The Natural Tendency of the Mind

"The Transcendental Meditation technique is a technique that uses the natural tendency of the mind. The natural tendency of the mind is to wander toward something of greater charm."  -  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, quoted at www.maharishiphotos.com/tmintro.html 


 
"Transcendental Meditation is effortless because it is natural. It is based on a simple principle that the natural tendency of the human mind is to go to a field of greater happiness. We do not need training to go to a field of greater happiness. If you are listening to one radio playing and another radio starts playing a more attractive melody, no training is necessary to stop listening to the first radio and to listen to a better melody."  - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, quoted at dubrovnik-peace-project.org/sci/interview_with_maharishi.htm


I heard this statement during my first encounter with TM -- at the free introductory lecture.  It is one of the most basic postulates on which Maharishi explains how TM works and on which he builds his case in favor of TM. 

Maharishi had other basic postulates.  (2)  There is such a thing as a "source of thought" (a poorly defined and unproven postulate).  (3)  Since all "thoughts" have "energy" and "direction," the "source of thought" is therefore a field of infinite energy and intelligence.  (Poorly defined terms and poor logic.)  (4)  The "source of thought" is also a field of bliss.  (Unproven.)  (5)  The "mind"
finds these qualities attractive. (Poorly defined terms and not proven.)  (6)  Therefore, the "mind" is  spontaneously drawn towards the "source of thought."  (7)  This is why TM is easy, natural and effortless.  (8)  Its "naturalness" is an indication of TM's inherent goodness.  (Poor logic).  

What did you think the first time you heard this?  What did you think the 50th time you heard it? Have you ever heard anyone thinking independently and disagreeing with Mahesh on this topic?

Mahesh states that the "mind" is automatically drawn to areas of increasing charm.  In this essay, I contend that this, Mahesh's first premise, is flawed.  I propose, rather, that the mind automatically can be drawn in a number of many different directions; depending on an individual's desires, history, expectations, training, habits, genetics, circumstances, biochemistry, etc.  

It is true that people are often spontaneously drawn to beautiful music, nature, beautiful paintings, kind people, etc.

But people's minds are also spontaneously drawn to non-charming areas.  People sometimes awaken at 3 a.m. with their mind spontaneously thinking worrisome thoughts.  People often spontaneously think anxious and depressing thoughts during the day.  

People who have been traumatized sometimes experience "flashbacks".  These are spontaneous vivid memories of awful events.  War veterans have been known to spontaneously find their mind drawn to these memories even decades later.  Rape victims also sometimes find their mind spontaneously drawn to vivid terrifying rape memories for decades.  
 
People's minds are effortlessly drawn in the direction of non-charming scary sounds such as screaming, trucks backfiring, or bombs exploding.  

People spend hours watching movies and TV shows about noncharming topics like murder, crime, horror, war, monsters, dystopias, catastrophies, etc.  Their minds must be "naturally drawn" there; according to Maharishi these topics must therefore be "charming."

Many people find their minds effortlessly and spontaneously full of non-stop self-critical chatter. 

Therefore, Mahesh's claim that "The mind is naturally drawn in the direction of increasing charm," is clearly inaccurate or at the very least an oversimplification.  Therefore, Maharishi's most basic claims regarding how and why T.M. works, and the positive implications of these claims (such as that it is natural therefore it must be wholesome) should, in my opinion, be re-considered.  

ABC News Nightline with Deepak Chopra, "Does God Have a Future?"

Many former TMers knew Deepak Chopra, his split with Maharishi, then Chopra's repackaging of Maharishi's programs in a slightly more mainstream package for his own financial gain.

Deepak Chopra is now more of a household name than Maharishi ever was, thus ABC invited him to a discussion on spirituality.

Nightline's description of this show :

The "Face-Off" is a recurring series where opposing sides debate hot topics. In the sixth installment of the series, Deepak Chopra, a physician and best-selling author of "How to Know God," and prominent scholar, philosopher and writer Jean Houston, will face-off against Michael Shermer, founding publisher of "Skeptic" magazine, and Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith" on the tension between God and science."

Gina's comments on the show:

This conversation between critical thinkers with Chopra could just as easily have taken place with Maharishi.
In this conversation, Chopra mouthes MMY's teachings, sometimes word for word.
Coming from the same Hindu tradition, the Indian accent, and MMY's pseudo-science jargon, Chopra inadvertently provides good comedy for those familiar with Maharishi.

