A while back I came across a letter that was crucial in its prime essence. The letter was directed to a newspaper in response to an article published on the subject of ayurveda and its use in transcendental meditation (TM). Being written by members and high ranking personalities within a Christian church the general thrust criticized the light hearted way transcendental meditation (TM) was portrayed within the article. In no way do I wish to attack the church or its views nor do I wish to support TM within this post.
The interesting aspect of this letter however was the way TM was described as a sect. The author of this press release incorporated symptoms of young members of TM. These symptoms can most likely be applied to any kind of sect or if you will strong religious belief. They incorporated
- damaged relationship to parents and friends.
- loss of interest in previous activities and hobbies.
- negligence of school, study or work.
- one sided TM directed, sterile conversations.
- overconfidence and fanatical support of the TM doctrine.
Naturally these symptoms do not sound positive but if you ignore the fact that they are being applied to a so called sect it becomes obvious that they would be quite usual. As an example, if a young person who grew up in a completely religion free environment came into contact with Christianity and found it to be an exhilarating idea the symptoms would be exactly the same.
Parents and friends wouldn’t understand the person’s different way of thinking. Previous activities and hobbies would naturally lose importance if they did not have any proper relation to God or Christ. School, study or work, might not incorporate any religious aspects either. And of course conversations would start revolving around this new found interest. Once the person was convinced of the idea and the greatness of it, they would most certainly want to show other people the positive effects of it. Having God on your side would make anybody much more confident in every kind of way.
It seems that these symptoms are only indicators of a person not fitting into the society they live in any longer. The only reason why the church can stamp these symptoms as bad is due to the fact that it is established in this society while TM is not. I am not attacking the Christian Church, but criticizing the general close minded and non open view of things.
Imagine yourself finding enlightenment, finding the understanding everybody else seems to be blind to.
Wouldn’t many of your friends and family frown upon your “new” and different morals?
Wouldn’t for example football or going out to parties lose some of your interest?
Wouldn’t you see through the problems of the normal schooling and a normal job?
If you had the opportunity you would most certainly try to convince other people of this exhilarating way of thinking, initially... Finally the certainty about what you are doing can easily be seen as overconfidence by other people.
The issue at hand is that the church officials do not really understand what is going on in the TM member’s head. And they most likely don’t even want to, considering they are just as fanatical about their own beliefs.
What this effectively burns down to is the fact that one can not forcefully make someone believe or understand an idea or a concept. And whoever does not understand this, will most likely cause more problems than solutions.
So if somebody tries to recruit you, just say thank you and walk away. True understanding can accept that other people are not ready. True understanding does not use manipulative, mind or will bending techniques to brainwash a person. True understanding merely shows a person the direction in which they could head if they want to try to understand.
No enlightened person will try to gain personal benefit from teaching you. No enlightened person needs any made up titles or organizations to teach you. No enlightened person will expect anything in return from you. After all what could you offer that is better than complete understanding and ease of being.
All an enlightened person will want to do is to show you the wonders and joy that lie around and within you. That is one thing this blog is meant to show you, the reader.
3 comments:
I want to address your reference to the erroneous letter written by Christian extremists about Transcendental Meditation. It is no surprise to find such biased points of view among certain "true believers" of the world, who might try to discredit a practice that they fear (in this case, without cause) is a threat to their beliefs. The claims expressed in the letter about negative effects of TM are outright fabrications and fall flat in the light of over 600 scientific research studies that clearly show the positive direction of growth that results from TM. These research studies, published in the most respected, peer-reviewed scientific and academic journals, and conducted at institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and UCLA Medical School, speak for themselves (see tm.org). To clear up any misunderstandings that may result from the above post, I will cite a few findings relevant to the letter's claims:
Claim #1: TM leads to damaged relationship to parents and friends. Fact: Sociological research on the effects of TM show increased harmonious behavior, development of personality, increased self actualization, reduction of anti-social behavior, reduced use of alcohol and cigarettes, improved psychological health, and increase of positive values (Ref: Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 6: 189–247, 1991; Journal of Counseling Psychology 20: 565–566, 1973; American Journal of Psychiatry 132: 942–945, 1975; Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 36 (1/2/3/4): 2003, to name only a few.
Claim # 2: Loss of interest in previous activities and hobbies; negligence of school, study or work. Fact: There is overwhelming empirical evidence that TM develops mental potential; it increases intelligence, IQ, creativity, and learning ability; it develops higher levels of brain functioning; improves academic performance and school behavior; and it shows strong benefits for students with learning disabilities. Ref: Journal of Creative Behavior 13: 169–180, 1979; International Journal of Neuroscience 15: 151–157, 1981; Memory & Cognition 10: 207–215, 1982; The Journal of Creative Behavior 19: 270–275, 1985; Perceptual and Motor Skills 62: 731–738, 1986; Journal of Clinical Psychology 42: 161–164, 1986; Personality and Individual Differences 12: 1105–1116, 1991; Psychophysiology 14: 293–296, 1977; Progress in Brain Research 54: 447–453, 1980; International Journal of Neuroscience 10: 165–170, 1980; Journal of Moral Education 12: 166–173, 1983; Biological Psychology 61: 293–319, 2002; British Journal of Educational Psychology 55: 164–166, 1985; Education 107: 49–54, 1986; Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 42: 35–36, 1981, etc.
