The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "...is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives….”(1)
The David Lynch Foundation, a proponent of TM, states,
“...The National Institutes of Health have granted more than $26 million over the past 18 years to study the effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on cardiovascular disease….”(2)
The TM movement likes to point out that there are over 600 published research projects showing the benefits of TM. However, critics have pointed out that most TM research is of poor quality. Inadequate controls, small samples, cherry picking of results, biased design, self-reporting, conflict of interest - the flaws are astonishing.(3) Whether these flaws are due to poor researcher skills, researcher prejudice in favor of TM, or some other reasons, I don't know.
The NIH doesn't want researchers with conflicts of interest doing their research. This led me to ask, who exactly is doing the NIH-funded TM research? Are there any conflicts of interest?
I have researched the names of most of the researchers studying TM with NIH money. I’ve discovered that for virtually every study, many of the researchers are affiliated with TM.(4) They are Maharishi University of Management (MUM) professors, MUM researchers, MUM graduates, TM teachers. People with these credentials have gone through months or years of TM indoctrination consisting of one-sided education and meditation retreats, which put people into suggestible states. Further, many of these researchers work for TM for very little pay, as volunteers, or on work-exchange. I consider these credentials indicative of bias towards TM. In fact, I feel it would be appropriate to say that some people with such a background could be considered to have a “missionary” approach towards TM.
A few years ago, I attempted to contact NIH to alert them to the bias of many of their researcher. Unfortunately, what I learned is that the only "conflict of interest" they acknowledge is financial. They do not consider belief/missionary zeal/faith to be conflicts of interest. But that still leaves the question of if the NIH considers TM teachers, MUM professors, MUM researchers, etc., to lack financial conflict of interest. After all, if an MUM professor publishes “positive” results, then more people might learn TM, and then more people might attend MUM, and then the professor might get a raise, or tenure. Alas, the NIH website stated that concerns about conflicts of interest would only be considered before research has begun. Also, they stated that the only strategy the NIH employs on conflicts of interest is to ask the researchers what steps they propose to take in order to eliminate the bias.
So, if you ever read that NIH research on TM has proven that TM is a unique, marvelous, beneficial technique for the human race, please consider the points above. The research is probably seriously biased.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) nih.gov
(2) davidlynchfoundation.org: “...The David Lynch Foundation helps to prevent and eradicate the all-pervasive epidemic of trauma and toxic stress among at-risk populations through promoting widespread implementation of the evidence-based Transcendental Meditation (TM) program in order to improve their health, cognitive capabilities and performance in life…."
(3) TMFree.blogspot.com: How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADHD, Abstracts of Independent Research on Transcendental Meditation, Problems with TM Research by Barry Markovsky, Evaluating Heterodox Theories, including "Maharishi Effect" (Markovsky and Fales)
(4) I have highlighted in red those researchers for whom I found TM affiliations. (Note: Variations in footnote style is due to copying directly from research papers).
1. Stress Reduction Programs in Patients with Elevated Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Maxwell V. Rainforth, PhD, Robert H. Schneider, MD, Sanford I. Nidich, EdD, Carolyn Gaylord-King, PhD, John W. Salerno, PhD, and James W. Anderson, MD
2. Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Health Promotion with the Transcendental Meditation Program and Maharishi Consciousness-Based Health Care.
Robert H. Schneider, MD, Kenneth G. Walton, PhD, John W. Salerno, PhD, and Sanford I. Nidich, EdD.
Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa.
3. Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects With Coronary Heart Disease.
Maura Paul-Labrador, MPH; Donna Polk, MD, MPH; James H. Dwyer, PhD; Ivan Velasquez, MD; Maxwell Rainforth, PhD, Robert Schneider, MD, and C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD
4. Long-Term Effects of Stress Reduction on Mortality in Persons ≥55 Years of Age With Systemic Hypertension.
Robert H. Schneider*, MD, Charles N. Alexander, PhD*, Frank Staggers, MD*, Maxwell Rainforth, PhD*, John W. Salerno, PhD*, Arthur Hartz, MD, Stephen Arndt, PhD, Vernon A. Barnes, PhD+, and Sanford I. Nidich, EdD*
*From the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa; the West Oakland Health Center, Oakland, California; the Departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Georgia Prevention Institute, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia. +Vernon A. Barnes, PhD from Maharishi University of Management
5. Reduced Blood Pressure and Use of Hypertensive Medication (American Journal of Hypertension, January 2005).
Robert H. Schneider#, Charles N. Alexander#, Frank Staggers, David W. Orme-Johnson#, Maxwell Rainforth#, John W. Salerno#, William Sheppard, Amparo Castillo-Richmond", Vernon A. Barnes", and Sanford I. Nidich#
# From the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management (RHS, CHN, DWO-J, MR, JWS, SIN)
“ Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa graduates (VAB, AC-R)
6. Effectiveness of Transcendental Meditation on Functional Capacity and Quality of Life of African Americans with Congestive Heart Failure: A Randomized Control Study.
Ravishankar Jayadevappa, PhD, Jerry C. Johnson, MD, Bernard S. Bloom, PhD, Sanford Nidich, EdD, Shashank Desai, MD, Sumedha Chhatre, PhD, Donna B. Raziano, MD, and Robert H. Schneider, MD
From the Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (RJ, JCJ, BSB, SD, SC); Elder Health Pennsylvania (DBR), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa (SN, RS).
7. Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects With Coronary Heart Disease.
Maura Paul-Labrador, MPH; Donna Polk, MD, MPH; James H. Dwyer, PhD; Ivan Velasquez, MD; Sanford Nidich, PhD., Maxwell Rainforth, PhD; Robert Schneider, MD; C. Noel Barry
8. Neuroimaging of meditation’s effect on brain reactivity to pain.
David W. Orme-Johnson(a), Robert H. Schneider(a), Young D. Son(b), Sanford Nidich(a), and Zang- Hee Cho(b)
a Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA
b Departments of Radiological Sciences & Psychiatry and Human Behavior, MED SCI I, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
9. Effects of Stress Reduction on Carotid Atherosclerosis in Hypertensive African Americans.
Amparo Castillo-Richmond, MD; Robert H. Schneider, MD; Charles N. Alexander, PhD†; Robert Cook, MD; Hector Myers, PhD; Sanford Nidich, PhD; Chinelo Haney, MBA; Maxwell Rainforth, PhD; John Salerno, PhD
From the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention (A.C.-R., R.H.S., C.N.A., S.N., M.R., J.S.), Maharishi University of Management, College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine, Fairfield, Iowa; the Department of Radiology (R.C.) and Biobehavioral Research Center (H.M., C.H. [C.H. is a TM teacher]), Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, Calif; and the Department of Psychology (H.M.), University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
†Deceased.
