TM Kids "Returning to Ananda" Trailer

For a taste of issues of TM - kids - now adults, see this video trailer of a 20 minute Television Pilot

Click on the link below for trailer of
"Returning to Ananda" by Déjà Cresencia Bernhardt-Leazer  of Skwatta Camp Productions


Returning To Ananda (Sizzle) from Déjà Cresencia Bernhardt-Leaze on Vimeo.

Second Hand Cult Abuse - Fifty Years

A TMFree Reader sent the following story in a small series of emails.
She gave permission to post the story minus names.
This resembles stories of many who lost loved ones to TM, or have TM family members.

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

I have been reading some blogs over the past few days and wonder if anyone is interested in my experience with TM?  I have communicated with ++++ a number of times. It comes in waves, at the moment I have been following the Pandit riot.  Anyway to cut a long story short I am a 70 year old grandma in Australia whose marriage and life was messed up for a very long time due to the fact my (ex) husband's obsession with TM.

Has anyone looked into the effect on families, i.e. those partners who are not TMers and what they are put througyh and what numbers divorce?  I would very much like to be in touch with other such persons here in Australia. I am sure there must be a number just like me.

MM visited Australia on 7 Dec 1967. Husband was asked to organise accommodation, media etc. We picked MM up from the airport in our little car. MM wrapped his sari around him pushed me aside and squeezed into the front seat leaving me carrying a 16 month old and heavily pregnant to attempt to get into the back seat.  It started right there. I was pushed aside over and over for 20 years until finally I said enough. I am still getting over the constant TM bashing (like a non smoker who inhales cigarette smoke I was contaminated).

Briefly my ex husband (of over 20 years) did the teacher training course in Fiuggi in 1972. We had been living in Italy for 2 years and I was sent home along with my +++ children ++++. He stayed for 3 months. This was upsetting for the children and put even a bigger burden on me. Starting children in school alone, opening the house after a rental of 2 years, getting used to Australian way of life etc.  He had been meditating since the early 1960s but it did not seem a big problem back then.   

When my husband returned from Fiuggi in 1972 he announced almost immediately he returned that sex would have to fit in with his duties as a TM teacher, i.e. none before or during...what a shock for a young 27 year old to be told essentially that our sexual relationship would make him "impure". That I would have to "book" him ahead of time. He didn't say that in so many words but for all those years that is what I carried inside me. Our married sex life was over really. 

Anyway "Down the Rabbit Hole" has left a big impression on me. I do so identify with what and who my husband became in those years after Fiuggi.  I think you call it "disassociation"? wonderful word and describes him exactly.     

He did his teacher training in TM in 1972 in Fiuggi as I said and we had just completed a 2 year stint in Genova where he did post doctoral work at the University.  I observed a changed person when he came home 3 months later. He was glassy eyed for weeks and talked of little else than the film the TMers had seen at the end of the course...The Beatles Yellow Submarine!!  I was so exasperated. I had spent 3 months learning to live back in Australia with 2 little boys beginning school. The "disappearance" of their father for such a long time had a long term effect on our eldest son who was very stressed at beginning school without his Dad around.

TM replaced a father who should have been around for his children. He never had time to take his sons to sports etc and was minimally involved in their lives. As for me I spent school holidays alone with the children as +++ chose those times (Uni holidays) to go on his extra TM courses.    

But those 25 years were a big part of my life and should have been healthy happy ones. I am also very angry with myself for tolerating so much for so long. Why didn't I leave so much earlier and had the chance of beginning a new life without him or TM?   But gradually I began to believe there was something wrong with me because I didn't embrace TM. I put 150% into our marriage because I thought if I worked harder he would care more for me. The more I did the less he did, so the last few years he sent all his spare time meditating and running marathons. My mother in law asked me why I worked so hard!

Fortunately I prevented ++++ taking the +++ children++  out of the highly prestigeous school they had managed to gain entry for. He wanted to put them in a newly opened TM school (as I suspected the school lasted all of 6 months). Thankfully I won that one. 

Recently +++ has spoken to the family about having a unit with the door "facing the right way". My son thought he meant Feng Shuey (dont know how to spell it)...but I realise now that it is another directive from the movement. It's just never ending.  In short TM I have believed for a very long time is an addiction for some people, or rather for people "in the hierarchy of the movement".  +++  was/is very influential in the movement in Australia. I know now that a lot of our money was syphoned off to the movement which is why I never had access to our bank accounts etc.    

