Transcendental Meditation

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Contents 1 History 2 Procedures and theory 3 Theory of consciousness 3.1 Maharishi's theory of enlightenment 3.2 Research on "higher states of consciousness" 4 Research on the Transcendental Meditation technique 4.1 Range of studies 4.2 Research funding from the NIH 4.3 Research in medical journals 4.4 Effects on the physiology 4.5 Research on cognitive function 5 Transcendental Meditation controversies 5.1 Transcendental Meditation and religion 5.2 Cult issues 5.3 Lawsuits 5.4 Consciousness and the unified field 5.5 TM Alternatives 6 References 7 External links 8 Further reading

Transcendental Meditation or TM is a trademarked meditation technique introduced in 1958 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that involves the repetition of specific sounds, called mantras.^[1] According to Maharishi, the technique enables the practitioner's mind to "transcend" to a state of "restful alertness," without the concentration or active thinking of other techniques.^[2] The practice is said to have been taught to over 6 million people in a paid course involving about two hours a day over a seven-day period. Research has been done on the effects of this meditation technique on mind and body, ranging from its effects on cardiovascular disease to the experience of higher states of consciousness. The Transcendental Meditation technique is one aspect of "Maharishi's Technologies of Consciousness," which are the experiential side of Maharishi Vedic Science. [1]

History

In 1957, at the end of a festival of "spiritual luminaries" in remembrance of the previous Shankaracharya of the North, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (or simply "Maharishi" to followers) inaugurated a movement to "spiritually regenerate the world." From that point in time, the Transcendental Meditation technique has spread throughout the world to become a world-wide movement.^{[verification needed]} Maharishi's publications during this period include Beacon Light of the Himalayas (1955),^[3] Science of Being and Art of Living (1963), a translation and commentary of the first six chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita (1965), and the long devotional poem Love and God (1967).^{[citation needed]}

In the early 1970s, Maharishi launched a "World Plan" to establish one Transcendental Meditation teaching center for each million of the world's population, which at that time would have meant 3,600 TM centers throughout the world. Since 1990, Maharishi has coordinated his global activities from his headquarters in the town of Vlodrop in the municipality of Roerdalen in the Netherlands.

Maharishi founded the Maharishi University of Management, which began offering classes in 1973 in California and relocated to Fairfield, Iowa, USA, in 1974, a number of schools around the world, Maharishi Vedic City in southeast Iowa, and a group of political parties in many countries known as the Natural Law Party, all of which have been dissolved, the US branch having closed on April 30, 2004.^[4]

The movement says that more than 6 million people worldwide have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique since its inauguration,^[5] including celebrities such as the Beatles, Beach Boys Mike Love and Al Jardine, jazz musician Charles Lloyd, actor Stephen Collins, radio personality Howard Stern, musician Michael Jackson, film director David Lynch, Scottish musician Donovan, and actresses Mia Farrow and Heather Graham.[2] For nearly eight years, Deepak Chopra was one of Maharishi's most prominent spokespersons and promoters of Maharishi Ayurveda or alternative medicine.^{[citation needed]}. Political leaders who practice TM include Joaquim Chissano [3], former president of Mozambique.

Procedures and theory

The Transcendental Meditation technique is practiced for twenty minutes twice a day while one sits with the eyes closed.^[6] Jonathan Shear, professor of Philosophy at Maharishi University of Management, writes that a distinguishing feature of this meditation program is its lack of effort as contrasted with techniques involving concentration, or those involving contemplation or active thinking.^[7]

Maharishi teaches that the Transcendental Meditation technique comes from the ancient Vedic tradition of India. The simple sound used in the technique, the mantra, is given to the meditator at the time of instruction, a process which requires a fee after introductory presentations ($2,500 as of 2006),^[8] and generally takes five to seven days. Paid instruction begins with a puja, which concludes with the presentation of the mantra to the student, and continues with further instruction on the technique and theory.^[9][10] The mantra itself is kept private by the organization, which often requires agreement forms to this effect be signed, and emphasizes that the procedure for using the mantra is very important, and can only be learned from an authorized teacher.^{[citation needed]}