Claim # 3: One sided, TM directed, sterile conversations. Fact: As the research above indicates, the TM program increases creativity and intelligence and improves brain functioning. There is no evidence or reason to believe that such outcomes might limit one's conversational skills. Moreover, with the broader comprehension and ability to focus more sharply that results form TM (Journal of Perceptual and Motor Skills), it is reasonable to expect that a person's interests, involvement, and success in daily activities would increase, and this indeed has been borne out in the lives of millions of people who have learned the TM technique.
Claim # 4: Overconfidence and fanatical support of the TM doctrine. Fact: There is no "TM doctrine" per se. TM is a technique, practiced 20 twice a day--a natural, proven procedure to develop one's full potential. As all the above cited research indicates, the practice stimulates the growth of the qualities of life that are most universally cherished: intelligence, creativity, dynamism, and inner happiness. What could be wrong with that?
Regarding the implication that TM is a sect, I can only encourage you to evaluate the practice in terms of it's proven effects. TM helps keep one's prefrontal cortex "online," to use the phrase of neuroscientists. This means that TM meditators show higher executive functions. Increased field independence found in TM meditators is associated by psychologists with self-starters and leadership qualities--not exactly "cult-like" behavior. The organization that teaches TM is a non-profit, educational organization devoted to making the knowledge available and to nothing else. The technique works. TM is not a sect, it is a technique. I've been enjoying it for 35 years. Too bad there's some unscientific disinformation about it on the internet.
Thank you for the opportunity to clear up some misunderstandings.
I like Boab's thoughtful comments and was glad to see Tom's response to the points from the Christian letter. I too learned TM long ago and practice it every day.
Boab Dweller said: "All an enlightened person will want to do is to show you the wonders and joy that lie around and within you. " I think this is beautiful and so right on. A very enlightened remark.
Boab also said: "No enlightened person will try to gain personal benefit from teaching you. No enlightened person needs any made up titles or organizations to teach you. No enlightened person will expect anything in return from you. After all what could you offer that is better than complete understanding and ease of being."
I totally agree with this and want to draw attention to the subtlety and nuance of Boab's choice of words, and share an experience I had last night.
"No enlightened person will try to gain personal benefit from teaching you. No enlightened person NEEDS any made up titles or organizations to teach you. No enlightened person will EXPECT anything in return from you." What came to mind when I read this was Maharishi and the TM organization, which charges fees for its courses, and which indeed has made up its own titles and is, of course, an organization. Does this mean, according to Boab, that Maharishi cannot be enlightened and that there should be no fees for TM courses? I don't think so. I took a friend to a TM intro last night, and my friend asked similar questions to the TM teacher. The teacher said that there is a course fee simply to pay for the cost of bringing TM to the people, that no one makes any money on it and all the money goes to the organization to allow TM to be taught around the world, especially in poor countries where there is no course fee at all. This put my friend at ease. Even though they have set a price for the TM course, a course for enlightenment, the TM teachers and Maharishi aren't looking for personal benefit. Nor did the teacher seem to mind that my friend wasn't ready to sign up right away; there was total "ease" about it. As far as the TM organization's titles go, such as the "rajas" and "governors" and whatnot, Boab said that no enlightened person NEEDS titles; that doesn't mean that an enlightened person is not free to wield such a title if they want to, as long as they do not NEED it (i.e., DEPEND on it, are ATTACHED to it). The name "Maharishi" itself is a title, given to Maharishi, they say, by his peers in India. Disciples in the Vedic tradition are often renamed by their teachers, I think because it helps to re-identify their minds with a greater reality, as they shift from identifying with limited individuality to universality, or so I understand it. Maybe that's why Maharishi does it too, I don't know.
Thank you again Boab for emphasizing that we see more of the wonders and joy that lie all around. May we all live that expanded vision of life every moment!
Joey Fender
Thank you Tom and Joey for your engaging and critical comments. I find it very interesting to see two answers that come from a similar point of view and yet address the topic so utterly differently.
I myself have not studied or researched TM yet. This post was aimed to show the ignorance that can be exhibited even without noticing.
Tom, I have one remark concerning scientific studies. The scientific way of proving and disproving things is a great thing for all humans. I would even go as far as to say that it is the best way for us to discover our world. And yet science can only be as good as the people asking the question, conducting the studies and writing the reports. One should always be aware that science just like anything else can be biased quite easily. Sadly many people do not understand the complexity of this issue and consequently are blindly for or against science. Nonetheless, reading the studies you have posted can hopefully disperse any prejudices and allow people to shape an oppinion of their own.
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