Mostly I dont think about TM these days (unless at one of the grandchildrens' parties and their grandfather is there, then I get all shaky which seems ridiculous). When I begin to read some of the stories online which I do every now and then it takes me days to get over reading about things I was so close to. I really dont understand it as I have been alone for 25 years now. A counsellor told me, much to my horror, that I was emotionally abused. No he never laid a hand on me but I know that it was abuse. Being made to feel a 2nd rate human being on the "enlightened scale" , being called crazy, are not the acts of a so called "enlightened" person are they? Problem is my children and friends think of him as a quiet gentle person. They also think I should "get over it". I had noone to speak with about this in those 20 years as we lived interstate. Had we been near parents and friends he wouldn't have got away with his actions and behaviour. Because I was the one to initiate a divorce I was treated very badly by his parents for some time. Ironically toward the end of mother in law's life she confided in me that they both "live on another planet"!!! Whoa why didn't she speak up sooner? 

Anyway I do feel for you having been in a real family tradition of TM. I truly don't know how you cope.  Joe was great..I know some TMers have referred online to his "mental condition". That seems a standard comment about ex TMers who speak out and must originate somewhere in the movement?  I also came across an item referring to MM saying bad things would happen to those TMers who did not conform to his wishes, or some such thing.  In Weggis one of the little TM children I spoke of referred to an Australian couple whose little girl was born deaf...he, all of 8 years, said Maharishi told those people not to marry and that is why they had a deaf baby....scary?

I am amazed and truly horrified at the recent riot in Fairfield and the details surrounding it. Haven't the authorities done anything about these people?  My ex husband spent 10 years on the Fairfield University Campus after we divorced (with wife #2 also a teacher). He was a Prof of Mathematics and no dill, or I didn't think so for a long time.

We also spent 6 months in Lucerne Switzerland where husband was wired for the brain wave stuff. I saw a lot of neglected children in Weggis (children of very well known TMers and was horrified at the lack of time education and care taken of these children (who latched onto me as a sort of 2nd mother as I wasn't involved in the TM side of things).

I would love to hear of anyone in a similar position to me.  You see even now writing this I feel a sense of guilt and fear.  Discussing TM brings on a trembling and agitation I can't explain.  I have seen and heard what the movement is capable of over a period of 50 years.

Sincerely

  

Grandmother in Australia

Rekha Basu : "There's a little disconnect" in TM Pandit Compound

Rekha Basu states "There's a little disconnect" when pandits for peace threw rocks at a sheriff, during a stealth 6 a.m. operation to remove their leader for an undisclosed reason.

In summary, there needs to be some oversight about this suspicious situation.

Rekha Basu, journalist for the Des Moines Register, explains Vedic City and Pandit compound clearly to non-TMers. In this video interview she reviews the noble purported goals of the TM Movement, the financial and cultural contributions to the larger community, and the pandits' apparent totalitarian controlled living situation :






She provides an excellent overview of the Pandit compound in the video interview and her article "Maharishi Vedic City: Inside the compound with Rekha Basu".

Ms. Basu investigated only the pandit compound. So she understandably made a mistaken assumption in introductory remarks, stating that Vedic City private homes are for faculty of Maharishi University of Management.  In reality, MUM faculty live primarily on campus, because (like the fenced-in pandits) MUM faculty are compensated with room and board and a minimal stipend. The only MUM faculty who live off campus either have an outside income, personal trust funds or married into wealth.

Vedic City private homes are owned by private TM devotees.

The psychological totalitarianism of the TM Movement extends beyond the physical pandit enclosure.

Thank you, Rekha Basu!

San Francisco High School Rejects TM's "Quiet Time"

Wallenberg High School of San Francisco canceled “Quiet Time” program effective 2014. 

The David Lynch Foundation had used celebrity endorsement and donations to sponsor this stealth entry for Transcendental Meditation into public schools. 

Thanks to SF Parents Against TM in Public Schools for their activism to educate school administration and faculty about the many facets of this superficially benign program. And thanks, once again, for David Sieveking’s documentary “David Wants to Fly” about the wizardry behind Maharishi’s Oz. 

Thanks also to Attorney Ford Greene for professional services rendered to educate school administration about academic controversy with cultic organizations.

Cheers for a successfully targeted stone from concerned citizens against a global goliath.

David Wants to Fly Trailer English from Lichtblick Film on Vimeo.

Prison of Indoctrination - TMO

The author of this unsolicited contribution requests to remain publicly anonymous for now. 
This person was raised in the Transcendental Meditation Movement.

Being born into a TM Cult family has lasting impacts on relationships both physical and emotional, personal and working.

The broad strokes can be traced back to a few things, most noticeable in my eyes are: Jyotish, the blabberish of your entire life being predetermined and predictable, and the built in assumption that you must be with another cult member (read true believer), or convert the one you have into a true believer. 

This has had a devastating effect on my relationships with non-TM friends, with girl friends, and significant others. How? 

Growing up as a second generation TM kid, you were constantly told what a special gift to be born into a family of yogi's, truly amazing, and that you, and others born into TMO families would bring about heaven on earth. 

The constant reinforcement through TM schools engrained in the pschye that no happiness would be possible, and no-one would truly know you unless they also were helping "heaven on earth" eventuate by joining the TMO. This ingrained brainwashing led to the brink of sex addiction - seeking a connection, but never allowing any emotional openness because "it would never lead to anything, they aren't TMO". 

