My friend's doctor recommended Transcendental Meditation

My new friend Sherry told me that her M.D. had recently recommended that she learn either Transcendental Meditation or the Relaxation Response to improve her health. Sherry checked out the local TM center, but felt the ambiance there was too "weird and culty" so she decided not to learn TM.

It started me thinking. What would be an appropriate thing to say to a doctor who suggested that their patients learn TM? I have come up with my own answer. Would you like to develop your own response in the "Comments" section? Or, best of all, would you like to edit and improve my little lecture? Maybe together we can come up with an optimum response. Then you could print it out for your doctor if you want to.

To start the ball rolling, here is my first draft:

1) One can learn the Relaxation Response for free from a library book. Learning TM costs $1,500. (Links to websites needed.)

2) Much of the money you give the TM organization (TMO) goes to making the family of the founder wealthy and powerful. (Links to websites needed.)

3) The research on the benefits of TM is flawed. Experimental design is often biased to make TM look good. Outside research shows that other techniques of meditation are effective, but the TMO does not disseminate that information. Some people receive no benefits from TM and occasionally people are harmed by TM, but the TMO does not disseminate that information either. (Links to websites needed.)

4) The TMO encourages TM students to get more deeply involved in the TM world: to spend lots of money on retreats, advanced techniques, TM ayurvedic medicines, TM rituals, TM astrology, etc. Not only can students end up spending lots of money and time on TM products, they are encouraged to assume a lifestyle which can extend to diet, celibacy, what to wear, where to live, what to believe, etc. (Links to websites needed.)

5) Some people may object to the religious nature of TM: its mantras are names of Hindu gods, the ceremony during personal instruction includes praising and bowing down to Hindu gods, and its belief system is contrary to Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Humanism, and probably other religions. There are no religious objections to the Relaxation Response technique. (Links to websites needed.)

Can you help improve upon this first draft?

Show me the Money

The TM organizations are on the search again to raise money. John Haglin is spending time on Wall Street and the TMO has sent out this solicitation.

The website for this solicitation and a budget is found under the name "Global Financial Capital."

Grand plans as always. They set up an office in New York (in an appropriately east facing building) which they name the Global Financial Capita of New York. Their budget shows a plan for schools all over the world, including 50 in the US. The tuition in the US would be $30,000 a year with a planned 10,000 students!

The site states:

Being in possession of this total knowledge of the UNIFIED FIELD OF NATURAL LAW, we are inspired to open new fields in education through new universities, colleges and schools that will provide Total Knowledge of Natural Law to every student and develop full enlightenment in every growing generation in every country, so that the power of Total Knowledge will allow everyone to know everything, do everything and achieve anything that he would like.

Fortunately, now we are in possession of the knowledge of Total Natural Law in the Unified Field, which has been discovered at the basis of physiology through modern scientific research.

-and-

The prevailing system of health care in every country is completely inadequate to prevent disease, and even to cure disease. Modern medicine is famous for its poisonous side
effects. Therefore, it is vital that a new and healthy system of health care is promoted. For
this it is vitally necessary that we undertake to establish high class medical colleges and
production facilities for healthy medicines in
every country.

I have watched with interested the efforts of the TMO to get into the medical business. They are masters at getting grants for research, especially as the National Institute of Health was pushed by congress to spend money on alternative medicine. However, it is one thing to get grants for small research projects. It is another to raise money from institutional investors. It will fall flat. The use of meaningless statements like the "unified field of natural law" will not impress.

One interesting tidbit from the site is on Haglin's resume. I quote:

The introduction of Dr. Hagelin will not be complete without mentioning that Dr. Hagelin has been, in one way or another, connected with 600 scientific research studies on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and its Advanced Techniques, including Yogic Flying, conducted over the last 35 years at over 250 independent universities and research institutions in 33 countries and recorded in seven volumes of scientific research of over 5,000 pages. This research has demonstrated profound benefits in all fields of society—health, education, defence, business and industry, criminal rehabilitation and crime reduction, in the direction of world peace.


So, after all these years of emphasizing the independence of much of the TM research, the TMO admits that Haglin has connections with ALL of the research.

MUM plans to start medical school

One of the latest announcements from MUM is a plan for a medical school: "preliminary plans for Maharishi College of Perfect Health, the new medical school of Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, USA."

MUM goes on claim:
At the College of Perfect Health, students will learn the best that modern medicine has to offer, including the most advanced medical technologies. Training in modern medical modalities will be complemented with education in Unified Field-Based medicine in a complete and thorough way.

What is interesting is that MUM plans to start offering pre-med classes, to later funnel students to the medical school:

'M.U.M. will provide pre-medical students with the opportunity to prepare for their medical training in a low-stress environment, without the endless hours of study common to most pre-med programmes,' commented Dr Schneider.http://www.globalgoodnews.com/education-news-a.html?art=122028544213903526

Odds are this is just another grand plan that won't go anywhere. They will have untold problems getting accreditation. Separate and apart from the goofiness of "unified field medicine," MUM's reputation is unlikely going to get it a med school. In the last 20 years, only one allopathic medical school has opened, though there are now about seven in the pipeline. The practical problems for MUM are likely insurmountable. But can't have that negative thinking, can we. :)