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THE PUJA

The puja is a ceremony at which each student was given his or her mantra, the sound aid essential to practicing Transcendental Meditation. Every student who participated in the SCI/TM course was required to attend a puja as a part of the course; no mantras were given except at pujas. Aaron Deposition at 589. Each student received his or her mantra individually at the conclusion of or during a puja performed in a closed room by the teacher in the presence of one student. The teacher performed a puja in the presence of each individual student prior to imparting a mantra to the student. Aaron Affidavit at 593.

The pujas were conducted on Sundays off the school premises. An appointment was set up for each student so that the teacher could perform the pujas and impart the mantras seriatim without requiring the students to wait while their classmates received their mantras. Id. at 600. Prior to the appointed Sunday, each student was asked to bring a clean white handkerchief, a few flowers, and three or four pieces of fruit to the puja. Upon each student's arrival, the handkerchief, flowers, and fruit were taken from him or her and placed in a container, and the student was led to a small room. At the request of someone at the site, each student removed his or her shoes before entering the room. The student and teacher entered the room, and the teacher closed the door. Inside the room was a rectangular table which was covered by a white sheet. Metropole Deposition at 344. The table held a brass candleholder and a brass incense holder. The holders contained a candle and incense, both of which were lit by the teacher. Id. at 346-47. The table also held three brass dishes which contained, respectively, water, rice, and sandalpaste. Id. at 345-46. The table also carried a small, brass dish containing camphor. Id. at 347-48. In addition. there was a tray on the table and an eight-by-twelve inch color picture of Guru Dev at the back of the table. Id. at 348-49; see Prendeville Deposition at 73. Guru Dev was a teacher of defendant Yogi and is held by the World Plan defendants to be the latest preserver and disseminator of the Transcendental Meditation technique prior to defendant Yogi. Metropole Deposition at 349. Guru Dev has been dead for over twenty years. Id. at 350. As soon as the teacher and student were in the room, the container holding the flowers, fruit, and handkerchief brought by the student was placed on the table. Id. at 343. Each student then stood or sat in front of the table while the teacher sang a chant in Sanskrit. The chant lasted three or four minutes. Aaron Deposition at 685. During the singing of the chant, the teacher moved some of the articles from the table onto the tray. Id. at 685. See Prendeville Deposition at 73-75. At the conclusion of the chant, the teacher imparted the mantra to the student by speaking it aloud. Metropole Deposition at 351. See Prendeville Deposition at 23. The teacher then instructed the student in the technique of using the mantra in the practice of Transcendental Meditation for approximately twenty minutes. Aaron Affidavit at 2. Each student then was taken to another room in which he or she meditated alone for the first time for a period of approximately twenty minutes. Id. Following the meditation, each student was "asked to answer in writing several questions concerning the experience." Id. Upon completion of the written answers, the teacher and the student met to discuss the student's experience with meditation. Id. at 3. Each student spent between one and one-half and two hours engaged in the above-described activities. Id. at 2 A week or two prior to the puja, each student was required to sign a document in which the student promised never to reveal his or her mantra. Metropole Deposition at 358. No student received a copy of the document which he or she had signed. Id. at 361. The teachers told the students that the puja was not a religious exercise or prayer. Aaron Affidavit at 3; Metropole Affidavit at 2.

As stated above, the chant is sung in Sanskrit. During the several-week teacher training course, the teachers learn the words to the chant by memorizing the Sanskrit words phonetically. Aaron Deposition at 681. Each teacher at the teacher training course is given a sheet of paper on which the Sanskrit words of the chant are written phonetically in English language characters. Metropole Deposition at 325. The teachers also are given English-language translations of the chant. Id. The teachers must memorize the melody to which the chant is sung. Aaron Deposition at 681. In addition, the teachers had to learn certain gestures and hand movements used during the singing of the chant. Id. at 681, 685. As a condition precedent to becoming a teacher of SCI/TM, the would-be teachers had to perform the chant in front of and to the satisfaction of defendant Yogi or one of his aides. Id. at 682.

The following English translation of the chant which the teachers sing at the puja was supplied by defendants as an exhibit at certain depositions:¹³

Invocation
Whether pure or impure, where purity or impurity is permeating everywhere, whoever opens himself to the expanded vision of unbounded awareness gains inner and outer purity.

Invocation
To the Lord Narayana, to lotus-born Brahma the Creator, to Vashishtha, to Shakti and his son Parashar, To Vyasa, to Shukadeva, to the great Gaudapada, to Govinda, ruler among the yogis, to his disciple, Shri Shankaracharya, to his disciples Padma Pada and Hasta Malaka And Trotakacharya and Vartika-Kara, to others, to the tradition of our Master, I bow down.

To the abode of the wisdom of the Shrutis, Smritis and Puranas, to the abode of kindness, to the personified glory of the Lord, to Shankara, emancipator of the world, I bow down.