Looking back, the callous way this destroyed any playful emotional connections, and removed any possible seeds of a relationship with meaning to flourish is the saddest thing to me. A 3 year relationship finally ended on the back of mental turmoil - I couldn't see her embracing the TMO, and closed myself off, ending it suddenly and refusing any chance of reconciliation. This relationship lasted this long almost in spite of myself - I was experiencing significant dissonance and attempted to live a "normal life", not meditating, making friends not within the TMO, and making a go of it. 

In spite of all this, I was conflicted throughout, wrestling with truly giving in and having a relationship about us, and not her or my beliefs. I failed, it failed, and I reverted back to several years of emotionally restricted physical encounters, despairing of finding someone "on my level" and fully TMO. 

Regular lectures from my TMO invested father throughout this period on how important it was to have a wife of the same background and values (read TMO faithful) were endured during this time, including strong positive reinforcement when I ended the 3 year relationship, saying it was the right decision, and discouraging me from second-guessing myself. 

Jyotish was the counter-punch one-two blow that landed regularly in conduction with the conditioning. Being told throughout childhood and adulthood that my life would be hard, difficult, and unhappiness would reign if my main focus wasn't on the spiritual side of life (read TMO only, no other), due to my particular chart combination, built in another reason to shut down any connection that wasn't interested in TM.

It took a lot to break that, to the point that the delightful person I'm married to was pre-emptively dumped after a month of dating because I couldn't see her becoming part of the TMO. Thankfully she didn't take no for an answer and persevered with me, held on even through being coerced into learning TM (she felt nothing, had no positive effects, and it bored her), and almost pushed into becoming a teacher of ™. 

The dissonance I experienced between the conditioning of being born into the TM Cult and cold, hard, beautiful reality finally broke through the veil and started the exiting process that is filling me with more self awareness than any of Mahesh's sleepfest mumbles ever did. 

Review of "Mushroom Satori"

“Mushroom Satori, the cult diary” by Joseph Szimhart is a novel about a young man’s vulnerability, seduction and later retreat from a meditation cult community in the New Mexico desert. Szimhart based this novel upon decades of work exit counseling cult victims as they struggle with spirituality, purpose, and identity. 

Jake is a young man who lost his alcoholic Vietnam veteran father to a motor cycle accident. As Jake struggles to find meaning in an oft confusing world, he joins an emerging spiritual community in New Mexico whose Buddhist master provides direction and meaning to followers. Jake devotes his life to this community’s spiritual purpose and celibate lifestyle. He works without compensation, forms deep friendships while denying rumors of their leader’s abuses. After ten years, Jake returns to his family of origin without money or direction. While he finds validation in his humble community of origin, Jake initially struggles with identity and purpose, even landing a small stint in a mental hospital with a brief psychotic break before emerging to establish himself in mainstream society.

The characters of “Mushroom Satori” are both believable and likable, as are the vast majority of cult members. Jake’s spiritual Master combines an uplifting spiritual message with manipulative and ultimately abusive tactics. Jake’s intimate friendships, doubts, and desire for a meaningful life lead a reader from idealistic beginnings of cult seduction, through painful departure and eventual successful recovery and reintegration to society.

One friend of mine, also raised in the TM Movement, said of Szimhart’s book “ Very intense and gave me a great deal of insights into all the friends who lost it AFTER questioning or leaving the TM Movement or after doing drugs instead. WOW! It’s like a molotov cocktail to mix with other cults or drugs after cult involvement!” He continued “It’s amazingly dangerous, even after all I’ve read, I’m amazed that this part never fully hit me, that the dangerous part is the transition period OUT. Makes total sense since the mind’s ability to compartmentalize breaks down and you’re left with a reality that causes a mental system crash.”

The story entertains while educating. Szimhart’s compassion offers validation for former cult members, especially for those emerging from a group based upon Eastern philosophies. For family members of cult victims, Jake's personable character provides valuable insight into a cult member’s mindset.

Mushroom Satori is available in Paperback and e-book format through Aperture press here.

Or through amazon.com here.

For help with cult recovery or exit counseling a family member - Joseph Szimhart can be reached through his website here.

Video Interview with Steven Hassan

In the following short video, Steven Hassan, of FreedomOfMind.com interviewed Gina Catena about Transcendental Meditation during the  International Cultic Studies Association conference in Trieste, Italy on July 6, 2013. This interview was impromptu and unrehearsed.


Ex-Transcendental MeditationTM (TM) Gina Catena with Steve Hassan July 6th 2013 from Steven A Hassan on Vimeo.


Sadly, only a few hours after filming this interview, another young person who was raised with TM met a tragic death before a train, in the precise location where another suicide took place a few years before.

