Hagelin's Claims to Cheap, Proven Solutions to Health Care and Crime

Remember, John Hagelin and the Natural Law Party tie all their "solutions" to products of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Although most people remember learning TM for as little as $25, basic instruction in TM in the United States today costs $1,200 -- for mantras available in numerous cheap paperbacks and a method indistinguishable from the one that teachers have offered for free for millenia!

The mantras taught by the TM movement -- known as bija mantras in the Hindu sacred literature -- have been available for free for hundreds, even thousands of years in India. Modern Indian teachers have said that there is nothing unique or special about the techniques taught by the Maharishi. One went so far as to testify, "The information regarding the mantras, techniques and scriptural books [taught by the TM movement] are most definitely not a copywritable unique body of knowledge, nor are they the trade secrets of the ... various {TM] organizations. Rather they are an integral part of the rich cultural and scriptural heritage which belongs to India.... It is my opinion that if anyone purchased goods or services from the defendant[']s organizations with an impressions [sic] to the contrary, then those individuals were defrauded."

As prominent Sri Lankan professor of psychology wrote trancenet.net, "Even here many folks want to know why anyone should even charge a fee to teach a simple meditation technique which the Buddha & others disseminated as wandering mendicants completely free. In this country, which is predominantly Buddhist, meditation is taught free for the past 2500 years of recorded history, and when MMY [the Maharishi] wants to charge such exorbitant fees people resent." [Note: We have removed the identity of this correspondent at his request.]

And learning TM is just the beginning: Members in good standing are expected to spend tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars for "advanced" meditation techniques, levitation courses, regular meditation retreats, monthly "health food" supplements, alternative medicine consultations, faith healing, astrology sessions, lucky gems, sacrifices to Hindu gods, Hindu-based architectural consultations and construction, and more. There is no aspect of a TMer's life for which the Maharishi has not suggested extremely expensive products.

One former Transcendental Meditation member estimates the true cost of "enlightenment" à la TM at over $162,000 -- circa the mid-90s. The Maharishi has increased the cost considerably since then.

