TM-EX NEWSLETTER TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION EX-MEMBERS SUPPORT GROUP Volume III, No. 3, Summer 1991 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S.A. AYURVEDIC MEDICINE A description of, and claims for, ayurvedic medicine by a trio of advocates was published as a "Letter from New Delhi" in the May 22-29, issue of JAMA [Journal of the American Medical Association] (265:2636-7, 1991). The letter alleges that "Ayur-Veda is the oldest existing medical system"; that "it is recognized by the World Health Organization [WHO]"; and, that "a growing number of Westenr physicians... are finding it to add valuable knowledge that is complementary to modern allopathic medicine." That ayurvedic is the oldest system is very doubtful; its recognition by WHO has no bearing upon its scientific validity, and its growth claims ring of marketing hype. Many are understandable upset by JAMA's publication of this advocacy piece which fails to reveal that Ayur-Veda is a marketing term for a line of health food products and medical services of the Maharish Mahesh Yogi, guru of the Transcendental Meditation movement. The ayurvedic system is mythologized to have emerged from the mythical Hindu creator, Brahma. A West German government report described the TM movement as "Hindu-religion concepts in a scientific terminloogy." Its leaders claim that TM is "above religions." (Various Implications Arising From the Practice of Transcendental Meditation, Instititute for Youth and Society, Bensheim, 1980). Ayurveda is rooted in two Sanscrit words and literally means "the science of life." Like other traditional systems, Hinduism attempts to describe and organize its view of reality, incorporating both fanciful metaphysical concepts and crude physics into the cosmology from which it derives its practices. Ayurveda imagines three humors (wind, bile and phlegm) which must be balanced for health, and a metaphysical "Life Force" (Prana) which constitutes the immortal and energeitc aspects of life. Also, like other traditional systems, ayurveda includes an herbal pharmacopeia and specific practices, some of which may have value. Indian snakeroot (Rauwolfia serpentina), used by medicine men of India to treat snakebite, is the source of an effective anti-hypertensive medication. However, finding a few useful herbals doesn't validate that entire system; some Indian herbals are known to be carcinogenic. Ayurveda also organized a medical-nutritional-dietary-healing system that contians both truth and error (Grivetti, _Nutrition Today_, Jan-Feb, 1991), and although quite practical, to apply it today would be to deny oneself the advancements of modern nutrition science. Some ayurvedic medical ideas are rather quaint, while others would "gag a maggot!" According to ayurveda: "perverted, negative and excessive use of time, intelligence and sense object is the three-fold cause of both psychic and somatic disorders;" and "wearing of gems and ornaments promotes wealth, auspiciousness, longevity, prosperity; destroys calamity, produces happiness, charms and ojas." Alcoholism, anorexia, nausea, poor digestion, advances ascites, edema, and indigestion are treated by "goat feces prepared by washing with urine." Constipation is treated with "milk mixed with urine." To improve male potency there are 216 different kinds of enemas, including the testicles of peacocks, swans and turtles. Epilepsy, insanity or seizuers are treated with ass urine (from: History of Ayurveda, by Ryan, et.al.; available from TM-EX). Other ayurvedic prescriptions include ritualistic sacrificies to different Vedic gods (called yagya) to win their blessings. A yagya prescribed for endometriosis was priced at $11,500 - curiously a "less than recommended" yagya was also available for $8,500, as was a $3,300 yagya that would suffice (TM-EX Newsletter, Fall, 1990). The caveat that the public needs to hear is that ayurveda has become a marketing term for a variety of health products and services of limited, questionable or unproved value which may server as gateways into the TM cult which has had a sordid history. Paraplegics have been bilked by promises that with enough TM training they would evenutally rise from their wheelchairs by levitation. Other claims for TM include the ability to become invisible, walk through walls, attain the strength of an elephant, mastery over nature (see "TM fails to stop locomotive," _NCAHFNL_, Mar-Apr, 91), attain perfect health and immortality. Ayurvedic products have also been promoted for AIDS (see "Ayurvedic Docs promote unproven AIDS pills," _NCAHF NL_, Jan-Feb, '91). In 1984, the Maharishi named Ferdinand Marcos the "Founding Father of the Age of Enlightnement, First Ruler of the Age of Enlightenment in the Philippines, and President of the World Government of the Age of Enlightenment in the Philippines." The Maharishi has ceremoniously given Deepak Chopra, MD, one of the JAMA article authors, the title "Dhanvantari [Lord of Immortality], the keeper of perfect health for the world." He is the chief promoter of Ayur-Veda (see "The Maharishi's Medicine Man," _In Health_, 5-6/1990). _NCAHF Newsletter_, August, 1991. [NCAHF is the National Council Against Health Fraud -- ed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ENGLAND Aids therapy 'contained feces' Two Harley Street doctors advertised a cult's miracle treatment for AIDS without revealing that the patient used as an example was dead, a professional conduct hearing was told today. Patients were charged $500 a month for tablets which contained only fungi, plant extracts and feces. Doctors Roger Chalmers and Leslie Davis also organized seminars for AIDS and HIV victims at $48 a head. Both were followers of religious cult leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose most famous disciples were the Beatles, and based their treatment on his theories. Timothy Langdale, counsel for the General Medical Council's professional conduct committee, said the doctors' claims were based on a study of only 12 patients. "Literature advertising an improvement in symptoms for one patient said he gained six kilos in weight," said Mr. Langdale. "That person was, in fact, dead at the time the document had been used." Mr. Langdale said the two doctors worked from the Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Centre which was established in 1987 at Harley Street and in Park Crescent in London's West End. Dr. Chalmers told a journalist he had 1,400 patients and charged $120 an hour for consultation. He had no formal qualification in MAV mediciiine but had spent eight months in India where he learned "all he needed to know." Mr. Langdale said one of the patients who died was MR. A, aged 30. He consulted Dr. Chalmers in August 1989 and was told treatment woudl be $320 a month with the balance of $160 paid by a charity. Mr. A also had to pay $120 for a consultation and $100 for tea bags and herbal preparations. He had to pay $3320 for the first month's herbal remedies and was also charged for candy sugar he was sent. Mr. A, together with a friend, Mr. X, paid $330 to enroll for a course in transcendental meditation, recommended by Dr. Chalmers. They were asked to bring fresh fruit and flowers and a clena handkerchief. What they witnessed was "like a religious ritual," with a mantra chanted round an altar bearing a picture of the Maharishi, Mr. Langdale said. Mr. A persisted with the treatment and began to feel the ill effects two weeks later. Mr. X will give evidence later in the week. Dr. Davis faces seven charges of serious professional misconduct and Dr. Chalmers six. The hearing continues. From: "Aids cure but the patient was dead," _Evening Standard_; _AIDS therapy contained feces," _Guardian_; "AIDS doctors accused of misconduct," _Daily Telegraph_; _Doctors peddled useless pills ot AIDS sufferers," _Independent_; "Doctors peddled treatment for AIDS," _Times_, July 15-16, 1991. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S.A. $2.5 million lawsuit against TM, school dismissed by judge A $2.5 million racketeering suit filed by former meditator Diane Hendel against the Transcendental Meditation movement and Maharishi International University in Fairfield, IA has been dismissed. "The court finds that plantiff has failed to state a valid claim under RICO because she has failed to show any damage to her business or property," U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch said. Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a plantiff can recover only for damages to business or property, not for personal injury, according to court officials. Hendel argued in her suit that she lost job opportunities, bu the judge ruled Monday that "such an allegation is too speculative to provide standing under RICO." The case now moves to Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where Hendel has filed a similar suit. Earlier this year, TM reached an out-of-court settlement reported to be $50,000 for each of three other former meditators - Patrick Ryan, Jane Greene and Robert Kropinski - who sued the organization for fraud. _Des Moines Register_, Thursday, June 20, 1991, Kenneth Pins ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IOWA Fairfield physician faces charge A hearing for a doctor charged with practicing medicine with an expired license at a clinic on the campus of Maharishi International University will be held Aug. 15. Dr. Dallas E. Smith, 52, was charged with practicing with an expired and invalid license from December 1988 to April 1991. Smith refused to comment. Smith had a license to practice medicine and perform surgery on Aug. 9, 1985, according to a complaint filed with the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners. The license expired Aug. 1, 1988, and waasn't renewed, the complaint states. If found guilty, Smith faces a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and having his license revoked. The board will conduct the hearing for Smith to present evidence or witnesses in his defense. Ottumwa Courier, July 4, 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From Spiritual Sadhana to Maharishi Ayur-Veda: TM Evolves The history of Ayurveda finds it sroots in the mythical Vedic culture of India. It is traditionally thought to be of divine source. /1 According to tradition, "Ayurveda is one of the branches of the Vedas. It is a stream of knowledge coming down from generation to generation since eternity... Its emergence has been said to be from the [mythical Hindu] Creator, Brahma." /2 Ayurveda is not a 5000 year old system or the "oldest existing medical system" as is claimed by Maharishi Ayur-Veda. The editor of the Caraka Samhita [seminal Ayurvedic text], P.V. Sharma, states that it is dated approximately 2000 B.C. /3 Other authors fix its origins between 7th century B.C. and 5th century A.D. /4 The Western medical system traces its origins to Hippocrates, circa 460 - 370 B.C. As the Ayurvedic knowledge advanced gradually through history, it was divided into eight specialties: Kayacikitsa (internal medicine), Salya (surgery), Salakya (pertaining to diseases of supra-clavicular region), Kaumarabhrtya (pediatrics including obstetrics and gynecology), Agadatantra (toxicology), Bhutavidya (pertaining to micro-organisms or spirits), Rasayana (promotive therapy) and Vajikarana (pertaining to aphrodisiacs). /5 Much of Hindu classical medicine [is] developed from the herbal lore and magical beliefs of the Vedas, and like the eighteenth century /6 was based on the concept of particular elementary substances or humors (dhatu; dosa). The three humours - wind, bile and phegm [or vata, pitta, and kapha of Maharishi Ayur-Ved] when evenly balanced with blood as a fourth dosa ensured a healthy body. The dosa were identified with the three [metaphysical] universal forces, wind, sun and moon respectively. When the dosas are in equilibrium they support he body and fimrly and it is then likened to a three-pillared building. [Ayurveda] attributes most diseases to demons, as did their counterparts in other ancient cultures. Thus, many diseases have the same names as the demons who were believed to have caused them. Demons also inflict bad luck, poverty, misfortune, and death. When the name of the disease-demon is known to the priest, it passes into his power, because in magic, a verbal statement is an efficient symbolical imitation of an act. Ritual utterance of sacred names to "bind" demons was also common in Sumeria, Babylon, Assyria and ancient Egypt. The Susruta Samhita states that many illnesses are due to the malignant influences of conjured up she-devils; others to the adverse influence exerted by particular stars or planets. Planets are believed to diretly affect such illnesses as smallpox, scarlet fever and measles, as well as the growth of plants, and the general affairs of mankind. Diet is also carefully studied - both in sickness and in health - and adapted to prevailing climatic conditions. At the same time, great reliance is placed on the use of amulets, talismans, spells and mantras. Mantras (sounds believed to have magical qualities) are said to contain the essential energy of the divine. The use of incantations, or mantras, in conjunction with remedial rites, was common throughout the ancient world. /7 -o- ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA: GENERAL CAUSES OF DISEASE: Perverted, negative and excessive use of time, intelligence and sense object is the threefold cause of both psychic and somatic disorders. /8 GENERAL CURES OF DISEASE: Wearing of gems and ornaments promotes wealth, auspiciousness, longevity, prosperity; destroys calamity, produces happiness, charms and ojas. /9 Use of fragrance and garlands is aphrodisiac, produces good smell, longevity, charm, nourishment and strength, pleasing manners and destroys inauspiciousness. /10 -o- ADVENT OF MAHARISHI AYUR-VEDA: FOUNDATIONS Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought his system of neo-hindu thought to the West in December, 1958. /31 He began his campaign to "free the world from suffering" by forming the Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM). SRM was incorporated as a "religious one" to provide instruction to "worthy persons sincerely desirous of leading a more spiritual life." /32 -o- TIMELINE - ANNOUNCEMENTS BY MAHARISHI Over the last thirty years, Maharishi has variously defined his mantra meditation system from religious to scientific-sounding verbiage, /33 examples being: Spiritual sadhana -> Transcendental Meditation -> Science of Creative Intelligence -> Technology of the Unified Field -> Maharishi Ayur-Veda Gods -> Devas -> Impulses of creative intelligence -> Laws of nature Hindu rituals -> Vedic performances to restore environmental balance Yoga postures -> Neuro-muscular integration 1962 - "'Transcendental Meditation' and 'asanas' [physical 'yoga' postures], will restore life force and maintain normal conditions in the body, promot[ing] growing mental and physical health." /34 1977 - Through the Transcendental Meditation Program and the TM-Sidhi Program one will "develop the powers of a superman - including levitation, flying [without an airplane], invisibility, walking through walls, the strength of an elephant and mastery over nature." /35 1978 and 1989 - He has twice boldly claimed, that through his programs "world peace had been achieved." /36 1978 - Through Transcendental Meditation, "we now have the formula for perfect health." /37 1980 - "The TM and TM-Sidhi program will provide for the development of enlightenment and the restoration of perfect health, thus ensuring the maintenance of youthfulness, and a state of ideal functioning of the physiology." /38 "We have a complete formula for immortality." /39 1984 - Ferdinand E. Marcos, President of the Republic of the Phillipines, is named "Founding Father of the Age of Enlightenment, First Ruler of the Age of Enlightenment in the Phillippines, and President of the World Government of the Age of Enlightenment in the Phillipines." /40 "The ability to solve all governments' problems through his meditation methods." /41 1990 - Maharishi has ceremoniously given Deepak Chopra, M.D. the title "Dhanvantari [Lord of Immortality], the keeper of perfect health for the world." /42 /43 1990 - "The removal of the Berlin wall was a direct result of the Maharishi's attention." /44 -o- THE ADVENT OF MAHARISHI AYUR-VEDA: The first mention of Ayur-Veda in TM publications dates to 1980. The 1970's had shown that TM was not the panacea of the worlds ills; the number of new 'initiates' was down and income from teaching TM was dwindling. The US courts had found TM to be a religion, /45 and former high-ranking movement members, MIU faculty and researchers began publicly defecting, claiming deception and fraud in research. /46 /47 /48 /49 With recruitment down, Maharishi began recycling the committed movement members into new programs beyond TM and the TM-Sidhi courses. Maharishi Ayur-Veda was announced. His new approach is to bring new recruits in via health care and then introduce them to other levels of the movement. On January 12, 1985, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi inaugurated "Maharishi Vedic University (MVU) in Washington, D.C." followed by "the establishment of Ayurveda Prevention Centers, under the inspiration and guidance of the Ayurveda Faculty of Maharishi Vedic University". According to TM-movement official Dr. Neil Paterson (Ph.D., MERU), the 'Governor General of the Age of Enlightenment for North America,' the programs of Maharishi Ayur-Veda are "based on Ayurveda, the most ancient and most profound of all health