Correspondence to Amparo Castillo-Richmond, MD, Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management, College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine, 1000 North 4th St, FB 1134, Fairfield, IA 52557. E-mail amparo@mum.edu
Showing posts with label indoctrination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indoctrination. Show all posts
Friday, May 04, 2018
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Documentary on Scientology airing March 29
HBO (Home Box Office cable television network) is airing a highly-acclaimed documentary on Scientology tomorrow night, Sunday, March 29, at 8 pm. I am posting this information on TMFree because one of the interviewees, Paul Haggis, a former high-level Scientologist, talks about mind-control and high-demand organizations with such brilliance and insight that readers who have been in TM may feel a shock of recognition at his words.
The documentary is entitled "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Faith." Haggis here responds to attack pieces that Scientology has already produced in advance of the HBO airing:
"...Despite what is being said in their rather pathetic attack pieces on me, I was very involved in Scientology for most of my adult life. While I thought the OT levels ["Operating Thetan" - somewhat parallel to TM's "enlightenment" or "cosmic consciousness"- Laurie's editorial note] madness, I used many Scientology precepts in my daily life — so much so that it took several years after leaving to actually question the many “self-help” concepts that I had learned and used. The slow indoctrination process is as subtle as it is dangerous — largely because you truly believe that you are thinking for yourself, when in fact you are discouraged to do anything of the sort.
Paradoxically, there is great pride in belonging to a stigmatized group. It’s like being in love with a narcissist. All your friends will warn you that you are just being used. You understand why they think what they think, but you believe in your heart that they just don’t see what you see. You just tune them out.
For that reason, when I did discover what many outside the church [of Scientology] knew, I was truly shocked. While some of the information had been out there for many years, like all Scientologists, I refused to look. Yes, I was told not to, but I didn’t have to be [obedient]. This was my group and I knew there to be many people in the world who were bigoted and close-minded; and when I was told that we were “under attack” in Germany or France or wherever, instead of looking for the reasons, I assumed this to be the case — and donated many thousands of dollars toward our “defense.” Yes, there was considerable duress involved in those “donations,” but if I didn’t honestly believe what I was being told I would not have handed over such large sums. It makes little or no sense in retrospect, and it’s very hard to understand unless you’ve been a part of a marginalized group.
While I was a constant thorn in the side of the [Scientology] executives, questioning practices I thought unjust, it never crossed my mind to voice my concerns outside the organization. In fact, even after I sent my letter of resignation, I maintained a great fondness for “The Old Man." [L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.] Yes, he was a rogue, and he might have gone insane later in life, I thought, but I still believed he had put together a pretty workable system for steering through life. Even then, I might have been outraged by injustices I witnessed or heard about, but I dropped the blame at the doorstep of David Miscavige and company [Scientology's leaders.]
Miscavige, I later discovered to my amusement, never liked or trusted me — in his eyes I was a bad Scientologist — which I admit myself. I was told he was angered that I wasn’t “deferential enough,” and that I asked too many questions, even if internally.
Too many, and as it turned out, not near enough.
It took years after leaving to understand that these practices I railed against had always been at the core of Scientology — that Miscavige was just very faithfully, if cynically, following L. Ron Hubbard’s cruel playbook. The reason this was hard to believe is exactly because of the duplicitous nature of Hubbard’s writing. He wrote tomes on the practice and necessity of critical thought; how nothing should be accepted at face value. His “ethics formulas” stress that when making a difficult decision you have to push aside all personal bias and truly look at what people are doing, not just what they are saying. “Look, don’t listen” is oft repeated advice — but it is advice given to the blind. All these high-minded teachings are useless when you factor in the thing you are never allowed to question — Scientology, its teachings, practices and leadership.
Somehow Scientologists are able to accept those incongruous and contradictory thoughts. For example, they truly believe that only Scientology can save the world, and that they are making major strides in this direction every year. They hold onto this belief despite the fact that there isn’t even a modicum of evidence that they are having even the tiniest impact on any problem in any part of the globe. Scientologists simply accept the assurances of the church leaders that it is so. To the contrary, volumes of compelling evidence from unimpeachable sources that the... organization has done and is doing serious damage to thousands of people is dismissed before it is ever inspected.
That’s what will happen to "Going Clear." At least that’s what the church hopes happens. Without even watching it, my former friends will condemn it as lies. You see it happening already. Understand that many of these Scientologists are damn smart people; many of them truly lovely and caring. But they are the same people who will not hesitate to cut their closest friend or family member out of their lives if they commit the ultimate crime of criticizing the church. You could do anything else and they would stand by you; commit any crime and they would be there to defend you. But not this.
I believe this is because somewhere in the back of their heads they know, as I did, that the very act of questioning could bring down their entire belief system. They have been slowly but surely trained to believe that if you don’t agree with something that [Hubbard] wrote, you just don’t understand it. Questioning anything means questioning everything. Even the slightest crack in that belief system could spread into a fissure. They cannot afford or allow the smallest doubt, because if it took root, their perfect world — a world where there is an answer to every one of life’s questions — could fall apart around them, and they would be left, like the rest of us, searching in the dark for their own answers in an uncertain world. Which brings to mind something a true genius wrote: “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack, in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” For the sake of my former friends, many of whom I loved, I hope that "Going Clear" is the first crack, that they will watch it, and the light will slip in."
— Paul Haggis
The documentary is entitled "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Faith." Haggis here responds to attack pieces that Scientology has already produced in advance of the HBO airing:
"...Despite what is being said in their rather pathetic attack pieces on me, I was very involved in Scientology for most of my adult life. While I thought the OT levels ["Operating Thetan" - somewhat parallel to TM's "enlightenment" or "cosmic consciousness"- Laurie's editorial note] madness, I used many Scientology precepts in my daily life — so much so that it took several years after leaving to actually question the many “self-help” concepts that I had learned and used. The slow indoctrination process is as subtle as it is dangerous — largely because you truly believe that you are thinking for yourself, when in fact you are discouraged to do anything of the sort.
Paradoxically, there is great pride in belonging to a stigmatized group. It’s like being in love with a narcissist. All your friends will warn you that you are just being used. You understand why they think what they think, but you believe in your heart that they just don’t see what you see. You just tune them out.
