HOW I MADE THE MANTRA GO AWAY

one of our readers has sent us his TM story:

HOW I MADE THE MANTRA GO AWAY

by Dave H.

When I tell my friends that I once was involved with a cult, their eyes get wide and their response is generally, “You?” And then they want the details.

So I tell them that I was one of those people who got caught up in Transcendental Meditation when it was sweeping the U.S.A. in the 60s and 70s. I explain the initial meetings, the Puja ceremony, the post initiation checking meetings, etc. I even tell them that for awhile, TM actually brought me some benefit.

I was never one of those uber-movement types, although I did attend a residence course or two in Fairfield, Iowa, where I was introduced to “rounding” and the whole TM thing took further root. Had I not awakened, I could have easily been drinking the Kool-aid.

Then MMY announced that we could all learn to levitate and the Sidhis program was launched. The shock of it forced me to examine what I had become involved with and thankfully, the critical thinking I had learned in college began to kick in. Levitating? Becoming invisible? How could I belong to an organization that advanced such thinking and demanded high fees for the “knowledge?”

I immediately stopped doing TM and promised myself I would never think my mantra, “Shirim,” again.

But it wouldn’t go away. For over a decade that pesky mantra would creep into my thoughts: waking, sleeping, dreaming. At first I gave it no notice, just shutting it off whenever it would appear. But after many, many years of putting up with it, combined with all of the wacky stuff coming out of the TM movement, its continued presence became a major concern for me. I wanted it gone.

I consulted with a therapist, a very capable person, but not experienced in cults. He suggested that I pretty much do what I had been doing, shut it off when it showed up in my thoughts. But that was not good enough for me.

I live in a very beautiful part of Southeast Minnesota, an area with 300-foot bluffs and an incredible paved bicycle trail system. One weekday summer morning I walked out a couple of miles on the trail. Not many people out there that early in the morning. I stopped on a bridge and decided to shout Shirim as loud and as many times as I could. It was strange how guilty I felt for even thinking about doing this. Guilt and fear manifested themselves, as if something really bad would happen to me. That’s how deeply the movement hooks had gotten into my psyche. 

But I did it. I shouted that mantra out into the light of day, loud, clear and often. Then I came back a couple of days later and repeated the experience. And then a third time.

It didn’t happen overnight, but after a couple of weeks I noticed that the mantra and I were no longer joined at the hip, and its encroachment into my life began to diminish. And today, it doesn’t show up at all.

When I read of all the junk that the true-believers in the TM movement accept as truth … Jyotish, Yagyas, Sidhis and such … I am so blessed to have my once-abandoned critical thinking skills and pleased that the mantra no longer has power over me.

And all I had to do was shout it into the atmosphere.

Book Review: "The Secret of the Mantras" by Richard Blakely

I just finished reading "The Secret of the Mantras" by Richard Blakely, and I highly recommend it.  This memoir of a baby boomer growing up in the U.S. and moving to France in time for the student uprisings of 1968 includes a 3-month TM Teacher Training course in Rishikesh, India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Beatles. 

What a fun read!  What a witty sense of humor Blakely exhibits as he confesses his own foibles, as well as the foibles of TM life.  Of particular interest to readers of TM-Free Blog may be the following revelations:

- In 1968, Mahesh gave new initiators three mantras, chosen by age.  (Nowadays there are about 16 mantras, chosen by age.)

- In 1968, Mahesh taught initiators only the Sanskrit and the hand gestures for the exotic ceremony preceding TM instruction.  (Nowadays, initiators must also memorize the English translation and the emotions one is attempting to experience during the rite.)  

-  In 1968, students meditated for hours non-stop on courses.  Due to the emotional unraveling of some Westerners, Mahesh added yogic stretching.  (Nowadays, short meditations are alternated with yoga stretches and breathing exercises.)  

- In 1968, Mahesh taught that TMers shouldn't force themselves to change habits such as smoking, drinking and meat-eating if they found the change stressful.  Mahesh said that with continued meditation, unhealthy habits would automatically fall away.  (Nowadays, "advanced" TMers are encouraged to take up vegetarianism, celibacy, early bedtime, silent meals, etc. etc.)

This last point particularly catches my attention.  I find Mahesh's level of hypocrisy? extent of unclarity on fundamental principles? unfathomable.  Whatever could he have been thinking, either then or now?  What kind of teacher is this?  

