Transcendental Meditation movement
[33][page needed] In 2008, The New York Times, reported that TM's "public interest" had continued to grow in the 1970s" however, some practitioners were discouraged "by the organization's promotion of ....Yogic Flying.
[33][page needed] Notable practitioners include politicians John Hagelin and Joaquim Chissano; musicians Donovan, The Beatles, Sky Ferreira, and Mike Love; celebrities David Lynch, Clint Eastwood, Mia Farrow, Howard Stern, Doug Henning; and artist Ned Bittinger.
TM-initiated celebrities include Gwyneth Paltrow, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Simmons, Katy Perry, Susan Sarandon, Candy Crowley, Soledad O’Brien, George Stephanopoulos, and Paul McCartney's grandchildren.
[58][59] Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations and prison programs in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and India.
[64][65][66] The public presentation of the TM technique over its 50-year history has been praised for its high visibility in the mass media and effective global propagation, and criticized for using celebrity and scientific endorsements as a marketing tool.
In 1977 courses in Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) were legally prohibited from New Jersey (US) public high schools on religious grounds by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The TM website says that "research has shown a dramatic and immediate reduction in societal stress, crime, violence, and conflict—and an increase in coherence, positivity, and peace in society as a whole" when the TM-Sidhi program is practiced in groups.
[139] As of 2002 the 100 resident Mother Divine community for women was also located at the Spiritual Center in Boone, North Carolina[137] as part of an organization called Maharishi Global Administration Through Natural Law.
The station broadcast began with 56 hours per week of "uplifting" news stories, prerecorded lectures by the Maharishi and variety shows featuring celebrities who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique.
[191][192][193] The World Plan Executive Council's (WPEC) international headquarters were located in Seelisberg, Switzerland and its American headquarters in Washington, D.C.[194] The organization name was taken from the Maharishi's "world plan",[195] which aimed to develop the full potential of the individual; improve governmental achievements; realize the highest ideal of education; eliminate the problems of crime and all behavior that brings unhappiness to the family of man; maximize the intelligent use of the environment; bring fulfillment to the economic aspirations of individuals and society; and achieve the spiritual goals of mankind in this generation.
[140] In 1985, a civil suit were filed against the World Plan Executive Council, in the United States by Robert Kropinski, Jane Greene, Patrick Ryan and Diane Hendel[201] claiming fraud and psychological, physical, and emotional harm as a result of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs.
In affirming the dismissal, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held that Hendel's claims were time-barred under the discovery rule because "...the defendants made representations which any reasonable person would recognize as being contrary to common human experience and, indeed, to the laws of physics.
[206][207] The hotels were bought as facilities for TM classes and as income-producing operations for health-conscious travelers who preferred vegetarian meals, alcohol free environments and non-smoking accommodations.
[221] A 2006 report in the Los Angeles Times said the Maharishi's organization has been involved in a two year "courtroom battle" with preservationist who wanted to block the demolition of the Kollege St. Ludwig building which "was abandoned in 1978" by its previous owners.
First founded in Malibu California in 1988, it has sought to build utopian projects in the U.S., Canada, and Africa with a long-term goal to "reconstruct the entire world", at an estimated cost of $100 trillion.
[251][252] MVED also provides promotional literature to its teachers and TM centers[253] In 1975 the US non-profit oversaw five owned properties and hundreds of rented facilities that offered meditation lectures and seminars.
Its other activities include funding research on Transcendental Meditation and fundraising with the long-term goal of raising $7 billion to establish seven affiliated "Universities of World Peace", to train students in seven different countries to become "professional peacemakers".
[304] On the other hand, cardiologist Stephen Sinatra and professor of medicine Marc Houston have said of the Maharishi: "His emphasis on scientific research proved that the timeless practice of meditation was not just an arcane mystical activity for Himalayan recluses, but rather a mind-body method hugely relevant to and beneficial for modern society".
In the late 60's, young people coming to learn TM at the center in London, England, were surprised "to be greeted not by fellow hippies but by the proper, middle-aged men and women who were Maharishi's earliest followers.
[331] In 1973, Maharishi International University (MIU) faculty member, Michael Peter Cain co-wrote a book with Harold Bloomfield and Dennis T. Jaffe called TM: Discovering Inner Energy and Overcoming Stress.
Those who have appeared at promotional events to raise funds to teach TM to students, veterans, prisoners and others include comedian/actor Russell Brand, TV host/physician Mehmet Oz, and singer Moby.
The events included remarks by TV hosts Mehmet Oz, George Stephanopoulos and actress Liv Tyler with musical performances by Herbie Hancock, Corrine Bailey Rae and Wynton Marsalis.
[18] The 2010 book, Teaching Mindfulness, says that TM's eventual success as a new social movement was based on the "translation in Western language and settings, popular recognition, adoption within scientific research in powerful institutions."
"[33][page needed][341] Traditional Author Noretta Koertge asserts that the TM movement introduced to the West the "scientistic version of Hinduism"; the idea that "the Vedas are simply another name for science".
[354] Critics charge that the TM movement is a bastardized form of Hinduism which denies its religious roots and claims a scientific basis for the purpose of securing government funding for its programs.
[355] In their book, Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements, Robbins and Palmer refer to the Maharishi's teaching that the practice of Transcendental Meditation will bring Ram Rajya (the rule of God) on earth as a form of progressive millennialism from the Hindu tradition.
[25] In 1987, the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) held a press conference and demonstration in Washington, D.C., saying that the organization that teaches the Transcendental Meditation technique "seeks to strip individuals of their ability to think and choose freely."
[361][page needed] Marc Galanter, writes in his book Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion that TM "evolved into something of a charismatic movement, with a belief system that transcended the domain of its practice".
[368] Reporter Michael D'Antonio wrote in his book, Heaven on Earth – Dispatches from America's Spiritual Frontier that, as practiced at Maharishi International University, Transcendental Meditation is "a cult rather than a culture".
[369] D'Antonio wrote that Transcendental Meditation was like the worst of religion: rigid, unreasonable, repressive, and authoritarian, characterized by overt manipulation, a disregard for serious scholarship, and an unwillingness to question authority.
