Another Deception By Maharishi Uncovered?

Another Deception by Maharishi Uncovered? 

"Puja Feeling" as related to the "Purity of the Teaching"

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that this information has been published anywhere on the internet. 


I attended my TM Teacher Training Course (TTC) in 1974.  The course was three months long, and it was a big day for us when we finally started learning the puja (the Hindu ritual of worship that is done by the TM teacher before teaching someone TM.)   Once we started learning the puja, we were getting the real stuff, the esoteric stuff, the secrets that separated us and raised us higher than the average TMer.  So we were told by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  

Mahesh was very strict about us being able to perform the puja properly.  We were tested on it, and to pass the test, we had to memorize everything perfectly.  Mahesh used two phrases a lot: "The Holy Tradition," and "the purity of the Teaching."  

We had already been taught to tell our students that the puja was simply "a traditional ceremony of gratitude," non-religious in nature.  But now we were getting the inside scoop.  According to Mahesh, TM had been practiced in India in the distant past, much to the benefit of Indian individuals and Indian society.  But due to incremental small misinterpretations of the procedure, over time the technique had become lost, and India had therefore become a poor and apathetic nation.  Therefore, now that the correct technique had been rediscovered, it was imperative that TM be taught meticulously, so that the "purity of the teaching" be maintained for as long as possible into the future.  

According to Mahesh, teaching someone TM was not a simple matter of giving them their own particular mantra and teaching them how to use it the TM way.  Rather, instruction required careful preparation by the TM teacher in order to ensure the "purity of the Teaching" as handed down by the Holy Tradition of Masters, and to not dilute the purity of this precious life-giving technique.  Unbeknownst to the student, the TM teacher needs to enter an exalted state of consciousness in order to transmit a subtle spiritual essence that allows the technique to work.  The way to enter that higher state of consciousness was to do the puja as taught on TTC.
 
Mahesh taught us that he was the anointed custodian of TM.  And that he was the ultimate arbiter of the Truth.  TM went back for millenia.  Mahesh passed TM along in its purity by making sure we performed the traditional rite before teaching it.  The puja, exactly as he taught it, was the only means by which the purity of the teaching could remained intact.  Every syllable had to be performed perfectly.  If you didn't do it exactly as Mahesh taught it, your student couldn't learn TM.  If you didn't do it right, your student couldn't do TM properly.  If you didn't do it right, you were compromising the purity of the teaching.  If you didn't do it right, you were putting the future of TM at risk.  If you didn't do it right, you were putting the future of the earth at risk.      

Therefore on our TTC in 1974, we labored to memorize the component parts of this venerable ancient puja.  We had to have all components down letter-perfect in order to pass the final exam to become a TM teacher.

Fast forward 35 years.  A few years ago, Sudarsha (a fellow co-contributor to TM-Free,) was telling me about his 1970 TTC.  On his course, there were 3 (three) components to Mahesh's  puja.  


But on my 1974 TTC, there were 4 (four) components.

Oh.

So much for Mahesh's life-shaking claims.
  
To me, this is just one more deception in the long list of lies Mahesh told us.  To me, it is just one more disappointing piece of evidence of Mahesh's frequent modus operandi: be dishonest when it suits your purpose. 

Here are the three components Sudarsha learned:

(1)  "Puja Movements:"  how to hold the flowers, how to place the offerings on the altar before the painting of Maharishi's guru, etc.,
(2)  "Puja Pronunciation:" how to pronounce the Sanskrit properly.  (The entire 11-minute ritual is in Sanskrit), and
(3)  "Puja Translation:" what the puja means in English.

The fourth component, the additional one my TTC learned, was called "Puja Feeling."  This was the emotions the initiator was encouraged to feel while performing certain portions of the puja.

To the best of my knowledge, the complete "Puja Feeling" has never before appeared on the internet anywhere.  I haven't found it on any of the other websites skeptical of T.M. (You can find those websites listed on the right hand column on this page). 

So for your edification, I will quote the relevant Sanskrit puja passages.  After that, their English translation.  And then, the "Puja Feeling." 

My great thanks go to minet.org and to trancenet.org at the link  www.onwww.net/trancenet.org/secrets/puja/tradt.shtml for providing the Sanskrit and English portions.  I take responsibility for changes in punctuation that I have made for increased clarity. 

Sanskrit:

"...AVAHANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 

ASANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
SNANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
VASTRAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
CHANDANAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
AKSHATAN SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
PUSHPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
DHUPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
DIPAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
NAIVEDYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
TAMBULAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
SHRI PHALAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 

ARARTIKYAM.... 

