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The '''Transcendental Meditation technique''' is a specific form of [[mantra]] [[meditation]]<ref name="Transcendental Meditation">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |title=Transcendental Meditation |work=Oxford English Dictionary|accessdate=}}</ref> developed by [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]]. It is often referred to as [[Transcendental Meditation]] or simply, TM. The meditation practice involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with one's eyes closed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/meditation-techniques |title=The Transcendental Meditation Program |publisher=Tm.org |date= |accessdate=February 17, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Epi06>{{Cite journal|last1=Lansky |first1=Ephraim |last2=St Louis |first2=Erik |title=Transcendental meditation: a double-edged sword in epilepsy? |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=394–400 |year=2006 |month=November |pmid=16931164 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.04.019 |url= |ref=harv}}</ref> It is reported to be one of the most widely practiced,<ref name="google138">{{Cite book| last1 = Cotton | first1 = Dorothy H. G. | title = Stress management: An integrated approach to therapy | year = 1990 | publisher = Brunner/Mazel | location = New York | isbn = 0-87630-557-5 | page = 138|url=http://books.google.com/?id=oLsECokSFHwC&vq}}</ref><ref name ="Total Heart Health">{{cite book |last1=Schneider |first1=Robert |last2=Fields |first2=Jeremy |year=2006 |publisher=Basic Health Publications |location=Laguna Beach, CA |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EWXz0Y9maukC&pg=PA148&dq=transcendental+meditation+seven+steps&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NN3IT_O_LJCs8QTK2L2CDw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation%20seven%20steps&f=false |title=Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health |pages=148–149}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.TM.org |title=The Transcendental Meditation Program |publisher=TM.org |accessdate=February 13, 2013}}</ref> and among the most widely researched, meditation techniques,<ref name=Bushell>{{cite journal |first=William |last=Bushell |title=Longevity Potential Life Span and Health Span Enhancement through Practice of the Basic Yoga Meditation Regimen |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=1172 | year=2009 |page=46 | quote=Transcendental Meditation (TM), a concentrative technique&nbsp;... has been the most extensively studied meditation technique. | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=TMJRynOxsisC&pg=PA20&dq=William+Bushell+%282009%29.+%22Longevity+Potential+Life+Span+and+Health+Span+Enhancement+through+Practice+of+the+Basic+Yoga+Meditation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hryvUPaBN8TtigLSjIHQAQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Transendental%20Meditation&f=false
{{About|the technique|the movement|Transcendental Meditation movement}}
}}</ref> with over 340 peer-reviewed studies published.<ref name="Rosenthal 2011 14">{{cite book |first=Norman |last=Rosenthal |title=Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation |publisher=Tarcher/Penguin |year=2011 |page=14 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58542-873-1 | url = http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ssJ6jU0YeNEC&oi=fnd&pg=PT12&dq=Transcendence:+Healing+and+Transformation+through+Transcendental+Meditation+&ots=m21SjjiK0C&sig=QIsnkZLDlWvOgFhDQfi5NAkRPWI#v=onepage&q=340&f=fale | quote = By my latest count, there have been 340 per-reviewed articles published on TM, many of which have appeared in highly respected journals.}}</ref><ref name="Lyn Freeman">{{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Lyn|title=Mosby's Complementary & Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach|year=2008|publisher=Mosby Elsevier|location=St Louis|isbn=ISBN 0-323-05346-7 {{!}} ISBN 978-0-323-05346-4 | Edition: 3|pages=163}}</ref> The technique is made available worldwide by certified TM teachers in a seven-step course,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/learn-tm |title=How To Learn |publisher=Tm.org |date= |accessdate=February 17, 2013}}</ref> and fees vary from country to country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tm.org/tuition |title=TM Course Fee |publisher=TM.org |accessdate=May 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.t-m.org.uk/learning.shtml |title=Transcendental Meditation Fees and Course Details |publisher=Transcendental Meditation: Official website for the UK |accessdate=January 31, 2013}}</ref> Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations, and prison programs in the U.S.A., Latin America, Europe, and India. In 1977 a U.S. district court ruled that a curriculum in TM and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) being taught in some New Jersey schools was religious in nature and in violation of the First Amendment.<ref name="American Bar Association 1978 144">{{cite journal|last=American Bar Association|title=Constitutional Law&nbsp;... Separating Church and State|journal=ABA Journal|year=1978|month=Jan|volume=64|pages=144|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eDu0e8buVPAC&pg=PA124&dq=Transcendental+Meditation+was+held+to+be+a+religion+in+a+New+Jersey+court+case#v=onepage&q=Transcendental%20Meditation%20was%20held%20to%20be%20a%20religion%20in%20a%20New%20Jersey%20court%20case&f=false}}</ref> The technique has since been included in a number of educational and social programs around the world.<ref name="Humes page 69">{{Cite book|last=Humes|first=C.A.|year=2005|chapter=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Beyond the T.M. Technique|title=Gurus in America|editor1-first=Thomas A. |editor1-last=Forsthoefel |editor2-first=Cynthia Ann |editor2-last=Humes|publisher=SUNY Press|page=69|isbn=0-7914-6573-X |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ugSb7mArJlYC |quote=This lawsuit was the most significant setback for TM in the United States&nbsp;... Since then TM has made a comeback of sorts with some governmental sponsorship}}</ref>
{{POV|date=August 2011}}
The '''Transcendental Meditation technique''' is a specific form of [[mantra]] [[meditation]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |title=Transcendental Meditation |work=Oxford English Dictionary|accessdate=}}</ref> often referred to as [[Transcendental Meditation]]. It was introduced in [[India]] in 1955<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-02-05-maharishi-obit_N.htm|title=Beatles guru dies in Netherlands|work=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|date=February 5, 2008}}</ref><ref name=SFGate>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1995/12/29/MN65432.DTL|last=Epstein|first=Edward, |title=Politics and Transcendental Meditation|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=December 29, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/la-me-maharishi6feb06,0,2399627,full.story|last=Woo|first=Elaine|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; founded Transcendental Meditation movement|work=Baltimore Sun|date=February 6, 2008}} reprinted from ''LA Times''</ref> by [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] (1914–2008).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morris|first=Bevan|chapter=Foreword|title=Science of Being and Art of Living|author2=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|location=New York|publisher=Plume/The Penguin Group|year=2001|isbn=0452282667}}</ref> The meditation practice involves the use of a sound or mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day, while sitting comfortably with closed eyes.<ref name="The Seven-Step Course">{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/learn-meditation |title=Learn the Transcendental Meditation Technique – Seven Step Program |publisher=Tm.org |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref name=Epi06>{{Cite journal|author=Lansky EP, St Louis EK |title=Transcendental meditation: a double-edged sword in epilepsy? |journal=Epilepsy Behav |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=394–400 |year=2006 |month=November |pmid=16931164 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.04.019 |url= |ref=harv}}</ref>


The Transcendental Meditation technique has been described as both religious and non religious, as an aspect of a new religious movement, as rooted in Hinduism,<ref name=Bainbridge>{{Cite book|last1 = Bainbridge | first1 = William Sims | title = The Sociology of Religious Movements | year = 1997 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | isbn = 0-415-91202-4 | page = 188|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eCKbw8QuhEkC&printsec=frontcover&q=tm }}</ref><ref name="Aghiorgoussis 21, 34">{{Cite journal|title=The challenge of metaphysical experiences outside Orthodoxy and the Orthodox response|first=Maximos|last=Aghiorgoussis|work=Greek Orthodox Theological Review|location=Brookline|date=Spring 1999|volume=44|issue=1–4|pages=21, 34|ref=harv}}</ref> and as a non-religious practice for self-development.<ref name="Chryssides 2001 301–303">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=vyX1sL8-0gMC&pg=PA292&lpg=PA292| dq=Chryssides+and+Transcendental+Meditation#PPA303,M1|last=Chryssides|first= George D.|title=Exploring New Religions|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2001|isbn=0-8264-5959-5, 9780826459596|pages=301–303}}"Although one can identify the Maharishi's philosophical tradition, its teachings are in no way binding on TM practitioners. There is no public worship, no code of ethics, no scriptures to be studied, and no rites of passage that are observed, such as dietary laws, giving to the poor, or pilgrimages. In particular, there is no real TM community: practitioners do not characteristically meet together for public worship, but simply recite the mantra, as they have been taught it, not as religious obligation, but simply as a technique to benefit themselves, their surroundings and the wider world."</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Partridge | first = Christopher | year = 200 | title = New Religions: A Guide To New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities | publisher = Oxford University Press | quote = It is understood in terms of the reduction of stress and the charging of one's mental and physical batteries.| location = New York| id = | pages = 184}}</ref><ref name="Rosenthal 2011 4">{{cite book|title=[[Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation]]|authorlink=Norman E. Rosenthal|first=Norman E.|last=Rosenthal|publisher=Tarcher Penguin|year=2011|isbn=978-1-58542-873-1|page=4}}</ref> 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. Advanced courses supplement the TM technique and include an advanced meditation called the [[TM-Sidhi program]]. In 1970, the Science of Creative Intelligence became the theoretical basis for the Transcendental Meditation technique, although skeptics questioned its scientific nature.<ref name="SCI reserve collection">{{cite web|title=Science of Creative Intelligence Reserve Collection|url=http://www.mum.edu/library/mvs_collection.html Science of Creative Intelligence Reserve Collection|work=SCI collection|publisher=Maharishi University of Management|accessdate=May 30, 2012}}</ref> Proponents have postulated that 1 percent of a population (such as a city or country) practicing the TM technique daily, may have an impact on the quality of life for that population group. This has been termed the [[Maharishi Effect]].
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi taught his meditation technique in a series of world tours beginning in 1957.<ref name=World1>{{Cite book| author = Maharishi Mahesh Yogi| title = Thirty Years Around the World, Volume One, 1957–1964 | date = | publisher = MVU Press | location = | isbn = 90-71750-02-7 | pages = 213–237}}</ref> From the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, both the Maharishi and TM received significant public attention in the USA, especially among the student population.<ref name=Craze>{{Cite news| issn = 0040-718X| title = Behavior: THE TM CRAZE: 40 Minutes to Bliss| work = Time| accessdate = 2009-11-15| date = 1975-10-13| url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,947229,00.html}}</ref><ref name="latimes.com">{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-maharishi6feb06,1,4208394.story |title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; founded Transcendental Meditation movement |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2008-02-06 |accessdate=2009-11-15 | first=Elaine | last=Woo}}</ref> During this period, a million people learned the technique, including well-known public figures.<ref name=Craze/> Worldwide, as many as six to ten million people are reported to be practitioners of the TM technique.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article2109765.ece The Hindu] Life & Style/Metroplus: Mind over Matter, Kamala Thiagarajan, June 16 2011, retrieved Oct 2011</ref>

Transcendental Meditation is part of the [[Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health]]<ref name="govinfo.library.unt.edu">{{cite web|first=John|last=Briganti|title=Testimony to the White House Commission On Complementary And Alternative Medicine Policy|date=October 31, 2000|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/whccamp/meetings/transcript_10_30_00_s7_8_9_10.html|accessdate=September 14, 2010}}</ref> The theoretical basis developed to underpin the Transcendental Meditation technique is the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI), which describes the Maharishi's view of Natural Law. Skeptics question whether SCI is actually scientific. According to proponents, practicing the TM technique can lead to higher levels of consciousness and supernormal powers, including the [[Maharishi Effect]].

TM has been reported to be one of the most widely practiced, and among the most widely researched meditation techniques.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Michael|last2=Donovan|first2=Steven|last3=Taylor|first3=Eugene|title=The physical and psychological effects of meditation : a review of contemporary research with a comprehensive bibliography, 1931–1996|year=1997|publisher=Institute of Noetic Sciences|location=Sausalito, Calif.|isbn= 978-0-943951-36-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Benson | first1 = Herbert | last2 = Klipper | first2 = Miriam Z. | title = The relaxation response | year = 2001 | publisher = Quill | location = New York, NY | isbn = 978-0-380-81595-1 | page = 61|url=http://books.google.com/?id=TJDGTP9Sa5UC&pg=PA61&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first1=Stephen T. |last1=Sinatra|first2=James C. |last2=Roberts| last3 = Zucker | first3 = Martin | title = Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late | date = 2007-12-20| publisher = Wiley | location = | isbn = 978-0-470-22878-4 | page = 192|url=http://books.google.com/?id=4TfJqNA8sOIC&pg=PA192&dq=transcendental+meditationlr=#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=New Life magazine|date=Sept–Oct, 2003|first1=Frederick|last1=Travis|first2=Ken |last2=Chawkin}}</ref> Independently done [[systematic reviews]] have not found health benefits for TM beyond [[Relaxation technique|relaxation]] or [[health education]].<ref name=Ospina>{{cite journal|last1=Ospina|first1= MB.|last2=Bond|first2=K.|last3 =Karkhaneh |first3 =M. |last4 =Tjosvold |first4 =L. |last5 =Vandermeer |first5 =B. |last6 =Liang |first6 =Y. |last7 =Bialy |first7 =L. |last8 =Hooton |first8 =N. |last9 =Buscemi |first9 =N. |title =Meditation practices for health: state of the research|journal =Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) |issue = 155 |pages =1–263 |month = June |year =2007 |pmid = 17764203|url= http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/meditation/medit.pdf|page=4|quote=A few studies of overall poor methodological quality were available for each comparison in the meta-analyses, most of which reported nonsignificant results. TM® had no advantage over health education to improve measures of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, body weight, heart rate, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol, dietary intake, and level of physical activity in hypertensive patients}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1 = Krisanaprakornkit | first1 = T. | last2 = Ngamjarus | first2 = C. | last3 = Witoonchart | first3 = C. | last4 = Piyavhatkul | first4 = N.|last5 = Krisanaprakornkit|first5 = Thawatchai |title=Meditation therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume=6 |issue= 6|pages=CD006507 |year=2010 |pmid=20556767 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006507.pub2 |quote =As a result of the limited number of included studies, the small sample sizes and the high risk of bias, we are unable to draw any conclusions regarding the effectiveness of meditation therapy for ADHD.}}</ref><ref name=Cochrane06>{{Cite journal|last1 =Krisanaprakornkit | first1 = T. | last2 = Krisanaprakornkit | first2 = W. | last3 = Piyavhatkul | first3 = N. | last4 = Laopaiboon | first4 = M.|last5 =Krisanaprakornkit|first5 =Thawatchai |title=Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |issue=1 |pages=CD004998 |year=2006 |pmid=16437509 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2 |quote=The small number of studies included in this review do not permit any conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Transcendental meditation is comparable with other kinds of relaxation therapies in reducing anxiety}}</ref> 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]],<ref name=Cochrane06/><ref name=Ospina2007>{{Cite journal|author=Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M, ''et al.'' |title=Meditation practices for health: state of the research |journal=Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) |volume=|issue=155 |pages=1–263 |year=2007 |month=June |pmid=17764203 |doi= |url= |ref=harv |quote=Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Krisanaprakornkit T, Ngamjarus C, Witoonchart C, Piyavhatkul N |title=Meditation therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume=6 |issue= 6|pages=CD006507 |year=2010 |pmid=20556767 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006507.pub2 |url= |quote =As a result of the limited number of included studies, the small sample sizes and the high risk of bias}}</ref> due in part to the fact that many studies on TM appear to have been conducted by authors connected to the TM organization and on subjects predisposed positively towards TM.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=Insufficient evidence to conclude whether or not Transcendental Meditation decreases blood pressure: results of a systematic review of randomized clinical trials |journal=Journal of Hypertension |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=2049–54 |year=2004 |month=November |pmid=15480084|url=http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0263-6352&volume=22&issue=11&spage=2049 |ref=harv| quote = All the randomized clinical trials of TM for the control of blood pressure published to date have important methodological weaknesses and are potentially biased by the affiliation of authors to the TM organization.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function—a systematic review of randomised controlled trials |journal=Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. |volume=115 |issue=21–22 |pages=758–66 |year=2003 |month=November |pmid=14743579 |doi= 10.1007/BF03040500|url= |quote = All 4 positive trials recruited subjects from among people favourably predisposed towards TM, and used passive control procedures ... The association observed between positive outcome, subject selection procedure and control procedure suggests that the large positive effects reported in 4 trials result from an expectation effect. The claim that TM has a specific and cumulative effect on cognitive function is not supported by the evidence from randomized controlled trials.}}</ref>

The TM technique is made available worldwide by certified teachers affiliated with the [[Transcendental Meditation movement]], a name given to a collection of organizations introduced and developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The movement actively markets TM as a scientifically proven technique but not a religion while there are sociologists and governmental bodies that have categorized it as part of a new religious movement. TM is taught in a standardized, seven-step course over a four day period by certified teachers.<ref name="The Seven-Step Course" /> The fees vary from country to country. In the United States the adult fee is $1,500, while prices in the United Kingdom (UK) are based on income. Transcendental Meditation is a registered trademark of the [[Transcendental Meditation movement#Maharishi Foundation|Maharishi Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nci.nih.gov/dictionary/?CdrID=44991 |title=Definition of Transcendental Meditation – NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, Definition of Transcendental Meditation – NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms |work= |accessdate=}}</ref>
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==Practice==
==Practice==
The technique is practiced for 20 minutes, twice daily. Meditation is recommended once after waking in the morning, and in the afternoon before dinner, but is not recommended immediately after eating.<ref name=Craze>{{Cite news| issn = 0040-718X| title = Behavior: THE TM CRAZE: 40 Minutes to Bliss| work = Time| accessdate = 2009-11-15| date = 1975-10-13| url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,947229,00.html}}</ref> According to the Maharishi, "bubbles of thought are produced in a stream one after the other", and the Transcendental Meditation technique consists of experiencing a "proper thought" in its more subtle states "until its subtlest state is experienced and transcended".<ref name=Needleman/><ref name ="Science of Being">Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi (1995) Meridian Publishing, The Science of Being and Art of Living, page 46-52</ref> Because it is mantra based, the technique "ostensibly meets the working definition of a concentration practice"; however, the TM organization says that "focused attention" is not prescribed, and that the "aim is an [sic] unified and open attentional stance".<ref name="Harvard Review"/> Other authors describe the technique as an easy, natural technique or process,<ref name="Healing Depression"/><ref name=Olson>{{Cite book | publisher = Rutgers University Press | isbn = 978-0-8135-4067-2 | last = Olson | first = Carl | title = The many colors of Hinduism : a thematic-historical introduction | location = New Brunswick N.J. | year = 2007 |pages=340–341}}</ref><ref name="The Times">(Feb 7, 2008) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, ''The Times''</ref> and a "wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Freeman|first=Lynda|year=2008|title= Mosby’s Complementary and Alternative Medicine|page=533|publisher= Elsevier Health Sciences|edition=3rd|location= St. Louis, Missouri| isbn=978-0-323-02626-0|quote=The meditator ''experiences'' a subtle state of thought in the form of a mantra or a sound. This state is deeply relaxing and has been described as a wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state.}}</ref> Practice of the technique includes a process called "unstressing" which combines "effortless relaxation with spontaneous imagery and emotion". TM teachers caution their students not to be alarmed by random thoughts and to "attend" to the mantra.<ref name="Cazenave">{{Cite book| publisher = Pergamon Press| isbn = 978-0-08-028127-8| last = Cazenave| first = Michel| title = Science and consciousness: two views of the universe : edited proceedings of the France-Culture and Radio-France Colloquium, Cordoba, Spain| date = 1984-05|page=103}}</ref> British chess grandmaster [[Jonathan Rowson]] has said that his TM practice gives "a feeling of serenity, energy and balance", but does not provide "any powerful insight into your own mind". Laura Tenant, a reporter for [[The Independent]], said that her TM experience includes going "to a place which was neither wakefulness, sleeping or dreaming", and becoming "detached from my physical self".<ref>Tennant, Laura (July 10, 2011)[http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/transcendental-meditation-were-the-hippies-right-all-along-2307898.html Transcendental Meditation: Were The Hippies Right All Along?] The Independent, retrieved June 3, 2012</ref> Worldwide, as many as four to ten million people are reported to be practitioners.<ref>Analysis: Practice of requiring probationers to take lessons in transcendental meditation sparks religious controversy, NPR All Things Considered, February 1, 2002 | ROBERT SIEGEL "TM's five million adherents claim that it eliminates chronic health problems and reduces stress."</ref><ref>Martin Hodgson, The Guardian (5 February 2008) "He [Maharishi] transformed his interpretations of ancient scripture into a multimillion-dollar global empire with more than 5m followers worldwide"</ref><ref>Stephanie van den Berg, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies, (February 7, 2008) "the TM movement, which has some five million followers worldwide"</ref><ref>Meditation a magic bullet for high blood pressure – study, Sunday Tribune (South Africa), (January 27, 2008) "More than five million people have learned the technique worldwide, including 60,000 in South Africa.”</ref><ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Transcendental Meditation founder's grand plan for peace, The Columbian (Vancouver, WA), February 19, 2006 | ARTHUR MAX Associated Press writer "transcendental meditation, a movement that claims 6 million practitioners since it was introduced."</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bank makes an issue of mystic's mint|last=Bickerton|first=Ian|work=Financial Times|location=London (UK)|date=February 8, 2003|page=09}}</ref><ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Spiritual Leader Dies, New York Times, By LILY KOPPEL, Published: February 6, 2008 "Since the technique’s inception in 1955, the organization says, it has been used to train more than 40,000 teachers, taught more than five million people"</ref><ref>[[Financial Times]] (2003), 5 million, {{cite news|title=Bank makes an issue of mystic's mint|last=Bickerton|first=Ian|work=Financial Times|location=London (UK)|date=February 8, 2003|page=09}}; [[Asian News International]] (2009), 4 million {{cite news|title=David Lynch to shoot film about TM guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India|work=The Hindustan Times|location=New Delhi|date=November 18, 2009|service=Asian News International}}</ref>
The TM technique consists of silently repeating a [[mantra]] while sitting comfortably with eyes closed without assuming any special yoga position.<ref name=Olson/><ref>Ospina 2007</ref> It is practiced twice daily, morning and evening, for 20 minutes. The practice should be easy and natural, the mantra repeated with "gentle effortlessness".<ref name=Olson>{{Cite book | publisher = Rutgers University Press | isbn = 9780813540672 | last = Olson | first = Carl | title = The many colors of Hinduism : a thematic-historical introduction | location = New Brunswick N.J. | year = 2007 |pages=340–341}}</ref><ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name="Rosenthal">Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, pp 16-20, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref><ref name=WillismsonInitiation>Williamson (2010) p. 87–93</ref> The mantra is utilized as a thought in the meditation process,<ref name=Phelan>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1979_num_48_1_2186|first=Michael|last=Phelan|work=Archives des sciences sociales des religions|title=Transcendental Meditation. A Revitalization of the American Civil Religion|year=1979|volume =48|issue=48-1|pages=5–20|ref=harv}}</ref> and as a vehicle that allows the individual's attention to travel naturally to a less active, quieter style of mental functioning.<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name=Phelan/><ref name=Hunt>{{Cite book| last1 = Hunt | first1 = Stephen | authorlink=Stephen J. Hunt|title = Alternative religions: a sociological introduction | year = 2003 | publisher = Ashgate | location = Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT | isbn = 978-0-7546-3410-2 | pages = 197–198|url=http://books.google.com/?id=0GuWbJhYIccC&pg=PA197&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation }}</ref> The experience is described as a "subtle state of thought" and a "wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Freeman|first=Lynda|year=2008|title= Mosby’s Complementary and Alternative Medicine|page=533|publisher= Elsevier Health Sciences|edition=3rd|location= St. Louis, Missouri| isbn=9780323026260|quote=The meditator ''experiences'' a subtle state of thought in the form of a mantra or a sound. This state is deeply relaxing and has been described as a wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state.}}</ref>


