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 pseudo-science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pseudo-science. Show all posts
Friday, May 04, 2018
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.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Regarding Maharishi Yagyas®
(Please note: This website does not promote, encourage, approve of, recommend, or support the purchase of or the value of "Maharishi Yagyas." This article is written solely for the purpose of education and discussion. - Laurie)
A friend of TM-Free Blog recently showed me an email he received on January 12, 2014 from one of the branches of the TM organization (TMO). The email starts with the title "Maharishi Vedic Pandits Creating World Peace." Excerpts from the email follow:
The yagyas are called "beautiful," but since donors are not present when these rites are performed, we'll have to take the TMO's word for it. Also, we'll have to take the TMO's word that these rituals are being performed at all.
But to backtrack, you may be asking, "What is the Maharishi Yagya program?" Here is the answer, from maharishiyagya.org.
How much money is the TMO earning from this program? A TMO email from December 18, 2013 states that:
The announcement/advertisement for this new yagya program states that:
By the way, payment for these yagyas is legally designated as a "donation," and donations are tax deductible for U.S. tax payers. All U.S. non-profits must make public their finances, and the financial audit can be found at www.vedicpandits.org/pdf/BSF-Audited-Financial Statement-12-31-2011.pdf.
A friend of TM-Free Blog recently showed me an email he received on January 12, 2014 from one of the branches of the TM organization (TMO). The email starts with the title "Maharishi Vedic Pandits Creating World Peace." Excerpts from the email follow:
"We are delighted to...announc[e] a highly beneficial, affordable and exciting expansion to the Yagya program for individuals and families - the Maharishi Special Yagya Program."My comment: This seems to me like deceptive advertising. Where is the proof that the yagyas are "highly beneficial"? And why do they call these yagyas "affordable"? I clicked around, and found that they cost from $1,000 to $10,000 apiece.
"Maharishi designed a beautiful series of Special Yagyas for important times in life: Birthdays, Weddings, Wedding Anniversaries, and for the Birth of a Child."They say "Maharishi designed" them. Well, Maharishi has been dead for several years, but they're only being advertised this year. So did he design them after he died? Or, if he designed them during his lifetime - for the benefit of humanity - why are they only being made available now? Also, Maharishi freely admitted that he knew only a little Sanskrit. If so, how could he design Sanskrit rituals? So what's going on? Personally, I believe that someone else designed them, but is attributing them to Maharishi because that gives them more credibility.
The yagyas are called "beautiful," but since donors are not present when these rites are performed, we'll have to take the TMO's word for it. Also, we'll have to take the TMO's word that these rituals are being performed at all.
"These Special Yagyas bring the blessings of Nature to individuals and families at transitional times when specific, supportive Laws of Nature are particularly lively and accessible...."Here we have several unscientific and undefined phrases which however have strong emotional resonance. This style of writing circumvents scientific inquiry, since science requires terms to be defined. Evocative phrases include "blessings of Nature," "specific, supportive Laws of Nature" and "particularly lively and accessible."
"All funds from this program support the large group of Maharishi Vedic Pandits, which is bringing peace, affluence and harmony to our world...."According to Wikipedia, in January 2014 there were 41 armed conflicts on earth. In 2012, there were 905 natural catastrophes which resulted in approximately $200,000,000 USD worth of damage. So to me it seems inaccurate to state that the Pandits are bringing "peace, affluence and harmony" to our world.
But to backtrack, you may be asking, "What is the Maharishi Yagya program?" Here is the answer, from maharishiyagya.org.
"...the remedial measures one can take to avert problems seen in the birth chart to be coming to the individual. It is a practical means to help protect us from unwanted influences - such as illness, accidents or loss; and also to support positive influences. Regular Maharishi Yagya performances help maintain life in balance.
..Maharishi Vedic Astrology expert has seen something in the birth chart; and it's destined for the person. But some influence could be created to change that destiny - and that's the Maharishi Yagya program...."More evocative and undefined phrases. The above quote sort of explains what a Maharishi Yagya supposedly does. But it doesn't explain what a Maharishi Yagya is. Other TMO sites explain that it is a TMO-style Sanskrit chant plus ceremony performed by one or more TMO-trained Indian men. The many TMO websites are vague, but apparently each yagya takes one day or less. TMO literature clearly states that the more money you spend on your yagya, the more powerful its effect. They also strongly urge the customer to buy the most expensive yagya one can afford.
How much money is the TMO earning from this program? A TMO email from December 18, 2013 states that:
"...the National Yagya program is now averaging (i.e., receiving donations of - Laurie) $429,000 USD per month....The whole world is enjoying the blessings of the daily performance...."That's $5,148,000 a year income for the "National Yagya program" alone. (The TMO says that the National Yagya program -- that is, the 350 Indian men in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa who live in pre-fabricated, under-heated homes and earn $100-200/month apiece -- costs $600,000 a month to run. I'm not sure why it should cost that much. Anyone have any ideas?) And there are many other "Maharishi Yagya" programs, which also bring in money for the TMO.
The announcement/advertisement for this new yagya program states that:
"the oral tradition of Vedic chanting has been declared an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO." (United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization - Laurie).This sounds impressive, but by now I always double-check anything the TMO says. So I researched the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" UNESCO project. Their website states that their list of intangible cultural heritages is made up of those "elements that help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance." From 2008-2013, 282 intangible heritages were listed by UNESCO. Aside from yagyas, other examples of "intangible heritages" included woodcrafting in Madagascar, textile art of Peru, ox-herding traditions of Costa Rica, and Sardinian pastoral songs of Italy.
By the way, payment for these yagyas is legally designated as a "donation," and donations are tax deductible for U.S. tax payers. All U.S. non-profits must make public their finances, and the financial audit can be found at www.vedicpandits.org/pdf/BSF-Audited-Financial Statement-12-31-2011.pdf.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Inside Pandit Compound with Rekha Basu - Des Moines Register
This morning's Des Moines Register featured Rekha Basu's visit to Vedic City's Pandit Compound :
Read the full article and enlightening comments at :
Maharishi Vedic City: Inside the compound with Rekha Basu
Ms. Basu wrote an eloquent summary of the conditions of these young men.
She reported in such a way that insightful readers will question implications between the lines.
As she said in the above video "Decide for yourself".
Hopefully this report brought up enough questions that an external investigation will ensue.
TMFree hopes that investigators will fully evaluate the circumstances of this camp.
Where there is smoke, there is often fire.
Transparency is necessary.