For that reason, when I did discover what many outside the church [of Scientology] knew, I was truly shocked. While some of the information had been out there for many years, like all Scientologists, I refused to look. Yes, I was told not to, but I didn’t have to be [obedient]. This was my group and I knew there to be many people in the world who were bigoted and close-minded; and when I was told that we were “under attack” in Germany or France or wherever, instead of looking for the reasons, I assumed this to be the case — and donated many thousands of dollars toward our “defense.” Yes, there was considerable duress involved in those “donations,” but if I didn’t honestly believe what I was being told I would not have handed over such large sums. It makes little or no sense in retrospect, and it’s very hard to understand unless you’ve been a part of a marginalized group.
While I was a constant thorn in the side of the [Scientology] executives, questioning practices I thought unjust, it never crossed my mind to voice my concerns outside the organization. In fact, even after I sent my letter of resignation, I maintained a great fondness for “The Old Man." [L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.] Yes, he was a rogue, and he might have gone insane later in life, I thought, but I still believed he had put together a pretty workable system for steering through life. Even then, I might have been outraged by injustices I witnessed or heard about, but I dropped the blame at the doorstep of David Miscavige and company [Scientology's leaders.]
Miscavige, I later discovered to my amusement, never liked or trusted me — in his eyes I was a bad Scientologist — which I admit myself. I was told he was angered that I wasn’t “deferential enough,” and that I asked too many questions, even if internally.
Too many, and as it turned out, not near enough.
It took years after leaving to understand that these practices I railed against had always been at the core of Scientology — that Miscavige was just very faithfully, if cynically, following L. Ron Hubbard’s cruel playbook. The reason this was hard to believe is exactly because of the duplicitous nature of Hubbard’s writing. He wrote tomes on the practice and necessity of critical thought; how nothing should be accepted at face value. His “ethics formulas” stress that when making a difficult decision you have to push aside all personal bias and truly look at what people are doing, not just what they are saying. “Look, don’t listen” is oft repeated advice — but it is advice given to the blind. All these high-minded teachings are useless when you factor in the thing you are never allowed to question — Scientology, its teachings, practices and leadership.
Somehow Scientologists are able to accept those incongruous and contradictory thoughts. For example, they truly believe that only Scientology can save the world, and that they are making major strides in this direction every year. They hold onto this belief despite the fact that there isn’t even a modicum of evidence that they are having even the tiniest impact on any problem in any part of the globe. Scientologists simply accept the assurances of the church leaders that it is so. To the contrary, volumes of compelling evidence from unimpeachable sources that the... organization has done and is doing serious damage to thousands of people is dismissed before it is ever inspected.
That’s what will happen to "Going Clear." At least that’s what the church hopes happens. Without even watching it, my former friends will condemn it as lies. You see it happening already. Understand that many of these Scientologists are damn smart people; many of them truly lovely and caring. But they are the same people who will not hesitate to cut their closest friend or family member out of their lives if they commit the ultimate crime of criticizing the church. You could do anything else and they would stand by you; commit any crime and they would be there to defend you. But not this.
I believe this is because somewhere in the back of their heads they know, as I did, that the very act of questioning could bring down their entire belief system. They have been slowly but surely trained to believe that if you don’t agree with something that [Hubbard] wrote, you just don’t understand it. Questioning anything means questioning everything. Even the slightest crack in that belief system could spread into a fissure. They cannot afford or allow the smallest doubt, because if it took root, their perfect world — a world where there is an answer to every one of life’s questions — could fall apart around them, and they would be left, like the rest of us, searching in the dark for their own answers in an uncertain world. Which brings to mind something a true genius wrote: “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack, in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” For the sake of my former friends, many of whom I loved, I hope that "Going Clear" is the first crack, that they will watch it, and the light will slip in."
— Paul Haggis
Thursday, February 19, 2015
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/
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.
"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/
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.
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.
Monday, June 02, 2014
Emotional Problems Post-TM; Relating to Fairfield Relatives, Part II
[This is Part II of the previous article "Emotional Problems Post-TM; Relating to Fairfield Relatives, Part I" - ed.]
Second topic: How to Relate to Fairfield TM Relatives
Reader's comment:
"I’d like to get back to some previous comment threads on how to relate to family in TM if you are not in it....
'...I don’t expect my [relatives] to give up TM, and I don’t even try to convince them much or argue with them. But I do want to be able to visit them and find things to do (even if by myself or with other family) that are not completely connected to TM or MUM. I don't mind spending some time at MUM....
'There is certainly a lot of sensitivity to criticism of Maharishi by most I talk to.
'I’m curious if others have found ways to visit Fairfield and their TM friends and family comfortably, or if it is always uncomfortable for those who are not part of TM any more (or never were).
'...Finally, I’d add that I’m continuing in my reading and effort to see TM as a new religious movement rather than destructive cult, even if some on this site think this misguided or impossible."
Thank you to all commenters for your many, many intelligent and insightful comments. Also thanks to all who read TM-Free but do not send comments.
If any other reader would like their comments placed in this position of prominence as a TM-Free Blog "post," please let us know, and we will try to oblige!
Emotional Problems Post-TM; Relating to Fairfield Relatives, Part I
Recently I saw two readers' comments on TM-Free Blog that caught my attention in that I thought they lent themselves to serious discussion.
The first one mentioned psychological problems the reader has had since leaving the TM movement.
The second one asked how others manage the tricky terrain of visiting true-believer TM relatives and friends who live in Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.
I was surprised that no one responded to these two comments. Since some TM-Free readers read only the essays, but not the reader comments, I suspect this may have been what happened, and these two topics slipped through the cracks.
So I hope I have not overstepped these two readers' privacy by reprinting portions of their comments below:
My response:
It is not uncommon for people who have left high-demand groups and have re-integrated themselves into the non-cult world to find that they have emotional problems. The problems may not seem connected to the group; therefore it may not occur to them that these problems are a result of their time in the group. If they see a psychotherapist, the psychotherapist may also agree that the problems are due to pre-existing issues. (Psychotherapists are only slowly being educated on this new field of post-cult syndrome.) For example, long ago I told my psychotherapist that I walked around in constant terror that the world was about to blow up. He interpreted it in the standard psychodynamic way. That is, he theorized that I must be angry about something from my childhood, and that I was experiencing that anger in a disguised form, as fear of the world exploding.
Then, I met with Steve Hassan, an exit counselor. Steve asked me, "What did they tell you would happen if you left TM?" I replied, "Why...they said that if I left Fairfield, I would be 'personally responsible' for World War Three!" And as soon as I made the connection, the terror went away!
