TM Town Struggles into 21st Century

TM Town Struggles into 21st Century: Mental Health Problems lead Fairfield to Re-Evaluate Core Doctrines


As you probably know, the beloved actor/comedian Robin Williams, who suffered from depression, committed suicide on August 11, 2014.

In the weeks following Williams' suicide, residents of Fairfield, Iowa, USA, home to Maharishi University of Management and to several thousand TMers, have been inching suicide out of the closet.  Researchers noticed that Iowa has a higher rate of suicide than the national average.  And Fairfield has a higher rate of suicide than the average Iowa city.

Fairfield residents have been dragging their feet around suicide prevention for years.  This is due not only to the American stigma around mental illness.  It is also exacerbated by TM official and unofficial doctrine.  Just a few of them are:

- Maharishi disapproved of Western psychotherapy.
- If you saw a psychotherapist, you could be disqualified from attending a TM course.
- TM is supposed to make you emotionally healthy, therefore if you report emotional problems, you are making TM look bad.
- People with emotional problems have been advised to do more asanas or learn the TM-Sidhis, rather than to seek professional help.
- People with emotional problems have been told they are "unstressing" rather than being advised to seek professional help.
- When people have had emotional problems (including hospitalizations and suicides), the TM organization has tended to hide the information or blame the person for being too emotionally unstable to begin with.
- People with emotional problems have been misdiagnosed by TMers as being in higher states of consciousness.

A fascinating report on the blossoming of open discussion on mental health problems in Fairfield is found here:

http://littlevillagemag.com/suicide-in-fairfield-iowa-town-struggles-with-mental-health-awareness/

 "Fairfield Cares," a grassroots organization helping to increase honest conversation about mental health problems of TMers holds meetings and lectures.  And Maharishi University of Management, after 40 years of denying counseling  to their students, are adding counseling to their health services.  However, they state that it is offered as an "adjunct" to TM, since, according to TM doctrine, scientific research shows that TM improves mental health, making people happy and stable.  

The TM organization (TMO) doesn't publicize any of the research which shows that sometimes TM causes or exacerbates mental illness.  Until I discovered TM-Free Blog, I believed what the TMO taught - that every research study ever done on TM showed that TM produces only benefits.  You can find many articles on TM-FreeBlog about emotional problems that some people have experienced due to T.M.  You can find information on the suppressed research on the far-right column of TM-Free Blog's home page.  

What have been your experiences with the TMO and mental health?

Transcendental Meditation's Attitude on Mental Health

This essay is yet another of my trips down memory lane - this time, my memories of the TM organization's (i.e. Maharishi's) attitudes about mental health.

Back in 1970, before I ever learned TM, I had meditating friends who liked to tell me anecdotes about how rapidly TM improved mental health: "One man walked into the TM initiation room looking stressed and miserable; he walked out one hour later looking radiant," or, "This woman showed up at her therapist's office one week after learning TM, and the therapist said, 'My goodness! You seem so much better! What's happened to you?!' " I was 19 years old at the time, and I was very impressed. Now, with 40 years more experience under my belt, I would be less impressed. I would ask, "Did those benefits continue? Were there any harmful side effects?"

Back in 1970, the TM introductory lecture consisted of four speakers, each one speaking on a different topic: TM for mental potential, TM for health, TM for social behavior and TM for world peace. TM was presented as the solution to psychological problems.

After I was initiated, there were three days of follow up. We filled out forms that asked if we saw benefits in our lives yet. Almost all the people in my class had. The implication - which no one questioned - was that these changes were permanent, these benefits were from TM, and more benefits would be forthcoming soon.
The implication was that TM was both faster and more effective than psychotherapy.

My initiator had a condescending attitude towards psychotherapy. I think the rule back then was that if you were seeing a counselor more than once a week, you couldn't learn TM. My initiator said, "Either decide that the therapy's done what you wanted it to do, so you don't need it anymore and stop; or decide that the therapy isn't working, and stop. Either way, you can learn TM after you stop therapy."

Psychotherapy seemed to be a step down from TM. TM research was coming out showing that practicing TM produced mental health, and it produced it faster, less expensively and more holistically than psychotherapy.

This condescending attitude towards psychotherapy was explicit at the 1972 Humboldt College, Arcata, California, USA one-month course which I attended. Someone asked Maharishi about the value of psychotherapy. He replied that in the old days, people would go to their grandparents for advice, but nowadays, since families didn't live near each other, if you had problems you paid someone to listen to you. "Psychotherapy," he explained, "just stirs up the mud." It just made people worse. "Carl Jung's brother said that Carl was such an unhappy, miserable person. So how good could psychotherapy be?" Maharishi posited. (Someone in the audience pointed out, "Maharishi, Carl Jung was an only child." "Oh," Maharishi replied.)

