IS TM SECULAR? (No) SCIENTIFIC? (No) SCANDALOUS (Yes)

TM promotes itself as being secular and scientific.

Does any of this sound secular and scientific?

In addition to memorizing the words, the teachers were also required to memorize the melody to which the puja is chanted, as well as the gestures and hand movements used during the chant. In earlier courses, would-be teachers had to perform the chant in front of, and to the satisfaction of, Maharishi. In my course in 1975, while Maharishi personally gave us our mantras, one of the course leaders tested us on the puja.

ILLEGAL OFFERINGS TO GURU DEV

Malnak vs Yogi (1977) was the US District Court case where a New Jersey Court ruled that teaching TM in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F. Supp. 1284 (D.N.J. 1977). http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/ FSupp/440/1284/1817490).

The court transcript documents the movements made by the teacher during the puja; the teacher makes fifteen offerings to Guru Dev and fourteen obeisances to Guru Dev. An obeisance is a movement of the body made as a token of respect or submission to the object of worship. The initial fourteen obeisances are then followed by three additional offerings and three more obeisances.

Puja incense, featuring a Hindu god

Finally, the puja ends with a string of divine epithets that are applied to Guru Dev. Guru Dev is called “The Unbounded,” “the omnipresent in all creation,” “bliss of the Absolute,” “transcendental joy,” “the Self- Sufficient,” “the embodiment of pure knowledge which is beyond and above the universe like the sky,” “the One,” “the Eternal,” “the Pure,” “the Immovable,” “the Witness of all intellects, whose status transcends thought,” “the Transcendent along with the three gunas,” and “the true preceptor.”

THE COURT

The Court is very clear: “No one would apply all these epithets to a human being.”

In case anyone has any lingering doubts that TM is a religion, the transcript of the New Jersey court decision will put those doubts to rest.

In describing the initiation process that applies to everyone who has ever learned TM, the court stated that each TM student was asked to bring a clean white handkerchief, a few flowers, and three or four pieces of fruit to the puja. (Former friends who became teachers in the early 1970s said that Maharishi didn’t hide the symbolism of these offerings on their courses: the white cloth symbolizes the offering of the soul of the initiate; the flower signifies the blossoming of the Lord’s presence in the initiate’s heart; the fruit represents all the fruits of future actions, i.e. material wealth, success, happiness, and so forth.)

THE TRANSCRIPT CONTINUES…

The transcript continued that upon arrival, the handkerchief, flowers, and fruit were placed in a container, and the TM student was led to a small room and asked to remove his or her shoes before entering the room. Inside the room was a rectangular table covered by a white sheet that served as an altar. The altar held a brass candleholder and a brass incense holder containing a candle and incense, both of which were lit by the teacher. The altar also held three brass dishes containing water, rice, and sandal paste. There was also a small brass dish containing camphor. There was a tray on the table and an eight-by-twelve-inch color picture of Guru Dev at the back of the table. By 1977, Guru Dev had already been dead for over twenty years.

How is it the TM pretends it is scientific and secular when learning TM requires making offerings on an altar to a long-dead guru? The court noted that a week or two before the puja, each student was required to sign a document promising never to reveal his or her mantra; they weren’t given a copy of the document. The court also noted that the students were told that the puja was not a religious exercise or prayer. How is it possible that a public-school official who had experienced the puja could think this was appropriate for school children? How could they not challenge any TM teacher who told them the puja wasn’t religious?

It is almost incomprehensible that TM has been able to get away with this intentional deception for over fifty years. Repeating over and over again that TM is a science and is secular has fooled many very intelligent, caring, and well-meaning people, but that doesn’t mean that its very core is not a Hindu religious practice.

HINDUISM IS FINE: THE PROBLEM IS DECEPTION

To be clear, I have no issue with the Hindu religion. My issue is with deception.

Consider walking into a Catholic church or a Jewish synagogue for the first time to pray. The service may seem strange to someone unfamiliar with it. However, the prayer books are available in a language you understand, and if you have questions, the Priest or Rabbi will answer them; there are no secrets. Nothing is withheld or hidden. Every word is there to see.

