Transcendental Meditation movement

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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement

The "Transcendental Meditation movement" (also "Maharishi's worldwide movement" and previously as “World Government”[1]) is a spiritual movement regarded by many outside observers as a new religious movement, sometimes as a "Neo-Hindu" sect. TM was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi beginning in the 1950s, including various programs and organizations developed or inspired by the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) introduced by the founder.[2][3] Besides the TM technique proper, the TM movement also advocates the "advanced" TM-Sidhi program including "Yogic flying", Maharishi Vedic Science, Maharishi Vedic Medicine and Maharishi Sthapatya Veda.

The movement is estimated to have tens of thousands of participants, with high estimates citing as many as several million.[4] The global organisation consists of close to 1000 TM centers, controlling property assets of the order of USD 3.5 billion (1998 estimate).[5] Certain TM Movement organizations have obtained tax exempt status; others have had tax exempt status denied.

The movement has made unsuccessful attempts to attain political influence during the early 2000s, by means of participation of its Natural Law Party in elections in various democracies, and by means of trying to attain sovereignty as a microstate for its Global Country of World Peace.

The TM movement has been characterized as a religion, a cult, a charismatic movement, a "Sect", "plastic export Hinduism", a progressive millenialism organization and a "multinational, capitalist, Vedantic Export Religion" in books and the main stream press,[6][7] with concerns that the movement was being run to promote the Maharishi's personal interests.[8]

Advocates for the Transcendental Meditation technique and other teachings of the TM movment assert that TM is not a religion, but a meditation technique; and they hold that the TM movement is a spiritual organization, but not a religious one. Participation in TM programs at any level does not require one to hold or deny any specific religious beliefs; TM is practiced by people of many diverse religious affiliations, as well as atheists and agnostics.

Contents

[edit] Participants

In 1977, the Los Angeles Times reported that the movement said there were 394 TM centers in the U.S., that about half of the 8,000 trained TM teachers were still active, and that one million Americans had been taught the technique.[9]

The movement reached its peak in the 1970s after which it began losing followers who were put off by Yogic flying, a technique in which practitioners claim they can levitate. [10]

There are no reliable estimates of the number of TM practitioners. Low estimates give numbers in the tens of thousands, while high estimates in the 1990s gave numbers as high as three million. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 2000s reportedly claimed to have five million followers.[11]

As of 1998, the country with the largest percentage of TM practitioners is Israel, where 50,000 people have learned the technique since its introduction in the 1960s, according to observers and people within the movement.[12]

In 2008, the Belfast Telegraph reported an estimated 200,000 Britons practice TM.[13]

[edit] Connection to Hinduism

The TM movement claims to have roots in Yoga, specifically in the Raja Yoga as taught by Patanjali. TM has introduced to the West the "scientistic version of Hinduism" developed in late 19th century Hindu revivalism by Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and others, i.e. the idea that "the Vedas are simply another name for science".[14]

TM has been described in terms of being a "Neo-Hindu" adaptation of classical Vedantic Hinduism, [15] and it is listed as "Neo-Hindu" along with the Self-Realization Fellowship, the Sathya Sai Organization, ISKCON and Siddha Yoga by Neusner (2009),[16] although other authors maintain that it retains "only shallow connections" to Hinduism.[17]

[edit] History

Roy Wallis in 1984 expanding on three categories identified by Eric Woodrum in 1977, identified four phases in the development of the Transcendental Meditation Movement. The first, "Spiritual-Mystical Period", from 1959 to 1965, identified Transcendental Meditation as the primary component of a holistic approach to spiritual evolution, detachment from the material world and the achievement of nirvana. The second, "Voguish, Self-Sufficiency Period", from 1966 to 1969, saw a rapid expansion of the Movement through identification with the counter-culture, and a significant modification of the prior Hindu understanding of the goals and effects of Transcendental Meditation. During the third phase, from 1970 through 1977, the "Secularized, Popular Religious Phase", the Movement identified practical, material and social benefits of TM, with virtually no references to non-worldly considerations. Wallis writes that this de-emphasis of religious rhetoric and style, except among its inner core of followers, was acknowledge by former TM Movement official Robert McCutcheon. Since the late 1970s, however, the Movement has reversed course, introducing programs such as TM-Sidhi, which are claimed to enable its practitioners to exercise occult powers.[18] Similarly, in Gurus in America, Cynthia Humes characterizes the Movement as meandering from a "plastic export Hinduism" to a nondevotional meditation method marketed as a "scientific technique", and then back to a "multinational, capitalist, Vedantic Export Religion" zig-zagging back and forth, depending on the receptivity of the target audience.[19]

