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?
Showing posts with label phony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phony. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Friday, December 11, 2009
If Transcendental Meditation's Founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Came Back for One Day
I have a fantasy. What if Maharishi came back from the dead for 24 hours? And what if, for those 24 hours, you could ask him anything you wanted? And best of all - for those 24 hours, he would answer every question with absolute honestly? What would you ask him?
Do you have a burning question about TM, the TM organization, or Maharishi that you have been wondering about for years, or decades? I invite readers to pose their questions for Maharishi here. Unfortunately, since Maharishi is dead, he will not be answering us. But together, the readers on this blog have acquired great wisdom and insight, so maybe we can make some headway in uncovering some answers. Therefore I invite readers to this blog to pose questions, and then I invite other commenters to read the questions, and if you have an insight that might answer the question, to write your answer here. I'm not asking for the "perfect" answer, just your best guess. Remember, the guiding principle for your best-guess answer is: "If Maharishi were to tell the truth, what would he say?"
To start the ball rolling, I will ask a few questions of my own.
1: Were you really a monk/disciple/yoga student under Guru Dev, or were you just his secretary?
2. If you were his disciple, were you really his favorite?
3. Did Guru Dev really teach you the TM technique, and instruct you to teach it around the world? Or did you invent TM yourself? Or how did you come up with TM?
4. What was your real goal in teaching TM? Was it your first stated goal, the "spiritual regeneration" of humans? Or was it the goal you ended up with, to build a large empire of "Vedic" communities? Or was it to make a lot of money? Or all of the above?
5. You describe cosmic consciousness, God consciousness, unity consciousness, angels, gods, the universe, etc. with such assuredness, as if you have actually experienced these things first hand and are living in higher states. Is that true? It has also been said that you performed "miracles." Is that true? If all this is true, does it mean you are in constant touch with God, or that you are "enlightened," or that everything you do is life-supporting? What does it mean for us as your students? Does it mean we should obey you totally? Does it excuse you from having the same ethical principals as the rest of us try to live by? Why or why not?
6. Why did you perpetuate so many lies? Was it because you had contempt for the average person? Was it because you wanted wealth and power? Was it because you thought the spiritual ends justified the means? Or what?
7. Do you really believe that TM can lead a person to enlightenment? Or that TM plus the Sidhis, or plus Ayurveda, or plus Maharishi architecture (etc.) can lead a person to enlightenment? Do you really believe that "enlightenment" exists?
8. I don't understand where all the money comes from, or where it all goes. I mean, I know it comes from initiations, from ayurvedic treatments, from the spas, from the architecture, from big donations from rich people, from tuition to schools in the U.S. and in India, from factories, etc. And I know it goes to buy land, hotels, schools, pundit communities, and to start big projects that then don't get finished, etc. But then the schools charge admission, the hotels charge rentals, the communities cost money to build, the factories produce consumer products. So where does the money from that go? To more, bigger, better? And where does THAT money come from/go to? I hear the money is going to your extended family, but what are they doing with it? Are they just building more and more money-making ventures, like more factories, or living in palaces, or bribing the Indian government, or what? And what sort of things are they bribing for?
Well, there's my list. Readers, now it's your turn. Any questions you have always wanted to ask Maharishi, and get honest answers to? Any questions you might know the answers to?
Do you have a burning question about TM, the TM organization, or Maharishi that you have been wondering about for years, or decades? I invite readers to pose their questions for Maharishi here. Unfortunately, since Maharishi is dead, he will not be answering us. But together, the readers on this blog have acquired great wisdom and insight, so maybe we can make some headway in uncovering some answers. Therefore I invite readers to this blog to pose questions, and then I invite other commenters to read the questions, and if you have an insight that might answer the question, to write your answer here. I'm not asking for the "perfect" answer, just your best guess. Remember, the guiding principle for your best-guess answer is: "If Maharishi were to tell the truth, what would he say?"
To start the ball rolling, I will ask a few questions of my own.
1: Were you really a monk/disciple/yoga student under Guru Dev, or were you just his secretary?
2. If you were his disciple, were you really his favorite?
3. Did Guru Dev really teach you the TM technique, and instruct you to teach it around the world? Or did you invent TM yourself? Or how did you come up with TM?
4. What was your real goal in teaching TM? Was it your first stated goal, the "spiritual regeneration" of humans? Or was it the goal you ended up with, to build a large empire of "Vedic" communities? Or was it to make a lot of money? Or all of the above?
5. You describe cosmic consciousness, God consciousness, unity consciousness, angels, gods, the universe, etc. with such assuredness, as if you have actually experienced these things first hand and are living in higher states. Is that true? It has also been said that you performed "miracles." Is that true? If all this is true, does it mean you are in constant touch with God, or that you are "enlightened," or that everything you do is life-supporting? What does it mean for us as your students? Does it mean we should obey you totally? Does it excuse you from having the same ethical principals as the rest of us try to live by? Why or why not?
6. Why did you perpetuate so many lies? Was it because you had contempt for the average person? Was it because you wanted wealth and power? Was it because you thought the spiritual ends justified the means? Or what?