===Mantra===
It is recommended twice per day; once after waking in the morning and in the afternoon before dinner but not immediately before or after sleeping, or after eating.<ref name="Craze" /><ref name=Ospina2007/><ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name="google138" />
The TM technique consists of silently repeating a [[mantra]] with "gentle effortlessness" while sitting comfortably with eyes closed without assuming any special yoga position.<ref name=Olson/><ref>Ospina 2007</ref> The mantra is said to be a vehicle that allows the individual's attention to travel naturally to a less active, quieter style of mental functioning.<ref name="Rosenthal">Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, pp 16-20, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref><ref name=Phelan>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1979_num_48_1_2186|first=Michael|last=Phelan|work=Archives des sciences sociales des religions|title=Transcendental Meditation. A Revitalization of the American Civil Religion|year=1979|volume =48|issue=48–1|pages=5–20|ref=harv}}</ref><ref name=Hunt>{{Cite book| last1 = Hunt | first1 = Stephen | authorlink=Stephen J. Hunt|title = Alternative religions: a sociological introduction | year = 2003 | publisher = Ashgate | location = Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT | isbn = 978-0-7546-3410-2 | pages = 197–198|url=http://books.google.com/?id=0GuWbJhYIccC&pg=PA197&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation }}</ref> One author discusses neurological theories about the importance of selecting the correct mantra. According to these, the mantra enters "the central nervous system via the brain’s speech area", and represents "a direct input of ease and order".<ref name="Healing Depression"/> TM meditators are instructed to keep their mantra secret<ref name=Olson>"which one is not to reveal to others" page 140</ref> to ensure maximum results ("speaking it aloud, apparently defeats the purpose"),<ref name=Jefferson/> to avoid confusion in the mind of the meditators,<ref name=Needleman/> and as a "protection against inaccurate teaching".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Celebrating the Dawn|first=Robert |last=Oates|publisher=G.P. Putnam's|year=1976|page=194|isbn=0-399-11815-2}}</ref><ref name=Smith>{{Cite book | edition = 1st | publisher = Random House | isbn = 978-0-394-49832-4 | last = Smith | first = Adam | title = Powers of mind | location = New York | year = 1975 |page=129}}</ref>


====Selection====
According to the movement, four to six million people have been trained in the TM technique since 1959. Notable practitioners include [[The Beatles]], [[David Lynch]], [[John Hagelin]], [[Deepak Chopra]], and [[Mia Farrow]]. For more practitioners, see [[List of Transcendental Meditation practitioners]].
The Maharishi is reported to have standardized and "mechanized" the mantra selection process by using a specific set of mantras and making the selection process "foolproof".<ref name=Needleman/><ref name=Jefferson>{{Cite book|last=Jefferson|first=William|title=The Story of The Maharishi|location=New York|publisher=Pocket (Simon and Schuster)|year=1976|pages=52–53}}</ref> Professor of psychiatry, [[Norman E. Rosenthal]] writes that during the training given by a certified TM teacher, "each student is assigned a specific mantra or sound, with instructions on its proper use".<ref name="Rosenthal"/> He explains that the selection of a proper thought or mantra "becomes increasingly important when we consider that the power of thought increases when the thought is appreciated in its infant stages of development".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Science of Being and Art of Living|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|publisher=Meridian|year=1963|page=51|isbn=0-452-28266-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|publisher=Bantam Books|year=1968|pages=106–107|isbn=1-4303-0372-7}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2010}}</ref> The Maharishi says that mantras chosen for initiates should "resonate to the pulse of his thought and as it resonates, create an increasingly soothing influence",<ref name="Religion in Amer">{{Cite book | publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 978-0-231-12155-2 | last = Allitt | first = Patrick | title = Religion in America Since 1945: A History | date = 2005-09-20|page=141 }}</ref> and that the chosen mantra's vibrations "harmonize" with the meditator, and suits their "nature and way of life".<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = H. W. Wilson Co. | isbn = 978-0-8242-0493-8 | others = Charles Moritz (ed.) | title = Current biography yearbook | date = 1972-06|pages=300–303}}</ref><ref name="Odd Gods"/> TM students are therefore given a "specially suited mantra".<ref name=Bainbridge>{{Cite book| last1 = Bainbridge | first1 = William Sims |authorlink=William Sims Bainbridge| title = The sociology of religious movements | year = 1997 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | isbn = 0-415-91202-4 | page = 188|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eCKbw8QuhEkC&printsec=frontcover&q=tm }}</ref><ref name="Humes 2005 61">{{Cite book|last=Humes|first=C.A.|year=2005|chapter=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Beyond the T.M. Technique|title=Gurus in America|editor1-first=Thomas A. |editor1-last=Forsthoefel |editor2-first=Cynthia Ann |editor2-last=Humes|publisher=SUNY Press|page=61|isbn=0-7914-6573-X |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ugSb7mArJlYC}}</ref> Author [[George D. Chryssides]] writes that, according to the Maharishi, "using just any mantra can be dangerous", the mantras for "householders" and for [[recluse]]s differ. The Transcendental Meditation mantras are appropriate mantras for householders, while most mantras commonly found in books, such as "Om", are mantras for recluses and "can cause a person to withdraw from life".<ref name=Chryssides/><ref name= "Chryssides2">Chryssides, George D. (2001) Scarecrow Press, A to Z of New Religious Movements, page 327</ref><ref>Colin-Smith, Joyce (1988) Gateway Books, Call No Man Master, page 160</ref>


Former TM teacher and author Lola Williamson reports that she told her TM students that their mantra was chosen for them based on their personal interview,<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/> while sociologist [[Roy Wallis]], religious scholar [[J. Gordon Melton]] and Bainbridge write that the mantras are assigned by age and gender.<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{cite book|first=Roy |last=Wallis|authorlink=Roy Wallis|year=1984|title=The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life|location=London|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|isbn=0-7100-9890-1|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America|first=J. Gordon|last=Melton|authorlink=J. Gordon Melton|year=1986|publisher=Garland|isbn=0-8240-9036-5|page=189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of new religious movements|editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-514986-9|page=457}}</ref><ref name=Stark>{{Cite book| last = Stark | first = Rodney | authorlink = Rodney Stark | coauthors = [[William Sims Bainbridge]] |title = The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation | year = 1986 | publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley | isbn = 0-520-05731-7 | page = 289}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The future of religion: secularization, revival, and cult formation|editor1-first=Rodney |editor1-last=Stark|editor2-first=William Sims |editor2=last=Bainbridge|publisher=University of California Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-520-04854-6|first=Daniel H. |last=Jackson|chapter=The Rise and Decline of Transcendental Meditation|page=288}}</ref> In 1984, 16 mantras<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{cite book|title=Across the secular abyss: from faith to wisdom|first=William Sims |last=Bainbridge|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7391-1678-4|page=136}}</ref><ref name=Barrett>{{Cite book | publisher = Cassell | isbn = 978-0-304-35592-1 | last = Barrett | first = David V. | title = The New Believers| date = 2001-06-30}}</ref> were published in ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'' magazine based on information from "disaffected TM teachers".<ref>{{Cite news|work=Omni|date=January 1984|page=129|title=Transcendental Truth}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Transcendental Misconceptions|first=R.D. |last=Scott|publisher=Beta Books|location=San Diego|year=1978|isbn=0-89293-031-4}}</ref> According to Chryssides, TM teachers say that the promised results are dependent on a trained Transcendental Meditation teacher choosing the mantra for their student.<ref name=Chryssides>{{Cite book| last1 = Chryssides | first1 = George D.|authorlink= George D. Chryssides| title = Exploring new religions | year = 1999 | publisher = Cassell | location = London | isbn = 978-0-8264-5959-6 | pages = 293–296| url=http://books.google.com/?id=jxIxPBpGMwgC&pg=PA293&dq=#v=onepage&q=}}</ref>
==Mantra==
===Mantra selection===
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explains that the selection of a proper thought or mantra "becomes increasingly important when we consider that the power of thought increases when the thought is appreciated in its infant stages of development".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Science of Being and Art of Living|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|publisher=Meridian|year=1963|page=51|isbn=0452282667}}</ref> The Maharishi says that certain, specific vibrations suit certain people and that this method of meditation enables the mind to experience subtler phases of the vibration until the source of all vibration is experienced.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|publisher=Bantam Books|year=1968|pages=106–107|isbn=1430303727}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2010}}</ref> Religious Studies scholar [[George D. Chryssides]] says that, according to the Maharishi, the mantras for "[[Grihastha|householders]]" and for [[recluse]]s differ. The Transcendental Meditation mantras are appropriate mantras for householders, while most mantras commonly found in books are mantras for recluses.<ref name=Chryssides/>


====Meaning and sound value====
William Jefferson, in ''The Story of the Maharishi'', says that the secrets of the mantras and their subsequent standardization for today's teachers of the technique were unraveled by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi after his years of study with his own teacher, Guru Dev ([[Brahmananda Saraswati]]) so that selection is foolproof, and that the number of mantras from the Vedic tradition, which could number in the hundreds, have been brought to a minimum number by the Maharishi.<ref name=Jefferson>{{Cite book|last=Jefferson|first=William|title=The Story of The Maharishi|location=New York|publisher=Pocket (Simon and Schuster)|year=1976|pages=52–53}}</ref> According to philosophy professor [[Jacob Needleman]], the Maharishi told a reporter that he had succeeded in mechanizing the mantra selection process.<ref name=Needleman/>
In his 1963 book ''The Science of Being and Art of Living'', the Maharishi writes that words create waves of vibrations, and the quality of vibration of a mantra should correspond to the vibrational quality of the individual. Likewise, religious studies scholar, [[Thomas Forsthoefel]] writes, "the theory of mantras is the theory of sound".<ref name=Forsthoefel/> Author William Jefferson writes that the "[[euphonic]]s" of mantras are important.<ref name=Jefferson/> Sociologist [[Stephen J. Hunt]] and others say that the mantra used in the Transcendental Meditation technique has no meaning, but that the sound itself is sacred.<ref name="Hunt"/><ref name=Barrett/> In [[Kerala]], India, in 1955, the Maharishi spoke of mantras in terms of personal deities, and according to religious studies scholar [[Cynthia Ann Humes]], similar references can be found in his later works.<ref name=Forsthoefel>{{Cite book| last1 = Forsthoefel | first1 = Thomas A. | last2 = Humes | first2 = Cynthia Ann | title = Gurus in America | year = 2005 | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | isbn = 978-0-7914-6573-8 | page = 63|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ugSb7mArJlYC&pg=PP1&dq=gurus+in+america#v=onepage&q= }}</ref><ref name=Beacon>{{Cite book|url=http://www.paulmason.info/gurudev/sources/pdf/Beacon%20Light%20of%20the%20HImalayas.pdf|format=PDF|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|title=Beacon Light of the Himalyas|year=1955|page=63}}</ref>


According to authors [[Peter Russell (author)|Peter Russell]] and [[Norman Rosenthal]], the sounds used in the technique are taken from the ancient [[Vedic]] tradition, have "no specific meaning",<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name=Russell2>{{Cite book|last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. | title = The TM technique: a skeptics guide to the TM program | year = 1977 | publisher = Routledge K. Paul | location = Boston | isbn = 0-7100-8672-5 | pages = 49–50 }}</ref> and are selected for their suitability for the individual.<ref name="Phelan, Michael 1979">Phelan, Michael (1979). "Transcendental Meditation. A Revitalization of the American Civil Religion" Archives des sciences sociales des religions 48 (48–1) 5–20.</ref> Author, Lola Williamson writes that the bija, or seed mantras used in TM come from the [[Tantra|Tantric]], rather than Vedic tradition, and that bija mantras are "traditionally associated with particular deities and used as a form of worship".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williamson|first=Lola |title=Transcendent in America:Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion |publisher=NYU Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8147-9450-0|pages=86–89}}</ref><ref name=Mangalwadi>Mangalwadi, Vishal(May 1977) [http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/guruism_mangalwadi.pdf Five Ways to Salvation in Contemporary Guruism] Themelios volume 2, issue 3, retrieved June 20, 2012 "during the ceremony the teacher worships the picture of Guru Dev"</ref> According to Needleman, many mantras come from the Vedas or Vedic hymns, which are "the root for all later Hindu scripture",<ref name=Needleman/> while the 1977 court case Malnak vs. Yogi accepted the TM mantras as meaningless sounds.<ref>"Transcendental Meditation, briefly stated, is a technique of meditation in which the meditator contemplates a meaningless sound." 440 F. Supp. 1288 {{Full|date=September 2010}}</ref> Likewise, philosophy of science scholar and former Maharishi International University professor Jonathan Shear, writes in his book ''The Experience of Meditation: Experts Introduce the Major Traditions'', that the mantras used in the TM technique are independent of meaning associated with any [[language]], and are used for their mental, sound value alone.<ref name=Shear>{{Cite book| last1 = Shear | first1 = J. (Jonathan) | title = The experience of meditation : experts introduce the major tradition | year = 2006 | publisher = Paragon House | location = St. Paul, MN | isbn = 978-1-55778-857-3 | pages = 23, 30–32, 43–44}}</ref> Fred Travis, Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science at [[Maharishi University of Management]], writes in a 2009 article published in the ''International Journal of Psychophysiology'' that "unlike most mantra meditations, any possible meaning of the mantra is not part of Transcendental Meditation practice".<ref name="psychophysiology1">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.09.007|last1=Travis|first1=F|last2=Haaga|first2=DA|last3=Hagelin|first3=JS|last4=Tanner|first4=M|last5=Nidich|first5=S|last6=Gaylord-King|first6=C|last7=Grosswald|first7=S|last8=Rainforth|first8=M|last9=Schneider|first9=RH |title=Effects of Transcendental Meditation practice on brain functioning and stress reactivity in college students|journal=International Journal of Psychophysiology |year=2009|volume=71|issue=2|pages=170–176|pmid=18854202}}</ref>
TM teachers have said that the results promised by the Transcendental Meditation technique are dependent on a trained Transcendental Meditation teacher choosing the mantra for the student, according to Chryssides and professor of psychiatry, [[Norman E. Rosenthal]].<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name=Chryssides>{{Cite book| last1 = Chryssides | first1 = George D.|authorlink= George D. Chryssides| title = Exploring new religions | year = 1999 | publisher = Cassell | location = London | isbn = 978-0-8264-5959-6 | pages = 293–296| url=http://books.google.com/?id=jxIxPBpGMwgC&pg=PA293&dq=#v=onepage&q= }}</ref> Sociologist [[William Sims Bainbridge]] says that initiators have said the mantras are selected "to match the nervous system of the individual".<ref name=Bainbridge>{{Cite book| last1 = Bainbridge | first1 = William Sims |authorlink=William Sims Bainbridge| title = The sociology of religious movements | year = 1997 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | isbn = 0-415-91202-4 | page = 188|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eCKbw8QuhEkC&printsec=frontcover&q=tm }}</ref> A 1972 biography of the Maharishi says that the chosen mantra's vibrations "harmonize" with the meditator.<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = H. W. Wilson Co. | isbn = 9780824204938 | others = Charles Moritz (ed.) | title = Current biography yearbook | date = 1972-06|pages=300–303}}</ref> Lola Williamson says that when she was a TM teacher she told students that their mantra was chosen for them specially based on their personal interview.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/> The Maharishi is quoted as saying that mantras chosen for initiates should "resonate to the pulse of his thought and as it resonates, create an increasingly soothing influence".<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Columbia University Press | isbn = 9780231121552 | last = Allitt | first = Patrick | title = Religion in America Since 1945: A History | date = 2005-09-20|page=141 }}</ref>