[edit] 1960s

In 1960, the Maharishi founded the International Meditation Society (IMS) and trained his first Transcendental Meditation teacher, Henry Nyburg of England.[20][21][22]

The first international Teacher Training Course was held near Rishikesh, India, in 1961, to train teachers of Transcendental Meditation. Over 60 meditators from India, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Britain, Malaya, Norway, the United States, Australia, Greece, Italy and the West Indies attended the course.[23] Teachers continued to be trained as time progressed.[24] The Maharishi appeared on BBC television and gave a lecture to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[25]

In 1965, the Students International Meditation Society (SIMS) was incorporated and continues to function in some countries including the U.S.A.[26][27] Another organization created to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique was the American Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence (AFSCI), which catered to businessmen.[28] TM courses at AT&T, General Foods, Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Chicago, and the Crocker National Bank of San Francisco were sponsored by AFSCI.[28]

The brief association of the Maharishi with The Beatles in 1967 to 1968 was of tremendous consequence for the movement. Following the Beatles, celebrities rushed to be associated with the Maharishi. In 1968 Maharishi announced that he would withdraw from public activity and began training meditators at his global headquarters in Seelisberg, Switzerland, who would take over the teaching of the technique.[citation needed]

[edit] 1970s to 1980s

In 1972 in Mallorca, Spain, the Maharishi announced his World Plan to establish one Transcendental Meditation teaching center for each million of the world's population.[29]

In 1975, TM meditator Merv Griffin invited the Maharishi to appear on his talk show, thereby aiding Transcendental Meditation in becoming a "full blown craze" during that era (according to Time Magazine) and eventually becoming a global phenomenon with centers in some 130 countries.[28][30][31][32] Maharishi appeared on the Merv Griffin Show again in 1977.

The success of the TM movement following its association with the Beatles resulted in immense personal wealth for the Maharishi, who made a number of fortunate property investments with the funds he amassed. In England, he bought Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, Roydon Hall in Maidstone, Swythamley Park in the Peak District and a Georgian rectory in Suffolk, and his income was reported at six million GBP per year.[year needed][5]

The Maharishi from the mid 1970s began to target business professionals, adapting his message to promise "increased creativity and flexibility, increased productivity, improved job satisfaction, improved relations with supervisors and co-workers". His TM movement came to be increasingly structured along the lines of a multinational corporation. The foundation of the Maharishi International University in 1974 falls into this period.

The TM movement throughout the 1970s and 1980s began to shed its identity as part of the hippie counterculture, making incursions into the US American cultural mainstream. A Gallup Poll conducted in August 1976 reported that four percent (4%) of those Americans questioned had engaged in TM.[33] The average number of people learning TM peaked at approximately 40,000 per month in 1975, but dropped to approximately 3,000 in November 1977.[34] [35][36] The Maharishi's efforts to achieve mainstream acceptance of his techniques as science and to establish Transcendental Meditation through public schools, prisons and the workplace with government funding were severely impacted by the decision of the US court in 1977 declaring the movement to be religious, and the teaching of TM in the New Jersey schools in breach of the First Amendmentseparation of church and state.

At the same time, the movement directed itself inward, offering additional products and practices to its committed practitioners and requiring numerous commitments beyond Transcendental Meditation alone to continue on the path to enlightenment.[19] After new-member recruitment collapsed, the movement increasingly emphasized unusual supernatural compensators, and tensions within the movement increased rather than membership, because most dedicated movement members were TM teachers, whose financial and social status depended on a flow of new students, which had stopped.[34] During this period, the Movement began making increasingly outlandish claims about the powers of TM, including the reduction of crime by the practice of "Yogic flying". Many, including Charlie Lutz, former President of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, saw the introduction of TM-Sidhi and other "advanced techniques" as a financial ploy to increase income in the wake of declining public interest in TM.[37] During the 1980s, the movement came under increased scrutiny due to accusations of fraud and pseudo-scientific deception.[5]

