Update on Maharishi Vedic Pandits

On January 24, 2014, Hi India, the newspaper serving the South Asian community worldwide, ran a 2-page article on the sorry plight of Maharishi Vedic Pandits residing in a fenced compound in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, U.S.A.

On August 30, 2014, Hi India published a second article about the Vedic Pandits. According to this article, (http://hiindialive.com/missing-pandit-brutally-killed/), despite their January expose, neither the Indian Consul General in Chicago, nor leaders of Chicago's Indian community, nor officials in India have initiated any action to help the Vedic Pandits.

Hi India suggests that after the posting of their first report, the following actions should have been taken, but were not:

- The TM university responsible for the pandits should have invested more resources into improving financial compensation and living conditions for the pandits, rather than into damage-control of their image.

And further, that the Consul-General of India situated in Chicago should have done the following:

- sent someone to the compound to take a first-hand look at the living conditions of the Vedic Pandits.

- raised concern about the passports of the pandits being held as ransom by the sponsoring University, and insisted that the passports be returned to the Consul General’s office, in accordance with Indian policy.

- investigated the plight of the "165 missing pandits." (This was a group of 165 pandits that the TM University drove to Chicago's O'Hare airport after the uprising, in order to send them back home. It was never made totally clear if these Indian men requested their return to India, or if, following the uprising, the University picked out the pandits whom they perceived to be "troublemakers," and forced them to leave. Whichever is the real story, it appears as if instead of boarding their appointed planes back to India, many fled the airport in the sub-zero weather and disappeared.)

- engaged with Chicago police and the local Indian community to locate missing Vedic Pandits who may have been wandering around Chicago.

- lodged a complaint with local police, Immigration officials, other Indian Consulates in the U.S. and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

 - issued a press release about the pandits.

- investigated the recruitment tactics and the contract between Vedic Pandits and their sponsoring university.

- demanded the complete list of Vedic Pandits who arrived, left and are missing from the compound.

- asked for travel and ticket details and matched this information with pandits' arrival (or failure to arrive) at Indian airports.

According to Hi India, the Chicago Consul General failed to do any of these things. The conditions of the pandits at the fenced compound at Maharishi Vedic City remains unmonitored by outsiders. And the "missing pandits," (who speak little English) who fled O'Hare Airport 8 months ago, are unaccounted for.

Well, we finally know the fate of one of those missing pandits. According to Hi India, Ajit Panday, age approximately 23, has been found in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. On August 24, 2014, he was shot to death by an unidentified armed robber at the Big Brother 2 Food Mart in Atlanta, while Ajit was closing up the convenience store for the night.

Ajit was brought to the U.S. by Maharishi University about two years ago. When the University brought him to the airport in January, he apparently snuck out of the air terminal rather than boarding a plane to India. He somehow ended up in Georgia, which is approximately 600 miles (approximately 1000 kilometers) south of Chicago, and entered the underground economy of undocumented workers.

 In their statements, the Indian owners of the convenience store and of the property it stood on shrugged off responsibility for his death, stating that they had cautioned Panday to be careful in the night time.

As for how his countrymen have treated this undocumented man, Panday had been working without pay at the store for more than two months. He worked more than 15 hours per day, 7 days a week. No proper food, sanitation or security was provided in the back room of the store, where Panday lived. The owners claim Panday was a friend who they were helping out by giving him a place to stay, and in return he willingly volunteered his time at the store.  There were insufficient security systems, insufficient security training and insufficient backup at the store.

Ajit Panday's body was still in the mortuary six days after the murder, apparently because his family in India is too poor to ship the remains home. Ajit was the only bread-winner in his family, which consists of a widowed mother and two younger siblings.

The owners of the store state the body is still in the U.S. because the family has failed to give authorization to ship the body.

Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, nephew of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and head of global operations of the sponsoring Maharishi University, said that he could not trace the family, although all the information is available in office records.

Though Ajit is the first casualty that has come to light, there may well be other Maharishi Vedic Pandits being mistreated somewhere in the U.S.  Not to mention those being mistreated in their fenced compound in Maharishi Vedic City in Iowa.

TM-Free Blog has posted several articles about the Vedic Pandits.  Click on any of these titles to see the TM-Free article:  

Triumph of the Incurious: Oprah Visits Fairfield's Pandits 

Pandits in Captivity - Fairfield's Conspiracy of Silence

CPs : Course Participants or Captive Pandits

Invincible Combustion - Pandit residence enflamed

Inside Pandit Compound with Rekha Basu - Des Moines Register

Human Trafficking in Vedic City? 