==Course descriptions==
Mantras are assigned by age and gender, according to religious scholars [[Roy Wallis]], [[J. Gordon Melton]], Bainbridge, and others.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/><ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{cite book|first=Roy |last=Wallis|authorlink=Roy Wallis|year=1984|title=The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life|location=London|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|isbn=0710098901|page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America|first=J. Gordon|last=Melton|authorlink=J. Gordon Melton|year=1986|publisher=Garland|isbn=0824090365|page=189}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford handbook of new religious movements|editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Lewis|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2004|isbn=9780195149869|page=457}}</ref><ref name=Stark/><ref>{{cite book|title=The future of religion: secularization, revival, and cult formation|editor1-first=Rodney |editor1-last=Stark|editor2-first=William Sims |editor2=last=Bainbridge|publisher=University of California Press|year=1985|isbn=9780520048546|first=Daniel H. |last=Jackson|chapter=The Rise and Decline of Transcendental Meditation|page=288}}</ref> There are reportedly 16 mantras.<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{cite book|title=Across the secular abyss: from faith to wisdom|first=William Sims |last=Bainbridge|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2007|isbn=9780739116784|page=136}}</ref><ref name=Barrett>{{Cite book | publisher = Cassell | isbn = 9780304355921 | last = Barrett | first = David V. | title = The New Believers| date = 2001-06-30}}</ref> They have been published in various sources. ''[[Omni (magazine)|Omni]]'' magazine published the list of TM mantra, which it says it received from "disaffected TM teachers".<ref>{{Cite news|work=Omni|date=January 1984|page=129|title=Transcendental Truth}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Transcendental Misconceptions|first=R.D. |last=Scott|publisher=Beta Books|location=San Diego|year=1978|isbn=0892930314}}</ref>
The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught in a standardized seven-step course over 6 days by a certified TM teacher.<ref name="The Seven-Step Course">{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/learn-meditation |title=Learn the Transcendental Meditation Technique – Seven Step Program |publisher=Tm.org |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref name ="Total Heart Health">Schneider H., Robert; Fields, Jeremy Z. (2006) Basic Health Publications [http://books.google.com/books?id=EWXz0Y9maukC&pg=PA148&dq=transcendental+meditation+seven+steps&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NN3IT_O_LJCs8QTK2L2CDw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation%20seven%20steps&f=false Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health] page 148-149, retrieved June 1, 2012</ref><ref name=Olson/><ref name="TM Crime">Alexander, Charles Nathaniel; Walton, Kenneth G.; Orme-Johnson, David; Goodman, Rachel S. (2003) The Hawthorne Press,[http://books.google.com/books?id=YnLCSZH_LYYC&pg=PA111&dq=transcendental+meditation+seven+steps&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NN3IT_O_LJCs8QTK2L2CDw&ved=0CFUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation%20seven%20steps&f=false Transcendental Meditation in Criminal Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention ] retrieved June 1, 2012, page 111</ref><ref name="Russell1">{{Cite book| last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. |authorlink=Peter Russell (author)| title = The TM technique| year = 1976 | publisher = Routledge Kegan Paul PLC | location = | isbn = 0-7100-8539-7 | page = 134|url=http://books.google.com/?id=TZ89AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+TM+Technique&q= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/learn-meditation |title=Learn the Transcendental Meditation Technique – Seven Step Program |publisher=Tm.org |archivedate=September 14, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sLIOeseq |quote=The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught through a seven-step course of instruction by a certified TM teacher.}}</ref> Except for a requirement to refrain from using non-prescription drugs for 15 days before learning TM,<ref name=Needleman>{{Cite book | edition = [1st ed.]. | publisher = Doubleday | last = Needleman | first = Jacob | title = The New Religions| location = Garden City N.Y. | year = 1970|chapter=Transcendental Meditation|pages=132–147}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Macmillan | isbn = 978-0-374-23676-2 | last = Syman | first = Stefanie | title = The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America | date = 2010-06-22 |page=225}}</ref> all who want to learn are taught. The technique is taught via private and group instruction by a TM teacher trained to instruct students and provide follow up.<ref name="Rosenthal"/> Instruction is given on separate days, beginning with a one hour "introductory lecture" intended to prepare the student for subsequent steps.<ref name=Olson/> The lecture discusses mind potential, social relationships, health, and "promoting inner and outer peace". The second step is a 45 minute "preparatory lecture", whose topic is the theory of the practice, its origins and its relationship to other types of meditation.<ref name=Olson/><ref name="TM Crime"/><ref name="TM.org">[http://www.tm.org/learn-meditation Learn the Transcendental Meditation technique] Official web site, retrieved May 302012</ref> This is followed by the third step: a private, ten minute, personal interview, allowing the TM teacher to get acquainted with the student and answer questions.<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name="TM Crime"/><ref name=Ospina2007>{{Cite journal|author=Ospina MB, Bond K, Karkhaneh M, ''et al.'' |title=Meditation practices for health: state of the research |journal=Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) |volume=|issue=155 |pages=1–263 |year=2007 |month=June |pmid=17764203 |doi= |url= |ref=harv |quote=Scientific research on meditation practices does not appear to have a common theoretical perspective and is characterized by poor methodological quality. Firm conclusions on the effects of meditation practices in healthcare cannot be drawn based on the available evidence.}}</ref>


According to the TM web site, the personal instruction session takes 1–2 hours,<ref name="TM.org"/> and students are required to bring a clean handkerchief, some flowers and fruit, and their course fee.<ref name=Bainbridge/> The initiation begins with a short [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] ceremony performed by the teacher. The stated purpose of the ceremony is to show honor and gratitude to the lineage of TM "masters",<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = P.H. Wyden| last = Robbins| first = Jhan| coauthors = David Fisher| title = Tranquility without pills| location = New York| year = 1972|page=141}}</ref> or "Holy Tradition"<ref name=Johnson/> that is listed in the Maharishi's translation and commentary of the Bhagavad-Gita.<ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita - A New Translation and Commentary Chapters 1-6, Appendix, The Holy Tradition, Arkana, 1990, ISBN 978-0-14-019247-6</ref> It is regarded as putting students in the right frame of mind to receive the mantra.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/> The ceremony is conducted in a private room with a "little" altar "draped in white", filled with incense, camphor, rice, flowers and a picture of Guru Dev.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/><ref name=Victory/> The initiate observes passively as the teacher recites a text in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name=Johnson/> After the ceremony, the "meditators" are "invited to bow", receive their mantra and begin to meditate.<ref name="Odd Gods">{{Cite book | publisher = Prometheus Books | isbn = 978-1-57392-842-7 | editor-last = Lewis | editor-first = James | first=Michael|last=Zonka|title = Odd gods : new religions & the cult controversy |location = Amherst N.Y. | year = 2001|pages=230–233 }} "These mantras are given out only at puja ceremonies, that is to say at simple Hindu devotional services venerating the lineage of gurus."</ref><ref name=WillismsonInitiation>"At the end of the ceremony, I was asked to kneel in front of the altar."</ref><ref name=Victory>{{cite news|title=Meditation Controversy|work=The Journal News|location=Rockland, Yew York|date=May 18, 2004|first=Joy |last=Victory}}"At the end, the teacher gets down on their knees and bows and invites the new meditators to get down on their knees."</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Cults|first=Walter |last=Martin|year=1980|publisher=Vision House Pub|isbn=978-0-88449-016-6|page=95}}</ref> Former TM teacher and University professor Don Krieger, calls the ceremony "an act of idolatry",<ref name=Victory/> while former U.S. Congressman [[Richard Nolan]] describes it as "corny". According to author William Jefferson, "even people who no longer do TM were never bothered by the ceremony".<ref name=Jefferson/>
TM meditators are instructed to keep their mantra secret.<ref name=Needleman/><ref name=Smith/> Robert Oates writes that this is a "protection against inaccurate teaching".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Celebrating the Dawn|first=Robert |last=Oates|publisher=G.P. Putnam's|year=1976|page=194|isbn=0399118152}}</ref> One concern is that a meditator will teach the technique to friends to avoid paying the tuition fee.<ref name=Smith>{{Cite book | edition = 1st ed. | publisher = Random House | isbn = 9780394498324 | last = Smith | first = Adam | title = Powers of mind | location = New York | year = 1975 |page=129}}</ref>


On the day after the personal instruction session, the student begins a series of three, 90 to 120 minute "teaching sessions", held on three consecutive days, called "three days of checking".<ref name ="Total Heart Health"/><ref name="Rosenthal"/> Their stated purpose is to "verify the correctness of the practice" and to receive further instruction.<ref name="TM.org"/> The first day's checking meeting takes place in a group on the day following personal instruction, and gives information about correct practice based on each student's own experience.<ref name="TM Crime"/> The second day of checking uses the same group format, and gives more details of the mechanics of the practice and potential results of the practice, based on student experiences.<ref name="TM Crime"/> The third day of checking focuses on subjective growth and the potential development of higher stages of human consciousness, and outlines the follow-up programs available as part of the course.<ref name="google138"/><ref name ="Total Heart Health"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.TM.org |title=The Transcendental Meditation (TM) Program – Official website. How and where to learn |publisher=TM |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=Washington Parent|title=Oming in on ADHD|first=Sarina |last=Grosswald|date=October 2005}}</ref> New meditators later return for private follow-up sessions to confirm that they are practicing the technique properly, a process called "personal checking".<ref name=Needleman/> The preferred schedule for follow up classes is 30 minutes, once per week for one month, and once per month thereafter. The purpose of the follow-up, or "checking sessions", is to verify the practice, give an opportunity for one-on-one contact with a TM teacher, and to address any problems or questions.<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name=Ospina2007/> Course graduates may access a lifetime follow-up program which includes consultations, "refresher courses", advanced lectures and group meditations.<ref>[http://www.doctorsontm.com/how-to-learn-tm] Doctors On TM, How to Learn, Retrieved June 2011</ref><ref>Washington Parent, Oming in on ADHD, Sarina Grosswald, October 2005</ref> Advanced courses include weekend Residence Courses and the TM-Sidhi program.
===Mantra meaning and sound value===
Speaking in [[Kerala]], India, in 1955, the Maharishi connected the mantras with personal deities. Similar references can also be found in his later works.<ref name=Beacon>{{Cite book|url=http://www.paulmason.info/gurudev/sources/pdf/Beacon%20Light%20of%20the%20HImalayas.pdf|format=PDF|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|title=Beacon Light of the Himalyas|year=1955|page=63}}</ref><ref name=Forsthoefel>{{Cite book| last1 = Forsthoefel | first1 = Thomas A. | last2 = Humes | first2 = Cynthia Ann | title = Gurus in America | year = 2005 | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | isbn = 978-0-7914-6573-8 | page = 63|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ugSb7mArJlYC&pg=PP1&dq=gurus+in+america#v=onepage&q= }}</ref> At other times, the Maharishi stated that "The theory of mantras is the theory of sound."<ref name=Forsthoefel/>


According to the TM organization, TM course fees cover initial training and the lifetime follow-up program, while helping to build and maintain TM centers and schools in India and around the world.<ref>(Feb 11, 2009) [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/05/entertainment/main3795284.shtml Beatles’ Guru Yogi Dies at 91] ''CBS News'', retrieved June 9, 2012</ref><ref name="Transcendence, Norman E 2011, page 9"/> The fees also reportedly provide TM scholarships for special needs groups, as well as grants and scholarships through TM's Maharishi Foundation USA, a government approved [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit, educational organization.<ref name="TM.org"/><ref name="Transcendence, Norman E 2011, page 9"/> The fees may vary from country to country, depending on the cost of living,<ref name="Transcendence, Norman E 2011, page 9">Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, Tarcher Penguin, 2011, page 9 and page 216</ref> and has changed periodically during the 50 year period it has been taught.
Russell and Rosenthal say the sounds used in the technique are taken from the ancient [[Vedic]] tradition and have "no specific meaning".<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name=Russell2>{{Cite book|last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. | title = The TM technique: a skeptics guide to the TM program | year = 1977 | publisher = Routledge K. Paul | location = Boston | isbn = 0-7100-8672-5 | pages = 49–50 }}
</ref> Lola Williamson says the bija or seed mantras used in TM come from the [[Tantra|Tantric]], rather than Vedic tradition.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williamson|first=Lola |title=Transcendent in America:Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion |publisher=NYU Press|year=2010|isbn=9780814794500|page=86}}</ref> In the Tantric tradition, these mantras are associated with specific deities and used as a form of worship.<ref name=Williamson>Williamson (2010) p. 89</ref> [[Vishal Mangalwadi]] says the mantras are usually the names of deities, chosen as meaningless terms in the [[Japa|Japa yoga]] tradition.<ref name=Mangalwadi/>


The Maharishi has drawn criticism from yogis and "stricter Hindus" who have accused him of selling "commercial mantras". At the same time, the Maharishi's "promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment" have drawn "devotees from all over the world", despite the fees.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3747053.stm|title=Obituary: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|work=BBC News|date=February 6, 2008|quote=The Maharishi's commercial mantras drew criticism from stricter Hindus, but his promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment drew devotees from all over the world.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i4IuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aaEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1291,2960282&dq=vishnu-devananda+maharishi&hl=en |last=Regush|first= Nicholas |title=No bargains on road to enlightenment|work=Montreal Gazette|date=July 30, 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942181.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |last=Simon|first=Alyssa|title=David Wants to Fly|work=Variety|date=February 14, 2010}}</ref> According to ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions'', by Brandon Toropov and Father Luke Buckles, insistence on fees for TM instruction has caused critics to question the Maharishi's motives however "the movement is not, to all appearances, an exploitive one".<ref>Buckles, Father Luke, Toropov, Brandon (2011). ' ' The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions' '. Alpha, USA. ISBN 978-1-101-51476-4.</ref>
In the 1977 court case Malnak vs. Yogi (see below), an undisputed fact in the case was that the mantras are meaningless sounds.<ref>"Transcendental Meditation, briefly stated, is a technique of meditation in which the meditator contemplates a meaningless sound." 440 F. Supp. 1288 {{Full|date=September 2010}}</ref> William Jefferson says that the "[[euphonic]]s" of mantras is important.<ref name=Jefferson/> Sociologist [[Stephen J. Hunt]] and others say that the mantra used in the Transcendental Meditation technique has no meaning but that the sound itself is sacred.<ref name=Hunt/><ref name=Barrett/>


===Residence Course===
Philosophy of science scholar and former Maharishi International University professor Jonathan Shear, in his book ''The Experience of Meditation: Experts Introduce the Major Traditions'', characterizes the mantras used in the TM technique as independent of meaning associated with any [[language]], and are used for their mental, sound value alone.<ref name=Shear>{{Cite book| last1 = Shear | first1 = J. (Jonathan) | title = The experience of meditation : experts introduce the major tradition | year = 2006 | publisher = Paragon House | location = St. Paul, MN | isbn = 978-1-55778-857-3 | pages = 23, 30–32, 43–44}}</ref> Fred Travis, Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science at [[Maharishi University of Management]], writes in a 2009 article published in the ''International Journal of Psychophysiology'' that "unlike most mantra meditations, any possible meaning of the mantra is not part of Transcendental Meditation practice".<ref name="psychophysiology1">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.09.007|last1=Travis|first1=F|last2=Haaga |first2=DA|last3=Hagelin|first3=JS|last4=Tanner|first4=M|last5=Nidich|first5=S|last6=Gaylord-King|first6=C|last7=Grosswald|first7=S|last8=Rainforth|first8=M|last9=Schneider|first9=RH |title=Effects of Transcendental Meditation practice on brain functioning and stress reactivity in college students|journal=International Journal of Psychophysiology |year=2009|volume=71|issue=2|pages=170–176|pmid=18854202}}</ref>
The TM Residence Course is a multi-day, in-residence event that aims to "enrich a person's experience and understanding" of the Transcendental Meditation technique,<ref>Bloomfield, Harold (1977) Pocket Books, Happiness: the TM program, Psychiatry and Enlightenment, page 273</ref> and accelerate personal growth.<ref>Fosshage, James L.; Olsen, Paul (1978) Human Sciences Press, Healing Implications of Psychotherapy, page 208</ref> During the course, participants add extra TM sessions to their daily routine and receive information about the "principles underlying the program" in an effort to deepen the restful and revitalizing aspects of the practice.<ref name="Crime">page 90</ref> The courses may be up to a week in duration and are supervised by TM teachers,<ref>Robbins, Jhan; Fisher, David (1972) P. H. Wyden, Tranquility Without Pills (All about Transcendental Meditation)</ref> who lead the group meditations, give lectures, teach yoga postures called [[asana]]s and breathing exercise called [[pranayama]].<ref name="Needleman"/><ref name="Williams">Williams, Patrick Gresham (2002) Incandescent Press, The Spiritual Recovery Manual: Vedic Knowledge and Yogic Techniques for, page 159</ref> The TM Residence Course utilizes a more intensive meditation process called "rounding",<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = University of Iowa Press| isbn = 0-87745-645-3| last = Knopp| first = Lisa| title = Flight Dreams: A Life in the Midwestern Landscape| date = 1998-11|page=167}}</ref> wherein yoga [[asana]]s, [[pranayama]], a standard TM meditation, and rest, are practiced in sequence. Each sequence takes about 50 minutes and may be repeated several times.<ref name=Scott>{{Cite book| publisher = Beta Books| last = Scott| first = R. D.| title = Transcendental misconceptions| date = 1978-02|pages=30–31, 36–37|isbn=0-89293-031-4}}</ref>


Yoga Asanas were initially introduced by Maharishi in 1962. "For good health it is necessary for everyone to do something with the body so that it remain flexible and normal," Maharishi said. "The advantage of Yoga Asanas over other eastern and western systems of physical posture is that they do not consume energy. They help restore life force, promote health and maintain normal conditions in the body." An introductory publication on yoga asanas in cooperation with a professor of yoga was printed at the University of Travancore, India, K.B. Hari Krishna.<ref>Mason, p. 59 (1994)</ref>
==Teaching procedure==
The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught in a standardized, seven-step course by a certified, authorized teacher.<ref name="The Seven-Step Course" /><ref name="Russell1">{{Cite book| last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. |authorlink=Peter Russell (author)| title = The TM technique| year = 1976 | publisher = Routledge Kegan Paul PLC | location = | isbn = 0-7100-8539-7 | page = 134|url=http://books.google.com/?id=TZ89AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+TM+Technique&q= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/learn-meditation |title=Learn the Transcendental Meditation Technique – Seven Step Program |publisher=Tm.org |archivedate=September 14, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sLIOeseq |quote=The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught through a seven-step course of instruction by a certified TM teacher.}}</ref> Potential meditators are asked to refrain from using non-prescription drugs for 15 days before learning TM.<ref name=Needleman>{{Cite book | edition = [1st ed.]. | publisher = Doubleday | last = Needleman | first = Jacob | title = The New Religions| location = Garden City N.Y. | year = 1970|chapter=Transcendental Meditation|pages=132–147}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Macmillan | isbn = 9780374236762 | last = Syman | first = Stefanie | title = The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America | date = 2010-06-22 |page=225}}</ref> Otherwise, all who seek to learn TM are taught it.<ref name=Mangalwadi/> Steps one to four include an introductory lecture, a lecture on the theory behind TM, a personal interview and initiation, and a follow-up session to verify correct practice.<ref name=Olson/>


