Transcendental Meditation
Encyclopedia
Transcendental Meditation (TM) refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique
, a specific form of mantra
meditation
, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement
, a spiritual movement. The TM technique and TM movement were introduced in India in the mid-1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
(1914–2008) and had reached global proportions by the 1960s.
The TM technique came out of and is based on Indian philosophy
and the teachings of Krishna
, the Buddha
, and Shankara
, as well as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
, and is a version of a technique passed down from the Maharishi's teacher, Brahmananda Saraswati
. The Maharishi also developed the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI), a system of theoretical principles to underlie this meditation technique. Additional technologies were added to the Transcendental Meditation program, including "advanced techniques" such as the TM-Sidhi program
(Yogic Flying).
TM is one of the most widely practiced, and among the most widely researched meditation techniques. Independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for TM beyond relaxation
or health education
. Skeptics have called TM or its associated theories and technologies a pseudoscience
.
In the 1950s, the Transcendental Meditation movement was presented as a religious organization. The Transcendental Meditation technique was held to be a religion in a New Jersey court case. By the 1970s, the organization had shifted to a more scientific presentation while maintaining many religious elements. The movement now describes itself on a spiritual, scientific, and non-religious basis. This shift has been described by both those within and outside the movement as an attempt to appeal to the more secular West.
The TM movement has programs and holdings in multiple countries while as many as six million people have been trained in the TM technique, including The Beatles
, Russell Brand
, and other well-known public figures.
first taught the technique, and continues beyond 2008, the year of the Maharishi's death.
Although he had already initiated thousands of people, the Maharishi began a program to create more teachers of the technique as a way to accelerate the rate of creating new meditators. The Maharishi began a series of world tours which promoted the technique, and this, the celebrities who practiced the technique, and later scientific research endorsing the technique helped to popularize the technique in the 1960s and '70s. In the 1970s, advanced meditation techniques were introduced. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals and the Maharishi was overseeing a large multinational movement. The movement has grown to encompass schools and universities that teach the practice, and includes many associated programs offering health and well-being based on the Maharishi's interpretation of the Vedic traditions.
Among the first organizations to promote TM were the Spiritual Regeneration Movement and the International Meditation Society. In the U.S., major organizations included Student International Meditation Society, World Peace Executive Council, Maharishi Vedic Education Corporation, and Global Country of World Peace
. The successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and head of the Global Country of World Peace, is Tony Nader
(Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam).
While additional techniques were added, and the organization that taught the Transcendental Meditation and additional techniques changed, the TM technique itself remained relatively unchanged.
According to religious scholar Kenneth Boa in his 1990 book, Cults, World Religions and the Occult, the Transcendental Meditation technique is rooted in the Vedantic School
of Hinduism
, "repeatedly confirmed" in books authored by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi such as the Science of Being and the Art of Living and Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Boa writes that the Maharishi "makes it clear" that Transcendental Meditation was delivered to man about 5,000 years ago by the Hindu god Krishna
. The technique was then lost, but restored for a time by Buddha
. It was lost again, but rediscovered in the 9th century AD by the Hindu philosopher Shankara
. Finally, it was revived by Brahmananda Saraswati
(Guru Dev) and passed on to the Maharishi.
George Chryssides similarly says, in his 1999 book, Exploring New Religions, that the Maharishi and Guru Dev were from the Shankara tradition of advaita Vedanta. Peter Russell, in his 1976 book The TM Technique, says that the Maharishi believed that from the time of the Vedas, this knowledge cycled from lost to found multiple times, as is described in the introduction of the Maharishi's commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita. Revival of the knowledge recurred principally in the Bhagavad-Gita, and in the teachings of Buddha and Shankara. Chryssides notes that, in addition to the revivals of the Transcendental Meditaton technique by Krishna, the Buddha and Shankara, the Maharishi also drew from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Bromley also says the technique is based on Indian philosophy and the teachings of Krishna, the Buddha, and Shankara. In a chapter of a 1998 book titled Alternative medicine and ethics, Vimal Patel writes that the Maharishi drew from Patanjali when developing the TM technique.