My (Gina's) postscript to the interview:  I don't think TM causes ALL the problems experienced by many devotees. However, TM often creates a smokescreen which masks underlying problems, thereby rendering the root problem untreatable. The smoke screen can become an expensive and dangerous distraction.

We at TMFree send sincere condolences to the recently deceased's family, and to others with losses related to cognitive dissonance and depression often experienced with cult mentality.

Concern for such losses keeps us "here."

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!

TM Sues Vedic Meditation

According to the Associated Press and ABC News, January 20th, 2013, a branch of the TM Movement filed a lawsuit against The Meditation House owned by life coach Jules Green for citing Transcendental Meditation research to promote an (identical) meditation method called "Vedic Meditation." Thom Knoles trained Jules Green to teach the Vedic Meditation promoted by her Meditation House.

See : Legal Fight over Calming Technique lacks Harmony

Vedic Meditation was founded by Thom Knoles after he left Maharishi's TM Movement. Thom Knoles follows Maharishi Mahesh's example as he self proclaims to be a maharishi (great seer) himself. Thom trains other teachers of Vedic Meditation who seem then to function independently. TMFree blog moderators do not know the arrangements between Thom and his Vedic Meditation teachers.

Thom's  organization sponsors Meditation groups, meetings, retreats, Teacher Training, Sidhi courses. Using a tested format, the Vedic Meditation organization gathers followers amongst the Hollywood and other (preferably wealthy) spiritual seekers.

As in other guru clashes with TM followers, the TM Organization warns devotees to choose sides carefully.

Excerpted from the Associated Press by Ryan Foley :

The sides are fighting for customers and to protect their own reputations in a federal court case over whether the foundation can enforce its trademark rights and claims of false advertising against Knoles and other teachers of his rival Vedic Meditation. With high stakes, the litigation over a technique that supporters say can reduce stress and blood pressure is getting tense.

To the foundation, Knoles and his followers are using the credibility and positive image associated with its technique to promote themselves and mislead customers. To Knoles' backers, the foundation is unfairly seeking a monopoly on a technique that's existed thousands of years.

"Once you've formally burned your bridges, however, I'm afraid there'll be nothing more I or anyone can do to help you," a foundation supporter wrote in 2011, advising a businessman to reconsider his commitment to Knoles, in an email included in court records.Supporters of transcendental meditation — which involves closing one's eyes twice daily for 20 minutes while silently thinking to reduce stress and promote health — are being warned to choose sides carefully.

Maharishi Mahesh Demeans Children

An adult who was raised under Maharishi's supposedly enlightened umbrella shared the following excerpt from one of the founding books about Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation. Do read the comments from other TM-kids which followed this facebook posting.

Kind of long story but interesting for all of us TM'ers, the children seem to be the only ones that can recognize the emperor with no clothes. Excerpted from "Maharishi at '433' By Helena Olson", the 1979 republication of Helena Olson's 1967 "A Hermit In the House", about her family's houseguest experience with our dhoti-clad guru when he came to the United States :

Theresa had not yet seen Maharishi, and as he alighted from the car she started to run toward him. His eyes met hers and both smiled as he commenced a slow, regal walk to our steps. Roland joined us to greet him. Theresa and I presented him the white geraniums.

"Nice," he said.

"Come in," said Roland who escorted him to the sheet draped armchair. He sat in it in the cross legged position. Tina came in to meet him, and, as I expected, talked to him casually and easily as we all wished to do. I enjoyed just looking at him. We offered punch. He declined and asked for water. Tina and Theresa served him. Then we invited him to see the house. The Siamese cats, Su-Ling and Mei-Ling, came with him from the living room into the small library. Turning into the study, he lingered a moment, then proceeded down the hall to view the dining room, saying nothing. He nodded quite often to the little retinue following. We were hoping he liked it. When we came to the stairs, Roland asked Maharishi if he would like to see the room we had prepared for him. He nodded, and we went upstairs. The two cats raced ahead. The front bedroom was large and airy with windows on two sides. Naturally, it was a little on the dainty side, as it had been decorated for our two oldest daughters while they were home. He stood only at the door. As we went down the small hall to point out the bath, he stood silently. Then he said, "What is there?" motioning to a separate wing of the house. "Oh, Maharishi," I laughed, "that is Tina's room." I nodded toward her, and was a little surprised to see a slight frown on her face. "Even we rarely go in there," I started to say. "I see it?" came the reply. I felt trapped. Every large home and family has a room that gets its door closed when company comes. This room was like that most of the time! We felt Tina's need to be free, and we put as little restriction on her as possible. Her room was completely her private kingdom. Only Sun-Ling, Tina's special favorite cat, came and went freely. Although she had spent the morning cleaning her domain, I had great hesitancy in opening the door. She had always said,"I can't relax when things are too neat."

