"TM-Kids" Open Up Publicly

Willy Blackmore's essay about a young father's childhood hometown was published online October 24, 2014 : Growing Up in Utopia .

He describes the contrast between growing up as a non-Iowan in Iowa.  How do you tell your current friends that you learned to fly when you were 17?  Why do local Iowans think "you're not from around here" when you really did grow up in their backyard? He eloquently describes coming of age surrounded by cornfields, idealistic ex-hippies who believe they bring world peace by holing up to bounce on padded foam for hours daily, shmoozing with visiting celebrities, and his peers' angst.

Click here to read Willy's : Growing Up in Utopia

After years of declining invitations to make a formal presentation at San Francisco's reputable intellectual forum The Commonwealth Club of California, On October 20, 2014 I presented  Cult or Benign Cure-all? Life in Transcendental Meditation's Hidden Society

With an illustrated Power Point presentation and screen shots of TMO's active websites, I described the lives of my loved ones and myself in the TM Movement from 1966-2014.  By coincidence fifty years of my family life were defined by the TM Movement, even though I physically left in the late 1980s with my own three TM-born children. Without throwing slanderous stones, I shared stories of loved ones as TM's focus changed from mysticism to mystical science, of child neglect, psychosis, suicides, thousands of dollars spent for promises, fortunes lost and the next generation's struggles for self definition.  Such stories lay doubt on the David Lynch Foundation's promise of one-shot panacea for Transcendental Meditation in public schools, the Veterans Administration and elsewhere.  Listeners might appreciate post-talk objections that were raised by TM true believers.

You may listen to the 45 minutes audio track by clicking here : Cult of Benign Cure-all? Life in Transcendental Meditation's Hidden Society

Growing Up Enlightened 1990

Blast from the past. 1990 Book about Maharishi's Education for Enlightenment. The photo must have been taken between 1984-1987, since my daughter is in the crowd.

This book's cover photo brings a flood of warm memories for idealistic community, believing we were safe and protected, followed by bittersweet memories of the young faces who are no longer with us.

My young daughter beams from her spot cocooned in the community that she once loved, with her dearest childhood friends directly behind Maharishi's photo. Fortunately, my children were spared the full experience of Maharishi's education since we moved away shortly after this photo was taken. I never signed permission for my daughter's image to be publicized in this way, nor in other promo material of the era in which she was specifically highlighted. I'm sure other parents also did not sign releases for Maharishi International University Press' use of their children's images.

Let's see, from my personal connections ~ some of these graduates of enlightened education grew up to create successful lives in the outside world, after stumbling away of their own accord.

A few of those no-longer-kids work for the TM Organization, blogging on TM - MUM - David Lynch Foundation sites, recruitment officers for Maharishi University, DLF administrators, or videographers.

A few died needlessly, some were alcohol and drug related. I know of at least one who threw themselves (I choose respectful gender neutraility)  before an oncoming train, and another of a self inflicted gun shot with a gun purchased at Fairfield's Wal-Mart.

Another is incarcerated in an Iowa penitentiary, for child abduction with alcohol and weapons.

A few others suffer from dissociative and other psychiatric disorders, having spent early adulthood in an out of psychiatric institutions.

Others became teenage mothers with attendant financial and social challenges (like myself, as a result of statutory rape in the very small previous generation of TM kids). At least one of the young girls in this photo later did not know which of many potential candidates had recreationally fathered her children - the gene donors came from amongst smiling crowds of such group photos commemorating Maharishi's perfect society.

Some parents or other family members had needlessly ugly deaths because they sought medical treatment only as a desperate last resort when it was too late for cure. Rather than seeking appropriate medical care, such devotees died from illnesses which raged unchecked as they spent thousands of dollars for fraudulent therapies with Maharishi's ayurvedic products, magic yagyas (mystical prayer ceremonies), and magical rubies, sapphires, and other gems because they believed as Maharishi taught "We are not going to take help from medical Drs. as medical professionals give poison. So don't engage any medical Drs. for anything - absolutely whatever it is - even if they are in our Movement family... Hold onto the fact that we are the supreme authorities on health - we know how to create perfect health - we are challenging all governments in world."

These so-called enlightened children were left to pick up the pieces of their fractured families.

So much for the lauded Heaven on Earth!

When I texted this photo to my adult daughter, she quickly responded :

"Yeah, I think that's me with the huge naive grin, just behind the Maharishi photo, two heads away from J. Makes sense." She then identified her favorite teachers, then more memories :

"Second grade teacher was the woman who married J.H.'s mom's ex-husband. Now, that sounds cultish... Haha"

Thankfully my daughter only had a taste of the cult dysfunction.

Would you help The David Lynch Foundation bring this program to your neighborhood school today? Not me.

If you were here, or remember pertinent stories, please comment.

TM-Free Does The Scientific Research that TM Avoids

I am undertaking a research project about Transcendental Meditation here on TM-Free Blog.  The purpose of this project is to fill in the missing gaps in the "more than 350 scientific studies verifying the wide-ranging benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique [that] have been conducted at 250 independent universities and medical schools in 33 countries during the past 40 years."(1)  

The tone of this article may be snarky, but my goal is dead serious.  Various TM-connected organizations are currently pushing to get TM into schools, health centers, etc., throughout the world.  The 350+ studies they quote have unfortunately been designed to skew results in favor of TM.  They avoid assessment of possible risks.  If TM is going to be spread to large populations, isn't it responsible to make sure that negative as well as positive results are uncovered?  To the best of my knowledge, the questions I ask here have never been asked in the "[s]even volumes of Collected Papers of Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation"(2).  