systems which again in this scientific age has been re-established in its long forgotten glory by Maharishi." He goes on to say: "The programs of Ayurveda Prevention Centers have ben devised by the most outstanding Ayurvedic experts and scholars in the world today led by... Dr. B.D. Tiguna, President, Maharishi Vedic University, Europe." /50 -o- TWENTY APPROACHES TO MAHARISHI AYUR-VEDA: THEIR COSTS, GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS AND EXPLANATION: To achieve this state of perfect balance, Maharishi Ayur-Veda [now] advocates 20 complementary approaches. When used together, the 20 approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Veda ensure perfect health for the individual, the family, the nation, and the world. /52 1. Approaches from Consciousness: Development of higher states of consciousness through Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation [TM], its Advanced Techniques, and the TM-Sidhi Programme. /53 Individuals not practicing the TM program are expected to learn this as part of their Maharishi Ayurveda Health program. /54 The TM technique is a simple mental repetition of a sound or "mantra." /55 The TM movement claims that only specific "sounds" can be used, and that the selection of sounds is based upon a trade secret. /56 The mantra is given in a private "initiation" ceremony, or "puja," [worship to Lord Narayana, the lotus born Brahma, the creator... the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection... guru is god] in which the initiate brings fresh fruit, flowers and a new handkerchief, to be offered to a picture of Maharishi's deceased "Master" in an incense-filled, candlelit room. /57 The recruit is warned not to reveal the mantra because it is destructive of the teaching and will weaken the process of TM. A similar degree of secrecy is found throughout Maharishi's teachings. /58 /59 The instructor, or "initiator" who has signed an oath of loyalty to Maharishi, gives the deliberate impression that there are very large numbers of mantras, and that each meditator receives a mantra which is uniquely suited to his personality, health, feelings, education, profession and marital status. /60 /61 Court documents have shown that the "secret" mantra formula consists of a limited number of words associated with Hindu deities, including: Shiama=Krishna, Aing=Sarasvati, Hiring=Shiva, Kiring=Kali, and given out by age, and/or age and sex depending upon the criteria used at the time the TM teacher was "given" the mantras. /62 In an internal document Maharishi says: "For training the mind through sound we can take any word, even the word 'mike.' For our purpose we select only the suitable mantras of personal gods." /63 Many scholars verify that TM is a religion. /64 /65 /66 /67 COST: $390 /68 (now $1,000 -ed) TM Advanced Techniques add the words 'shri' [O most beautiful] and 'namah' [I bow down] as prefix and/or suffix to the basic mantra. COST: $390 (now $1,000 -ed) The TM-Sidhi program is mental repetition of "sutras" (words or phrases) after a twenty minute session of TM. Examples of the sutras used in the TM-Sidhi program include: 'friendliness,' 'strength of an elephant,' 'sun,' and 'navel.' The levitation "flying" sutra: "Relationship of body and akasha, lightness of cotton fiber." /69 This practice is followed by readings of Hindu scriptures, i.e.: "Flow, Soma, in a most sweet and exhilarating stream, effused for Indra to drink. To thee we come, O dropping (Soma); for thee only is this our worship day by day, our prayers are to thee, none other..." /70 COST: $3,000 (Transportation and hotel additional) TM Residence Courses and "World Peace Assemblies" are in-residence courses where the amount of time spent in meditation or "flying" is increased. Maharishi philosophy and lifestyle is taught at these courses. COSTS Residence courses, $195 (3 day weekend); World Peace Assembly, $895 (week long courses should be taken four times a year) 2. Primordial Sound: Use of the primordial sounds of the Samhita of the four aspects of the Ved and their Ved-Angas and Up-Angas to eliminate imbalances in the functioning of human nature and nature as a whole. /71 The word "Amrita," which is Sanskrit for "the nectar of immortality" is mentally repeated. "A unique program offered as a professional medical service." COST $700 3. Intellect: To correct the mistake of the intellect, Pragya-aparadha, so that the totality of the unified structure of life is perceived while one is perceiving the diversified structure. In this state of knowledge, the Self, disease cannot flourish because life is intimately connected with the source of natural law. /72 The ultimate root of every disease is ignorance. /73 This is accomplished through exposure to Maharishi's teachings, including formal schooling, courses, and written, audio and video materials. /74 /75 /76 COSTS Maharishi Children's School, $3,800, elementary/$4,200, middle school. Maharishi International University, $7,080/year. The Science of Creative Intelligence, $270. TM Teacher Training Course, $8,000. (Teachers who practice the TM-Sidhi course can become "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment.") 4. Emotions: Strengthening of the finest level of feeling to develop the emotions fully. /77 This is also a claim of the TM and TM-Sidhi program. 5. Language: Using Vedic principles of the structure of language to promote balance, bliss and integrity in the mind and body. /78 COST $99, Sanskrit Course, Upanishads 1 and Instruction in Sanskrit 6. Maharishi Gandharva-Veda: Traditional music therapy using sound and melody to restore harmony in the physiology and eliminate the imbalances responsible for disease, prescribed by your doctor. /79 Music to be listened to at specified times of the day and night. COST Varies. (i.e., $60, Set of eight tapes, instrumental flute) 7. Senses: Vedic procedures to enliven, through the senses, perfect balance in all areas of life. /80 COSTS Home Aroma $200 / Return visits $155, Home Marma Therapy $200, Aroma Oils, Aroma Diffusers, Color Therapy 8. Psycho-Physiological Integration: Restoration of homeostatic balance and acceleration of neuromuscular coordination and balance in the physiology and psychology. /81 This technique, known also as the psycho-physiological or "bliss" technique is taught by Dr. Chopra, and involves putting one's "attention" in the heart area while thinking one's TM mantra. COST $700 9. Neuro-Muscular Integration: Vedic exercises [Salutation to the Sun] to restore mind-body coordination and the integrated functioning of all levels of life. These are yoga postures. /83 10. Neuro-Respiratory Integrations: Vedic exercises pertaining to the physiology of breathing to restore integrated functioning to all levels of mind and body. /84 Breathing techniques or "pranayama" that can cause individuals to hyperventilate. COST: $295, Home course. 11. Physiological Purification: Purification procedures applied at regular intervals to eliminate and prevent the accumulation of physiological impurities due to faulty dietary and behavioral patterns. /85 These "panchakarma" procedures include massage with herbalized oils, heat treatments, herbalized steam, oil treatments, enema, and purgatives, recommended four times a year. COST $2,000 (7 day standard program), $2,700 (7 day deluxe program), $3,900 (7 day royal program). 12. Diet: Appropriate dietary measures to support the restoration of physiological balance for prevention and treatment of disease. /86 For pita types: Use ghee instead of butter, turmeric should be included in your cooking, sprinkle churna on your food. COST: $495 Blissfully Thin: Maharishi Ayurvedic Approach to Effortless Weight Loss /87 13. Herbs and Minerals: Medicinal flora and minerals from every country to bring perfect balance to the functioning of mind and body. /88 Herbs are among the precious first experience of nature's intelligence, the manifesting of the primordial sounds of Veda into forms. /89 COSTS Various: Blissful Rest One/Two $12.95, MAV Vitality Mix $9.95, MAV Rose Petal Conserve $9.95, MAV Herbal Teas $3.75, Vata, Pitta, or Kapha Seasonal Teas $3.75, The Raja's Cup (Coffee Substitute) $4.95, MAV Ghee $10.95, Cashew, Almond, Nectar Delights $4.95 14. Rasayana: Herbal and mineral preparation formulated for the prevention and cure of disease and the promotion of longevity and immortality. /90 Dr. V.M. Dwivedi, deceased, whose picture adorns "Amrit Kalash" was President of Maharishi Vedic University and Chairman of Maharishi Ayur-Ved Corporation of America, Scientific Advisory Board. COSTS Varies. Amrit Kalash Nectar (M4-Paste), $40. Ingredients: Raw sugar, clarified butter, Indian gall nut, Indian gooseberry, dried catkins, Indian pennywort, honey, nutgrass, white sandalwood, butterfly pea, shoeflower aloewood, licorice, cardamom, cinnamon, cyperus, turmeric. No preservatives. /91 15. Behavior: Bringing behavior into accord with natural law through daily and seasonal routines. /92 Instruction in Vedic womanhood, ideal relationships, parenting, Ayurvedic exercise program, hygiene, sleeping on the right side with emphasis on the head facing east. /93 /94 COSTS Varies. i.e. Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health and Beauty Line; Heaven on Earth for Every Woman course. 16. Pulse Diagnosis: Detecting any existing or forthcoming imbalance simply by feeling the pulse. /95 COST $295 (Self Pulse Diagnosis) 17. Maharishi Jyotish: Securing perfect health for the future; /96 mathematical prediction of environmental influences on health. /97 Chart preparation and individual consultation on health, business, and relationships. /98 Maharishi Jyotish is Hindu Astrology. Maharishi Jyotish Gemstones are also recommended. COSTS from $150 /99 18. Maharishi Yagya: Vedic performances to restore environmental balance and promote individual and collective health. /100 Sacrificial ceremonies to please different Vedic gods and win their blessings and train the mind to contact higher powers and receive their blessings. /101 COSTS Various Yagyas are available: $3,300, $8,500, $11,500. /102 19. Environment: Creating collective health through the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme so that society provides a nourishing and strengthening environment for the individual to rise to perfect health. /103 Group practice of TM and TM-Sidhi program; intensive practice is called "rounding" or "C.C.P." [Creating Coherence Program]. COSTS $35, Monthly dues for group practice. $200, Monthly fees for C.C.P. (Room and board additional.) 20. World Health / World Peace: Group performance by 7,000 experts in Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme to create coherence in world consciousness, the basis of world peace and collective health on a global scale. /104 Living in a TM community, ideally Fairfield, Iowa. COST $35, Monthly dues. Relocation expenses. -o- CASE STUDIES: CASE ONE: TREATMENT OF ENDOMETRIOSIS One long term TM teacher who suffers from rectal endometriosis sought help through Maharishi Ayur-Veda. A letter widely circulated in the Washington, D.C. TM community asks for assistance to fund her recommended treatment: Prior to Maharishi Ayur-Ved, modalities tried include acupuncture, naturopathy (restricted diet, colonics) and chiropractic [common practices of TM movement members]. Maharishi Ayur-Ved offers specific recommendations for her health problems and has the most potential for reversing the disease. Dr. Triguna, Dr. Deepak Chopra [M.D.], and other Ayur-Vedic physicians have recommended she have 2-4 weeks Pancha Karma at Lancaster [Maharishi Ayurveda Prevention Center, Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director] at least every 4 months until the disease is cureed. Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf [M.D.] /105 recommended that until she can go to Lancaster she [should] have two days of Pancha Karma each month. Dr. Lonsdorf's primary recommendation is that she receive a Yagya as soon as possible. She also prescribes herbal supplements and rounding/C.C.P. in Fairfield [Iowa]. The projected annual expense for her recommended treatments: Yagya $11,500; Pancha Karma $17,600; Dietary Supplements $3,000; C.C.P. $2,500 = $34,600 /106 CASE TWO: TREATMENT OF AIDS A patient, who has since died of AIDS, consulted the two Harley Street [British] medical doctors with the titles of "Dean of Medicine of the Maharishi University of Natural Law, Mentmore" and "Dean of Physiology" after British media reported their claims that AIDS patients had experienced "improved health" with "dramatic effects in the relief of AIDS." AIDS patients who visit their clinic are prescribed three herbal pills, and told to take them at different times of the day. They are told that "the herbs are able to correct the fundamental impalance in the system which are the basic cause of illness," and "contained Ayurvedic pharmacological agents, including herbs which grow in hilly areas in India" that "inhibit virus proliferation." They have been unable to produce any evidence for these claims. The pills have not been tested for or granted a medicinal product license. They admit that some patients have been offered Maharishi Ayurveda pills and treatment for nothing if they agreed to stop taking AZT. Otherwise, they have to pay. The doctors also persuaded the patient to join introductory courses in TM, saying "the main aspect of Maharishi Ayurveda is Transcendental Meditation." The patient had to take part in an "initiated ceremony." He was told to bring offerings of fresh fruit and flowers and lay them on an altar in front of a portrait of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Incense sticks burnt beneath the portrait. The tutor chanted Indian devotions. Warnings have been given about the side-effects of both TM and Maharishi Ayurveda diets. The British Dietetic Association has advised AIDS and HIV patients about potential dangers from the Maharishi Ayurveda diet. The General Medical Council is currently holding hearings on the dangers of Maharishi Ayurveda. Most of the AIDS patients known to have consulted the two doctors over the last three years have died. /107 -o- FINAL THOUGHTS One of the most important things I learned from being a TM initiator is that the whole TM movement is highly esoteric. There is a definite hierarchy of information; there are progressive levels of initiation, and the farther you go, the more you know. The general public has most of the truth about TM deliberately concealed from them. The average meditator, who has only achieved the first level of initiation, actually knows very little of what TM is really all about. It's only as a person advances to the level of initator, or beyond, that he begins to get the teachings on an esoteric level. [Maharishi] said that we, as initiators, were only supposed to give out 1 percent of the teaching we had received to the people we initiated, so it is obvious that the general public knows even less than that. /108 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CAUSES AND TREATMENTS ACCORDING TO AYURVEDA DIAGNOSIS: Alcoholism, anorexia, nausea, poor digestion, advanced ascites, edema and indigestion. TREATMENT: Goat feces prepared by washing with urine. /11 DIAGNOSIS: Constipation. TREATMENT: Milk mixed with urine. /12 DIAGNOSIS: Improvement of male potency. TREATMENT: 216 different kinds of enemas, including the testicles of peacocks, swans and turtles. These, mixed with honey, make a man superbly potent. If these enemas don't return, follow immediately with enema of urine. /13 DIAGNOSIS: Insanity, epilepsy, internal hemmorage, piles and defective breast milk. TREATMENT: Emesis. /14 DIAGNOSIS: Wound inflammation. TREATMENT: Bloodletting. /15 DIAGNOSIS: Hemmorage. TREATMENT: Enema with fresh blood of a rabbit, deer, cock, cat, buffalo, sheep or goat. /16 DIAGNOSIS: Intra-uterine fetal death. TREATMENT: Incantation of mantras. DIAGNOSIS: Natural calamities. TREATMENT: Use of umbrella, provides strength, protection, covering, well-being and guards against the sun, wind, dust and rain. DIAGNOSIS: Alcoholism. TREATMENT: Massage, hot baths, merciless embracing of women with warmth of usefulness, loads of hips, thighs, breasts which are warm and pleasing due to holding up warm beddings and covering with warm and comfortable inner chambers. /19 DIAGNOSIS: Epilepsy, insanity or seizures. TREATMENT: Ass urine. /20 DIAGNOSIS: Constipation or retained urine. TREATMENT: Elephant urine. /21 CAUSE of insanity: Insults to gods. /22 CAUSE of chest pain: Unsuitable food, excessive sexual intercourse, irregular meals, suppression of urges. /23 CAUSE of impotency: Uncooked food, suspicion, ignorance of the taste for women, drinking too much water, intercourse with quadripeds, wounds in penis by sharp instrument, teeth or nails, striking with wooden stick, excessive use of awny insects (in order to elongate the organ). CURES: Castration, local anointment, sprinkling or bloodletting. /25 CAUSE of abcesses: Fatigue, sexual intercourse, giddiness and yawning. CAUSE of ammennorhea: Evil spirits or intake of hot food and drinks. /26 CAUSE of threatened abortion: Anger, grief, jealousy, terror, sexual intercourse, physical exercise or dirty food. /27 CAUSE of intra-uterine fetal death: Excessive use of sharp and hot things, suppression of urges of wind, urine and feces, use of uneven bed or seat, looking at ditches and waterfalls. /28 CAUSE of deformed baby: Pushing too soon in labor. /29 CAUSE of nucal cord (cord around baby's neck): Supine lying. /30 GUIDELINES for Physicians: Sneezing, crying, slipping, falling, angry expression, beating, refutation, despising; fall or defecting of cloth, turban, upper garment, umbrella and shoes; coming across the people afflicted due to the death of somebody, falling down of sacred tree, flagstaff, flag or pitcher full of water; talking about death or inauspicious things, pollution with ashes or dust, crossing of road by cat, dog or serpent; cries of cruel animals and birds facing south, seeing cot, chair and vehicles stretched out - these have been said as inauspicious by the learned. The wise physician seeing or hearing these in the way should not proceed to the patient's house. /30.