Book review: "Roots of TM: The Transcendental Meditation of Guru Dev & Maharishi Mahesh Yogi" by Paul Mason

Thank you, Paul Mason, for this book! 


The TM movement has an official story of how TM came to be spread to the world.  That story comes from the mouth of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  But we know that Mahesh loved to embroider stories.  So - what does independent historical research reveal about Guru Dev, Mahesh, and TM?


Paul Mason doesn't give us his personal conclusions.  Rather, he researches and relates the facts, and lets us decide for ourselves.  What I have decided is that the procedure of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation, of how to think the mantra, is virtually identical to one of the several meditation techniques taught by Guru Dev. 


But other aspects of Mahesh's Transcendental Meditation differ from his master's teachings.  Although Mahesh claimed to revere Guru Dev as "Divinity Incarnate," he disobeyed a number of his guru's wishes, and as the years progressed, altered more and more of his master's teachings.
 

From Guru Dev's instructions to meditate one hour, Mahesh decreased it to 30 minutes, then to 20 minutes.  From the necessity of sitting cross-legged to the acceptability of sitting in a chair.  From insistence on a straight spine during meditation to the acceptability of slouching.  From no money accepted, as per Guru Dev's strict rule, to a set fee. 


And then there is the choosing of the mantra, which is part of a guru's responsibility.  According to Guru Dev, only a perfect master is qualified to choose a mantra.  Guru Dev said (p. 98), "…[I]t is very difficult to obtain a perfect teacher.  The traditional Indian Scriptures are full of mantra…but until someone will tell which is fit…the pile…will really be next to useless…[O'bserving the energy and inclination of those devoted to spiritual achievement, in accordance to their qualification…the experienced guru…deduces the mantra of one's favored god which would be of benefit to the spiritual seekers."

Maharishi did not dispense the same mantras that his guru did.  Maharishi said, (p. 263), "It is very difficult for me to find what [mantras] he was using.  Because initiation is all in private.  And I was never interested in who was given what [mantra].  I was interested in myself."  

Not holding to Guru Dev's dual criteria for choosing mantras, (see above: aspirant's "energy and inclination" plus "favored god"), Mahesh reduced the criteria to only one: "favored god."  Mahesh explained (p. 259), "The gurus choose from the tendencies, from the cut of the face…I don't go into all these vibrations, botherations.  I ask [the aspirant] 'Which god you like?'…Ask him directly, 'What he likes?' and that is it." 

When he initiated Christians, Jews and Muslims, he could not very well ask, "Who is your favored god?"  And what could he possibly have asked when teaching atheists?!  So he made another change - to assign the mantras by age and sex.  I couldn't find any evidence in "Roots of TM" that there was any precedent for this criteria.  Later, Mahesh simplified the criteria yet again, to choose by age only.  Even in this he was inconsistent.  One year he would use one set of mantras and age; another year he would use another.  On occasion, he even broke these simple rules, for instance when he instructed some initiators to use teenage mantras for all adults, age 20 through 120.


And most paradoxically, was Mahesh disobeying his master by even teaching meditation?  Guru Dev had stated (p. 96), "…[N]ot everyone can be a guru.  Actually only members of the Brahmin caste are in the position to be a guru…."  Mahesh was from the Kshatriya caste, so according to his own guru, he was prohibited from teaching meditation.  (By the way, Mahesh was the secretary at the ashram.  Did you know that?) 

So how then did Mahesh justify teaching meditation?  Page 143:  "I thought, 'What to do, what to do, what to do?'  Then I thought, 'I should teach them all in the name of Guru Dev.  I should design a system, a system of puja [ritual or ceremony] to Guru Dev. ' "  This decision did not follow the letter of Guru Dev's teaching; do you think it followed the spirit of Guru Dev's teaching? 


What went through Mahesh's mind as he made these changes?  Did he tell himself that he was not really changing Guru Dev's teachings?  Did he tell himself that some of his divine Guru Dev's teachings were imperfect?   Did he decide he had surpassed his guru?  Did he rationalize that the changes didn't matter because he was teaching "inferior" Westerners?  What do you think? 