I am not a scientist; I am not a trained researcher.  The quality of my research is undeniably open to question.  But at least I am honest in admitting my design weaknesses and my biases.  I think I compare favorably with the TM-approved research in that regard.

Here are some of the flaws in my research:

1.  Subjects should be randomly chosen.  Since my subjects are readers of TM-Free Blog, they can hardly be considered random.  At minimum, they are people who are interested in reading about "independent, skeptical and critical views of TM claims and research."(3)  Some of them may be downright critical of some aspect of TM.  

Oh well.  My non-random sample probably doesn't matter, because lots of TM research didn't use random samples either.  For example, TMers have sometimes been "pre-screened" to make sure only TMers with specific brain waves patterns were allowed to be research subjects.(4)  

2.  My research design is composed of subjects who self-report subjective experiences on a questionnaire.  You could barely have a poorer scientific design.  I mean, self-reporting of subjective experiences is a gateway to reporting expectation, placebo, belief, desire to slant the results, desire to please researcher, etc., etc.

I hope this minor flaw in my design is balanced by the fact that some TM research also uses self-reporting.  My favorite example of this is the brilliant and witty critique, "How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADHD...."(5).  

3.  This researcher is not neutral.  I'm a writer for TM-Free; how objective could I possibly be in my research design, my interpretation of the results, etc.?  A basis for objective research is that the researcher or funder should not have an ax to grind.

But please don't be too discouraged by this flaw.  After all, many TM research studies have been funded or conducted by TM college students, TM professors, pro-TM foundations.  (The foundations often have names that obfuscate their origin - "Quiet Time, " "Consciousness-Based Education," etc.  Some of these objective-sounding research facilities are located on Maharishi University campus!)  Open the TM "Collected Papers" at random and see for yourself how many non-neutral researchers and organizations sponsor TM research (1, 5, 6).

Many of the research papers done by TMers claim to have been produced by "independent researchers."  I looked up the definition of "independent researcher," and it turns out that an independent researcher can mean a grad student who is independent of his/her teacher, or a researcher who works without co-workers, etc.  It is a title chosen, I believe, to mislead the reader as to the objectivity of the research. 

4.  Where's my control group?  My placebo group?  My "correlation does not prove cause and effect" group?  Nowhere, that's where.  Oops.

But not to worry.  So much of the research in the "Collected Papers" has this flaw that I'm sure it will all even out.(2)  At random, I bring to your attention the scientific chart, "Increased EEG Coherence," which is given a place of honor on the home page of the TM organization's main website.(1)  Notice how in this chart there is no non-TM control group, and how correlation has been equated with cause and effect.  See also my TM-Free article, "TM Leader Hagelin Perverts Science to Sell Expensive TM Products."(7)     

5.  And finally, my questionnaire asks for ONLY deleterious results from TM!  So if you have anything good to say about TM, please don't even bother to fill out the questionnaire, because we will not post or tally your comments!  

Before you are too incensed by my insultingly obvious bias, please read the Roark Letter (8).  "...Confirmed to me by investigators at MIU was the suppression of negative evidence that these investigators had collected.  Strong bias was present in selecting only data favorable to a conclusion that was made prior to the data collection...."    

So without further ado, here is my: 
-------------------------------------------------------------------

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

Question 1:  Have you had any negative results from practicing the TM technique for 20 minutes twice a day?  If "yes," please describe.

Question 2:  Have you had any negative results from any other aspect of the TM organization's offerings?  (Advanced techniques, TM-Sidhis program, rounding, Maharishi Ayurveda, Maharishi yagyas, etc.)  If "yes," please describe.

Question 3:  Have you stopped doing TM for 20 minutes twice a day?  If "yes," please describe, and explain why.

Question 4:  Over time, did you find that "TM just stopped working"?  If "yes," please describe.

Question 5:  Do you know of someone who might answer the above questions negatively?  If so, please ask them to fill in this questionnaire.  If they are dead, hospitalized, etc., please fill it in for them to the best of your ability.

END OF RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear readers, please help us do the research the TM organization has avoided for over 40 years in over 600 studies.  These questions, consistently omitted from the official body of TM research, may begin to offer an important window into the dangers as well as the benefits of TM.

Please provide your answers in the "comments" section.  If you need anonymity, please feel free to use a pseudonym.  Thank you very much for your help, and for the help you may provide to people around the world who may be harmed by TM.


