Thirty Years Later: What was all that about? (Part 6 of a series)

(To read this series from the beginning, start here.)

“The TM Book” is a snapshot of the TM movement of 1975. Between the beginning and end of the book I described earlier is a compendium of the movement’s featured claims during that time. The charts and graphs, referring to scientific research often conducted by people involved with the organization or republished by it, are those that were common in the pamphlets and other materials distributed by the movement at the time.

The one common thread throughout the book is that almost all the benefits described involve exerting control of aspects of living that are generally not under conscious control. Some of the claims are clear and illustrated with charts; others are obscure or otherwise hard to understand, particularly when movement jargon is introduced to the description.

As was often the case in pamphlets of the time, the book’s first chart, titled “Change in Metabolic Rate,” purports to show that TM provides a state of rest deeper than sleep. That's immediately followed by a claim that certainly involves an item not generally thought to be under conscious control: that TM causes a growth in intelligence.

From there, other less straightforward but similar claims are made, but the claims almost always center on abilities that are often difficult if not impossible to improve through conscious effort: increases in learning ability, speed in accurate problem solving, academic and job performance and productivity are on the list. The implication is that these things can be changed without effort, that control is exerted through the simplistic purchase of a program, through a particular expenditure of little more than money and time, sold as almost trivial in ease, not requiring particular skills, and most notably, not requiring any effort at all.

Vague claims that are not in any way supported by the scientific research are also made in five sections of the book. Increases in “adaptability,” “stability,” “purification,” “growth” and “integration” are alleged to occur through the program, with long lists of benefits culminating in a statement that’s become one of the high-profile, contentious (if not outrageous and crackpot) claims commonly associated with TM in recent years: that world peace can be brought about by simply meditating.

In hindsight, it’s clearer to me that the book targets a particular audience: people who value control, those who seek to control aspects of their lives that are often, if not by definition, beyond their control. It is a sales pitch that selects for a particular type of personality. Unlike the appeal of many religions and ‘cults,’ this pitch is something a bit different from the usual: it's an appeal to people who are used to exerting power and control. Not surprisingly, this group often controls a substantial amount of wealth.

(Continue to Part 7)

Thirty Years Later: What was all that about? (Part 4 of a series)

(To read this series from the beginning, start here.)

In asking "what was all that about?" I am looking for things of substance, something more substantial than meaningless sounds, alien rituals in foreign languages, and repetition of elements of the sales pitch for the practice. There are more substantial aspects to the program - but they aren't all that obvious unless one turns the tables and considers what the prospective meditator brings to the initiation.

The marketing of the TM program, all the way from product placement of the program in popular culture through the two evenings of introductory lectures that precede initiation, accomplishes two things which are both, in a sense, rather obvious. The marketing first serves to select for individuals who are receptive to certain aspects of the program, which might not actually be the meditation practice itself. Secondly, the marketing sets certain expectations even while being vague as to what the actual process of initiation is; "easy" and "effortless" are part of that expectation-setting, as well as the assumption that, after having spent a considerable amount of time and money, there will be benefits from the practice.

One example of the marketing is "The TM Book," a paperback written by two then-TM teachers in 1975 and distributed by the movement. It was given free to new meditators when I started. While the book is 221 pages long, it can be summarized with a quote from the beginning, and one from the end of the book. In one sentence on the first full page of the book is this remarkable summary of the program:

The Transcendental Meditation program changes the quality of life from poverty, emptiness, and suffering to abundance, fulfillment, and happiness.

The book is illustrated throughout with two cartoon characters representing a TM teacher and prospective meditator. On the next-to-last page of the book, the prospect gets out of his chair, stands up, puts his finger in the air and declares, "I'll take it!" as if he'd just finished the negotiations for purchase of a used car.

It's these two elements that I think epitomize TM, elements that have been central to the nature of the TM movement all along. First, the program is presented as being more important than pretty much anything else in life, can influence all aspects of one's life, and that acceptance of the program can cause profound positive change in one's life; in this sense, the program emulates religious faith, certainly a "born-again" faith hinging on a one-time "decision" as it often appears in American culture. Second, the program is a package, a consumer product, marketed as if it were any other product, where "I'll take it!" indicates a decision to buy. Nothing special is required - the prospect need not learn new skills or meet anything other than the most simple requirements. The "easy"-ness and "effectiveness" of the product are in the forefront of the sales pitch for it.

The prospective meditator brings two things: their expectations and the means by which they pay the purchase price for the product. Here is where things get interesting, because the TM movement offers an endless series of just this kind of purchase transaction, up to a scale that is hard to believe.

(Continue to Part 5)