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MAHARISHI'S UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES: Maharishi Vedic University (MVU), Europe, a corporate entity, has no campus, no course catalogue and no students. Maharishi International University (MIU) is the only accredited university associated with Maharishi. It also holds the Iowa state record for cumulative default rates on federally insured student loans. Former MIU faculty member, Dr. Dennis Roark, states that Maharishi European Research University (MERU) is a hotel room with desks at the International Capital of the Age of Enightenment in Switzerland. Each desk contains stationery for its respective department. Again, no regular classes or course catalogue exists. The President of MIU, Bevan Morris, holds a doctoral degree from MERU. Maharishi University of Natural Law (MUNL) in England also seems to be in name only. MUNL is officially unrecognized, has no medical students, and no power to confer degrees. It does list as its address a TM movement facility, the World Government of the Age of Enlightenment, Mentmore Towers, near Leighton Buzzard. No public records can be found on Maharishi College of Natural Medicine, England. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GERMAN STUDY: The Various Implications Arising From the Practice of Transcendental Meditation Excerpts: 5.3.2 Karma and Stress. Maharishi had the idea of giving the hinduistic concept "karma" the same significance as the concept of "stress." In doing this, "stress" was attributed (in a westernized form), hinduistic-religious concepts. TM had, for the western world, the key with which all positive and negative aspects of life could be afforded a paritcular significance. All negative effects of the meditation are attributed to "bad karma" or "knots of stress," when they occur in meditators. When either during or after the meditation a meditator feels unwell, he is, according to TM theory, "unstressing." TM doctors diagnose this. Whoever walks the road of "unstressing" should personally avoid all possible outside causes of stress, since the atmosphere (around him) could lead to a negative accumulation and consequently a hindering of his own development. The personal unstressing on the part of the meditator has as a consequence a reduction in contact with people and a reduction in relationships. We can deduce here that the western concept of "stress" (the curing of which constitutes a large part of the promises made in TM advertising), has its cause in "karma." This "relationship" between the two is only known to insiders. JUDGMENT OF GERMAN COURT The ruling of the highest federal administrative tribunal, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht on May 24, 1989 in Case number 7 C 2.87 is: 1) The Federal Government is competent and allowed to care about cults. 2) The Federal Government is allowed to warn of TM. 3) The Federal Government is allowed to designate TM a ``Youth Religion'' as well as a ``Psychogroup.'' 4) The Federal Government is allowed to say that TM is taught by teachers who are not qualified [to deal with the TM problems]. 5) The Federal Government is allowed to say TM can cause psychic defects or destruction of personality. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear TM-EX: I was in Fairfield a week ago. I went to the Fairfield Ledger to read the past 6 months issues. I was surprised to find you had finally reached an out-of-court settlement! Right on! I then went to the Fairfield Library to read the TM-EX files and make photocopies. I wrote to [xxx] to tell him to improve the condition of the files. A parent told me her child on staff refused the flying block after reading about it in a handout from TM-EX given to them on the MIU campus. Did I forget to tell you that an MIU student tried to get hit by a train while he was an MIU student? He told me this story later. He told me he cried for weeks in his room after the classes ended for the M.A. in Education program. He had no job skills and no future after MIU. Best wishes for your future. Sincerely, MIU graduate Friends: Thanks for sending me the TM-EX newsletter. I'm not sure how I got on your mailing list, but I am grateful and am encloing a small contribution. Please let me know if there's a regular subscription price. I like the newsletter, am generally sympathetic with its apparent mission. I confess I am a little put off by the "victim" overtones, however. It seems to me that with TM, it's much the same as with any other consumer who's been burned by unfulfilled promises: if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. We have some responsibility for buying into these unrealistic hoaxes and expecting miracles to come about effortlessly. I was always skeptical of TM's claims, but succumbed when it became a relationship requirement that I do TM ("You can't live with me if you don't do TM."). Thus, it was primarily as a significant other that I suffered from the Maharishi Effect. First I coined the phrase "Meditati-anon" and later, "Levitati-anon," (like Al-Anon) to designate my problem and its solution. My beloved, a cult fancier to the end, is now involved in a "muscle testing" cult, but I have learned fairly well to "live and let live" even though it's a sad fact of our relationship that communication often stops when our belief systems collide. Anyway, thanks for the newsletter, and please keep me current. Yours truly, Louisiana. Dear TM-EX: Thank you for sending the TM-EX material. We are devouring it, then hiding it under my underwear! I hope and pray it works. Sincerely, Parent, U.S.A. Dear TM-EX: Thank you for your straight-forward conversation. May you find happiness and fulfillment! Parent, U.S.A. Dear TM-EX: I am a student at MIU. I read some material from TM-EX with interest. I came to MIU last fall and I sometimes am confused and suspicious of the TM movement. The faculty says TM is not a religion, but they forced me to accept SCI [Science of Creative Intelligence] as a religion. I'd like to know more about the TM movement, especially about former professors or faculty at MIU. I wonder why the former TM leaders aren't around anymore. When I watch Maharishi's tapes from the 1970s, I don't see the leaders from that time participating in the TM movement. Why can't TM leaders leave in dignity? MIU Student, Fairfield. Dear Friends: Please, put me on your mailing list for "TM-EX Newsletter" and "TM-EX Bulletin." I just received the Fall 1990 issue that I had requested, and am thoroughly delighted with your reporting. Keep up the good work. Thanks. Sincerely yours, R.H., Maryland Dear TM-EX: Here is a [note] from a friend of mine who is on the Texas Crime Commission. Looks like the idea of teaching T.M. to prisoners in Texas is squelched. He says, "The Maharishi is going NOWHERE in the prison system. They've been trying for some years to get it, but they ain't!" N.N., Texas Dear Friends: I just received a fall 1990 copy of your newsletter. Would you please put me on your mailing list? Would you also send a name and phone of someone I can contact locally. Thank you. C.C., CA Dear Friends - We sympathize with your pain and frustration regarding decisions you have made in your life - and we support your quest for finding fulfillment in your life. As for our lives - we would appreciate not receiving your newsletter as we are not TM ex-members - and are enjoying the growth in our own lives. Sincerely, T.S., Fairfield. