Why does TM hide its Hinduism?
The TM organization deliberately obfuscates two main components of the practice, the mantra and puja.
THE MANTRA
In Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation, Bob Roth, perhaps the best-known TM teacher in the world, describes the TM mantra as a word or sound that has no meaning associated with it. (30)
Roth offers a more detailed explanation in a TM.org video:
I have been asked, “Aren’t mantras the names of Buddhist Deities or Hindu gods or whatever?” And the answer is a flat-out no. There is no meaning associated with the sound. . . They are not the names of some deity. They are not the names of anything. They are just a sound. [Emphasis A. Siegel.] (31)
WHAT DID MAHARISHI SAY?
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of TM, speaking at a Hindu religious gathering in Kerala, India in 1955 (documented in a booklet titled The Beacon Light of the Himalayas), admitted that any word or sound could be used to meditate. Holding a microphone, he said that even the word mike could serve as a mantra:
By reducing the sound of the word ‘mike’ to its subtler and still subtler stages and allowing the mind to go on experiencing all the stages one by one, the mind can be trained to be so sharp as to enter into the subtlest stage of the sound ‘mike.’ (32)
ANY WORD WORKS AS A MANTRA!
So, if any word can be used to transcend, why would anyone need to a $1,000 for a TM mantra? The answer, according to Maharishi, is that TM mantras have an important additional benefit: They invoke the influence of Hindu gods. In Maharishi’s own words:
But we do not select the sound at random. We do not select any sound like ‘mike,’ flower, table, pen, wail, etc. because such ordinary sounds can do nothing more than merely sharpening the mind . . . For our practice, we select only the suitable mantras of personal gods. Such mantras fetch to us the grace of personal gods. [Emphasis A. Siegel.] (33)
The (HINDU) Puja THAT THEY PRETEND IS NOT RELIGIOUS
As with the mantras, Roth is no doubt familiar with the puja, the Hindu religious ceremony that precedes TM initiation, yet his latest book on TM doesn’t mention of the word puja. Instead, he describes it as "a simple thank-you ceremony . . . a lovely cultural tradition, and not religious in any way." He also states that students are not asked to participate in the ceremony.
In a casual, conversational manner, Roth mentions that the ceremony includes a few flowers, some fresh fruit, a candle, a stick of incense, and a picture of Maharishi’s teacher, Guru Dev. He doesn’t disclose that the puja is chanted in Sanskrit, or that, even if requested, the student will not receive a translation of the ceremony.34
Before instruction, the student is not told that the picture of Maharishi's guru (Guru Dev) occupies the center of an altar, surrounded by brass cups filled with camphor, rice, incense, and other items that are used by the TM instructor to make 17 offerings to Guru Dev during the ceremony. The student is required to bring fresh flowers, fruit, and a white handkerchief to the ceremony, all of which are used in the offerings made by the instructor to Guru Dev. Further, Roth does not mention that the puja concludes with a string of divine epithets applied to Guru Dev. Nor does he say that, at the end of the ceremony, although not mandatory, the student is invited to join the teacher in bowing down before the image of Guru Dev. (35)
TM SAYS “PRAY TO HINDU GODS”
Maharishi believed the puja, along with TM mantras, inserted the influence of Hindu deities into the lives of TM initiates. He also believed that the puja created a mystical connection to the guru, as well as deities created during the puja. The mystical power of the puja in enlivening Hindu gods is a highly guarded secret; it was revealed in the minutes of a meeting on February 6, 2007, conducted by Raja Badgett. Speaking to the local TM directors, Badgett begins with a story about Arjuna, a central figure in Hindu scripture:
The great general was teaching Arjuna about all the celestial weapons and how to use them. After the training, Arjuna tried to use them. They wouldn’t work. The great general told him, “There has to be dakshina for them to work.”
HIDE THE TRUTH FROM THE PUBLIC…
Then Badgett continued, Dakshina is a gift, like the fruit, flowers and course fee to learn TM. For our own understanding, the technique isn’t going to work until there is dakshina. We don’t tell the general public this. [Emphasis A. Siegel] (36)
Contrast Roth's description of the puja with Maharishi’s, which he offered in his “Vedic Day of Awakening of All the Laws of Nature” address on November 20, 2007:
For this, again and again, we offer Puja to Guru Dev … We perform the Puja, and all silence at our disposal. This will be the fruit of our Puja. It happened to be a day well marked in the Indian Calendar—the day of awakening of all the gods [Pravo-dhani Ekad-shi], the day of awakening of all the silent level of administration of the Constitution of the Universe, the Will of G-d, the Veda … With this understanding, that we are so blessed, with this great fulfillment, we are offering ourself (sic) to Guru Dev, our Puja to Guru Dev. (37)
At TM Deception we are in favour of freedom of speech, freedom of religion and truthful communication. The problem is not Hindu practice but that Transcendental Meditation lie about the Hindu-basis of TM, the David Lynch foundation lies about it, Bob Roth lies about it, and it is being taught in US Public Schools which is a direct violation of the First Amendment Assembly Clause separating church and state. Sign up for updates at www.tmdeception.com!
NOTES
[31] What Is the Transcendental Meditation Mantra? YouTube video (1:41). Posted by Transcendental Meditation online at https://youtu.be/_0rbfSaRwCU
[32] Maharishi Mahesh Yoga, “Beacon Light of the Himalayas, 3 of 4.” Available online at http://minet.org/www.trancenet.net/secrets/beacon/beacon1.shtml
[33] Maharishi Mahesh Yoga, “Beacon Light of the Himalayas, 3 of 4.” Available online at http://minet.org/www.trancenet.net/secrets/beacon/beacon1.shtml
[34] Bob Roth, Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2018), p. 52.
[35] Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F. Supp. 1284 (D.N.J. 1977). Retrieved from https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/440/1284/1817490/
[36] See Transcendental Meditation Domain of Atlanta Directors Meeting Notes, 2005-2007. Available online at https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Transcendental_Meditation_Domain_of_Atlanta_Directors_Meeting_Notes,_2005-2007
[37] Jamie Benares. 2019, November 19 Status update text [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2283037871933004&id=100006804402661
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(Blog 19)