One correction to the Register's article - TMFree is NOT Gina's blog.
TMFree is a co-moderated blog with several contributors listed in the right side bar. Mike Doughney "owns" the blog. (Thank you, Mike!)
Read the full article and enlightening comments at :
Maharishi Vedic City: Inside the compound with Rekha Basu
Ms. Basu wrote an eloquent summary of the conditions of these young men.
She reported in such a way that insightful readers will question implications between the lines.
As she said in the above video "Decide for yourself".
Hopefully this report brought up enough questions that an external investigation will ensue.
TMFree hopes that investigators will fully evaluate the circumstances of this camp.
Where there is smoke, there is often fire.
Transparency is necessary.
One correction to the Register's article - TMFree is NOT Gina's blog.
TMFree is a co-moderated blog with several contributors listed in the right side bar. Mike Doughney "owns" the blog. (Thank you, Mike!)
Saturday, April 13, 2013
TM-Free Does The Scientific Research that TM Avoids
I am undertaking a research project about Transcendental Meditation here on TM-Free Blog. The purpose of this project is to fill in the missing gaps in the "more than 350 scientific studies verifying the wide-ranging benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique [that] have been conducted at 250 independent universities and medical schools in 33 countries during the past 40 years."(1)
The tone of this article may be snarky, but my goal is dead serious. Various TM-connected organizations are currently pushing to get TM into schools, health centers, etc., throughout the world. The 350+ studies they quote have unfortunately been designed to skew results in favor of TM. They avoid assessment of possible risks. If TM is going to be spread to large populations, isn't it responsible to make sure that negative as well as positive results are uncovered? To the best of my knowledge, the questions I ask here have never been asked in the "[s]even volumes of Collected Papers of Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation"(2).
I am not a scientist; I am not a trained researcher. The quality of my research is undeniably open to question. But at least I am honest in admitting my design weaknesses and my biases. I think I compare favorably with the TM-approved research in that regard.
Here are some of the flaws in my research:
1. Subjects should be randomly chosen. Since my subjects are readers of TM-Free Blog, they can hardly be considered random. At minimum, they are people who are interested in reading about "independent, skeptical and critical views of TM claims and research."(3) Some of them may be downright critical of some aspect of TM.
Oh well. My non-random sample probably doesn't matter, because lots of TM research didn't use random samples either. For example, TMers have sometimes been "pre-screened" to make sure only TMers with specific brain waves patterns were allowed to be research subjects.(4)
2. My research design is composed of subjects who self-report subjective experiences on a questionnaire. You could barely have a poorer scientific design. I mean, self-reporting of subjective experiences is a gateway to reporting expectation, placebo, belief, desire to slant the results, desire to please researcher, etc., etc.
I hope this minor flaw in my design is balanced by the fact that some TM research also uses self-reporting. My favorite example of this is the brilliant and witty critique, "How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADHD...."(5).
3. This researcher is not neutral. I'm a writer for TM-Free; how objective could I possibly be in my research design, my interpretation of the results, etc.? A basis for objective research is that the researcher or funder should not have an ax to grind.
But please don't be too discouraged by this flaw. After all, many TM research studies have been funded or conducted by TM college students, TM professors, pro-TM foundations. (The foundations often have names that obfuscate their origin - "Quiet Time, " "Consciousness-Based Education," etc. Some of these objective-sounding research facilities are located on Maharishi University campus!) Open the TM "Collected Papers" at random and see for yourself how many non-neutral researchers and organizations sponsor TM research (1, 5, 6).
Many of the research papers done by TMers claim to have been produced by "independent researchers." I looked up the definition of "independent researcher," and it turns out that an independent researcher can mean a grad student who is independent of his/her teacher, or a researcher who works without co-workers, etc. It is a title chosen, I believe, to mislead the reader as to the objectivity of the research.
4. Where's my control group? My placebo group? My "correlation does not prove cause and effect" group? Nowhere, that's where. Oops.
But not to worry. So much of the research in the "Collected Papers" has this flaw that I'm sure it will all even out.(2) At random, I bring to your attention the scientific chart, "Increased EEG Coherence," which is given a place of honor on the home page of the TM organization's main website.(1) Notice how in this chart there is no non-TM control group, and how correlation has been equated with cause and effect. See also my TM-Free article, "TM Leader Hagelin Perverts Science to Sell Expensive TM Products."(7)
5. And finally, my questionnaire asks for ONLY deleterious results from TM! So if you have anything good to say about TM, please don't even bother to fill out the questionnaire, because we will not post or tally your comments!
Before you are too incensed by my insultingly obvious bias, please read the Roark Letter (8). "...Confirmed to me by investigators at MIU was the suppression of negative evidence that these investigators had collected. Strong bias was present in selecting only data favorable to a conclusion that was made prior to the data collection...."
So without further ado, here is my:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE
Question 1: Have you had any negative results from practicing the TM technique for 20 minutes twice a day? If "yes," please describe.
Question 2: Have you had any negative results from any other aspect of the TM organization's offerings? (Advanced techniques, TM-Sidhis program, rounding, Maharishi Ayurveda, Maharishi yagyas, etc.) If "yes," please describe.
Question 3: Have you stopped doing TM for 20 minutes twice a day? If "yes," please describe, and explain why.
Question 4: Over time, did you find that "TM just stopped working"? If "yes," please describe.
Question 5: Do you know of someone who might answer the above questions negatively? If so, please ask them to fill in this questionnaire. If they are dead, hospitalized, etc., please fill it in for them to the best of your ability.
END OF RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear readers, please help us do the research the TM organization has avoided for over 40 years in over 600 studies. These questions, consistently omitted from the official body of TM research, may begin to offer an important window into the dangers as well as the benefits of TM.
Please provide your answers in the "comments" section. If you need anonymity, please feel free to use a pseudonym. Thank you very much for your help, and for the help you may provide to people around the world who may be harmed by TM.
(1) www.tm.org/research-on-meditation
(2) www.t-m.org.uk/SCI_Glance.shtml
(3) TM-Free Blog homepage, introduction
(4) TM-Free Blog, reported in various comments. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to dig up the quotes. If anyone wants to take that on, I commend you. Or, alternately, maybe someone will be kind enough to write up their experiences a second time in the comments section.