===TM-Sidhi program===
The private interview and initiation last about 10–15 minutes.<ref name=Ospina2007/> The initiation begins with a short [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] ceremony performed by the teacher. The ceremony is said to give honors and thanks, or worship,<ref name=Mangalwadi/> to the previous masters who passed down the TM technique,<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = P.H. Wyden| last = Robbins| first = Jhan| coauthors = David Fisher| title = Tranquility without pills| location = New York| year = 1972|page=141}}</ref> a lineage called the "Holy Tradition".<ref name=Johnson/> It is regarded as putting students in the right frame of mind to receive the mantra.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/> Students are required to bring to their initiation a clean handkerchief, some flowers and fruit, and their fee.<ref name=Bainbridge/><ref name=Smith/><ref name=Mangalwadi>{{cite journal|first=Vishal |last=Mangalwadi|title=Five Ways to Salvation in Contemporary Guruism|journal=Themelios|volume=2|issue=3|date=May 1977|pages=72–77}}</ref> Initiates remove their shoes and kneel in a private room in front of an altar which has incense burning in front of pictures of Guru Dev and the Maharishi, to which they are expected to bow.<ref name=WillismsonInitiation/><ref name=Smith/><ref name=Victory>{{cite news|title=Meditation Controversy|work=The Journal News|location=Rockland, Yew York|date=May 18, 2004|first=Joy |last=Victory}}</ref> During the initiation or puja ceremony the initiate observes passively as the teacher recites a text in [[Sanskrit]].<ref name=Johnson/> An article in the '' The Ottawa Citizen'' gave a partial translation of the puja as: "Whosoever remembers the lotus-eyed Lord gains inner and outer purity. To Lord [[Narayana|Naryan]], to Lotus-born Brahman the creator, to [[Vasistha|Vaishistha]], to Shakti, to [[Shankaracharya]] the emancipator, hailed as [[Krishna]], to the Lord I bow down and down again. At whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection day and night".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Establishing Transcendental Meditation's identity; Few can agree if it's a religion, Hinduism or meditation|first=Bob |last=Harvey|work=The Ottawa Citizen|date=December 18, 1993|page=C.6}}</ref></blockquote> Bainbridge quotes from a training bulletin for TM teachers which explains the purpose of the invocation: "The truth of Brahma, the Creator, born of the lotus, rooted in the eternal Being is conventionally and traditionally depicted by a picture of Lord Narayana, lying in a restful pose, has the stem of a lotus emerging from his navel, and Brahma, the Creator, is seated on that lotus. So the wisdom of Transcendental Meditation, or the philosophy of the Absolute knowledge of integrated life came to the lotus-born Brahma from Lord Narayana".<ref name=Bainbridge/> The student receives a mantra only after this ceremony has been performed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Cults|first=Walter |last=Martin|year=1980|publisher=Vision House Pub|isbn=978-0884490166|page=95}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Prometheus Books | isbn = 9781573928427 | editor-last = Lewis | editor-first = James | first=Michael|last=Zonka|title = Odd gods : new religions & the cult controversy | location = Amherst N.Y. | year = 2001|pages=230–233 }}</ref> Subsequent group sessions with the teacher ensure correct practice including step five that verifies the correctness of the practice and gives further instruction, and step six that explains the mechanics of the TM technique based on personal experience. In step seven the higher stages of human development are described per this system of meditation.<ref name="The Seven-Step Course" /><ref name="google138">{{Cite book| last1 = Cotton | first1 = Dorothy H. G. | title = Stress management : an integrated approach to therap | year = 1990 | publisher = Brunner/Mazel | location = New York | isbn = 0-87630-557-5 | page = 138|url=http://books.google.com/?id=oLsECokSFHwC&vq}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.TM.org |title=The Transcendental Meditation (TM) Program – Official website. How and where to learn |publisher=TM |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=Washington Parent|title=Oming in on ADHD|first=Sarina |last=Grosswald|date=October 2005}}</ref>
{{Main|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.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Shear|editor-first=Jonathan|title=Experience of Meditation: Experts Introduce the Major Traditions|publisher=Paragon House|location=St Paul, MN|year=2006|isbn=978-1-55778-857-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-02-05-maharishi-obit_N.htm|title=Beatles guru dies in Netherlands|work=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|date=February 5, 2008}}</ref> The goal of the TM-Sidhi program is to accelerate personal growth and improve mind-body coordination <ref name="MPTCWP">"The TM-Sidhi techniques enhance the effect of Transcendental Meditation in improving coordination between the mind and body."</ref> by training the mind to think from what the Maharishi has described as a fourth major state of consciousness<ref>Russell, Peter, The TM Technique: A Skeptics Guide to the TM program. Rutlidge, Boston.1977. pg.91-93</ref> called: Transcendental Consciousness.<ref name="lighthouse">{{cite book|last=Mahesh Yogi|first= Maharishi|year=2001|title=Ideal India: the lighthouse of peace on earth|publisher=Maharishi University of Management Press|page=308|isbn=978-90-806005-1-5|quote=Yogic Flying is a phenomena [sic] created by a specific thought projected from Transcendental Consciousness, the Unified Field of Natural Law, the field of all possibilities. This is the simplest state of human consciousness, self-referall consciousness, which is easily accessible to anyone through Transcendental Meditation, and is enlivened through the TM Sidhi Programme, which leads to Yogic Flying.}}</ref>


Yogic Flying, a mental-physical exercise of hopping while cross-legged,<ref>{{cite book|title=Psi Development Systems|last=Mishlove|first=Jeffrey|publisher=Ballantine|year=1988|chapter=Chapter 3|isbn=978-0-345-35204-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Meditate, Then Levitate / Devotees of TM are flying high|first=CHIP|last=JOHNSON|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=October 9, 1997|page=A.19}}</ref> is a central aspect of the TM-Sidhi program. With the introduction of the TM-Sidhi program in 1976 it was postulated that the square root of 1 percent of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program, together at the same time and in the same place, would increase "life-supporting trends". This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".<ref name="Karam"/><ref name="Maharishi University of Management">{{cite web|url=http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/ |archivedate=July 30, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rcNTly3Q|title=Maharishi Effect Research on the Maharishi Effect|publisher=Maharishi University of Management|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref> These effects have been examined in 14 published studies, including a gathering of over 4,000 people in Washington DC in the summer of 1993.<ref name="Karam"/><ref>
The new meditator later returns to confirm that they are practicing the technique properly, a process called "checking".<ref name=Needleman/> These follow-up sessions validate the practice and address problems or questions, including practical and theoretical issues.<ref name=Ospina2007/>
* Dillbeck, M. C., G. S. Landrith III, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. "The Transcendental Meditation program and crime rate change in a sample of forty-eight cities." Journal of Crime and Justice 1981; 4:25–45.
* Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, R. K. Wallace, G. S. Landrith. “Intersubject EEG coherence: Is consciousness a field?” International Journal of Neuroscience 1982; 16:203-209.
* Dillbeck, M. C., K. L. Cavanaugh, T. Glenn, D. W. Orme-Johnson, and V. Mittlefehldt. "Consciousness as a field: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and changes in social indicators." The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1987; 8(1):67–104. (presents five studies)
* Orme-Johnson, D. W., C. N. Alexander, J. L. Davies, H. M. Chandler, and W. E. Larimore. “International peace project in the Middle East : The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 1988; 32(4):776–812.
* Dillbeck, M. C., C. B. Banus, C. Polanzi, and G. S. Landrith III. "Test of a field model of consciousness and social change: The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program and decreased urban crime." The Journal of Mind and Behavior 1988; 9(4):457–486.
* Gelderloos, P., M. J. Frid, P. H. Goddard, X. Xue, and S. A.Löliger. "Creating world peace through the collective practice of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field: Improved U.S.-Soviet relations." Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):80–94.
* Orme-Johnson, D. W., and P. Gelderloos. "The long-term effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field on the quality of life in the United States (1960 to 1983)." Social Science Perspectives Journal 1988; 2(4):127-146. (presents two studies)
* Travis, F. T., and D. W. Orme-Johnson. “Field model of consciousness: EEG coherence changes as indicators of field effects.” International Journal of Neuroscience 1989; 49:203-211.
* Dillbeck, M. C. "Test of a field theory of consciousness and social change: Time series analysis of participation in the TM-Sidhi program and reduction of violent death in the U.S." Social Indicators Research 1990; 22:399–418.
* Assimakis P., and M. C. Dillbeck. "Time series analysis of improved quality of life in Canada: Social change, collective consciousness, and the TM-Sidhi program." Psychological Reports 1995; 76:1171-1193.
* Hatchard, G. D., A. J. Deans, K. L. Cavanaugh, and D. W. Orme-Johnson. "The Maharishi Effect: A model for social improvement. Time series analysis of a phase transition to reduced crime in Merseyside metropolitan area." Psychology, Crime & Law 1996; 2(3):165-174.
* J. S. Hagelin, M.V. Rainforth, D. W. Orme-Johnson, K. L. Cavanaugh, C. N. Alexander, S. F. Shatkin, et al. "Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June–July 1993." Social Indicators Research 1999; 47(2):153-201.
* Orme-Johnson, D. W., M. C. Dillbeck, C. N. Alexander, H. M. Chandler, and R. W. Cranson. “Effects of large assemblies of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program on reducing international conflict and terrorism.” Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 2003;36 (1/2/3/4):283-302.
* Davies, J. L. and C. N. Alexander. “Alleviating political violence through reducing collective tension: Impact Assessment analysis of the Lebanon war.” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2005, 17: 285-338.</ref> While empirical studies have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals<ref>{{cite book|last=Regal|first=Brian|title=Pseudoscience : a critical encyclopedia|year=2009|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-0-313-35507-3}}</ref> this research remains controversial and has been characterized as [[pseudoscience]] by skeptic [[James Randi]] and others.<ref name="randi.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Transcendental%20Meditation.html |title=James Randi Educational Foundation — An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural |work= |accessdate=}}</ref><ref name="Sagan, 1997 p16">{{Cite book|author=Sagan, Carl |title=The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |year=1997 |page=16 |isbn=0-345-40946-9 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>


===Course fees===
==TM teachers==
The TM course consists of 6 hours of personal and group instruction and a series of “weekly and monthly personal checking sessions”.<ref name="Rosenthal"/> Course graduates qualify for a lifetime follow-up program at any Transcendental Meditation center including personal meditation checking and “consultation with any certified TM instructor", refresher courses, Advanced Lectures, special events, group meditations, and celebrations.<ref>[http://www.doctorsontm.com/how-to-learn-tm] Doctors On TM, How to Learn, Retrieved June 2011</ref><ref>Washington Parent, Oming in on ADHD, Sarina Grosswald, October 2005</ref> The fees cover costs of instruction and administration.<ref name="Transcendence, Norman E 2011, page 9">Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, Tarcher Penguin, 2011, page 9</ref>


According to Una Kroll in her book, ''The Healing Potential of Transcendental Meditation'', the technique must be taught individually by certified TM teachers. She says the Maharishi was aware the technique could be discredited over time if taught incorrectly and mis-learnt. He felt that human beings because of their complexity could confuse and tangle up the simplicity of the technique, and, according to Kroll, the Maharishi felt the uniqueness of each human being requires individual guidance so that the technique can be most effective. <ref name=Kroll>{{cite book|last=Kroll|first=Una|title=The Healing Power of Transcendental Meditationn|year=1974|publisher=John Knox Press|location=London|isbn=0-8042=0598-1|page=53}}</ref>
From 1967 to 1968, the fees for instruction in the UK, the US, and Australia were variable, ranging from the equivalent of one-week's salary to a flat fee of $35 for students.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19671104&id=A9sQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YpMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1167,660639|last=Slee|first=John|title=Towards meditation (with the unmistakable fragrance of money)|work=The Age|date=November 4, 1967|location=Melbourne, Australia|page =5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=z7EpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2571,8040808&dq=maharishi+one-week-salary&hl=en|last=Souter|first=Gavin|title=Sydney 1967: Non-eternal city|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 30, 1967|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NhsqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5055,5854221&dq=maharishi+one-week-salary&hl=en |last=Brothers|first=Joyce|title=Maharishi is vague on happiness recipe|work=Milwaukee Journal|date=January 27, 1968|page=B1}}</ref> By 1975, fees in the US were fixed at $125 for adults, but with discounted rates for students or families.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1875|last=LaMore|first=George|title=The Secular Selling of a Religion|work=The Christian Century|date=December 10, 1975|pages=1133–1137}}</ref> At the time, author John White wrote that fees were "becoming exorbitant", that TM instruction should be free, or at least much cheaper, and that a lot of people question paying $125 for six hours of instruction.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=d8EUk5ca6oAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=fees&f=false |last=White|first=John|title=Everything You Want to Know About TM – Including How to Do It|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|year=2004|isbn=9781931044851|note=Original edition: Pocket Books (1976)}}</ref> Fees rose to $400 for adults and $135 for students in the US and Canada by 1993, and then were increased to $1,000 for adults and $600 for students in 1994.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kapica|first=Jack|title=Veda Land The New Incarnation of the Maharishi|work=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto, Ont|date=November 27, 1993|page=D.3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Naedele|first=Walter Jr.|title=Meditation program goes from 'Om' to 'Ouch'|work=Philadelphia Inquirer|date=August 30, 1994|page=B.2}}</ref> In Britain, TM cost £490 (£290 for students) in 1995.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/next-weekend-1527918.html |work= The Independent|location=London (UK) |first=Oliver |last=Bennett|date=December 31, 1995|title=Try Meditation}}</ref> By 2003, fees in the US were $2,500.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Overton|first=Penelope|title=Group promotes meditation therapy in schools|work=Hartford Courant|date=September 15, 2003|page=B1}}</ref> In Bermuda, where fees had been kept below the international average for many years, a 2003 directive from TM Movement headquarters to increase prices from $385 to $2,000 was partly responsible for the suspension of TM instruction there. A former instructor was critical of the fees for excluding ordinary people and making TM something exclusively for the wealthy.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Greening|first=Benedict|title=TM courses halted as fees soar|work=Royal Gazette|location=Bermuda) |date=August 16, 2003}}</ref> In January 2009, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that the expensive fees for TM instruction had "risked it being priced into oblivion" until David Lynch convinced the Maharishi to "radically reduce" fees so as to permit more young people to learn TM.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jan/27/david-lynch-meditation |last1=Stevens|first1=Jacqueline|last2=Barkham|first2=Patrick|title=And now children, it's time for your flying lesson|work=The Guardian|date=January 27, 2009 | location=London}}</ref>


The Maharishi began training TM teachers in the early 1960s,<ref>{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Australia|date=February 8, 2008|title=Riches of devotion to mystical pondering|first=TROY |last=LENNON|page=55}}</ref> and by 1978, there were 7,000 TM teachers in the U.S.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|edition=7th|page=1046|editor-first=J. Gordon|editor-last=Melton|isbn=978-0-7876-6384-1|publisher=Gale|year=2003}}</ref> In 1985, there were an estimated 10,000 TM teachers worldwide,<ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=July 12, 1985|title=Rising to the Occasion 5,500 Meet to Meditate & Levitate|first=Lloyd |last=Grove|page=D1}}</ref> and by 2003, there were 20,000 teachers,<ref>{{cite news|title=Wasting away in Maharishi-ville:; |first=Brian |last=Hutchinson|work=National Post|location=Don Mills, Ont.|date=February 22, 2003|page=B.1.Fro}}</ref> and a reported 40,000 teachers in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies|first=Lily |last=Koppel|work=New York Times|date=February 6, 2008|page=C.10}}</ref> Notable individuals trained to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique include [[Prudence Farrow]],<ref>Here, There and Everywhere: the 100 best Beatles songs, Stephen J Spignesi, Michael Lewis, page 252</ref> [[John Gray (U.S. author)|John Gray]],<ref>{{cite news|title=INTERPLANETARY COMMUNICATION: 'Men Are From Mars' author speaks in Austin Today series|first=Anne |last=Morris|work=Austin American Statesman|date=October 14, 1994|page=F.1}}</ref> [[Mitch Kapor]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Trance 101|first=Mel |last=Bezalel|work=Jerusalem Post|date=May 1, 2009|page=14}}</ref> and [[Mike Love]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|first=Joe|last=Hagan|work=Rolling Stone|date=March 6, 2008|issue=1047|page=16}}</ref>
In 2009, fees in the US were reduced for a one-hour-a-day, four-day course to $1,500 for the general public and $750 for college students and grants, scholarships and loans are available to those that qualify.<ref name="Transcendence, Norman E 2011, page 9"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121902187.html |last=Johnson|first=Jenna|title=Colleges Use Meditation|work=Washington Post|date=December 20, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601206&sid=awJoYYAfJotY |last=Carmiel|first=Osharat |title=Wall Street Meditators|work=Bloomberg|date=September 18, 2009}}</ref>


The first teacher training course was held in India with 30 participants in 1967 and 200 participants in 1970.<ref name="Russell">Russell, Peter (1976) Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, page pp26-30</ref> A four-month teacher training course was also held in the USA that year. The first part was four weeks long and was offered in both [[Poland, Maine]] and [[Humboldt County, California|Humboldt, California]] with the final three months being held in [[Estes Park, Colorado]]. About 300 people completed the training.<ref name=Goldberg>{{Cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Philip|year=2010|title=American Veda—How Indian Spirituality Changed the West|pages=151–175|publisher=Crown Publishing/Random House|location= New York|isbn=978-0-385-52134-5}}</ref> In 1973, the TM teacher training course consisted of three months in-residence.<ref>Williamson, Lola (2011) Transcendent In America, Preface page XII</ref> A 2007 TM web page and 2009 book, report that the TM teacher training course in more modern times consists of six-months in-residence,<ref name="Healing Depression">Liebler, Nancy; Moss, Sandra; (2009) John Wiley & Sons,[http://books.google.com/books?id=AWf303UKhDUC&pg=PA102&dq=transcendental+meditation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vt_UT9i8KaSi2QXKoaGfDw&ved=0CF8Q6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation&f=false Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way] retrieved June 10, 2012 pp 102-104</ref> and includes courses in Maharishi Vedic Science, extended meditation practice and becoming the "custodian" for an "ancient Vedic tradition". Additionally, TM teachers are trained to speak on the Transcendental Meditation program, teach it to others, provide "personal checking" of their student's meditation, create lectures on related topics, organize and lead advanced TM courses and programs.<ref>[http://archive.tm.org/enjoy/advance/teacher.html Becoming a Teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program] TM program, retrieved June 8, 2012 and [http://archive.tm.org/enjoy/advance/teacher.html archived here](Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/68IHD98Ef)</ref> The Maharishi trained his teachers to "make logical presentations in language suitable to their audiences", and teachers lead their students through a sequence of predetermined steps.<ref name=Goldberg/>
Fees in the UK were also reduced, and a tiered fee structure introduced, ranging from £290 to £590 for adults, and £190 to £290 for students, depending on income.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.t-m.org.uk/learning.shtml|title=Transcendental Meditation Course Details and Fees|publisher=t-m.org.uk|accessdate=September 2, 2010|archivedate=September 2, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sSglnVdt}}</ref> The Maharishi was criticized by other Yogis and stricter Hindus for charging fees for instruction in TM, who contended that it was unethical, amounting to the selling of "commercial mantras", however "his promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment drew devotees from all over the world" despite the fees, according to the BBC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3747053.stm|title=Obituary: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|work=BBC News|date=February 6, 2008|quote=The Maharishi's commercial mantras drew criticism from stricter Hindus, but his promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment drew devotees from all over the world.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i4IuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aaEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1291,2960282&dq=vishnu-devananda+maharishi&hl=en |last=Regush|first= Nicholas |title=No bargains on road to enlightenment|work=Montreal Gazette|date=July 30, 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942181.html?categoryid=31&cs=1 |last=Simon|first=Alyssa|title=David Wants to Fly|work=Variety|date=February 14, 2010}}</ref>


A 2007 research study reported that details of the training and knowledge imparted to teachers are kept private.<ref name=Ospina2007/> In 1976, Janis Johnson wrote in [[The Christian Century]] that TM teachers sign a "loyalty-oath employment contract", saying "It is my fortune, Guru Dev, that I have been accepted to serve the Holy Tradition and spread the Light of God to all those who need it."<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news|title=[http://books.google.com/books?id=HcnJt6IQZTYC&pg=PA64&dq=janis+Johnson+a+court+challenge+to+TM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GXfST8TLAorS2QXa5uSkDw&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=janis%20Johnson%20a%20court%20challenge%20to%20TM&f=false A Court Challenge to TM]|work=the christian CENTURY|pages=300–302|first=Janis|last=Johnson|date=March 31, 1976}}</ref>{{quotation needed|date=June 2012}} Author William Bainbridge writes that a section of a training bulletin for TM teachers called "Explanations of the Invocation" draws a "connection to Brahma, the Lord of Creation".<ref name=Bainbridge/> A 1993 article in the '' The Ottawa Citizen'' reported a partial translation of the puja as "Whosoever remembers the lotus-eyed Lord gains inner and outer purity. To Lord [[Narayana|Naryan]], to Lotus-born Brahman the creator, to [[Vasistha|Vaishistha]], to Shakti, to [[Shankaracharya]] the emancipator, hailed as [[Krishna]], to the Lord I bow down and down again. At whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection day and night".<ref name="Harvey1993">{{Cite news|title=Establishing Transcendental Meditation's identity; Few can agree if it's a religion, Hinduism or meditation|first=Bob |last=Harvey|work=The Ottawa Citizen|date=December 18, 1993|page=C.6}}</ref>
===TM teachers===
TM teachers learn how to assign mantras during a teacher training program that lasts from ten to twelve weeks.<ref name=Smith/> Many details of the training and knowledge imparted to teachers are not known publicly.<ref name=Ospina2007/> TM teachers sign what one writer calls a "loyalty-oath employment contract", which he quotes as saying, "It is my fortune, Guru Dev, that I have been accepted to serve the Holy Tradition and spread the Light of God to all those who need it."<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news|title=A Court Challenge to TM|work=the christian CENTURY|pages=300–302|first=Janis|last=Johnson|date=March 31, 1976}}</ref>