To Shankaracharya the redeemer, hailed as Krishna and Badarayana, to the commentator of the Brahma Sutras, I bow down.

To the glory of the Lord I bow down again and again, at whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray [sic] for perfection day and night.

Adorned with immeasurable glory, preceptor of the whole world, having bowed down to Him we gain fulfillment.

Skilled in dispelling the cloud of ignorance of the people, the gentle emancipator, Brahmananda Sarasvati, the supreme teacher, full of brilliance, Him I bring to my awareness.

Offering the invocation to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a seat to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering an ablution to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a cloth to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering sandalpaste to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering full rice to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a flower to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering incense to the lotus feel of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering light to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering water to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering fruit to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering water to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a betel leaf to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a coconut to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering camphor light
White as camphor, kindness incarnate, the essence of creation garlanded with Brahman, ever dwelling in the lotus of my heart, the creative impulse of cosmic life, to That, in the form of Guru Dev. I bow down.

Offering light to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering water to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a handful of flowers.
Guru in the glory of Brahma, Guru in the glory of Vishnu, Guru in the glory of the great Lord Shiva, Guru in the glory of the personified transcendental fulness [sic] of Brahman, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev adorned with glory, I bow down.

The Unbounded, like the endless canopy of the sky, the omnipresent in all creation, by whom the sign of That has been revealed, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Guru Dev, Shri Brahmananda, 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 aim of 'Thou art That' and other such expressions which unfold eternal truth, the One, the Eternal, the Pure, the Immovable. the Witness of all intellects, whose status transcends thought, the Transcendent along with the three gunas, the true preceptor, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

The blinding darkness of ignorance has been removed by applying the balm of knowledge. The eye of knowledge has been opened by Him and therefore, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev, I bow down.

Offering a handful of flowers to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev. I bow down."

All spacing, punctuation, and capitalization in the quotation above are identical to the exhibit provided by defendants.

As can be seen from the English translation, the double invocation of the puja chant takes the form of expressions of reverence for "the Lord," other named entities or individuals, "the tradition of our Master," and Guru Dev, who is portrayed as a personification of a divine being or essence.¹⁴ The translation of the chant reads in part as follows:

To the glory of the Lord I bow down again and again, at whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray [sic] for perfection day and night.

Adorned with immeasurable glory, preceptor of the whole world, having bowed down to Him we gain fulfillment.

This passage makes clear that the chanter is referring to a divine being or essence or entity, "the Lord."¹⁵ No other reasonable interpretation is possible.

The chant continues in the next paragraph to identify Guru Dev as a personification of "Him," or "the Lord:"

Skilled in dispelling the cloud of ignorance of the people, the gentle emancipator, Brahmananda Sarasvati, the supreme teacher, full of brilliance, Him I bring to my awareness.

In this paragraph Brahmananda Sarasvati, who also is known as Guru Dev, see Jarvis Deposition at 995, is referred to as "Him," with a capital aitch. The only prior appearance of the term "Him," with a capital aitch, occurs in the preceding paragraph and the referent of that "Him "is "the Lord." The word "Him" with a capital aitch occurs four additional times in the chant. The referent in each case is "Guru Dev."

The chanter then makes fifteen offerings to Guru Dev and fourteen obeisances to Guru Dev. The chant then describes Guru Dev as a personification of "kindness" and of "he creative impulse of cosmic life," and the personification of "the essence of creation," which, simultaneously with its personification in Guru Dev, lies in the center of the chanter's heart:

White as camphor, kindness incarnate, the essence of creation garlanded with Brahman, ever dwelling in the lotus of my heart, the creative impulse of cosmic life, to That, in the form of Guru Dev, I bow down.

The chanter then makes three more offerings to Guru Dev and three additional obeisances to Guru Dev. The chant then moves to a passage in which a string of divine epithets 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."¹⁶ Manifestly, no one would apply all these epithets to a human being. The chant ends with another offering and two more obeisances to "Him," to Guru Dev.¹⁷

The items used in seventeen of the nineteen offerings were explicitly enumerated as being present during the initiation ceremonies of the New Jersey high school students. The items stated as being offered in two of the offerings were not present. Id. at 454. Metropole Deposition at 336-48. The materials for five of the nineteen offerings were supplied by each individual student. See id. at 338. Defendant Aaron testified that she moved the items that were on the table at the beginning of the puja onto the tray during the singing of the chant. Aaron Deposition at 685. Nothing was on the tray at the beginning of the puja. Metropole Deposition at 348.

A conflict exists between the evidence submitted by defendants as to whether the puja is performed by the initiator for himself or by the initiator for the student. Defendants' experts in religion state that the puja is performed by the teacher for the student. Harned Affidavit P. 18; Rao Affidavit P. 11. Defendant Jarvis stated that the puja is performed by the teacher for himself. Jarvis Deposition at 896-97. Defendants' counsel also argues that the puja is performed "by the teacher solely for himself." Db at 15. On plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, defendants' allegation that the puja is performed for the initiator himself, with the students' participation limited to attendance and the contribution of certain offerings, Rao Affidavit P. 11, will be accepted as true.