While the Transcendental Meditation technique was originally presented in religious terms during the 1950s, this changed to an emphasis on scientific verification in the 1970s; attributed to an effort to improve its public relations, and as an attempt to bring the teaching of the TM technique into American public schools where church and state are separated.
The mantras are generally considered to be sounds without meaning, though some have claimed that they refer to deities. Mantras are said to be selected by trained teachers to suit the individual. Students are told to never share their mantras with anyone. Scholars say that the original mantras derive from the Vedic or Tantric tradition. The Maharishi is said to have reduced the number of mantras used from hundreds down to a minimum number. Some reports say that the total number of mantras used is 16, and that they are assigned using a simple formula based on gender and age.
Some claim that the trademarked Transcendental Meditation technique can be learned only from a certified teacher. The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught during a standardized seven-step course consisting of two introductory lectures, a personal interview, and four two-hour long instruction sessions given on consecutive days. The initial personal instruction session begins with a short puja ceremony performed by the teacher, after which the student is taught the technique. Following initiation the student practices the technique twice a day. During subsequent group sessions the teacher gives the student feedback so that they know they're practicing TM correctly. During step five the teacher again corrects the student and provides him/her further instruction; during step six the teacher tells the student the mechanics of the TM technique based on his/her personal experiences; and in step seven the teacher explains the higher stages of human development that the TM organization say can be achieved through the TM technique. As stated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1955 in The Beacon Light of the Himalayas he said: "For purpose 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".
The fee charged for instruction has varied over time and also by country. In the 1960s, in the United States, the usual fee was one-week's salary or $35 for a student. In the 1970s, it became a fixed fee of $125 in America with discounts for students and families. By 2003, the fee in the United States was set at $2,500. It has since been reduced to $1,500. Advanced techniques and rounding sessions require additional fees. In 2011, the fees for learning TM in Great Britain vary from £190.00 to £590.00 depending on income.
"Rounding" is a combination of yogic breathing techniques, yoga postures or asanas, and meditation, repeated for a prolonged period in a supervised setting. There are other "advanced techniques" that build on the basic TM technique. Using TM-Sidhi, the most prominent of these, practitioners are said to achieve "Yogic Flying".
The Maharishi predicted that the quality of life for an entire population would be noticeably improved if one percent (1%) of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique. This is known as the "Maharishi Effect".
The US District Court of New Jersey, in 1977, in Docket # 76-341, considered the TM technique to be religious in nature, and did not allow it in schools in New Jersey.
It includes programs and organizations connected to the Transcendental Meditation technique, developed and or introduced by the founder. An advanced form of meditation is the TM-Sidhi program which includes "Yogic flying". Maharishi Ayurveda is a system of health treatments using herbs and massage. Maharishi Sthapatya Veda is a system of architecture and city planning.
The first organization was the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, founded in India in 1958. The International Meditation Society and Student International Meditation Society (SIMS) were founded in the US in the 1960s. The organizations were consolidated under the leadership of the World Plan Executive Council in the 1970s. In 1992, a political party, the Natural Law Party
(NLP) was founded based on the principles of TM and it ran candidates in ten countries before disbanding in 2004. The Global Country of World Peace is the current main organization. The movement operates numerous schools and universities. Mother Divine and Thousand-Headed Purusha are the monastic arms. It also has health spas and assorted businesses. There are many TM-centered communities.
The TM movement has been described as a spiritual movement, as a new religious movement
, and a "Neo-Hindu
" sect. It has been characterized as a religion, a cult
, a charismatic movement, a "sect", "plastic export Hinduism", a progressive millennialism organization and a "multinational, capitalist, Vedantic Export Religion" in books and the mainstream press, with concerns that the movement was being run to promote the Maharishi's personal interests. Other sources assert that TM is not a religion, but a meditation technique; and they hold that the TM movement is a spiritual organization, and not a religion or a cult. Participation in TM programs at any level does not require one to hold or deny any specific religious beliefs; TM is practiced by people of many diverse religious affiliations, as well as atheists and agnostics.
and health education
. It is difficult to determine definitive effects of meditation practices in healthcare, as the quality of research has design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor. Part of this difficulty is because studies have the potential for bias
due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization, and enrollment of subjects with a favorable opinion of TM.
