 Robert Todd Carroll Trouble in transcendental paradise as murder rocks the Maharishi University 5/2/2004
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Transcendental Meditation®
Transcendental Meditation® or TM® might best be described as the meditation technique introduced to the Western world by a man born in India on January 12, 1917, who was raised in a Hindu family and given the name Mahesh Prasad Varma.* He now resides in the Netherlands and is known as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He was dubbed the "giggling guru" because of his habit of constantly giggling during television interviews.* According to Brittanica, his organization, which includes real estate holdings, schools, and clinics, was worth more than $3 billion in the late 1990s. TM is said to bring the practitioner to a special state of consciousness often characterized as "enlightenment" or "bliss." The method involves entertaining a mantra. Trainees pay hundreds of dollars for their mantras. Novices may be led to believe that their mantra is unique, though many practitioners will share the same mantra. As of April, 2007, the cost for TM training is $2,500. This is a one-time fee and financing is available.* TM is a spiritual business whose proprietors claims it is a program that is scientifically validated.* The TM movement began in 1956 in India and is now worldwide, claiming millions of followers. Many know of TM because of the Beatles and other celebrities like Mia Farrow and Donovan, who hung out at Mahesh's ashram in the 1960s and '70s. It may be that the Beatles found that money and fame weren't all they're made out to be, and like many others they turned to the East for help in finding the happiness and fulfillment they couldn't get from fame and drugs. Many think meditation offers a way to a high higher than any drug and a power higher than all others, the power of self-control. It also has the pleasant side-effect of leaving one feeling relaxed and content, as long as one's guru isn't charging too much for the lessons, financially or psychologically.* One of the main appeals of TM seems to be its claim to be a scientific means of overcoming stress. TM claims to be based on the "Science of Creative Intelligence," in which one may get a degree at the Maharishi University of Management (MUM, formerly Maharishi International University) in Fairfield, Iowa. MUM offers "a Full Range of Academic Disciplines for Successful Management of All Fields of Life." Maharishi Ayurveda sells a number of health and beauty products for those who want a perfect body to go with the perfect mind. TM recruiting literature is full of charts and graphs demonstrating the wonders of TM. Things like metabolic rate, oxygen consumption rate, bodily production of carbon dioxide, hormone production, brain waves, etc. are measured and charted and graphically presented to suggest that TM really takes a person to a new state of consciousness. Some of the studies done by TM scientists simply show that some of the same physiological results you can achieve by relaxing completely are achievable by TM. Nevertheless, according to TM advocates, tests have shown that TM produces "neurophysiological signatures that are distinctly different from relaxation and rest "[Judy Stein, personal correspondence]. Critics disagree.* Probably the least believable claim of TMers is that they can fly—well, not really fly, more like hop. TM loudly promoted levitation in its early days.* Television news programs featured clips of TMers hopping around in the lotus position, claiming to be hovering. Apparently, this claim was too easily disproved and now TMers do not claim to be able to fly or hover, but say they believe that they can advance so that some day in the future they will be able to truly levitate and gain other super powers (sidhis) as have many holy ones before them. One of the demonstrable powers claimed by TM is the "Maharishi effect." According to TM scientists: "collective meditation causes changes in a fundamental, unified physical field, and...those changes radiate into society and affect all aspects of society for the better" (Barry Markovsky). James Randi writes in Flim-Flam! (pp. 99-100):
Randi checked with the Fairfield Police Dept, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Motor Vehicles and found that Rabinoff’s claims were not true (Randi 1982, 99-108). The chief of police told Randi that he was hiring more officers. However, a study of crime data for Fairfield and other small towns done by a TM supporter found a significantly lower rate of violent crime and property crime in Fairfield,* although one student did stab another to death on campus in 2004.* And MUM claims a decrease in crime in the Netherlands as TM increased during their World Peace Assemblies.* Data supplied by the Department of Agriculture showed no increase in crop production. And data on car accidents, including fatal car accidents, did not support Rabinoff's claims. Finally, Job Services of Iowa reported that the amount of unemployment in Iowa varied at essentially the same rate as the U.S. in general. According to Randi, "Dr. Rabinoff described the sidhis program as a system that enables one to achieve 'whatever one desires'..." (p. 101). Similar claims have been made by Dean Radin and other parapsychologists regarding what they call "field consciousness" or "global consciousness." Roger Nelson, for example, thinks that if enough people want good weather, they will get it:
Radin believes that the outpouring of feeling shown while millions watched the funeral of Princess Diana caused random event generators to come to attention in an orderly fashion.* Maybe someday we'll bring about world peace just by getting enough people to think about it at the same time. My guess is that the effect will be about the same as it's been when millions have prayed for peace. Not everybody who has gone through TM has come away a satisfied customer. One disgruntled former TMer is Patrick Ryan, a graduate of MUM and a practitioner of TM for ten years. He founded a support group for former members (TM-Ex). Some former members have posted their stories. Ryan also claims TM is not simply a "harmless way to relax through meditation." He writes:
What other relaxation program has a support group for ex-relaxers? The TM folks respond by claiming that there are many studies that prove TMing is more effective in many ways that listening to relaxing music or doing relaxation exercises.* TM's political agenda There have also been attempts to introduce TM into public schools. For example, The March 1, 1995, edition of the Sacramento Bee (p. B4) reports that John Black, director of a TM program in Palo Alto, California, tried to persuade officials in San Jose to let him teach TM in the schools. Meditation in the classroom, he claims, will increase test scores, reduce teenage pregnancies, rid campuses of violence and drugs, and diminish teacher burnout. This powerful message was delivered at a free forum for teachers and meditators titled "Solving the Crisis in Our Schools." It may be true that people such as John Black really believe that TM can do all these things, but they do not have strong proof that TM in the schools will accomplish any of these noble goals. John Black says that "the crisis in the schools is that people are stressed out." He may be right, but it is doubtful that the claim is even intelligible. Wisely, school officials have remained unpersuaded. Even a newspaper ad in which Mahesh himself offered "A Proven Program to Eliminate Crime in San Jose" for a mere $55.8 million a year couldn't convince City Hall. Similar ads were placed in several major newspapers around the country. There were no takers. Who said you can't trust City Hall? See also Ayurvedic medicine and Deepak Chopra. further reading (note: all links below, except to reader comments, go offsite and are not the responsibility of Robert T. Carroll. I have no control over their content and, while I have no knowledge that any of these sites contain falsehoods, I cannot be held responsible for any factual errors that they may contain.)
Blackmore, Susan (2003). Consciousness: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. Gardner, Martin. "Doug Henning and the Giggling Guru," Skeptical Inquirer, May/Jun 1995. Hassan, Steven. Combatting Cult Mind Control. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1990. West, M. (1987). (ed.) The Psychology of Meditation. Clarendon Press.
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©copyright 2007 Robert Todd Carroll |
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