(5) spacecityskeptics.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/how-to-design-a-positive-study-meditation-for-childhood-adhd/
The tone of this article may be snarky, but my goal is dead serious. Various TM-connected organizations are currently pushing to get TM into schools, health centers, etc., throughout the world. The 350+ studies they quote have unfortunately been designed to skew results in favor of TM. They avoid assessment of possible risks. If TM is going to be spread to large populations, isn't it responsible to make sure that negative as well as positive results are uncovered? To the best of my knowledge, the questions I ask here have never been asked in the "[s]even volumes of Collected Papers of Scientific Research on Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation"(2).
I am not a scientist; I am not a trained researcher. The quality of my research is undeniably open to question. But at least I am honest in admitting my design weaknesses and my biases. I think I compare favorably with the TM-approved research in that regard.
Here are some of the flaws in my research:
1. Subjects should be randomly chosen. Since my subjects are readers of TM-Free Blog, they can hardly be considered random. At minimum, they are people who are interested in reading about "independent, skeptical and critical views of TM claims and research."(3) Some of them may be downright critical of some aspect of TM.
Oh well. My non-random sample probably doesn't matter, because lots of TM research didn't use random samples either. For example, TMers have sometimes been "pre-screened" to make sure only TMers with specific brain waves patterns were allowed to be research subjects.(4)
2. My research design is composed of subjects who self-report subjective experiences on a questionnaire. You could barely have a poorer scientific design. I mean, self-reporting of subjective experiences is a gateway to reporting expectation, placebo, belief, desire to slant the results, desire to please researcher, etc., etc.
I hope this minor flaw in my design is balanced by the fact that some TM research also uses self-reporting. My favorite example of this is the brilliant and witty critique, "How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADHD...."(5).
3. This researcher is not neutral. I'm a writer for TM-Free; how objective could I possibly be in my research design, my interpretation of the results, etc.? A basis for objective research is that the researcher or funder should not have an ax to grind.
But please don't be too discouraged by this flaw. After all, many TM research studies have been funded or conducted by TM college students, TM professors, pro-TM foundations. (The foundations often have names that obfuscate their origin - "Quiet Time, " "Consciousness-Based Education," etc. Some of these objective-sounding research facilities are located on Maharishi University campus!) Open the TM "Collected Papers" at random and see for yourself how many non-neutral researchers and organizations sponsor TM research (1, 5, 6).
Many of the research papers done by TMers claim to have been produced by "independent researchers." I looked up the definition of "independent researcher," and it turns out that an independent researcher can mean a grad student who is independent of his/her teacher, or a researcher who works without co-workers, etc. It is a title chosen, I believe, to mislead the reader as to the objectivity of the research.
4. Where's my control group? My placebo group? My "correlation does not prove cause and effect" group? Nowhere, that's where. Oops.
But not to worry. So much of the research in the "Collected Papers" has this flaw that I'm sure it will all even out.(2) At random, I bring to your attention the scientific chart, "Increased EEG Coherence," which is given a place of honor on the home page of the TM organization's main website.(1) Notice how in this chart there is no non-TM control group, and how correlation has been equated with cause and effect. See also my TM-Free article, "TM Leader Hagelin Perverts Science to Sell Expensive TM Products."(7)
5. And finally, my questionnaire asks for ONLY deleterious results from TM! So if you have anything good to say about TM, please don't even bother to fill out the questionnaire, because we will not post or tally your comments!
Before you are too incensed by my insultingly obvious bias, please read the Roark Letter (8). "...Confirmed to me by investigators at MIU was the suppression of negative evidence that these investigators had collected. Strong bias was present in selecting only data favorable to a conclusion that was made prior to the data collection...."
So without further ado, here is my:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE
Question 1: Have you had any negative results from practicing the TM technique for 20 minutes twice a day? If "yes," please describe.
Question 2: Have you had any negative results from any other aspect of the TM organization's offerings? (Advanced techniques, TM-Sidhis program, rounding, Maharishi Ayurveda, Maharishi yagyas, etc.) If "yes," please describe.
Question 3: Have you stopped doing TM for 20 minutes twice a day? If "yes," please describe, and explain why.
Question 4: Over time, did you find that "TM just stopped working"? If "yes," please describe.
Question 5: Do you know of someone who might answer the above questions negatively? If so, please ask them to fill in this questionnaire. If they are dead, hospitalized, etc., please fill it in for them to the best of your ability.
END OF RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear readers, please help us do the research the TM organization has avoided for over 40 years in over 600 studies. These questions, consistently omitted from the official body of TM research, may begin to offer an important window into the dangers as well as the benefits of TM.
Please provide your answers in the "comments" section. If you need anonymity, please feel free to use a pseudonym. Thank you very much for your help, and for the help you may provide to people around the world who may be harmed by TM.
(1) www.tm.org/research-on-meditation
(2) www.t-m.org.uk/SCI_Glance.shtml
(3) TM-Free Blog homepage, introduction
(4) TM-Free Blog, reported in various comments. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to dig up the quotes. If anyone wants to take that on, I commend you. Or, alternately, maybe someone will be kind enough to write up their experiences a second time in the comments section.
(5) spacecityskeptics.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/how-to-design-a-positive-study-meditation-for-childhood-adhd/
(6) TM-Free Blog, "Who Are These People? The Background of David Lynch's 'Researchers' " by Mike Doughney tmfree.blogspot.com/2010/12/who-are-these-people-backgrounds-of.html
(7) http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2012/11/tm-leader-hagelin-perverts-science-to.html
(8) TM-Ex Newsletter, Spring 1992
(7) http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2012/11/tm-leader-hagelin-perverts-science-to.html
(8) TM-Ex Newsletter, Spring 1992
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
levitation
Obviously there's nothing new about the whimsy of levitation. It's been around since Aladdin and the Flying Carpet! That Mahesh should shoot himself in the foot with such nonsense only speaks to the extremely low opinion he had of our intelligence (and high opinion of his ability to fool others).
Mahesh was not delusional but simply knew he could get away with just about anything having, as he obviously felt he had in the palm of his hand, huge numbers of delusional and highly gullible true-believers. Convincing true-believers to give you their money is easier than taking candy from a baby.
Here's a fun film. At around 38 minutes or so into the film, the magician, whose abilities are quite remarkable, purports to interview a monk who can levitate. The scene is quite interesting and well set. Believable, too, except for all the candles and the cameraman who could have but somehow clearly did not film between the "monk" (actor?) and the wall behind him.
Had Mahesh got Doug Henning to build him some setup like this, he'd have had millions upon millions of followers within a week. There would have been huge waiting lists to not only learn TM, but Mahesh could have asked any price for his ersatz "spiritual development" or whatever he was getting away with pretending his TM and 'sidhi' concoction was all about.