Missing Pandits

"Pandits for Profit"

Rekha Basu : "There's a little disconnect" in TM Pandit Compound

Pandit Protest or Freedom Cry

Rekha Basu : "There's a little disconnect" in TM Pandit Compound

Rekha Basu states "There's a little disconnect" when pandits for peace threw rocks at a sheriff, during a stealth 6 a.m. operation to remove their leader for an undisclosed reason.

In summary, there needs to be some oversight about this suspicious situation.

Rekha Basu, journalist for the Des Moines Register, explains Vedic City and Pandit compound clearly to non-TMers. In this video interview she reviews the noble purported goals of the TM Movement, the financial and cultural contributions to the larger community, and the pandits' apparent totalitarian controlled living situation :






She provides an excellent overview of the Pandit compound in the video interview and her article "Maharishi Vedic City: Inside the compound with Rekha Basu".

Ms. Basu investigated only the pandit compound. So she understandably made a mistaken assumption in introductory remarks, stating that Vedic City private homes are for faculty of Maharishi University of Management.  In reality, MUM faculty live primarily on campus, because (like the fenced-in pandits) MUM faculty are compensated with room and board and a minimal stipend. The only MUM faculty who live off campus either have an outside income, personal trust funds or married into wealth.

Vedic City private homes are owned by private TM devotees.

The psychological totalitarianism of the TM Movement extends beyond the physical pandit enclosure.

Thank you, Rekha Basu!

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!)

Pandit Protest or Freedom Cry

ABC’s KTVO TV in Iowa March 11, 2014 reported on a “Pandit Riot” that took place at the gate to Vedic City’s pandit compound after TM officials arrived with sheriff support at 0600. They planned to remove one of the compound’s leaders for unspecified disciplinary action and possible return to India :

According to the televised report, dozens of the Indian men who receive $50 monthly stipend (with $150 presumably sent to families in India) surrounded the sheriff’s vehicle, threw rocks and broke a squad car light. The sheriff called for other law reinforcements from Wapello County for support.

The Global Country of World Peace or Vedic City authorities must have suspected some unrest to justify requesting sheriff support to escort this pandit leader away. 

The pandits protested their leader’s departure. Law enforcement officials could not understand words that were shouted in Hindi. News reports do not mention any attempt by law enforcement to understand the pandits.

News reports do not address (lack of) a Hindi interpreter. There is no mention if the shouting men were later provided an objective interpreter or offered impartial legal representation.

Credit goes to the sheriff who avoided escalating an altercation by successfully backing his vehicle away through the unarmed crowd. The sheriff’s office did not press charges since no one knows who assaulted the vehicle. Vedic City agreed to cover costs for the sheriff’s auto repairs.

The sheriff expressed incredulity that these men “held no respect for the law” when they mobbed his vehicle.  

The pandits were escorted back inside their square mile of fenced compound.

TMFree previously posted concerns about the pandits’ captivity in a previous three part series that can be read by clicking here.

The recent “riot" might be a desperate attempt by these caged men to communicate to the outside world. 

One woman interviewed for the televised report stated that these pandits WANT to stay impounded together, rather than return to their family squalor in India. However, if the pandits want to stay impounded, why did 163 of them escape within the last year? Their absence was not reported by the sponsoring TM organization that holds their passports. 

AlJazeera's review of January 27, 2104 “Indian Vedic students go ‘missing’ in the US”  

can be read by clicking here.

Vedi City's pandit situation resembles this animated United Nations’ video about modern human slavery :

These young pandits receive slave wages of room and board plus $50 / month. $150 per pandit is supposedly sent to their families in India. They may spend their $50 at small store in their compound. They rarely leave the compound. Their “job” is to inspire donations from TM True Believers for mystical chants that TM leaders promise will assure good weather, economic prosperity and world peace. For video clips, click here.

If these men want greater rights, they could be desperate enough to vie for attention from law enforcement.

Raja John Hagelin, Maharishi's Raja of North America (aka Dr. John Hagelin in the films “What the Bleep Do We Know” and “The Secret”) Bill Goldstein, spokesman of The Global Country of World Peace, and John Revolinski, an administrator for the pandit campus, said the majority of these pandits began living in TM’s pandit compounds as children. This sounds suspiciously like child trafficking.  See “Students inquire about pandits during forum” by clicking here.