At this fateful moment we stood in front of the closed door anticipating the worst. I caught Tina's eye as she stood there watching adults invade her world. I wanted to leave the door closed but had to take hold of the knob and open it. Tina's life was to change too. I heard a deep gasp come from Maharishi as he stepped back. Every inch of the walls not adorned with doll collections was covered with souvenirs from school proms, menus, pom-poms from ball games, a toreador poster, ballet posters, movie star pictures, a cow bell and other props from the theatre. But the bed was made, and all clothing was put away. Maharishi's eyes took in the whole collection, and came to rest on the four large windows framed with trees and tropical vines. The curtains blowing free in the afternoon breeze gave a well decorated room an air of seclusion and a suggestion of simplicity. "If you would like to stay in here, we can take some things off the walls."

"That would be very nice."

I thought everything was fine until, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Tina's face. I shut my eyes quickly and ushered the group downstairs to safer ground. After the family was once again alone, I took Tina in my arms. She was near tears. "If that man is so holy, he understands how I feel about my room! Nobody can have my bedroom! Why can't he use the front bedroom?" Her eyes glowed like fiery coals. "I wish he would have, Tina. But, for some reason, he liked your room. I think it is quite an honor."

Tina was not convinced.

Olson, Helena, Maharishi at '433': The Story of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's First Visit to the United States (Los Angeles: R. R. Donnelley, 1979). 40-42.

Facebook Comments on the post   :


E what an asshole! 

M Wow Tina got screwed over twice; once by her mom who didn't protect her privacy/property and again by the strange man in white robes.

M Yah, and then didnt Tina go and built a house at HM?

L She did, I met her with her attorney husband can't remember his name? She seemed pretty out of it to me:(.

M Peter and Tina Sterling... I guess Tina had housing karma with Mahesh her whole life! Zoinks! ;-))

L I still have my house in Boone!! Keep hoping someone from the new cult will buy it(sri sri whatever)

P Lol. If Tina didn't want to give up her bedroom then it's because she was just unstressing. An enlightened master never makes mistakes - it was good for her evolution to give up her bedroom. She just wasn't evolved enough to understand.

M Learned you can't help anyone..but they can see your story and learn for themselves ...when they want to wake up, they will on their own timing, but many are way too invested to ever do so.

K There is an old saying "Take the best and leave the rest". I personally know Tina and Peter, and I'm sure she is neither "out of it" or feels deprived from Maharishi choosing her bedroom. But here's the question I have for L and M: Which is more important to you- How Tina feels today, or your opinion about what happened in the story above. If you are acting out of compassion for Tina, then I'm sure she would love to talk with you about the experience (she and Peter do have a telephone). But if you are more interested in trying to find and spread negative stories about Maharishi (or anyone else) then I'm sure you will find an eager audience. Some people are always more interested in dirt.

N HI K ...naw, nothing is "against" or "for"--- I think they are a lovely couple. Just find it interesting that she has housing karma with Mahesh..;-)) First her bedroom gets swiped then she builds a million dollar mansion where Mahesh tells everyone to build, then he pulls out of the development...interesting karma is all! Blessings upon you.

F Yeah sorry K   I'm from Australia and know none of the people involved, but i was raised in the tm movement. Its not a matter of enjoying the act of digging up dirt. I was deprived of many things due to the TM movement, and I never even stood in his presence. It's just a reality. The man was a parasite.

M I know a man here in M--- whose sister was approached sexually by Mahesh years ago, when they were in TM movement in their 20's. She had been falling in love with a guy her age, while Mahesh made his advances. She and her boyfriend decided to leave the TM group and basically "get out." Mahesh offered them a small private place to fly out on when he heard they were leaving. The plane mysteriously crashed minutes after take off.

My ex husband bought Mahesh's old helicopter (during the time we were not in Mahesh's favor.) the helicopter got shipped to Florida from Holland. Our pilot went down to Florida to fly it to NC, and almost died because it had been jimmied with. The only reason he is alive is because he knew from his time in Israel how to land a copter whose tail rotor had fallen off. 

Our breaks on our vehicles in NC were cut when we returned to get our stuff at our homes.

The guru was not benign lets just say.

M I know that the above is a can of worms for the K’s out there, but what the heck, I want to let people know, what L says is true.

K If those stories are true, I'm sorry you guys had those experiences. But it is sadder that you choose to spend so much time re-living them. Go out and live life. And if you are haunted by these experiences, see a therapist. We all have bad experiences. Some worse than others. But life is for living. Where we put our attention is a choice. And what we dwell on. we become. No offense intended.

M K you are absolutely correct. In addition, the beauty of connecting on FB can be to share and swap stories, both beautiful and painful. While most of my life is now swept up in the throws of very different subject matter, it is amazing to look back up my river and see how the waters shaped the rocks. I imagine for L and others who were raised from birth in the movement that the processing and de- programming may last longer than for myself, and I honor and respect this process, as it is a deep awakening into what feels right to the depth of one's soul. And soul matters are of great importance and value, and worthy of deep reflection. Therefore let us all listen and share our perspectives, as you have, such that we may further each others' path toward understanding.

