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Transcendental Meditation (TM) - The Skeptic's Dictionary - A Collection of
Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions
Robert Todd Carroll
SkepDic.com
Click to order from
Amazon
Trouble in transcendental paradise as murder rocks the Maharishi University
5/2/2004
Transcendental Meditation®
I will give
you the word today [Nov. 16, 2005], and elaborate on it after a
month or two, when I have produced the results. The word is that there is
a program now involving one trillion dollars to eradicate world poverty
and to establish permanent world peace. The project cost is one trillion
dollars. --Maharishi
Transcendental Meditation® or TM® might
best be described as the meditation technique introduced to
the Western world by a man born in India on January 12, 1917, who was raised
in a Hindu family and given the name Mahesh Prasad Varma.*
He now resides in the Netherlands and is known as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He was dubbed the "giggling guru"
because of his habit of constantly giggling during television interviews.*
According to
Brittanica, his organization, which includes real estate holdings,
schools, and clinics, was worth more than $3 billion in the late 1990s.
TM
is said to bring the practitioner to a special state of
consciousness often characterized as "enlightenment" or "bliss." The
method involves entertaining a mantra. Trainees pay hundreds of dollars for their mantras. Novices may
be led to believe that their mantra is unique, though many practitioners
will share the same mantra. As of April, 2007, the cost for TM training is
$2,500. This is a one-time fee and financing is available.*
TM is a spiritual business whose proprietors claims it is a program that is
scientifically validated.*
The TM movement began in 1956 in India and is now worldwide, claiming
millions of followers. Many
know of TM because of the
Beatles
and other celebrities like Mia Farrow and Donovan, who hung out at Mahesh's
ashram in the 1960s and '70s. It may be that the Beatles found that money and
fame weren't all they're made out to be, and like many others they turned to
the East for help in finding the happiness and fulfillment they couldn't get
from fame and drugs. Many think meditation offers a way to a high higher
than any drug and a power higher than all others, the power of self-control.
It also has the pleasant side-effect of leaving one feeling relaxed and
content, as long as one's guru isn't charging too much for the lessons,
financially or psychologically.*
One of the main appeals of TM seems to be its claim to
be a scientific means of overcoming
stress.
TM claims to be
based on the "Science of Creative Intelligence," in which one may get a degree at
the Maharishi University of Management (MUM, formerly
Maharishi International University) in Fairfield, Iowa. MUM offers "a Full
Range of Academic Disciplines for Successful Management of All Fields of
Life." Maharishi Ayurveda sells a number of
health and beauty products
for those who want a perfect body to go with the perfect mind.
TM recruiting literature is full of charts and graphs
demonstrating the wonders of TM. Things like metabolic
rate, oxygen consumption rate, bodily production of carbon dioxide, hormone
production, brain waves, etc. are measured and charted and graphically
presented to suggest that TM really takes a person to a new state of
consciousness. Some of the studies
done by TM scientists simply show that some of the same physiological results
you can achieve by relaxing completely are achievable by TM.
Nevertheless, according
to TM advocates, tests have shown that TM produces "neurophysiological signatures
that are distinctly different from relaxation and rest "[Judy Stein, personal
correspondence]. Critics disagree.*
Probably the least believable claim of
TMers is that they can fly—well, not really fly,
more like hop. TM loudly promoted levitation in its early days.*
Television
news programs featured clips of TMers hopping around in the lotus position, claiming to be
hovering.
Apparently, this claim was too easily disproved and now TMers do not claim to be able to
fly or hover, but say they believe that they can advance so that some day in
the future they will be able to truly levitate and gain other super powers (sidhis) as have many holy ones before
them.
One of the demonstrable powers claimed by TM is the "Maharishi effect."
According to TM scientists: "collective meditation causes
changes in a fundamental, unified physical field, and...those changes radiate into
society and affect all aspects of society for the better" (Barry Markovsky).