"Roots of TM" helped me understand the fourth possibility more.  As I read, I realized how different Mahesh's world was from the Western world.  I realized that underneath India's veneer of westernization, the traditional Indian ways are vibrantly alive.  It is entirely a different world view from the West's.


For instance, Guru Dev taught (p. 81):  "The man who gives suffering to the cow goes to hell.  [Intermixing of Indian culture with Western culture] has caused ignorance of the Hindu scriptures, that the cow and Absolute Divine Truth are the same.  This devout scriptural knowledge is disappearing."  


Or, on p. 47, Mahesh relates how it is to be brought up properly in an Indian family.  "The children...are told to bow down to your mother, your father, your elders, your school teacher.  It provides a great shield of security and assistance for the child....[as] this later on develops in devotion to Almighty...."


And this excerpt from the chapter "Yoga Teachings of Swami Brahmanand (Guru Dev.)"  Pps. 98-99, (paraphrased by this editor), "The principal teaching of Swami Brahmanand Saraswati was that one should routinely practice a system of [mental repetition of a word of benefit to the spiritual seeker] in order to...realize the purpose of one's life.... Realization comes from doing word repetition....By practicing, sins are destroyed...."


From p. 231, "During his stay in San Francisco, Maharishi received his first press coverage in the USA, and was rather surprised that the meditation had been dubbed a 'non-medicinal tranquilizer.'  His comment was, 'Cruel!  I feel like running away, back home.  This seems to be a strange country.  Values are different here.' "


This book is filled with gems.  Arrange them together in different ways, and many questions can be answered about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, his guru and his Transcendental Meditation. 

Paul Mason is one of the world's leading English-language experts on Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and his guru, Swami Brahmanand Saraswti (Guru Dev).  He has written, co-authored, and translated from Hindi and Sanskrit over seven books on these topics.  He is a former co-editor for TM-Free Blog.   

"Eternal Truth" from Maharishi Changes Once Again

I believe I have uncovered another example of the changing teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Click on this link to watch an old videotape of Maharishi talking about TM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ajEzVsuhg
 
Or skip the tape and go straight to my transcription of it, below. 

(The videotape is from an official TM website.  Although their website includes a transcription, I have watched and listened to the tape a half dozen times and have spotted a few minor errors in the transcription.  So my transcription below is slightly different from theirs.)

There is no date (or location) given on the videotape.  However, judging from the color of Mahesh's hair; plus the fact that he uses the word "pencil" as his sample mantra, rather than "flower," which became his standard sample mantra later; plus his stumblings and hesitations in explaining TM, cause me to guess that the tape was made in the mid to late 1960s.

Plus the fact that he offers an explanation for the basic mechanism by which he says TM works,  i.e. "the natural tendency of the mind."  The natural tendency he refers to in this tape is different from the "natural tendency" that he dwelled on in subsequent years.  (I haven't listened to 2015 TM Introductory Lectures - maybe our readers have, and can let us know if this concept is still taught today.)  The "natural tendency" that was impressed upon my generation (1971-1981) was that TM is easy, effortless, natural and effective because it makes use of "the natural tendency of the mind to go in the direction of increasing charm."  This pronouncement has virtually become canonical in the basic teachings of TM. 

Here is my transcript of the relevant first three minutes:

"...The teaching has been set up in a very, very standard form. What we do is…actual practice involves thinking of a word - a word devoid of meaning. We don't know the meaning.  We don't try to know the meaning. And the principle is that if we know the meaning - then meaning is a static thing. If we say 'pencil, pencil,' someone who doesn't know what 'pencil' means in English, he just hears the sound 'pan-sool.'  And someone who knows the 'pencil'…you see, the meaning is static.

"The sound changes in its pitch.  It could be loud sound, it could be low sound or some…so.  And the meaning is the same at every pitch, high or low.  So if the mind is on the meaning, then there is no chance of refining the meaning.  If the mind is not on the meaning, then there is a chance of refining the sound.  Then there is a chance of experiencing the sound in its finer values; til the finest could be transcended, and the awareness could reach that inner wakefulness, devoid of any perception.  This will be transcendental consciousness.