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTERS FROM CIC 28 Hello, my name is [xxx], and I am just completing the CIC 28 course here at the hotel. I got some of our information on Friday out in front. Acutally, before I got it I was already having some really grave doubts about what was going on in the course. When I got this information, that just was the catalyst I needed to sort of break free from this whole thing. Also, the same thing happened to a friend of mine; we're both from the same area. Since Friday night, I've sort of been deprogramming myself. It feels pretty good. I was never deeply into this whole thing either. I just tried this because I thought it would be an interesting thing to do, and ever since I started the Sidhis program, I felt worse and worse and worse. I thought something was wrong. But everybody here is glowing with pleasure and pride about hopping around, and I'm not. I want to thank you for the publication. Of course, the movement people talk about it as being a bunch of disgruntled malcontents who failed to get enlightened. But, I don't see how these techniques really work. The whole thing has become a big business, with now the health care coming on strong. It's full of fraud and lies. The thing that really got me was your publication of the mantras; mine was in there. This whole thing of having it doen by what age you are was bad enough. But the whole thing about having it related to personal deities and Hinduism makes sense to me. That's actually the way they do thinga round here. It really set me off. I feel a lot better, although I feel poorly right now - I'm in the midst of all these people in the hotel. Although I have quit attending the meetings, I'm in the midst of it here trying to continually deprogramming myself, but I'm working out okay. Thanks a lot for that information and I'll write to you. I had many questions the day before I got the newsletter. And the newsletter just really helped me in my thinking about what TM is. I don't know if I would be qualified as a TM-EX. Yeah I am a TM-EX. Anyway I will send my address because I certainly want to continue receiving the newsletter. It was very helpful for me. Thank you very much. California. Dear TM-EX: Just finished CIC 28. So happy to get the TM-EX newsletter while on the programming course. Please put me on the mailing list and a friend too. I'd be glad to help in any way I can. Virginia Dear TM-EX: I just called you but was unable to reach you. I would like the names and numbers of the [FOCUS] support group in the area and also how I might go about getting my money back. I am still quite shaky and having anxiety attacks. I though I was better yesterday eve and then went to bed and awoke with spasms all over my body. I was never like this before last Monday (second week of sidhis). Even before if I missed a meditation, I never felt so awful. It scares me. My heart rate has at least gone down some. I sure hope this goes away. I do not enjoy being like this. Thanks for everything. New England Dear TM-EX: Do you have any articles or copies of pamphlets which show the early claims TM made about the Sidhi program and flying. This stuff which they later changed [be]cause it was not true. Boston MA AND INTERNATIONAL... Dear Friends, As you may know we have got serious difficulties with activities of destructive groups (especially with TM) here in [Eastern Europe]. We would like to protect spiritual freedom of our citizens. They are very vulnerable becuase there were no informations for a very long time here. We address you with [our] wish to send up some information about your opinions on TM and the methods you use for help to the afflicted. Can yuou send us the TM-EX newsletter, please? We hope you can help us. We belive in good cooperation. Eastern Europe Dear TM-EX: I am seeking information about how to fight the Transcendental Meditation group in my area. Here, as well as exploiting people, they plan to build an ecologically undesirable building complex and exploit the environment as well. Any information you can send would be appreciated and a list of publications exposing the insidious nature of the cult would be of value. J.S., Australia. Dear TM-EX: I wonder if you have any other people from Japan on your maling list. I shall certainly let you know if I hear of any other interested persons, but I'm afraid my circle of TM acquaintances is very limited. The Japanese TM movement has been rather exclusive, and has not encouraged participation by foreign meditators. This has been a blessing in disguise. My isolation has served to keep me distanced from some of the grotesque devlopments of the last ten or more years. J.B., Japan. "LETTERS" is a forum reflecting the views of the authors and does not necessarily represent those of the editors. Due to volume of letters, not all can be published. We reserver the right to edit for space and clarity. Please send letters, essays, and articles to TM-EX. Because of the sensitive nature of our publication, authors' names printed by request only. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CULTS IN THE NEWS Unification Church: Washington Times Editor Resigns. The editor-in-chief of the Unification Church-owned Washington Times has resigned. Arnaud de Borchgrave, one of the nation's top war correspondents and formerly senior editor at Newsweek magazine, had bene editor-in-chief at the Washington Times during the past six years. The paper is now left with no editor-in-chief. Managing Editor Wesley Pruden will take over the paper's editorial operation with no change in title. Deputy Managing Editor Josette Shine, a Unification Church member, will be the second-ranking editor. The Washington Times has a circulation of about 90,000. In its nine years of existence, it has lost approximately $300 million. Unification Church funds have kept the newspaper afloat. The paper will likely never make a profit. Its true value to the Unification Church is as an intelligence operation for the cult, and as a tool for influence in the future if the Moon movement grows in size. Cult Awareness Network News, June 1991. Suporeme Court: Virginia Lamp Thomas, wife of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, has a special mission as well as an important job in this administration. A victim of brainwashing cults herself, she now helps other victims. "I was once in a group that used mind control techniques." She refused to name the group, but did say she works with a network that tries to help educate young people on the dangers of cults. The 34 year old Virginia Thomas is deputy assistant secretary of labor for congressional and intergovernmental affairs. Previously she was a labor relations attorney at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She is the Supreme Court nominee's second wife; they were married in 1987. Washington Post, July 4, 1991. Hare Krishna: Ex-Hare Krishna Leader Gets 30 Years for Fraud. The former leader and founder of the largest Hare Krishna commune in the United States has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for running an illegal business and for conspiring to protect it by murder, kidnapping and the beating of former followers. Kirtinananda Swami Baktipada's sentence was the minimum under federal sentencing guidelines. He could have been sentenced to life in prison and fined $75 million. Baktipada could be released up to four years early with good behavior. "It appears to me that I was convicted before I walked in here," Baktipada told U.S. District Judge Robert Merhige Jr. before his sentencing. "Which is it? Am I a godly man or a godfather? That is the question we have never been able to address in this court." Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 1991. NSA: Soka University Expansion Stirs Controversy in Calabasas. Plans by the Japan-based Soka University to expand its Calabasas campus into a 5,000 student liberal arts college have been thwarted by a zoning violation. Soka University was founded by Daisaku Ikeda, the leader and chief emissary of Soka Gakkai, an Eastern religious sect known as Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSU) in the United States. The sect uses an aggressive recruitment technique known as "shakubuku" which literally translates "to break and subdue" potential members. Cult members chant for personal prosperity and world peace and donate liberally to the cult. NSA and its parent organization Soak Gakkai are frequently criticized for their militaristic structure. The land currently occupied by Soka University previously served as headquarters for the cult Church Universal and Triumphant which is lead by Elizabeth Claire Prophet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * Fairfield The Maharishi Effect Inagurating his "Dawn of the Age of Enlightement," the Maharishi warbled, "One police post takes care of all the criminal tendencies. Now a meditating home is like a police post that takes care of all the criminal tendencies... So these few meditation houses in the city, which every mayor can very easily erect, will take care of all the negative tendencies in the city." /1 The Fairfield community has the largest contingent of TM meditators in the world. Over 20% of the population have learned the TM technique. Additionally there are reportedly 2500 TM-Sidhi practicioners, many of whom participate in the super radience program. May 2) Fire department responded to MIU, smoking pan from a stove burner left on. Two cars have mishap on Main Street. 4) Cars vandalized, one on the MIU campus. 6) Fairfield court hears 18 cases. 