(Note: This essay is fourth in a series. See also Revisiting TM Initiation, Part 1, posted 11/11/2008, Revisiting TM Initiation, Part 2: The Puja ("Traditional Ceremony of Gratitude"), posted 11/20/2008, and Revisiting TM Initiation, Part 3: The Mantra, posted 12/5/2008.)
There is a knock at the door of the initiation room. The initiator opens the door and welcomes in the initiate, who is carrying his basket of fruit, flowers, handkerchief and initiation form. The initiator takes the basket, and both sit down.
Fantasy Initiation #4
Question from initiate: May I ask you a few questions about all this before we begin?
Answer from initiator: Okay.
Q: I've heard that at the end of this traditional non-religious ceremony of gratitude, you bow down to the floor in front of the painting of Maharishi's teacher. Is that so?
A: We don't bow down. We kneel.
Q: OK, whatever you call it, isn't that a problem for you?
A: No. Why should it be?
Q: Well, I understand that you're Jewish.
A: Yes, I am, but so what?
Q: Well, isn't it against your religion to bow down -
A: We don't bow down. We kneel.
Q: - to kneel before anyone other than God?
A: Oh. I see what you're getting at. Over 600 published scientific research studies prove that Transcendental Meditation benefits an individual in every area of life. To preserve this precious teaching, the teacher teaches it exactly as given. The nonreligious ceremony of gratitude, which has been passed down for centuries, is the traditional way to remind the teachers of their responsibility to preserve the purity of the teaching, so that the student gets maximum benefits. That traditional ceremony includes certain age-old words, objects, and gestures, and it includes kneeling at the end. For maximum benefits for the student, the teacher promises not to deviate from the correct way to teach it.
Q: That's very nice. But couldn't Maharishi make an exception, for people whose religion prohibits them from bowing down -
A: We don't bow down. We kneel.
Q: - from kneeling before anyone other than God?
A: Oh no. Maharishi said that if he made an exception for one group, other people would say that he should make an exception for their group too, and before you know it, the purity of the teaching is lost.
Q: Well, that's reasonable. But you still haven't answered my original question.
A: Which was what?
Q: Don't you feel you're going against the precepts of your own religion by bowing down-
A: By kneeling.
Q: - by kneeling before someone other than God?
A: No. Maharishi explained that it is not a violation of my religion to kneel before a picture of Guru Dev.
Q: Oh. That's nice. I didn't realize that Maharishi was an expert on Judaism.
A: Well, he pointed out that religious people kneel all the time in front of things that are not God.
Q: They do?
A: Yes. They kneel in front of closets and cars.
Q: What?
A: He pointed out that even the most religious people kneel in front of their closets to tie their shoelaces, and in front of their cars to change a tire.
Q: But isn't that totally different? I mean, you're not worshipping the closet or the car.
Q: Well, Maharishi explained that kneeling at the end of the non-religious traditional ceremony of gratitude is just a procedure. Bowing down would be worship, but kneeling is just a physical procedure, just like kneeling in front of a car. So there's no conflict with any religion.
Q: Doesn't Maharishi's answer strike you as a little disingenuous?
A: No.
Q: Oh. Well, does this mean that you're going to have to give up teaching TM when you get older?
A: Of course not. Why would it?
Q: Suppose your joints get too stiff to bow dow- to kneel.
A: Oh, I see what you're getting at. No, I wouldn't have to give up teaching TM when I get old. One woman on our TM Teacher Training Course said she couldn't kneel due to arthritis. She said that if she got down, she wouldn't be able to get up again! The instructor told her that was OK, she wouldn't be required to kneel.
Q: But you just told me that Maharishi said he couldn't start making exceptions, or before you knew it the purity of the teaching would be lost. Well, here he's making an exception for people with arthritis. How do you explain that?
A: I don't know.
Q: Could it be a matter of intent? The person with arthritis wanted to bow dow- wanted to kneel but wasn't able to, while the religious person was able to kneel but refused.
A: I don't know.
Q: Or could it be a matter of obedience? The person with arthritis wanted to obey Maharishi but wasn't able to, while the religious person was able to obey Maharishi but wouldn't?
A: I don't know.
Q: Don't you think you're a little bit lacking in healthy curiosity?
A: No.
Q: Could it be about the relationship with Guru Dev? The arthritic woman wanted to worship Guru Dev but wasn't able to, while the religious person was able to worship Guru Dev but wouldn't?
Q: We don't worship Guru Dev. That would be against my religion, and Maharishi says that TM doesn't conflict with any religion. TM is a simple, natural, nonreligious, scientific technique.
Q: So that's that? The woman with arthritis isn't required to kneel?
A: Right. But they did tell her to make a comparable gesture at that point.
Q: Oh! What gesture did they tell her to make?
A: No, no. They didn't show her a comparable gesture to make. They told her, "Make a comparable gesture."
Q: You mean she made up the gesture herself?
A: Yes.
Q: Did she run it by Maharishi after she decided on one?
A: No.
Q: Well, then how could they assure the purity of the teaching if they let any old person invent part of the ceremony?
A: I don't know. I'm sure the instructors knew what they were doing.
Q: Why?
A: Well, they were chosen by Maharishi.
Q: Don't you think you're showing a slight lack of intellectual acuity here?
A: Of course not. Over six hundred published research studies prove that TM improves all areas of life, including intelligence.
Q: But how could this woman know what gesture of her own choosing might be comparable to kneeling if the only rationale for the kneeling was "it's just a physical procedure" and "that's the way it's always been done"?