So we take a thought, and experience it, and in experiencing the thought, the simple formula is, that the thought functions as an impulse, as a motivation for the impulse, like that, like that. Then the mind is pulsating. If we don't try to manipulate the thought in any sense, concentrate or hold it on or anything, then the thought will start to be refined, refine, refine; it will sink out.  The activity will start to die out, die out, die out. So this is what we say:  naturally greater activity of the mind reaches its least value - in a very, very natural way. Any activity has a tendency to settle down and be quiet. So this natural tendency of the mind to be quiet is all that we use in meditation, and nothing else. (Emphasis added - Laurie.) So in a very innocent manner we think of the thought. And every time we think it, it becomes finer and finer and finer. We experience its finer states, and then it dies out...."

Have you ever heard this earlier explanation before?  Does this explanation make sense?  Does the newer explanation make sense?  Or can you suggest a better explanation for how and why TM produces the results it does?  What do you think is actually happening when a person does TM? 

Mahesh told my generation that his name, "rishi" means "seer;" that is, seer of the Vedas, which he told us is the Eternal Truth.  So what do you make of Mahesh changing his core explanation?  Was it opportunistic, or sincere, or what? Did this "great seer" not see the "eternal truth"? 

And anything else you'd care to comment on!

Another Deception By Maharishi Uncovered?

Another Deception by Maharishi Uncovered? 

"Puja Feeling" as related to the "Purity of the Teaching"

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that this information has been published anywhere on the internet. 


I attended my TM Teacher Training Course (TTC) in 1974.  The course was three months long, and it was a big day for us when we finally started learning the puja (the Hindu ritual of worship that is done by the TM teacher before teaching someone TM.)   Once we started learning the puja, we were getting the real stuff, the esoteric stuff, the secrets that separated us and raised us higher than the average TMer.  So we were told by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  

Mahesh was very strict about us being able to perform the puja properly.  We were tested on it, and to pass the test, we had to memorize everything perfectly.  Mahesh used two phrases a lot: "The Holy Tradition," and "the purity of the Teaching."  

We had already been taught to tell our students that the puja was simply "a traditional ceremony of gratitude," non-religious in nature.  But now we were getting the inside scoop.  According to Mahesh, TM had been practiced in India in the distant past, much to the benefit of Indian individuals and Indian society.  But due to incremental small misinterpretations of the procedure, over time the technique had become lost, and India had therefore become a poor and apathetic nation.  Therefore, now that the correct technique had been rediscovered, it was imperative that TM be taught meticulously, so that the "purity of the teaching" be maintained for as long as possible into the future.  

According to Mahesh, teaching someone TM was not a simple matter of giving them their own particular mantra and teaching them how to use it the TM way.  Rather, instruction required careful preparation by the TM teacher in order to ensure the "purity of the Teaching" as handed down by the Holy Tradition of Masters, and to not dilute the purity of this precious life-giving technique.  Unbeknownst to the student, the TM teacher needs to enter an exalted state of consciousness in order to transmit a subtle spiritual essence that allows the technique to work.  The way to enter that higher state of consciousness was to do the puja as taught on TTC.
 
Mahesh taught us that he was the anointed custodian of TM.  And that he was the ultimate arbiter of the Truth.  TM went back for millenia.  Mahesh passed TM along in its purity by making sure we performed the traditional rite before teaching it.  The puja, exactly as he taught it, was the only means by which the purity of the teaching could remained intact.  Every syllable had to be performed perfectly.  If you didn't do it exactly as Mahesh taught it, your student couldn't learn TM.  If you didn't do it right, your student couldn't do TM properly.  If you didn't do it right, you were compromising the purity of the teaching.  If you didn't do it right, you were putting the future of TM at risk.  If you didn't do it right, you were putting the future of the earth at risk.      

Therefore on our TTC in 1974, we labored to memorize the component parts of this venerable ancient puja.  We had to have all components down letter-perfect in order to pass the final exam to become a TM teacher.

Fast forward 35 years.  A few years ago, Sudarsha (a fellow co-contributor to TM-Free,) was telling me about his 1970 TTC.  On his course, there were 3 (three) components to Mahesh's  puja.  


But on my 1974 TTC, there were 4 (four) components.

Oh.

So much for Mahesh's life-shaking claims.
  
To me, this is just one more deception in the long list of lies Mahesh told us.  To me, it is just one more disappointing piece of evidence of Mahesh's frequent modus operandi: be dishonest when it suits your purpose. 