Obviously, Mahesh didn't trust Henning; trust, in Maheshism, seems to be money-based: you pay a million $ and you get to become a "rājah" - 'course, we have no idea what the so-called rājahs know and anyone can waft about in flowing garments. If you look on the right hand column of our Blog, you'll see: Essential Documents and Articles - this may be all there is to know plus a few things the TMO would rather none of us knew!
The YouTube film is very useful. It illustrates how simple it is to WOW! people. Magicians are as old to humanity as the concept of entertainment. - TM as entertainment? No, not really. Benson and Wallace demonstrated that there really is something to TM, although I think Wallace's conclusion that there is alertness co-emergent with restfulness might be a strain on credulity. Way too often we have heard people either on the day of initiation or in follow-up say that they had no idea what was happening when they were meditating. But when cued, they would answer positively that they experienced what they had been suggested to have experienced. But at least the restfulness was measurable, TM really was a non-prescription tranquillizer (for many, for a while).
Dr. Benson, of course, demonstrated with real science that his "relaxation response" had not only some validity but actually accomplished something.
On a purely observational scale, TM allowed not only rest, but when increased beyond 20 minutes twice a day, it engendered a susceptibility to suggestion that any hypnotist would envy - and/or a decreased interest in critical thinking. Many people, blindly following Mahesh, became those delusional, highly gullible true-believers only too willing to finance Mahesh's belief in himself and spend hours every day doing something that gave the same old results. There have been no new results since "rest" - which is something to think about.
Now, randomly, we come to one of Mahesh's fiddled-with bits of pseudo-science, ADHD. This is also in the right hand column under Essential Documents and Articles. In the early days of TM there is definitely an experience of rest (how much/how little is indeterminate). I do not think that that is in any question by anybody. Beyond those early days, however, there is insufficient evidence to form any conclusion as the TM drop-out rate was consistently very high. Perhaps today, since TM teachers charge so much, dropping out becomes more problematic, amounting to acknowledging that one has throwing away a great deal of money for something of questionable utility. TM, for so many, has become an exercise in doing something over and over expecting different results, an expensive exercise in futility and, it would appear, pleasant hopelessness.
BUT it might well be this drop-out rate that Mahesh was most focused on when, recognizing that TM was only an exercise in rest for most, he began concocting more and more make-believe "solutions" to the world's problems to sell to more and more gullible people - making more and more money for himself and his family in India. He said "we'll use science to prove it" - meaning, we thought, that we'd use the scientific method to validate that what he claimed about TM was indeed true, because we believed that TM was what he claimed ... after all, we did TM, we experienced rest, we hadn't dropped out because we didn't experience rest! YET even more crucially, we believed in Mahesh ... just like some of the people in the crowd scenes in the YouTube film might have believed they were witnessing real magic. After all, many of those tricks are very difficult to explain.
What did Mahesh really mean about "using" science to prove "it" ... prove what, exactly? Who knows. Mahesh didn't chat. But it appears, especially from Mahesh's behaviour and craving for money, that he surely must have been spot-on aware that he couldn't possibly prove that TM did something it very clearly didn't do. Mahesh was cunning, not stupid.
So, all that faux-science? It endeavours to speak volumes of "proof" that Mahesh was what we thought he was; if TM looked legitimate, then it was obvious Mahesh was legitimate! The fiddled "studies" endeavour to validate Mahesh! All that junk science is simply manipulated to prove Mahesh was right, not that TM did anything other than generate or allow deep rest for some, but not all. His claims for TM, both before and after the Beatles, had come to nothing and after the Beatles dumped him he desperately needed proof about his legitimacy - because even those of us who were sincere believers were beginning to doubt! - I seriously question very, very much that anyone devoted to the idea that Mahesh was the real deal will give a toss about anything I have to say here - but for the rest of us, while we may want to enjoy the entertaining magic tricks, the prestidigitation and appearance of impossible things, we don't need to believe nonsense simply to validate one another's misconceptions and delusions about Mahesh and his clever tricks that swallowed our money.
Like magic tricks and entertainment, stories around the camp fire and the beginnings of theatre, TM is one thing, but it is not "spiritual development" in my opinion; nor is the relaxation response. It might be something to do instead of spiritual development, but it isn't spiritual development.
Of course, Dr. Benson has had the integrity to only focus on what his method actually does, what it can be demonstrated to actually accomplish; he has not needed to make false claims or pretentious accusations about the negativity in the atmosphere or CIA operatives trying to disrupt his empire (!). He has been up-front about what his method of relaxation accomplishes and has set an example for healers and compassionate people everywhere.
Mahesh was not delusional but simply knew he could get away with just about anything having, as he obviously felt he had in the palm of his hand, huge numbers of delusional and highly gullible true-believers. Convincing true-believers to give you their money is easier than taking candy from a baby.
Here's a fun film. At around 38 minutes or so into the film, the magician, whose abilities are quite remarkable, purports to interview a monk who can levitate. The scene is quite interesting and well set. Believable, too, except for all the candles and the cameraman who could have but somehow clearly did not film between the "monk" (actor?) and the wall behind him.
Had Mahesh got Doug Henning to build him some setup like this, he'd have had millions upon millions of followers within a week. There would have been huge waiting lists to not only learn TM, but Mahesh could have asked any price for his ersatz "spiritual development" or whatever he was getting away with pretending his TM and 'sidhi' concoction was all about.
Obviously, Mahesh didn't trust Henning; trust, in Maheshism, seems to be money-based: you pay a million $ and you get to become a "rājah" - 'course, we have no idea what the so-called rājahs know and anyone can waft about in flowing garments. If you look on the right hand column of our Blog, you'll see: Essential Documents and Articles - this may be all there is to know plus a few things the TMO would rather none of us knew!
The YouTube film is very useful. It illustrates how simple it is to WOW! people. Magicians are as old to humanity as the concept of entertainment. - TM as entertainment? No, not really. Benson and Wallace demonstrated that there really is something to TM, although I think Wallace's conclusion that there is alertness co-emergent with restfulness might be a strain on credulity. Way too often we have heard people either on the day of initiation or in follow-up say that they had no idea what was happening when they were meditating. But when cued, they would answer positively that they experienced what they had been suggested to have experienced. But at least the restfulness was measurable, TM really was a non-prescription tranquillizer (for many, for a while).