Some teach the TM technique full-time while those with other careers, teach part-time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Peace of Mind|first=Esther |last=Hecht|work=Jerusalem Post|date=January 23, 1998|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=June 6, 1977|title=New High From the Maharishi: Levitation From Meditation|first=Eugene L. |last=Meyer|page=B1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=April 15, 1989|title=Housing Heaven: The Maharishi as Developer Indian Guru and His Followers Plan a 'City of Immortals' in Washington|first=Graeme|last=Browning|page=E3}}</ref> Jerry Jarvis, one of the first TM teachers in the U.S. is reported to have " personally instructed 5,000 people".<ref name="Jefferson"/> Some former TM teachers have said they felt they were lying and deceiving their students, regarding details about the mantras and the religious nature of TM.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Conway | first1 = Flo | last2 = Siegelman | first2 = Jim. | title = [[Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change]] | year = 1995 | publisher = Stillpoint Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-9647650-0-9 | page=157 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Part One|first=Bronte |last=Baxter|work=The Canadian|year=2008}}</ref> TM teachers who have taken the TM-Sidhi course are called "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment".<ref>{{cite news|work=National Post|date=February 9, 2008|title=Transcendental love|first=Dawn Rae |last=Downton|page=A27}}</ref>
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began training TM teachers in the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Australia|date=February 8, 2008|title=Riches of devotion to mystical pondering|first=TROY |last=LENNON|page=55}}</ref> As of 1978, there were 7,000 TM teachers in the U.S.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|edition=7th Edition|page=1046|editor-first=J. Gordon|editor-last=Melton|isbn=9780787663841|publisher=Gale|year=2003}}</ref> A TM leader estimated 10,000 TM teachers worldwide in 1985.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=July 12, 1985|title=Rising to the Occasion 5,500 Meet to Meditate & Levitate|first=Lloyd |last=Grove|page=D1}}</ref> In 2003 there were a reported 20,000 TM teachers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wasting away in Maharishi-ville:; |first=Brian |last=Hutchinson|work=National Post|location=Don Mills, Ont.|date=February 22, 2003|page=B.1.Fro}}</ref> By 2008, 40,000 TM teachers had been trained.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies|first=Lily |last=Koppel|work=New York Times|date=February 6, 2008|page=C.10}}</ref>

One ex-teacher said in 2004 that he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on "TM sessions, retreats, and teacher training".<ref name=Victory/> Some ex-teachers have said they feel they were lying to students, either about details of the mantras or about the religious nature of TM. One said: "I was lying about the mantras&nbsp;— they were not meaningless sounds; they were actually the names of [[Hindu]] [[demigods]] – and about how many different ones there were&nbsp;— we had sixteen to give out to our students".<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Conway | first1 = Flo | last2 = Siegelman | first2 = Jim. | title = [[Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change]] | year = 1995 | publisher = Stillpoint Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-9647650-0-9 | page=157 }}</ref> Another writes that TM teachers convinced themselves that they were not deceiving students.<ref>{{cite news|title=Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Part One|first=Bronte |last=Baxter|work=The Canadian|year=2008}}</ref>

Some people do TM training as a full-time job, while others do it occasionally.<ref>{{cite news|title=Peace of Mind|first=Esther |last=Hecht|work=Jerusalem Post|date=January 23, 1998|page=12}}</ref> Part-time instructors have included doctors, lawyers, and executives.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Washington Post|date=June 6, 1977|title=New High From the Maharishi: Levitation From Meditation|first=Eugene L. |last=Meyer|page=B1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=|The Washington Post|date=April 15, 1989|title=Housing Heaven: The Maharishi as Developer Indian Guru and His Followers Plan a 'City of Immortals' in Washington|first=Graeme|last=Browning|page=E3}}</ref> An Australian TM teacher said he had personally initiated over 20,000 people over a thirty year period.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Sun Herald|location=Sydney, Australia|date=September 18, 2005 |title=Blissed out|first=Bonnie |last=Malkin|section=SUNDAY LIFE|page= 22}}</ref>

TM teachers who go on to learn the TM-Sidhi technique are called "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment".<ref>{{cite news|work=National Post|date=February 9, 2008|title=Transcendental love|first=Dawn Rae |last=Downton|page=A27}}</ref> Some TM teachers have objected to the cost of the instruction and began teaching independently.<ref>{{cite news|work==The Independent|location=London|date=April 8, 2010|title=How The Beatles' meditation technique could cure depression|first=Jeremy |last=Laurance|page=16}}</ref> Notable people trained to teach Transcendental Meditation include: [[Prudence Farrow]],<ref>Here, There and Everywhere: the 100 best Beatles songs, Stephen J Spignesi, Michael Lewis, page 252</ref> [[John Gray (U.S. author)|John Gray]],<ref>{{cite news|title=INTERPLANETARY COMMUNICATION: 'Men Are From Mars' author speaks in Austin Today series|first=Anne |last=Morris|work=Austin American Statesman|date=October 14, 1994|page=F.1}}</ref> [[Mitch Kapor]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Trance 101|first=Mel |last=Bezalel|work=Jerusalem Post|date=May 1, 2009|page=14}}</ref> and [[Mike Love]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|first=Joe|last=Hagan|work=Rolling Stone|date=March 6, 2008|issue=1047|page=16}}</ref>

==Supplemental techniques==
"Rounding" is a more intensive meditation process taught as part of Residence Courses.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = University of Iowa Press| isbn = 0877456453| last = Knopp| first = Lisa| title = Flight Dreams: A Life in the Midwestern Landscape| date = 1998-11|page=167}}</ref> A round consists of a sequence of yoga postures called [[asana]]s, breathing techniques called [[pranayama]], a standard TM meditation, and rest. Each round takes about 50 minutes and is then repeated several times.<ref name=Scott>{{Cite book| publisher = Beta Books| last = Scott| first = R. D.| title = Transcendental misconceptions| date = 1978-02|pages=30–31, 36–37|isbn=0892930314}}</ref> Rounding is said to be especially effective in facilitating "unstressing" in the practitioner. Unstressing is a release of tension in which deep relaxation may be accompanied by physical and emotional effects, including insomnia, anxiety, headaches, and spontaneous imagery.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Pergamon Press| isbn = 9780080281278| last = Cazenave| first = Michel| title = Science and consciousness: two views of the universe : edited proceedings of the France-Culture and Radio-France Colloquium, Cordoba, Spain| date = 1984-05|page=103}}</ref>

The movement also teaches, for additional fees in the thousands of dollars, "advanced techniques" of Transcendental Meditation, introduced by the Maharishi in the mid-1970s when new enrollment in Transcendental Meditation collapsed. The [[TM-Sidhi program]], introduced in 1975, expanded the number of offerings.<ref name="Bainbridge"/><ref name=Forsthoefel>{{Cite book| last1 = Forsthoefel | first1 = Thomas A. | last2 = Humes | first2 = Cynthia Ann | title = Gurus in America | year = 2005 | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | isbn = 978-0-7914-6573-8 | page = 72|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ugSb7mArJlYC&pg=PP1&dq=gurus+in+america#v=onepage&q= }}</ref><ref>Williamson (2010) p. 97</ref> This later program teaches that, through the power of meditation, one is able to gain various "signposts" of spiritual progress, such as the powers of [[levitation (paranormal)|levitation]] and [[invisibility]], walking through walls, colossal strength, ESP, perfect health and immortality, among others.<ref name="Epi06" /> The Maharishi has said that "thousands" have learned to levitate.<ref name=Randi106/> Skeptic [[James Randi]], however, concluded after investigation that there is "no levitation, no walking through walls, no invisibility".<ref name=Randi106>{{Cite book|author=Randi, James |title=Flim-flam!: psychics, ESP, unicorns, and other delusions |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, N.Y |year=1982 |page=106 |isbn=0-87975-198-3 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref>

==Maharishi Effect==
{{Main|Maharishi Effect}}
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi predicted that the quality of life for an entire population would be noticeably improved if one percent of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique. This is known as the "Maharishi Effect".<ref name=Wager>{{Cite news|title=Musicians Spread the Maharishi's Message of Peace|first=Gregg|last=Wager|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1987 |page=12}}</ref> With the introduction of the [[TM-Sidhi program]] including Yogic Flying, the Maharishi proposed that only the square root of 1% of the population practicing this advanced program would be required to create benefits in society, and this was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect", according to a MUM webage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/ |archivedate=July 30, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5rcNTly3Q|title=Maharishi Effect Research on the Maharishi Effect|publisher=Maharishi University of Management|accessdate=December 29, 2009}}</ref>

Practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi programs has been credited by the TM organization with the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], a reduction in global terrorism, a decrease in the rate of inflation in the US, the lowering of crime rates, and other positive effects.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Maharishi mob meditates on Limerick's ills|first=Liam|last=Fay|work=Sunday Times|location=London (UK)|date=June 13, 2004|page=32}}</ref> The Maharishi Effect has been endorsed by the former President of Mozambique [[Joaquim Chissano]], who applied this technology in his country,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/12/01/mozambique/print.html|last= Roach|first=Mary|title=The last tourist in Mozambique|work=Salon|date=December 1, 2000}}</ref> and positive results have been reported in 42 independent scientific studies.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Meditation touted as crime-fighter // Study presented builds the case for 'Maharishi effect'|first=Conrad|last=deFiebre|work=Star Tribune|location=Minneapolis, Minn.|date=October 7, 1994|page=03.B}}</ref> Some have described this research as "pseudoscience".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Stop the bleeping pseudoscience; Quantum physics film drowns in its own bunk science High point in What The Bleep is stunning animation sequence|first=PETER|last=CALAMAI|work=Toronto Star|date=October 9, 2004|page=J.13}}</ref> James Randi followed up on some of the claims attributed to the Maharishi Effect that Maharishi International University of faculty member Robert Rabinoff made at a talk in Oregon in 1978 attended by [[Ray Hyman]]. Randi spoke to the [[Fairfield, Iowa|Fairfield]] Chief of Police who had not experienced any drop in crime rate and the regional Agriculture Department whose statistics on yield showed no difference between [[Jefferson County, Iowa|Jefferson County]] and the state average.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Randi, James |title=Flim-flam!: psychics, ESP, unicorns, and other delusions |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, N.Y |year=1982 |page=100 |isbn=0-87975-198-3 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref>

According to a follower, the Maharishi said that "the earth yields up its treasures" when the one percent threshold is met.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Peace Palace' planned|first=Kevin|last=Coleman|work=Knight Ridder Tribune Business News|location=Washington|date=August 18, 2005|page=1}}</ref>


==Research==
==Research==
{{main|Transcendental Meditation research}}
{{main|Transcendental Meditation research}}
Scientists have been conducting Transcendental Meditation (TM) research since the late 1960’s and 340 studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals.<ref name="Rosenthal 2011 14"/> The Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation<ref name="Transcendental Meditation"/> developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and has become one of the most widely researched meditation techniques.<ref name="Bushell"/><ref name="Freeman2009">{{cite book |first=Lyn |last=Freeman |title=Mosby's Complementary & Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach |publisher=Mosby Elsevier |year=2009 |pages=497|isbn=978-0-323-05346-4 |ref=harv |quote = ''Transcendental meditation'' (TM) is the most evaluated meditation technique in use today.}}</ref> TM research has played a role in the history of mind-body medicine<ref>{{cite book |first=Anne |last=Harrington |title=The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2008 |location=New York |page=20 | quote=This chapter explores three contrapuntal and distinct moments in this process, the historical emergence of three variants employing the basic 'Eastward journeys' template in mind-body medicine: the medicalization of meditation, especially transcendental meditation, in the 1970s....}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | coauthors = James Dalen
| editor = Stephen Devries
| others =
| title = Integrative Cardiology
| date = | year = 2011
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = New York
| id = 978-0195383461
| pages = 237
| chapter = The Integrative Approach to Hypertension, Ch. 11
| quote = TM was brought to the west in the late 1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a visionary Indian sage trained in physics, who saw meditation as a means of alleviating stress in individuals and society. 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}}</ref> and helped create a new field of neuroscience.<ref>{{Cite journal | first=Sharon | last=Begley | title=His Magical Mystery Tour | magazine=Newsweek | date=February 18, 2008 | page=18 | quote=Whatever you think of the 'White Album,' give the Maharishi credit for helping launch what's become a legitimate new field of neuroscience.}}</ref>

Early studies examined the physiological parameters of the meditation technique. Subsequent research included clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, medical costs, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, research focused on cardiovascular disease supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.<ref name="QUICK">{{Cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=267105 |title=Delving into alternative care: Non-traditional treatments draw increased interest, research funding|first=SUSANNE|last=QUICK|date=October 17, 2004|work=Journal Sentinel|location=Milwaukee, WI |archiveurl =http://web.archive.org/web/20070929124114/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=267105 |archivedate = September 29, 2007}}</ref> Research reviews of the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique have yielded results ranging from inconclusive<ref name=Ospina>{{cite journal|last1=Ospina|first1= MB.|last2=Bond|first2=K.|last3 =Karkhaneh |first3 =M. |last4 =Tjosvold |first4 =L. |last5 =Vandermeer |first5 =B. |last6 =Liang |first6 =Y. |last7 =Bialy |first7 =L. |last8 =Hooton |first8 =N. |last9 =Buscemi |first9 =N. |title =Meditation practices for health: state of the research|journal =Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) |issue = 155 |pages =1–263 |month = June |year =2007 |pmid = 17764203|url= http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/meditation/medit.pdf|page=4|quote=Meta-analyses based on low-quality studies and small numbers of hypertensive participants showed that TM®, Qi Gong and Zen Buddhist meditation significantly reduced blood pressure [...] A few studies of overall poor methodological quality were available for each comparison in the meta-analyses, most of which reported nonsignificant results. TM had no advantage over health education to improve measures of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, body weight, heart rate, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol, dietary intake, and level of physical activity in hypertensive patients}}</ref><ref name=Cochrane06>{{Cite journal|last1 =Krisanaprakornkit | first1 = T. | last2 = Krisanaprakornkit | first2 = W. | last3 = Piyavhatkul | first3 = N. | last4 = Laopaiboon | first4 = M. |title=Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |issue=1 |pages=CD004998 |year=2006 |pmid=16437509 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2 |quote=The small number of studies included in this review do not permit any conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Transcendental meditation is comparable with other kinds of relaxation therapies in reducing anxiety|editor1-last =Krisanaprakornkit|editor1-first =Thawatchai}}</ref><ref name="Canter PH, Ernst E 2004 2049–54">{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=Insufficient evidence to conclude whether or not Transcendental Meditation decreases blood pressure: results of a systematic review of randomized clinical trials |journal=Journal of Hypertension |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=2049–54 |year=2004 |month=November |pmid=15480084|url=http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0263-6352&volume=22&issue=11&spage=2049 |ref=harv| quote = There is at present insufficient good-quality evidence to conclude whether or not TM has a cumulative positive effect on blood pressure. |doi=10.1097/00004872-200411000-00002}}</ref><ref name="Canter PH, Ernst E 2003 758–66">{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function--a systematic review of randomised controlled trials |journal=Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. |volume=115 |issue=21&ndash;22 |pages=758&ndash;66 |year=2003 |month=November |pmid=14743579 |doi= 10.1007/BF03040500|url= |quote = The claim that TM has a specific and cumulative effect on cognitive function is not supported by the evidence from randomized controlled trials.}}</ref> to clinically significant.<ref name="John Vogel 2007">John Vogel, Rebecca Costello, and Mitchell Krucoff, Chapter 47 in ''Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine'', Peter Libbie, et al, eds, Saunders Elsevier, 2007, p. 1157. Quotation: "TM has been shown not only to improve blood pressure but also the insulin resistance components of the metabolic syndrome and cardiac autonomic nervous system tone."</ref><ref name="Academic Press">{{Cite book | editor = Italo Biaggioni
| others = Geoffrey Burnstock, Phillip A. Low, Julian F.R. Paton
| title = Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System
| edition = 3rd
| year = 2011
| month = November
| publisher = Academic Press
| location = USA
| pages = 297–298
| quote = A meta-analysis of these studies indicates that TM significantly decreased low and high risk participants’ systolic and diastolic blood pressures. . . . In addition, psychological distress and coping abilities were significantly improved compared to control TM groups in both low and high risk groups.
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| first = Peter
| last = Sedlmeier
| coauthors = Eberth, Juliane; Schwarz, Marcus; Zimmermann, Doreen; Haarig, Frederik; Jaeger, Sonia; Kunze, Sonja
| year = 2012
| month = May
| title = The Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Meta-Analysis
| quote = Comparatively strong effects for TM (compared to the two other approaches) were found in reducing negative emotions, trait anxiety, and neuroticism, and being helpful in learning and memory and in self-realization (see also Table 3). This finding is consistent with prior meta-analyses that found superior effects of TM in trait anxiety and measures of self-realization.
| journal = Psychological Bulletin
| pages = 19
| doi = 10.1037/a0028168
| url = http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2012-12792-001/
| accessdate = Aug 9, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| first = Kevin W.
| last = Chen
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Christine C. Berger, Eric Manheimer, Darlene Forde, Jessica Magidson, Laya Dachman, C. W. Lejuez
| year = 2012
| month = June
| title = Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
| quote =
| journal = Depression and Anxiety
| volume = 29
| issue = 7
| pages = 1, 11–12
| doi = 10.1002/da.21964
| accessdate = }}</ref><ref name="Integrative Cardiology">{{Cite book
| coauthors = James Dalen
| editor = Stephen Devries
| title = Integrative Cardiology
| date = | year = 2011
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = New York
| id = 978-0195383461
| pages = 236, 237
| chapter = The Integrative Approach to Hypertension, Ch. 11
| quote = A 2008 meta-analysis of nine studies found a 4.7 mmHg systolic blood pressure and 3.2 mmHg diastolic blood pressure decrease in those who practiced TM compared to control groups that included health education. These decreases were judged to be clinically significant.}}</ref> More research is needed to determine the therapeutic effects of meditation practices and sources vary regarding their assessment of the quality of research. Some cite design limitations and a lack of [[methodological rigor]],<ref name="Ospina2007"/><ref name=Cochrane06/><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Krisanaprakornkit T, Ngamjarus C, Witoonchart C, Piyavhatkul N |title=Meditation therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) |journal=Cochrane Database Syst Rev |volume=6 |issue= 6|pages=CD006507 |year=2010 |pmid=20556767 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD006507.pub2 |url= |quote =As a result of the limited number of included studies, the small sample sizes and the high risk of bias|editor1-last=Krisanaprakornkit|editor1-first=Thawatchai}}</ref> while others assert that the quality is improving and that when suitable assessment criteria are applied, scientific evidence supports the therapeutic value of meditation.<ref>{{Cite journal
| first = Peter
| last = Sedlmeier
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Eberth, Juliane; Schwarz, Marcus; Zimmermann, Doreen; Haarig, Frederik; Jaeger, Sonia; Kunze, Sonja
| year = 2012
| month = May
| title = The Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Meta-Analysis
| quote = . . . notwithstanding the not so positive conclusion of Ospina et al., the claim of therapeutic benefits of meditation is backed up by growing empirical evidence.
| journal = Psychological Bulletin
| doi = 10.1037/a0028168
| url = http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2012-12792-001/
| format =
| accessdate = Aug 9, 2012
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| first = Kevin W.
| last = Chen
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Christine C. Berger, Eric Manheimer, Darlene Forde, Jessica Magidson, Laya Dachman, C. W. Lejuez
| year = 2012
| month = June
| date =
| title = Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
| quote = (referring to studies included in their review) "The general quality of these RCTs were acceptable as per CLEAR-NPT: sixteen (40%) studies had a quality score of 0.8 or better, indicating a good quality in research design (p. 5) . . . . the majority of existing reviews have applied evaluation criteria based on pharmaceutical RCT’s that tended to underestimate the actual quality of these studies, since many of the traditional criteria for quality assessment may not apply to the study of meditative therapies (p. 3) . . . . the overall quality of meditation studies have increased continuously in the past 10 years. Our analysis of study quality over time indicates that studies published prior to 2000 had a relatively lower quality score (CLEAR = .66), studies published in 2000-2005 had a slightly higher score (CLEAR = .69), whereas studies published after 2006 has a mean quality score of .75 (p. 13)
| journal = Depression and Anxiety
| volume = 29
| issue = 7
| pages = 545–562
| doi = 10.1002/da.21964
| id =
| url =
| format =
| accessdate =
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| first = R.
| last = Walsh
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year =
| month =
| date = 2011, January 17
| title = Lifestyle and Mental Health
| quote = It is now clear that meditation, either alone or in combination with other therapies, can be beneficial for both normal and multiple clinical populations. (Cites Anderson, Liu, & Kryscio, 2008, among others.)
| journal = American Psychologist
| volume =
| issue =
| pages = 8
| doi = 10.1037/a0021769
| id =
| url =
| format =
| accessdate = }}</ref> Authors Canter and Ernst assert that some studies have the potential for bias due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=Insufficient evidence to conclude whether or not Transcendental Meditation decreases blood pressure: results of a systematic review of randomized clinical trials |journal=Journal of Hypertension |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=2049–54 |year=2004 |month=November |pmid=15480084|url=http://meta.wkhealth.com/pt/pt-core/template-journal/lwwgateway/media/landingpage.htm?issn=0263-6352&volume=22&issue=11&spage=2049 |ref=harv| quote = All the randomized clinical trials of TM for the control of blood pressure published to date have important methodological weaknesses and are potentially biased by the affiliation of authors to the TM organization. |doi=10.1097/00004872-200411000-00002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Canter PH, Ernst E |title=The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function--a systematic review of randomised controlled trials |journal=Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. |volume=115 |issue=21&ndash;22 |pages=758&ndash;66 |year=2003 |month=November |pmid=14743579 |doi= 10.1007/BF03040500|url= |quote = All 4 positive trials recruited subjects from among people favourably predisposed towards TM, and used passive control procedures &hellip; The association observed between positive outcome, subject selection procedure and control procedure suggests that the large positive effects reported in 4 trials result from an expectation effect. The claim that TM has a specific and cumulative effect on cognitive function is not supported by the evidence from randomized controlled trials.}}</ref> while TM researchers point to their collaboration with independent researchers and universities as signs of objectivity.<ref>{{Cite journal | author = David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A. Barnes, Alex M. Hankey, Roger A. Chalmers| year = 2005| month = | title = Reply to critics of research on Transcendental Meditation in the prevention and control of hypertension | journal = Journal of Hypertension | volume = 23 | issue = | pages = 1107–111 | id = | url = http://www.lebensqualitaet-technologien.de/Orme-Johnson/Orme-Johnson%202005%20Reply%20to%20Critics,%20J%20Hypt.pdf | quote = The six RCTs were co-authored by 10 independent collaborators from Harvard University and the University of Maryland [7], West Oakland Health Center, University of Arkansas, and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic [8,12], University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics [9], and the Georgia Institute for Prevention of Human Disease and the Medical College of Georgia [10,11]. Blood pressure data were collected blind by personnel at independent institutions. The collaborators did not have any particular commitment to TM or the TM organization and none would gain financially from the research results. The studies were funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health [7], the National Institutes of Health, including the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute [8–12], the Retirement Research Foundation [8], and the American Heart Association [10,11]. Grant proposals from these agencies are subject to stringent peer review under highly competitive conditions, and only those proposals with the best research designs conducted under the most objective conditions are funded.}}</ref>