(1) www.tm.org/research-on-meditation
(2)  www.t-m.org.uk/SCI_Glance.shtml   
(3)  TM-Free Blog homepage, introduction
(4)  TM-Free Blog, reported in various comments.  Unfortunately I haven't had the time to dig up the quotes.  If anyone wants to take that on, I commend you.  Or, alternately, maybe someone will be kind enough to write up their experiences a second time in the comments section.  
(5) spacecityskeptics.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/how-to-design-a-positive-study-meditation-for-childhood-adhd/ 

(6) TM-Free Blog, "Who Are These People?  The Background of David Lynch's 'Researchers' " by Mike Doughney   tmfree.blogspot.com/2010/12/who-are-these-people-backgrounds-of.html
(7) http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2012/11/tm-leader-hagelin-perverts-science-to.html
(8) TM-Ex Newsletter, Spring 1992

All Publicity is Good Publicity - Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation

TM Free Blog sends a big “Thank You!!” to Claire Hoffman and John Horgan for critiquing TM in high profile publications!  Merci! Gracias! Grazie! 

Thanks to Hoffman and Horgan, the New York Times Magazine and Scientific American commented on the Transcendental Meditation Movement. Comments for the online articles expose True Believers’ mentality, further emphasizing the writers’ points. 

Despite Maharishi’s teaching that “All Publicity is Good Publicity” to assuage followers’ concerns when media questioned the giggling guru or his World Plan, some True Believers rabidly defend their organization and guru at every hint of criticism. I can't help but wonder what Maharishi would say about this recent TM publicity.

In the February 22, 2013 New York Times Magazine, Claire Hoffman’s “David Lynch is Back... as a Guru of Transcendental Meditation” describes today’s celebrity studded world of Transcendental Meditation (TM) recruitment.

Avoiding potential charges of defamation, Hoffman never writes “Beware, TM is a manipulative destructive cult justified by dubious pseudo-science.” Nor does she claim “TM hopes to garnish increasing numbers through celebrity star appeal, just as the Beatles and others seduced new recruits in the 1960s.”

Hoffman, who was raised with TM, instead artfully dodges directly stating the obvious by painting scenes familiar to anyone who has lived within the TM Movement. One of my current (non TM history) friends asked me after reading the article, “So, what’s the article’s point?”

I responded, “The reader must read between the lines and draw conclusions from her stories. Hoffman cannot print that the organization is high profit cult that seduces people by promising a Golden Egg of happiness. The organization is worth billions of dollars and could sue.”

Hoffman’s article opens with the scene of an advanced TM meeting at Lynch’s compound. Lynn Kaplan, a TM Initiator for decades, leads the gathered group. As an aside, Lynn Kaplan and her ex-husband, Earl were best friends with my ex-husband and me in the early 1980s. Lynn’s ex-husband, Earl Kaplan, later left TM after having donated over $150 million to Maharishi’s schemes. Earl speaks candidly about his disillusionment with the giggling guru when interviewed in the carefully constructed documentary, "David Wants to Fly".

Ms. Hoffman quotes various celebrities describing perceived TM  benefits, as if the only way to obtain peace of mind is through a meditation taught through several days of trance-induction. Hoffman details Lynch’s hyper-commitment to spreading TM after he attended the so-called “Millionaire’s Course.” For the sum of one million dollars per attendee, Maharishi promised enlightenment to each participant and garnered their lifelong commitment to promote TM. Most graduates of the Millionaire’s course became TM Rajas with golden colored cardboard crowns, similar to those given away at Burger King hamburger restaurants. Rather than becoming a Raja, Lynch instead received an honorary PhD from Maharishi University.

After his millionaire’s course, Lynch established the David Lynch Foundation to fundraise and spread TM to students, inner-city youth, and veterans with PTSD. The Lynch foundation targets celebrities for fundraising appeal, such as the 2009 "Change Begins Within" Concert which featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Michael Love and others telling stories of their time with Maharishi in Rishikesh India 1968. 

Hoffman’s essay includes a grid of today’s TM celebrity front runners, such as Russell Brand, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Oz, Howard Stern, Jerry Seinfeld and others. Longtime TM Initiator-Governor Bobby Roth, currently employed by David Lynch’s foundation, carefully cultivates celebrity TMers.  Like high profile celebrities in other cult-like groups, TM celebrities are sheltered from the dysfunctions, demands, psychosis and poverty experienced by many rank and file TM devotees.

On March 4, 2013 John Horgan pubished for his Scientific American “Cross-Check” blog “Do All Cults, Like All Psychotherapies, Exploit the Placebo Effect?” referring to Hoffman’s article, above.

Horgan offers a short discussion of the placebo effect, followed by an explanation of destructive cults.  He closes his essay “The more you believe in the uniquely transformative power of your cult, the more you get out of it. The only price you have to pay is your rationality.”

A few days later, on March 8, Horgan offered another essay critiquing TM’s research, in response to the True Believer comments on his first TM expose’ post, “Research on TM and Other Forms of Meditation Stinks”.

Horgan avoids insulting his readers with a definition of the scientific method and randomized trials which define good research (none of which have been used in TM studies). Horgan does, however, pointedly reference that all forms of meditation have been shown to be beneficial at times. He points out that meditation has been linked to “adverse side effects, too, including suggestibility, neuroticism, depression, suicidal impulses, insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, psychosis and dysphoria. In an implicit reference to the cultish context within which meditation is often taught, Andresen added that meditators may become vulnerable to “manipulation and control by others,” including “unscrupulous or delusional teachers.”