L My reason for sharing is I don't want anyone to live through what I did and to reveal the monsterous lies that are being taught to children and adults alike. The children are more susceptible in some ways as beliefs become almost intractable if swallowed young. Also, very creative and innocent minds can end up in trouble too. Both of those wonderful qualities in people being used against them I find monsterous!! TMO needs a god dam warning label like any powerful drug!!!

M... Gotta say my evidence is not anecdotal -- I lived it. 

I can even give names on the stories of others, but prefer to respect others' privacy.

Bottom line is, I am not a part of any TM bashing group, and actually do not regularly spend my energy in this way, but I see many still are hopping out of the hot water cauldron, and if I can cheer them on, I certainly will..:-))

For those that choose to keep swimming in the hot water, god bless, cause it must still feel good and that's an authentic choice as well.

L’s thread does peak my interest, and while I've held my tongue for a decade or so, I find it quite fun to make fun of my own past and my own gullibility, I totally cannot believe what I believed, I suppose..:-))

Side note: beyond the attempts on our lives and our finances from Mahesh, I'd say the saddest part was hearing Mahesh yell at D  on the phone abusively. That sure the hell is not anecdotal -- I was there listening. No one deserves that, for choosing to have a child and get married. Or being in Vlodrop and experiencing being "excommunicated" in that environment ... That sure the hell isn't anecdotal either. And at the time none of those abuses were even very funny. Just saying'

M yeah ... well anyhow let's all just say, a certain chord has been struck with L's post, cause this is a long thread and probably the most and longest I have ever commented on FB to anyone's anything...love to you all, and now I'd better get back to that thing I call the present most immediate life

F Wow!! I accept that everyone here approaches the subject from a different angle, but I am going to try to nut this out. We're are talking about a powerful group of people with a massive following and it's not just America and India. We're talking about wave after wave of children being born into a non-reality where all sorts of abuses take place, including sexual, physical, spiritual, emotional, ritual and mental abuse. If it weren't for those people who continue to make information available on the internet, whether they repeat themselves or not, I would have never even made contact with another single ex-TMer. The most important thing here is children. And if we were to shift our focus away from a problem which continues to destroy lives before they even begin, that would be highly negligent. And yes K, I see a therapist. Have seen one for more than half of my life. You cant tell a quadraplegic to get up and walk, in the same way you can't tell a survivor of childhood trauma to just move on with life. There are many handicaps.

L Thank you for that wonderful perspective. You left out "At that time he probably wasn't enlightened yet, there are many stories of him reading people's minds, he just couldn't with Tina." My response "He was trying to exert authority and establish who was in control of the house and he was probably pissed she talked with him like he was just a normal dude." LOL 

Book Review: "CULT" by William Howell

One of the things the TM movement promises is that the practice of TM leads to "enlightenment."  During his lifetime, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi confirmed that a very few people had reached enlightenment through his technique.

One of those people was Robin Carlsen, a TM teacher who, on a TM course in Switzerland in the 1970s, had an overwhelming experience of the divinity, beauty and unity of the creation.  At a subsequent course meeting, he described his experience to Mahesh (MMY).  Mahesh pronounced that Carlsen was "somewhere in the layers of wholeness."  Most course participants attending interpreted Mahesh's words to mean that that Carlsen had reached enlightenment.  (Mahesh never contradicted their belief.)

About a decade later, Carlsen, in the midst of lawsuits and countersuits against the TM organization, agreed to put the lawsuits to rest if Mahesh would unequivocally answer four questions.  The first question was, "Is Robin Carlsen enlightened?"  Mahesh answered "No."

We'll never know what Mahesh meant the first time.  However, after Mahesh's first comment, in Switzerland, Carlsen was generally believed by TMers to be "enlightened."  Carlsen then went on to slowly establish his own courses, techniques, ashram.  Over time, as he became more self-centered, manipulative and sadistic, his organization became spiritually and emotionally destructive and ground down the self-confidence and mental health of his followers.

William Howell, the author of "CULT," has changed most names in this memoir, but not the facts.  The name "Robin Carlsen" is never mentioned.  Instead, the former TM teacher at the center of this story is called "Justin Snow."  But this reviewer (that's me, Laurie) and  others believe that the book is about Robin Carlson.

The book "CULT" by William Howell tells the true story of how Howell, (then a TM teacher) had accompanied "Justin Snow" on his stroll in the Swiss Alps on the day that "Snow" had his divine experience.  Howell goes on to tell of how he followed Snow, lived at his community, followed his teachings, attended his courses, and suffered through years of increasing degradation and emotional stress until he left.  His other friends gradually left too.  They then helped each other, through mutual support, to exit, deprogram and rebuild their lives.  This book is that story of Howell's closing days with TM, his entry into Carlson's destructive cult, and his leaving and healing afterwards.  