Defendants deny the religiosity of the puja. In refuting the religiosity of the puja, defendants take the same oblique approach to the question as taken in their discussion of the Science of Creative Intelligence course. Defendants once again eschew direct analysis of the content of the challenged practice, and instead rely upon the subjective interpretations, beliefs, and opinions of defendants and third-parties, who have various degrees of interest in the lawsuit and who have varying degrees of understanding of the facts which form the basis of this lawsuit.

Primary reliance is placed on the affidavit and deposition testimony of defendant Jarvis. Defendants also rely on the deposition testimony of three clergymen and the affidavits of two professors of religion, the deposition testimony and affidavits of two people who performed several of the initiation ceremonies in relation to the New Jersey high school course, and the affidavits of eleven New Jersey high school students who witnessed performances of the puja in relation to the SCI/TM course.

Defendants seek to characterize the puja as "a ceremony of gratitude," and apparently so represent it to the New Jersey high school students. It is difficult to understand why defendants label the puja "a ceremony of gratitude" because the English translation of the chant fails to reveal one word of gratefulness or thanksgiving. Rather, the puja takes the form of a double invocation of Guru Dev. Putting this difficulty aside for the moment, the question arises as to whom this gratitude is being expressed. Defendants have answered this question by stating that the gratitude is given "to the tradition of teachers who have preserved this teaching," Jarvis Affidavit P. 11, "to the knowledge"named in the chant is said to have possessed, Jarvis Deposition at 1006, and to the prior "teachers" themselves. Aaron Deposition at 582. The problem with all of defendants' descriptions of the receiver of the gratitude is that none of the described recipients is capable of receiving it. When one performs a ceremony of gratitude or "thanksgiving," Aaron Deposition at 582, one must have a recipient of that gratitude in mind or the ceremony would be meaningless. In common English usage, ceremonies of gratitude or thanksgiving are performed to divine beings (God, Providence, etc.), animate and sensate beings, and possibly institutions run by human beings. While one may be grateful for a body of knowledge or for a tradition, that gratitude extends to the purveyors or creators of that knowledge or to the preservers of the tradition. One would no more perform a ceremony of gratitude to a tradition or to a body of knowledge than one would perform a ceremony of gratitude to a chair or to a useful contrivance or to a machine or to any other inanimate object which would be entirely incapable of perceiving human communication.

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¹³ This translation was attached to the Prendeville Deposition and was marked as defendants' exhibit AA. This translation is based upon the Sanskrit chant and the translation thereof appearing in a book called "The Holy Tradition," which was written by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. See Jarvis Deposition at 764. 986-88. [ back ]

¹⁴ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has referred to the divinity of Guru Dev in other contexts. See Jarvis Deposition at 811-12. [ back ]

¹⁵ The court is aware that defendant Jarvis, although not an expert in the culture, history, or religions of India, see Jarvis Deposition at 908, 1020, testified that it is his personal understanding that the use of the word "Lord" in the term "Lord Narayana" denotes merely "the highest possible human appreciation and esteem [for human beings], like we would say Lord Mountbatten or something like that." Jarvis Deposition at 996. Ignoring for the moment the inaccuracies in this weak analogy and accepting the statement arguendo, Mr. Jarvis' understanding of the word "Lord" when the word is attached to a proper noun can have no application to the term "the Lord" standing alone. In addition, it is impossible to imagine that "the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection" at the door of "Lord Mountbatten" or at the door of any other titled person. [ back ]

¹⁶ The similarity between the epithets applied to Guru Dev in this chant and the description of the field of pure creative intelligence in the textbook is unmistakable. [ back ]

¹⁷ In addition to the obeisance to "the Lord" and the identification of Guru Dev with this divinity, Guru Dev is depicted in the chant as a Guru in the glory of the three major gods of Hinduism and is said to be a personification of the Supreme Being of Hindu philosophy:

Guru in the glory of Brahma, Guru in the glory of Vishnu, Guru in the glory of the great Lord Shiva, Guru in the glory of the personified transcendental fulness [sic] of Brahman, to Him, to Shri Guru Dev adorned with glory, I bow down.

As stated by Mr. Justice Douglas in United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 189-90, 13 L.Ed2d 733, 750 (1965) (Douglas. J., concurring) (emphasis in original):

In the Hindu religion the Supreme Being is conceived in the forms of several cult Deities. The chief of these, which stand for the Hindu Triad, are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.

***

Indian philosophy, which comprises several schools of thought, has advanced different theories of the nature of the Supreme Being. According to the Upanishads, Hindu sacred texts, the Supreme Being is described as the power which creates and sustains everything. and to which the created things return upon dissolution. The word which is commonly used in the Upanishads to indicate the Supreme Being is Brahman. [ back ]

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