Horgan concludes, “A similar picture emerges from the 2007 peer-reviewed report “Meditation practices for health: state of the research,” by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The report analyzed 813 studies of meditation and concluded that most were of “poor quality.” The report stated: “Many uncertainties surround the practice of meditation. Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence.... If your particular form of meditation makes you feel good, do it! But don’t kid yourself that its medical benefits have been scientifically proven.”

TM-Free moderators bow our hats to Hoffman and Horgan for their excellent essays!

Recovering TM Cult Children --

Given that most posts here generate stimulating conversation about the TMO, Maharishi and cult (and recovery) dynamics, I couldn't help but note the lack of comments (both here and on TM-Free's FB page) to a recent insightful post Maharishi Mahesh Demeans Children. which quoted Helena Olson's "Maharishi at 433" about the guru's attitude toward children. This post was shared anonymously by one our readers who was raised in the TM Movement and included a number of revelatory remarks about adult TM-children's view of the Movement.

The lack of commentators' response to the words of a TM-kid who is finding their voice to publicly speak the unspeakable (criticism of the guru) reminds me when I was the only born-and-raised person in a cult recovery therapy group. Someone else in that group (a former cult member) looked at me askew and said, "That's really interesting. I never thought about the children in our cult."

I laughed and shook my head, "That's the point." I responded, "Children were left largely to their own devices. The leaders did not think about children.  Parents followed leaders' dictates, leadership bent upon narcissistic and financial goals. Cult members with follower-mentality lacked guidance on how to parent. There was some variation, and mostly a lot of neglect."

Sadly, little attention is placed, even in cult recovery, upon the larger issues of those born-and-raised in TM and other cults. The programming from birth can be hard to overcome. Some have lifelong effects that interfere with professional, social and family development. Into adulthood, many remain dependent primarily upon their cult-based childhood friendships because they are unable to create bonds with outsiders.

When leaving the group, "kids" lack any history of a non-cult life from which to navigate the outside world.

Just noticing... still little-to-no recognition for those whose parents and community had 'more-noble' priorities.

Fortunately, an informal network of TM-kids helps one another, in cities around the world. They (we) have our own stories. Most TM-kids share their stories quietly between trusted friends. They do not speak out publicly to avoid rejection from family and lifelong friends, many of whom remain in degrees of TM mentality.

For TM'ers who may respond saying "Maharishi said that your children are your program."
I guarantee that Maharishi NEVER said that. In 1979,  I was a 21 year old single mother, with a 2 year old child from a relationship that had begun as statutory rape when I was 15 years old.

My parents had left me at MIU Santa Barbara to attend the local high school, without a legal custodian when I was 15 years old. They thought it was a pure, safe environment (variation of a common experience for subsequent decades of TM kids). MIU Prep was a joke at that time - a babysitting service based around a few dirty donated fisher-price toys and volunteer babysitters (including me).

I told Bevan Morris, "Our children are our Program" at the first World Peace Assembly in Amherst Massachusetts, summer 1979.

Bevan Morris had called me to a private audience to threaten banning me if I didn't participate in full Program. He said I would be responsible for World War III and global economic collapse because I continued my self-modified version of Program to allow me to also care for my daughter.

In 1979-mid 1980s I then told other parents, as I had told Bevan, "Our children are our Program. Maharishi doesn't know about children because he doesn't have any." I also said the same when I taught childbirth and early parenting classes to TMers in Fairfield, Iowa through the mid 1980s. It seems that some community remembered the message, although attributing it to their guru.

The stance of Maharishi and his Movement (led primarily by single men) toward children and parenting was "Do your program to support spontaneous right action and glean the support of nature". Meanwhile parents were told to meditate for hours daily and donate ample $ums to Maharishi's vision.

MIU Prep and MSAE (Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment) were established by motivated parents, not because of Maharishi's interest in children. When TM leadership learned they could glean publicity through MSAE, there was a smidgen of interest to exploit enlightened children to attract followers. That's the same motivation behind David Lynch Foundation's efforts toward school children.

For the most part, TM children hindered the quest for enlightenment, to be seen and largely ignored. Other than teaching children to meditate and parrot the guru's teachings, the Movement did not support nurturing, protecting nor inspiring children's individuality. Fortunately, a few parents had strong parental / maternal instincts; those homes often became a haven for other kids.

Seems that's still the case. To the TM-kids out there - remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

In Memory of Beloved "Dan". Be True. Peace. Family Condolences.

(Names respectfully withheld, as requested by the mourning family)

A ‘gently grizzly” passed to eternal slumber last week. He wanted his story told.

"Whatever is unnamed, undepicted in images, whatever is omitted from biography, censored in collection of letters, whatever is misnamed as something else, made difficult-to-come-by, whatever is buried in in the memory by collapse of meaning under an inadequate or lying language- this will become,not merely unspoken, but unspeakable.”
-Adrienne Rich, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence

Electron webs of heavy-hearted global TM offspring buzz over another premature passing of a beloved peer. Like most TM-kids, “Dan” deeply loved his meditation and genetic family. Dan’s frighteningly strong arms will never again embrace anyone.

Many in TM’s global community care deeply for Dan and his kind family. Dan’s lifelong connections with the well-intentioned Transcendental Meditation community sustained him with compassionate love and commitment.

Raised with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s deemed enlightened peace plan through the global Transcendental Meditation Movement, Dan’s connections and love encompassed the world. Even as a youth, Dan lived by his recent favorite Facebook quote ~ “be true.”