That's an obvious example, but it illustrates my point. I recommend Steve Hassan's website freeminds.org, and his books. I hope these help.
The first one mentioned psychological problems the reader has had since leaving the TM movement.
The second one asked how others manage the tricky terrain of visiting true-believer TM relatives and friends who live in Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.
I was surprised that no one responded to these two comments. Since some TM-Free readers read only the essays, but not the reader comments, I suspect this may have been what happened, and these two topics slipped through the cracks.
So I hope I have not overstepped these two readers' privacy by reprinting portions of their comments below:
First Topic: Emotional Problems Post-TM?
Reader's comment:
"...My commitment to TM lasted about 8 years....I did not have any acute psychological trauma as a result of the rounding and the indoctrination, and the recovery, although a bit slow, was not traumatic either. But I sometimes wonder if some of my psychological/ emotional difficulties are related to my years with TMO [TM organization - ed]."
My response:
It is not uncommon for people who have left high-demand groups and have re-integrated themselves into the non-cult world to find that they have emotional problems. The problems may not seem connected to the group; therefore it may not occur to them that these problems are a result of their time in the group. If they see a psychotherapist, the psychotherapist may also agree that the problems are due to pre-existing issues. (Psychotherapists are only slowly being educated on this new field of post-cult syndrome.) For example, long ago I told my psychotherapist that I walked around in constant terror that the world was about to blow up. He interpreted it in the standard psychodynamic way. That is, he theorized that I must be angry about something from my childhood, and that I was experiencing that anger in a disguised form, as fear of the world exploding.
Then, I met with Steve Hassan, an exit counselor. Steve asked me, "What did they tell you would happen if you left TM?" I replied, "Why...they said that if I left Fairfield, I would be 'personally responsible' for World War Three!" And as soon as I made the connection, the terror went away!
That's an obvious example, but it illustrates my point. I recommend Steve Hassan's website freeminds.org, and his books. I hope these help.
Friday, May 30, 2014
At Least Maharishi Never Claimed to Be God ???
At Least Maharishi Never Claimed to be God
That was a comment I made to a former TMer. I was comparing the teachings I received from Maharishi with the teachings of other gurus who had come from India to the West. I was suggesting that in this particular area, we former TMers had less recovery work to do than former members of other groups who had been told that their guru was actually God.
My friend replied incredulously, "Never claimed to be God! Mahesh claimed to be greater than God!"
Oh. Oops. Did I miss something? My friend soon supplied me with the following quotation, from:
http://www.ayurveda-florida.com/articles_ayurvedic_medicine_diet_lifestyle_dhanvantari_ayurveda_center_ayurveda_education_programs/Hinduism/mmy_on_role_of_a_guru.htm
The above is not a TMO site. When and where this conversation took place is not recorded. Read it and decide for yourself.
"MMY on Role of A Guru
Dr Hagelin: ‘Maharishi, there is a question on the special role of the teacher, the Guru, in gaining the full awakening of enlightenment. The reporter asks, “In every news conference, Maharishi pays tribute to his teacher and to the tradition of Vedic teachers for giving the knowledge and technique of Transcendental Meditation to gain enlightenment. Is the technique of Transcendental Meditation and other advanced programmes sufficient to gain enlightenment, or is there an indispensable role that a teacher plays to guide an individual on the path to enlightenment? And if so, what would that role be?” ’ Maharishi: ‘The role is that the teacher is absolutely woven into this knowledge. And when the knowledge is in our awareness, it is the total teacher that is in our awareness. It says in the Vedic Literature about the teacher, “Na Guror Adhikam, Na Guror Adhikam, Na Guror Adhikam.” There is nothing greater than Guru; there is nothing greater than Guru; there is nothing greater than Guru, because Guru is the embodiment of all that is greatest.
‘Guru is Brahm. “Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnur.” These are not the words of adoration; this is the description of the reality of Guru. Guru is on the level of Totality personified. When Guru speaks, it is the Totality that speaks. Words of the Guru are the words of the Veda. Veda is only heard from the Guru. So Guru means the Totality. If one is in the sense of Guru all the time, one is in the sense of total Natural Law and its total organizing power; there is nothing greater than that.
‘That is why Guru is completely natural in our awareness. It is not a matter of anything that is from outside or anything. It is completely natural. It is simple. It is Totality. It is a great thing. One knows it in being that level of relationship. “Na Guror Adhikam”—there is nothing greater than Guru, nothing greater than Guru.
‘Guru Purnima is the Full Moon of the Guru—one day of the year. In the Vedic Calendar, each day is attributed to some Devata, to some special creative intelligence—Sun, Moon, Shiva, Vishnu, and all. There are an enormous number of Devatas, embodiments of the Kriya Shakti. “Kriya Shakti” is the power of action. There are two things, basically: the silence and action, silence and activity, infinite silence and infinite activity, and both in perfect accord with each other. Perfect silence, perfect dynamism: this is Brahm—this is Totality.
‘The Guru is Totality. He has, as it is said in the Vedic Literature and with reference to what Dr John Hagelin just said, “Pripad Asyamritam Divi”. That means three-fourths is Amrit. “Amrit” means eternal. Three-fourths is eternal; one-fourth is juggling around.
‘Three-fourths is eternal. This is what makes us stand on our own feet eternally. We are embedded in the three-fourths of the unmanifest, as Dr Hagelin said. This unmanifest, this Avyakta, is three-fourths, and the manifest is one-fourth. Three-fourths is unmanifest; one-fourth is manifest. The changes take place in the unmanifest. What continues in the field of flow is three-fourths. So the dominant factor is three-fourths of Totality....We are announcing a very, very effective program where the achievements will be a matter of much shorter time. Centuries have gone and in every generation, the wise have been searching for it, searching for it, searching for it. But now, with the blessings of our Master and the spiritual Vedic Tradition of Masters, we are blessed. We are offering ourselves and all our achievements and all our understandings and all our knowledge and all our future programs to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev. Jai Guru Dev.’ "
I also recall Mahesh saying on one of my courses, "Guru is greater than God, for without him I would never have met my God." But then, I also heard Sat Guru Maharaj Ji (aka "the little fat boy," an Indian child-guru who came to the West circa 1973) say those words too.
What do you think? Was Mahesh just speaking in hyperbole about his own guru - or about himself, or was he actually trying to instill in his followers a belief that he himself was greater than God? Have you wrestled with the belief that Maharishi might be God?