In 1984, about 1,200 members of the movement moved into Manila at the invitation of Ferdinand Marcos, the President of the Philippines. They named him the president and founding father of the Unified Field Based Civilization. Marcos praised Maharishi's plan to use the Philippines as the base for "this new kingdom of enlightenment" and, in a public ceremony, rang the "Maharishi bell".[38] Imelda Marcos was given the "crown of consciousness of the royal order of the age of enlightenment".[39] The members rented an entire floor of Manila's finest hotel along with hundreds of rooms in other hotels. They bought a large but financially troubled university, the University of the East, for $1 million, leading to a boycott by students and attacks on the Maharishi as an imperialist.[40] A government cabinet member reported that an investigation had found that the movement members had deposited millions of dollars in Philippine bank accounts and were negotiating to buy several more colleges and universities in the area, plus hotels and other buildings. Posters promoting the benefits of Transcendental Meditation were posted across the city and the members spread out across the city to promote the technique, leading to a response from Catholic Cardinal Jaime Sin. The movement took responsibility for the lack of violence at a large anti-government rally protesting the assassination of Benigno Aquino, but not for violent attacks by the military on rioters, two typhoons, or an eruption of Mount Mayon which also occurred during their stay.[41] The University of the East was purchased back by its stakeholders, and the movement characterized the entire transaction as a $250,000 loan.[42]

[edit] 1990s to the present

In 1990, the Maharishi moved his headquarters to a wooded area outside of Vlodrop, Netherlands, near the German border. The 65-acre grounds of a former monastery became the capital of his Global Country of World Peace (GCWP).[43]

In 1993, the Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (MVED), a non-profit corporation, was formed to oversee the teaching of Transcendental Meditation and related courses in the United States.[29][44] The terms "Transcendental Meditation" and "TM" are servicemarks owned by Maharishi Foundation Ltd., a UK non-profit organization[45] and licensed to the MVED.[46][47]

In 1995, the Maharishi "opened" Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, previously named Maharishi International University.[48] The Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools (MVMS), an educational system established in 16 Indian states and affiliated with the New Delhi Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), was founded the same year.[49][50] Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools has 148 branches in 118 cities with 90,000 to 100,000 students and 5,500 teaching and support staff.[51]

In 1996, the Superior Court for the District of Columbia ruled in Hendel v World Plan Executive Council that the practice of Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Program is a religion and that trial of fraud and other claims for damages by a former TM and TM-Sidhi practitioner against the World Plan Executive Council and Maharishi International University would involve the Court in excessive entanglement into matters of religious belief contrary to the First Amendment.[52]

In 2004, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi directed Transcendental Meditation practitioners at the Maharishi village at Skelmersdale, Lancashire in England to beam peace loving thoughts to the British electorate with the aim of overturning the Labour government. The Maharishi said: "The good effects of transcendental meditation — increased creativity and long life — should not be given to a dangerous country that is constantly busy destroying the world". After Tony Blair's Labour Party won reelection in May 2005, the Maharishi withdrew all instruction in Transcendental Meditation in the UK.[53][54] The ban was lifted about the same time Tony Blair left office as Prime Minister.[55]

[edit] Practice and tenets

Maharishi Vedic Science, or MVS, is based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's interpretation of the ancient Vedic texts. MVS includes two aspects: technologies, including Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi programs, by which the Maharishi says human consciousness can be experienced; and programs, such as Maharishi Sthapatya Veda and Maharishi Vedic Astrology, developed for applying this knowledge to aspects of day-to-day living.[56][57] Sixty services and courses are offered by MVED and the Transcendental Meditation movement, as of 2006.[58]

[edit] Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation, or TM, is a form of mantra meditation introduced in India in 1955[59][60][61][62] by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917–2008).[63] It is reported to be one of the most widely researched and practiced meditation techniques.[64][65][66][67] Taught in a standardized seven-step course by certified teachers, the technique involves the silent use of a sound or mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day, while sitting comfortably with closed eyes.[68]

[edit] TM-Sidhi

The TM-Sidhi program is a meditation technique that was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1975.[69] Described as a natural extension of Transcendental Meditation, the purpose of the TM-Sidhi program is to accelerate the benefits gained from the Transcendental Meditation technique by training the mind to think from the level of Transcendental Consciousness, the mind's source. One aspect of the TM-Sidhi program, called Yogic Flying, is said to develop mind-body coordination.[70]

[edit] Maharishi Ayurveda

Maharishi Ayurveda[71][72][73] is considered an alternative medicine and aims at being a complementary system to modern western medicine.[74] It was founded internationally in the mid 1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi's revised system of Ayurveda was endorsed by the "All India Ayurvedic Congress" in 1997.[citation needed]

[edit] Maharishi Sthapatya Veda

Maharishi Sthapatya Veda is allegedly based on Sthapatya traditional Hindu architecture. The system is claimed to consist of "precise mathematical formulas, equations, and proportions" for architectural design and construction. The movement hopes to achieve global reconstruction by demolishing most existing buildings in the world and replacing them with buildings that follow the Vastu Shastra, especially in regard to having east-facing entrances, at an estimated cost of $300 trillion.[75][76]

[edit] Organizations and structure

Main article: TM organizations
Houses in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa

A movement website lists 23 Maharishi Vedic Health Centres in 15 countries, including Austria, France, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.[77]

TM institutions located in either Maharishi Vedic City or Fairfield, Iowa, include the Global Country of World Peace (GCWP), the Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (MVED) and the David Lynch Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace and the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) and the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE).