Dr. Benson, of course, demonstrated with real science that his "relaxation response" had not only some validity but actually accomplished something.
On a purely observational scale, TM allowed not only rest, but when increased beyond 20 minutes twice a day, it engendered a susceptibility to suggestion that any hypnotist would envy - and/or a decreased interest in critical thinking. Many people, blindly following Mahesh, became those delusional, highly gullible true-believers only too willing to finance Mahesh's belief in himself and spend hours every day doing something that gave the same old results. There have been no new results since "rest" - which is something to think about.
-
Now, randomly, we come to one of Mahesh's fiddled-with bits of pseudo-science, ADHD. This is also in the right hand column under Essential Documents and Articles. In the early days of TM there is definitely an experience of rest (how much/how little is indeterminate). I do not think that that is in any question by anybody. Beyond those early days, however, there is insufficient evidence to form any conclusion as the TM drop-out rate was consistently very high. Perhaps today, since TM teachers charge so much, dropping out becomes more problematic, amounting to acknowledging that one has throwing away a great deal of money for something of questionable utility. TM, for so many, has become an exercise in doing something over and over expecting different results, an expensive exercise in futility and, it would appear, pleasant hopelessness.
BUT it might well be this drop-out rate that Mahesh was most focused on when, recognizing that TM was only an exercise in rest for most, he began concocting more and more make-believe "solutions" to the world's problems to sell to more and more gullible people - making more and more money for himself and his family in India. He said "we'll use science to prove it" - meaning, we thought, that we'd use the scientific method to validate that what he claimed about TM was indeed true, because we believed that TM was what he claimed ... after all, we did TM, we experienced rest, we hadn't dropped out because we didn't experience rest! YET even more crucially, we believed in Mahesh ... just like some of the people in the crowd scenes in the YouTube film might have believed they were witnessing real magic. After all, many of those tricks are very difficult to explain.
What did Mahesh really mean about "using" science to prove "it" ... prove what, exactly? Who knows. Mahesh didn't chat. But it appears, especially from Mahesh's behaviour and craving for money, that he surely must have been spot-on aware that he couldn't possibly prove that TM did something it very clearly didn't do. Mahesh was cunning, not stupid.
So, all that faux-science? It endeavours to speak volumes of "proof" that Mahesh was what we thought he was; if TM looked legitimate, then it was obvious Mahesh was legitimate! The fiddled "studies" endeavour to validate Mahesh! All that junk science is simply manipulated to prove Mahesh was right, not that TM did anything other than generate or allow deep rest for some, but not all. His claims for TM, both before and after the Beatles, had come to nothing and after the Beatles dumped him he desperately needed proof about his legitimacy - because even those of us who were sincere believers were beginning to doubt! - I seriously question very, very much that anyone devoted to the idea that Mahesh was the real deal will give a toss about anything I have to say here - but for the rest of us, while we may want to enjoy the entertaining magic tricks, the prestidigitation and appearance of impossible things, we don't need to believe nonsense simply to validate one another's misconceptions and delusions about Mahesh and his clever tricks that swallowed our money.
Like magic tricks and entertainment, stories around the camp fire and the beginnings of theatre, TM is one thing, but it is not "spiritual development" in my opinion; nor is the relaxation response. It might be something to do instead of spiritual development, but it isn't spiritual development.
Of course, Dr. Benson has had the integrity to only focus on what his method actually does, what it can be demonstrated to actually accomplish; he has not needed to make false claims or pretentious accusations about the negativity in the atmosphere or CIA operatives trying to disrupt his empire (!). He has been up-front about what his method of relaxation accomplishes and has set an example for healers and compassionate people everywhere.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
ABC News Nightline with Deepak Chopra, "Does God Have a Future?"
Many former TMers knew Deepak Chopra, his split with Maharishi, then Chopra's repackaging of Maharishi's programs in a slightly more mainstream package for his own financial gain.
Deepak Chopra is now more of a household name than Maharishi ever was, thus ABC invited him to a discussion on spirituality.
Nightline's description of this show :
The "Face-Off" is a recurring series where opposing sides debate hot topics. In the sixth installment of the series, Deepak Chopra, a physician and best-selling author of "How to Know God," and prominent scholar, philosopher and writer Jean Houston, will face-off against Michael Shermer, founding publisher of "Skeptic" magazine, and Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith" on the tension between God and science."
Gina's comments on the show:
This conversation between critical thinkers with Chopra could just as easily have taken place with Maharishi.
In this conversation, Chopra mouthes MMY's teachings, sometimes word for word.
Coming from the same Hindu tradition, the Indian accent, and MMY's pseudo-science jargon, Chopra inadvertently provides good comedy for those familiar with Maharishi.
Chopra speaks circuitous non-sense which can cause a hypnotic effect for vulnerable listeners.
We've seen the hypnotic effect work with True Believers listening to Maharishi.
Chopra responds to discussion of the history of diety and sociology of religion with vague circuitous monologues on consciousness, inner experience and (undefined) quantum mechanics. This sounds so familiar!
Many of us know the futility of conducting these same conversations with TM or New Age True Believers!
(thus successful exit-counseling, "deprogramming," requires a professional)
Per Sam Harris talking to Chopra :
"Sprinkling in a bunch of scientific terms with New Age terminology does not make it scientific."
Harris also states that Chopra's merging of New Age philosophy with scientific terminology is neither scientific nor spiritual.
Unfortunately, True Believers listening to this show would merely state that critics of Chopra or Maharishi are "lost in the darkness of ignorance."
It's fascinating to watch Chopra spew the fluff, and become angry when confronted with analysis of his teachings.
This Nightline show may be watched by clicking :
"Does God Have a Future" The Nightline Face-Off
Enjoy!
Deepak Chopra is now more of a household name than Maharishi ever was, thus ABC invited him to a discussion on spirituality.
Nightline's description of this show :
The "Face-Off" is a recurring series where opposing sides debate hot topics. In the sixth installment of the series, Deepak Chopra, a physician and best-selling author of "How to Know God," and prominent scholar, philosopher and writer Jean Houston, will face-off against Michael Shermer, founding publisher of "Skeptic" magazine, and Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith" on the tension between God and science."
Gina's comments on the show:
This conversation between critical thinkers with Chopra could just as easily have taken place with Maharishi.
In this conversation, Chopra mouthes MMY's teachings, sometimes word for word.
Coming from the same Hindu tradition, the Indian accent, and MMY's pseudo-science jargon, Chopra inadvertently provides good comedy for those familiar with Maharishi.