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
TM-Free Blog requests "flying" memories for study
Did you learn the TM-Sidhi's "yogic flying"? What was your experience of it? Some readers have commented that when they learned it, they realized "yogic flying" was a fraud. When they "lifted off," they were aware that they were propelling themselves with their own muscles, similar to jumping or gymnastics.
But other people report that their subjective experience was the opposite - that it really felt like they were defying gravity, and were being lifted up by something outside their own conscious selves.
I hypothesize that there is a correlation between people's subjective experiences of "flying" and their speed of recovery from TM. I hypothesize that those who experienced themselves as truly levitating without muscular effort were more suggestible. Another way of saying that is that they were easier to hypnotize. Or one could say that their mind/body coordination was more disrupted than those who were able to accurately experience the procedure as a volitional muscle activity. So I am hypothesizing that their recovery from TM was more arduous.
Mahesh Yogi liked to say that TM and the TM-Sidhis increased mind-body co-ordination. But I wonder if the opposite was true for some or all - that the "flying" may have disrupted the relationship between the mind and the body, because it trained one to not notice the mind sending instructions to the thigh muscles.
So I am requesting readers to comment below. What was your experience of "yogic flying"? And did you recover rapidly from TM's brainwashing and its cognitive, emotional or physical side-effects ? Or was your recovery slow?
But other people report that their subjective experience was the opposite - that it really felt like they were defying gravity, and were being lifted up by something outside their own conscious selves.
I hypothesize that there is a correlation between people's subjective experiences of "flying" and their speed of recovery from TM. I hypothesize that those who experienced themselves as truly levitating without muscular effort were more suggestible. Another way of saying that is that they were easier to hypnotize. Or one could say that their mind/body coordination was more disrupted than those who were able to accurately experience the procedure as a volitional muscle activity. So I am hypothesizing that their recovery from TM was more arduous.
Mahesh Yogi liked to say that TM and the TM-Sidhis increased mind-body co-ordination. But I wonder if the opposite was true for some or all - that the "flying" may have disrupted the relationship between the mind and the body, because it trained one to not notice the mind sending instructions to the thigh muscles.
So I am requesting readers to comment below. What was your experience of "yogic flying"? And did you recover rapidly from TM's brainwashing and its cognitive, emotional or physical side-effects ? Or was your recovery slow?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Indoctrination is Subtle and Sneaky
At TM-Free we recently received a question from a concerned former TMer. What I found interesting about the email was that its writer is quite savvy about the hypocrisy of the TM organization, and has put a lot of serious research into cult issues. It brought home to me how there's always more to be learned about mind control, how it's all around us, how vulnerable we are to its sneaky tactics, and how we have to keep practicing our critical thinking. It also reminded me that we at TM-Free can serve a role in helping people learn how to deal with people they love who may be involved in a destructive cult.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We at TM-Free are not professionals counselors in this field. If you are concerned about someone, read and consult professionals such as those listed on the right at our home page. (Note: We do NOT recommend the Cult Awareness Network, since that organization was bought by Scientologists a decade or so ago).
Here is the question from the reader: I wonder if any of you know anything about the "XYZ" group. A dear relative of mine has gotten into it and swears her "cult radar" is not going off. But I keep seeing things in it that remind me of other groups that use undue influence. She is highly aware of the influence of group think, (emphasis added), having been along for the ride during the T.M. circus years in Switzerland during the 70's....
Response from various TM-Free editors: Keep an eye on things. It doesn't necessarily matter how much she knew about cults ahead of time. Once the right kind of person is in a trance state, the executive control function of the brain is shut down. And without the executive control function, any foreknowledge about cults is not being processed or applied to the current situation. Cult dogma can then be steadily ladled in without the person realizing it's happening.
And afterwards the person still doesn't know it happened, even after being away from the indoctrination experience for awhile. People can't detect reality shifts; they don't remember what reality was like before the indoctrination.
Of course everything depends on how much "the right sort of person" she is. Maybe she's not.
And afterwards the person still doesn't know it happened, even after being away from the indoctrination experience for awhile. People can't detect reality shifts; they don't remember what reality was like before the indoctrination.
Of course everything depends on how much "the right sort of person" she is. Maybe she's not.
If you research nothing else, please watch this amazing YouTube for a demonstration of surreptitious induction of dissociation, and of exploiting it to change people's beliefs in under 5 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzn9rX7rauA
This is an extraordinary demonstration of how easy it is to get people under your thumb, of how to be a cult leader.
Do look up the group in some of the websites listed on the right. Also, here are some questions that might help you determine if she's unknowingly come under their influence: Does she seem evangelical about the group? Defensive about criticism of it? Questioning of it? How much does she say her life was "transformed"? Is she keen to go back for more? Is she keen to get you to go?
I can understand you wanting to keep at arm's length from the group, but it I were you I'd start asking her to share what she had learned from the experience, and what growth she felt she had achieved from it. For one thing, you might get a better idea of where her head is at regarding it. And if there are current or potential problems, you're better off establishing that she can share things with you, thus keeping the line of communication open.
If she starts sliding down the slope into full-scale cult involvement, you want her to share the ride with you as much as possible. You would then be an open connection to reality. The reason that you want to back off if she gets defensive is to avoid triggering a cognitive dissonance response. If she gets defensive, then don't be critical about the group, or she might disconnect as far as sharing about it goes:
http://goo.gl/MWaj
which would shut down communication.
Or of course everything might be just fine with her. It still wouldn't do any harm to open a dialogue about it with her. Just be interested, curious and respectful when asking, not critical, to see how things lie.
The "cult leader" in the video mentioned above is Derren Brown. Brown is a master of a classic branch of stage magic called "Mentalism." You can find many excerpts from his performances on YouTube. A "mentalist" is a performer who simulates having supernatural powers, but who is honest that it is all a fake. A mentalist uses mental acuity, cold reading, warm reading, hot reading, principles of stage magic, hypnosis and/or suggestion to present the illusion of mind reading, psychokinesis, extra-sensory perception, precognition, clairvoyance or mind control.
In other words, a mentalist uses the exact same techniques that a cult leader uses. The only difference is that the mentalist is honest about it all being an act.
(Thanks to Wikipedia and www.suggestibility.org for selected quotes).
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Recovering from Transcendental Meditation, part 2012
For many, recovering from TM takes a lifetime. So if you're still recovering after many decades, don't lose hope, and don't berate yourself. It's normal.