 ...ARARTIKYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
ACHAMANIYAM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH. 
PUSHPANJALIM.... 

 ...PUSHPANJALIM SAMARPAYAMI SHRI GURU CHARANA KAMALEBHYO NAMAH." 

 English Translation:

"...Offering the invocation to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a seat to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering an ablution to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering cloth to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering sandalpaste to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering full rice to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a flower to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering incense to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering light to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering fruit to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a betel leaf to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a coconut to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering camphor light....
...Offering camphor light to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering water to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down.
Offering a handful of flowers....
...Offering a handful of flowers to the lotus feet of SHRI GURU DEV, I bow down."

"Puja Feeling," (1974, with 1974 explanatory notes):

 -- Upon saying the line that starts with "Avahanam," and while placing that offering 

(or its symbolic equivalent, raw rice grains) upon the altar, feel the following: 

"I feel the upsurge of purifying waves of knowledge."

Explanation:  This offering of the invocation to the great Masters of the Holy 

Tradition brings a lively awareness of eternal wisdom. 

-- Upon saying the line that starts with "Asanam," and while placing that offering 

(or its symbolic equivalent) upon the altar, feel the following:

"I am realizing the ideal of yogastah kuru karmani." [Note from Laurie:  Maharishi 

told us that"yogastah kuru karmani" translated as "Established in Being, perform 

action."] 

Explanation:  This offering symbolizes the immovable seat of life in Being.  In 

offering this seat we feel stablized in the immovability of Being.  Offerings on 

this firm basis are actions to fulfil cosmic purpose.

-- Upon saying the line that..."Snanam,"...

"I feel the joy of standing in the cosmic waters of pure consciousness."

Explanation:  This offering of an ablution symbolises the refreshing omnipresence of

Pure Consciousness.

-- Upon saying the line that..."Vastram,"...

"I am secure in the Omnipresence of Being."

Explanation:  This offering of cloth symbolizes the garment of all-pervading Being.

-- Upon saying..."Chandanam,"...

"I am refreshed by the tranquility of the Transcendent."

Explanation:  This offering of sandalpaste spreads some pleasant cooling influence 

in the atmosphere.

-- Upon..."Akshatan"...

"I feel the wholeness of individual awareness."

Explanation:  This offering of full rice symbolizes the fullness of eternal life.

-- Upon..."Pushpam"...

"I feel the blossoming of inner Being."

Explanation:  This offering of a flower symbolizes the full bloom of life.

-- Upon..."Dupam"...

"I feel a pleasant wave of inner and outer purity."

Explanation:  This offering of incense symbolizes the sweet fragrance of purity.

-- Upon..."Dipam"...

"I feel the light of life, Pure Consciousness, illuminating everything."

Explanation:  This offering of light brings the light of wisdom to dispel all 

ignorance.

--Upon..."Achmaniyam,"... (before "Naivedyam")

"I feel the support of the waves of bliss."

Explanation:  This offering of water softens the atmosphere.

-- Upon...."Naivedyam"...

"I feel fulfilled in the plentiful life."

Explanation:  This offering of fruit symbolizes the state of fulfillment.

-- Upon..."Achmaniyam"... (said after "Naivedyam")

"I feel the flow of fulfillment in the omnipresence of Being."

Explanation:  This offering of water brings the flow of life in fulfillment.

-- Upon..."Tambulam"...

"I feel everywhere the cleansing and purifying influence at the source of speech."

Explanation:  This offering of a betel leaf brings freshness, purifying the abode 

of speech.

-- Upon..."Shri phalam"...

"I feel the fullness of life welling up."

Explanation:  This offering of the complete fruit [the coconut - Laurie] represents

the fullness of life, unmanifested and manifest.  The entire field of manifest life 

(gross, subtle and subtlest) is represented respectively by the husk or outer

covering, the kernel or meat of the fruit, and the milk or inner essence.  The 

transcendental value of life is symbolized by the self-contained unmanifest space 

within.

-- "Arartikyam."

(Offering a camphor frame)

-- Upon..."Achmaniyam"... (after "Arartikyam")

"I feel the flow of fulfillment in the light of Being."

-- "Pushpanjalim."  (first)

(Offering a handful of flowers)

Explanation:  This offering of a handful of flowers is the offering of the full 

bloom of life which has arisen from the offering of light.

-- Upon..."Pushpanjalim"...  (second)

"I feel oneness with the Omnipresent."