Here are the three components Sudarsha learned:

(1)  "Puja Movements:"  how to hold the flowers, how to place the offerings on the altar before the painting of Maharishi's guru, etc.,
(2)  "Puja Pronunciation:" how to pronounce the Sanskrit properly.  (The entire 11-minute ritual is in Sanskrit), and
(3)  "Puja Translation:" what the puja means in English.

The fourth component, the additional one my TTC learned, was called "Puja Feeling."  This was the emotions the initiator was encouraged to feel while performing certain portions of the puja.

To the best of my knowledge, the complete "Puja Feeling" has never before appeared on the internet anywhere.  I haven't found it on any of the other websites skeptical of T.M. (You can find those websites listed on the right hand column on this page). 

So for your edification, I will quote the relevant Sanskrit puja passages.  After that, their English translation.  And then, the "Puja Feeling." 

My great thanks go to minet.org and to trancenet.org at the link  www.onwww.net/trancenet.org/secrets/puja/tradt.shtml for providing the Sanskrit and English portions.  I take responsibility for changes in punctuation that I have made for increased clarity. 

Sanskrit:

"...AVAHANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 

ASANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
SNANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
VASTRAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
CHANDANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
AKSHATAN SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
PUSHPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
DHUPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
DIPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
NAIVEDYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
TAMBULAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
SHRI PHALAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 

ARARTIKYAM.... 

 ...ARARTIKYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
PUSHPANJALIM.... 

 ...PUSHPANJALIM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH." 

 English Translation:

"...Offering the invocation to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a seat to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering an ablution to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering cloth to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering sandalpaste to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering full rice to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a flower to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering incense to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering light to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering fruit to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a betel leaf to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a coconut to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering camphor light....
...Offering camphor light to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a handful of flowers....
...Offering a handful of flowers to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down."

"Puja Feeling," (1974, with 1974 explanatory notes):

 -- Upon saying the line that starts with "Avahanam," and while placing that offering 

(or its symbolic equivalent, raw rice grains) upon the altar, feel the following: 

"I feel the upsurge of purifying waves of knowledge."

Explanation:  This offering of the invocation to the great Masters of the Holy 

Tradition brings a lively awareness of eternal wisdom. 

-- Upon saying the line that starts with "Asanam," and while placing that offering 

(or its symbolic equivalent) upon the altar, feel the following:

"I am realizing the ideal of yogastah kuru karmani." [Note from Laurie:  Maharishi 

told us that"yogastah kuru karmani" translated as "Established in Being, perform 

action."] 

Explanation:  This offering symbolizes the immovable seat of life in Being.  In 

offering this seat we feel stablized in the immovability of Being.  Offerings on 

this firm basis are actions to fulfil cosmic purpose.

-- Upon saying the line that..."Snanam,"...

"I feel the joy of standing in the cosmic waters of pure consciousness."

Explanation:  This offering of an ablution symbolises the refreshing omnipresence of

Pure Consciousness.

-- Upon saying the line that..."Vastram,"...

"I am secure in the Omnipresence of Being."

Explanation:  This offering of cloth symbolizes the garment of all-pervading Being.

-- Upon saying..."Chandanam,"...

"I am refreshed by the tranquility of the Transcendent."

Explanation:  This offering of sandalpaste spreads some pleasant cooling influence 

in the atmosphere.

-- Upon..."Akshatan"...

"I feel the wholeness of individual awareness."

Explanation:  This offering of full rice symbolizes the fullness of eternal life.

-- Upon..."Pushpam"...

"I feel the blossoming of inner Being."

Explanation:  This offering of a flower symbolizes the full bloom of life.

-- Upon..."Dupam"...

"I feel a pleasant wave of inner and outer purity."

Explanation:  This offering of incense symbolizes the sweet fragrance of purity.

-- Upon..."Dipam"...

"I feel the light of life, Pure Consciousness, illuminating everything."

Explanation:  This offering of light brings the light of wisdom to dispel all 

ignorance.

--Upon..."Achmaniyam,"... (before "Naivedyam")

"I feel the support of the waves of bliss."

Explanation:  This offering of water softens the atmosphere.

-- Upon...."Naivedyam"...

"I feel fulfilled in the plentiful life."