Dan was one of the most kind, gentle and forgiving souls. He strove always to do right by himself and for others. Nearing age 40, Dan lived his last few years with his patient loving non-TM father. With support of his solidly stable father, family and far flung loved ones, Dan’s soul flowered peacefully through art, music, and his continued connections with global loved ones.

Dan joins one sister and his mother who passed before him.

Child of the Cult - with Transcendental Meditation chapter

Nori Muster spent several years researching, interviewing, and editing stories of adults who had been raised in a variety of cults for her latest book "Child of the Cult".





This book is now available, here as an ebook or kindle through amazon.com.

Through skillfully applied personal narratives, psychological and sociological analysis, along with historical context for each group, Nori uses the stories of five individuals, raised in different cult groups, to illustrate how cult dynamics contribute to child neglect and abuse in totalitarian systems.

This e-book is a valuable contribution to the literature on cult dynamics, child abuse, cult recovery and personal voice.

Because this book defies tidy publishing categories, traditional publishers rejected it. They didn't know how to market the book.

Thus, Nori opted for an e-book through amazon.
To support the children.

Yes, there is a summary chapter of an upbringing (moi) in Transcendental Meditation.

There are virtually no profits from sales of this book. This is a public service document to help former-children from cults, now in recovery. This is also a useful tool for therapists, school teachers and social workers who suspect that youth under their professional guidance may be living in a totalitarian abusive system.

About Nori : After working in the publications dept of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Ms. Nori Muster authored "Betrayal of the Spirit" about her time with the inner core of the Hare Krishna group.

Nori is an activist on behalf of children injured in cults, and on cult recovery in general.
You may read more about Nori at norimuster.com

The never ending journey, "Are we there yet?"

"Karma Puja" a childhood initiation story

At Laurie's suggestion, here is the link to my childhood initiation story in the Olson's home Beverly Hills, CA, c. 1966.

Karma Puja by Gina Catena.

ICSA Orlando Workshop for People Born or Raised in Cultic Groups - REGISTER NOW. PLEASE TELL OTHERS.

I wish that a workshop, such as posted below, existed twenty some years ago when I left the TMO. Learning outside life on my own took quite a while, with many mistakes. Please pass this information to others raised in cults. TMFree does not maintain an official relationship with the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). We offer this information as a service for our readers. Complete workshop information can be found at the links in this post. Gina personally knows the professionals running this workshop. They are professional, kind, knowledgeable and supportive. Working with them, and meeting others also raised in cult-type groups, can be of great help to those trying to make life on their own after leaving their family/cult.

*************

International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)
Surviving and Moving On After a High Demand Group Experience
A Workshop for Second-Generation Former Members

Friday 3:00 p.m. April 17, 2009 to Sunday 2:00 p.m. April 19, 2009

Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, 1601 Alafaya Trail, Oviedo, FL 32765 (407-365-5571)

Online Information and Registration: Copy and paste the following URL into your browser:

http://icsahome.com/infoserv_conferences/Workshops/2009_SGA_FL.asp

The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) has run workshops for former members of high-demand, "cultic" groups for many years. In recent years increasing numbers of people born or raised in such groups (i.e., "second generation adults" - SGAs) have attended these workshops. These ex-members have special needs, which can be most effectively addressed through a workshop that focuses on them. SGAs do not have a "pre-cult identity" to which they can return. SGAs raised in fringe subcultures have to learn the implicit rules and expectations of mainstream culture. SGAs frequently have educational and other skill deficits that interfere with adjustment to mainstream culture. Having grown up in high-control groups that are often based on irrational belief systems, SGAs tend to struggle with issues of dependency, self-esteem, and social conflict. Because many SGAs were physically or sexually abused, they often have to deal with anger, resentment, and other emotions related to trauma. SGAs have difficulty getting help because they tend to lack finances and be wary of other people, including helpers.

This workshop will address the needs of SGAs through a series of brief didactic presentations (supplemented by written handouts) followed by discussions, to which attendees may contribute according to their comfort levels. Specifically, the workshop will address:

* critical thinking
* socialization, culture shock, and acculturation
* psychological development, child abuse and neglect, parenting styles, boundaries, and trust
* long-term psychological, educational, and emotional effects of growing up in a culture of abuse and neglect
* relationships with families and others

This workshop has been made possible by special donations and the willingness of facilitators to volunteer large amounts of their time. Without the dedication of these people, registration fees would be much higher than what is listed below. The donations cover a substantial portion of the total cost. Therefore, the fees listed below reflect a significant discount. Because many SGAs struggle economically, additional financial assistance is available for those in need. If you would like to apply for financial assistance, please contact ICSA.

For the TM-kids - Extreme Recovery

TM kids:

Please read this latest article/link, an inspirational story of a cult-kid & family turnaround.
You will find analogies between Jim Jr's post-Jonestown inner conflicts and your own.
You are each capable of a successful turnaround. Don't forget it!

To remind that you are not alone:

Escape from Jonestown; How basketball gave life to a son and grandson of the infamous cult leader Jim Jones

Like Jim Jr, most of us TM-kids love/loved our childhood community. As adults, we kept community secrets from the public to avoid hurting our loved ones. (thankfully, MMY's power mongering did not include massive death... only occassional resulting individual psychosis and suicides).