Explanation:  This offering of a handful of flowers symbolizes the surrender of the 

fully blossomed heart and mind in all the glories of the Relative and the Absolute. 

 I hope this newly available information is helpful.  Individuals and websites are welcome to 

use this information, with proper attribution. 

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?

The Charisma of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Founder of Transcendental Meditation

About a month ago, I attended a 2-hour workshop on healing through movement. After this brief workshop, I wanted to immediately buy the presenter's book, take his classes, do home practice off his audiotapes, immerse myself in his technique and philosophy, and become a true believer, practitioner and follower.

I had to shake myself awake! It was only because of my years in recovery from TM that I so quickly recognized that I was thinking irrationality. Why would I become a "true believer" after only 2 hours?

I picked apart my reactions, and realized that what I had been reacting to had been the teacher's "charismatic" presentation. Here is what he did that won me over:

1. He appears absolutely sure of the truth of his knowledge.

2. His teaching encompassed sweeping areas of life (health, biology, movement, evolution, physiology, healing, the brain).

3. His teaching was internally consistent.

4. He promised us great things.
(fluidity of movement, no more aches and pains, healing of chronic injuries).

5. He backed up his promises both with fascinating anecdotes and with quotes from science.

6. He appeared knowledgeable about his competitors' products, and discredited them in a way both loving and condescending.

7. His teaching was original and off the beaten track.

8. His personality was attractive (a happy, warm man.)

9. He promised his technique would give me exactly what I longed for (relief from chronic pain and healthy aging.)

Put this all together, and it was so easy to take the internal steps from, "How nice if this were true," to "Wow, there is some evidence that this is true," to "This must be true. How lucky I am to have found it!"

Upon reflection, I could see how closely this brief experience paralleled my experience with Maharishi. Each of the qualities I experienced in this exercise teacher, I also experienced 40 years earlier in Maharishi:

1. Maharishi seemed absolutely convinced of the truth of his knowledge. No gray areas.

2. Maharishi's teachings encompassed physical, mental, emotional, social, financial, governmental, educational, philosophical and spiritual regeneration.

3. His teachings were internally consistent. (If you didn't dig too deep.)

4. He promised great things for us: enlightenment, having the support of nature and inner peace; and later he also promised us perfect health, immortality, and world peace.

5. He backed up his promises with endless fascinating anecdotes of people who he said had benefited from TM, as well as appeals based on scientific research.

6. He described what he said were the different types of meditations, and explained why his meditation technique was superior. He quoted scientific research to back it up.

7. His teaching was original and off the beaten track.

8. His personality was attractive (joyous, bubbly, happy).

9. He promised that his technique would give me exactly what I personally longed for (peace of mind, self-esteem.)

So it wasn't surprising that at the naive age of 19, I fell under the sway of Maharishi and his teachings.

What were your experiences of the persuasive powers of Maharishi?

As long as I'm talking about Maharishi's public appeal, I wanted to comment on Maharishi's physical appearance. It's ironic that TM teachers became known for looking "corporate" (business suits, clean shaven, etc.), - Maharishi had a strict dress code - because in fact, Maharishi looked like the quintessential "flower child." He had the long hair, flowing beard , beads, carried a flower, sandals or bare feet, sat cross-legged, talked about love. In fact, his only lapse was wearing a dhoti instead of blue jeans and a tie-dyed shirt! Which came first - Maharishi, with flower children emulating him? Or flower children, with Maharishi imitating them?

Questioning my real motives – why did I start TM, why did I leave

I have taken a couple of comments from other sections of this Blog to set up this new thread where, if anyone wishes, s/he may talk about the why’s of starting TM and, if it is the case, the why’s of deciding to leave either the whole TMO shtick or just TM or meditation altogether … and, should anyone wish, to discuss what s/he is doing now, whether some other school of meditation, some other yogic practice or other religious pursuit.

It might also be useful if people could tell us how they feel now in relation to how they remember feeling when they were doing TM/TMSP.

Here follows comments previously made:

---

Seeker noted I’m beginning to question my real motives for being here -

I’d like to know more about everyone’s feelings of “motives” for being here. I’ll start: I thought, believed, deeply, personally felt devotion to Mahesh because I thought (on the basis of almost no experience of any kind) that I had found something precious, monumental, real and lasting. This, as it happens, turned out to be false. It simply is not so. Thank you, Vaj, for clarifying this, above, for exactly what it is in a far better writing fashion than my own poor powers of explication could ever manage.

So I forgot about TM and all things Maheshism for a long time and went in search of more and clearer experience and understanding.