Explanation:  This offering of fruit symbolizes the state of fulfillment.

-- Upon..."Achmaniyam"... (said after "Naivedyam")

"I feel the flow of fulfillment in the omnipresence of Being."

Explanation:  This offering of water brings the flow of life in fulfillment.

-- Upon..."Tambulam"...

"I feel everywhere the cleansing and purifying influence at the source of speech."

Explanation:  This offering of a betel leaf brings freshness, purifying the abode 

of speech.

-- Upon..."Shri phalam"...

"I feel the fullness of life welling up."

Explanation:  This offering of the complete fruit [the coconut - Laurie] represents

the fullness of life, unmanifested and manifest.  The entire field of manifest life 

(gross, subtle and subtlest) is represented respectively by the husk or outer

covering, the kernel or meat of the fruit, and the milk or inner essence.  The 

transcendental value of life is symbolized by the self-contained unmanifest space 

within.

-- "Arartikyam."

(Offering a camphor frame)

-- Upon..."Achmaniyam"... (after "Arartikyam")

"I feel the flow of fulfillment in the light of Being."

-- "Pushpanjalim."  (first)

(Offering a handful of flowers)

Explanation:  This offering of a handful of flowers is the offering of the full 

bloom of life which has arisen from the offering of light.

-- Upon..."Pushpanjalim"...  (second)

"I feel oneness with the Omnipresent."

Explanation:  This offering of a handful of flowers symbolizes the surrender of the 

fully blossomed heart and mind in all the glories of the Relative and the Absolute. 

 I hope this newly available information is helpful.  Individuals and websites are welcome to 

use this information, with proper attribution. 

Did Maharishi Teach Different Ways to Do TM?

Readers of this blog who learned TM may recall the importance Mahesh placed on how to think the mantra.  My notes on how to check a person's meditation, which date from approximately 1973, read in part, "...Now this time, when we close our eyes, sit easily, and after about 1/2 a minute begin to think the mantra in the same, effortless way we think any other thoughts."  And, "In this meditation, we do not concentrate; we do not try to think the mantra clearly.  Mental repetition is not a clear pronunciation; it's just a faint idea...Just think the mantra easily, effortlessly...."

In my TM-Free research, I stumbled on an older set of checking notes, from about 1961.  There I found that Mahesh did not tell people to "think" the mantra.  Rather, back then he talked about "listening" to the mantra.  I don't have the notes on hand, but here is my best recollection of what was written:  "Think the mantra easily, and then just follow it down; listen to it as it changes."

Does anyone have an old set of checking notes that they can share with the readers?  Do you think this change is significant?  

Please Help Us Update: How are TM Mantras Chosen?

The founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,  was insistent that the TM mantras came from a long "Holy Tradition,"and that the "purity of the teaching" had to be maintained.  He taught that each individual instructed in TM had to have his or her mantra carefully chosen by a highly trained teacher in order for it to be suitable for that individual and to produce the best results.  It was implied that choosing the correct mantra involved metaphysical knowledge.    

Mahesh cautioned teachers of TM that except during initiation, they were never to say aloud or write down the mantras that he had taught them.  They weren't even permitted to say them to other TM teachers.  So it wasn't until TM teachers got disillusioned, broke Mahesh's rule, and started sharing mantras that they discovered that Mahesh, rather than passing down the categories for mantras with perfection, precision and purity, had actually taught mantras based on changeable categories.
  
Readers of TM-Free Blog and other websites skeptical of TM now know that over the years, Mahesh has taught TM teachers to choose the mantras based upon the initiates' age, or sex, or age plus sex.  On different TM Teacher Training Courses (TTC), Mahesh added mantras, deleted mantras, changed the spelling or pronunciation of mantras, and changed which category got which mantra.