I hope that some day there will be better techniques available to help people recover more quickly. Right now, the best advice is to learn about mind control. Other things that help are: conversations with other former members, physical exercise, practicing real-life skills that you lost (or never learned if you were raised in a cult), psychotherapy, residential recovery centers, continued reading about destructive cults. One exit counsellor suggested writing down every single thing you remember from your time in the destructive cult.
Gina (a co-contributor to this blog - see panel on the right) published a post on this blog, ("Psychotherapy with Former Cult Members" posted September 2, 2011; http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2011/09/psychotherapy-with-former-cult-members.html), in which she informed the readers of a new Continuing Education Units course for psychotherapists. I was moved to send the following e-mail to the teacher of this course, as follows:
From: Laurie ------
Date: June 14, 2012
To: Patrick O'Reilly
Subject: Recovery for former destructive cult members
Dear Dr. O'Reilly:
I am a friend of Gina Catena's, and like her, I am in recovery from the Transcendental Meditation (TM) organization.
She showed me your excellent internet article on how therapists can help former cult members by encouraging them to learn about mind control. I am grateful that you are putting the information about mind control and post-cult syndrome (which can masquerade as other mental health conditions) out there, and are offering a CEU course.
Since the psychological community is still at the beginning stages of learning how to help former destructive cult members, and since you are a leader in educating therapists on how to help cult victims, I hope it will be helpful for you if I share three additional steps that I had to go through in order to help me recover from my cult.
1. I needed to learn information about my particular group - the specific lies that my particular group taught which kept me a believer. Even though I already understood mind control, I still was a believer because of the 600 research studies I had been taught about, which proported to prove how marvelous TM was for every aspect of every person's life. I had to read anti-TM websites to discover that TM experiments were usually biasedly designed and/or biasedly conducted in order to produce only positive results. Also, I learned that some research had shown that TM sometimes produces unimpressive or harmful results, but that the TM organization had kept that information from us.
2. I needed to talk to other former TMers who had been at my level of involvement in TM. Even though I had spent over 20 years telling my TM experiences to sympathetic friends, therapists, and former TMers who had been at lower levels of TM involvement than I, TM memories continued to flood my mind. However, when I finally found peers, and told them my memories, the memories finally stopped.
3. I have been in psychotherapy for many years. By working on family-of-origin issues, TM has less and less hold over me.
If these additional steps were necessary for me, then I assume there must be others out there who also need more than just education about mind control in order to recover from their destructive cult.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance to you.
Please keep up the good work! Thank you for what you are doing!
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Laurie --------"
I have been out of TM for 31 years, and I am still recovering. As Sudarsha, a co-moderator for this site, has said, "You have to claw yourself out of the TM mindset, ('Maheshism') inch by inch." For instance, it was only last month that I realized that part of the reason I eat a lot of nuts on my morning cereal is because Mahesh said that nuts were very good for you.
A problem I still have 31 years after leaving TM is my difficulty in learning new skills from books. Before I got into TM, I had taught myself guitar, typing, shorthand and crocheting from books. But since leaving TM, I find it excruciatingly hard to learn new things from books, , like how to use a computer or follow a recipe. I think this is because when I try to learn something new, it activates the feelings I had when I was learning to "fly:" "If you're don't 'fly' twice a day, you're wasting your life."
What stratagems have been helpful in your recovery from TM-brain? In what areas are you still recovering?
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Transcendental Meditation: What got you in? And what got you out? Part 1
I've been thinking back over my long strange journey through TM. How did I get so deeply embroiled? How did I get out? Maybe you've been musing over your own life too, or that of those you love who are still embroiled in TM. Here's my chronology. I hope reading it will help some TM-Free readers sort out their own experience.
- I was looking for a better life.
- I read "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. At the tender age of 16, I did not realize that autobiographies were not automatically truthful. The book excited me with the hope that Hinduism's yoga had something special to offer. I tried out Yogananda's teachings, but they did not satisfy me.
- I attended lectures of Swami Satchitananda, who fulfilled my expectations of what a yogi saint should be like. But I did not start his yoga because it seemed like a commitment to a lifestyle change and a difficult practice.
- I had friends who started TM and told me in awed tones what wonderful results it brought, and that it was very easy.
- I attended TM introductory lectures and was impressed by the scientific research, logic of the theory, and serenity of the initiators.
- I was impressed by my initiator's holy glow during the initiation ceremony. When I said my mantra, I felt it reverberate in my mouth and around the room in a mystical way. When I thought the mantra silently for the first time, I was transported to a magical place of inner peace and bliss. I felt euphoric, stoned, for the first three days that I did TM, and I noticed positive changes in myself in those first three days, too. All these things led me to believe that TM was a profound, life-changing spiritual technique.
- The initiators promised that by doing TM twice daily, the positive changes would continue to accumulate. Indeed, for the first few months that I did TM, I did notice small improvements in myself.
- I ran into some TMers who were gung-ho on TM as a method not only for self-improvement, but as the solution for all of life's problems. They encouraged me to attend a long TM course.
- I attended the course and rounded for one month. Maharishi was there in person and lectured several times a day. Also, a few prominent Western guest speakers - scientists, psychologists, astronauts, philosophers, educators, etc. - hailed the virtues of TM. Maharishi promised that TM would solve all problems of society. My brain was in a vulnerable, receptive state from all that sensory deprivation during rounding and from hearing only TM-positive opinions for one month. There was no questioning or challenging. As computer geeks say, "Garbage in, garbage out." It was so easy to be lulled into a dreamy, hopeful state of belief. I experienced Maharishi as giving off saintly emanations. He was charismatic, knowledgeable , charming, flattering, and convincing - and begged us to become TM initiators. It was so easy to fall, as the path of least resistance, into his belief system.
- I left the course a true believer, determined to become an initiator. It never occurred to me to research the opinions of TM skeptics.
- Originally, I believed what Maharishi taught because science and logic supported his system (or so I had been led to believe.) But gradually, unconsciously, I made the transition from "Maharishi says it because it's true" to "If Maharishi says it, then it's true." All my TM activities that followed hereafter just strengthened the belief system that I had now internalized. Residence courses, checker training, advanced lectures, TM teacher training, initiating, working at TM residential centers, learning the TM-Sidhi program, attending long rounding courses for world peace - no matter what Maharishi's latest invention or discovery or program was, Maharishi had to be right, and to question would be disloyal and foolishness.
How about you? Does any of this resonate for you? What got you in?
Coming next: Part 2: And what got you out?
- I was looking for a better life.
