Transcendental Meditation

Do people consider this a cult?

What about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? Is he a cult leader?

 

I don't believe it is considered a cult...it's more of a New Age movement, especially now. Yuppies have discovered it as a way of reducing stress....for a fee of $2,500, you are given a short word that you are to repeat silently for 20 minutes, twice a day.

Though there are some sensational elements to the practice, like levitation/yogic flying, TM is surprisingly tame, though after after a few weed/meth arrests at the world center in Fairfield, Iowa, many will think of the thing as a cult-in-the-making.

 

What about the Maharishi's doomsday predictions, his pundit groups and world government and king Raam, and money printing and all that? Wouldn't all these things kind of fulfill a centricism that is typically cultish?

 

The Maharishi's prediction about the destruction of Denver, Colorado, certainly makes one wonder.......

If we can find stories of adherents who joined the movement and then were manipulated and abused, financially or emotionally, then we'll know that TM has gone the way of all cults.....do you know of any?

 

Well, yes, actually, very many. The story of Fairfield Iowa is a case in point. The different TM centers have all been sold, then Maharishi diverts money from MIU-his college to India, and puts his cousin Varma in charge of all the Movement's holdings, and also holds millionaire's darshan courses and has asked the world for a billion dollar endowment to make a permanent group of pundits who will chant and prevent all of mankind's evils. Then he keeps telling people that tomorrow will not come if people don't give all their money to his causes, and he has gone so far as to say that if people don't give all their money, even that saved for their children then there won't be a world left for their children. He has gone off the bend. His two biggest financial backers - the Kaplain Brothers - have dropped him like a hot potato and joined up instead with Ammachi. Seems Maharishi has gone the way of all Hindu gurus in America - that of seeing us as good for nothing but as cash cows.

 

That's sad.....how far off the deep end he's gone since The World Peace Project in 1978.....but as you said, cash does terrible things to one's soul.

I now have to agree with you that, here in 2004, the TM juggernaut has taken on all of the characteristics of a Unification-Church-style cult.

 

Well personally it bums me out because I went to Maharishi International University back in the 80s when the most controversial thing was the TM Sidhis and having big groups meditate together for world peace. And then ten years after I graduated I can't recognize a single tenet that my old TM beliefs were built on any longer. It makes me mad because those large group meditations were really intensely powerful. And now the TM Movement has gone so off the deep end that they can't get any amount of people to meditate together anymore. I really believed in the power of the group meditations on collective coherence. And so I just get bummed about it is all. I wondered what other people thought of TM now that Maharishi makes all his dire pronouncements.

 

Main Entry: cult
Pronunciation: 'k&lt
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
courtesy of merriam-webster's online dictionary;

apparently the word "cult" applies to every organized, dogmatic sect, so I suppose so...
Peace,
Me

 

Let's add some Hip Forums extras to that definition:

A cult is highly dogmatic; the leader(s) of this cult makes sweeping pronouncements, which become more bizarre as the leader's bank account and ego swell with success; the followers learn rote-responses to all queries that call into question any aspect of the cultish dogma, and avoid any real interaction with the curious.

A cult eventually erects barriers that make it difficult for followers to leave the fold; followers who attempt to quit may be threatened with physical harm; often a cult will require followers to contribute so much of their time and money and even material possessions that they are solidly tied into the organization.

Any additions?

 

I don't know much about him, except that as far as popular living Indian Gurus go that travel to the west, I'd say for the most integrity look the way of Amma who was mentioned. I just got a hug from her, experienced her vibration and just witnessed the way she embraces everyone! I was laughing and crying for hours and hours, and everyone at the darshan in NYC was pretty much used to that type of behavior, they let me be, thanks! She is like an oozing heart, Amma is a beautiful servant of the divine mother and the mother herself! Praise be the divine mother, in all her forms.

As far as TM goes, I love the studies they have done on the effect of the meditation on violent crime rates. I would go far as to say they have pretty much proven that good vibes even if with less then 1% of the population practicing a simple mantra technique can have such an amazing impact on reduction of violent crime, it goes down 30% or so, and the control cities go up...

And this isn't just one isolated study, this study has been reproduced many times.

So of course, the guy is making such statements, HE KNOWS that good vibes can save the world, love is the answer! Yet many other people know this, and it is not gonna be done by one man, woman or one organization... but organizations working together, mystics, religions, paths, and so on, cultivating a singular vision of peace within the diversity, and promoting cultivating the heart of compassion and love for all beings and all things!

Shine you lights shine!

 

Sassure has it right; any guru,teacher, etc. who takes over your life, your $, your being is not a teacher. A true guru is only concerned with helping you to realize that You are that which you seek.

 

i would have to agree that once money is involved then its wrong...if someone was honestly gifted and they wanted the world to be a better place and help open the eyes to many people. they would be embraced by the world anyway and find that they could get free accomodation, flights, venues for just talking and people would provide that. they would be happy helping people.
but nooooooo, its like they have to think about the future and its a crock of shit as hey say love is about the moment but yet they are taking money for the future. its like that rev benny himm or however u spell it. he says if you send money you will get a personal pray from us and ur name on a brick that helps build our new 13 million dollar building. but hey. if you have no money, forget about it. we dont care about saving ur ass. lol. no matter what the religion or belief. i think its wrong when big money is involved. money is not love and love is to give for no reason.thats real love, thats real giving

 

Money is not an evil in itself,


It can be used in very productive, beautiful, giving, ways!

In other words, it's not the money, it is how we use it.

 

Has anyone done any research into the hazards of meditation, be careful it can have physical side effects for the rest of your life.
Tics, muscle spasms, seizures. Careful!
H

 

You could even consider school to be cult

 

You couldn't be further from the truth hadleychick ~ meditation is the solution to the problems you mention and much more.
So you may better understand ~ the faculties of mind all originate from consciousness, meaning thought, prayer, imagination, meditation, are all of the same faculty, but named differently persuant to perceived purpose.
The power of the mind is nothing short of miraculous.
There could be nothing worse than to be afraid of your own mind!! Yet many people are. Now that's scary!!!

 

what IS transcendental meditation? What's the difference between regular meditation?

 

TM is a "brand-name" of meditation...
the mahrishi mahesh yogi was a physics prof from india, & when he was "old enough" he took the style of meditation taught by his guru (jai guru deva!) & introduced it to the world... (it certainly helped to have the beatles, the beach boys, donovan, mia farrow, charles lloyd, paul horn, & a bunch of other famous westerners joining up...)

the IMS has a list of 20 or so mantras, & they pick the one best suited to your personality type & teach you how to focus your awareness solely on your mantra...

the movement aims towards universality, but surely sprang from the hindu traditions of india...
& they try to teach some siddhis, and also try to measure statistically the effect that a dedicated group of meditators can have on the society in which they live...

(the maharishi was on the tonight show (with johnny carson) back in the late 60s & mostly just giggled...)

 

Maharishi recruits nerds.Guys in lab coats. Physicists.Mathematicians.Neurophysiologists.I still do TM.But follow the hugging saint.Amma actually gives money to the poor.

 

Mainly that you have to pay for TM. They sell you a 'secret mantra', whilst many others give mantras for free.
One big achievement of TM has been the gradual swelling of Maharishi's bank account. Another is the so-called 'yogic flyers' who bounce up and down on a a matress, and claim this as a 'siddhi' (yogic power).
In short, it is a crock of shite which seeks to exploit the gulible.
The Mahrishi has now withdrawn from any further activities in the UK because he thinks the British are evil for supporting the Iraq war.

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