Revolinski referred to the pandits’ group dynamics. He did not discuss the group dynamics of the larger community which colluded to keep these men inside a fenced compound.

Some reports state the pandits have R-1 Visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web Site defines R-1 visas here.  A key excerpt below :

“An R-1 is a foreign national who is coming to the United States temporarily to be employed at least part time (average of at least 20 hours per week) by a non-profit religious organization in the United States (or an organization which is affiliated with the religious denomination in the United States) to work as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation.   …

To qualify, the foreign national must have been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide non-profit religious organization in the United States for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of the petition."

Forgive our confusion. For decades the TM Movement stated they are a non-religious organization. The TM Movement used this non-religious argument to infiltrate public schools and the American Veteran’s administration through the David Lynch Foundation.

Yet, the pandits received visas to work for an “organization which is affiliated with the religious denomination in the United States”. 

TMFree addressed religious aspects of TM many times, for example "Is it a religion, or a dessert topping?"  and "Still "not a religion": Video of puja, the religious ritual central to TM Initiation".

Vedic City issued a TM-speak statement on March 11, 2014 which can be read here, and stated that :

“A very harmonious meeting was held with the entire Pandit group immediately after the incident to discuss what transpired. An internal review of the situation is being conducted with an aim to avoid any such repeat incidents in the future. “  

No investigator had contact with the pandits. Will an outsider speak directly to these men?

How can law enforcement assist the containment of voiceless innocents inside an isolated compound?

Some reports said these men were promised an education and job training. Does chanting for a net of $50 monthly equal a career?

Pandits are human beings whose concerns should be heard. These are not the mute Orca whales whose captivity in San Diego SeaWorld garners press attention through animal activists.

An objective legal investigation into this should be initiated by people outside of Jefferson County, Iowa. Authorities of southeast Iowa already demonstrated both lack of objectivity and collusion with Vedic City through seven years of silence about these men confined to one square mile in a cornfield.

The pandits may have learned that drama attracts attention after fire fighters responded to a small fire in a pandit mobile home on November 8 2013, as reported here.

Another fire on March 3, 2014 was reported here.

If these men are desperately calling for help, they might be succeeding.

Some walls come tumbling down

Updates and summaries of recent newsworthy events for the TM Organization will come shortly.

We at TMFree apologize for delays in keeping our readers updated with the latest.
We maintain this web site in our non-existent spare time, thus are not able to write daily.

Less than 3 weeks ago, we could not keep up with exposing the manipulations funded by David Lynch Foundation's million$, as their promotional machine steam rolled media outlets.

Now we cannot keep up with summarizing the damning publicity coming out against the TMO.

Thanks to the dogged efforts by others who joined the fray,  David Lynch Foundation pulled out of San Francisco Schools last week.

DLF's withdrawal from San Francisco schools coincided with Iowa new articles about a rebellion from the confined so-called pandits.

Infinite appreciation to the many who contributed efforts through armchair activism online!

And thank you for understanding TMFree's delay in posting updates.

Invincible Combustion - Pandit residence enflamed

Fairfield Ledger of March 3, 2014 reported that firefighters responded to a fire within Vedic City’s pandit compound on Sunday afternoon March 2. There were no injuries, but the burning roof of a residential mobile home collapsed and the building was destroyed. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

The original article can be viewed here : Fire destroys residence on pandit campus 

CPs : Course Participants or Captive Pandits

Essay 2 of a 3-part series.
For the first essay in this series on Vedic City's Vedic Pandits, please click here.

Oprah Winfrey’s televised visit to Maharishi Vedic City’s pandit compound provided an opportune excuse for a drive to the pandit compound during my recent visit to Fairfield, Iowa.

Oprah’s pandit visit is summarized in this short video clip : 

As I drive north of Fairfield on Highway One, in less than one mile I follow the highway's directional arrow left on Airport Rd toward Maharishi Vedic City.

Following the arrow due west 2 miles on Airport Rd / 180th Street, I drive through open farmland and pass a few vedic houses, identifiable by uniform east facing entrances with strange roof ornaments, and Fairfield's small airport where Fairfield's TM-wealthy house private airplanes and a leer jet or two. Two miles west of Highway One's turn off, I arrive at an empty country intersection for Jasmine Ave, the beginning of Vedic City.