Chopra speaks circuitous non-sense which can cause a hypnotic effect for vulnerable listeners.
We've seen the hypnotic effect work with True Believers listening to Maharishi.
Chopra responds to discussion of the history of diety and sociology of religion with vague circuitous monologues on consciousness, inner experience and (undefined) quantum mechanics. This sounds so familiar!
Many of us know the futility of conducting these same conversations with TM or New Age True Believers!
(thus successful exit-counseling, "deprogramming," requires a professional)
Per Sam Harris talking to Chopra :
"Sprinkling in a bunch of scientific terms with New Age terminology does not make it scientific."
Harris also states that Chopra's merging of New Age philosophy with scientific terminology is neither scientific nor spiritual.
Unfortunately, True Believers listening to this show would merely state that critics of Chopra or Maharishi are "lost in the darkness of ignorance."
It's fascinating to watch Chopra spew the fluff, and become angry when confronted with analysis of his teachings.
This Nightline show may be watched by clicking :
"Does God Have a Future" The Nightline Face-Off
Enjoy!
Friday, March 19, 2010
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?
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?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Critiquing Transcendental Meditation's "scientific research"
Question: How valid is TM's scientific research?
Answer: Not very.
A Brief Overview of TM Research:
According to the Transcendental Meditation organization (TMO), "...More than 600 scientific studies have been conducted at more than 250 universities and research institutes in 33 countries. These studies have been published in over 100 leading scientific journals worldwide, and they objectively document the profound physiological, psychological, and sociological benefits of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Programme in every area of life...." (1)
What the TM organization does not publicize, however, is:
(1) that a high percentage of these studies are suspect. The research is specifically designed so that TM will come out looking good. (See http://trancenet.net/research/index.shtml
In addition, the quote above from the TMO website does not mention that:
(2) a lot of the research is done by TMers or funded by TMers, and is therefore inherently biased; and
(3) when non-TM scientists do research, they compare various types of meditations, and the results have been that each meditation has its own strengths and weaknesses. TM does not stand out as best. These studies are ignored by the TMO. For information, google "Google -- Scholar" and type in something like "comparision meditation techniques research results." Also, see http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/expressnews_template/article.cfm?id=8572and
(4) Research has shown that TM can sometimes be harmful. These studies are never quoted by the TMO. (See http://minet.org/research.html.)
So where do we come in?
While most TMFree readers are not professional researchers, I think we can contribute something useful to the research, specifically to the bias problem mentioned in item (1) above. Critics of the research papers have done a good job in critiquing what has been published. But what if something questionable was done that was not reported in the final paper?
So that's where we come in.
Many of us have "insider" experiences with the TMO. During our time in the TMO, we may have accidentally stumbled upon a small piece of the research that was unscientific. So I invite readers to search their memories. Do you recall incidents which at the time seemed simply quirky or isolated, but in retrospect, were examples of a violation of the scientific method? You may have to think outside the box or reframe the incident to see how it is related to the scientific method. You may have to consider not what was done, but what was not done; not what you saw, but what you didn't see....
Our stories will only be anecdotes, and anecdotal evidence is not scientific proof. However, these anecdotes provide glimpses which may inspire researchers to dig deeper into questionable practices.
So, to get the ball rolling, I will share my own memories that relate to the biased quality of TM research. In addition, I will relate a few anecdotes from old TMFree posts and comments. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the inclination to dig up all the original posts and comments, so I apologize in advance for any errors in my memory or interpretation.
So here goes. To reiterate, the question for the day is:
Did you ever personally see evidence of violation of the scientific method in TM studies?
1. The year was 1980, I think. I lived on the MIU campus in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. I did the TM and TM-Sidhis program in the meditation hall from 2 to 4 times a day with up to 700 other women. One day, after everyone was seated on the mattresses, the leader announced that we were all going to add something to our program. She had something like an electric meter in her hand. She spoke a phrase that went something like: "Turn back the meter." She instructed us to think this phrase in the same manner as we thought the "sutras" in our TM-Sidhis program (the technique in which the phrase we thought was supposed to manifest in the world.) We were to think the above phrase 2 or 4 times (I can't remember which), after we finished TM but before we started the TM-Sidhis. She didn't tell us who had ordered this change, or who had designed it, or why we were doing it. The only additional thing she said was, "Do not say a word about this to anybody!"
We did this practice for about a week, and then we were told to stop doing it. We weren't told why we were now stopping. We were reminded, "Do not mention this to anyone!" And we never heard another word about it.
What was this all about?
Today, I believe we were guinea pigs in an experiment to prove that the TM-Sidhis actually produced effects in the physical world. (An illegal experiment, I might add, since we had not volunteered, and we had not been warned about possible harmful effects.) If 700 sidhas had actually succeeded in causing the meter's hand to move even a millimeter, I think they would have published that. I think we failed to produce the result they wanted, so the experiment was scrapped, we were warned against spilling the secret, and the failure was never reported.
2. A few years ago, one of our TMFree regulars (possibly Sudarsha) wrote that he once saw Maharishi sit with someone and review a line graph illustrating the results of a study showing the benefits of TM. Maharishi asked, "Couldn't you draw the line 'this' way instead of 'that' way, in order to make the results look better?" The other person agreed to make the change.
3. About a year ago, one of our readers shared that she had chatted with a researcher at MIU who was studying the "Maharishi Effect." (The ME states that when a certain percentage of the population practices TM, quality of life improves, as shown by crime statistics, pollution, unemployment rate, etc.) The research compared cities that had comparable demographics but a different percentage of TMers. The researcher told her, "In some cases, the city with the higher percentage of TMers did not show an improved quality of life. So we deleted those groups of cities from our final study."
4. A few months ago, contributor Gina wrote that when TM researchers in Fairfield were studying TMers to prove TM's benefits, they first eliminated "heavy unstressers" from their sample.
5. An old TMFree post is a reprint of a public letter from Earl Kaplan, a TMer who together with his brother David had donated over $100 million dollars (U.S.) to the TMO. He writes that "Mahesh for years had been raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his world peace groups...." (World peace groups were the gatherings of thousands of pundits to one location to chant together, thus assuring world peace forever.) According to Earl's letter, Earl said to Maharishi, "Maharishi, since you have the money and supposedly you have enough pundits, why don't you create a 10,000 group in India and the world will experience peace?..." (Several years previously, his brother David had obtained U.S. governmental approval to bring one or two thousand pundits to the USA. before this could happen, he got word that Maharishi had changed his mind and felt it was not a good time to send them.) Mahesh looked at Earl like he was crazy and said, "Earl, if we created the group then we don't know if it would create world peace or not. We would have to have the group and then see what the effect it has." Earl and David have since left the TMO.