Product	Cost Each	Number Required	Total Cost (5 Year Involve- ment)	Description
First TM Mantra	$1,200	1	$1,200	Mantra available elsewhere for free
Advanced TM Mantras	$1,200	6 (or more)	$7,200	As above
"Age of Enlightenment" Techniques	$1,000	Unknown	$1,000+	Put your attention on your heart or other part of your body
Weekend Retreats	$100+	4 or more per year	$2,000	Restful weekend with extra meditations
Books and Materials	~$30	Indeterminate	$200	Numerous books/pamphlets by the Maharishi
Science of Creative Intelligence Course	~$1,500	1	$1,500	30+ videotaped lessons on diluted Hindu philosophy
Other Maharishi Courses	Hundreds to Thousands	Indeterminate	$500	Innumerable courses on Maharishi-based management, education, health, national defense, and so forth
Advanced "Levitation" Courses	$4,000+	1	$4,000	Learn to repeat phrase "lightness of cotton fiber" every 15 seconds
"World Peace Assemblies"	$1,000+	2+ per year	$10,000	Restful week with extra meditations
Teacher Training Course, Phase I	$4,000+	Optional	$4,000	Restful 4 months with extra meditations and lengthy Maharishi videotapes
Teacher Training Course, Phase III	$4,000+	Optional	$4,000	Restful 4 months with extra meditations and lengthy Maharishi videotapes
Monthly "Health food" Supplements	$200+	Numerous	$12,000	Traditional sweet Indian fruit paste (and others) available for pennies on the dollar from India
Alternative Medicine Consultations	Several each year	$300+	$1,000	"Ayur Vedic" doctor feels pulse and tells you what's ailing you. Prescribes medicines, lucky gems, Hindu sacrifices to cure your ills.
Alternative Medicine In-Residence Treatments	Several each year	$1,000+	$10,000	Refreshing week having oil poured on your head, enjoying enemas, and meditation
Jyotish Gems ("Lucky Gems")	As much as you can afford	Numerous	$10,000+	Jyotish Gems are said to avert inauspicious planetary influences
Astrological Consultations	Hundreds to Thousands	Numerous	$5,000	Traditional Indian astrological chart: Astrologist will recommend gems, sacrifices, other products to avert inauspicious influences
Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology (Faith healing)	Hundreds to Tens of Thousands	Numerous	$5,000	Practitioner waves hands and chants Hindu mantras over special centers of the body to heal paralysis, pain, benign tumors, Parkinson's Disease, as well as "mental disorders" such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, phobia, even anger -- all within 4 to 5 days. Note these syndromes all have a large psychosomatic component and all "results" are self-reported by the "patients."
Maharishi Yagyas (Sacrifices to Hindu gods)	Hundreds to Tens of Thousands	Numerous	$5,000	Hindu priest performs traditional sacrifice to Shiva, Ganesh, Lakshmi, or other gods.
Maharishi Shtapatya Ved (Vastu Veda) Consultation	Hundreds to Tens of Thousands	Each Building/Lot	$5,000	"Consultant" advises on placement of building and rooms to avoid "inauspicious influences" (demons).
Maharishi Shtapatya Ved Construction	Hundreds of Thousands	Each Building	Cannot Estimate	Construction according to India's traditional, all-natural methods -- with a remarkable mark-up for the Maharishi's corporations.
Suggested Donations to Maharishi Funds	Hundreds to Millions	Indeterminate	$1,000	The TM movement "suggests" you donate inheritances, estates, tax returns, personal a percentage of your income to world peace funds, "global development" funds, and other "worthy" causes.
Labor Donations	Your Average Hourly Wage	Number of Hours, Days, Months Donated	Indeterminate Members may donate hours to a local TM center or Natural Law Party, work for free or nearly free as TM teachers or Natural Law Party workers, even work on "staff" for years.	This is a valid and very important measure of financial involvement in TM and Natural Law Party groups. First, members' labor or professional expertise builds wealth for the group. Most corporations in America factor salary by 10 -- that is, if they pay you $30,000, they expect to gross $300,000 in revenue from your labor. Second, the U.S. and other governments recognize "pro bono" work as having true monetary value -- which can be deducted from taxes. Third, many groups acknowledge the true monetary value of your labor by giving credit for "volunteer" work toward their seminars, instructions, and products -- the TM group has used this extensively for decades.
Total (per TMer)			$100,000+

The Natural Law Party is lobbying Congress for the funds to keep 7,000 lucky TMers subsidized for all these products as a means to ensure peace for the nation -- leaving the American tax-payer to foot the bill for hundreds of billions of dollars!

In just one of numerous examples available on the Web, John Hagelin's April 4, 1999, Letter to President Clinton described how he and the Natural Law Party believe that 7,000 TMers -- specially trained in "Yogic Flying" or levitation -- would end the Balkan crisis and bring about "a peaceful solution that would please everyone -- the United States and its allies, Yugoslavia, and the international community."

Perhaps John Hagelin and his Natural Law Party followers truly believe that "Yogic Flying" -- what the TM movement once labeled "levitation" -- will somehow spread a wave of "coherence" that will cause peace to break out around the world. (Insiders report that "flying" consists of no more than jumping up and down vigorously in cross-legged position.) But certainly the price list above must suggest other more earthly motives: 7,000 times $100,000 is a tidy $700,000,000.

And this doesn't even begin to take into account the most costly part of the Natural Law Party's platform -- the loss of America's priceless constitutional freedoms.

We refer here primarily to the separation of Church and State. The Natural Law Party platform at its most fundamental level promotes the demonstrably religious beliefs and practice of the TM movement. But readers should also consider the remarkable "ideal law" of the Maharishi and the TM movement, "The Laws of Manu," with its draconian restrictions and punishments for gays, women -- and meditation teachers who charge fees.