If you were seeing a psychotherapist, you wouldn't be accepted for a TM teacher training course, or for an advanced teacher's course, (ATR), or for the TM-Sidhis course.

I had an initiator friend who was seriously depressed. I advised her to get professional help. She refused, saying, "But then I won't be accepted for an advanced course!"

What was the reason for this policy? Was it to keep meditators away from psychotherapists? Was it to keep meditators coming back to TM courses? Was it to keep meditators ignorant of the benefits of other methods? Was it to prevent unstable people from flipping out during rounding? Was it to keep knowledge of TM out of the hands of psychotherapists? I don't know, but it kept many meditators away from the help they dearly needed.

It also turned some meditators into liars. "Have you seen a psychotherapist?" asked the TM-Sidhis application form. "Well, I did see someone for career counseling," responded a friend of mine who received psychotherapy from a career counselor/psychotherapist. "Was he a therapist?" asked her TM interviewer. "Well, he did have a master's degree in English," she replied honestly. (And a doctorate in counseling, she omitted.) She was accepted for the course. "Filling out TM applications is an...'art form'," an initiator friend of mine wryly advised me.

Meanwhile, more scientific research continued to come out of the TM movement, showing that TM improved all areas of a person's life, including their mental health. These "independent scientific studies" have been criticized for inaccuracy and bias. For a critical analysis of TM research, click here:

http://trancenet.net/reserach/index.shtml
http://spacecityskeptics.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/how-to-design-a-positive-study-meditation-for-childhood-adhd/#comment-170

By 1975, Maharishi's "World Plan" was in full swing, promising that once a certain percentage of people around the world practiced TM, seven goals would be achieved, two of which were "to develop the full potential of the individual" and "to solve the problems of crime, drug-abuse and all behavior that brings unhappiness to the family of man." In other words, TM led inexorably to mental health.

Meanwhile, some people were attending TM Teacher Training courses and meditating for over 6 hours a day. Rumors were coming out that all that meditating was harmful for some people. Despite Maharishi's assurance that all manner of discomfort was "unstressing" and that "something good was happening," there were rumors of suicides, of people who became mute, of mental hospitalizations....

I was also starting to hear stories of people who after learning TM became more and more withdrawn and unsociable, and just sat in their houses all day and did TM.

In 1975 I visited my sister who was working at the Academy for the Science of Creative Intelligence in Livingston Manor, New York, USA. To thank the facility for letting me stay a few days, I offered to put their free lending library in order. The director at Livingston Manor instructed me to remove all books about psychology and self-help (and about other spiritual paths, too).

In 1977, I applied for the TM-Sidhis course. At that time, I had just been laid off from my job, my boyfriend had just broken up with me and had kept the apartment, leaving me homeless, and an accident had left me on crutches. I told my TM interviewer that I was a stressed out due to these pressures, and she replied that "TM should have strengthened you enough so that you would handle these challenges with calm and equanimity; therefore I have to conclude that you aren't emotionally stable enough for the course." (In retrospect, I wonder if she meant that this demonstrated that TM didn't work, or that I was somehow deficient.) The official cure for "emotional instability" and/or "unstressing" was to get your meditation checked, do more pranayama (yogic breathing exercises) and do more yoga asanas. That would set things right.

Another initiator friend of mine - I believe he got his Ph.D. in physics from an Ivy League college - gave me this thoughtful analysis of the genesis of mental illness: "People talk themselves into mental illness. I knew this woman who decided she had problems, and she just talked it into herself and talked it into herself, til finally she did become mentally ill."

In 1978 I got some counseling, and I became sufficiently "emotionally stable" that I was accepted for the TM-Sidhis course. In addition to learning the TM-Sidhis, the instructors used to read the English translation of the Ninth Mandala of the Rig Veda (a Hindu holy book) aloud to us for 15 minutes at a time. Jerry Jarvis (the former director of the Students International Meditation Society, U.S.) informed us that "the Ninth Mandala dissolves emotional hang-ups." Maharishi also helpfully explained that most mental illness was caused by not bathing frequently enough.

On the last day of the TM-Sidhis course, Maharishi begged us all to immediately move to Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. He explained that our "flying" together on this recent course had prevented the outbreak of war, but the end of the course would create a sort of vacuum where there was even more chance than ever for war. I - and hundreds of others - moved to Fairfield that month.

I was depressed and anxious in Fairfield, doing my TM-Sidhis program two to four times a day. Was I unstressing? Was I simply too emotionally unstable? I felt that I needed counseling, but unfortunately there was no counseling department on campus. I had heard a rumor that such a department had once existed, but that Maharishi had told them to shut it down, as it just led to increased "negativity". I believe the counselors were transferred to the "academic counseling" office. So I contacted the academic counseling dept. and asked for an appointment. When I told the academic counselor of my emotional state, he encouragingly replied, "The only thing wrong with you is that you need a buddy!" (The buddy system was a TM tradition whereby you went everywhere with your buddy, and let them know if you were "unstressing.") One of the women in my dorm agreed to be my buddy, but since she continued to spend all her time with her friends from home, I never did find out if the only thing wrong with me was the lack of a "buddy." I did cheer up, however, when I moved to a dorm where I knew the people, and got a job I liked.