When TM cult-kids question the community dysfunction and regulations, they are told they are "too negative," "cease those tomasic thoughts," "you are just unstressing," and the like. They learn to lie to protect the "higher values", luring others to the community, supposedly for their own good.
"The purity is good for your evolution. Your consciousness will expand here."

These mixed messages cause an inner dissonance for youth. They see the goodness in their loved ones, they know the high intentions of True Believers, yet they live a restricted regimented lifestyle. It can be difficult to make sense of it all.

Like all cult kids, there is an inner battle of inspiring, naive love tainted with confusing and/or ugly memories. Jim Jr's inner turmoil is the extreme of the spectrum of love/confusion/rejection/regret and adulation that we remember.

In cults, teachings may not be the culprit (at least not initially)... destructive methods are problematic.
You don't need anyone to dictate your life.

Truly, liberation comes with claiming one's voice, and integrating the past -- including inevitable rejection from some, and stigma from others. Pretending we don't have a past -- well, it usually doesn't work for the long haul (trust me, I tried).

My children and dearest friends know our heritage. Like other TM-kids, we love people that others consider nuts. My children and I visited the TM-community every few years, after our long ago departure. We maintain family-like ties with other former TMers.
We avoid other loved ones because True Believers can be crazy-making!

Jim Jr. claimed his voice, years after his family & community tragedy, through his son's love for basketball (the sport which simultaneously saved the lives of Jim Jr and his brothers, and likewise prevented them from confronting their father to interfere with the Jonestown tragedy).
Thank heavens we were spared the intensity of the Jones' family drama!

Just as Jim Jr descended into alcohol to hide from his pain (read the article), many cult kids drown in drugs and alcohol attempting to make sense of their pain.

TM cult-parents shrug off this phenomenon, accepting their youth "toy with the darkness because adolescent hormones cause serious unstressing."
TM parents are later perpelexed when grown children leave the community and minimize further contact.

One TM kid was recently dying from liver failure (alcohol abuse) in University of Iowa hospital, others passed away in related circumstances. Some have been in and out of jail.
(what?? TM is supposed to lower the crime rate?! but FF's crime rate increased since MIU/MUM came to town!)

Years after leaving my beloved TM community, I realized that psychosis, suicide attempts and bankruptcies do not occur in such high rates in average middle class communites.

Some grown TM-kids maintain the family lifestyle, obtaining MUM degrees and employed in underpaid positions for the Movement. Some remain in town for small town community 'sweetness," but keep a non vocal disagreement w/ the cult-establishment (as I once did). They turn a blind eye to the surrounding lifestyle and herd mentality to preserve beloved family connections. Others profit from the TM community.

Maharishi taught us, like Lord Krishna encouraging Arjuna on the battlefield of life, we must sometimes stand against our families to protect truth.

That familiar Gita line inspired the letter to the San Rafael School Board when a TM program was rolled out in my new community's high school. This letter was circulated to the press and the TM Movement's echeleon.
The David Lynch Foundation quickly withdrew their grant to the Terra Linda High School.
A respected TM leader (an old friend, featured on History Channel's recent show about MMY) sent a private email: "Gina, never contact me again. May God have mercy on your soul." Others used harsher words.
But you know what? Lightning did NOT strike my family for coming forth!

TM kids, you are many now!
Some choose to pretend their past never existed.
Jim Jr's sister took the family secrets to her death bed. My brother, now a father, an IT executive and a Mormon high priest, refuses to discuss our history stating, "I try really hard not to remember."

Whether you choose to dissavow yourself from the past, or to embrace the cult upbringing into your present persona, you CAN stand on your own to succeed, as Reverand Jones' sons did in the above inspiring article. Please read the story linked at the top of this essay. May their story inspire you. You are not alone. You can bridge the inner dissonance caused by your confusing upbringing.

You deserve acknowledgement for overcoming and creating your lives! Hats off to you! ..and Happy Holi-daze!

What Makes M.U.M. unique? A Student Video

"When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've ever met... and all of this sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true! Don't give up your education, your hopes and ambitions, to follow a rainbow."
Jeanne Mills, Former member of the People's Temple,1978
(JonestownSurvivor)

"What Makes M.U.M. Unique?" A student video

The people, by and large, are wonderful!

To maintain group connection, one slowly learns to ignore the under current of dysfunction. Such blinders are limiting and may be hazardous.

Watch the film, you will hear familiar scripted inspiration. One young woman even sits in a quasi-asana. Utopia.

Highway to Hell

New York Times September 9, 2007:

Highway to Hell

"Not the Business of Schools to Lead Kids to Inner Peace"

California Catholic Daily objects to allowing meditation into public schools, when prayer is prohibited.

"Not the Business of Schools to Lead Kids to Inner Peace"

Enlightened Education

Truth is stranger than fiction.

A comparison of Hogwart's School to Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment.

Education should help one use critical thinking to distinguish from flights of fantasy.

Guruphiliac on TM in New Zealand Schools

Jody's Guruphiliac has the straight dope.