Chopra speaks circuitous non-sense which can cause a hypnotic effect for vulnerable listeners.
We've seen the hypnotic effect work with True Believers listening to Maharishi.

Chopra responds to discussion of the history of diety and sociology of religion with vague circuitous monologues on consciousness, inner experience and (undefined) quantum mechanics. This sounds so familiar!

Many of us know the futility of conducting these same conversations with TM or New Age True Believers!
(thus successful exit-counseling, "deprogramming," requires a professional)

Per Sam Harris talking to Chopra :
"Sprinkling in a bunch of scientific terms with New Age terminology does not make it scientific."
Harris also states that Chopra's merging of New Age philosophy with scientific terminology is neither scientific nor spiritual.

Unfortunately, True Believers listening to this show would merely state that critics of Chopra or Maharishi are "lost in the darkness of ignorance."

It's fascinating to watch Chopra spew the fluff, and become angry when confronted with analysis of his teachings.

This Nightline show may be watched by clicking :
"Does God Have a Future" The Nightline Face-Off

Enjoy!

Was Transcendental Meditation's founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, enlightened?

This essay is another of my trips down memory lane. The topic today is "Was Maharishi enlightened?" This has been a crucial issue for me, because one of the linchpins that have held my entire TM belief system in place for years was the conviction that Maharishi was enlightened. The way I've thought about it is this: If he really was enlightened, then by definition his life would be in accord with the will of God. Therefore, if he was enlightened, it didn't matter that he lied, or that people (including myself) got hurt, or all those other things that made the TM organization so troubling. Because, if he really was enlightened, his thinking, understanding, decisions would all be in accord with God's Greater Plan. Even if I felt that his decisions were terrible, it was just due to my lack of broader insight. Even if there were lies and casualties along the way, God must have felt it was necessary for the greater good of the Great Plan.

Have other people struggled with these issues?

Here are some of the questions I've puzzled over in my attempt to unknot this mystery that affected my life for so many years:

Was Maharishi enlightened?

Did he say he was enlightened?
Did he hint that he was enlightened?
Did he want us to believe he was enlightened?
Did he believe he was enlightened?
What the heck is "enlightenment" anyway?
Does such a thing as "enlightenment" exist?
Was Maharishi's teachings on "enlightenment" the same as other Hindu or Buddhist teachings on it?
Did I used to think he was enlightened, or not? Why?

Do I think, now, that he was enlightened? Why?

How can a person tell if someone is enlightened?
Are supernormal powers a proof of enlightenment?
Did I ever see Maharishi exhibit supernormal powers?
Did I ever hear rumors of Maharishi exhibiting supernormal powers?
If I saw or heard of him exhibiting supernormal powers, what did I make of it at the time? What do I make of it now?

So many questions still floating around. Has this issue been part of your healing path, of un-knotting the puzzle? Of "clawing your way, millimeter by millimeter, out of the TM mindset" as TM-Free contributor Sudarsha calls it?

So, here are some of my memories and musings on a few of the questions above about Maharishi and enlightenment. I invite readers to contribute their own thoughts on the topic.

(1) Did Maharishi ever say he was enlightened? In my eleven years in the TM world, I heard him hint at it a few times. Once, at M.I.U., about 1980, he said that we should do whatever he told us to do because "I am in constant communion with the Absolute." That was the clearest I ever heard him on his status.

I remember on TTC Maharishi telling us about a TM prison program. Someone got up and said, "Maharishi, you're wrong." Maharishi bristled and demanded, "I? I am WRONG?!" in a tone indicating that it was absurd that he could be wrong about anything. Maybe because an enlightened person is never wrong?

I remember Maharishi bursting with laughter as he told us about the businessman who explained his philosophy of life to Maharishi. "HE was telling ME his philosophy of life!" he laughed, implying that it was hilarious for an unenlightened person to think they could instruct an enlightened person on how to live.

Then there were two poems he wrote. Does anyone aside from me know of this first poem that he wrote to Guru Dev? I'm quoting it from memory. The first verse went something like this:

"Love has set the heart on fire,
Hatred puts all fire out,
(Sorry, I can't remember the third line)
Hatred is poison for a godly sprout."