Maharishi has said that Transcendental Consciousness is experienced via dhyana, a Sanskrit term which he equates with Transcendental Meditation.^[11] While dhyana is often characterized as involving concentraton or contemplation, Transcendental Meditation instead makes use of the "natural, expansive response of the mind." Maharishi says that concentration is a mistranslation of dhyana and that meditation that uses concentration results in a failure to transcend.^[12]

Theory of consciousness

Maharishi's theory of enlightenment

According to Maharishi's theory of enlightenment, there are seven major states of consciousness, of which the first three are commonly known. The last three states fulfill the definition of Enlightenment - the ultimate goal of long-term practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique:

• Dreamless sleeping state of consciousness
• Dreaming state of consciousness (REM)
• Waking state of consciousness
• Transcendental Consciousness is said to be a fourth major state of consciousness, distinct from waking, sleeping or dreaming. When the mind settles down during the Transcendental Meditation technique, a state of "restful alertness" is experienced. Thought becomes quieter and quieter, until the mind is no longer bound by thoughts or perceptions but experiences awareness awake to itself alone. This state is an experience of "amness", or "Being", the unbounded pure consciousness that is at the source of thoughts and feelings.^[13]
• Cosmic Consciousness, the fifth state, is said to be the state of "enlightenment" which results from alternating the experience of Transcendental Consciousness and activity in our daily lives. Through repeated practice, the nonchanging state of Being in TC becomes permanently maintained along with waking, sleeping and dreaming. This all-inclusive state - "cosmic" - is marked by a peaceful, nonchanging restful state inside while one is actively engaged in the constant change which occurs in life.^[14]
• God Consciousness is said to be the state where the unbounded awareness of Cosmic Consciousness is accompanied by refined sensory perception during waking, sleeping and dreaming - where the full range and mechanics of creation are appreciated at a sublime, subtle level. This perception leads to a devotion and love for creation and its creator ("God").^[15]
• Unity Consciousness, the seventh state, is said to be the perception that all aspects of life are nothing but expressions of Being, or pure consciousness. All of the diversity in life, from the gross to the subtle, is seen as the self-interacting dynamics of Being. The outer and inner realities of life are bridged in Unity Consciousness. One sees the Self in all aspects of creation.^[15]

Research on "higher states of consciousness"

A number of studies have been done to identify the physiological correlates of what is referred to as Transcendental Consciousness (TC) experienced during the Transcendental Meditation technique, and also during activity, which is referred to as Cosmic Consciousness (CC). The initial studies of the physiological correlates during the Transcendental Meditation technique were published in the early 1970s in Science, American Journal of Physiology, and Scientific American.^[16][17][18] This research found that the Transcendental Meditation technique produces a physiological state called "restful alertness." During the practice of the technique the physiology becomes relaxed, as indicated by significant reductions in respiration, minute ventilation, tidal volume, and blood lactate, and significant increases in basal skin resistance, yet EEG measurements showed that the physiology was alert rather than asleep. These early studies termed the state of Transcendental Consciousness a state of restful alertness. Later studies focused on episodes of "pure" TC during TM practice, and found several common physiological markers for the state, including reduced breath volume or apparent breath suspension, high alpha EEG coherence, and decreased heart rate, as compared to the remainder of a TM meditation period.^[19][20][21]

More recently, several studies have been done on individuals who report experiencing Transcendental Consciousness in activity or sleep (CC). A study published in 1997 in the journal "Sleep" found greater alpha and theta EEG power but no difference in delta EEG power in long-term TM meditators reporting episodes of "higher states of consciousness" during sleep compared to controls.^[22] A study published in 2002 in Biological Psychology found distinct EEG patterns in the 17 subjects as compared to two matched control groups. In addition, using a measure called choice-contingent negative variation, the researchers found that the subjects' brains responded more efficiently during tasks.^[23] A followup study on the same three groups of subjects that used content analysis to characterize and classify their subject experiences found that the group reporting an experience of Transcendental Consciousness during activity had unique subjective experiences. This was characterized by an ongoing experience described as unboundedness. "My self is immeasurably vast . . . on a physical level -- not just restricted to this physical environment," reported one subject. And another said, "It's my Being. There's just a channel underneath that's just underlying everything. It's my essence there and it just doesn't stop where I stop."^[24]