Age, Rounding , and Enlightenment

Some ananysists think that TM is a curve type cult realtionship. Some people may be into it on the outside fringes and not at all be affected by the inner circle of cult like control and influences. I personally feel there may be danger in simple doing the technique regularly because nobody really knows what it is except maybe some Buddhist that I haven't heard from yet. But it is obvious that many people practice TM without being dragged into the bottom gutters of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ism.Age and rounding could have something to do with this. I began it at age 18, and I believe that the age a person starts the discipline may have a bearing on his/her interpretation of what is happening. I was very easily tranced and even more easily convinced that I had reached the shores of enlightenment, so I sought deeper experience quickly and was rounding by the time I was 19. There was no base referece point for which I could catagorize my experience. I was drowning in the opium of dissacociation.
I now think it is in no way as a means to enlightenment. The greatest enlightenment I got from it was that it doesn't lead to enlightenment! Another point I'd like to make is that after 7 years of TM and becoming a TM teacher, I still don't know what enlightenment is according to Mahesh. Does anybody else? ENLIGHTENMENT is such a catchy word; has anybody studied the "Enlightnment" as a part of European history? I sometime think that if we knew our history better, we'd know that this word has other meanings besides a Eastern Mysticism and maybe we wouldn't be so vulnerable to this sweet sounding hummmm of TMmmmm.

Letter to San Rafael School Board..or.. How TM Lures the Young and Vulnerable

The David Lynch Foundation retracted their 2006 grant to Terra Linda High School within two days of receiving their copy of this letter which was circulated to the San Rafael School Board, the Marin Independent Journal, key offices of the David Lynch Foundation and Transcendental Meditation Movement. Relevant links, in green or blue, are embedded within the online letter.

************


by Gina Catena, M.S.

San Rafael City School District
310 Nova Albion Way
San Rafael, CA 94903

cc. San Rafael City School Board members
Marin Independent Journal

16 October, 2006

Carole Ramsey, principal of Terra Linda High School (TLHS), deserves acknowledgement for her efforts to improve student life, reduce stress and increase academic success at TLHS through the David Lynch Foundation grant for Transcendental Meditation (TM) in public schools.

Given my family history, it was surprising to see two consecutive Marin Independent Journal cover stories about Transcendental Meditation’s introduction to Terra Linda High School.

As a TLHS parent, and someone whose life has been profoundly affected by TM, I am uniquely qualified to express concerns about this program presented to our community. The TM presentation on October 12 at TLHS was sophisticated and convincing. However, the presenters did not provide full disclosure of the TM program. Repeatedly, they insisted that TM is not a religion. They skillfully dodged specific questions regarding TM instruction, methods and follow up. In the interest of full disclosure of the TM program for TLHS, I offer the following.

I speak from over forty years and three generations’ of family involved with TM. The Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM) is the founding organization to promote TM in the western hemisphere. The TM program promoted to TLHS is presented as non-religious. I beg to differ. TM as originally taught by SRM's spiritual organization is identical to that offered through the David Lynch Foundation.

The Transcendental Meditation community of Fairfield, Iowa is as-if my extended family. The intentions of TM's recruiters are noble, as are those of any True Believer. I harbor no ill will toward individuals in the TM Movement; in fact I love many of them. They truly believe what they present, justifying conscious deception by their belief that recruiting others is ultimately in the others' best interest. TM's presenters at TLHS frequently referenced Maharishi's elementary and high school in Fairfield Iowa. To this day, some graduates of their lauded Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE) request my guidance as they strive to function in the real world, outside of their protected meditation community. Maharishi Schools have been established elsewhere in the world also.

I believe full disclosure is mandatory for programs promoted in our public schools.

Scientific documentation of medical benefits from deep rest grew in the seventies. Between 1970-1972 Robert Keith Wallace, PhD and Herbert Benson, M.D. published landmark scientific studies on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. Benson subsequently separated from Wallace. Benson documented identical benefits experienced through traditional forms of Christian and Jewish prayer. Benson published his “Relaxation Response” method of stress reduction without the mysticism associated with TM. Short structured rest periods provide health benefits.

Evidence suggests that TM may be more than a catnap. Research indicates that TM may trigger a shift in one's psychological and physiological states. Like a prescription medication, this might be beneficial for the right person in the right dosage. Others experience negative results such as anxiety or nervous ‘ticks’. There have been suicides. In 2004 Levi Butler was murdered on the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) campus, Maharishi's deemed center of enlightenment and tranquility.

TM instructors do not screen individuals prior to instruction. TM is presented as the magic bullet to solve all ills for all people.

I understand the good intentions of TM presenters, as well as the scripted timing of their unveiling of information. They knowingly mislead by omission of information. I know this because as a teenager in the 1970’s, I helped introduce Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and Science of Creative Intelligence to two schools. We succeeded introducing the program into Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California in the early 1970's. Their school district later terminated the program.

The TM program experienced exponential growth in the 1960s and 1970s through targeting vulnerable college students with the Students International Meditation Society (SIMS). Most of those early meditators left the organization. TM’s orchestrated resurgence once again targets vulnerable youth, through university and high school campuses. Of the many who begin TM, a few may adopt the full lifestyle.

At October 12th’s presentation, Ramsey repeatedly referred to the “trained TM instructors” who would instruct our youth in TM. Formally, TM instructors are known as Initiators or Governors of the Age of Enlightenment because, according to Maharishi, “they govern in the realm of consciousness.”