Then, as one does, I sort of re-discovered TM and things Maheshistic via John’s excellent Trancenet and, as things are so oft want to do, one thing led to another and here’s TM-Free Blog where I am finding out more and more about how disappointing TM/Maheshism has been for people who didn’t find wearing “transcendental” (ought I to have said vedic ?) blinders all that satisfactory.

When Mahesh said he made his mind like Guru Dev’s, I cannot now help but consider that, like a politician, he was actually saying, I figured out how to stay on his good side, how to manipulate him and his surroundings. When I hear Mahesh sayI could adjust his table, aside from wondering why he talked like an idiot, I now understand him to be saying, not unlike a politician, I wanted to get into his room and snoop around.

When I read Paul Mason’s excellent material on Guru Dev, I read about a truly committed individual who was willing to give up everything in his search for something transcendent to the materialistic and “gotta have” world of the flesh — and actually found something that permeated his every word and action. Obviously I only know what I read; I wasn’t present in the Ashram to see how he treated Mahesh who bitched that Guru Dev had been very hard on him and he wowed (why couldn’t the man pronounce his v’s ???) he’d never be as hard on any of his disciples as Guru Dev had been on him. What is the real message there? He got caught again and again trying to manipulate others, to gain personal favours????

The people I knew in India who had attended Guru Dev’s public talks and even been a bit closer to Guru Dev than that were profoundly moved by Guru Dev’s presence and his teachings. They also knew/remembered Mahesh from those days but would absolutely not talk about him. While reasons for this are many and varied, I cannot help but consider that, although Mahesh said he made his mind like Guru Dev’s, the disparity between the two men was blatant, patently noticeable and not at all what Mahesh let us believe.

Aside from sharing my own experiences of Mahesh who liked to tell the truth (“the actor can play god better than god”) and hide his motives in plain sight (“I knew something that would make all the people happy”*), I have found everyone’s contribution to this Blog insightful with respect to clarifying my own experiences of Mahesh and his very, very watered down teachings (yep, Hinduism light, Hinduism for people who’ll believe anything I tell them).

There’s more out there. There are deeper experiences of profound rest and profound wakefulness; there are meaningful teachings out there that exist only for the purpose of helping the individual find her or his own transcendent reality.

____________

* and I knew I could get them to pay a fancy price for it, too

Sudarsha | 06.22.09 - 4:46 pm | #

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Sudarsha, why don’t you start the thread (but not open...give it a title) and use your comment above as the introductory article? Then it can be archived so that we can find it to remind ourselves of why we are here. Also, comments with regard to this won’t steer our attention away from this article under which they now appear...did that make any sense? It’s just a suggestion and I certainly have a few things that I’d like to contribute.

Seeker | 06.22.09 - 5:21 pm | #

---

Here’s my 2 rupees (typed while eating lunch at my computer.) Sudarsha, yes, please --- open a thread. Our individual motives here have been questioned more than a time or two (as in “Get a life!” type remarks) by some drop-in TMO-TBers. Let’s open a specific thread on the topic so that they can really have something to chew on!

Karina | 06.22.09 - 5:35 pm | #

---

Exellent idea Sudarsha! I was 19 years old when I met MMY, followed him for a couple of years in Europe and “initiated” more than 1000 in a few years and walked away when the powerprogram of siddhis were introduced 1976. Married the most beautiful initiator, had 3 children, had our sex, redwine, meat and holidays. We both live professional lifes in our chosen fields, trying to help fellow humans in trouble to the best of our abilities. Now, children away, and once more we go to India several times a year.... because we are having a good time. Really no problem with TM, Guru Dev or even MMY but BIG problem with organisations. They are like cancer, necrotizising from within...sending out their metastasis in many directions.

I am here at intervals simply because I love the truth... that is my definition of a seeker, might be a side effect of meditating on a Saraswati bijmantra for many years... who knows?, and is spirituality not never to be caught in a static web? That is at least my beliefsystem for the time being. As the danish mystic Emanuel Sörensen alias Sunyata puts it:

Emanuel was a simple man from Denmark.

“I did not belong to any cliques or creed.

I was not attracted to their magnetism.

What words will you use, when you, walking the

path alone, meet crossroad souls?

This Lion spontaneously

roared out his own Wu! language.

I am not alone! he would proclaim... I am all-one!

Joyous ease, innerstanding, delightful uncertainty, affectionate detachment.

Emanuel´s words are easy to innerstand”

However, I had my ups and downs and sadnesses, will properbly have in the future, and I love to hear how you are all doing!

Bjarne Hansen | 06.23.09 - 4:09 am | #