Turning right, or north, onto Jasmine Ave I pass the turn to a few residences and the flagged Capital building for the Global Country of World Peace whose annual revenue, as a registered non profit agency, is in the range of $19 million,

And the entry sign for Maharishi Vedic Observatory, enhanced with bullet holes to document the sign's dual purpose for both vedic marker and target practice (click on image to enlarge).

I stop briefly at Vedic City's central information desk in The Raj spa which features costly Maharishi Ayurvedic treatments (more about visiting the "Observatory" and "The Raj" in another essay).

Exiting the Raj's tree-lined entry drive,I return to two-lane Jasmine Ave heading north as I pass farmland to my right and a few "Vedic" buildings on the left.

I turn left, or west, onto 170th Avenue’s country road along Vedic City's perimeter. After passing a few Vedic housing developments that are evidently slow on sales, I arrive to the lauded luxury Rukmapura Park Hotel's gravel entry.

Almost directly across from the most elegant hotel of Fairfield or Vedic City lies the fenced "Invincible America Campus", or pandit compound, with rows of white prefabricated buildings capped with golden ornaments, called kalashes, to maximize each building's spiritual energy.

An uniformed visitor could possibly mistake the pandit compound for an agri-business, but not for long.

“Women are not allowed past that fence. Actually, no one is allowed unless they have special permission and an escort. You can stand at the edge of this fence to take photos.” The friendly guard informs me from the simple wooden guardshack at the entrance to Vedic City’s pandit compound only a few miles north of Jefferson County’s courthouse in Fairfield, Iowa.

The guard sits alone or with one other at the fenced compound’s gate, surrounded by otherwise open farmland and a large torquoise sky. Maybe the job is boring or perhaps he enjoys sitting in the quiet countryside and reading.

I’m relieved that the friendly guard in khakis, a light plaid shirt and clip-on security badge is happy to chat. I hope this essay does not jeopardize his emplyment.  

"Since I can’t enter, may I walk along that road between the fences, still outside the pandit compound?" I ask while pointing to the moat-like dirt road separating the compound from the parking lot where we stand.  

"Nope." he responds. "Private property. You can take pictures from this parking lot fence." He extends his arm indicating the fence encircling the small gravel parking area.

I retort with a smile, “But Oprah filmed inside.”

The guard laughs, “But you’re not Oprah.”

"True enough.” I wink and continue, “Maharishi always gave extra benies to the wealthy. It’s about public relations and donations. Too bad I don’t have a zoom lens.”

The guard observes from his small shack while I walk freely in the fenced gravel parking lot, clicking photos with my red point-and-shoot camera across double fences to the pandits .

Pandits play baseball on a seemingly unmarked grass field. 

Three Indians in white gauze kurtas notice me. They walk closer to sit under a tree near the fence, watching the guard talk with me. They remind me of captive animals in a zoo who had watched my children and me from behind fences. I wave. The pandits wave back. 

Two beige former school buses parked beside the drive marked “Residents Only Private Drive” remind me of childrens' summer camp transportation. The guard informs me that buses transport pandits for occasional special performances at Maharishi University's Golden Domes or elsewhere, to return the same day.

Between snapping photos and chatting about the weather, I introduce myself.

“I just saw Oprah’s show and found this fascinating since I used to live here. I graduated from Fairfield High School 1975 as the first 'Ru to graduate from Fairfield High, before MIU began their high school here.

('Ru is slang term awarded by Fairfield residents to the meditators who invaded their town in 1974, shortened from Iowa-accented GuRUuuu. MIU, Maharishi International University, later became MUM, or Maharishi University of Management)

Seeking commonality, the guard names some high school classmates from his graduating class a few years before mine.

After thinking a moment, I respond. “No, I don’t remember them. I only attended FHS for my senior year; that’s when we moved here. You and your friends were out of school by then, so I didn’t meet them. I remember Myron Gookin who is now Iowa's local District Court judge. Myron was either our senior class president or the student body president. I think his family lived on North Main Street at the time, in a meticulous yellow house if I remember correctly. They moved to the other side of town after the 'Rus took over that end of town. I arrived with the first group that came here with MIU from California. My mother was an MIU Student. I fell in love with Iowa, but the old Parsons campus was such a mess!”