==Institutional programs==
==Institutional programs==
===School programs===
:''For schools belonging to the Transcendental Meditation movement, see [[Organizations associated with the Transcendental Meditation movement#Educational institutions|Educational institutions]]

====TM in public schools in 1970s : ''Malnak v. Yogi''====
As of 1974, 14 states encouraged local schools to teach TM in the classroom, and it was taught at 50 universities.<ref name=Fair>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rj4sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C80EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7098,3098882&dq=transcendental-meditation+public-schools&hl=en|last=Fair|first=Gloria|title=Transcendental Meditation is not anything like it sounds|work=Spartansburg Herald-Journal|date=August 14, 1974}}</ref> Among the public school systems where TM was taught were [[Shawnee Mission, Kansas]],<ref name=Hendel>''Hendel v World Plan Executive Council'', 124 WLR 957 (January 2, 1996); ''affd'' 705 A.2d 656, 667 (DC, 1997)</ref> [[Maplewood, New Jersey|Maplewood]], [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]], [[Union Hill, Morris County, New Jersey|Union Hill]] and [[West New York]], [[New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vMETAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M-ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6723,5132687&dq=transcendental-meditation+public-schools&hl=en|agency=AP|title=New Jersey court bans TM courses|work=Eugene Register-Guard|date=October 20, 1977}}</ref> [[Eastchester, New York]]<ref name=Fair/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mGYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5803,3090100&dq=transcendental-meditation+public-schools&hl=en|last=Irwin|first=T.K. |title=What's new in science – Transcendental Meditation: Medical miracle or 'another kooky fad'?|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|date=October 8, 1972}}</ref> and [[North York, Ontario]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YIAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N7cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3106,5351776&dq=transcendental-meditation+public-schools&hl=en|last=Somerville|first=Barbara|title=To another state of being|work=Palm Beach Post|date=September 13, 1972}}</ref>

In 1979, the [[Third Circuit Court of Appeals]] affirmed the 1977 decision of the [[US District Court]] of New Jersey that a course in Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) was religious activity within the meaning of the [[Establishment Clause of the First Amendment|Establishment Clause]] and that the teaching of SCI/TM in the New Jersey public high schools was prohibited by the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]].<ref name="conlaw">{{cite web|author=Doug Linder |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/estabinto.htm |title=Introduction to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref name="malnak">{{cite web|url=http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/592/592.F2d.197.78-1882.78-1568.html |title=Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197, 203 (3rd Cir., 1979) |publisher=Bulk.resource.org |date= |accessdate=2010-12-05}}</ref> The court ruled that, although SCI/TM is not a theistic religion, it deals with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those in well-recognized religions. The court found that the religious nature of the course was clear from careful examination of the textbook, the expert testimony elicited, and the uncontested facts concerning the puja ceremony, which it found involved "offerings to deities as part of a regularly scheduled course in the schools' educational programs".<ref>The TM puja ceremony is extensively described in the opinion of the US District Court in [http://trancenet.net/law/nj/nj5.html Malnak v Yogi], including the [[Sanskrit]] chant and the English translation thereof from the book "The Holy Tradition", written by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.</ref> State action was involved because the SCI/TM course and activities involved the teaching of a religion, without an objective secular purpose.<ref name="malnak" /> The ''Malnak'' decision resulted in the dismantling of the Maharishi's programs to establish Transcendental Meditation in the public schools with governmental funding.<ref name=Forsthoefel>{{Cite book| last1 = Forsthoefel | first1 = Thomas A. | last2 = Humes | first2 = Cynthia Ann | title = Gurus in Americ | year = 2005 | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | isbn = 978-0-7914-6573-8 | page = 63|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ugSb7mArJlYC&pg=PP1&dq=gurus+in+america#v=onepage&q= }}</ref> This "judicial rebuff" of the New Jersey school project did not render "a negative evaluation of the program itself" and those that oppose the practice in public schools are said by religious scholars [[Douglas E. Cowan]] and [[David G. Bromley]] to be mainly conservative Christians and civil libertarians who seek to preserve church-state separation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cowan|first1=Douglas E. |last2=Bromley|first2=David G. |year=2008|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|page=70|isbn=9781405161282}}</ref>

====TM in schools and universities 1990s–present====
[[File:1590-MT-au-Peru-2011-Consciousness-Based-Education.JPG|thumb|Students in a Peru classroom practicing the TM technique]]
Since 1994, a number of schools and universities in the U.S. have introduced Transcendental Meditation on a voluntary basis, with parental consent, and teachers and parents are taught the meditation before the students learn.<ref name=Conant/><ref name=IDS/> Often referred to as the Quiet Time Program, the students and teachers meditate for 10 to 20 minutes twice per day.<ref name=IDS>[http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=81433] Indiana Daily Student, Meditation in Schools, Paige Henry, April 28, 2011, Retrieved April 29, 2011</ref><ref name="download.tmnews.org">http://download.tmnews.org/2006_05_05_ProvidenceJournal.pdf</ref> The program consists of TM instruction and follow-up, as well as training of school faculty and staff to supervise the TM sessions offered at the school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/grants.html |title=David Lynch Foundation, Official Website, School Grants page |publisher=Davidlynchfoundation.org |date= |accessdate=2010-12-05}}</ref>

The [[David Lynch Foundation|David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace]] (DLF) provides funding for some school programs and subsidizes the cost for training in TM, which was $650 per year in the US as of 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=uAAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4fIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2690,3629043&dq=cost+of+transcendental+meditation+in&hl=en|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=October 29, 2004}}</ref><ref name=Newsweek08>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/139206 |title=Can Meditation Help At-Risk Kids? - Newsweek.com |work=Newsweek |accessdate=}}</ref> In 2006, six public schools were each awarded $25,000 to begin a TM program and a total of twenty five public, private, and charter schools in the United States had offered Transcendental Meditation to their students.<ref name=Brody/><ref>NEA Today, National Education Association, Clear Your Mind, May 2006,</ref> As of 2008, the foundation had funded more than 2,000 students, faculty and parents at 21 universities and schools, in addition to substantially higher numbers at schools overseas.<ref name=Conant/> Programs have been conducted in Washington D.C., Hartford CT, San Francisco CA, Detroit MI, Steamboat Springs CO, Tucson AZ, Los Angeles CA and Chicago IL.<ref name=IDS/> According to the DLF, it has funded school programs in New York City, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Vietnam, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Israel.<ref>{{cite web|publisher= David Lynch Foundation|url=http://www.dlfprojects.org/stress-free-urban-schools.html|title=Stress-free urban schools|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slwFYdj7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dlfprojects.org/at-risk-children.html|publisher= David Lynch Foundation|title=At-risk children in developing countries|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slwM7Jc4}}</ref><ref>Ehud Zion Waldoks, "School crisis? Send the kids to the corner – to count to 10 cross their legs and hum..." '' The Jerusalem Post'' November 22, 2007</ref>

* The Fletcher Johnson Educational Center, a charter school with 1,500 students in Washington, D.C., introduced the TM program for schools in 1994.<ref name=Conant>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/139206|work=Newsweek|title=Much dispute about Nothing|first=Eve |last=Conant|date=May 29, 2008}}</ref><ref name="Pathways 2009">Pathways, Taking Care of the Student, Winter 2009, Cynthia E. Johnson,</ref> Its principal, George H. Rutherford, is a member of the DLF's Board of Advisors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/about-us.html|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sltfENjb|title=About Us|publisher=David Lynch Foundation}}</ref>
* The Ideal Academy Public Charter School began its program with the approval of the Washington, D.C. Board of Education in 1997.<ref name=Conant/><ref name=Brody>{{cite news|url=http://newsinitiative.org/story/2007/07/24/transcendental_meditation_in_schools|last1=Brody|first1=Alison|last2=Shin|first2=Shirley|last3=Street|first3=Nick|title=Transcendental Meditation in Schools|work=News 21|date=July 24, 2007}}</ref> The 2005–2006 pilot project at Ideal Academy was conducted along with research to document the effects of the program.<ref name="Pathways 2009" />
* The Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse in Detroit began using the program for students in the fifth through eighth grade in 1996 and was featured on the [[Today (NBC program)|Today Show]] in 2003.<ref name = "Bus Week Med" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntsd.com/wellness.html|title=Encouraging Wellness |publisher=Ntsd.com |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref> The school has since been classified by the Skillman Foundation as a "High-Performing Middle School".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skillman.org/good-schools/nataki-talibah-schoolhouse-of-detroit/ |publisher==Skillman Foundation|title=Good Schools: Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse of Detroit|accessdate=September 14, 2010}}</ref> Over the years, the program at Nitaki Talibah has been funded by various foundations including [[General Motors]], [[Daimler Chrysler]], the Liebler Foundation and the DLF.<ref name = "Bus Week Med">{{cite news|work=Business Week|title=Meditation for Moppets|date=March 29, 2004|first=Susan |last=Garland|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_13/b3876141_mz070.htm}}</ref> The program at the school has been researched by Rita Benn of the University of Michigan's Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center.<ref name = "Bus Week Med" />
* The Chelsea School, a private school in of Silver Spring, Maryland, offers the program to its fifth through twelfth graders who have [[Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder|attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders]] (ADHD). The program was part of a three month pilot study conducted by William R. Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist and health advisor for the TM's Committee for Stress-Free Schools.<ref name = "Bus Week Med" /><ref>{{cite news|publisher=National Broadcast Company (NBC)|title=TM helps students with ADHD|date=June 7, 2001}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Committee for Stress-Free Schools|title=About Us|url=http://www.tmeducation.org/about-us|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slvo296p}}</ref>
* The New York Times reported in 2005 that American University, in Washington D.C., was scheduled to begin offering Transcendental Meditation in its classes the following year, pending approval, and conducted a research project to study its effect on mental health, IQ and student grades.<ref>{{Cite news|work=New York Times Magazine|chapter=Accredited Bliss|date=December 11, 2005|first=Charles |last=Wilson|title=The 5th Annual Year in Ideas}}</ref> Later, the practice of the technique by 250 students at American University, Georgetown University and Howard Universities in the Washington D.C. area was monitored as part of a research study conducted by American University and Maharishi University of Management.<ref name=Conant/><ref>{{Cite news|work=The Washington Post|title=Colleges Use Meditation to Cut Rising Stress|first=Jenna|last=Johnson|date=December 20, 2009|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/19/AR2009121902187.html?wprss=rss_education}}</ref>
* According to the DLF web site, the TM program was introduced to the Arts and Technology Academy at Weaver High School in Hartford CT in 2006. Four hundred and fifty students as well as principals and administrators are reported to have been instructed in the technique.<ref>David Lynch Foundation web site "In the fall of 2006 we embarked on the most fulfilling adventure of our lives. The David Lynch Foundation had approved funding to implement the TM/Quiet Time Program for 450 students in the Arts and Technology Academy at Weaver High School in Hartford CT. We began by teaching all of the principals and administrators for the four academies at Weaver." [http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/weaver-high-school-and-trinity-college.html] Retrieved 10/3/10</ref>
* A voluntary program at the Kingsbury school, a private K-12 school for students with learning disorders located in Washington D.C., began in 2005 and was featured on the PBS program, ''To The Contrary'' in 2007.<ref name=PBS>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/ttc/about_showlist2007.html |title=PBS, To The Contrary, May 5, 2007, Show#1611 |publisher=Pbs.org |date=2010-11-29 |accessdate=2010-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release|publisher=Medical News Today|date=May 18, 2007|title=The Effect Of The Transcendental Meditation Technique On ADHD|url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71056.php}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=The Kingsbury Center|url=http://www.kingsbury.org/calendars/detail.aspx?&pageaction=VSIPublicBlock2&LinkID=466&ModuleID=6&StartDate=9/19/2005|title=Transcendental Meditation Program Parent Meeting|date=September 19, 2005|archivedate=September 14, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sl4T0oqi}}</ref> According to the school director, about 10 percent of the teachers, parents and students declined to participate because they found it be religious and cult-ish.<ref name=Conant/><ref name=PBS/>
* In the San Francisco area there are three schools which offer the technique as part of their school program, funded primarily by the David Lynch Foundation. The Visitacion Valley Middle School began the program in 2007 and the Everett Middle School and John O’Connell High School began the program sometime after that.<ref>[http://kalwnews.org/audio/2011/02/10/time-out-quiet-time-meditation-comes-sf-schools_836458.html] KAWL News, From time out to quiet time: meditation come to SF schools, Natalie Jones, Feb 10 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/05/meditation-program-mends-troubled-visitacion-valley-middle-school] SanFrancisco Examiner, Dan Schreiber, Meditation Mends Vistacomm Valley Middle School, May 8, 2011</ref>
* In 2008, the Lowell Whiteman Primary School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado was in its second year of a two-year trial using Transcendental Meditation in their classrooms. The program is being used with fifth through eighth graders. After instruction, the TM teachers visit the school once per month to asses the students progress and their meditation technique.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Steamboat Pilot & Today|title=Mediation Soothes Lowell Whitman Students|first=Zach|last=Fidell|date=December 14, 2008|url=http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/dec/14/meditation_soothes_lowell_whiteman_students/|quote=Practicing for 20 minutes twice a day and instructed by meditation coaches from the Transcendental Meditation Center of Boulder, the students are in their second year of using meditation in the classroom." "Dan Swanson and Gail Lynch, co‐directors of the Boulder meditation center and coaches for the school, teach each group of students how to properly meditate, then visit once a month to check their progress and technique.}}</ref>
*In 2009, about 160 students and teachers at Tucson Magnet High School in Tucson AZ, took the training in Transcendental Meditation and meditate daily for 15 minutes before or after school.<ref>[http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/04/08/20100408tucson-transcendental-meditation.html] Transcendental Meditation Club draws students, Arizona Republic April 29, 2011, Retrieved April 8, 2010</ref>
*In 2010, the women's squash team at Trinity College in Hartford, CT began practicing the TM technique together after every practice.<ref name="nytimes.com">[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/fashion/20TM.html] NY times, Transcendental Meditation Irena Aleksander, March 22, 2011, retrieved April 7, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH1ptTsYs2Q] You Tube, Trinity College Squash Team uses TM, Meditation Channel, retrieved April 7, 2011</ref>
*In 2011 music mogul [[Russell Simmons]] announced plans to provide financial support to the David Lynch Foundation to teach TM at Hillhouse High School in New Haven Connecticut.<ref>[http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/russell_simmons_brings_tm_to_hillhouse/id_34743] New Haven Independent, Mar 16 2011, Russell Simmons Brings TM to Hillhouse, Michelle Turner</ref>

The introduction of Transcendental Meditation into some public schools is viewed by some parents and critics as an overstepping of boundaries.<ref name=Williamson/> Some parents have opposed these efforts based on concerns that it may lead to "lifelong personal and financial servitude to a corporation run by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi".<ref name=Newsweek08/> In 2006, the Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, California canceled plans for Transcendental Meditation classes due to concerns of parents that it would be promoting religion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-10-19-meditation-school_x.htm|title=School cancels plans for TM in school|work=USA Today|date=October 19, 2006}}</ref> In spite of critics, many parents say they feel the meditation has created "profound results" and that they "hardly view TM as exclusively, or even overtly, religious".<ref name=Conant/>

In 2004 the New York Committee for Stress-Free Schools held a press conference in New York City. It included testimonies from students, educators and scientists who support the use of TM in the school setting.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The New Yorker|title=Maharishi Prep|first=Rebecca |last=Mead|date=March 22, 2004|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/03/22/040322ta_talk_mead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=Barron's|title=Mantras for Minors|first=Robin|last=Blumenthal|date=March 8, 2001}}</ref> In 2005, conferences sponsored by the New England Committee for Stress-Free Schools were held in Providence, Rhode Island; Fairfield, Connecticut; and Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston conference was attended by 100 teachers and featured testimonies from school principals who have experience with the TM program in schools.<ref name="download.tmnews.org" /><ref>The Boston Globe, Conference Promotes Meditation in School, Cristina Silva, May 6, 2006</ref>