Aside from the contempt and deceit Maharishi exhibited, I believe Maharishi was also saying that he did not want an experiment to be performed if the results would not make TM look good, i.e. if the results disproved the "Maharishi Effect."
OK, those are my offerings. Anyone else have memories about TMO's corruption of the scientific method in TM studies?
Footnotes:
(1) www.globalgoodnews.com/research.html
Answer: Not very.
A Brief Overview of TM Research:
According to the Transcendental Meditation organization (TMO), "...More than 600 scientific studies have been conducted at more than 250 universities and research institutes in 33 countries. These studies have been published in over 100 leading scientific journals worldwide, and they objectively document the profound physiological, psychological, and sociological benefits of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Programme in every area of life...." (1)
What the TM organization does not publicize, however, is:
(1) that a high percentage of these studies are suspect. The research is specifically designed so that TM will come out looking good. (See http://trancenet.net/research/index.shtml
In addition, the quote above from the TMO website does not mention that:
(2) a lot of the research is done by TMers or funded by TMers, and is therefore inherently biased; and
(3) when non-TM scientists do research, they compare various types of meditations, and the results have been that each meditation has its own strengths and weaknesses. TM does not stand out as best. These studies are ignored by the TMO. For information, google "Google -- Scholar" and type in something like "comparision meditation techniques research results." Also, see http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/expressnews_template/article.cfm?id=8572and
(4) Research has shown that TM can sometimes be harmful. These studies are never quoted by the TMO. (See http://minet.org/research.html.)
So where do we come in?
While most TMFree readers are not professional researchers, I think we can contribute something useful to the research, specifically to the bias problem mentioned in item (1) above. Critics of the research papers have done a good job in critiquing what has been published. But what if something questionable was done that was not reported in the final paper?
So that's where we come in.
Many of us have "insider" experiences with the TMO. During our time in the TMO, we may have accidentally stumbled upon a small piece of the research that was unscientific. So I invite readers to search their memories. Do you recall incidents which at the time seemed simply quirky or isolated, but in retrospect, were examples of a violation of the scientific method? You may have to think outside the box or reframe the incident to see how it is related to the scientific method. You may have to consider not what was done, but what was not done; not what you saw, but what you didn't see....
Our stories will only be anecdotes, and anecdotal evidence is not scientific proof. However, these anecdotes provide glimpses which may inspire researchers to dig deeper into questionable practices.
So, to get the ball rolling, I will share my own memories that relate to the biased quality of TM research. In addition, I will relate a few anecdotes from old TMFree posts and comments. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the inclination to dig up all the original posts and comments, so I apologize in advance for any errors in my memory or interpretation.
So here goes. To reiterate, the question for the day is:
Did you ever personally see evidence of violation of the scientific method in TM studies?
1. The year was 1980, I think. I lived on the MIU campus in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. I did the TM and TM-Sidhis program in the meditation hall from 2 to 4 times a day with up to 700 other women. One day, after everyone was seated on the mattresses, the leader announced that we were all going to add something to our program. She had something like an electric meter in her hand. She spoke a phrase that went something like: "Turn back the meter." She instructed us to think this phrase in the same manner as we thought the "sutras" in our TM-Sidhis program (the technique in which the phrase we thought was supposed to manifest in the world.) We were to think the above phrase 2 or 4 times (I can't remember which), after we finished TM but before we started the TM-Sidhis. She didn't tell us who had ordered this change, or who had designed it, or why we were doing it. The only additional thing she said was, "Do not say a word about this to anybody!"
We did this practice for about a week, and then we were told to stop doing it. We weren't told why we were now stopping. We were reminded, "Do not mention this to anyone!" And we never heard another word about it.
What was this all about?
Today, I believe we were guinea pigs in an experiment to prove that the TM-Sidhis actually produced effects in the physical world. (An illegal experiment, I might add, since we had not volunteered, and we had not been warned about possible harmful effects.) If 700 sidhas had actually succeeded in causing the meter's hand to move even a millimeter, I think they would have published that. I think we failed to produce the result they wanted, so the experiment was scrapped, we were warned against spilling the secret, and the failure was never reported.
2. A few years ago, one of our TMFree regulars (possibly Sudarsha) wrote that he once saw Maharishi sit with someone and review a line graph illustrating the results of a study showing the benefits of TM. Maharishi asked, "Couldn't you draw the line 'this' way instead of 'that' way, in order to make the results look better?" The other person agreed to make the change.
3. About a year ago, one of our readers shared that she had chatted with a researcher at MIU who was studying the "Maharishi Effect." (The ME states that when a certain percentage of the population practices TM, quality of life improves, as shown by crime statistics, pollution, unemployment rate, etc.) The research compared cities that had comparable demographics but a different percentage of TMers. The researcher told her, "In some cases, the city with the higher percentage of TMers did not show an improved quality of life. So we deleted those groups of cities from our final study."
4. A few months ago, contributor Gina wrote that when TM researchers in Fairfield were studying TMers to prove TM's benefits, they first eliminated "heavy unstressers" from their sample.
5. An old TMFree post is a reprint of a public letter from Earl Kaplan, a TMer who together with his brother David had donated over $100 million dollars (U.S.) to the TMO. He writes that "Mahesh for years had been raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his world peace groups...." (World peace groups were the gatherings of thousands of pundits to one location to chant together, thus assuring world peace forever.) According to Earl's letter, Earl said to Maharishi, "Maharishi, since you have the money and supposedly you have enough pundits, why don't you create a 10,000 group in India and the world will experience peace?..." (Several years previously, his brother David had obtained U.S. governmental approval to bring one or two thousand pundits to the USA. before this could happen, he got word that Maharishi had changed his mind and felt it was not a good time to send them.) Mahesh looked at Earl like he was crazy and said, "Earl, if we created the group then we don't know if it would create world peace or not. We would have to have the group and then see what the effect it has." Earl and David have since left the TMO.
Aside from the contempt and deceit Maharishi exhibited, I believe Maharishi was also saying that he did not want an experiment to be performed if the results would not make TM look good, i.e. if the results disproved the "Maharishi Effect."
OK, those are my offerings. Anyone else have memories about TMO's corruption of the scientific method in TM studies?
