Transcendental Meditation

Religious organization founded by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose teachings on meditation comprise its major
thrust. As its name would indicate,
Transcendental Meditation (TM) stresses
the multiple benefits of meditation: For
the individual, it promotes physical,
mental, and spiritual health, whereas for
the larger environment, it is claimed to
have pacific effects, resulting in reduced
crime and hatred. All of these results can
be obtained only by diligent practice,
but the initiation itself is easy to
obtain—all one has to do is to attend a
seminar sponsored by a TM instructor
and pay the required fee to obtain one’s
mantra, or sacred utterance. In more
recent years, TM has offered programs
leading to the acquisition of superhuman powers (siddhis) at its headquarters at Maharishi International
University in Fairfield, Iowa. The claims
of these programs have been toned
down since a disgruntled buyer—who
had been unable to learn to levitate—
won a lawsuit for damages.
Although meditation and the use of
mantras are well-established Hindu
practices, many traditional Hindus are
uncomfortable with other elements of
TM’s marketing. One controversial point
is the practice of buying (or selling) a
mantra, which was traditionally transmitted from teacher (guru) to disciple
only after significant association. A
similar problem comes from the notion
that one can buy and sell superhuman
powers. These powers are seen as highly
seductive because they can be used for
both good and evil and as having
the potential to destroy a spiritually
immature person. Traditional wisdom is
unanimous that a person should not
consciously seek such powers, because
the very act of seeking is seen as being
rooted in selfish desires. In contrast,
when one has gained such powers as a
byproduct of spiritual attainment, one is
believed to be able to keep them in
proper perspective.