Research on the Transcendental Meditation technique

Medical indexes, such as PubMed, show that over 200 studies have been conducted on the Transcendental Meditation technique. The universities and medical centers where this research has taken place include Harvard Medical School, Yale Medical School, Stanford University, Princeton University, MIT, Purdue University, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan Medical School, and the University of Texas.^[25]

Range of studies

A number of studies have reported finding a positive correlation between Transcendental Meditation technique and various health benefits, including reduction of high blood pressure,^[26] younger biological age,^[27] decreased insomnia,^[28] reduction of high cholesterol,^[29] reduced illness and medical expenditures,^[30] decreased outpatient visits,^[31] decreased cigarette smoking,^[32] decreased alcohol use,^[33] and decreased anxiety.^[34]

Some studies indicate that regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique leads to significant, cumulative benefits in the areas of mind (Travis, Arenander & DuBois 2004), body (Barnes, Treiber & Davis 2001), behavior (Barnes, Bauza & Treiber 2003). One study showed reduced arterial wall thickness in African-Americans with high blood pressure. (PMID 10700487).

A 1971 survey by Leon Otis found that a significant percentage of those who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique experience adverse effects such as anxiety, confusion, and depression.^[35] Other researchers say that the Transcendental Meditation technique has no side effects.^[36]

Research funding from the NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent more than $21 million funding research on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on heart disease[4]. In 1999, the NIH awarded a grant of nearly $8 million to Maharishi University of Management to establish the first research center specializing in natural preventive medicine for minorities in the U.S.^[37]

The research institute, called the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, was inaugurated on October 11, 1999, at the University's Department of Physiology and Health in Fairfield, Iowa.^[38]

Research in medical journals

In 2005, the American Journal of Cardiology published a review of two studies that looked at stress reduction with the Transcendental Meditation technique and mortality among patients receiving treatment for high blood pressure^[39] This study was a long-term, randomized trial. It evaluated the death rates of 202 men and women, average age 71, who had mildly elevated blood pressure. The study tracked subjects for up to 18 years and found that the group practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique had death rates that were reduced by 23%. The review was funded in part by a grant from NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Also in 2005, the American Journal of Hypertension published the results of a study that found the Transcendental Meditation technique may be useful as an adjunct in the long-term treatment of hypertension among African-Americans.^[40]

In 2006 a study published in the American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine found that coronary heart disease patients who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique for 16 weeks showed improvements in blood pressure, insulin resistance, and autonomic nervous system tone, compared with a control group of patients who received health education. The researchers concluded that the Transcendental Meditation technique may be a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of coronary heart disease.^[41]

The American Heart Association has published two studies on the Transcendental Meditation technique. In 2000, the association's journal Stroke published a study that found that on average the subjects engaged in daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique reduced the thickening of coronary arteries in hypertensive adults, thereby decreasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. After six to nine months, carotid intima-media thickness decreased in the group that was practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique as compared with matched control subjects.^[42]The association's journal Hypertension published the results of a randomized, controlled trial in which the group practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique had reduced blood pressure in a group of older African-Americans.^[43]

Also in 2006 a functional MRI study of 24 patients published in NeuroReport found that the long-term practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique may reduce the brain's response to pain.^[44]

A paper published in the The Lancet in 1977 demonstrated that the Transcendental Meditation technique had no effect on blood pressure in patients^[45]

Effects on the physiology

Research has suggested that practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique has specific effects on the physiology. During meditation, these changes include decreased respiration rates, blood lactate, and basal skin conductance levels,^[46] as well as increased coherence and integration of brain functioning.^[47] These changes suggest a restful yet alert state. Studies suggest that this state of physiology promotes regulation of cortisol and other hormones associated with chronic stress, showing reduced baseline cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) and a healthier regulation of serotonin (a neurotransmitter associated with mood).^[48]