There has been ongoing research on Transcendental Meditation since the first studies were conducted at the UCLA and Harvard University were published in Science and the American Journal of Physiology in 1970 and 1971. The research has included studies on physiological changes during meditation, clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, addiction, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, a focus of research has been the effects of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular disease, with over $20 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health
.
Non-scholarly
Other Researches
The depersonalization and derealization experiences of novice subjects while meditating by gazing at a blue vase are strikingly similar to the experiences reported by TM meditators.
TM and Cult Mania by Michael Persinger with Normand J. Carrey and Lynn A. Suess. ISBN 0-8158-0392-3
By the movement
Transcendental Meditation technique
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation often referred to as Transcendental Meditation. It was introduced in India in 1955 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
, a specific form of mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement
Transcendental Meditation movement
The Transcendental Meditation movement is a world-wide organization, sometimes characterised as a neo-Hindu new religious movement, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s...
, a spiritual movement. The TM technique and TM movement were introduced in India in the mid-1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
(1914–2008) and had reached global proportions by the 1960s.
The TM technique came out of and is based on Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy
India has a rich and diverse philosophical tradition dating back to ancient times. According to Radhakrishnan, the earlier Upanisads constitute "...the earliest philosophical compositions of the world."...
and the teachings of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
, and Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
, as well as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
The Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali are 194 Indian sūtras that constitute the foundational text of Rāja Yoga. Yoga is one of the six orthodox āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, and Rāja Yoga is the highest practice....
, and is a version of a technique passed down from the Maharishi's teacher, Brahmananda Saraswati
Brahmananda Saraswati
Brahmananda Saraswati was the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, a revered Hindu spiritual title in India, from 1941 to 1953.-Early life:...
. The Maharishi also developed the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI), a system of theoretical principles to underlie this meditation technique. Additional technologies were added to the Transcendental Meditation program, including "advanced techniques" such as the TM-Sidhi program
TM-Sidhi program
The TM-Sidhi program is a form of meditation introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1975. It is based on, and described as a natural extension of the Transcendental Meditation technique...
(Yogic Flying).
TM is one of the most widely practiced, and among the most widely researched meditation techniques. Independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for TM beyond relaxation
Relaxation technique
A relaxation technique is any method, process, procedure, or activity that helps a person to relax; to attain a state of increased calmness; or otherwise reduce levels of anxiety, stress or anger...
or health education
Health education
Health education is the profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health...
. Skeptics have called TM or its associated theories and technologies a pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
.
In the 1950s, the Transcendental Meditation movement was presented as a religious organization. The Transcendental Meditation technique was held to be a religion in a New Jersey court case. By the 1970s, the organization had shifted to a more scientific presentation while maintaining many religious elements. The movement now describes itself on a spiritual, scientific, and non-religious basis. This shift has been described by both those within and outside the movement as an attempt to appeal to the more secular West.
The TM movement has programs and holdings in multiple countries while as many as six million people have been trained in the TM technique, including The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
, and other well-known public figures.
History
The history of modern Transcendental Meditation began in the late 1950s, when Maharishi Mahesh YogiMaharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
first taught the technique, and continues beyond 2008, the year of the Maharishi's death.
Although he had already initiated thousands of people, the Maharishi began a program to create more teachers of the technique as a way to accelerate the rate of creating new meditators. The Maharishi began a series of world tours which promoted the technique, and this, the celebrities who practiced the technique, and later scientific research endorsing the technique helped to popularize the technique in the 1960s and '70s. In the 1970s, advanced meditation techniques were introduced. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals and the Maharishi was overseeing a large multinational movement. The movement has grown to encompass schools and universities that teach the practice, and includes many associated programs offering health and well-being based on the Maharishi's interpretation of the Vedic traditions.
Among the first organizations to promote TM were the Spiritual Regeneration Movement and the International Meditation Society. In the U.S., major organizations included Student International Meditation Society, World Peace Executive Council, Maharishi Vedic Education Corporation, and Global Country of World Peace
Global Country of World Peace
The Global Country of World Peace was declared by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder and guru of the Transcendental Meditation movement, on Vijayadashami , October 7, 2000. He described it as "a country without borders for peace loving people everywhere"...