- I read "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. At the tender age of 16, I did not realize that autobiographies were not automatically truthful. The book excited me with the hope that Hinduism's yoga had something special to offer. I tried out Yogananda's teachings, but they did not satisfy me.
- I attended lectures of Swami Satchitananda, who fulfilled my expectations of what a yogi saint should be like. But I did not start his yoga because it seemed like a commitment to a lifestyle change and a difficult practice.
- I had friends who started TM and told me in awed tones what wonderful results it brought, and that it was very easy.
- I attended TM introductory lectures and was impressed by the scientific research, logic of the theory, and serenity of the initiators.
- I was impressed by my initiator's holy glow during the initiation ceremony. When I said my mantra, I felt it reverberate in my mouth and around the room in a mystical way. When I thought the mantra silently for the first time, I was transported to a magical place of inner peace and bliss. I felt euphoric, stoned, for the first three days that I did TM, and I noticed positive changes in myself in those first three days, too. All these things led me to believe that TM was a profound, life-changing spiritual technique.
- The initiators promised that by doing TM twice daily, the positive changes would continue to accumulate. Indeed, for the first few months that I did TM, I did notice small improvements in myself.
- I ran into some TMers who were gung-ho on TM as a method not only for self-improvement, but as the solution for all of life's problems. They encouraged me to attend a long TM course.
- I attended the course and rounded for one month. Maharishi was there in person and lectured several times a day. Also, a few prominent Western guest speakers - scientists, psychologists, astronauts, philosophers, educators, etc. - hailed the virtues of TM. Maharishi promised that TM would solve all problems of society. My brain was in a vulnerable, receptive state from all that sensory deprivation during rounding and from hearing only TM-positive opinions for one month. There was no questioning or challenging. As computer geeks say, "Garbage in, garbage out." It was so easy to be lulled into a dreamy, hopeful state of belief. I experienced Maharishi as giving off saintly emanations. He was charismatic, knowledgeable , charming, flattering, and convincing - and begged us to become TM initiators. It was so easy to fall, as the path of least resistance, into his belief system.
- I left the course a true believer, determined to become an initiator. It never occurred to me to research the opinions of TM skeptics.
- Originally, I believed what Maharishi taught because science and logic supported his system (or so I had been led to believe.) But gradually, unconsciously, I made the transition from "Maharishi says it because it's true" to "If Maharishi says it, then it's true." All my TM activities that followed hereafter just strengthened the belief system that I had now internalized. Residence courses, checker training, advanced lectures, TM teacher training, initiating, working at TM residential centers, learning the TM-Sidhi program, attending long rounding courses for world peace - no matter what Maharishi's latest invention or discovery or program was, Maharishi had to be right, and to question would be disloyal and foolishness.
How about you? Does any of this resonate for you? What got you in?
Coming next: Part 2: And what got you out?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Unhooking From Maharishi's Teachings: Laurie Interviews Sudarsha about the Puja (Ceremony)
I (Laurie) left TM 30 years ago, after 10 years in the TM movement, and I have been "deprogramming" myself ever since. I now believe that everything I was taught on the TM Teacher Training Course while I was "rounding" (meditating many times a day) bypassed my critical thinking, and went straight into my belief system. Therefore, even today I am still finding unexamined beliefs inside myself that hook me into Mahesh Prasad Varma's system. (According to Wikipedia, "Mahesh Prasad Varma" may be Maharishi's given name.)
One of those beliefs was that the puja had magical powers. Mr. Varma told us that the word "puja" translates as "traditional ceremony of gratitude," but most other translators say it means "worship". On my TM Teacher Training Course in La Antilla, Spain, in 1974, Mr. Varma taught us that the puja must be performed before the person is instructed in TM. Without it, he said, TM cannot be successfully learned or practiced. He gave quasi-scientific and quasi-mystical reasons why this was so; and I was left with fear and trembling for the sacred, God-given puja.
Therefore, it was helpful to my recovery to learn that after his disillusionment with Mr. Varma's movement, Sudarsha, (one of the co-editors of TM-Free), successfully instructed many people in TM without first chanting the puja. I thought it might be helpful to other readers recovery too, to read about this, so I decided to interview Sudarsha. Here goes:
Laurie: How did you first hear of TM?
Sudarsha: I remember it like it was yesterday! It was in May of 1968. I had just finished another miserable day teaching high school English, and I decided to go for a walk rather than immediately take the bus home. I wandered into a drugstore, and there on a book rack was this childishly cuddly guy draped in white on the cover of a book. For some reason, I was fascinated and I bought it.
One of those beliefs was that the puja had magical powers. Mr. Varma told us that the word "puja" translates as "traditional ceremony of gratitude," but most other translators say it means "worship". On my TM Teacher Training Course in La Antilla, Spain, in 1974, Mr. Varma taught us that the puja must be performed before the person is instructed in TM. Without it, he said, TM cannot be successfully learned or practiced. He gave quasi-scientific and quasi-mystical reasons why this was so; and I was left with fear and trembling for the sacred, God-given puja.
Therefore, it was helpful to my recovery to learn that after his disillusionment with Mr. Varma's movement, Sudarsha, (one of the co-editors of TM-Free), successfully instructed many people in TM without first chanting the puja. I thought it might be helpful to other readers recovery too, to read about this, so I decided to interview Sudarsha. Here goes:
Laurie: How did you first hear of TM?
Sudarsha: I remember it like it was yesterday! It was in May of 1968. I had just finished another miserable day teaching high school English, and I decided to go for a walk rather than immediately take the bus home. I wandered into a drugstore, and there on a book rack was this childishly cuddly guy draped in white on the cover of a book. For some reason, I was fascinated and I bought it.
That night, I started to read it. He had written, "To be is to live." Those words struck me like lightening. I sat up straight and confirmed to myself, "This is it! This is what I've been searching for!" Sadly, the book didn't actually teach me anything. It just theorized and theorized. The title? "The Science of Being and Art of Living" by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I felt hooked. Now I believe that I was more hooked by to have that final secret of how to do it than anything else. I wanted to learn to do this. Cleverly, Mahesh could rope us in by coming so close to telling us the secret, but just stopping short.
A week or so later, I found and bought an LP (a vinyl record - remember those?) of Mahesh giving a talk. His voice sounded so captivating. There was an address and phone number on the record sleeve. I phoned and made an appointment to learn TM.
L: What results did you get from TM?
