Info on Transcendental Meditation in Public Schools to Share

Following up on my post below, commenter and contributor Ruth made important suggestions on information you can share with the media, educators, friends, and others you believe may be concerned about teaching TM in public schools as a violation of Church and State. We have not yet broken into the mainstream media, but any action you take to make this information viral on the Internet increases the chance that parents, teachers, even legislators learn about the religious nature of the Transcendental Meditation program being taught in public schools:

Here are the addresses, often including email addresses, of each state's department of education.http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/ Progr...category_ID=SEA

You might consider writing the department of education for your state with your concerns. For example you might:

1. Include a translation of the puja. [Here is the TM Movement's sanitized translation. Here is a translation more true to the Sanskrit text, with information on the sources of TM's "puja," which literally means, "worship."]

2. Describe the underlying philosophy of TM as being concerned with matters that are philosophical and religious. For example, you could explain briefly the different states of consciousness, including God Consciousness.

3. You might include a reference to the New Jersey court case [and other court rulings regarding the religious nature of TM].

4. Quotes from MMY's book Science of Being and Art of Living may be appropriate.

5. You might express concern about children's pontential exposure to other techniques that are sold by the TMO, and describe the siddhis and the nature of advance techniques.

5. I believe that other peculiar beliefs promoted by the TMO are in fact relevant to a proper evaluation of TM the technique and its place in the schools. The technique should not be viewed in a vacuum. So, the eastern religious underpinnings are relevant. The "vedic science" claims are relevant. The claims that yogic flyers can create peace. The promotion of yagyas [rituals performed on behalf of TM meditators to Ganesh, Lakshmi, and other Hindu gods] for money. The architecture. The astrology. They all are relevant and are promoted by the same organization that is the only source of the authorized teaching of TM.

Note that I added links where available to source material, as well as a few editorial comments [in brackets]. If you think of other information that should be shared, please comment below or send it to jmknapp53@gmail.com.