7) Car hit from rear. 8) Driver loses control of car. 9) Thefts investigated: Money from Torino Pizza, Kenwood player from a car on MIU campus, Leather briefcase on the MIU campus. 10) Car and truck collide; citizens band radio and radar detector taken from MIU campus. 11) Car vandalized. 13) Utopia Park resident charged with burglary. $460 of tapes and tolls reported taken from a car. Gym bag, radio speaker, watch taken from a car at Hardee's. Purse with cash and credit cards taken from vehicle. MIU resident involved in an accident. 15) Two vehicles collided in alley. Court hearing on charges of burglary. 16) Vehicles collide. Purse stolen. Bicycle stolen. Court sentence defendants for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Man pleaded guilty to posession of marijuana. 20) MIU resident charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. MIU resident reported vandalism to a window. Man charged with possession of marijuana. 21) Arrest made: Public intoxication, driving with revoked license. Theft reported. Vandalism to a vehicle reported. 25) MIU resident ticketed for failure to maintain control of vehicle. 29) Four auto mishaps reported. MIU resident reportedly turned her car into the path of another car. Damage was estimated at $1500. 30) Parked car rifled. Mountain bike reported stolen. MIU resident reported theft of a bike from the MIU swimming pool area. Theft of purse at Hy-Vee food store. /1 Mahesh, Yogi, Inauguration of the Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, MIU Press, Publication 6186, 1975. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUGGESTED READINGS NCAHF Newsletter (National Council Against Health Fraud), P.O. Box 1276, Loma Linda, CA 92354. To aid in activism against health fraud, misinformation and quackery. Cults: What Parents Should Know, Joan Carol Ross and Michael Langone. An excellent study about cult involvement from the perspective of the family and the cult member. Cults & Consequences: The Definitive Handbook, edited by Rachel Andres and James R. Lane. Contains invaluable information which could prevent someone from joining a cult or help those who are dealing with a cult problem. Cultic Studies Journal, American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 335, Weston, MA 02193. The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation, A Review of Contemporary Meditation Bibiliography, 1931-1988. Esalen Institute, 230 Forbes Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901. Health Schemes, Scams and Frauds, Consumer Reports Books, 51 East 42 Street, New York, N.Y. 10017. A consumer's guide to identifying and avoiding health quackery; vital protection in an ever-more-dangerous medical marketplace. Combatting Cult Mind Control, by Steven Hassan. MUST reading for anyone who has been touched by cult phenomena. TM and Cult Mania, by M.A. Persinger, Ph.D. An in-depth investigation into the claims of TM, hypnosis and research. PSYCHIATRY INTERPERSONAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, Volume 53, Number 2, May 1990, "Depersonalization and Meditation." Study of six long-term TMers. PSYCHIATRIC ANNALS, Volume 20, Number 4, April 1990, "Thought Reform Programs and the Production of Psychiatric Casualties." Reviewing the history of thought reform and mind control programs [case examples include TMer]. Influence: The New Psychology of Modern Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. A landmark publication in furthering our understanding of the persuasion process. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, by Dr. Robert J. Lifton, M.D. A new re-issued edition of a classic textbook and case study on victims of thought reform and the elements of thought reform programs. Skeptical Inquirer, Box 229, Buffalo, NY 14215. Journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. The Fringes of Reason: A Whole Earth Catalog, Harmon Books, 1989, Edited by Ted Schultz. A consumer guide to New Age frontiers, unusual beliefs and eccentric sciences. Books and full reprints of most articles are available from the Cult Awareness Network, 2421 West Pratt Blvd. Suite 1173, Chicago, Illinois 60645. (312) 267-7777. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT IS TM-EX? Transcendental Meditation EX-Members Support Group (TM-EX) was founded by former Maharishi International University (MIU) faculty, students, TM teachers, sidhas, meditators, and caring relatives of members of the TM movement. TM-EX is a support network to help former and current members of the TM movement in making the transition to life outside the TM movement. As former members, we have experienced the transition and are available to assist you. WHAT DO WE DO? We are a referral network and source of information to movement members, former members, exit counselors, family members and experienced therapists and professionals. THE TM-EX newsletter is a forum for a varitety of opinions that often cannot be expressed within the movement without fear of reprisal. Contributors do not represent any particular philosophy, opinion or lifestyle. Although numerous religious based groups have challenged TM in the past, TM-EX is not affiliated with any of these. Its members come from a wide variety of religious and philosophical backgrounds. What we do have in common, is our desire to assist those leaving the movement; to make the public aware of the fraud within the movement; and the physical and psychological harm, that has resulted for many, from the practices of the TM Program. We welcome your input: comments, articles, letters, help with printing and postage. Call or write TM-EX: P.O. Box 7565, Arlington, VA 22207 (202) 728-7580 [All telephone calls will be returned collect.} ---------------------------------------------------------------------- REFERENCES for _TM Evolves_: /1: Caraka Samhita, P.V. Sharma Editor-Translator, Varanassi, India, Vol. I, p. v. /2: Ibid. /3: Ibid, Vol. I, p. xii. /4: Ibid, Vol. I, p. xi. /5: Ibid, Vol. I, p. v. /6: Healing by suggestion. From Mesmer to Christian Science. Frank Podmore, University Books, 1963. /7: Ancient Indian Magic and Folklore, Margaret Studley, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 19880, pp. 7-10. /8: Caraka Samhita, Vol. I, p. 7. /9: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 40. /10: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 40. /11: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 220. /12: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 221. /13: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 680. /14: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 598. /15: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 412. /16: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 661. /17: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 472. /18: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 41. /19: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 401. /20: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 12. /21: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 12. /22: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 160. /23: Ibid, Vol. II, p. 303. /24: Ibid, Vol. II, pp. 518-19. /25: Ibid, Vol. II, pp. 520-21. /26: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 413. /27: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 469. /28: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 468. /29: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 477. /30: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 468. /30.1: Ibid, Vol. I, p. 525. /31: Thirty Years Around the World: Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, Vol. I, 1957-64, MVU Press, 1986, p. 235. /32: Spiritual Regeneration Movement, Amended Certificate of Incorporation, California, 1961. /33: Opinion of the Court, Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197 (1979). /34: Yoga Asanas, Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation, 1962. /35: Age of Enlightenment Press, "Superman" poster, June 1977. /36: World Government News, Issue No. 11, Nov./Dec. 1978, Jan. 1979; Maharishi's Message to the Governors and Citizen Sidhas of the Age of Enlightenment for 1989. /37: Memorandum on Perfect Health, German Medical Association for the Promotion of Perfect Health Through the Transcendental Meditation Programme, Aug. 23, 1978, p. 13. /38: Science, Consciousness and Aging: Achievements in the Direction of Immortality, Jan. 19-20, 1980, p. 37. /39: Ibid, p. 22. /40: Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field, Phillippines Press Reports, 1984. /41: Advertisements in Time and Newsweek magazines, December 1984. /42: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Jan. 12, 1990, internal world-wide satellite broadcast. /43: Ayurveda & Immortality. Scott and Linda Treadway, World Governors of the Age of