Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi University & David Lynch Foundation recruited Bill Clinton to address Native American Conference on TM

Last weekend Maharishi University of Management held a conference on Native American Sustainability and Invincibility, in the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge, with an opening video address by former President Bill Clinton.

Perhaps the David Lynch Foundation (DLF) is finding challenges to introduce Transcendental Meditation into America's public schools? By targeting the vulnerable Native American communities, the DLF continues fundraising, providing funds directly to Transcendental Meditation Organizations for spreading Transcendental Meditation and recruitment to the TM Movement.

Former President Bill Clinton provided a video recorded opening address to this publicized Native American conference.

Former President Clinton's talk discussed various Native American problems and the need to increase access to programs to ameliorate their plight of poverty, educational access and health care challenges of Native Americans.

Bill Clinton's address did NOT mention Transcendental Meditation nor Maharishi!


One wonders if Clinton was fully informed of the true nature of this conference?
Did Clinton's aides miss the fact that this is merely a cult front organization for TM publicity and recruitment?

For those who care to inform Clinton that he just participated in an event for a cult-front organization, here's the link to the Clinton Foundation's contact information.

Interesting aside, Hilary Clinton had purposely removed Fairfield, Iowa from her campaign trail thrice during the Iowa caucus. Perhaps Bill's aides should have consulted with Hilary's aides?

A Wall Street Journal article described both Hilary Clinton's cancellations and President Obama's campaign visit to the Guru town of Fairfield, Iowa. Obama's campaign stop in Fairfield included an appropriately Vastu-Vedic east-facing podium and interview on Dennis Raimondi's radio talk show "Speaking Freely with Dennis" (both Raimondi and Obama are Harvard alums).

Unlike Bill Clinton's video address inside the Maharishi-Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowlege, Obama & other campaigning candidates had avoided activities directly associated with Maharishi University of Management.

Please contact Former President Bill Clinton's office and express your concern about his (probably inadvertent) participation in a cult promotional effort.

Addendum added on 9/30/2009 for input from Mike Doughney (he doesn't have time to comment on the blog right now):

Former presidents make their living collecting ridiculous speaking fees. It seems to me that, very little has any effect on what groups former presidents will or will not speak to. Bush 1 has physically spoken before various Moon front groups a number of times over the years. Gerald Ford was used as validation of a controversial Christian youth organization (see the article I co-wrote at barf.org for details on that one). Clinton is doing more of the same. As far as he knows or cares David Lynch's organization asked him to speak on "sustainability" and I doubt he would care that the same organization pushes TM or anything else.

I would use this incident differently, in that it shows that an organization whose core beliefs are completely wacko and destructive has fronts that can appear to be completely legit - to the point of getting Bill Clinton's name associated with them. And then use that to talk about how the inner doctrine and what the organization actually promotes (Vedic supremacy at its core) shouldn't be endorsed by anybody, no matter what Clinton happens to be doing to earn a living.

Show me the Money

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

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

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

The site states:

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

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

-and-

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

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

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

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


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

MUM plans to start medical school

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

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

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

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

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