Several months later, an MIU friend confided to me that she was miserable, near tears, anxious, depressed, "unstressing." She went to a higher up and "confessed" that she had lied on her TM-Sidhis application form, and maybe she wasn't really evolved enough or stable enough to be worthy of living at MIU. The supervisor consoled her with, "No, if you're here, you were meant to be here."

A year and a half later, I started having anxiety attacks when I did the sidhis. These attacks were spilling over into my daily life. I left Fairfield about this time. Back home, I phoned the TM-Sidhis Administrators to ask them how to deal with the anxiety during my program. They never called me back. Eventually I stopped doing the TM-Sidhis.

A few years later, I read that several MIU students had ended up in the county mental hospital. How could that be, since TM improves mental health? An MIU professor explained, "Going to college is very stressful."

Others in Fairfield were also being hit with bouts of anxiety and depression, which was called "roughness" or "unstressing." When they complained about their condition, they were chided, "You're purifying the whole earth of its impurities, and you complain about unstressing!"

Slowly, counseling slipped into the Fairfield TM community. People kept it a secret if they were receiving counseling - after all, they could be thrown off courses, and their friends might look down on them for "stirring up the mud" and for not following Maharishi's wishes. But as one Fairfield TMer apologetically explained, "Of course we don't want to go to counselors. But if there's a n\crisis - you know, like your husband's having an affair, or your kid's on drugs - well, then, you do it if you have to." She never did explain how a husband could be having an affair or a child could be on drugs if they were all practicing that mental health-producing technique, Transcendental Meditation.

Well, those are my memories of the TM attitude towards mental health. Anyone have any memories that they would like to share? (Anonymously is fine.) Or any other comments?

Transcendental M & Ms

TM Mortalities and Morbidities

In the medical world we have monthly M&M meetings to discuss cases or 'negative outcomes.' These M&M meetings help to improve practice management. This is standard practice, regardless of the deemed cause of injury or death.

Those who spent years deeply involved with the TM Movement know individuals, or heard stories of those, who experienced severe problems. Most of us did not have severe problems, other than adapting to normal society after cult/Movement life.

In the interest of discussing risks and extent of cult-related problems, we were recently asked, “Does anyone know how many TM-related deaths there are?” Of course, an official tally does not exist. The TM-Movement would never track this.

Many of us know folks who passed away due to medical neglect because they chose intensive AyurVed treatments or yagyas (costly prayer rituals) while avoiding efficacious medical treatments until too late. Others committed suicide. Some confused youth passed away due to drug overdose. Some youth were victimized by sexual predators. Some individuals experienced psychotic breaks on prolonged rounding courses.
Naturally, the causes were attributed to individual weakness or "unstressing"

In the interest of having some data, Sudarsha offered to keep a list. This list will NOT be made public, but at least there could be a discussion about documented TM-related mortalities and morbidities.

We are not arranging this for legal action, only to have an idea of case histories.
Again, this list would remain confidential in Sudarsha’s possession.

If you know of anyone directly (not just rumor) who passed away due to a TMO-related reason, or went psychotic while on prolonged TM program, or other chronic medical problems (neglected medical care in favor of AyurVed), please jot a quick email to Sudarsha.

The list has begun.

We will repost this request periodicly.

Please provide Sudarsha with:

* Name *year of death or psychotic break *adult or child/youth (if minor, then age) *city *official cause of death or incident.

You could send this to Sudarsha at:

sudarshaisnamaskar@gmail.com

Thank you for kindly sharing your knowledge of these tragic histories.

In memory of loved ones lost or damaged.

Transcendental M & Ms

TM Mortalities and Morbidities

In the medical world, we have monthly M&M meetings, to discuss cases of 'negative outcomes.' These M&M meetings help us identify ways in which we can improve our medical management. This is standard practice, regardless of the deemed cause of injury or death.

Those who spent years deeply involved with the TM Movement know individuals, or heard stories of those, who experienced severe problems. Most of us did not have severe problems, other than adapting to normal society after the Movement experience.

In the interest of discussing risks and extent of cult-related problems, we were recently asked, “Does anyone know how many TM-related deaths there are?” Of course, an official tally does not exist.

Many of us know folks who passed away due to medical neglect because they chose intensive AyurVed treatments while avoiding efficacious medical treatments until too late, others committed suicide, while some confused youth passed away due to drug overdose; some experienced psychotic breaks on various prolonged rounding courses.
Naturally, the causes were always attributed to individual weakness.