7. Do you really believe that TM can lead a person to enlightenment? Or that TM plus the Sidhis, or plus Ayurveda, or plus Maharishi architecture (etc.) can lead a person to enlightenment? Do you really believe that "enlightenment" exists?
8. I don't understand where all the money comes from, or where it all goes. I mean, I know it comes from initiations, from ayurvedic treatments, from the spas, from the architecture, from big donations from rich people, from tuition to schools in the U.S. and in India, from factories, etc. And I know it goes to buy land, hotels, schools, pundit communities, and to start big projects that then don't get finished, etc. But then the schools charge admission, the hotels charge rentals, the communities cost money to build, the factories produce consumer products. So where does the money from that go? To more, bigger, better? And where does THAT money come from/go to? I hear the money is going to your extended family, but what are they doing with it? Are they just building more and more money-making ventures, like more factories, or living in palaces, or bribing the Indian government, or what? And what sort of things are they bribing for?
Well, there's my list. Readers, now it's your turn. Any questions you have always wanted to ask Maharishi, and get honest answers to? Any questions you might know the answers to?
Monday, October 13, 2008
Book Review. The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man Who Brought Transcendental Meditation to the World by Paul Mason
(Oops! I accidentally deleted this post today. So here it is again. Originally posted 10/11/2008.)
Over the years, many commentors and contributors to TM-Free Blog have recommended books that they have found relevant. I have recently read a few of those books, and thought you all might enjoy some book reviews.
The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man Who Brought Transcendental Meditation to the World, a 300-page book written by Paul Mason and published by Element Books Ltd. in 1994, provides an overview of Maharishi's life from the mid-1950's to about 1993. When I read this book, I was reminded of the saying, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, the chances are good that it is a duck." Maharishi comes across as a simple, straightforward, not-too-deeply thinking salesperson intent on selling his product.
The book is rather moderate in tone, with a slightly jaundiced undertone, neither adoring or damning of Maharishi. The author matter-of-factly quotes Maharishi's many contradictory statements, leaving the readers to draw their own conclusions.
Of the many points Paul Mason covered, I found three to be of particular interest. The first
was Maharishi's "utter...isolat[ion] from comtemporary faiths and teachings," (p. 83.) Maharishi taught that all other gurus and teachers were misguided, and that he alone had the truth. Mason quotes Maharishi's writings from an uncompleted commentary to the Bhagavad Gita as follows, "Thus we find that all fields of religion and philosophy have been misunderstood for many centuries past."
Second, Mason shows that Maharishi's original intent was to spread a spiritual knowledge. In fact, his first organization was called the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. Quotes from Maharishi's early days give insight into his original teachings. For instance, "Between human species and these [gods are the]...finest levels of creation, the celestial level of life, gods. Huge numbers of...angels and gods," (p.162). By the early 1970's, however, Maharishi was saying, "In this scientific age we use scientific language," and spiritually-loaded language disappeared (for instance "God" was replaced with the term "Creative Intelligence") and his organizations were incorporated as educational non-profits. (Some time after the book was published, Maharishi did return to his religious roots and speak about more "spiritual" matters.)
An example of Maharishi's early comfort with revealing the spiritual basis of his teachings is in his pamphlet Beacon Light of the Himilayas, published about 1955. He wrote, "We do not select any sound like mike, flower, table...etc. For our practice we select only the suitable mantras of personal Gods. Such mantras fetch us the grace of personal Gods...."
Which leads to my third point, which is the ease with which Maharishi dissembled about the mantras, leaving me to wonder what else he lied about. In his early days, Maharishi stated, "Through long practice of usages of these mantras for different types of people, certain universal formulae have been obtained and using those formulae of judgment the selection of a proper mantra is brought about...." "[Mantras] are passed on from the master to the disciple in every generation and this is the teaching that concerns very fine levels of the whole creation...." "The tradition of masters is the most authentic place to take these suitable thoughts from. Authenticity from the tradition is the only measure which will give us some confidence about the absolute suitability of the mantra...." "One percent unsuitable effect [from the wrong mantra] will become million times greater...." After pages of this, Mason dryly drops the fact that the mantras are chosen by age.
Actually, Maharishi was not consistent in what mantras he gave to TM teachers. On one Teacher Training Course, he gave out one set of mantras to be chosen by age, on another course a different set of mantras to be chosen by age, on a third course a set to be chosen by age and sex, and so on.
Mason also includes anecdotes that leave the reader wondering what stories lie behind them. For instance someone mentions in passing that "Maharishi converses with the Heirarchy." What is "the Heirarchy"? A stranger in an airport in Europe accosts Maharishi with, "You're a fraud!" What did he mean? Jerry Jarvis, the onetime president of Maharishi's Students' International Meditation Society says, "Using the sutras [in the TM-Sidhis technique] is a strain on the nervous sytem and some people flip out." What had he seen?