I found this book fascinating because I have always wondered what a person would be like when they had reached the goal of "enlightenment" that we TMers were all ardently devoting ourselves to under Maharishi's guidance.  I also found this book helpful in that it detailed the exit and recovery of Howell and his friends.

You can read the book for free online here:

http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/CULT-A-Memoir/pdf/view

In the copyright section of the book, William Howell writes:  "This book is copyrighted solely to prevent its being misused.  People sincere about spiritual development, peace and growth of human awareness throughout the world have the author's permission to reproduce material from this book - with citing."

You can also read more about Robin Carlsen on TM-Free blog.  (Note tags/labels related to this post.)

Tingalingalingaling... Ringing Bells of Invincibility

In gold lettering, the white ribbon reads "A Woman's Place is in the Dome". The green ribbon reads "Maharishi Invincibility".

These bells were in a box with some old family items. These small bells probably came from the 1981 celebration to inaugurate the Bagambhrini Golden Dome. The bells were distributed for attendees to ring rather than clap. The sound of hand clapping was considered too crude. Attendees were told to ring these little bells, creating group tingalinging, in response to inspirational talks about group meditation, enlightenment, and Maharishi's world plan.

Such bells were also used in group meditation by an assigned "timer" or "bell ringer" to announce time to change from the mental practice of TM (...aingnamah... aingnamah... aingnamah... aingnamah..), to next think the TM-Sidhi Program (...friendliness.. compassion... happiness.. strength of an elephant...), tingaling to switch to deemed-flying (...relationship of body and akasha, pause, lightness of cotton fiber... repeat...), tingaling again to lie down and rest while listening to an oral reading about soma flowing through and around Hindu gods, from a translation of the Rig Veda's 9th mandala.

TM devotees still practice the TM-Sidhi program for hours twice daily in gender segregated domes. The better constructed men's dome was built first and is near to  the women's dome. Dome participants believe they influence global events through their TM-Sidhi program.

One friend, also raised in the TM Movement, responded when I texted him this bell image, "Ugh!! Such victimized sweet people. It really makes me sick to think about Maharishi and how callously he used people."

tingalingalingalingaling   You may excuse yourself now in silence.

Selling Sizzle (not Steak) : Transcendental Meditation, David Lynch and Pandits

This “Africa for Norway” video exemplifies how TM’s fundraising sells feel-good sizzle, without evaluating the steak :

Yes, the video spoofs the successful business model of fundraising charities that do not provide substance. 

(To read more about this creative team highlighting racism and charity abuse, click here.)

The David Lynch Foundation is sponsoring (yet another) feel-good benefit gala to bring Transcendental Meditation to veterans with PTSD and at-risk youth.

The merit of the steak behind the DLF’s sizzle, Transcendental Meditation, has not been  properly evaluated, and in this case may even be dangerous for the trauma victims they claim to help. TM is a dissociative meditation.  TM's numbing dissociative meditation may cause further long-term harm to the  targeted PTSD survivors and at-risk youth that David Lynch's Foundation claims to help.

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation studies the very real phenomenon of dissociation related to trauma and PTSD. More can be found about dissociation and trauma in other psychology and public health journals. The Transcendental Meditation Organization breaches ethics by teaching trance-induction dissociative practices to this vulnerable population.

Oxford University research scientist Kathleen Taylor, author of 2004 Brainwashing; The Science of Thought Control, writes that soldiers with PTSD are especially vulnerable to suggestion. Experts on brainwashing, the late Margaret Singer and still-living Robert Jay Lifton conducted their first brainwashing research on military PTSD survivors, Korean War POWs. 

Maharishi's promised “transcendental bliss” actually triggers dissociation in many practitioners. Anyone who has been around the TM Movement knows the “bliss ninnies” or “space cadets”, as we once called the walking zombie-like members of our beloved "TM Family" cult. 

TMFree's Sudarsha wrote in a private email : “If politicians advocate something, no one believes them. If your parents advocated something, you couldn't get far enough away. If the minster/priest/rabbi/imam advocates something, everyone is suspicious ... but if a celebrity advocates something, everyone immediately believes it's real, good, desirable, necessary, right and certainly something one needs to get as quickly as possible.

Not sure why this is so, but, at least for those who might be seen as prone to addiction (very broadly, of course), this seems to be the case, so a fund-raiser by celebrities ... well, that's a no-brainer! Surely celebrities can and must be trusted!”  Thanks, Sud'!


Meanwhile, another insider sizzle email provides updates on Vedic City's growing pandit compound. From Maharishi's invented Global Country of World Peace, we offer excerpts :

To our dear Movement family,

The Vedic Pandits are finally coming—not just the original 556 but a total of 600!

We know you’ve been waiting for some time to receive this update. So we are delighted to finally have some concrete news to give you.