In the interest of having some kind of data, Sudarsha offered to keep a list. This list will NOT be made public, but at least there could be an answer to the question about number of documented TM-related mortalities.
Sudarsha requested that we also list those who went psychotic or had other chronic apparently-TM-related disability.

We are not arranging this for legal action, only to have an idea of numbers.
Again, this list would remain confidential in Sudarsha’s possession.

If you know of anyone directly (not just rumor) who passed away due to a TMO-related reason, or went psychotic while on prolonged TM program, or other chronic medical problems (neglected medical care in favor of AyurVed), please jot a quick email to Sudarsha.

The list has begun.

We will repost this request on a monthly basis.

Please provide Sudarsha with:

* Name *year of death or psychotic break *adult or child/youth (if minor, then age) *city *official cause of death

You could send this to Sudarsha at:

sudarshaisnamaskar@gmail.com

Thank you for kindly sharing your knowledge of these tragic histories.

In memory of loved ones lost or damaged.

Experiences!

Advanced TM practice emphasizes "experience," rather than externally measureable phenomena.
Of course only feel-good experiences are valued.
Negative experiences are discredited as "un-stressing."

Some of us (moderators), along with experts in coercive persuasion, agree that many TM "experiences of (so called) higher states of consciousness" were induced through prolonged meditations, pseudo-hypnotic suggestion and group dynamics.

We observed others' "experiences" to the extremes of psychosis, schizophrenic-like symptoms, some leading to mental institutions and suicides. sigh.

The following New York Times article describes studies of induced "out of body experiences."
This is among the first of such neurologic research, using external sensory stimuli to create internal experiences.

Using electronic devices, out-of-body experiences were induced in participants. We hope there will be more such studies to come. Such studies may eventually explain 'siddhi-experiences.'
To read about this, click here.

Comparing the Maharishi to a Sociopath

To follow up on the posts regarding the possible symptoms of mental illness one could suspect the Maharishi of, below is a list of the DSM IV symptoms of antisocial personality disorder. Note that the terms sociopath, psychopath, and antisocial personality are all roughly equivalent. The distinction sometimes made is that a psychopath becomes antisocial because of psychological influences (especially abuse), while a sociopath is born that way (genetics).

Symptoms:

A. There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

(1) failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
(2) deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
(3) impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
(4) irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
(5) reckless disregard for safety of self or others
(6) consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
(7) lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

B. The individual is at least age 18 years.

C. There is evidence of Conduct Disorder with onset before age 15 years.

D. The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia or a Manic Episode.

The Maharishi fails to conform to social norms in that he is wanted for tax evasion in Switzerland, the U.S., and India. He was found liable for fraud in the Kropinski trial. He has also been alleged to launder money, as well as smuggle money and material across international borders.

The Maharishi has been accused of repeated lying about the Transcendental Meditation techniques for his personal profit. Note the nature of the alleged offenses in the paragraph above; they relate to deceitfulness as well.

The Maharishi could be accused of a failure to plan ahead or impulsivity. This may at first seem strange, given his constant release of ever bigger "plans" for the world, peace, spiritual regeneration and so forth. But anyone who has worked on staff, as I and others here have done, can relate war stories of his constant revision, addition, and scrapping of one "plan" after another. At the least, the Maharishi could fairly be termed "capricious."

With regard to irritability, I am certainly not aware of the Maharishi being in any physical fights. But there is little doubt that the man has become increasingly irritable over the years. This characteristic of the antisocial personality probably does not apply to the Maharishi.

The Maharishi could be alleged to have shown a reckless disregard for for safety of others, as evidenced by the DeNaro Affadavit, the list of 40 casualties in the Kropinski trial, and other first hand accounts.

The Maharishi may have shown consistent irresponsibility in his financial dealings, such as the tax fraud alleged above. The constant haranguing of followers for funds to save the Transcendental Meditation movement from supposed bankruptcy indicate a lack of responsibility in financial matters as well. It can't be said that he does not work consistently, however.

To my knowledge, the Maharishi has never expressed remorse for any pain, discomfort, or financial ruin that he has had a hand in. The only mistake I have heard of him admitting to was the founding of the Natural Law Party. He has consistently rationalized the effects of his behavior with phrases such as "something good is happening," or stated that a "few" casualties may be necessary to achieve his World Plan.

I know nothing regarding the Maharishi's childhood, and therefore cannot comment about the onset of possible symptoms.

J.
KnappFamilyCounseling.com

Is the Maharishi a Narcissist?

I received an e-mail inquiry asking me to expand on my suspicions that the Maharishi exhibits narcissistic tendencies. I want to be clear: I don't believe it is possible to diagnose a person merely on the basis of their public writings and appearances. So I am not saying the Maharishi is a narcissist. But a quick glance below is likely to make any open-minded reader suspicious, too.

The DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder are:

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy, as indicated by at least five of the following:

1. a grandiose sense of self-importance

2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

3. believes that he or she is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

4. requires excessive admiration

5. has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

6. is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

7. lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

8. is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

A really good resource, created by a clinical psychologist, is this checklist of narcissism symptoms.

A quick comparison of the Maharishi's behaviors with the symptom list:

The Maharishi gave himself one of the most grandiose titles available in his tradition, usually reserved for saints such as Patanjali, Vyasa, and others. He allows his underlings, such as Bevan Morris, to insist that he has attainedthe highest state of consciousness of anyone human on the planet (Bevan's intro to SBAL). He states that his teaching is the highest knowledge available to humanity and so forth.

He is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, in the form of the World Government, the Global Country, Invincibility, Immortality, the Age of Enlightenment, and so forth, when in fact he is the leader of a relatively small religious movement that is having no discernible impact on the culture at large -- at least not since the 1970s.

He believes he is special and can only be understood by special people. Like many narcissists, the Maharishi surrounds himself with "name" people. He holds constant symposia to which he invites what he calls the leading lights in various fields to discuss the brilliance of his teaching. He insists that only "scholars" such as "physicist" John Hagelin can fully understand the subtlety of his teaching.

He requires excessive admiration in his insistence that he be called "Maharishi," be honored with flowers and other symbols of admiration, is accorded the utmost respect, appears only in sumptuously and ritually decorated speaking venues, surrounds himself with a regal retinue and countless bodyguards, and more.

People who have been close to the Maharishi know that he has a vast sense of entitlement. He makes extraordinary demands on his inner circle for unquestioned loyalty, unreasonable demands for volunteer work, and his unceasing demand for vast sums of money for his "knowledge," and more. He is interpersonally exploitive in his manipulative pitting of one person against another among his inner circle, his insistence that meditators attend courses to avert war or natural calamity, and more.

The DeNaro Affadavit documents his callous lack of empathy and inability to identify with the needs of his students, in that he has been aware for decades of the damage caused by excessive rounding and advanced meditation practices on his students.

He demonstrates envy of others in his jealous hoarding of students, not allowing them to study other teachers or religious leaders -- or even psychological movements -- something not demonstrated by other "spiritual leaders" that I am aware of. He also shows a narcissistic strain of paranoia in his insistence that the U.S. CIA, the American Medical Association, drug companies, and others are jealous of his "knowledge" and attempt to infiltrate his movement to learn his "secrets." Interestingly enough, Hagelin and other "luminaries" in the Movement appear to show a similar halo of paranoia when they insist that mainstream science -- or insert your favorite field of endeavor here -- ignore them because they are jealous of their accomplishments.

Doesn't this sound all too familiar?

John M. Knapp, LMSW
KnappFamilyCounseling.com

Transcendental Paranoia

by Gina Catena, M.S.

Coercive Persuasion, “thought reform,” or “brainwashing” includes taboos against speaking truth. While under the influence, we felt secure and safe in our paradigm. We knew privileged secrets, advanced techniques, mantras and higher level “knowledge” as provided on special courses. We believed, and told outsiders, the scripted benefits of TM and memorized Hinduesque teachings.

Amongst ourselves we chuckled about the Movement’s financial shenanigans, Nazi-like environmental and social control on courses. Still we feared speaking forth to detail others’ psychosis, suicides, wild antics, hidden sexual and drug abuse –in the interest of protecting our teachings and the Movement’s reputation.

We believed in our higher purpose - to uphold the Movement’s integrity and not allow negative press to befall upon our beloved Maharishi, while MMY’s Shrivastara family lived in comfort from our families’ contributions.

Secrets began with instruction of our mantra, never to be repeated aloud, “for our own benefit.” Little by little, we acclimated to organized scrutiny for deemed worthiness, and increasing levels of security “for our own benefit,” as we advanced.

Transcendental Paranoia was instilled from the beginning. We navigated through detailed interviews and applications for advanced courses, letters of recommendation from Initiators or Governors of the Age of Enlightenment (we were denied copies of our files or applications). We proved our allegiance to the “purity of the teachings.” We carried validated photo identification badges to enter meetings, group meditations, and even for some functions at satellite TM centers around the world. We accepted when the “Capital of the Age of Enlightenment” staff told us that our identity cards were the Capital’s property, not ours, to be relinquished if we left.

If we explored other venues, we were afraid of being identified as unfaithful to Maharishi. Many lied on TM program applications, denying exploration of other spiritual teachers, meditation practices or psychotherapy to assure their continued group acceptance (demonstrating a lack of true help!).

We kept secrets to maintain our “spiritual evolution” and allegiance to the Movement, our beloved and dysfunctional “TM-family.” Fear of the truth was deeply ingrained.

