ryanexcerpt

Information on TM

Sorry to those of you who have already seen this,
but that was quite a while ago and there are a lot of readers who
didn’t start following this newsgroup until after the article became
unavailable. There was a recent large posting on the subject on
brainwashing and cults; this is along the same lines.

Here it is: The following is an excerpt from Combatting
Cult Mind Control, by Steven Hassan, pp. 87-88, published
by Park Street Press in Rochester Vermont in 1988 and 1990.

PATRICK RYAN AND TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

Patrick Ryan, now a successful entrepreneur, was involved
in Transcendental Meditation for ten years. He is a graduate of
Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa, an
accredited institution. Most people think of TM as a harmless way
to relax through meditation. But for those who plunge deeply into
the TM organization, it takes on cult qualities.

Pat has since founded a support group called TM-Ex
for former members, and talks openly about the movement’s darker
side. "It has all of the characteristics of a destructive cult,"
he says. "A lot of my friends and I have been greatly damaged
by our involvement with it."

Like most destructive cults, TM uses a good deal of
deception (1). Its public spokespeople say that "TM is not
a philosophy, a religion, or a lifestyle." Yet, Pat points
out, "People become vegetarian, celibate, recite mantras composed
of the names of Hindu gods, and worship Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as
the ‘enlightened master of the universe.’"

In its advertising, TM emphasizes the practical benefits
of meditation - particularly the reduction of stress. TM promoters
show videos of members from all walks of life testifying to its
benefits. TM sales pitches are full of blood pressure charts, heart-rate
graphs, and other clinical evidence of TM’s effectiveness. Not mentioned
is the fact that scientific tests show similar benefits can be obtained
by listening to soothing music, or by performing basic relaxation
exercises available in books costing a couple of dollars.

After a TM student pays up to $400 and receives his
own personal mantra to chant, he is told never to reveal it to another.
Why? Becuase the same "unique" mantra has been given -
on the basis of age - to thousands of people (2).

Most people who learn TM never go beyond the prescribed
twenty minutes of meditating twice a day, in the morning and the
afternoon. They can hardly be called cult members. But a few continue
to visit the TM centers for "checking," and go on to pay
for more and more advanced courses. Eventually they may get to the
point Pat did. He paid $3,000 to learn how to levitate and fly.
In reality, he found himself reciting the more "advanced"
mantras while vigorously hopping up and down with his legs crossed
in the lotus position for two hours in the morning and two hours
in the afternoon.

Not surprisingly, he experienced painful muscle spasms,
headaches, and involuntary twitching. He went to his instructors
for help. "They told me that I was unstressing." he said.
"They told me to go back and meditate and fly harder."

"It wasn’t until Bob Kropinsky won the first
lawsuit against TM for fraud and negligence that I learned about
people who have been hurt by Transcendental Meditation," (3)
Patrick continued. "The top leaders blame the members for everything
and haven’t done anything to correct their policies." As in
other destructive cults, there is never a problem with the leader,
the doctrine, or the organization’s behavior - it’s always the fault
of the members.

Pat began to question his involvement with TM only
after sitting in on the deprogramming of his sister Michelle from
The Way International. As Way ex-members told Michelle the criteria
that define a mind control environment, Pat began to hear alarm
bells going off in his head. The same methods were used in TM. He
realized his problems were a response to practices that were short-circuiting
his nervous system.

Pat started digging into every source he could find
to understand the history and background of Maharishi and the organization.
He discovered from former MIU faculty members that some of the much-touted
medical experiments had been conducted without proper scientific
procedure (4). He has now become very critical of the organization
in which he was previously involved, and active in warning others
of its destructive and deceptive practices.

Notes

1) "’Psychological Damage’ from TM Found Worth
$137,890," The Washington Times Metro (Jan 14, 1987), 5B. Snapping,
174, 176.

2) Darrel Sifford, "A Psychiatrist Probes Effects
of Transcendental Meditation," Phildelphia Inquirer (June 19,
1988), 2F.

3) Michael A. Persinger, Normand J. Carey, and Lynn
A. Seuss, TM and Cult Mania (Massachusetts: The Christopher Publishing
House, 1980), 155-56.

4) Ibid., 60-65.