This is not a comprehensive biography. At least two things are missing: the private life of Maharishi, and his impact on the life of others. Regarding his private life, for instance, there is no mention of his attempt to lead the Ouspensky organization in Europe, his sexual relations with women on his staff, his heart attack and subsequent (non-ayurvedic) treatment by western medicine, or his contempt for those who put him on a pedastal. Regarding his impact on the lives of others, there is no mention of the hundreds, myself included, who uprooted themselves and moved to Fairfield, Iowa at his bequest, or the hundreds of people who gave years of their lives, thousands of dollars and sometimes their mental and physical health to Mahrishi's dream.
On the plus side, this is a quickly-moving, easy-to-read book for people looking for an introduction to the life, mind, and public face of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi from aproximately 1954 to 1993.
Over the years, many commentors and contributors to TM-Free Blog have recommended books that they have found relevant. I have recently read a few of those books, and thought you all might enjoy some book reviews.
The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man Who Brought Transcendental Meditation to the World, a 300-page book written by Paul Mason and published by Element Books Ltd. in 1994, provides an overview of Maharishi's life from the mid-1950's to about 1993. When I read this book, I was reminded of the saying, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, the chances are good that it is a duck." Maharishi comes across as a simple, straightforward, not-too-deeply thinking salesperson intent on selling his product.
The book is rather moderate in tone, with a slightly jaundiced undertone, neither adoring or damning of Maharishi. The author matter-of-factly quotes Maharishi's many contradictory statements, leaving the readers to draw their own conclusions.
Of the many points Paul Mason covered, I found three to be of particular interest. The first
was Maharishi's "utter...isolat[ion] from comtemporary faiths and teachings," (p. 83.) Maharishi taught that all other gurus and teachers were misguided, and that he alone had the truth. Mason quotes Maharishi's writings from an uncompleted commentary to the Bhagavad Gita as follows, "Thus we find that all fields of religion and philosophy have been misunderstood for many centuries past."
Second, Mason shows that Maharishi's original intent was to spread a spiritual knowledge. In fact, his first organization was called the Spiritual Regeneration Movement. Quotes from Maharishi's early days give insight into his original teachings. For instance, "Between human species and these [gods are the]...finest levels of creation, the celestial level of life, gods. Huge numbers of...angels and gods," (p.162). By the early 1970's, however, Maharishi was saying, "In this scientific age we use scientific language," and spiritually-loaded language disappeared (for instance "God" was replaced with the term "Creative Intelligence") and his organizations were incorporated as educational non-profits. (Some time after the book was published, Maharishi did return to his religious roots and speak about more "spiritual" matters.)
An example of Maharishi's early comfort with revealing the spiritual basis of his teachings is in his pamphlet Beacon Light of the Himilayas, published about 1955. He wrote, "We do not select any sound like mike, flower, table...etc. For our practice we select only the suitable mantras of personal Gods. Such mantras fetch us the grace of personal Gods...."
Which leads to my third point, which is the ease with which Maharishi dissembled about the mantras, leaving me to wonder what else he lied about. In his early days, Maharishi stated, "Through long practice of usages of these mantras for different types of people, certain universal formulae have been obtained and using those formulae of judgment the selection of a proper mantra is brought about...." "[Mantras] are passed on from the master to the disciple in every generation and this is the teaching that concerns very fine levels of the whole creation...." "The tradition of masters is the most authentic place to take these suitable thoughts from. Authenticity from the tradition is the only measure which will give us some confidence about the absolute suitability of the mantra...." "One percent unsuitable effect [from the wrong mantra] will become million times greater...." After pages of this, Mason dryly drops the fact that the mantras are chosen by age.
Actually, Maharishi was not consistent in what mantras he gave to TM teachers. On one Teacher Training Course, he gave out one set of mantras to be chosen by age, on another course a different set of mantras to be chosen by age, on a third course a set to be chosen by age and sex, and so on.
Mason also includes anecdotes that leave the reader wondering what stories lie behind them. For instance someone mentions in passing that "Maharishi converses with the Heirarchy." What is "the Heirarchy"? A stranger in an airport in Europe accosts Maharishi with, "You're a fraud!" What did he mean? Jerry Jarvis, the onetime president of Maharishi's Students' International Meditation Society says, "Using the sutras [in the TM-Sidhis technique] is a strain on the nervous sytem and some people flip out." What had he seen?
This is not a comprehensive biography. At least two things are missing: the private life of Maharishi, and his impact on the life of others. Regarding his private life, for instance, there is no mention of his attempt to lead the Ouspensky organization in Europe, his sexual relations with women on his staff, his heart attack and subsequent (non-ayurvedic) treatment by western medicine, or his contempt for those who put him on a pedastal. Regarding his impact on the lives of others, there is no mention of the hundreds, myself included, who uprooted themselves and moved to Fairfield, Iowa at his bequest, or the hundreds of people who gave years of their lives, thousands of dollars and sometimes their mental and physical health to Mahrishi's dream.
On the plus side, this is a quickly-moving, easy-to-read book for people looking for an introduction to the life, mind, and public face of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi from aproximately 1954 to 1993.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The story of TM
Here is the story of TM
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20080518
Thanks to G. B. Trudeau for seeing plain as day what has always been right in front of us.
http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20080518
Thanks to G. B. Trudeau for seeing plain as day what has always been right in front of us.
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