The excellent website minet.org, written many years ago by TM-Free Blog coordinator Mike Doughney, provides the following table, listing which mantras Mahesh taught on different TTCs:

                               The TM Mantra Tables

1961		1969-Male		1969-Female		Fiuggi, 1972
Sex	Mantra	Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra
MALE	RAM	0-15	ING	0-15	IM	10-11	ING
FEMALE	SHIRIRAM	15-30	AING	15-30	AIM	12-13	IM
		30-45	SHRING	30-45	SHRIM	14-15	INGA
		46 +	SHIAM	46 +	SHIAMA	16-17	IMA
						18-19	AYING
						20-21	AYIM
						22-23	AYINGA
						24-25	AYIMA
						> 25	SHIRING

1976		1977		1978		October,1978		1987
Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra	Age	Mantra
03-10	ENG	03-10	ING					0-11	ENG
10-12	EM	10-12	IN	10-12	ENG	10-12	ENG
12-14	ENGA	12-14	INGA	12-14	EM	12-14	EM	12-13	EM
14-16	EMA	14-16	INA	14-16	EMGA	14-16	ENGA	14-15	ENGA
16-18	AENG	16-18	AING	16-18	EMA	16-18	EMA	16-17	EMA
18-20	AEM	18-20	AIM	18-20	AENG	18-20	AING	18-19	AING
20-22	AENGA	20-22	AINGA	20-22	AEM	20-22	AIM	20-21	AIM
22-24	AEMA	22-24	AIMA	22-24	AENGA	22-24	AINGA	22-23	AINGA
				24-26	AEMA	24-26	AIMA	24-25	AIMA
24-30	SHIRING	24-30	SHIRING	26-30	SHIRING	26-30	SHIRING	26-29	SHIRING
30-35	SHIRIM	30-35	SHIRIN	30-35	SHIRIM	30-35	SHIRIM	30-34	SHIRIM
35-40	HIRING	35-40	HIRING	35-40	HIRING	35-40	HIRING	35-39	HIRING
40-45	HIRIM	40-45	HIRIN	40-45	HIRIM	40-45	HIRIM	40-44	HIRIM
45-50	KIRING	45-50	KIRING	45-50	KIRING	45-50	KIRING	45-49	KIRING
50-55	KIRIM	50-55	KIRIN	50-55	KIRIM	50-55	KIRIM	50-54	KIRIM
55-60	SHIAM	55-60	SHIAM	55-60	SHYAM	55-60	SHIAM	55-59	SHAM
60 +	SHIAMA	60 +	SHIAMA	60 +	SHYAMA	60 +	SHIAMA	60 +	SHAMA

Notes: The year at the top of each column indicates the year the teacher was trained.
"Age" is that of the initiate at the time of learning the technique.
_____________________________________________________

This table was compiled by interviewing former TM teachers who had been trained on different TTCs.  Some of the table comes from the old TM-EX newsletter:  http://minet.org/TM-EX/Spring-91.  (By the way, I looked at this newsletter and found it fascinating.)

It is clear to me that this table is incomplete.  For instance, the mantra "rarim," which my mother received, is not listed anywhere here.  

Can you help us?

If you are a former TM teacher, and you got a different set of mantras or different how-to-choose categories from the ones listed on the table, could you please write us a "Comment" with the list you were taught, and the year and location of your TTC course?

If you are not a TM teacher, but when you learned TM you were taught a mantra that doesn't line up with any of the mantras listed above, could you please "Comment" for us as well?  If it doesn't interfere with your privacy, we'd like to know your sex, your age at the time of initiation, and what year you were initiated.  

We would be interested in any other inconsistencies, oddities  or tidbits, like who your TM teacher was, what TTC they attended, if you learned TM in a group rather than individually, did you learn TM from Mahesh personally and what was that like, etc. etc.

Or if you were under 21 on your TTC, did Mahesh forbid you to teach anyone over 25?  Did he only give you child and young adult mantras?  When you reached age 21, did he give you the mantras for adults?  If so, list those too, if they don't match the table, and let us know what year you received them.  

Or, if you were given "special" mantras for monks, nuns, seminarians, etc., please list those, how chosen, date of receiving them, etc.  We already know that some TM teachers were told to give this group the same mantras that were given out to teens!
  
Many thanks!  Here's for increased truth!

I'm really sorry that I lied to you.

A trip down memory lane. Admitting a mistake and making amends. Pondering the power of mind control. Healing. Clearing your conscience. Whatever you call it....Here is an opportunity to share those inexplicable moments when you or someone you cared about experienced a split in consciousness, a moment of cognitive dissonance, the creepy power of doublethink, programmed dissociation. I have spoken with former TM teachers, and we are really sorry , and ashamed, that we lied to you.

I'll start the ball rolling by sharing some of the lies I and other former TM Teachers (initiators) regret having said while we were under the influence of TM.