. The successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and head of the Global Country of World Peace, is Tony Nader
Tony Nader
Tony Abu Nader is a Lebanese neuro-physiologist, the president of both Maharishi University of Management in Holland and Maharishi Open University, and was designated the 'First Sovereign Ruler' of the 'Global Country of World Peace'. After receiving his medical degree in internal medicine and...
(Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam).
While additional techniques were added, and the organization that taught the Transcendental Meditation and additional techniques changed, the TM technique itself remained relatively unchanged.
According to religious scholar Kenneth Boa in his 1990 book, Cults, World Religions and the Occult, the Transcendental Meditation technique is rooted in the Vedantic School
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, "repeatedly confirmed" in books authored by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi such as the Science of Being and the Art of Living and Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Boa writes that the Maharishi "makes it clear" that Transcendental Meditation was delivered to man about 5,000 years ago by the Hindu god Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. The technique was then lost, but restored for a time by Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
. It was lost again, but rediscovered in the 9th century AD by the Hindu philosopher Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
. Finally, it was revived by Brahmananda Saraswati
Brahmananda Saraswati
Brahmananda Saraswati was the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, a revered Hindu spiritual title in India, from 1941 to 1953.-Early life:...
(Guru Dev) and passed on to the Maharishi.
George Chryssides similarly says, in his 1999 book, Exploring New Religions, that the Maharishi and Guru Dev were from the Shankara tradition of advaita Vedanta. Peter Russell, in his 1976 book The TM Technique, says that the Maharishi believed that from the time of the Vedas, this knowledge cycled from lost to found multiple times, as is described in the introduction of the Maharishi's commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita. Revival of the knowledge recurred principally in the Bhagavad-Gita, and in the teachings of Buddha and Shankara. Chryssides notes that, in addition to the revivals of the Transcendental Meditaton technique by Krishna, the Buddha and Shankara, the Maharishi also drew from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Bromley also says the technique is based on Indian philosophy and the teachings of Krishna, the Buddha, and Shankara. In a chapter of a 1998 book titled Alternative medicine and ethics, Vimal Patel writes that the Maharishi drew from Patanjali when developing the TM technique.
While the Transcendental Meditation technique was originally presented in religious terms during the 1950s, this changed to an emphasis on scientific verification in the 1970s; attributed to an effort to improve its public relations, and as an attempt to bring the teaching of the TM technique into American public schools where church and state are separated.
Technique
The Transcendental Meditation technique is a form of mantra meditation that, according to the TM organization, is effortless when used properly. The mantra is a sound that is thought (but not spoken) during meditation. and is utiilized as a vehicle that allows the individual's attention to travel naturally to a less active, quieter style of mental functioning. The technique is practiced morning and evening for 15–20 minutes each time.The mantras are generally considered to be sounds without meaning, though some have claimed that they refer to deities. Mantras are said to be selected by trained teachers to suit the individual. Students are told to never share their mantras with anyone. Scholars say that the original mantras derive from the Vedic or Tantric tradition. The Maharishi is said to have reduced the number of mantras used from hundreds down to a minimum number. Some reports say that the total number of mantras used is 16, and that they are assigned using a simple formula based on gender and age.
Some claim that the trademarked Transcendental Meditation technique can be learned only from a certified teacher. The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught during a standardized seven-step course consisting of two introductory lectures, a personal interview, and four two-hour long instruction sessions given on consecutive days. The initial personal instruction session begins with a short puja ceremony performed by the teacher, after which the student is taught the technique. Following initiation the student practices the technique twice a day. During subsequent group sessions the teacher gives the student feedback so that they know they're practicing TM correctly. During step five the teacher again corrects the student and provides him/her further instruction; during step six the teacher tells the student the mechanics of the TM technique based on his/her personal experiences; and in step seven the teacher explains the higher stages of human development that the TM organization say can be achieved through the TM technique. As stated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1955 in The Beacon Light of the Himalayas he said: "For purpose 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".