===In schools and universities===
According to a 2008 ''[[Newsweek]]'' article, there is a "growing movement to bring Transcendental Meditation... into more U.S. schools as a stress-buster for America's overwhelmed kids". Critics have the belief that Transcendental Meditation is a revised form of Eastern, religious philosophy and oppose its use in public schools. Advocates say that it is a physiological technique that calms the mind and improves grades, attention span and happiness while reducing disruptive behavior.<ref name=Conant/> [[University of South Carolina]] sociologist Barry Markovsky describes teaching the Transcendental Meditation technique in schools as "stealth religion".<ref>[http://www.gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/753/once-grand-camelot-hotel-had-a-quick-demise ''Man Fails To Fly, Sues Camelot Hotel Owner''], ''GTR News Online'', Nancy K. Owens<br /></ref> According to [[Barry W. Lynn]], executive director of [[Americans United for Separation of Church and State]], Transcendental Meditation is rooted in Hinduism and, when introduced into public schools, crosses the same constitutional line as in the ''Malnak'' case and decision of 1979. In May 2008, Lynn said that the Americans United for Separation of Church and State is keeping a close legal eye on the TM movement and that there are no imminent cases against them.<ref name=Conant/><ref name=Newsweek08/> Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute says doing Transcendental Meditation during a school's "quiet time" (a short period many schools have adopted that children use for prayer or relaxation) is constitutional.<ref name=Conant/> TM is being used in schools, with some governmental sponsorship.<ref name=Forsthoefel/>{{Clarify|date=September 2010}} Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, was quoted in ''The Guardian'' newspaper as saying that "there is no good evidence that TM has positive effects on children. The data that exist are all deeply flawed."<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{Cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/14/transcendental-meditation-in-schools | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Should our schools teach children to 'dive within'? | date=April 14, 2009 | accessdate=March 28, 2010 | first=Lucy | last=Atkins}}</ref> A 2011 research review that discussed three "carefully conducted" studies on TM and a study on the TM and TM-Sidhi programs concluded that, "These findings provide good support for the use of TM to enhance several forms of information processing in students. . . ."<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Shauna |last1=Shapiro |first2=Kirk |last2=Brown |first3=John |last3=Astin |title=Toward the Integration of Meditation into Higher Education: A Review of Research Evidence |journal=Teachers College Record |volume=113 |issue=3 |date=March 2011 |pages=495–528}}</ref>
{{main|Transcendental Meditation in education}}
Transcendental Meditation in education (also known as Consciousness Based Education) is the application of the Transcendental Meditation technique in an educational setting or institution. These educational programs and institutions have been founded in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Africa and Japan. The Transcendental Meditation technique became popular with students in the 1960s and by the early 1970s centers for the Students International Mediation Society were established at a thousand campuses<ref name="Olson-Encyclopedia">Olson, Carl (Jan 1, 2005) Transcendental Meditation, ''Encyclopedia of Religion''</ref> in the USA with similar growth occurring in Germany, Canada and Britain.<ref>Bainbridge, William Sims (1997 Routledge, ''The Sociology of Religious Movements'', page 188</ref> The [[Maharishi University of Management|Maharishi International University]] was established in 1973 in the USA and began offering accredited, degree programs. In 1977 courses in Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) were legally prohibited from New Jersey (USA) public high schools on religious grounds by virtue of the [[Establishment Clause]] of the [[First Amendment]].<ref name="conlaw">{{cite web|author=Doug Linder |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/estabinto.htm |title=Introduction to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15}}</ref><ref name="malnak">{{cite web|url=http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/592/592.F2d.197.78-1882.78-1568.html |title=Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197, 203 (3rd Cir., 1979) |publisher=Bulk.resource.org |date= |accessdate=2010-12-05}}</ref> This "dismantled" the TM program's use of government funding in U.S. public schools<ref name=Forsthoefel>{{Cite book| last1 = Forsthoefel | first1 = Thomas A. | last2 = Humes | first2 = Cynthia Ann | title = Gurus in Americ | year = 2005 | publisher = State University of New York Press | location = Albany, NY | isbn = 978-0-7914-6573-8 | pages = 63–66|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ugSb7mArJlYC&pg=PP1&dq=gurus+in+america#v=onepage&q= }}</ref> "but did not constitute a negative evaluation of the program itself".<ref>{{cite book|last=Cowan|first1=Douglas E. |last2=Bromley|first2=David G. |year=2008|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|page=70|isbn=978-1-4051-6128-2}}</ref> Since 1979, schools that incorporate the Transcendental Meditation technique using private, non-governmental funding have been reported in the USA, South America, Southeast Asia, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel.<ref>{{cite web|publisher= David Lynch Foundation|url=http://www.dlfprojects.org/stress-free-urban-schools.html|title=Stress-free urban schools|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slwFYdj7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dlfprojects.org/at-risk-children.html|publisher= David Lynch Foundation|title=At-risk children in developing countries|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slwM7Jc4}}</ref><ref>Ehud Zion Waldoks, "School crisis? Send the kids to the corner – to count to 10 cross their legs and hum..." '' The Jerusalem Post'' November 22, 2007</ref>


A number of educational institutions have been founded by [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], the [[Transcendental Meditation movement]] and its supporters. These institutions include several schools offering public and private secondary education in the USA ([[Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment]]),<ref>Buckley, Stephen (March 19, 1993) Meditating Students, This School Offers Readin', 'Ritin' and Mantras, ''The Washington Post''</ref> England ([[Maharishi School]]),<ref name="BARRETT">{{cite news|title=Private schools enrol in Gove's state revolution|first=DAVID |last=BARRETT|work=The Sunday Telegraph|date=January 23, 2011|page=2}}</ref><ref name="The Telegraph, Education News">{{cite news|title=Where Free Schools are located in Britain|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8752724/Where-free-schools-are-located-in-Britain.html|work=The Telegraph, Education News|date=September 12, 2011}}</ref> Australia,<ref>{{cite news|title=Should our schools teach children to 'dive within'?|first=Lucy |last=Atkins |work=The Guardian |location=UK|date=April 14, 2009|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/14/transcendental-meditation-in-schools}}</ref><ref>[http://www.maharishischool.vic.edu.au/ Official web site], ''Maharishi School'', Retrieved July 2011</ref><ref>Smith, Birdie (Jan 28, 2008) [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/01/27/1201368944848.html School Year to Start on a Meditative Note] ''The Age'', Retrieved July 2011</ref> South Africa (Maharishi Invincibility School of Management),<ref name="maharishischoolsa1">MSIM official web site [http://www.maharishischoolsa.org/ MISM Web Site]</ref> and India ([[Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools]]). Likewise, Maharishi colleges and universities have been established including [[Maharishi European Research University]] (Netherlands), [[Maharishi Institute of Management]] (India), [[Maharishi Institute of Management]] (India), [[Maharishi University of Management and Technology]] (India), Maharishi Institute (South Africa)<ref>[http://www.educatingafrica.com/maharishi.html] Educating Africa, Retrieved 10/10/10</ref><ref>[http://maharishiinstitute.org/the-institute] Official Web Site</ref> and [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University]] (India). In the USA, critics have called Transcendental Meditation a revised form of Eastern, religious philosophy and opposed its use in public schools<ref name=Conant>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/139206|work=Newsweek|title=Much dispute about Nothing|first=Eve |last=Conant|date=May 29, 2008}}</ref><ref name=Williamson>Williamson (2010) p. 89</ref> while a member of the [[Pacific Justice Institute]] says practicing Transcendental Meditation in public schools with private funding is constitutional.<ref name="Conant2008-05-29">{{cite journal | last = Conant | first = Eve | url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/139206 | title = Much dispute about nothing | journal = Newsweek | work = Newsweek.com | date = 2008-05-29 | accessdate = 2010-12-05 }}</ref>
The web site for Consciousness-Based Education, South Africa lists 12 partner schools in the USA, Netherlands, Australia, India, Ecuador, Thailand, China, and Great Britain and says that "Consciousness-Based Education has been introduced into more than 230 schools and more than 25 universities or other tertiary institutions worldwide".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbesa.org/partnerSchools.html |title=Partner Schools &#124; CBE Schools South Africa |publisher=Cbesa.org |date= |accessdate=2009-11-15|archivedate=September 15, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5slw7j83q}}</ref>


===Corporate programs===
===Corporate programs===
Transcendental Meditation has been utilized in corporations both in the U.S.A and in India. As of 2001, companies such as [[General Motors]] helped their salaried employees pay for TM; [[IBM]] reimbursed half the TM course fee for its US employees.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hainsworth|first1=Karen |last2=Gardner|first2=Darran|title=It's the mind that matters|work=Sunday Herald|location=Glasgow, UK|date=October 21, 2001|page=22}}</ref>
Transcendental Meditation has been utilized in corporations, both in the U.S.A and in India, under the auspices of the [[Transcendental Meditation movement#1970: International Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence|International Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence]] and the Maharishi Development Corporation. As of 2001, USA companies such as [[General Motors]] and [[IBM]] were subsidizing the TM course fee for their employees.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hainsworth|first1=Karen |last2=Gardner|first2=Darran|title=It's the mind that matters|work=Sunday Herald|location=Glasgow, UK|date=October 21, 2001|page=22}}</ref> A number of Indian companies provide the TM technique to their managers. These companies include [[AirTel]], [[Siemens]], [[American Express]], [[SRF Limited]], [[Wipro]], [[Hero Motocorp|Hero Honda]], [[Ranbaxy]], [[Hewlett Packard]], [[BHEL]], [[BPL Group]], [[ESPN Star Sports]], [[Tisco]], [[Eveready Industries|Eveready]], [[Maruti Suzuki|Maruti]], [[Godrej Group]] and [[Marico]].<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Times of India|date=August 17, 2003|title=TM: Corporate India's latest stress buster|first=Sakina Ysuf|last=Khan}}</ref> The [[Sunday Times Herald]] reports that there are "more than 100 Japanese companies where TM was introduced at induction."<ref>{{cite news|last=Abrahams|first=Geraldine|title=The Market for meditation|newspaper=The Herald|date=August 1, 1995}}</ref>

The ''Washington Post'' reported in 2005 that The Tower Companies, "one of Washington D.C.'s largest real estate development companies", has added classes in Transcendental Meditation to their employee benefit program in order "to contain stress-related ailments and health care costs". Seventy percent (70%) of the employees at The Tower Companies participate in the program.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Washington Post|title=More Area Firms Paying Employees to Relax, Transcendental Meditation Seen As Health Care Boon|first=Annys |last=Shin|date=March 3, 2005|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1630-2005Mar2?language=printer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine|title=Cubicle Karma|first=Mellisa|last=Chessher|date=October 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=Time |title=How to Get Smarter, One breath at a Time|first=Lisa |last=Cullen|date=January 16, 2006|page=93|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147167-2,00.html}}</ref>

A number of Indian companies give their managers training in Transcendental Meditation to reduce stress. These companies include: AirTel, [[Siemens]], [[American Express]], SRF and Wipro, Hero Honda, Ranbaxy, [[Hewlett Packard]], BHEL, BPL, [[ESPN]]-Star Sports, Tisco, [[Eveready Industries|Eveready]], Maruti, and Godrej. All employees at Marico practice Transcendental Meditation in groups as part of their standard workday. According to the ''Times of India'', this practice benefits both employees and employers.<ref>{{Cite news|work=The Times of India|date=August 17, 2003|title=TM: Corporate India’s latest stress buster|first=Sakina Ysuf|last=Khan}}</ref>


===Social programs===
===Social programs===
The TM technique has been incorporated in a variety of U.S. social programs for criminals, the homeless and war veterans. In 1979, the TM technique was offered to inmates at [[Folsom prison]], [[San Quentin]] and the [[Deuel Vocational Institute]]. According to a TM representative, meditation has been included at "over 25 prisons and correctional institutions" in the U.S.<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_kYgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4p4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6681,1732596&dq=transcendental+meditation+religion&hl=en] Tuscaloosa News/LA Times, TM really works, Bill Hazlett, Jan 10 1979, retrieved 10/5/10</ref>


In 1979, the TM technique was one of the programs offered to inmates at three California correctional institutions: [[Folsom prison]], [[San Quentin]] and the [[Deuel Vocational Institute]]. A TM representative stated that meditation has been included at "over 25 prisons and correctional institutions".<ref>[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_kYgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4p4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6681,1732596&dq=transcendental+meditation+religion&hl=en] Tuscaloosa News/LA Times, TM really works, Bill Hazlett, Jan 10 1979, retrieved 10/5/10</ref> In the African country of Senegal, more than 11,000 prisoners and 900 correctional officers in 34 prisons received instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique between 1985 and 1987 and the wardens at 31 prisons signed a proclamation recommending that TM be offered throughout the entire system.<ref>Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, page 193, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a903853130~tab=content~order=page] Routledge group, TM program in the Senagalese Penitentiary System, Michael S. King, Retrieved 10/5/10</ref> The TM technique has been introduced to prisoners in the Oregon Correctional System and a research study is underway.<ref>Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, page 195, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref>
In the African country of [[Senegal]], more than 11,000 prisoners and 900 correctional officers in 34 prisons received instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique between 1985 and 1987, and the wardens at 31 prisons signed a proclamation recommending that TM be offered throughout the entire system.<ref name="Transcendence">Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, page 193-195, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a903853130~tab=content~order=page] Routledge group, TM program in the Senagalese Penitentiary System, Michael S. King, Retrieved 10/5/10</ref> More recently, the TM technique has been introduced to prisoners in the Oregon Correctional System and a research study is underway to record the effects of the program.<ref name="Transcendence"/> Since the late 1980's the TM technique has been offered as part of the programs at Fundacion Hogares Claret sanctuary for homeless and orphaned children in [[Medellin]], [[Colombia]].<ref>Forem, Jack (2012) Hay House, Transcendental Meditation: The Essential Teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, page176-178</ref>

In 1996, Judge David Mason of 22nd Judicial Circuit of St Louis, Missouri, began offering the transcendental meditation program to criminal offenders in Missouri. The program, administered by the non profit Enlightened Sentencing Project continues to this day and has received endorsements from several judges, including Judge Philip Heagney, Judge Henry Autrey, and others from the Missouri District, Federal, and Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cambria|first=Nancy |title=From incarceration to meditation in Missouri For 14 years, guru has run alternative program for parolees|work=The Washington Post|date=December 14, 2009|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302680.html}}</ref>

In 2010, the [[Doe Fund]] of New York City began offering the TM technique to its residents and homeless men were given instruction in the TM technique through an organization called ''Ready, Willing and Able''.<ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref>The Atlantic online, Harlem Renaissaince, Jennie Gritz, March 12, 2010 [http://www.theatlantic.com/special-report/the-future-of-the-city/archive/2010/05/harlem-renaissance/56554/] retrieved 10/5/10</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-simmons/why-i-meditate_b_474689.html] Huffington Post,Why I meditate, Russell Simmons,Feb 24 2010, Retrieved 10/5/10</ref><ref>[http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-reduced-by-meditation-57080.html] The Epoch Times, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reduced by Meditation, Ginger Chan, June 1, 2011, retrieved June 13, 2011</ref> In 2010 the Superintendent of Prisons announced that the TM technique was being offered to inmates at the Dominica State Prison.<ref>[http://dominicanewsonline.com/dno/prisons-superintendent-pushes-transcendental-meditation-for-prisoners-2/] Dominica Newsonline, Prisons Superintendent pushes, transcendental meditation, Feb 19 2010</ref>


In 1996, Judge David Mason of the 22nd Judicial Circuit of St Louis, Missouri, began offering the Transcendental Meditation program to criminal offenders in Missouri. The program is administered by the non-profit, Enlightened Sentencing Project and has received endorsements from [[Federal Judge]] [[Henry Edward Autrey]], and other members of the Missouri District, Federal, and Supreme Courts.<ref>{{cite news|last=Cambria|first=Nancy |title=From incarceration to meditation in Missouri For 14 years, guru has run alternative program for parolees|work=The Washington Post|date=December 14, 2009|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302680.html}}</ref>
In 2011, the technique was taught to about 65 individuals at the [[Children of the Night (organization)|Children of the Night]] shelter for teen prostitutes in Los Angeles.<ref>[http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18203684] Daily News Los Angeles, Children of the Night, Director David Lynch, Expand Work, Bob Strauss, June 3, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Meditation-Helps-Homeless-Kids-123303523.html] NBC Los Angeles, Meditation Helps Homeless Children, Beverly White, June 7, 2011, Retrieved Jne 13 2011</ref>


In 2010, the [[Doe Fund]] of New York City began offering the TM technique to its residents, and homeless men were given instruction in the TM technique through an organization called ''Ready, Willing and Able''.<ref name="nytimes.com">[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/fashion/20TM.html] NY times, Transcendental Meditation Irena Aleksander, March 22, 2011, retrieved April 7, 2011</ref><ref>The Atlantic online, Harlem Renaissaince, Jennie Gritz, March 12, 2010 [http://www.theatlantic.com/special-report/the-future-of-the-city/archive/2010/05/harlem-renaissance/56554/] retrieved 10/5/10</ref><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-simmons/why-i-meditate_b_474689.html] Huffington Post,Why I meditate, Russell Simmons, Feb 24 2010, Retrieved 10/5/10</ref><ref>[http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-reduced-by-meditation-57080.html] The Epoch Times, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reduced by Meditation, Ginger Chan, June 1, 2011, retrieved June 13, 2011</ref> In 2010, the Superintendent of Prisons announced that the TM technique was being offered to inmates at the [[Dominica]] State Prison.<ref>[http://dominicanewsonline.com/dno/prisons-superintendent-pushes-transcendental-meditation-for-prisoners-2/] Dominica Newsonline, Prisons Superintendent pushes, transcendental meditation, Feb 19 2010</ref> In 2011, the technique was taught to about 65 individuals at the Children of the Night shelter for teen prostitutes in Los Angeles.<ref>[http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18203684] Daily News Los Angeles, Children of the Night, Director David Lynch, Expand Work, Bob Strauss, June 3, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Meditation-Helps-Homeless-Kids-123303523.html] NBC Los Angeles, Meditation Helps Homeless Children, Beverly White, June 7, 2011, Retrieved Jne 13 2011</ref> Psychiatry professor, Norman E. Rosenthal says that TM is compatible with most "drug treatment approaches" and could be incorporated "into an overall treatment program."<ref name="Transcendence">page 171</ref>
The Transcendental Meditation technique was taught to military personnel with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) as part of a two research studies conducted at the [[University of Colorado]] and [[Georgetown University]].<ref>Military Officer Association of America, Promise for PTSD, Don Vaughn, retrieved 10/5/10, [http://www.moaa.org/momStory.aspx?pagename=pubs_mom_070601_ptsd]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author= |pmc=1810367 |title=CAM and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Pub Med, retrieved 10/5/10 |publisher=|date= }}</ref><ref>[http://bfbs.com/news/worldwide/troops-ptsd-helped-meditation-48188.html] British Forces News, Troops with PTSD helped by Meditation, June 4, 2011, retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/meditation-heals-military-vets-ptsd/story?id=13756395[ ABC News, Meditation Heals Military Vets with PTSD, Lara Salahi, June 6 2011, retrieved June 13 2011</ref><ref>[http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/06/02/transcendental-meditation-helps-vets-with-ptsd/26627.html] Psych Central, Transcendental Meditation Helps Vets, Rick Nauert, June 2, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/68375793/veterans-show-a-50-percent-reduction-in-ptsd-symptoms-after-8-we.html] Physorg, Veterans show a 50 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms After 8 Weeks of Transcendental Meditation, June 1, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref> Other initiatives to teach the TM technique to war veterans who are at risk for PTSD, are ongoing.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704638304575636911988306800.html] Wall Street Journal, Film Maker Introduces Veterans to Meditation, Nov 26 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/stars-hum-praises-of-meditations-healing-power-20101214-18wxg.html] Syndney Morning Herald, "Stars Hum Praises of Meditation's Healing Power", Dec 15 2010</ref>


===Military===
Psychiatry professor, Norman E. Rosenthal says that TM is compatible with most "drug treatment approaches" and could be incorporated "into an overall treatment program.” <ref>Transcendence, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, page 171, Tarcher Penguin, 2011</ref>
The TM technique was first employed by the military in 1985, when it conducted "a small pilot study" on Vietnam veterans.<ref name=BloombergBW>{{cite news|last=Winter|first=Caroline|title=Transcendental Meditation May Help Stressed Vets|url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-06/transcendental-meditation-may-help-stressed-vets|accessdate=Feb 22, 2013|newspaper=BloombergBusinessweek|date=Feb 6, 2013}}</ref> The Transcendental Meditation technique was taught to military personnel with [[post traumatic stress syndrome]] (PTSD) as part of two research studies conducted at the [[University of Colorado]] and [[Georgetown University]] in 2010.<ref>Military Officer Association of America, Promise for PTSD, Don Vaughn, retrieved 10/5/10, [http://www.moaa.org/momStory.aspx?pagename=pubs_mom_070601_ptsd]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author= |pmc=1810367 |title=CAM and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder |publisher=|date=|volume= 4|issue= 1|pmid= 17342251|last1= Hankey|first1= A|pages= 131–2|doi= 10.1093/ecam/nel041|journal= Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM }}</ref><ref>[http://bfbs.com/news/worldwide/troops-ptsd-helped-meditation-48188.html] British Forces News, Troops with PTSD helped by Meditation, June 4, 2011, retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>"[http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/meditation-heals-military-vets-ptsd/story?id=13756395 Meditation Heals Military Vets with PTSD]", Lara Salahi, ABC News, June 6, 2011, retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/06/02/transcendental-meditation-helps-vets-with-ptsd/26627.html] Psych Central, Transcendental Meditation Helps Vets, Rick Nauert, June 2, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/68375793/veterans-show-a-50-percent-reduction-in-ptsd-symptoms-after-8-we.html] Physorg, Veterans show a 50 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms After 8 Weeks of Transcendental Meditation, June 1, 2011, Retrieved June 13, 2011</ref> In 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it was "studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars"<ref>(May 4, 2012) Meditation Used to Treat PTSD, ''The Washington Post''</ref> and the Department of Defense funded a $2.4 million grant to Maharishi University of Management Research Institute and the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center to further investigate the potential effect of the TM technique on PTSD. <ref name=BloombergBW/> Other initiatives to teach the TM technique to war veterans at risk for PTSD, are ongoing.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704638304575636911988306800.html] Wall Street Journal, Film Maker Introduces Veterans to Meditation, Nov 26 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/stars-hum-praises-of-meditations-healing-power-20101214-18wxg.html] Sydney Morning Herald, "Stars Hum Praises of Meditation's Healing Power", Dec 15 2010</ref> The technique has been taught to students at [[Norwich University]], a private military academy, as part of a long-term study on meditation and military performance.<ref>Bender, Bryan (Dec 2, 2012) Training cadets for war and (inner) peace; Study suggests meditation may help prevent PTSD, ''The Boston Globe'' (Boston, MA)</ref><ref>Vogel, Steve (may 4, 2012) VA tests use of TM for vets with PTSD, ''The Washington Post''</ref>