We ignored negative press from outside of the Movement, and blamed our communities’ tragedies upon “unstressing,” “purification,” or individual “bad karma.” We attributed all problems to individual shortcomings, all good was attributed gratefully to TM and Maharishi. “Jai Guru Dev” (Exaltations to Guru Dev). More Secrets.

After leaving the Movement, many do not disclose TM-histories with outsiders, lest we betray loved ones, or become stigmatized from the outside world. Likewise, I remained silent for nearly 20 years, while living a double life.

An innate anxiety often arises when disclosing details of our TM Movement/cult with outsiders. Common themes are: “My TM-based loved ones will reject me. They were well intentioned. They are not bad people. What will I have left if they reject me?”

Revealing our TM background knowledge can provoke anxiety precisely because, in speaking forth, we run counter to deeply ingrained patterns. The famed TM “bubble diagram” of transcending to the source of thought, applies to the depth of our brainwashing when in a trance state. The blend of group belonging, fear of ignorant outsiders, and reverence for our “sacred tradition’ were planted deep in our primal brain. Many fear legal retribution, verbal assaults, and rejection from loved ones if they speak of their TM past.

Fear of group rejection is a protective biological mechanism. A primitive lifestyle requires group effort for human survival. In the wild, tribal rejection equals certain death. That is why we want to maintain our group membership.

For silent former TM-ers, your anxiety is real, psychologically and biologically understandable – but not necessary. We won’t die if we reveal our past to the world. What a liberating thought!

Former TMers may also experience anxiety speaking of their history, wondering how this will influence their integration to a new community, “How will outsiders understand? “They will think I’m insane of they know my history.” “How will this stymie me professionally?” “None can understand how I participated in such ridiculousness.” They won’t understand why I continue to love those who remain in the cult.” Or “They won’t understand why I did not leave sooner.”

From sheer embarrassment, many MIU/ MUM graduates struggle with their alma mater on their professional resume. They try “MI University” or “M International University” or other derivatives. Job interviews may focus upon justifying their education rather than upon employment qualifications, while explaining that Maharishi International University really is an accredited private university (meeting minimum standards of academic literacy). Oftentimes, the desired job is not offered because the interviewer was distracted by the story of Maharishi’s exotic university.

Shakespeare’s wisdom, “To be or not to be, that is the question” is appropriate here. To be true to one self includes choosing whether to speak forth or maintain privacy about a cult past. Speaking forth is a highly personal choice. There is not a right nor wrong.

Cult experts (some are now personal friends), often state, “True recovery requires cutting all ties to the cult.”
I disagree with them on this point, and I tell them so. For those raised in a cult, sharing our history may result in rejection from our loved ones of origin. Then where do we turn?

At the 2006 trial for Warren Jeffs, president of the polygamist cult of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (not TM related), a young teenage bride refused to speak when called to testify in court. She was arrested for contempt of court. This reveals lack of understanding of the great emotional and psychological risk to which the court system placed this young girl, by asking her to publicly describe her confusing family and community. If she spoke of her knowledge, she would have lost all that she knew and had nowhere to turn. Of course she kept the ugly secrets, because her identity, life and loved ones are with the controversial community.

The young woman in Jeffs' trial, above, experienced an acute crises of any cult-raised person's inner conflict. Maintaining connections to family of origin, requires continuing to live with shrouds of secrecy. Speaking truth as a whole person, removing the shrouds, risks rejection from family and community of origin accompanied by possible social or professional stigmas elsewhere. It may be a painful choice.

One friend was raised in a different highly publicized cult outside of North America. She attends graduate school in the USA, is married to an American: they are raising their family. She keeps her history private, even to the instructors in her graduate psychotherapy studies. Media publicity about her cult-family is scathing. She chooses silence to protect her children from social repercussions if her history were public knowledge.

She states, “Even experienced therapists and most psychology professors don’t understand about children raised in cults. Many therapists assume we are psychotic, have split personalities or other severe disorders. There were some terrible situations and tragedies. But many of us survived and are functional after several years of painful personal soul searching. We became well after years of wrenching inner work. Therapists will label us too quickly.”

Through her silence, my friend protects her children from social stigma, and from rejection by cult-grandparents. I had chosen the same until my children were grown.

In coming forth, I sadly accept that loved ones from my TM past will reject me as being “of the dark side.” One dear old TM-friend recently glared at me saying I was “flirting with the enemy.” After my well-circulated letter to the San Rafael School Board, a revered TM leader, with whom I'd had a decades long relationship, told me, "May God have mercy on your soul. Do not contact me ever again." I was prepared for rejection from those of my history. Others might not be willing to risk such loss.

Speaking forth is a highly individual decision. Some choose anonymity; some prefer silence about their TM histories. Coming forth brings rewards at a price.