Maharishi Foundation, Ltd is a charitable organization headquartered in Skelmersdale, West Lancashire, England.[78]

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University, also known as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya (MMYVV), is a public university located in Katni, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools (MVMS) is an educational system spread across 16 Indian states and founded in 1995. Another school in India is the Maharishi Center for Educational Excellence (MCEE), established in 1999.[79]

Various TM Movement organizations have sought and have obtained tax-exempt status; others have had that status denied. In 1997 the Maharishi School of Vedic Sciences - Minnesota, as successor to the World Plan Executive Council,[80] and in 2001 the Maharishi Spiritual Center were refused this status as they were not deemed educational.[81]

[edit] Characterization as a cult or sect

Further information: TM and Cult Mania

As for other new religious movements that sprang up in the context of the hippie subculture of the 1960s, there has been debate on "cult"-like aspects, and especially the cult of personality surrounding the charismatic leaders of such groups as the TM movement. Michael A. Persinger in his TM and Cult Mania (1980) picked the TM movement as "an excellent example" for a study of the sociological factors involved in the development of cult-like movements surrounding a charismatic leader.[7]

In 1987, the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) held a press conference and demonstration in Washington, D.C., saying that the organization that teaches the Transcendental Meditation technique "seeks to strip individuals of their ability to think and choose freely." Steve Hassan, author of several books on cults, and at one time a CAN deprogrammer, said in the same press conference that members display cult-like behaviors, such as the use of certain language and particular ways of dressing. A former member called the yogic flying training a "totalitarian environment", while a spokesman for the TM organization said that they "don't force people to take courses". Former members also said that the movement is a religion, and that the Maharishi is seen as a god.[82]

Critics charge that the movement is a bastardized form of Hinduism which denies its religious roots and claims a scientific basis for the purpose of attempting to secure government funding for its programs.[83] In their book, Millennium, Messiahs and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements, Robbins and Palmer identify the Maharishi's teachings that the practice of Transcendental Meditation will bring about Ram Rajya (the rule of God) on earth as a form of progressive millenialism in the Hindu tradition.[84] In Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, Barger describes the Maharishi's teaching, particularly on the claimed exponential effects of the Maharishi Effect, as postmillennial.[85]

David Orme-Johnson, a former faculty member at Maharishi University of Management (at which all students and faculty practice the Transcendental Meditation technique daily), who has researched the Transcendental Meditation technique and the paranormal Maharishi Effect, cites studies by Schecter,[86] Alexander[87] and Pelletier[88] showing greater autonomy, innovative thought, and increases in creativity, general intelligence and moral reasoning in those who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique. According to Orme-Johnson, cult followers are said to operate on blind faith and adherence to arbitrary rules and authority, while these studies would indicate the ability of those who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique to make mature, independent, principle-based judgments.[89]

Marc Galanter, writes in his book Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion that TM "evolved into something of a charismatic movement, with a belief system that transcended the domain of its practice". He notes how a variety of unreasonable beliefs came to be seen as literally true by its "more committed members". He cites an "unlikely set of beliefs" that includes the ability to levitate and reduce traffic accidents and conflicts in the Middle East through the practice of meditation.[90]

In his book Soul snatchers: the mechanics of cults, Jean-Marie Abgrall describes how Altered States Of Consciousness (ASCs) are used in many cults to make the initiate more susceptible to the group will and world view. He cites research by Barmark and Gautnitz which showed the similarities between the states obtained by Transcendental Meditation and ASCs.[91] In this way, not only does the subject become more reliant on the ASC, but it allows for a weakening of criticism of the cult and increase in faith therein. Abgrall goes on to note that the use of mantras is one of the most widespread techniques in cults, noting in TM this mantra is produced mentally.[92] He says that a guru is usually central to a cult and that its success will rely on how effective that guru is. Among the common characteristics of a guru he notes paraphrenia, a mental illness that completely cuts the individual from reality. In regard to this he notes for example, that the Maharishi recommended the TM-Sidhi program including 'yogic flying' as a way to reduce crime.[93]