Research on cognitive function

A paper published in 2001 in the journal Intelligence reported on the results of three randomized, controlled trials used seven standardized test to measure the effect of the Transcendental Meditation technique, contemplative meditation from the Chinese tradition, and napping on a wide range of cognitive, emotional and perceptual functions of 362 students in Taiwan. The results of the three studies, which ranged from six months to one year, showed that taken together the Transcendental Meditation groups had significant improvement on all seven measurements compared to the no-treatment and napping control groups. Contemplative meditation showed a significant result in two categories, and napping had no effect. The results included an increase in IQ, creativity, "fluid intelligence, field independence, and practical intelligence.^[49]

A paper published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 1978 found no effect on school grades.^[50]

In 2003 a study in the journal Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift reviewed ten randomized, controlled trials that looked at the effect of the Transcendental Meditation technique on cognitive function. Four studies showed a significant effect on cognitive function, and the rest showed mixed results. Study authors Canter and Ernst noted that the four positive studies used subjects who had already intended to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique and attributed the significant positive results to an expectation effect.^[51]

Transcendental Meditation controversies

Transcendental Meditation and religion

The Transcendental Meditation organization states that the Transcendental Meditation technique is not a religion, and its practitioners are encouraged to continue practicing whatever religion they might already pursue.^[52] On the other hand, Maharishi does call Transcendental Meditation "a path to God",^[53] and in his teaching often makes references to "God" or a creator. For example, he refers to a sixth state of consciousness as “God consciousness, because the individual ... experiences waves of love and devotion for the creation and its creator."^[15], and asserts that "God is found in two phases of reality: as a supreme being of absolute, eternal nature and as a personal God at the highest level of phenomenal creation!"^[54]

In 1979, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Malnak v. Yogi (592 F.2d 197) that a curriculum in the Science of Creative Intelligence, which included the Transcendental Meditation technique, could not be taught in public schools because it violated the Establishment Clause^[55] of the First Amendment, which creates a wall of separation between church and state.^[56] The lower court, under Judge Meanor, had based its ruling in part on the brief puja ceremony involved in Transcendental Meditation instruction and also the fact that the Science of Creative Intelligence dealt with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those in well-recognized religions. Because the ruling centered around a curriculum in the Science of Creative Intelligence, and because the Wallace v. Jaffree decision in 1986 allows for quiet time/meditation with a secular purpose, instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique has continued in public charter schools, including the Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse in Detroit and the Fletcher-Johnson School in Washington, D.C.[5]

Sociologist Barry Markovsky, a University of South Carolina sociologist, labeled the TM movement's program to teach TM in public schools “stealth religion.”^[57][58]

Patrick Ryan, a graduate of MIU and founder of the TM-Ex support group for people leaving TM, states that "People...recite mantras composed of the names of Hindu gods, and worship Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as the ‘enlightened master of the universe.’"^[59]

In a biography called "The Maharishi", Paul Mason states that the TM mantras are bija mantras, one or two syllabled sounds, which are related in Hinduism to different Gods or Godesses.^[60]. Maharishi has written that "For our practice we select only the suitable mantras of personal Gods. Such mantras fetch to us the grace of personal Gods and make us happier in every walk of life."^[3]

Cult issues

The Cultic Studies Journal has published two articles on the TM movement, one critical of the use of Transcendental Meditation to promote social progress in Israel, and a second by researchers explaining how the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs can be used to reduce conflict and enhance quality of life.

Four articles have been published about TM in the Cult Observer. Three of the articles summarize statements made in an article appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (see section on "JAMA article on Ayurvedic Medicine and subsequent libel suit" in this article). A fourth, by Kevin Garvey, a member of the American Family Foundation, makes accusations of spousal and child abuse, but doesn't present evidence.^[61]

According to a 1987 article in the Washington Post, the Cult Awareness Network, which is now owned and operated by associates of the Church of Scientology, held a press conference and demonstration in Washington, D.C., charging that Transcendental Meditation is a cult. The article quoted Steve Hassan, editor of two books on cults and a former follower of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, as saying "They want you to dress and think and speak in a certain way and not to ask questions. They go into hypnotic trances and shut off who they are as a person."^[62]

