3.6 SUMMARY
-Meditators come mainly from families of middle and upper-
middle class. The have in most cases completed a college
preparatory and university education and are seeking a
middle class/upper-middle class occupation.
-Most families have a good relationship within the family,
where the mother is the one responsible for the upbringing
of the children. To a much lesser extent, meditators also
come from difficult family situations. The course of
puberty must be seen to have gone normally with most
people (again the reminder of the need for careful
treading on this point). Only 18% (10) reported serious
problems during their puberty.
-Performance at school previous to the beginning of the
T.M. practice was significantly above average. The soon-
to-be meditators were satisfied with their position at
work and school (for the most part).
-The average age at the time of initiation was clearly
below 25 years in the group of parents and ex-meditators
questioned; as against that the average age of the married
partners group at the time of initiation was 31.5 years.
-It is remarkable that over 70% of the meditators in our
investigation were made aware of T.M. by friends,
relatives, and people with whom they had regular contact,
which illustrates the missionary disposition of most
meditators.
-The promises made by the T.M. movement in its publicity
campaigns corresponds with the high expectations of those
about to begin the practice. Relaxation, health, and above
all the search for experiences and the problem of identity
with young adults provide the motive for the taking up of
the practice
-As regards the parent and married partner groups there
was very little knowledge about T.M. Half reacted
favorably - to being themselves interested, when their
children/spouse began T.M. Only 6% were against it from
the start. It was only as a consequence of various
negative effects the practice was having on their
children/spouse, that they became critical of T.M. and the
T.M. movement.
-All three groups show the same trend as regards the
findings of this investigation. Group 1 [parents], the
meditating
children of the parents questioned, became much more
intensively engaged in T.M. than group 2, the ex-
meditators. This explains the situation as portrayed in
the following chapter, where the effects of T.M. are much
more strongly felt in Group 1 [parents] than Group 2 [ex-
meditators].
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42 of those interviewed were younger than 25 years of age
at the time of initiation. Group 1, (parents, whose
children were meditating), had the lowest average age of
21.6 years, followed by Group 2 (ex-meditators) at 24.1
years. The average age of Group 3 (married partners) is
significantly higher, at 31.5 years of age.