Initiator #1: "I was giving an introductory lecture. I emphasized the physiological, psychological and social benefits, and the scientific research, as I had been trained to do. During the question and answer period, someone asked if this technique had a spiritual aspect. I answered, "No. Absolutely not. There is nothing spiritual about this technique. It is absolutely practical, to be more effective in the world."

Commentary: What the heck was I thinking? I was lying. After all, on the third day following initiation, the topic was how TM leads to cosmic consciousness. Mr. Mahesh had a phrase,"TM unfolds 200% of life - 100% material and 100% spiritual." So why the heck did I say that? I guess because on my TM Teacher Training Course (TTC) we had been taught to swear that TM was not a religion, did not interfere with anybody's religion, did not conflict with anybody's religion. That we should emphasize the practical benefits of TM and not turn people off by mentioning cosmic consciousness, God consciousness or unity consciousness. Mr. Mahesh tutored us, "In the scientific age, we speak in the language of science." I'm really sorry that I lied to you.

Initiator #2: "I was co-teaching a TM course with another initiator. During the first day following initiation, a student asked about the exact pronunciation of his mantra. My fellow initiator said that it didn't matter, you shouldn't think about it, it wasn't even an English word; it was a Sanskrit word. My mother, who had been initiated a few months earlier, called me on his comment. 'What do you mean, it's a Sanskrit word? We were told it was a meaningless sound.' I thought very fast, trying to find some wording that covered the behind of my fellow teacher, and said, 'Well, it comes from the same tradition as Sanskrit words.' "

Commentary: What the heck was I thinking? I was lying. Why? Because I had already intuited that there was something dishonest in TM about the mantras. I had not exactly been taught that the mantras were Sanskrit words, but I had not exactly been taught that they weren't, either. (Mahesh definitely had not taught us that they were the "seed form" of Hindu gods). However, my fellow initiator made his comment in his official capacity, in public, to a bunch of new, impressionable TMers. So I wasn't about to blow TM's reputation by admitting that my fellow initiator didn't know what he was talking about, or that we didn't actually learn precise information on TTC - no! The impression we initiators were working so hard to create was that we were so thoroughly, rigorously trained that we didn't contradict each other or make errors about TM. I'm really sorry that I lied to you.

Initiataor #3: "On my TTC, they drilled it into us that TM was the solution to all problems in all fields of life. TM research was especially impressive on health benefits. I remember that they said, 'If someone has a heart condition, encourage them to start TM right away. Because you never know when a person might have a heart attack, and TM is so helpful for the heart.' But on one of the very last days of TTC, they mentioned very quickly in passing that TM might worsen an epileptic condition. Fast forward to several months later. I have given the introductory and preparatory TM lectures. Now I sit in private with a soon-to-be-initiate, reviewing her personal interview form. And there, under 'physical problems,' they've written 'epilepsy.' What can I possibly say? 'Oh, ignore everything I've said at both lectures. The research is biased. Protect your health. Don't learn this meditation. It can be deleterious to you.' Can I say that? Of course not. So I said what Mahesh had taught us to say, 'Oh, good, TM will be helpful with this, too.' I'm really sorry that I lied to you."

Commentary: The whole reason for the introductory lectures is to convince more people to start TM. The charts, graphs, scientific research, all are to raise the hopes of the audience that TM will give them marvelous gifts. Mahesh has even instituted a "World Plan," promising that TM will solve all the physical, emotional, social, law enforcement, economic, educational, governmental and spiritual aspirations of humanity....Except if you have epilepsy? Then TM might make you sicker? No, our job was to say whatever we could at the intro lectures to successfully recruit. Even if that meant lying. Even if we had to present fraudulent research. We had unknowingly been conscripted as missionaries to spread TM. So what can you say to this hopeful recruit? So I swallowed my saliva, and my integrity, and said, "Oh, you have epilepsy - well TM should help with that too." That happened decades ago. I don't remember your name, or if you are still alive. But I remember that shameful moment, and I pray that I didn't injure you with that initiation. I apologize, and I hope some day you will forgive me. I am really, really sorry that I lied to you.

Well, now it's your turn. Do you have any stories you want to tell about lies you or your friends told while you were under the thrall of Maharishi?