And the last verse went something like this:

"To my Guru Dev this is dedicated,
To Him who led me on a fortunate trail,
(And I can't remember the third line),
Strength to lift the all-repressive veil."

Then there is Maharishi's poem "Love and God." (This poem was put to music by Rick Stanley and is on one of his albums.) Maharishi waxes, like a mystic, about his relationship with God:

"...God my love,
Light of my life....
Thou art one,
The one becomes the many,
As one seed appears as many leaves....
In Thee I rest,
In Thee I dwell....
Lord, Thou art the goal in me,
My Lord, my love, my God."

(Again, this is from memory, so my apologies for any errors.)

He also said, "If it weren't for my Guru Dev, I would never have met my God."

The two poems, and his comment about Guru Dev, seem to me sincere expressions of a person with first-hand experience of God, or of enlightenment.

I remember in the summer of 1971 at Humboldt State College, someone asked Maharishi if it was true that the only thing standing in the way of enlightenment was the physical stresses in a person's body. Maharishi said yes. The questioner then asked if it was true that an enlightened person could manipulate the physical universe in any way they wanted. Again Maharishi said yes. The questioner then asked, laughing, if Maharishi would please remove the physical stresses from his body. Maharishi replied, laughingly, something like, "But then I would be depriving you of your free will, to reap the consequences of your own actions." Maharishi's response indicated to me that he did have the ability to manipulate the physical universe in any way he wanted - in other words, that he was enlightened.

(2) Did Maharishi have supernormal powers? Here are my first-hand experiences: I remember that when he entered a room, I felt a sort of magnetic force. When he looked around the room, I felt a magnetic light-energy fall on whomever he looked at. Once, my boyfriend gave Maharishi a flower. Afterwards, as he walked back towards his seat, the people whom he passed looked like they felt a wave of energy come from him, like a residue from Maharishi. I felt that energy when he sat down next to me. I also remember that on my TM Teacher Training course, Maharishi asked those of us who were having difficulty memorizing the puja (Sanskrit ceremony) to stand up. He looked around at all of us standing, and I felt energy pass through me. After that, I was able to memorize the puja easily. That ability to memorize continued for about 5 months, even back home at college. I also remember that one time, when I sat very near Maharishi, I felt overcome by something - power or energy or bliss or unconsciousness.

(3) What do I make of those experiences now? Maybe Maharishi had supernormal powers, maybe he was enlightened. Or maybe it was a matter of expectations or placebo effect or self-hypnosis. Or maybe it was transference.

(4) I have heard quite a few rumors (second and third hand) about Maharishi's superpowers. For instance, I heard that once, when his helicopter was running late, he made the clouds move by pointing his finger at them. Also, I read on TMFree that he told Doug Henning that he could heal Doug of cancer (but if he did so, then Doug would have to be born another time. Hmm, is this or is this not consistent with Maharishi's comment, above, that he wouldn't remove a person's stress because it would interfere with a person's free will?) Then, there was the friend of mine who told me that she had broken her leg, and after she talked with Maharishi, her leg started healing rapidly. And I heard that someone once asked Maharishi, "You say that enlightened people have supernormal powers, but can you prove it?" The story goes that Maharishi nodded, and then did something-or-other for about 30 seconds. The questioner said, "Thank you!" with great conviction. The second half of this rumored story is that this interchange between the questioner and Maharishi was videotaped, and that when the you get to the section after Maharishi nods, the tape has a 30-second outage. Another story I heard was that Maharishi was once in a car driving down the street somewhere in Africa, and as he drove past a stranger, he remarked, exhibiting precognition, "That man is going to be very helpful to us in spreading TM in Africa." I also remember in the book "A Hermit in the House" that Mother Olsen wrote that the room that Maharishi stayed in had a strong sacred energy in it. And I remember that sometimes someone at a TM symposium would lecture in a foreign language, and the rumor was that if someone asked Maharishi if he wanted a translator, that Maharishi would say, "No," because he had the ability to understand all languages since he was at home with the source of all languages.

These were all rumored stories. Were any of them true? I don't know. And if they were, what did it mean?

So those are some of my thoughts. Please share with us your comments, memories and musings on this topic, below!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Continue to Part 5)