If someone wants to learn the Relaxation Response, there are many books, DVDs, and CDs available. Books by Dr. Herbert Benson provide complete “how to” instructions have sold mil- lions of copies. Interestingly, the method used to trigger the Relaxation Response is almost identical to the TM technique, except individuals choose the sound they use during the meditation instead of being assigned a secret mantra.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LYING

How has TM been able to get away with the pretense for so long? How has it been possible to get away with fooling otherwise intelligent people? I believe part of the answer is that most people don’t expect someone to lie to them. And that is what Maharishi did. He trained his teachers to never reveal the truth about what’s going on.

I did a little experiment. I recently spoke with two TM teachers in Los Angeles, and a third teacher at TM’s university in Fairfield, Iowa. I told all three that I was interested in starting TM, but before doing so, I wanted to get an English translation of the puja ceremony. I asked, “Could I get the translation of the ceremony before starting TM?” I was looking for a simple “yes” or “no” answer. It seemed a reasonable request, especially given that I was being asked to pay almost a thousand

INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS

The answers below are quotes from the TM teachers interviewed

and taken from my contemporaneous notes of those conversations. All three said, “The puja maintains the purity of the TM teaching, so it can’t change.” Another said, “I’m just a regular American person, so I don’t teach in my name, but in the name of a holy tradition. The ceremony aligns me with those great masters who have gone before me, and I symbolically create a sense of gratitude to them that enlivens TM for the student.”

That was actually the closest anyone got to what TM teachers believe they are doing in the puja. He recognized his role as a conduit, and he said the puja enlivens TM for the student. Regardless, he was describing religion. A “holy tradition” is hardly a scientific term.

Another TM teacher stated, “The teacher just recalls the names of the most prominent leaders in the past and the ceremony is just part of a beautiful tradition that’s not watered down or modernized.” (Deities and gurus are conveniently redefined as leaders). He also said, “It’s 99.9% for the teacher. The teacher brings most of the things used in the ceremony. The student brings a few things like some flowers and fruit and just witnesses the teacher performing the ceremony.” He also said, “The teacher is thinking about the meaning, so the student doesn’t have to and that makes the transmission as pure as possible for the student.”

One might ask, just who is making the transmission and how is it being made? If this is science, it is a very mystical version.

Two of the TM teachers said, “It’s just like in karate when two opponents bow to each other out of respect before a match.” That must be a favorite. I had previously heard it from one of the full-time TM teachers in the San Francisco public schools. (He also said, “We just tell them it’s a song.”) One answered, “I don’t have anything written down. It’s all memorized.” And another said, “The teachers don’t have the translation.” I think my favorite answer was, “That’s a great ques- tion. I don’t know if anyone has ever asked it before.” He also was reassuring, “It does have an Eastern flavor that many people find sweet or they are neutral. Worst case, it only takes a few minutes and you only have to do it once.”

CAN I PLEASE GET A PUJA TRANSLATION?

I repeatedly pushed for an answer. Could I get a written translation of the text of the puja? Yes or No? While two of the teachers said they didn’t have the translation, the third one told me to come to the lectures at my local TM center. When I was ready to start TM, there would be an opportunity to bring up any personal issues with my local TM teacher privately. I knew it was a diversion. I knew that I would never be given the translation. Forty-two years since I started TM, and the deceit continues unchecked.

If TM acknowledged the simple truth, they wouldn’t be able to sell their wares to public schools, to corporations, or to institutions. As will be documented throughout this book, TM’s true believers must engage in endless deceptions and rationalizations to achieve their goals. Given honest information, the vast majority of people are quite capable of making appropriate decisions that impact their life. TM’s true believers conceal the very information anyone should have before making a decision to start TM. And if regular people deserve honest information, how much more important is that information to those with significant responsibility for our children’s well-being.

Join us in the fight to have TM removed from public schools and replaced with secular forms of meditation. Sign up at www.tmdeception.com.

[Excerpt from ‘Transcendental Meditation’, p39–43, available on amazon.com at https://amzn.to/2NgHeGs]

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Aryeh Siegel is the author of TRANSCENDENTAL DECEPTION: Behind the TM curtain — bogus science, hidden agendas, and David Lynch’s campaign to push a million public school kids into Transcendental Meditation while falsely claiming it is not a religion. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and family. Discover more at www.tmdeception.com

(Blog 10)