interdisciplinary principles common to all fields of knowledge. Maharishi's faculty at Maharishi University of Management tries to express these principles in their respective disciplines, but in a way, I am afraid, which is rigid and stultifying. These principles should enliven knowledge and not deaden it, but at Maharishi's school, the latter is often the case.

EDUCATOR: Why would this be so?

EDWARD TARABILDA: Teachers should be Brahmins, and Brahmins must create and teach in freedom. There is no freedom in Maharishi's schools. The teachers are all parrots for Maharishi. Students sense this and lose respect for the teachers. They feel, "If teachers are parrots, then we are parrots even more". They become demoralized unless they are true believers who are only looking for confirmation of their existing beliefs.

Maharishi also tied his theoretical knowledge to the practice of only one spiritual technique, Transcendental Meditation (TM). Our discussion so far showed that people require different techniques for their development. That is another weakness in his program.

A third weakness is the outdated guru model he uses. Students keep asking, "Is this a university or an ashram"? When M.U.M was founded in the 1970's as Maharishi International University, student morale was tremendous, and hardly anyone who could afford to stay left. Now morale and enrollment are much lower, and the only ones who stay are those who accept Maharishi's guidelines as infallible.

But Maharishi's experiment in interdisciplinary education is a valuable one to study for both its strengths and weaknesses.

TM MEDITATOR: I don't think you have done justice to Maharishi's university. It's easy to criticize, but hard to create something better.

EDWARD TARABILDA: I agree.

EDUCATOR: Do you know of any other experiments in interdisciplinary education?

EDWARD TARABILDA: St John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico seeks to bring an interdisciplinary approach to education through the great books of classical thought. This school is also worth examining for those trying to develop or improve interdisciplinary programs in education. However, an advance warning -- at St. John's the students tend to become skilled in the Socratic method, so be prepared to have your precious assumptions challenged and even stripped away through vigorous cross-examination from the senior students. St. John's program appears to me to be stronger in developing useful processes of gaining knowledge, rather than the formulation of archetypal principles of knowledge.

Another worthwhile experiment is the California Institute of Integral Studies. I don't know much about it, but I've heard that it doesn't have anything as integrative as our archetypal principles of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge.

I think the only way I could demonstrate the power of The Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living as an interdisciplinary tool would be through an actual experiment in a school setting. Any interested school administrators or faculty out there?

EDUCATOR: With both fundamentalism and scientific materialism so strong, it is politically incorrect to talk about bringing astrology into schools in any form.

EDWARD TARABILDA: Then, perhaps, some application of this knowledge in home-schooling would be useful.

This knowledge is so intimate to a person that even the students will begin to find key interdisciplinary principles within whatever subject they are studying. We don't just need scholarly teachers for this work, we also need eager students who want to put fun, creativity, and self-guidance back into their education.

EDUCATOR: I can see how governmental agencies have a stifling effect on education. Educators and parents must take back their power!