S: Same results as everyone else: in the beginning TM felt good. I felt a sense of relief. As I think back on it now, I realize that "relief" is quite different from the "pure consciousness" or "source of thought" that Mahesh was promising, but I mistook the relief for what he was promising. Ultimately, I think it all comes back to "me": my understanding, my misunderstanding, my expectations, my desires, my greeds. But being a schoolteacher was stressful, and I was stressed. TM was a contrast to that, so it felt good.
L: What made you decide to become an initiator?
S: TM was easy to do and it felt good. It was only many years later that I began to believe that it operated on the basis of contrast and little more. Back then, though, I thought that this was good, worthwhile, valuable, a lot more satisfying than what I was currently doing. And, into the bargain, a lot more valuable to others. So I went to Estes Park, Colorado, USA, in 1970 and took the TM Teacher Training Course.
L: What was your understanding at that time of the reason for doing the puja?
S: That's complicated. It was what we were supposed to do; it was what Mahesh taught us; it somehow empowered us to "give" the mantra - he said it allowed us to pick up the mantra at the finest level. It was special, maybe even sacred.
But when I was finally given that piece of paper with the mantras written on it, and saw that they were selected not by some deep psycho-spiritual-physiological reasoning, but just by age and gender - well! There was a conflict! Something wasn't making sense, and it was very difficult to think about that, when I really wanted to teach TM because I thought it was really a good thing.
L: From today's vantage point, what do you think the puja is really about, or what is its purpose?
S: The puja was a nice touch. I suppose it was Mahesh's way of trying to flaunt his so-called tremendous devotion to Guru Dev. We know from what Paul Mason has written on his website about Guru Dev that some pundit wrote the puja for Guru Dev, and Guru Dev didn't like it. He said to tie it to a stone and throw it into the Ganges. Which the pundit did. Mahesh said, and I don't remember where, that he dove in and rescued it.
Some of the earliest initiators to be trained in India by Mahesh learned an ending which Mahesh later changed, probably in the early 1960's. Also, when I learned the puja, in 1968, there were only three parts to it: the Sanskrit words, the English translation and the movements we made with our hands, etc.
L: By 1974, when I learned it on my TM Teacher Training Course, there was also a fourth part, called "puja feeling." Mr. Varma said all four parts were essential for the puja to "work." So this whole business of "the purity of the teaching" and "doing the puja to preserve the purity of the teaching" is suspect.
S: I think now that what the puja actually does is simply what all ceremonies do: it draws attention away from everything else. Look how the Roman Catholic Church used the Mass to manipulate people all through the Middle Ages. In teaching TM, the puja is very useful because it is so strange - at least to Westerners - at least it was strange when TM hit the West in the 1960's. People being instructed get completely disoriented. They can't figure out what is going on. This is useful, because when the teacher says a mantra and asks the person to start repeating it, the person does so in a completely non-judgmental state. I believe this is one of the reasons why the first TM experience is so spectacular. It's a real contrast to how you were feeling an hour ago when you were walking to the TM Center.
L: How many people did you initiate using the puja?
S: Something near 800.
L: What experience did those students have with TM?
S: They had the prescribed experience, much like my own initial experience: it felt good, they experienced deep rest. I wonder now if what they experienced wasn't deep rest, but a contrast from their normal way of feeling, which they mistook for "deep rest," because that's what the TM teachers told them they would experience.
L: What led you to consider teaching TM without the puja?
S: That's a really tough question, Laurie, because I don't really remember all the details. I do remember being dissatisfied with what Mahesh had done with TM: adding the Science of Creative Intelligence, Six-Month Courses, Age of Enlightenment techniques, sidhi nonsense. It was obvious to me that the steps of initiation were the only thing that was useful, to lead an individual into a very quiet state so that thinking the mantra would be easy.
After I quit teaching at the TM Center, some friends showed an interest in TM. So I said, "OK, let's just sit quietly and I'll teach you how to do it," and very off-handedly did the steps of initiation starting with the "open the eyes; close the eyes" business from the checking notes. The results were the same. People were happy with the results. Another one of Mahesh's dogmatic superstitions bit the dust.
L: How many people did you instruct without the puja?
S: Maybe 25 or 30. I don't really remember. Those were very traumatic days. I was feeling very sad that I had wasted three months learning to teach TM when anyone could learn how to teach it in a weekend. All the hubbub of rounding for three months had just been brainwashing - or whatever the correct word for that is these days.
L: Were you nervous or guilty or scared about teaching TM without the puja? I know I would have been.
S: No. I hadn't bought into the superstitions of Maheshism. If nothing else, those two years when I was on TM's international staff intimately working side by side with Mahesh demonstrated to me, beyond any doubt, that Mahesh was making it up as he went along. There was no evidence at all that he was any kind of superhuman. Granted, he was very intelligent and quick-witted, and had a remarkably retentive memory. But so do lots of "normal" human beings. What Mahesh had that other people didn't have was the aura of specialness. That is to say, our attribution of mystical specialness to him . He let us believe that he had all sorts of knowledge and "blessings" from Guru Dev. Mahesh was also extraordinarily clever, and used his cleverness to manipulate others. He had a very amoral approach to what he did: if it benefitted his agenda, it was OK.
So, since I came to the conclusion that Mahesh was very human indeed - from direct contact with him - no, I had no nervousness, guilt or fear at all about dropping the puja. And as it turned out, dropping the puja had no effect on the learning or the practice of TM.
L: How did you choose the mantra for the non-puja initiates?
S: Same as I was taught. For some reason, back then it never occurred to me to experiment with mantras. How curious, because Mahesh himself had said that "any word would do," but back then, I only knew the mantras he taught me at Estes Park. I was still unable to think outside the box in this regard.
L: What results did the non-puja students have?
S: Same as all the people I taught the "orthodox" way.
L: Did they keep up with meditating? Did you "check" their meditations?
S: They all got checked, non-puja students and puja students alike. Both groups had the same outcomes: some continued , some said they thought it was silly, some said they didn't have time, some said it quit working....
L: Did you tell them what the mantras really meant?
S: Back then I didn't know what they meant. I found that out later.
L: Thanks so much, Sudarsha, for letting me interview you.
S: It was my pleasure, sort of. This is stuff people have a right to know. Mahesh was using his cleverness, his powers of persuasion, his amoral manipulation of others, without regard to their safety, well-being, or any other aspect of their lives. He simply used people for his own ends, something which is never taught or done by legitimate teachers.
I wonder if my answers are typical. I would find it really interesting - perhaps we could do a survey - to see how many other initiators discovered that the whole puja thing was just part of the phobia-induction that Mahesh used to make our minds like his.
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