“I remember.” he smiles and nods.

We laugh together while sharing memories of 1974's awkward campus BBQ welcoming MIU’s arrival to Fairfield, when skinny vegetarian MIU students refused to eat barbequed pork donated by local farmers. 

I add, “I always loved Iowa. My children were born here. My daughter attended Pence elementary school on the south side of town,” thereby implying that I was not a die-hard 'Ru, since my own children attended a local public school rather than MSAE, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment. "Eventually I couldn't take it and moved away."

The guard nods, then begins to open up. "There are 850 pandits here now. The Movement plans to have 1200 to keep the numbers here up for when dome numbers drop. They keep saying more will arrive soon," referring to Maharishi’s plan for a specified number of (TM-Sidhi) Program participants for the ever-promised "Super Radiance effect"  that would magically create World Peace.

"There are 88 buildings now and expanding." He points to one building with an orange and purple entry, "That's their Durga, or temple. The white entrance by a larger building is the administrative building. The large gymnasium is in back. Another building is the meditation building. All their needs are provided for.” 

He suddenly sounds scripted, “They meditate, have food, study and exercise time. They study Sanskrit and Vedic scriptures. You can see they’re playing baseball now.” He nods to the ball game before us, speaking as though this is normal. "A clinic will be coming to take care of their medical needs." he adds.

“They visit local doctors and the hospital now?” I ask.

“Usually. But there’s a doctor who comes to see them out here sometimes.”

“Have there been cases of tuberculosis or other infectious diseases?”

“I wouldn’t know.” He shrugs.

"I’m in the medical field. It’s good they provide medical care. This is impressive.” 

I wonder if the TM Organization is building a private clinic to avoid alerting public health authoritites, or if the clinic merely provides a cost-saving convenience.

We stand quietly looking at the compound and pandit baseball game for a few minutes in the Iowa sun. Not sure what to say next, “Where does the money come for all this?" I ask.

The guard shrugs, shaking his head,  "I'm not part of the Movement."

He points to his left, behind the guard shack, past open fields to a few rows of distant rectangular yellow buildings. 

"American pandit-types live there. I forgot what they're called."

"Purusha?" I ask,

"Yes. Purusha. Some Mother Divine women live near them. But most of the women are in New York or North Carolina.  Purusha men are sometimes allowed to attend pandit ceremonies. They once allowed a couple of Mother Divine women to attend a pandit ceremony, but apparently it became a scene. Women are too distracting for the pandits. So no more females." After a moment, guard adds, "There's no problem with Purusha men and Mother Divine woman living nearby. "

“I wonder how the pandits controlled themselves when Oprah visited.” I say.

The guard laughs.

After taking my few photos, I thank the guard and drive away, wishing I had better planned my questions.

Stopping briefly along the side the compound to photograph the street sign for "Vedic America Drive", one pandit approaches me. 

A moat-like ditch filled with knee-high prickly weeds deters me from getting close enough to the fence to talk comfortably. I wish I wore different shoes.

I wave “Hello" to the lone pandit.

He returns my greeting.

"It's a beautiful day!" I call to him from the roadside, standing beside my car.

"Yes" he agrees.

"How are you today?"

"Fine."

"How long have you lived here?" 

"One hour," he reponds while wobbling his head side to side, Indian style.

 I realize he does not understand. I speak more slowly.

"How many years you here?"

"Two years." 

"Are you happy?"

"Yes." He wobbles his head.

"May I please take your photo?" I hold up my camera.

"No." he turns to walk away from the fence, then quickly returns. "OK." 

I snap his photo while the guard watches us from his perch.

"I have to go now." We wave good bye.

The third essay in this series may be read here.

Pandits in Captivity - Fairfield's Conspiracy of Silence

Essay 1 of a 3 part series.
Part 2 may be read here.
Part 3 may be read here.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." 

 Edmund Burke (1729-1797) 

Young families and greying baby boomers chat outside popular restaurants on Fairfield's town square, accustomed to ignoring the fact that 850 innocents are trapped in a gated, barb-wired compound outside their town.

Turning to my friend I said "Everything is calm and peaceful. Folks chat and bask in sunshine. Fairfield’s TM community is more integrated and tolerant than in the past. But doesn't anyone question the pandit compound? This reminds me of small town Nazi Germany, when citizens colluded to ignore prison camps only a few miles away."