The fee charged for instruction has varied over time and also by country. In the 1960s, in the United States, the usual fee was one-week's salary or $35 for a student. In the 1970s, it became a fixed fee of $125 in America with discounts for students and families. By 2003, the fee in the United States was set at $2,500. It has since been reduced to $1,500. Advanced techniques and rounding sessions require additional fees. In 2011, the fees for learning TM in Great Britain vary from £190.00 to £590.00 depending on income.
"Rounding" is a combination of yogic breathing techniques, yoga postures or asanas, and meditation, repeated for a prolonged period in a supervised setting. There are other "advanced techniques" that build on the basic TM technique. Using TM-Sidhi, the most prominent of these, practitioners are said to achieve "Yogic Flying".
The Maharishi predicted that the quality of life for an entire population would be noticeably improved if one percent (1%) of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique. This is known as the "Maharishi Effect".
The US District Court of New Jersey, in 1977, in Docket # 76-341, considered the TM technique to be religious in nature, and did not allow it in schools in New Jersey.
Movement
The Transcendental Meditation movement (also referred to as Transcendental Meditation (TM), "Maharishi's worldwide movement", and the Transcendental Meditation Organization) is a world-wide organization founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s. Estimated to have tens of thousands of participants, with high estimates citing as many as several million, the global organization also consists of close to 1,000 TM centers, and controls property assets of the order of USD 3.5 billion (1998 estimate).It includes programs and organizations connected to the Transcendental Meditation technique, developed and or introduced by the founder. An advanced form of meditation is the TM-Sidhi program which includes "Yogic flying". Maharishi Ayurveda is a system of health treatments using herbs and massage. Maharishi Sthapatya Veda is a system of architecture and city planning.
The first organization was the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, founded in India in 1958. The International Meditation Society and Student International Meditation Society (SIMS) were founded in the US in the 1960s. The organizations were consolidated under the leadership of the World Plan Executive Council in the 1970s. In 1992, a political party, the Natural Law Party
Natural Law Party
The Natural Law Party was a transnational party based on the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was active in up to 74 countries, and ran candidates in at least ten. Founded in 1992, it was mostly disbanded in 2004 but continues in India and in some U.S. states.The NLP viewed "natural law" as...
(NLP) was founded based on the principles of TM and it ran candidates in ten countries before disbanding in 2004. The Global Country of World Peace is the current main organization. The movement operates numerous schools and universities. Mother Divine and Thousand-Headed Purusha are the monastic arms. It also has health spas and assorted businesses. There are many TM-centered communities.
The TM movement has been described as a spiritual movement, as a new religious movement
New religious movement
A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...
, and a "Neo-Hindu
Neo-Hindu
"Neo-Hindu" refers to Hinduism-inspired new religious movements,* in India, see Hindu revivalism* in the West, see Hinduism in the West-See also:*Hindu denominations#Newer movements*List of new religious movements...
" sect. It has been characterized as a religion, a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, a charismatic movement, a "sect", "plastic export Hinduism", a progressive millennialism organization and a "multinational, capitalist, Vedantic Export Religion" in books and the mainstream press, with concerns that the movement was being run to promote the Maharishi's personal interests. Other sources assert that TM is not a religion, but a meditation technique; and they hold that the TM movement is a spiritual organization, and not a religion or a cult. Participation in TM programs at any level does not require one to hold or deny any specific religious beliefs; TM is practiced by people of many diverse religious affiliations, as well as atheists and agnostics.
Research
Independent systematic reviews have not found health benefits for TM beyond relaxationRelaxation technique
A relaxation technique is any method, process, procedure, or activity that helps a person to relax; to attain a state of increased calmness; or otherwise reduce levels of anxiety, stress or anger...
and health education
Health education
Health education is the profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health...
. It is difficult to determine definitive effects of meditation practices in healthcare, as the quality of research has design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor. Part of this difficulty is because studies have the potential for bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization, and enrollment of subjects with a favorable opinion of TM.
There has been ongoing research on Transcendental Meditation since the first studies were conducted at the UCLA and Harvard University were published in Science and the American Journal of Physiology in 1970 and 1971. The research has included studies on physiological changes during meditation, clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, addiction, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, a focus of research has been the effects of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular disease, with over $20 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
.