When the projected Terra Linda High School students learn TM through a seven-step procedure, the new Initiate will bring an offering of fruit, a white handkerchief and flowers for step #4, a private Initiation ceremony. The Initiator will perform a puja ceremony upon an altar to the deceased "His Divinity Shankaracharya Bramananda Swaraswati of Jyotir Math" otherwise known as Guru Dev, Maharishi’s spiritual master. The Sanskrit puja offers obeisance to Guru Dev, Hindu deities, and a lineage called the Holy Tradition of Spiritual Masters from whence this teaching supposedly descended. According to TM teachings, TM's Initiator is the living embodiment of this ancient spiritual lineage.

What secular stress reduction technique has a Holy Tradition? For this reason, in 1979 New Jersey's Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence are too religious to be taught in the New Jersey public schools, partially because of the puja ceremony required for TM instruction.

During the puja ceremony, the new initiate will hold one flower, quietly observing the Initiator perform the puja ceremony with burning camphor and incense, culminating with a bow to Guru Dev’s altar. With a gentle wave of one arm, the Initiator will invite the new initiate to likewise bow down to Guru Dev.

The new initiate will receive a secret mantra. The mantra is derived from the name of a Hindu deity. This word is never again to be repeated aloud by the meditator. Some common mantras are: Enga, Ema, Ainga, Shiring, Kirim, Sham. There are others. An early step of thought control is to teach one to keep secrets ostensibly for one's own benefit.

During the subsequent three meetings to elaborate upon the TM practice, new initiates will meditate together. In a relaxed semi-trance state, the brain readily absorbs information. The TM teachers will explain Cosmic Consciousness, God Consciousness and Unity Consciousness as evolutionary states of consciousness that can be achieved after long-term practice of TM. The Science of Creative Intelligence and costly TM-Sidhi program will be mentioned as options for advanced training at a later date. According to TM teachings, The TM-Sidhi program provides paranormal powers of invincibility such as friendliness, compassion, inner strength and levitation.

A TM-club could appear to be a positive peer support for those desiring a wholesome lifestyle and to associate with others of common values. For more vulnerable teens, this peer group’s idealism and group dynamics may prove seductive. A percentage of them will likely increase their involvement with programs at the local TM center. TM centers offer advanced meditation programs and residence programs to achieve deeper rest and release of stress along with a community of caring supportive other meditators. As one becomes further involved, he or she will learn life style guidelines to enhance their growth of consciousness. Such lifestyle guidelines include the use of unscientific Maharishi Ayur-Veda medicinals, Ghandarhva Veda music, Maharishi Jyotish astrology, and architectural guidelines for enlightened household construction called Sthapatya Veda. These advanced programs are optional, but highly lauded and encouraged. Coercive persuasion is subtle and slow.

A few may choose to attend Maharishi University of Management to study Vedic Science, or join the Thousand-Headed Purusha or Mother Divine programs –monastic branches of this "non-religious organization." Some may participate in programs, such as the Invincible America Course currently held simultaneously at Maharishi University of Management in Iowa and in Washington, DC, whereby groups of Sidhas (advanced meditators who have learned techniques for achieving paranormal powers) meditate together and also “levitate” together for hours daily. Maharishi teaches that these group meditations provide waves of coherent consciousness throughout the world, to generate world peace.

Group meditations, rather than political activism, would solve global problems. The devout may relocate to Maharishi Vedic City Iowa, where all is orchestrated according to Maharishi's fantastical Laws of Nature, beneath the golden banner for Maharishi's Global Country of World Peace. Purchases in Vedic City are made with their own currency, the The Raam.

Those with more time and money may opt for further expensive and prolonged meditation courses to become Rajas. Golden crowned Rajas are assigned a geographical domain to support consciousness expansion on Earth. Raja "training" costs one million dollars.

There is a history, albeit repressed, of some participants having psychotic breaks and other negative results from prolonged periods of deep meditation on TM sponsored courses.

Alcohol and tobacco come with warning labels. TM lacks a warning label. Full disclosure is imperative when introducing a new program to our public schools.

TM promoters well-intentionedly reveal only stress management information in introductory talks. The more elaborate teachings are carefully hidden in the beginning. They believe that people “are not ready for the full revelation of knowledge. When consciousness has expanded from experiencing the profound bliss of TM, then we slowly reveal more.”

Some may benefit from fifteen – twenty minutes’ daily catnaps. Others may fall sway to a deeper commitment to this method of consciousness expansion. I observed more than my fair share of others’ psychotic breaks, familial destruction and financial devastation by good-hearted people who committed their lives to the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation.

For the students' protection, please consider my family exposure to more than forty years of Transcendental Meditation's global growth as the disclosure label to this program coming to TLHS. In my opinion, if anyone wants to make a fully informed decision to learn TM, then go right ahead. However, I still maintain this does not belong in our public school system.

David Lynch’s sponsorship for Transcendental Meditation is as well intentioned as Tom Cruise’s enthusiastic endorsement of Scientology.

In the interest of full disclosure,

Gina Maria Catena
early Child of the Age of Enlightenment through Transcendental Meditation as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Mother of three TLHS alums
San Rafael, California