If you read this and are anxious about speaking, please do not berate yourself. There is deeply ingrained programming against coming forth. It takes awhile to untangle. It is important to have others who will emotionally support your honesty and courage, rather than ostracize you for your honesty.

If you choose to come forth, your voice will become stronger with practice. However, It is equally valid to silently hold your history, memories, and loved ones near and dear to your heart.

Vaya con Dios

Letter to San Rafael School Board..or.. How TM Lures the Young and Vulnerable

The David Lynch Foundation retracted their 2006 grant to Terra Linda High School within two days of receiving their copy of this letter which was circulated to the San Rafael School Board, the Marin Independent Journal, key offices of the David Lynch Foundation and Transcendental Meditation Movement. Relevant links, in green or blue, are embedded within the online letter.

************


by Gina Catena, M.S.

San Rafael City School District
310 Nova Albion Way
San Rafael, CA 94903

cc. San Rafael City School Board members
Marin Independent Journal

16 October, 2006

Carole Ramsey, principal of Terra Linda High School (TLHS), deserves acknowledgement for her efforts to improve student life, reduce stress and increase academic success at TLHS through the David Lynch Foundation grant for Transcendental Meditation (TM) in public schools.

Given my family history, it was surprising to see two consecutive Marin Independent Journal cover stories about Transcendental Meditation’s introduction to Terra Linda High School.

As a TLHS parent, and someone whose life has been profoundly affected by TM, I am uniquely qualified to express concerns about this program presented to our community. The TM presentation on October 12 at TLHS was sophisticated and convincing. However, the presenters did not provide full disclosure of the TM program. Repeatedly, they insisted that TM is not a religion. They skillfully dodged specific questions regarding TM instruction, methods and follow up. In the interest of full disclosure of the TM program for TLHS, I offer the following.

I speak from over forty years and three generations’ of family involved with TM. The Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM) is the founding organization to promote TM in the western hemisphere. The TM program promoted to TLHS is presented as non-religious. I beg to differ. TM as originally taught by SRM's spiritual organization is identical to that offered through the David Lynch Foundation.

The Transcendental Meditation community of Fairfield, Iowa is as-if my extended family. The intentions of TM's recruiters are noble, as are those of any True Believer. I harbor no ill will toward individuals in the TM Movement; in fact I love many of them. They truly believe what they present, justifying conscious deception by their belief that recruiting others is ultimately in the others' best interest. TM's presenters at TLHS frequently referenced Maharishi's elementary and high school in Fairfield Iowa. To this day, some graduates of their lauded Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE) request my guidance as they strive to function in the real world, outside of their protected meditation community. Maharishi Schools have been established elsewhere in the world also.

I believe full disclosure is mandatory for programs promoted in our public schools.

Scientific documentation of medical benefits from deep rest grew in the seventies. Between 1970-1972 Robert Keith Wallace, PhD and Herbert Benson, M.D. published landmark scientific studies on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. Benson subsequently separated from Wallace. Benson documented identical benefits experienced through traditional forms of Christian and Jewish prayer. Benson published his “Relaxation Response” method of stress reduction without the mysticism associated with TM. Short structured rest periods provide health benefits.

Evidence suggests that TM may be more than a catnap. Research indicates that TM may trigger a shift in one's psychological and physiological states. Like a prescription medication, this might be beneficial for the right person in the right dosage. Others experience negative results such as anxiety or nervous ‘ticks’. There have been suicides. In 2004 Levi Butler was murdered on the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) campus, Maharishi's deemed center of enlightenment and tranquility.

TM instructors do not screen individuals prior to instruction. TM is presented as the magic bullet to solve all ills for all people.

I understand the good intentions of TM presenters, as well as the scripted timing of their unveiling of information. They knowingly mislead by omission of information. I know this because as a teenager in the 1970’s, I helped introduce Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and Science of Creative Intelligence to two schools. We succeeded introducing the program into Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California in the early 1970's. Their school district later terminated the program.

The TM program experienced exponential growth in the 1960s and 1970s through targeting vulnerable college students with the Students International Meditation Society (SIMS). Most of those early meditators left the organization. TM’s orchestrated resurgence once again targets vulnerable youth, through university and high school campuses. Of the many who begin TM, a few may adopt the full lifestyle.

At October 12th’s presentation, Ramsey repeatedly referred to the “trained TM instructors” who would instruct our youth in TM. Formally, TM instructors are known as Initiators or Governors of the Age of Enlightenment because, according to Maharishi, “they govern in the realm of consciousness.”

When the projected Terra Linda High School students learn TM through a seven-step procedure, the new Initiate will bring an offering of fruit, a white handkerchief and flowers for step #4, a private Initiation ceremony. The Initiator will perform a puja ceremony upon an altar to the deceased "His Divinity Shankaracharya Bramananda Swaraswati of Jyotir Math" otherwise known as Guru Dev, Maharishi’s spiritual master. The Sanskrit puja offers obeisance to Guru Dev, Hindu deities, and a lineage called the Holy Tradition of Spiritual Masters from whence this teaching supposedly descended. According to TM teachings, TM's Initiator is the living embodiment of this ancient spiritual lineage.