Further reading
ScholarlyNon-scholarly
- Kropinski v. World Plan Executive Council, 853 F, 2d 948, 956 (D.C. Cir, 1988)
- Geoff Gilpin, The Maharishi Effect: A Personal Journey Through the Movement That Transformed American Spirituality, Tarcher-Penguin 2006, ISBN 1-58542-507-9
Other Researches
- Persinger, M.A. "Transcendental Meditation and general meditation are associated with enhanced complex partial epileptic-like signs: evidence for 'cognitive' kindling?" Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1993, 76, 80-82.
- Castillo, R. J. "Depersonalization and Meditation." Psychiatry, 1990, 53, 158-168.
The depersonalization and derealization experiences of novice subjects while meditating by gazing at a blue vase are strikingly similar to the experiences reported by TM meditators.
- Carsello, C. J. and Creaser, J. W. "Does Transcendental Meditation Affect Grades?" Journal of Applied Psychology, 1978, 63, 644-645. No effect upon grades was demonstrated for TM training.
- Pollack, A. A., Weber, M. A., Case, D. B., Laragh, J. H. "Limitations of Transcendental Meditation in the treatment of essential hypertension." The Lancet, January 8, 1977, 71-73. Patients showed no significant change in blood-pressure after a 6 month study.
- Morler, Edward E. "A Preliminary Study of the Effects of Transcendental Meditation on Selected Dimensions of Organization Dynamics." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, 1973. TM may not have immediate measurable effects, and many changes may be due to placebo effect. (Abstract)
- Heide, F.J. and Borkovec, T.D. "Relaxation-Induced Anxiety: Mechanism and Theoretical Implications." Behavioral Research Therapy, 1984, 22, 1-12.
- A.P. French, A.C. Schmid, and E. Ingalls, "Transcendental Meditation, Altered Reality Testing, and Behavioral Change: A Case Report," Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 1975, 161, 55-58.
- R.B. Kennedy, "Self-Induced Depersonalization Syndrome," American Journal of Psychiatry, 1976, 133, 1326-1328.
- A.A. Lazarus, "Psychiatric Problems Precipitated by Transcendental Meditation," Psychological Reports, 1976, 39, 601-602.
- L.S. Otis, "Adverse Effects of Transcendental Meditation," in D. Shapiro and R. Walsh (eds.), Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (New York: Alden, 1984).
- M.A. Persinger, "Enhanced Incidence of 'The Sensed Presence' in People Who Have Learned to Meditate: Support for the Right Hemispheric Intrusion Hypothesis," Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1992, 75, 1308-1310.
- J. Younger, W. Adriance, and R.J. Berger, "Sleep during Transcendental Meditation," Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1976,40,953-954.
- D.L. Schacter, "EEG Theta Waves and Psychological Phenomena: A Review and Analysis."Biological Psychology, 5, 1977, 47-82.
- Andrew Skolnick, "Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Guru's Marketing Scheme Promises the World Eternal 'Perfect Health'!", JAMA 1991;266:1741-1750,October 2, 1991.
- James Hassett, "Caution: Meditation Can Hurt," Psychology Today, November 1978, 125-126.
TM and Cult Mania by Michael Persinger with Normand J. Carrey and Lynn A. Suess. ISBN 0-8158-0392-3
By the movement
- Denniston, Denise, The TM Book, Fairfield Press, Fairfield, Iowa, 1986 ISBN 0-931783-02-X
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita : A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1–6. ISBN 0-14-019247-6.
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Science of Being and Art of Living : Transcendental Meditation ISBN 0-452-28266-7.
External links
- Official TM site
- A look at four psychology fads — a comparison of estEST-Places:* Est , a town in Gelderland* Estonia, a nation in northern Europe** Estonian language, the Estonian language in ISO 639.2 or ISO 639–3 language codes* Est Region , one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions...
, primal therapyPrimal therapyPrimal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully...
, Transcendental Meditation and lucid dreamingLucid dreamingA lucid dream is a dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik van Eeden . In a lucid dream, the dreamer can actively participate in and manipulate imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can seem real and...
at the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....