Reminder: Controversial "Message from Maharishi" Tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 30 at noon EST

Just a reminder:  If you want to keep abreast of this interesting scuffle in the TM world, you can video- or audio-stream the "Message from Maharishi" for free, live, on Sunday, November 30 at noon, Eastern Standard Time.  (See the previous TM-Free Blog post regarding this controversial presentation which is not endorsed by the official TM organization, but which appears to have the support of Jerry Jarvis, former head of the U.S. Students International Meditation Society.)  

It is recommended that you tune in at about 11:45 a.m.

Or if you miss it live, it will be available in the future for listening.

Here is the link for streaming:

http://30thnovember.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/30th-November-Lecture-Invitation-PDF.pdf  

After clicking the link above and downloading the page, scroll to the bottom and click the link  www.30thnovember.com to access streaming.

After listening, please feel free to share your thoughts in the "Comments" section here at TM-Free Blog.

Maharishi Message from Beyond the Grave?

Power struggle in American T.M. movement?

Most organizations seem susceptible to splintering.  Christianity, the Republican Party, you name it.  Why not the T.M. movement, following the death of its charismatic founder?

John Hagelin, "Raja of Invincible America," appointed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before Mahesh's death, is the final arbiter on what is and is not official American T.M. policy.  (The T.M. organization was designed by Mahesh as a monarchy, not as a democracy.)

Hagelin has sent out an email to all "certified governors." (I assume that means all T.M. teachers in good standing.)  The email informs them that they are to ignore an upcoming event coordinated by T.M. teacher George Hammond.  Hagelin is  concerned that T.M.ers might take this presentation seriously because the well-loved Jerry Jarvis, former head of the U.S. Students International Meditation Society (a T.M. organization) seems to have given this presentation his blessing.  Hagelin is also concerned that this presentation of mediumship will lower T.M.'s credibility in the mainstream community, such as public schools and the military, where T.M. is trying to make inroads.  Also of interest to me was his concern that the "purity of the teaching" would be diluted; although some might read that as a concomitant concern that Hagelin's power would be diluted.  Although Hagelin's email was confidential, it has become public through posting on the website FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com.  Anyone with access to a computer can read his email here:

https://www.mail-archive.com/fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com/msg331114.html

The event in question is a free lecture presentation entitled “The Pervasive Influence of Personalities and Ideas on Human History.”  It will take place on November 30, 2014, starting promptly at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria,Virginia, near Washington DC.  The presentation will be live-streamed for free, and will be followed by a question & answer session which will not be live-streamed.  The presentation and possibly the Q&A will be recorded, and will be available for free online at a later date.

Hammond claims that Mahesh Yogi appeared to Hammond several years after Mahesh's death, and instructed Hammond to share a message with the world.  Hammond says that the reason Mahesh wants people to hear this message is because "[h]earing these clear explanations should disintegrate many deeply embedded but totally unnecessary fears."

You can see the invitation to this event by clicking:

http://30thnovember.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/30th-November-Lecture-Invitation-PDF.pdf

No RSVP is necessary for the free live streaming.  TMFree Blog takes no position on if the message given at this presentation actually comes from the deceased Mahesh, nor do we have an opinion on the content of the message itself, whatever it will turn out to be.  However, I will listen in to the live streaming because I am curious to see how the politics of the T.M. movement will play out, and I invite all interested to listen to the streaming, too.  Then we can discuss it on TM-Free if we wish.

At Least Maharishi Never Claimed to Be God ???

 At Least Maharishi Never Claimed to be God

That was a comment I made to a former TMer.  I was comparing the teachings I received from Maharishi with the teachings of other gurus who had come from India to the West.  I was suggesting that in this particular area, we former TMers had less recovery work to do than former members of other groups who had been told that their guru was actually God.

My friend replied incredulously, "Never claimed to be God!  Mahesh claimed to be greater than God!"