What secular stress reduction technique has a Holy Tradition? For this reason, in 1979 New Jersey's Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence are too religious to be taught in the New Jersey public schools, partially because of the puja ceremony required for TM instruction.

During the puja ceremony, the new initiate will hold one flower, quietly observing the Initiator perform the puja ceremony with burning camphor and incense, culminating with a bow to Guru Dev’s altar. With a gentle wave of one arm, the Initiator will invite the new initiate to likewise bow down to Guru Dev.

The new initiate will receive a secret mantra. The mantra is derived from the name of a Hindu deity. This word is never again to be repeated aloud by the meditator. Some common mantras are: Enga, Ema, Ainga, Shiring, Kirim, Sham. There are others. An early step of thought control is to teach one to keep secrets ostensibly for one's own benefit.

During the subsequent three meetings to elaborate upon the TM practice, new initiates will meditate together. In a relaxed semi-trance state, the brain readily absorbs information. The TM teachers will explain Cosmic Consciousness, God Consciousness and Unity Consciousness as evolutionary states of consciousness that can be achieved after long-term practice of TM. The Science of Creative Intelligence and costly TM-Sidhi program will be mentioned as options for advanced training at a later date. According to TM teachings, The TM-Sidhi program provides paranormal powers of invincibility such as friendliness, compassion, inner strength and levitation.

A TM-club could appear to be a positive peer support for those desiring a wholesome lifestyle and to associate with others of common values. For more vulnerable teens, this peer group’s idealism and group dynamics may prove seductive. A percentage of them will likely increase their involvement with programs at the local TM center. TM centers offer advanced meditation programs and residence programs to achieve deeper rest and release of stress along with a community of caring supportive other meditators. As one becomes further involved, he or she will learn life style guidelines to enhance their growth of consciousness. Such lifestyle guidelines include the use of unscientific Maharishi Ayur-Veda medicinals, Ghandarhva Veda music, Maharishi Jyotish astrology, and architectural guidelines for enlightened household construction called Sthapatya Veda. These advanced programs are optional, but highly lauded and encouraged. Coercive persuasion is subtle and slow.

A few may choose to attend Maharishi University of Management to study Vedic Science, or join the Thousand-Headed Purusha or Mother Divine programs –monastic branches of this "non-religious organization." Some may participate in programs, such as the Invincible America Course currently held simultaneously at Maharishi University of Management in Iowa and in Washington, DC, whereby groups of Sidhas (advanced meditators who have learned techniques for achieving paranormal powers) meditate together and also “levitate” together for hours daily. Maharishi teaches that these group meditations provide waves of coherent consciousness throughout the world, to generate world peace.

Group meditations, rather than political activism, would solve global problems. The devout may relocate to Maharishi Vedic City Iowa, where all is orchestrated according to Maharishi's fantastical Laws of Nature, beneath the golden banner for Maharishi's Global Country of World Peace. Purchases in Vedic City are made with their own currency, the The Raam.

Those with more time and money may opt for further expensive and prolonged meditation courses to become Rajas. Golden crowned Rajas are assigned a geographical domain to support consciousness expansion on Earth. Raja "training" costs one million dollars.

There is a history, albeit repressed, of some participants having psychotic breaks and other negative results from prolonged periods of deep meditation on TM sponsored courses.

Alcohol and tobacco come with warning labels. TM lacks a warning label. Full disclosure is imperative when introducing a new program to our public schools.

TM promoters well-intentionedly reveal only stress management information in introductory talks. The more elaborate teachings are carefully hidden in the beginning. They believe that people “are not ready for the full revelation of knowledge. When consciousness has expanded from experiencing the profound bliss of TM, then we slowly reveal more.”

Some may benefit from fifteen – twenty minutes’ daily catnaps. Others may fall sway to a deeper commitment to this method of consciousness expansion. I observed more than my fair share of others’ psychotic breaks, familial destruction and financial devastation by good-hearted people who committed their lives to the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation.

For the students' protection, please consider my family exposure to more than forty years of Transcendental Meditation's global growth as the disclosure label to this program coming to TLHS. In my opinion, if anyone wants to make a fully informed decision to learn TM, then go right ahead. However, I still maintain this does not belong in our public school system.

David Lynch’s sponsorship for Transcendental Meditation is as well intentioned as Tom Cruise’s enthusiastic endorsement of Scientology.

In the interest of full disclosure,

Gina Maria Catena
early Child of the Age of Enlightenment through Transcendental Meditation as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Mother of three TLHS alums
San Rafael, California