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.

UFOs & Enlightenment

Tons of my cult counseling clients, as well as commenters here, ask similar questions: "I had X experience. Was it valid? Where did it come from? Was it spiritual?

Some experiences reported to me (paraphrased to conceal identities):

• "During puja on Teacher Training, I saw Guru Dev in the room."


• "I witness sleep. Nothing much happens, I just am aware all night."


• "Sometimes I suddenly wake up inside — even though I know I'm still sleep. It seems like I sit up, but when I look back, I see myself still sleeping. I can't move my body, but my 'spirit' floats around the room and I can look down from that point of view."


• "Once on Teacher Training, shortly after we were given the TM-Sidhis, I was in an elevator with a fellow CP (course participant). All at once, I felt like I was going to lift off. There was energy tingling in my back, spreading out to my whole body. I looked at [the other guy] and I exclaimed, 'You're so beautiful!'" His face was ringed in flames. I felt a pressure growing in my forehead. Suddenly, it felt like a beam or ray shot out of my forehead at [my course mate]. He fell down! It seemed like the beam knocked him down. I felt like he and I were the same person. I couldn't tell if I was located in my body or his. I felt I could read his mind. This only lasted a minute or two, but for the rest of the evening it seemed like I was aware of him, wherever he was. I couldn't read his mind, but it seemed like I could tell what he was feeling. [My course mate] told me later that it seemed like he was knocked down by a force. He, too, felt like he could read my mind for a little while." (My personal experience.)


• "One time when I was working as a receptionist, my boss came to complain about something I did. All of a sudden her face was filled with flowing flames — faint, but quite visible. It felt like the room was rushing into me. But her face floated before me. I must have looked weird because she asked me if I was alright."


• "I dreamed of Patanjali. It wasn't like dreaming. It was real. He was in my bedroom explaining the Sutras to me. When I woke up, I felt wonderful. Like I knew secrets. My heart area was warm and tingly all day."


• "I feel wild, rushing energy in my body sometimes. It's so intense, it almost hurts. It's like I'm having a full-body orgasm. It starts in my spine and spreads out through my whole body."


• "I witness activity. I feel almost like there's two of me. There's the guy who's very present in the Relative, but I have the sense of another me, in the Absolute, who's just watching everything and everybody. And he's pretty amused by it all."
  

Frequently the next question they ask is, "Does that mean TM is real? It really works?"

I've heard dozens and dozens of similar stories. For years I've told people that I'm not in a position to judge these experiences. I'm not here to say that they aren't valid spiritual experiences. Nor am I certain they are.

If they have special meaning for you, cherish them.

There are possible explanations for them, however. Explanations that make sense from a rational, Western viewpoint. The visions may be sleep paralysis, mixed with hypnopompic or hypnagogic hallucinations ("waking dreams" experienced by millions who have never done Transcendental Meditation). After all, TTC pujas took place in warm, incensed-filled rooms, where we chanted Sanskrit softly. It wouldn't be outside the realm of reason for someone to fall into a dream that seemed real (a common experience for narcoleptics).

And visions are common for people meditating for hours a day. Zen, Tibetan Buddhist, and other meditators report these. It's possible that meditating so much makes one subject to dropping into REM states spontaneously — in which one could dream whatever is preoccupying your waking states the most. Which could be devotional or spiritual visions if you are watching 8 hours a day of the Maharishi talk about such things.

As to witnessing while awake, Western psychology has long described derealization and depersonalization experiences that can be encouraged by dissociation — at least one effect of meditation (trance).

But explaining these experiences rationally very rarely seems to satisfy my clients. What they are overwhelmed by is the "specialness" and reality of the experiences.

Like the Maharishi, I suggest they not get hung up on unusual experiences. (He couldn't have been wrong about everything!) Don't consider them to be proof that TM works — or that they are special people because they had them.

UFOs do exist. They are unidentified flying objects — nothing more. That doesn't mean that the are from another planet. We just don't know what they are.

Likewise, I'm of the opinion that we just don't know what these experiences are. Anyway, are weird hallucinatory experiences spiritual? Maybe they are just what they are. Weird and unexplained.

I have my own questions: Do these experiences improve our lives? Do they make us better persons? Love God more? Treat our fellows with more respect? Do our jobs better?

In all the spiritual traditions that I'm aware of, those are the hallmarks of increased spirituality. Everything else just may be weird fireworks.

John M. Knapp, LMSW
http://KnappFamilyCounseling.com/

David B Asks a Question about "Witnessing Sleep"

David B submitted this question July 12, looking for feedback from readers here. Please consider posting a comment below with your insights and experience for David. Other readers with questions or posts they'd like to submit to readers can contact me directly at jmknapp53@gmail.com.

---

'I've just been looking at your 'remains of ignorance' piece, in which you talk about possible memory problems as a result of extended practise of TM.

I wrecked a lot of printing plates at Rheinweiler, because of lack of focus. Fatigue might have had as much to do with it as over meditating, though. we once worked 54 hours out of 60, to get a publication to the airport a minute before the plane to India left.

But to the point!

There seem to be be quite a lot of pretty hard core escapees on your blog, and I'm wondering if any of them had any similar experiences to mine.

If I recall correctly, I didn't have any sleep paralysis experiences before I went to Rheinweiler, and had the heavy duty rounding and work programme that being in Rheinweiler involved at the time.

While there, I started having experiences of being awake while sleeping, so to speak, which I associated, as one does, with 'something good is happening'. 'Like, wow, i'm witnessing sleep! that is a sign I'm really making progress' was my first response.

However, these experiences were also rather disquieting. Feeling unable to breath. Sensations of heavy weights on chest and stomach area. Sensation of some entity trying to gain ingress into my body through the stomach area.

I now know that these are classic sleep paralysis symptoms.

I didn't then.

I mentioned it to a few people.

The Rheinweiler rationale was on the lines of 'Rakshashas are trying to intervene with our noble work of bringing enlightenment to everyone'.

At that point I was so far down the Rabbit Hole, as Joe puts it, that I used that as a working hypothesis.

More evidence that I was doing good in the world by committing myself to the movement.

I'm very curious to know if the onset, or exacerpation, of sleep paralysis experiences was a common occurence in heavy rounding.

Since leaving Rheinweiler, and as time has gone on since stopping meditation, these experiences have become increasingly rare, and it must now be more than a year since the last one.

At one time in my life, though, they were pretty common experiences. A couple of times a week, occasionally more, as I recall, at Rheinweiler. Every few weeks after getting away from the core of the movement, once or twice a year over the last 10 years.

There's no place in your blog to open a topic, so I wonder if you could pose the question of whether sleep paralysis can be a side effect of meditation to those present.

If so, feel free to quote this mail,

David B