Enlightenment, Celestial Arts, 1986. /44: Quote by Dr. Geoffrey Clements, Governor General of the Age of Enlightenment for Europe, Heaven on Earth, Duncan Campbell, New Statesman and Society, Sept. 9, 1990. /45: Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197 (1979) /46: Letter from Dennis Roark, Former Chairman of the Physics Dept, Maharishi International University (MIU), Fairfield, Iowa, July 11, 1987. /47: Adverse Effects of Transcendental Meditation. Leon Otis, Stanford Research Institute, 1974. /48: Various Implications Arising from the Practice of Transcendental Meditaiton, German Government; Ministry of Youth, Family and Health, 1980. /49: Ruling of the Bundesverwaltungsgericht, High Court of Germany, Case No. 7C287, May 24, 1989. /50: Letter from Dr. Neil Paterson, Governor General of the AAge of Enlightenment for North America, to Governors, Teachers, Citizen Sidhas, and Citizens of the Age of Enlightenment, Feb. 5, 1985. /51: Maharishi Vedic University (MVU), Europe, a corporate entity, has no campus, no course catalogue and no students. Maharishi International University (MIU) is the only accredited university associated with Maharishi. It also holds the Iowa state recrod for cumulative default rates on federally insured student loans. Former MIU faculty member, Dr. Dennis Roark, states that Maharishi European Research University (MERU) is a hotel room with desks at the International Capital of the Age of Enightenment in Switzerland. Each desk contains stationery for its respective department. Again, no regular classes or course catalogue exists. The President of MIU, Bevan Morris, holds a doctoral degree from MERU. Maharishi University of Natural Law (MUNL) in England also seems to be in name only. MUNL is officially unrecognized, has no medical students, and no power to confer degrees. It does list as its address a TM movement facility, the World Government of the Age of Enlightenment, Mentmore Towers, near Leighton Buzzard. No public records can be found on Maharishi College of Natural Medicine, England. /52: Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, March 22-24, 1989, p. 25. /53: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /54: Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /55: Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Collected Papers, Vol. 1, MERU Press, 1977, pp. 19-20. /56: Affidavit of Dell Abrams, Kropinski v. Yogi, U.S. Dist. Ct. D.C., Civ. Nos. 85-2848, 2849, 2850, 2851, 2852, 2853, 2854, June 21, 1986. /57: Affidavit of Richard D. Scott, Malnak v. Yogi, 44 F.Supp. 1284 (1977). /58: Affidavit of Jerome W. Jarvis, President of World Plan Executive Council-U.S., Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. 1284 (1977) /59: Affidavit of Linda Whipple Kehl, Krpoinski v. Yogi, Y.S. Dist. Ct. D.C., Civ. Nos. 85-2848, 2849, 2850, 2851, 2852, 2853, 2854, July 14, 1986. /60: LIFE magazine, The Return of Mister Bliss, Wainwright, Nov. 10, 1967, p. 26. /61: Affidavit of Gregory J. Randolph, Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. 1284 (1977). /62: Statement of James W. Proctor. /63: Beacon Light of the Himalayas: The Dawn of a Happy New Era in the Field of Spiritual Practices: Mind Control, Peace & Atmananda, Maharishi Bala Bramachari Mahesh Yogi Maharaj, Oct. 1955. /64: Opinion of Judge H. Curtis Neanor, Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. 1284 (1977). /65: Affidavit of Robert N. Bellah, Professor of Sociology and Comparative Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F. Supp. 1284 (1977). /66: Affidavit of Gerald J. Larson, Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. 1284 (1977). /67: Affidavit of Rabindranath Maharaj, Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F. Supp. 1284 (1977). /68: Prices continually change: references here are from advertisements in the Fairfield Source: Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center price list, 1990-91. /69: Age of Enlightenment Press, Four new "siddha" posters, July 1977. /70: Rig Veda translation, Ninth Mandala, given to participants on TM-Sidhi courses. /71: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /72: Ibid. /73: Dr. Richard Averbach, Maharishi Ayurveda, Fairfield Source, July/Aug. 1987, p. 24. /74: BOOKS (examples): Bhagavad-Gita, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; The Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; Love and God, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; Enlightenment to Every Individual Invincibility to Every Nation; Return of the Rishi, D. Chopra, M.D.; Creating Health, D. Chopra, M.D.; Perfect Health, D. Chopra, M.D.; Quantum HEaling, D. Chopra, M.D.; Maharishi Transcendental Meditation, R. Roth; Ayur Veda Cook Book; Introduction to Sanskrit; Creating Heaven on Earth, R. Oates; Modern Science and Vedic Science: The Neurophysiology of Enlightenment, R. Wallace, Ph.D.; Enlightenment Management. AUDIOTAPES (examples): Quantum Healing; Sama Veda; Maharishi Ayur-Ved Primordial Sound; Rig Veda, Tenth Mandala, read by Deepak Chopra, M.D.; MIU Audio Magazine. /75: COURSES (examples): Vedic Science 1: Living Immortality; Vedic Science 2: Immortality; Maharishi Ayur-Veda (MAV) Blissfully Thin Teacher Training Course; Maharishi Jyotish Teacher Training Course; Bhagavad Gita 1 (For Governors and Sidhas); MAV Neuromuscular Integrations Teacher Training; Maharishi Gandharva Veda 1: Advanced Training. /76: Maharishi International Institute of Vedic Sciences, P.O. Box 374, Lancaster, MA 01523, 508/368-7472. /77: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /78: Ibid. /79: Ibid. /80: Ibid. /81: Ibid. /82: Ibid. /83: Blissfully Thin, Lesson Three, p. 11, Maharishi Ayurveda Corporation of America, 1987. /84: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /85: Ibid. /86: Ibid. /87: Maharishi Ayurveda Corporation of America, 1987. /88: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /89: Dr. Stuart Rothenberg, Maharishi Ayurveda, Fairfield Source, July/Aug. 1987, p. 26. /90: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /91: PRODUCTS (examples): AMRIT KALASH These two formulas comprise Maharishi Amrit Kalash: Food for Perfection in Life and work best when taken together: Amrit Kalash Ambrosia (M5 tablets) $45.00/mo.; Maharishi Amrit Kalash Nectar (fruit concentrate) $49.50/mo. (Refer friends and receive 10% product credit; refer 500 people and receive a check for $10,000.) Maharishi Amrit Kalash Container (A beautiful reminder of perfect health and longevity) $30.00. RASANAYAS: Rasayana One $19.95; Rasayana Two $19.95; Rasayana Three (Designed for clarity of mind) $19.95; MAV Rasayana for Women $19.50/mo.; MAV Rasayana for Men $28.50/mo.; MAV Rasayana for Students (for students of any age) $14.95/mo. /92: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /93: PRODUCTS AND COURSES (examples): The ILA MA (Vedic Woman) Handbook; ILA MA: Perfection for Every Woman; Ideal Relationships and The Vedic Woman (tape); Blissful Baby Video; MAV Mother-Baby Technician Training Course; MAV For Parents; MAV Fitness Program. /94: Maharishi International Institute of Vedic Sciences, P.O. Box 374, Lancaster, MA 01523, 508/368-7472. /95: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /96: Ibid. /97: Ibid. /98: [Above signature line]: I understand my chart or analysis only comments on the trends of the future according to the principles of Maharishi Jyotish. These trends can be influenced by many factors and can change at any time. I understand that Maharishi Jyotish disclaims any responsibility for consequences resulting from any action based on the analysis of my chart. NOTE: Accurate Birth Time is of utmost importance. Maharishi Jyotish Programs Confidential Application Form, Feb. 1, 1987, Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA 01523. /99: PRODUCTS (examples): Maharishi Jyotish Natal Chart/Mail; Maharishi Jyotish Natal Chart/Private; Maharishi Jyotish Compatibility Analysis/Mail; Maharishi Jyotish Progression Profile/Private; Maharishi Jyotish Company/Project Profile; Maharishi Jyotish: Advanced Course for Beginners; Jyotish Consolations; Maharishi Jyotish Gemstones. /100: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /101: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad Gita, New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6, MIU Press, 1976, p. 142. /102: Letter from the Dakshina Fund, circulated through the TM community, Nov. 21, 1989. /103: The Twenty Approaches of Maharishi Ayur-Ved to Create Perfect Health, Maharishi Ayur-Ved in the USSR, 1986, pp. 24-25; The ILA MA (International Ladies Association of Maharishi Ayur-Veda) Handbook: A Celebration of Vedic Knowledge, 1990; Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center Program Descriptions, P.O. Box 344, Lancaster, MA. Deepak Chopra, M.D., Director. /104: Ibid.