In his book The Elementary Forms of The New Religious Life, Roy Wallis describes TM as having moved beyond being a cult to a "Sect". He notes similarities between progression in TM and progression within Scientology (In Scientology progression from "Basic" to "Operating Theten" and in TM from basic TM instruction to the TM-Sidhi program). He notes that whereas once the initiatory stage was important and the "goal", this now becomes simply a prerequisite for training to higher "powers" or abilities. He argues that this helps facilitate group control over members rather that allowing them to come to their own judgment. Thus this progression becomes a strong form of social control.[94]

The Israeli Center for Cult Victims comments that TM is one of the active cults in Israel.[95] The New York Times reports that people who leave the movement refer to Transcendental Meditation as a cult, and the Maharishi University of Management its training ground.[96]

Reporter Michael D’Antonio wrote in his book, Heaven on Earth – Dispatches from America’s Spiritual Frontier that, as practiced at Maharishi International University, Transcendental Meditation is "a cult, not a culture".[97] D'Antonio wrote that Transcendental Meditation was like the worst of religion: rigid, unreasonable, repressive, and authoritarian, characterized by overt manipulation, a disregard for serious scholarship, and an unwillingness to question authority. For the first time in his travels he found people he believed to be truly deluded, and a physics department teaching theories that were dead wrong.[98] D'Antonio charges that they have taken Transcendental Meditiation and transformed it "into a grandiose narcissistic dream, a form of intellectual bondage, that they call enlightenment".[99]

Clarke and Linzey argue that for the ordinary membership of TM their lives and daily concerns are little — if at all — affected by its cult nature. Instead, as is the case for Scientology, it is only the core membership, who must give total dedication to the movement.[100] Former TM teacher John Knapp states that 90% of meditators take an introductory course only, but that for the 10% who become more involved, the members are subject to intense pressure in training centers, MUM and other official venues, where they are tightly controlled, isolated from family and society, and not permitted dissent.[83] Former TM Movement members relate that their mail was screened and their activities monitored by a "Vigilance Committee".[101]

In 1983, many students at Maharishi International University were expelled for distributing literature for meditation seminars by Robin Carlsen, and others were suspended and had their "super-radiance cards" needed for admission to the meditation domes, revoked.[102] Deepak Chopra resigned from the TM Movement Organizations, which he formerly directed, in 1994. As a consequence, the Maharishi, citing the need to protect the purity of the teaching, prohibited all interaction with Chopra as an apostate. All TM Centers in the United States were directed to ignore Chopra, not to have any contact with him, and not to organize for him. Similarly, it is common knowledge in Fairfield that a person will be ostracized from the Golden Dome meditation halls, and other privileges may be revoked, it is becomes known that he or she attended an event featuring Ammachi, which is forbidden.[19]

In 2007, a TM movement insider released a large number of movement documents to the whistleblower repository Wikileaks.[103] Part of the documentation exposed an organized and coordinated effort to undermine critical examination of the Transcendental meditation movement, including references to TM which appeared on the WWW. These efforts also involved targeting comment sections of web pages related to TM movement press releases, whereby TM supporters would insert salutary comments to make it look as if the articles had exaggerated and more widespread acceptance by the public.

[edit] References

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  2. ^ "Other Consciousness-Based organizations and programs - Maharishi University of Management". Mum.edu. http://www.mum.edu/about/othercbe.html. Retrieved 2009-11-15. 
  3. ^ Koppel, Lily (2008-02-06). "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Spiritual Leader, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/world/asia/06maharishi-1.html. Retrieved 2009-11-15. 
  4. ^ "tens of thousands": New Religious Movements (University of Virginia) (1998), citing Melton, J. Gordon, 1993, Encyclopedia of American Religions. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Research Inc, 945-946. Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); p 66, citing "close to a million" in the USA. The three million estimate appears to originate with The State of Religion Atlas. Simon & Schuster: New York (1993); pg. 35. O'Brien, J. & M. Palmer. The State of Religion Atlas. Simon & Schuster: New York (1993); p. 35. Petersen, William J. Those Curious New Cults in the 80s. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing (1982), p 123 claims "more than a million" in the USA and Europe. The Financial Times (8 February 2003) reported that the movement claims to have five million followers. Bickerton, Ian (February 8, 2003). "Bank makes an issue of mystic's mint". Financial Times (London (UK)): p. 09. 
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  12. ^ Hecht, Esther (January 23, 1998). "Peace of Mind". Jerusalem Post: p. 12. 
  13. ^ Belfast Telegraph 7 February 2008
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  17. ^ Cited as a "Neo-Hindu revisionist and internationalist movement" with "only shallow connections" to Hinduism in Gerald James Larson, India's agony over religion, SUNY series in religious studies, 1995, ISBN 978-0-7914-2412-4, p. 139.
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  21. ^ Russell, p 26
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