She responded with parroted remarks that I had heard elsewhere, "I don't feel badly for the pandits. They've been paid. They're sending money home to their families in India - as poor immigrants have done from time immemorial. In Indian culture it's common for one member of a family to sacrifice their entire life to benefit the larger family."

Her verbatim response echoed one of Maharishi’s favorite indoctrination methods - multiple repetitions of nonsense would eventually be accepted as truth.

She continued, "The Movement hired a private guard. The local sheriff didn't feel comfortable recapturing escapees any more." Her calm manner shocked me.

“They have a guard? Some escape? Where do they go?” I asked.

“Of course some escape!” She continued, “Some of those Indians came to see America. They are poor people who took this job. They’re not trained as holy men. They have a work contract to meditate and chant for a couple of years. Their families are supported in India while they are here. The escapees usually show up at a nearby farmhouse asking for help.”

"This is 21st century North America, not ancient India’s indentured servitude." I responded. "Everyone in town knows that a few miles away there are people locked inside a guarded compound surrounded by corn fields. In this country, only prisoners are so constrained. Can this be legal?"

"They have visas." My friend shrugged.

"Who holds their passports? Do they know their rights?" I asked.

After brief hesitation, my friend responded “It’s not my business. I just quietly conduct my life here. I have my own problems.”

I let the conversation drop. My friend has her reasons. So does everyone else.

On Highway One, only two miles north of the entry to Maharishi University of Management, a highway sign points west, towards an otherwise innocuous side road directing to the TM Movement’s incorporated Vedic City, which is governed by mayor Raja Bob Wynne.

The highway sign fails to name the fenced compound, around the back side of Vedic City, that encloses over 800 Indian men. Yet, everyone in Fairfield, Iowa knows about the secluded pandit compound.

The Spiral of Silence Theory may explain why citizens of Jefferson County Iowa, including local attorneys, government and law enforcement officials, avoid public discussion of questionable legalities surrounding the forced containment and minimal compensation for these indentured "Pandits" from India.

"How the Hidden has Power" and "Out of Sight Out of Mind - Making Silence Easy" provide further insight to the social milieu of such silent complacency.


My next post will describe a visit to this fenced Compound.
Click here for essay 2 of this 3 part series.

Triumph of the Incurious: Oprah Visits Fairfield's Pandits

Previously: Oprah Winfrey's Transcendental Meditation episode airs Sunday, and open thread

Update: An Alumni's Response to Oprah's Visit to Maharishi School

Remember when reporters actually practiced something that used to be called "investigative journalism?" When they used to ask embarrassing questions on TV shows like "60 Minutes" and not let go until they got an answer - or, when the subject's silence made it clear they had something to hide?

Yeah, I'm idealizing the way TV used to be, and it's easy to forget that that sort of ambush-style reporting wasn't always the norm. Today, though, there's Oprah and her new series, where something like the reverse is true. An important question gets asked - and it just sort of sails off into thin air, forgotten, while the subject gets to divert the viewer's attention to something else completely innocuous. Perhaps it's just the cost of doing business, when one's remaining career has devolved down to making the rich and famous but utterly bogus look good. Very good.

Maharishi Vedic Pandit barracks. (Google Maps)

In my post over the weekend I mentioned that Oprah's "Next Chapter" episode focusing on Fairfield, Iowa, and Transcendental Meditation might be noteworthy if only because it would be the first time a videographer from the outside world would visit the relatively "mysterious" pandit compound two miles outside of town - a clear manifestation of the religious inner core of the global Transcendental Meditation organization. I'd asked, what kind of spin would the TM movement's spokespeople need to apply, to reframe those images into something innocuous, that wouldn't serve as a complete show-stopper to prospective meditators?

It turns out, no spin is necessary, if the questions never get asked - or, if asked, answers are never pursued.

I am, of course, talking about an episode of a program that was little more than an infomercial for Transcendental Meditation, along with plenty of supporting advertising material and links on the show's own website. The hour was filled with the usual personal testimonials, bracketed by footage provided by the David Lynch Foundation and a documentary filmmaker long associated with the DLF. By the end of the next-to-last segment, the address of the tm.org website was prominently displayed, after most of an hour of Oprah being easily impressed and "shocked" about everyday life in Fairfield, and the idea that both children and adults would take time out of their day for other things besides work.