With the addition of this group of Pandits, we will achieve a stable Super Radiance group of 2,000 Yogic Flyers to create Invincibility for America, a goal we have all worked towards for 30 years.

Of course, they require more money to keep the sizzle popping :

What more is needed?

We still need $1,000 per Pandit or an additional $600,000 total for airfare and other associated costs to bring all of the Pandits here. More than ever, your contributions are crucial. Please donate now!

Donation details

Donations can be made online at www.GlobalCountryofWorldPeace.org or by check payable to Global Country of World Peace, 1900 Capital Blvd, Maharishi Vedic City, IA 52556.

We would be happy to speak with you about this in more detail. Please contact us directly or through Eloise Raymond at eraymond@globalpeaceinitiative.org or 641-470-7027.

The "Movement Family" fundraising letter closes with TM's Raja Royalty :

Warmest wishes,

Jai Guru Dev,

Raja John Hagelin

Raja Harris

Raja Wynne

Raja Bob LoPinto

Ramani Ayer

We at TMFree encourage everyone to learn about the steak behind any tantalizing sizzle. Don’t just donate or buy based upon feel-good advertising. Don’t fall for celebrity - studded good intentions.

Evaluate the merit of any campaign, the TM-DLF organization, politics, the sleek new car, or the fabulous online dating profile. Sizzle usually lacks ethics. Do your homework and don’t be duped!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Thankful for independent thought, lifelong learning, the loss of naiveté and so much more.

Jai to Freedom, to free thought and honest discourse,

The TM-Free Blog Moderators

Transcendental Meditation : Research = Biased Advertising

At long last, critique emerges of Transcendental Meditation’s so-called “scientific data” which is really just masked advertising. Mere publication, even in scientific journals, does not demonstrate truth.

“Mysterious Disappearing Paper Finally Reappears In Another Journal “ was published on November 13, 2012  and may be read both here at “CardioBrief, a one-stop source for cardiology news and links”  and here in "Forbes". Larry Husten cited concerns about the re-publication of a TM study-cum-advertising which had previously been revoked before press by the Archives of Internal Medicine. Husten questioned this TM study now published in “Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes”. 

Husten reviewed the study’s mysterious retraction by The Archives of Internal Medicine, critiqued the study’s statistical methods and alluded to cult-like association of the researcher from the Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.

In 1975 Herbert Benson compared the benefits from TM with other forms of Judeo-Christian prayer and, (lo!) found identical results. The same results have been repeated many times with various forms of meditation, prayer and restful states. Resting quietly for a few minutes daily, in prayer, day dreaming or contemplation proved beneficial without the use of a mystical fruit-flowers-handkerchief Hindu puja with secretive mystical mantra. Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine continues to provide medical support for meditative practices without a hidden agenda.

TM True Believers repeatedly site “over 600 scientific articles” of so-called research on Transcendental Meditation to justify that TM is the best method for stress management (or to solve any of life’s maladies, for that matter). Not one of those TM-cited journals compares TM to other forms of meditation or mindfulness practices.

On Monday November 12th, American Veteran’s Day, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien aired a few minutes with TM spokesperson Bobby Roth, speaking about TM to help military veterans cope with PTSD.

A man (anonymity requested) raised in the TM Movement by a former political candidate for TM’s Natural Law Party  offered us the following critique of CNN’s recent TM docu-sales pitch :

Ever since I donated to the TM movement twelve years ago I've been receiving all the requests for donations associated with every current event from the gulf war and having a Rakshasa as our president to affecting the presidential election and bringing rain or stopping rain, depending.  I found the deception incredibly blatant in this recent CNN piece on Veterans Day.  No talk of  Tony Nader or in movement lingo Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam, no talk of enlightenment, they didn't even mention Maharishi or the Holy Tradition, or for gods sake the The Beatles!!!  This was a pure propaganda piece focused on the angle of perceived benefits for veterans.  Yes, finding religion and a simple belief system that has all the answers to life can be soothing to the soul, but guess what we have many REAL religions on earth today and these veterans don't need to be lied to and manipulated by one of the largest eastern religious cults in America.  Not to mention the very real side effects of falling down the TM rabbit hole!!!!

In this couple minute clip they hit the following points:

1)  The solution to all problems

2)  Heals the brain by removing deep stress

3)  Simple, easy, mental technique

4)  Non religious, yet at the same time the common denominator of all religions

5)  Benefits everyone not just veterans

6)  Young people are the ones we can convert

7)  Its a therapy, tested, sound, the missing element regular medicine is no longer needed yet its in addition to that regular medicine

8)  Government funded to give illusion of credibility

9)  Its just like going to a yoga class

So deceptive and I find it amazing that one of the shows hosts (that learned) doesn't mention the Puja or Maharishi or Guru Dev or anything else spicy.  No wonder people fall for this pitch, our media is asleep at the wheel.  I guess if you can fool Oprah you can fool these amateurs.