A: Oh, wait. I just remembered another reason for kneeling. Maharishi said, "We kneel so that we should not fall."
Q: Oh. Did he say that if you didn't feel in danger of falling, then you didn't have to kneel?
A: No.
Q: Did you ever feel you were in danger of falling?
A: No.
Q: Do you think maybe you were doing the ceremony improperly?
A: Certainly not.
Q: I mean, if you had done it properly, perhaps then you would have felt like you were in danger of falling.
A: No, I do the ceremony properly. Every word, every gesture has been passed down for centuries, and they didn't let us graduate until we could do it all properly.
Q: Then if you were doing it properly, why didn't you feel like you were going to fall?
A: I don't know.
Q: Do you think Maharishi was perhaps saying what was expedient?
A: No. He wouldn't lie.
Q: Did you know that you don't recognize weakness in logic when you hear it?
A: I don't think that's true.
Q: Oh well. Let's get back to that woman who was told to "make a comparable gesture" to keep from falling. What would be a comparable gesture?
A: I don't know. I've never thought about it. I don't have arthritis.
Q: Hmm, do you think she could have pushed a few chairs together, and at that point she could lie down on the chairs?
A: Of course not. That's ridiculous.
Q: Maybe at that point in the ceremony, she could grab onto the furniture to keep from falling.
A: I really think you're making a joke out of this.
Q: I am not.
A: Lying on chairs, grabbing onto furniture. That's no way to show reverence.
A: But there's no need to show reverence. Isn't this simply about keeping from falling?
A: Of course it's about reverence. Part of the translation of the traditional non-religious ceremony of gratitude goes like this:
"White as camphor, kindness incarnate, the essence of creation garlanded with Brahman, ever dwelling in the lotus of my heart, the creative impulse of cosmic life, to That, in the form of Guru Dev, I bow down."
Q: Don't you mean "I kneel"?
A: No. This is the translation. "Guru in the glory of Brahma, Guru in the glory of Vishnu, Guru in the glory of the great Lord Shiva, Guru in the glory of the personified transcendental fullness of Brahman, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev adorned with glory, I bow down.
The Unbounded, like the endless canopy of the sky, the omnipresent in all creation, by whom the sign of That has been revealed, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.
Guru Dev, Shri Brahmananda, bliss of the Absolute, transcendental joy, the Self-Sufficient, the embodiment of pure knowledge which is beyond and above the universe like the sky, the aim of "Thou art That" and other such expressions which unfold eternal truth, the One, the Eternal, the Pure, the Immoveable, the Witness of all intellects, whose status transcends thought, the Transcendent along with the three gunas, the true preceptor, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.
The blinding darkness of ignorance has been removed by applying the balm of knowledge. The eye of knowledge has been opened by Him and therefore, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down. Offering a handful of flowers to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down."
Oops. I don't think I was supposed to tell you the translation.
Q: Why not?
A: Er, because you might misunderstand it.
Q: What might I misunderstand?
A: Well, there's the possibility you might think TM is religious in nature.
Q: Oh, come on. How could I possibly think anything else after hearing that translation?
A: See? You did misunderstand. TM is just a simple natural non-religious scientific technique. Or you -
Q: Did you notice that any time I ask you a potentially embarrassing question, instead of thinking it through, you answer by quoting Maharishi like you're a broken record?
A: I don't do that. - Or you might misunderstand and think we worship Guru Dev.
Q: How could I possibly think anything else after hearing that translation?
A: You see? You misunderstood that too. The traditional non-religious ceremony of gratitude is just a procedure. It's not a worshipping of Guru Dev.
Q: Then why did you keep saying, "I bow down"?
A: That's just the translation. Oh, I just remembered another reason why we kneel. At one lecture, Maharishi explained, "When I was designing the ceremony, when I came to the final line, I was so overcome with emotion that there wasn't anything I could possibly think of doing at that point except kneel."
Q: What?! Do you know how many times in the last five minutes you've insisted that this ceremony is ancient?
A: I'm sure Maharishi didn't mean that the way it sounds.
Q: Oh. What do you think he meant, then?
A: I'm sure it's an ancient ceremony. Maharishi wouldn't lie.
Q: I'm sure he wouldn't. When was it written?
A: I don't know.
Q: Who wrote it?
A: I don't know.
Q: What were the author's qualifications?
A: I don't know.
Q: What happens if you teach TM without doing the ceremony?
A: I don't know.
Q: What happens if you do the ceremony without kneeling at the end?
A: I don't know. I'm sorry. We didn't learn any of that on the course.
Q: Didn't you ever have any doubts, or try to find out?
A: No.
Q: Despite all Maharishi's contradictions?
A: Maharishi doesn't contradict himself. He teaches a simple, natural, non-religious scientific technique.
Q: You don't think he shades the truth?
A: Of course not.
Q: Don't you think he discourages you from questioning his word?
A: No.
Q: Don't you think you have an impaired capacity for logical thinking?
A: Of course I don't.
Q: Have you noticed that you often contradict yourself?
A: I don't. This is a scientific technique, backed up by science.
Q: Did you notice that you lie to your students?
A: I wouldn't do that!
Q Did you know that you lie to yourself and aren't even aware of it?
A: I really can't agree. I don't do any of those things. Over six hundred published research studies prove that TM benefits an individual in all areas of life. Well, any more questions? No? Alright then, shall we begin? I said, shall we begin? Excuse me? Sir? Shall we begin?
- end -
(Note: The author attended TM Teacher Training in La Antilla, Spain in 1974. What she learned there informs this article. People who attended other courses may have learned different things.)
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