Oh.  Oops.  Did I miss something?  My friend soon supplied me with the following quotation, from: 

http://www.ayurveda-florida.com/articles_ayurvedic_medicine_diet_lifestyle_dhanvantari_ayurveda_center_ayurveda_education_programs/Hinduism/mmy_on_role_of_a_guru.htm

The above is not a TMO site.  When and where this conversation took place is not recorded.  Read it and decide for yourself.

"MMY on Role of A Guru

Dr Hagelin: ‘Maharishi, there is a question on the special role of the teacher, the Guru, in gaining the full awakening of enlightenment. The reporter asks, “In every news conference, Maharishi pays tribute to his teacher and to the tradition of Vedic teachers for giving the knowledge and technique of Transcendental Meditation to gain enlightenment. Is the technique of Transcendental Meditation and other advanced programmes sufficient to gain enlightenment, or is there an indispensable role that a teacher plays to guide an individual on the path to enlightenment? And if so, what would that role be?” ’ Maharishi: ‘The role is that the teacher is absolutely woven into this knowledge. And when the knowledge is in our awareness, it is the total teacher that is in our awareness. It says in the Vedic Literature about the teacher, “Na Guror Adhikam, Na Guror Adhikam, Na Guror Adhikam.” There is nothing greater than Guru; there is nothing greater than Guru; there is nothing greater than Guru, because Guru is the embodiment of all that is greatest.

‘Guru is Brahm. “Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnur.” These are not the words of adoration; this is the description of the reality of Guru. Guru is on the level of Totality personified. When Guru speaks, it is the Totality that speaks. Words of the Guru are the words of the Veda. Veda is only heard from the Guru. So Guru means the Totality. If one is in the sense of Guru all the time, one is in the sense of total Natural Law and its total organizing power; there is nothing greater than that.

‘That is why Guru is completely natural in our awareness. It is not a matter of anything that is from outside or anything. It is completely natural. It is simple. It is Totality. It is a great thing. One knows it in being that level of relationship. “Na Guror Adhikam”—there is nothing greater than Guru, nothing greater than Guru.

‘Guru Purnima is the Full Moon of the Guru—one day of the year. In the Vedic Calendar, each day is attributed to some Devata, to some special creative intelligence—Sun, Moon, Shiva, Vishnu, and all. There are an enormous number of Devatas, embodiments of the Kriya Shakti. “Kriya Shakti” is the power of action. There are two things, basically: the silence and action, silence and activity, infinite silence and infinite activity, and both in perfect accord with each other. Perfect silence, perfect dynamism: this is Brahm—this is Totality.

‘The Guru is Totality. He has, as it is said in the Vedic Literature and with reference to what Dr John Hagelin just said, “Pripad Asyamritam Divi”. That means three-fourths is Amrit. “Amrit” means eternal. Three-fourths is eternal; one-fourth is juggling around.

‘Three-fourths is eternal. This is what makes us stand on our own feet eternally. We are embedded in the three-fourths of the unmanifest, as Dr Hagelin said. This unmanifest, this Avyakta, is three-fourths, and the manifest is one-fourth. Three-fourths is unmanifest; one-fourth is manifest. The changes take place in the unmanifest. What continues in the field of flow is three-fourths. So the dominant factor is three-fourths of Totality....We are announcing a very, very effective program where the achievements will be a matter of much shorter time. Centuries have gone and in every generation, the wise have been searching for it, searching for it, searching for it. But now, with the blessings of our Master and the spiritual Vedic Tradition of Masters, we are blessed. We are offering ourselves and all our achievements and all our understandings and all our knowledge and all our future programs to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev. Jai Guru Dev.’ "

I also recall Mahesh saying on one of my courses, "Guru is greater than God, for without him I would never have met my God."  But then, I also heard Sat Guru Maharaj Ji (aka "the little fat boy," an Indian child-guru who came to the West circa 1973) say those words too.