Footnotes:
(1) www.globalgoodnews.com/research.html
Monday, January 12, 2009
The article I reproduced below is written by a pediatrician who blogs on Space City Skeptics, based in Houston. It is reproduced with the permission of the author and was originally found here.
This study discussed in the article has been extensively promoted by the TMO. I use Google Alerts to keep up on transcendental meditation and in the past couple of weeks every day there are multiple references to this study. Most of the articles appear to reiterate a press release, without looking at the study itself. Given the extensive promotion of the so called study, I can only conclude that the purpose of the study is to advertise TM. The article:How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADH
….. Several news sources and blogs have recently reported on a study looking into the benefit of transcendental meditation (TM) in children diagnosed with ADHD. A January 5th report from Reuters Health, a news service which claims to be “internationally recognized as unbiased, authoritative, timely and dependable, with the reputation for quality that one expects from a Reuters company“, actually serves as a perfect example of how not to cover science or health news. With a skeptical mindset, a few minutes of spare time and an internet connection, I was easily able to discover the dubious reality behind this “landmark” research.
The study, led by “cognitive learning specialist” Sarina J. Grosswald, involved the instruction in TM techniques of 10 students previously diagnosed with ADHD and enrolled in a private school for children with learning disabilities. These students were followed over three months, at the end of which they were evaluated for improvement in a number of areas. According to the Reuters’ piece:
“After three months, Grosswald and her colleagues found, the students reported lower stress and anxiety levels, while their ADHD symptoms also improved, based on questionnaires given to teachers and parents.” Impressive. For those who are confused, TM is a form of meditation developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950’s which involves the repetition of a meaningless sound, or mantra, while sitting quietly with eyes shut. This allows the practitioner to quiet the mind and discover the “source of thought”.
The mind and body are then able to achieve a state of calm and, according to proponents, reap myriad medical benefits far beyond that of simply increased peace of mind. Believers in TM have also been known to claim that an extension of the technique can lead to fighting crime with their minds and flying. I’m not kidding.
This is a pilot study published in a online education journal edited by graduate students, something which does no inspire confidence in me. I do not think that a reputable peer-reviewed medical journal would have accepted it. At least the authors do admit in the discussion section that it would be inappropriate to make claims regarding a cause and effect relationship between TM and any improvement in ADHD symptoms based on these results. That doesn’t stop them from making bold statements regarding the benefit of TM, however, as I will soon get to.
The flaws in this study are numerous. The number of subjects is too small, there is no control group and it isn’t blinded. The study reveals that some of the children are on medication but it does not take into account the possibility of recent changes in medical therapy, or improved compliance while on the study. It is based purely on self-report and subjective questionnaires and there is very high likelihood that a placebo effect could have been the sole responsible factor in the subjects’ apparent improvements. The authors then call for larger and better designed studies, something which I don’t think is justified for these reasons, but my problem with this study, and concerns regarding the credulous take by the media, go much deeper than what I’ve already explained.
What led me to dig deeper after reading the Reuters’ report was the following quote:
“The effect was much greater than we expected,” lead researcher Sarina J. Grosswald, a cognitive learning specialist in Arlington, Virginia, said in a written statement.”
I wondered why the researcher had expected an effect and hypothesized that there may be a connection between the researchers and TM more significant than academic curiosity. I was quickly able to discover that Grosswald is a hardcore believer in TM. Just read this quote by Grosswald from a website called Ask The Doctors, which provides a forum for specialists to answer questions related to TM and health:
“The TM technique is the exact opposite of harmful. It reduces your risk of getting serious chronic health problems like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. In fact, research on the Transcendental Meditation program shows that people who practice it go to the doctor about 50% less than the general population. And if they are in the hospital for some reason, their hospital stay is 50% shorter, on average. For some conditions, the need for medical care is as much as 87% less for TM meditators. Practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique is one of the best things you can do for your health.”
She clearly does not come across as an unbiased investigator. In reading her other responses on the “Ask The Doctors” website, and especially after listening to a 16-minute talk she gave in 2005, when this research actually took place, which is posted on a Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation sponsored website that focuses on “ADHD, the Mind and the Transcendental Meditation technique” called Insights in Health, it is obvious that she is a true believer. That doesn’t prove the research is bogus by itself, but it is a red flag.
A more concerning red flag, and one which was also discovered in the talk given by Grosswald, is the fact that the 10 children involved in the study may have been coached. In the last few minutes of the presentation, Grosswald presents clips of the children meeting with the TM proponents prior to the initiation of the study, where it appears that they are told what the expected outcome of the trial is, that their symptoms will improve with TM.
Not only are these kids aged 11 to 14 being told what the expected outcome of the study is by study investigators, the headmaster of the school, Linda Handy, can be seen at the very end of the video discussing how amazing the technique is and how it will change the students’ futures for the better. I am forced to question whether the teachers, whose evaluations of the study subjects’ behavior and performance are an integral component of the study conclusions of positive effect, might have been hesitant to give a negative evaluation when their boss is clearly also a true believer.
In the acknowledgments section, The authors thank the Abramson Family Foundation for funding and the Institute for Community Enrichment for support. The Abramson Family Foundation is an organization which believes that TM can help students achieve the full potential of their brain.
“The Abramson Family Foundation has been funding research on Transcendental Meditation and providing scholarships for students to learn the technique for the past 20 years. This has been a rewarding investment in the youth of our nation. Here is a common sense approach—a sound and scientific way—of fulfilling the purpose of education, which is to create intelligent, dynamic, happy, healthy and successful human beings.”
Of note, Grosswald sits on the Board of Advisors for the foundation. Joining her on the Board is none other than the school headmaster Linda Handy. Whatever doubt I had in my lack of enthusiasm for this study fell by the wayside upon that discovery. While it may not have been intentional on the part of the study authors, the school headmaster, or the pro-TM funding organizations, this study was designed in a way that coulnd’t possibly yield anything other than a positive result. And calls for further study, especially with public funds in addition to the over twenty million already spent by the NIH on TM, are unwarranted.
It wasn’t difficult to look at this study and see that the claims being made by TM supporters aren’t valid. It wasn’t even that hard to uncover the connections between the investigators, the school where the study was conducted and pro-TM organizations. Yet I was unable to find one news report that displayed even the slightest amount of critical thinking, instead reading like press releases from TM believers. The current state of science and health reporting is rather depressing, and I don’t see things improving any time soon as more and more dedicated science writers are falling prey to the poor economy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)