James Randi writes in Flim-Flam! (pp. 99-100):
Early in October 1978, a Dr. Robert Rabinoff...addressed
a small group at the University of Oregon. He is an assitant professor of
physics at Maharishi International University [MIU]....Dr. Ray Hyman was
there and was determined to press Rabinoff on the subject of levitation....
The audience perked up when Dr. Rabinoff preached the
Maharishi Effect, claiming that any city in which one percent or more of the
inhabitants are TMers becomes a haven from crime. This, he told the folks,
was an established fact, "scientifically demonstrated." Fairfield, Iowa,
home of MIU, is unique in that some 13 percent of the populace are heavy
TMers!...The crime rate is so low, we are told, that the chief of police has
now put several officers on part-time duty. Unemployment is
nonexistent....[and] crops are growing beyond the most optimistic hopes. The
automobile accident rate in Iowa is now the lowest in the United States! And
TM is to be given total credit for all this, according to Dr. Rabinoff.
Randi checked with the
Fairfield Police Dept, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and the
Department of Motor Vehicles and found that Rabinoff’s claims were not true (Randi
1982, 99-108). The chief of police told Randi that he was hiring
more officers. However, a study of crime data for Fairfield and other
small towns done by a TM supporter found a significantly lower rate of
violent crime and property crime in Fairfield,*
although one student did stab another to death on campus in 2004.*
And MUM claims a decrease in crime in the Netherlands as TM increased during
their World Peace Assemblies.*
Data supplied by the
Department of Agriculture showed no
increase in crop production. And data on car accidents, including fatal car
accidents, did not support Rabinoff's claims. Finally, Job Services of Iowa
reported that the amount of unemployment in Iowa varied at essentially the
same rate as the U.S. in general. According to Randi, "Dr. Rabinoff
described the sidhis program as a system that enables one to achieve
'whatever one desires'..." (p. 101).
Similar claims have been made by Dean Radin and other
parapsychologists regarding what they call "field consciousness" or
"global consciousness." Roger
Nelson, for example, thinks that if enough people want good weather, they
will get it:
Reunion and commencement activities at Princeton University, involving
thousands of alumni, graduates, family and others, are held outdoors, and it
is often remarked that they are almost always blessed with good weather. A
comparison of the recorded rainfall in Princeton vs. nearby communities
shows that there is significantly less rain, less often, in Princeton on
those days with major outdoor activities. (“Wishing for Good Weather,”
The Journal for Scientific Exploration Vol. 11, No. 1.)
Radin believes that the outpouring of feeling shown while millions
watched the funeral of Princess Diana caused random event generators to come
to attention in an orderly fashion.*
Maybe someday we'll bring about world peace just by getting enough people to
think about it at the same time. My guess is that the effect will be about
the same as it's been when millions have prayed for peace.
Not everybody who has gone through TM has come away a
satisfied customer. One disgruntled former TMer is
Patrick Ryan,
a graduate of MUM and a practitioner of TM for ten years. He
founded a support group for former members (TM-Ex). Some former members have
posted their
stories. Ryan also claims TM is
not simply a "harmless way to relax through meditation." He
writes:
In its advertising, TM emphasizes the
practical benefits of meditation - particularly the reduction of stress.
TM promoters show videos of members from all walks of life testifying to
its benefits. TM sales pitches are full of blood pressure charts,
heart-rate graphs, and other clinical evidence of TM's effectiveness. Not
mentioned is the fact that scientific tests show similar benefits can be
obtained by listening to soothing music, or by performing basic relaxation
exercises available in books costing a couple of dollars. After a TM
student pays up to $400 and receives his own personal mantra to chant, he
is told never to reveal it to another. Why? Because the same "unique"
mantra has been given - on the basis of age - to thousands of people.*
What other relaxation program has a support group for ex-relaxers?