What do you think?  Was Mahesh just speaking in hyperbole about his own guru - or about himself, or was he actually trying to instill in his followers a belief that he himself was greater than God?  Have you wrestled with the belief that Maharishi might be God?

Will Hagelin have the chutzpa to tell HH the Dalai Lama what Buddhism lacks?

A friend of mine sent me this delightful news excerpt from a recent correspondence with a friend in Fairfield. I’ve preserved the spellings (at least it wasn’t Deli llama). The Peace Conference is real enough (http://newarkpeace.org/); but I seriously doubt the claim that the Dalai Lama’s secretary said anything so ridiculous. I certainly look forward to John Hagelin trying to tell HH the Dalai Lama that Buddhists don’t know anything about the development of consciousness. This should amuse HH very much. Hopefully it will lead to Hagelin getting some perspective on the real world, but on that point, I will not any time soon be restraining my respirations.

But the most inspiring news [from the Peace Conference] was from Raja Hagelin. The secretary of the Dhali Llama attended his workshop at the Newark Peace Education Summit last week and told John that the reason the Buddist are interested in science is because they have the knowledge and religion but not the techniques for development of consciousness. Raja John now has an appointment to visit the Dhali Llama.

The one-l lama,

He’s a priest.

The two-l llama,

He’s a beast.

And I will bet

A silk pajama

There isn’t any

Three-l lllama.

– Ogden Nash

Transcendental Meditation: Look Quick before Link Disappears

UPDATE: Sure enough, the link is down. What are they afraid of? Cowards! Videos back up. Must have been transient problem. Password protection was added to the site about an hour after this post, however.

You never know what you will find in your email.

Here are two links to (mildly) secret videos on the web site dedicated to "Resource Materials for Certified Teachers of the Transcendental Meditation Technique": Governor's Chat, December 7, 2009 and Governor's Chat, May 24, 2009.

Wow! Do these look creepy or what?

That's a frame grab of "Raja John Hagelin." Yes, the same "world-renowned physicist" splattered across the Internet with his introductory talks on TM and Quantum Physics. Usually appearing in coat and tie -- sans the Burger King crown.

Show these at your next PTA. I imagine the question of TM in the public schools will evaporate rather quickly.

Better peek quick, I don't imagine these links will remain up once we've published them.

There are some interesting nuggets in these bland-enough-to-be-disturbing videos. Here are some initial thoughts from TMFB editor, Mike Doughney:

December observations: Hagelin says initiations increased 149 percent.

May observations: Hagelin says initiations in the past were down to 100/month.

This means they're now up to 149/month, right? :) What about those million "at-risk" kids, they don't figure into this (or exist for that matter).

The other thing on the May tape is Hagelin explicitly going over the Vedic revivalist and millenarian stuff that I talked about in my blog post on November 23. Again, great to see it in his own words.

One of our editors hope to go into more analysis in a few days, but I wanted to rush this out for your perusal before it disappeared -- forever!

J.

Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course Slips

According to an email I received yesterday, John Hagelin has slipped the date of the next North American TTC a month "in order to allow time for more people to apply." It is now to take place October 16.

What if they held a Teacher Training Course and nobody came?

Academic credit for TTC is available through Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa for up to 24 units. For students at MUM, these units can be used as elective credit towards any undergraduate or graduate degree or applied toward an undergraduate major in Maharishi Vedic Science. [emphasis added]

I wonder if other institutions that truly are about higher education will see the relevance of memorizing parrot-speak about mumbling a mantra toward earning a degree in business, for instance.

Anonymous Comix: World Govt for the Age of Weirdness

These anonymous, satirical comix are making the rounds on the Internet. Enjoy!

J

"The Secret" Divides NYC

Transcendental Meditation spokesperson John Hagelin has been quoted saying positive things about the "The Secret" -- the cult phenomenon based on the "Law of Attraction." This New York Post article talks about its effect on the beautiful people in New York.

J.