In France in 1995, the Parliamentary Commission about Cults in France of the National Assembly of France produced its report (in French: compare an unofficial English translation). The report included a list of purported cults compiled by the general information division of the French National Police (Renseignements généraux — a French secret service) in association with cult-watching groups, and includes Transcendental Meditation, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Church of Christ, Rosicrucians and others. In May 2005 the then Prime Minister of France, in a circulaire (which stressed that the government must exercise vigilance in continuing the fight against the cult-phenomenon), said that the list of movements attached to the Parliamentary Report of 1995 had become less pertinent, based on the observation that many small groups had formed: scattered, more mobile, and less-easily identifiable. The Prime Minister asked his civil servants to update a number of ministerial instructions issued by previous commissions, to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES), and to avoid falling back on lists of groups for the identification of cultic deviances.^[63]

Books that accuse the TM movement of exhibiting cult-like behavior include Michael A. Persinger's 1980 "TM and Cult Mania"^[64] and former TM teachers Joe Kellett^[65] and Curtis Mailloux^[66] have also claimed it is a deceptive and harmful cult.

Researcher David Orme-Johnson, who states that he has authored over 100 studies related to Transcendental Meditation Technique (most of them peer-reviewed),^[67] also states that the “The Transcendental Meditation organization is not a cult.” He argues that research shows that the Transcendental Meditation technique produces effects in practitioners that are “the opposite to those found in people who allegedly get involved in cults.” And he cites, as examples, a dissertation done at York University and one done at Harvard that suggest that meditators show more autonomous thought. He states that a cult is a “closed system of thought that does not submit itself to outside validation,” whereas the “Transcendental Mediation organization is the opposite because it submits its theories to the rigors of scientific testing.” He says that over 200 universities have conducted research on the Transcendental Meditation technique.^[68]

Lawsuits

Kropinski v. WPEC

In a civil suit against the World Plan Executive Council filed in 1985,^[69] Robert Kropinski claimed fraud, psychological, physical, and emotional harm as a result of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs. The district court dismissed the claims concerning intentional tort and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and referred the claims of fraud and negligent infliction of physical and psychological injuries to a jury trial. The jury awarded Robert Kropinski $137,890 in the fraud and negligence claims. The appellate court overturned the award and dismissed Kropinski's claim alleging psychological damage. The claim of fraud and the claim of a physical injury related to his practice of the TM-Sidhi program were remanded to the lower court for retrial, and the parties then settled these remaining claims out of court.^[70].

Butler/Killian vs. MUM

Two lawsuits were filed as a result of a stabbing at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa on March 1, 2004^[71] The family of the murdered student and a student who was assaulted earlier in the day have sued MUM and the Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation. Their separate suits, filed on Feb. 24, 2006, allege that the twice-daily practice of Transcendental Meditation, which the university requires of all students, can be dangerous for people with psychiatric problems. They also charge the university with failing to call the police or take action to protect students from a violent, mentally ill student.^[72][73]

Consciousness and the unified field

Maharishi has taught that the Transcendental Meditation technique allows the mind to contact an underlying field of existence. This underlying field has been characterized by teachers of Transcendental Meditation as being the same as a hypothetical unified field described by physicists.[6] For a short time in the 1980s, the Transcendental Meditation technique was referred to as the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field.

The relationship between the mind and physics is a matter of dispute among physicists.

In his capacity as executive director of the New York Academy of Science in 1986, Heinz Pagels submitted a letter on behalf of a former practitioner of the Transcendental Meditation technique who was suing the World Plan Executive Council for fraud. (See Kropinski suite above.) Pagels said that the philosophical claims willfully distort scientific truth.^[74]

TM Alternatives

In response to what they feel is a high course fee to learn TM, some former TM teachers offer instruction on their own. They include TM Independent in the UK and Natural Stress Relief in Italy and the USA. TM Independent says that it is their goal to make TM available at an affordable price. The Natural Stress Relief web site states that the technique they offer is comparable to, but is not, Transcendental Meditation."^[75]

References

Wikipedia information about Transcendental Meditation This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Transcendental Meditation". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.