The TM folks respond by claiming that there are many studies that prove
TMing is more effective in many ways that listening to relaxing music or
doing relaxation exercises.*
TM's political agenda
There have also been attempts to introduce TM into public schools. For example, The
March 1, 1995, edition of the Sacramento Bee (p. B4) reports that John Black,
director of a TM program in Palo Alto, California, tried to persuade officials in San Jose to let him teach
TM in the schools. Meditation in the
classroom, he claims, will increase test scores, reduce teenage pregnancies, rid campuses
of violence and drugs, and diminish teacher burnout. This powerful message was delivered at
a free forum for teachers and meditators titled "Solving the Crisis in Our
Schools."
It may be true that people such as John Black really believe that
TM can do all these
things, but they do not have strong proof that TM in the schools will accomplish any of these noble
goals. John Black says that "the crisis in the schools is that people are stressed
out." He may be right, but it is doubtful that the claim is even
intelligible. Wisely, school officials have remained unpersuaded. Even a
newspaper ad in which Mahesh himself offered "A Proven Program to
Eliminate Crime in San Jose" for a mere $55.8 million a year couldn't convince City
Hall. Similar ads were placed in several major newspapers around the
country. There were no takers.
Who said you can't trust City Hall?
See also Ayurvedic medicine and
Deepak Chopra.
further reading
(note: all links below, except to reader comments,
go offsite and are not the responsibility of Robert T. Carroll. I have no
control over their content and, while I have no knowledge that any of these
sites contain falsehoods, I cannot be held responsible for any factual
errors that they may contain.)
reader comments
On Transcendental Meditation I: Nature Support
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interviewed by Larry King - May 12, 2002
Problems with TM Research
Research Demonstrating Harmful Effects From TM
Ex-members support group
Lies My Guru Told Me (For my own good, of course) By Michael D. Coleman,
Ph. D.
The Maharishi Caper:
Or How to Hoodwink Top Medical Journals by Andrew A. Skolnick
Maharishi
Ayur-Veda: guru's marketing scheme promises the world eternal 'perfect
health.' Skolnick, Andrew A. JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical
Association Oct 2, 1991; v266: p1741(6)
Falling Down
the TM Rabbit Hole: How TM Really Works - a Critical Opinion by Joseph W. Kellett
Various
Implications Arising From The Practice Of Transcendental Meditation
What is a cult?
What is a sect?
Holmes,
David S. (1987). The influence of meditation versus rest on physiological
arousal. In M. West (ed.) The Psychology of Meditation. Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 81-103.
Mahesh asks wealthy Americans to send
him a billion dollars
Prayer, TM and
African-Americans - Funk 17
Information on TM
- Freedom of Mind resource center
FactNet - TM news
John Knapp's Trancenet
for the latest research on TM
TM Dissenters FAQ
Meditation Information Network
Austin, James H. (1998). Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of
Meditation and Consciousness. MIT Press.
Blackmore, Susan
(2003). Consciousness: An Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Bainbridge, William S. and Daniel H. Jackson. (1981). "The Rise and Decline
of Transcendental Meditation" in Bryan Wilson, editor, The Social Impact
of New Religious Movements. Rose of Sharon Press.
Bromley, David G. and Anson D. Schupe. (1981). Strange Gods: the Great
American Cult Scare. Beacon Press.
Fenwick, P. (1987). Meditation and the EEG. In M. West (ed.) The
Psychology of Meditation. Clarendon Press.
Gardner, Martin. "Doug
Henning and the Giggling Guru," Skeptical Inquirer, May/Jun 1995.
Hassan, Steven. Combatting Cult Mind Control. Rochester, Vermont:
Park Street Press, 1990.
Randi, James. Flim-Flam! (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1982), chapter
5, "The Giggling Guru: A Matter of Levity".
West, M. (1987). (ed.) The Psychology of Meditation. Clarendon Press.
©copyright 2007
Robert Todd Carroll
 Mary
Toft hoax
Last
updated 12/14/07
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skepdic.com
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