==Theoretical concepts==
==Theoretical concepts==
===Maharishi Vedic Science===
'''Maharishi Vedic Science''', or MVS, is based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's interpretation of the ancient Vedic texts. MVS includes two aspects: technologies, including Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi programs, by which the Maharishi says human consciousness can be experienced; and programs, such as Maharishi Sthapatya Veda and Maharishi Vedic Astrology, developed for applying this knowledge to aspects of day-to-day living.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Bonshek | first1 = Anna | last2 = Bonshek | first2 = Corrina | last3 = Fergusson | first3 = Lee | title = The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space. (Consciousness, Literature the Arts) | date = |publisher = Rodopi | location = | isbn = 978-90-420-2172-3 | pages = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5rcQprTT5|title=Modern Science and Vedic Science: An Introduction |publisher=Modern Science and Vedic Science, Volume 1 |date= |accessdate=November 15, 2009|first=Kenneth |last=Chandler}}</ref> Sixty services and courses are offered by MVED and the Transcendental Meditation movement, as of 2006.<ref name= Treadwell>{{Cite news|url=http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2006/03-02-06/n_heavenly.htm|last=Treadwell|first=Sally|title=What's going on at Heavenly Mountain?|work=High Country Press|date=March 2, 2006}}</ref>


===Science of Creative Intelligence===
===Views on consciousness (1963)===
In his 1963 book, ''The Science Of Being and Art Of Living,'' Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says that, over time, through the practice of the TM technique, the conscious mind gains familiarity with deeper levels of the mind, bringing the subconscious mind within the capacity of the conscious mind, resulting in expanded awareness in daily activity. He also teaches that the Transcendental Meditation practitioner transcends all mental activity and experiences the 'source of thought', which is said to be pure silence, 'pure awareness' or 'transcendental Being', 'the ultimate reality of life'.<ref name="Science of Being">Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh (1963) Meridian Books, Science of Being and Art of Living, pp 44-53</ref><ref name=Olson/><ref name="Phelan"/><ref>{{Cite news|title=Interview with Larry King|first =Larry |last=King|date=May 12, 2002|work=CNN}}</ref> TM is sometimes self described as a technology of consciousness.<ref name="Hunt"/> Pathologist Vimal Patel, says TM has been shown to produce states that are physiologically different from waking, dreaming and sleeping.<ref name=Patel>{{Cite book|last=Patel|first=Vimal|publisher= Humana Press|isbn = 978-0-89603-440-2|editor1-last = Humber| editor1-first = James M.|editor2-first = Robert F. |editor2-last=Almeder|title = Alternative medicine and ethics|year = 1998|pages=55–56|chapter=Understanding the Integration of Alternative Modalities Into an Emerging Healthcare Model In the United States|url=http://books.google.com/?id=E7X7d_DZlLkC}}</ref>
The Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) is the system of theoretical principles that underlie the technique of Transcendental Meditation. SCI describes "pure creative intelligence" as the basis of all life, and Transcendental Meditation as a means to contact the field of creative intelligence, and according to the theory, realize life's full potential.<ref name=Merriman>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=l_8VFygyaDYC|last=Merriman|first=Scott A.|title=Religion and the Law in America|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007|isbn=9781851098637|page=522}}</ref><ref name=Price>{{Cite journal|url=http://ncse.com/cej/3/1/scientific-creationism-science-creative-intelligence|last=Price|first=Robert M.|authorlink=Robert M. Price|title=Scientific Creationism and the Science of Creative Intelligence|journal=Creation Evolution Journal|volume=3|date=Winter, 1982|pages=18–23|issue=1|ref=harv}}</ref> The TM organization refers to the Science of Creative Intelligence as both theoretical and practical. Russell investigates SCI as part of an in-depth exploration and understanding of the TM technique. Russell goes on to write about SCI as the interface between the subjective experience or subjective knowledge attributed to practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique, and the objective experience of the various fields of knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Russell|first=Peter|title=The T. M. technique: an introduction to transcendental meditation and the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|location= Boston, Mass. |publisher=Routledge and Keegan Paul|year=1977|isbn=9780710085399|pages=148–151}}</ref> SCI, introduced by the Maharishi, has been called his "unified theory of life"<ref name=DePalma>{{Cite news|title=University's Degree Comes With a Heavy Dose of Meditation (and Skepticism)|last=DePalma|first=Anthony|work=New York Times|date=April 29, 1992|page=B.8}}</ref> and "the science of expansion of awareness or the science of progress in life".<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Court Challenge to TM|pages=300–302|work=The Christian Century|date=March 31, 1976|first=Janis|last=Johnson}}</ref> An official TM website says it as "the systematic study of the field of pure creative intelligence, the Unified Field of all the Laws of Nature, and the principles by which it governs the coexistence and evolution of all systems in Nature".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maharishi.org/sci/sci.html|title=The Science of Creative Intelligence Course|accessdate=May 31, 2010|publisher=Maharishi.org}}</ref> "Science of Creative Intelligence" has sometimes been used as a synonym or alternate name for "Transcendental Meditation".<ref>{{Cite news|title=TM disciples remain loyal despite controversies|first=Steve|last=Rabey|work=Colorado Springs Gazette – Telegraph|date=September 17, 1994|page=E.2}}</ref>


According to the Maharishi, there are seven levels of consciousness: (i) waking; (ii) dreaming; (iii) deep sleep; (iv) transcendental consciousness; (v) cosmic consciousness; (vi) God consciousness; and, (vii) unity consciousness.<ref>Williams, Patrick Gresham (2000) The Spiritual Recovery Manual: Vedic Knowledge and Yogic Techniques to Accelerate Recovery, page 202</ref> The Maharishi says that transcendental consciousness can be experienced through Transcendental Meditation, and that those who meditate diligently could become aware of cosmic consciousness.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkuHUWYnW80C&pg=PA66&dq=maharishi+%22god+consciousness%22#v=onepage&q=maharishi%20%22god%20consciousness%22&f=false Tillery, Gary, ''The Cynical Idealist; A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon''] Quest Books, 2009 ISBN 0-8356-0875-1, ISBN 978-0-8356-0875-6 pp 66-67</ref> A indication of cosmic consciousness is "ever present wakefulness" that is present even during sleep.<ref name="Walsh R, Shapiro SL 2006 227–39">{{Cite journal|author=Walsh R, Shapiro SL |title=The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: a mutually enriching dialogue |journal=The American Psychologist |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=227–39 |year=2006 |month=April|pmid=16594839 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.227 |ref=harv}}</ref> Research on long term TM practitioners experiencing what they describe as cosmic consciousness, has identified unique EEG profiles, muscle tone measurements, and REM indicators that suggest physiological parameters for this self described state of consciousness.<ref name="Walsh R, Shapiro SL 2006 227–39"/><ref name=Shapiro>{{Cite journal|first1=Shauna L. |last1=Shapiro |first2=Roger|last2=Walsh |url=http://www.brittonlab.com/publications/Shapiro,%20Walsh,%20Britton%2003.pdf |title=An Analysis of Recent Meditation Research and Suggestions for Future Directions|journal=Journal for Meditation and Meditation Research|year=2003|volume=3|pages=69–90}}</ref> However, the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness notes that it is premature to say that the EEG coherence found in TM is an indication of a higher state of consciousness.<ref name=Lutz>{{Cite book | isbn = 978-0-521-85743-7 | editor1-first = Philip David | editor1-last = Zelazo | editor2-first = Morris | editor2-last = Moscovitch | editor3-first = Evan | editor3-last = Thompson | title = The Cambridge handbook of consciousness | year = 2007 | pages = 534–535 | publisher = Cambridge University Press}}</ref>
According to Cynthia Humes in'' Gurus In America'', SCI was a new name for the Mahirishi's [[Advaita Vedanta]] teachings.<ref name=Hume2005/> Shear describes the TM technique itself as having its origins in the Advaita Vedanta, a [[Hindu philosophy|darshanas]] (school of thought) developed by [[Adi Shankara]] in India in the ninth century CE.<ref name=Shear/>


===Science of Creative Intelligence (1971)===
SCI theory is taught in a 33-lesson video course, while the practical aspect is the experience of the TM technique itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maharishi.org/sci/sci.html|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sSZzYK4U|archivedate=September 2, 2010|title=The Science of Creative Intelligence Course|publisher=maharishi.org}}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' describes how children are taught SCI at a Maharishi School in the U.K. where they learn principles that include "the nature of life is to grow" and "order is present everywhere".<ref>{{Cite news|first=Michelle|last=Teasdale|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/healthy-living/mummy-can-we-meditate-now-how-relaxation-exercises-can-help-your-child-to-sleep-1990059.html|title=Mummy, can we meditate now?|work=The Independent|date=June 3, 2010}}</ref>
In 1961, the Maharishi created the "International Meditation Society for the Science of Creative Intelligence".<ref name=Kennedy>{{Cite news|title=Field of TM dreams|first=John W|last=Kennedy|first2=Irving|last2=Hexham.|work=[[Christianity Today]]|date=January 8, 2001|volume=45|issue=1|pages=74–79}}</ref> In 1971 the Maharishi inaugurated "Maharishi's Year of Science of Creative Intelligence" and described SCI as the connection of "modern science with ancient Vedic science".<ref name=Hume2005>{{Cite book|last=Humes|first=Cynthia A|year=2005|chapter=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Beyond the T.M. Technique|title=Gurus in America|first1-editor=Thomas A|editor1-last=Forsthoefel|editor2-first=Cynthia Ann|editor2-last=Humes|publisher=SUNY Press|pages=55–79|isbn=0-7914-6573-X}}</ref> Author, Philip Goldberg describes it as Vedanta philosophy that has been translated into scientific language.<ref name="Philip Goldberg2">Goldberg, Philip (2011) Harmony Books, American Veda, page 165</ref> A series of international symposiums on the Science of Creative Intelligence were held between 1970 and 1973 and were attended by scientists and "leading thinkers", including [[Buckminster Fuller]], [[Melvin Calvin]], a [[Nobel Prize]] winner in chemistry, [[Hans Selye]], [[Marshal McLuhan]] and [[Jonas Salk]].<ref name="Philip Goldberg2"/> These symposiums were held at universities such as [[Humboldt State University]] and [[University of Massachusetts]].<ref>{{Cite news|work=Sociological Analysis|year=1992|volume=53|issue=–S S1–S13|series=Presidential Address — 1987|title=On Founders and Followers: Some Factors in the Development of New Religious Movements|first=Benton|last=Johnson}}</ref><ref>Jefferson, William (1976). ' 'The Story of The Maharishi' ', pp118-123. Pocket Books, New York, NY.</ref><ref>Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh and Fuller, Buckminster (1971) Maharishi Channel Maharishi and Buckminster Fuller Press Conference YouTube, retrieved Sept 24, 2012</ref><ref name="Una Kroll"/> The following year, the Maharishi developed a World Plan to spread his teaching of SCI around the world.<ref name="Una Kroll"/><ref>{{Cite book|page=1045|chapter=Eastern Family, Part I|last=Melton|year=2003|title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|isbn=0-8153-0500-1}}</ref>


The theoretical part of SCI is taught in a 33-lesson video course.<ref name="maharishi.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.maharishi.org/sci/sci.html|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sSZzYK4U|archivedate=September 2, 2010|title=The Science of Creative Intelligence Course|publisher=maharishi.org}}</ref> In the early 1970's the SCI course was offered at more than 25 American universities including [[Stanford University]], Yale, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, and Oregon State University.<ref name="Una Kroll">Kroll, Una (1974) John Knox Press, The Healing Potential of Transcendental Meditation, chapter 1: The Guru, pp 17-25</ref><ref name="TM ABC guide">Goldhaber, Nat (1976) Ballantine Books, TM:An alphabetical guide to the Transcendental Meditation program, page 125</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=T. K. |last=Irwin|title=What's New in Science: Transcendental Meditation: Medical Miracle or 'Another Kooky Fad'|work=Sarasota Herald Tribune Family Weekly|date=October 8, 1972|pages=8–9|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mGYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5803,3090100}}</ref> Until 2009, [[Maharishi University of Management]] (MUM) required its undergraduate students to take SCI classes,<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 24th| publisher = Barron's ;;Hi Marketing| isbn = 978-0-7641-7294-6| last = Barron's Educational Series, Inc.| title = Profiles of American colleges| location = Hauppauge N.Y. ;London| year = 2000}}</ref><ref name=JME>{{Cite journal|url=http://jme.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/5/580|last1=Schmidt-Wilk|first1=Jane|last2=Heston|first2=Dennis|last3=Steigard|first3=David|title=Higher education for higher consciousness Maharishi University of Management as a model for spirituality in management education |journal=Journal of Management Education|volume=24|issue=5|pages=580–611|year=2000|doi=10.1177/105256290002400505}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Random House Information Group| isbn = 978-0-375-76557-5| author = Princeton Review| title = Complete Book of Colleges, 2007 Edition| date = August 15, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mum.edu/pdf_catalog/mvs.pdf|format=pdf|title= MUM catalog for the Department of Maharishi Vedic Science|accessdate=September 2010}}</ref> and both MUM and [[Maharishi European Research University]] (MERU) in Switzerland have awarded degrees in the field.<ref name=DePalma>{{Cite news|title=University's Degree Comes With a Heavy Dose of Meditation (and Skepticism)|last=DePalma|first=Anthony|work=New York Times|date=April 29, 1992|page=B.8}}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' reports that children at [[Maharishi School]] learn SCI principles such as "the nature of life is to grow" and "order is present everywhere".<ref>{{Cite news|first=Michelle|last=Teasdale|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/healthy-living/mummy-can-we-meditate-now-how-relaxation-exercises-can-help-your-child-to-sleep-1990059.html|title=Mummy, can we meditate now?|work=The Independent|date=June 3, 2010}}</ref> SCI is reported to be part of the curriculum of TM related lower schools in Iowa, [[Wheaton, Maryland]]<ref>{{Cite news|title=This School Offers Readin', 'Ritin' and Mantras|first=Stephen|last=Buckley|work=The Washington Post|date=March 19, 1993|page=D.01}}</ref> and [[Skelmersdale]], UK.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Children meditate on top class GCSEs|first=Claire|last=Tolley|work=Daily Post|location=Liverpool|date=January 12, 2002|page=13}}</ref> In 1975 SCI was used as the call letters for a TM owned television station in [[San Bernardino, California]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Eclectic TV KSCI's Programming in 14 Languages Offers News, Entertainment, Comfort to Ethnic Communities|first=David|last=Holley|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 5, 1986|page=1}}</ref>
In 1961, the Maharishi created the "International Meditation Society for the Science of Creative Intelligence".<ref name=Kennedy>{{Cite news|title=Field of TM dreams|first=John W|last=Kennedy|first2=Irving|last2=Hexham.|work=[[Christianity Today]]|date=January 8, 2001|volume=45|issue=1|pages=74–79}}</ref> An official chronology lists 1971 as "Maharishi's Year of Science of Creative Intelligence". Humes says the shift towards science and away from spiritualism started around 1970.<ref name=Hume2005>{{Cite book|last=Humes|first=Cynthia A|year=2005|chapter=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Beyond the T.M. Technique|title=Gurus in America|first1-editor=Thomas A|editor1-last=Forsthoefel|first2-editor=Cynthia Ann|editor2-last=Humes|publisher=SUNY Press|pages=55–79|isbn=079146573X}}</ref> The Second International Symposium on the Science of Creative Intelligence was held in 1971 at the [[Humboldt State University]] campus in California, attended by a small number of scientists that included a Nobel Prize-winner.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Sociological Analysis|year=1992|volume=53|issue=-S S1-S13|series=Presidential Address — 1987|title=On Founders and Followers: Some Factors in the Development of New Religious Movements|first=Benton|last=Johnson}}</ref> The following year, 1972, the Maharishi developed a World Plan to spread SCI across the world.<ref>{{Cite book|page=1045|chapter=Eastern Family, Part I|last=Melton|year=2003|title=Encyclopedia of American Religions|isbn=0815305001}}</ref> [[KSCI]], a [[UHF]] television station in [[San Bernardino, California]], was started in 1974 to broadcast the TM movement's "educational program".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Eclectic TV KSCI's Programming in 14 Languages Offers News, Entertainment, Comfort to Ethnic Communities|first=David|last=Holley|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 5, 1986|page=1}}</ref>


Theologian [[Robert M. Price]], writing in the ''Creation/Evolution Journal'' (the journal of the [[National Center for Science Education]]), compares the Science of Creative Intelligence to [[Creationism]].<ref name="Price">{{Cite journal|url=http://ncse.com/cej/3/1/scientific-creationism-science-creative-intelligence|last=Price|first=Robert M.|authorlink=Robert M. Price|title=Scientific Creationism and the Science of Creative Intelligence|journal=Creation Evolution Journal|volume=3|date=Winter, 1982|pages=18–23|issue=1|ref=harv}}</ref> Price says instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique is "never offered without indoctrination into the metaphysics of 'creative intelligence'".<ref name="Price"/> Skeptic [[James Randi]] says SCI has "no scientific characteristics."<ref name="randi.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Transcendental%20Meditation.html |title=James Randi Educational Foundation — An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural |work= |accessdate=September 2, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sSbpEJ3V|archivedate=September 2, 2010}}</ref> [[Astrophysicist]] and skeptic [[Carl Sagan]] writes that the 'Hindu doctrine' of TM is a [[pseudoscience]].<ref name="Sagan, 1997 p16">{{Cite book|author=Sagan, Carl |title=The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |year=1997 |page=16 |isbn=0-345-40946-9 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref> [[Irving Hexham]], a professor of religious studies, describes the TM teachings as "pseudoscientific language that masks its religious nature by mythologizing science".<ref name=Kennedy/> Sociologists [[Rodney Stark]] and [[William Sims Bainbridge]] describe the SCI videotapes as largely based on the [[Bhagavad Gita]], and say that they are "laced with parables and metaphysical postulates, rather than anything that can be recognized as conventional science".<ref name=Stark/> In 1979, the court case ''Malnak v Yogi'' determined that although SCI/TM is not a theistic religion, it deals with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those in well-recognized religions.<ref name=Merriman>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=l_8VFygyaDYC|last=Merriman|first=Scott A.|title=Religion and the Law in America|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007|isbn=978-1-85109-863-7|page=522}}</ref> Maharishi biographer Paul Mason suggests that the scientific terminology used in SCI was developed by the Maharishi as part of a restructuring of his philosophies in terms that would gain greater acceptance and increase the number of people starting the TM technique. He says that this change toward a more academic language was welcomed by many of the Maharishi's American students.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mason|first=Paul|title=The Maharishi|location=Great Britain|publisher=Element Books Limited|year=1994|page=210|isbn=1-85230-571-1}}</ref>
Courses on the Science of Creative Intelligence were offered in the early 1970s at universities such as Stanford, Yale, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, and Oregon State University.<ref>{{Cite news|first=T. K. |last=Irwin|title=What's New in Science: Transcendental Meditation: Medical Miracle or 'Another Kooky Fad'|work=Sarasota Herald Tribune Family Weekly|date=October 8, 1972|pages=8–9|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NRAzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mGYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5803,3090100}}</ref> Degrees in SCI have been awarded by [[Maharishi University of Management]] (MUM) in Iowa<ref name="DePalma"/> and [[Maharishi European Research University]] (MERU) in Switzerland. Classes at MUM present topics such as art, economics, physics, literature, and psychology in the context of SCI.<ref name=Stark>{{Cite book| last = Stark | first = Rodney | authorlink = Rodney Stark | coauthors = [[William Sims Bainbridge]] |title = The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation | year = 1986 | publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley | isbn = 0520057317 | page = 289}}</ref><ref name=Atlas>{{Cite news|title=Maharishi U.|first=James|last=Atlas|authorlink=James Atlas|work=[[The New Republic]]|date=April 22, 1985}}</ref> For most of its history, MUM required all students to begin by taking a class in the Science of Creative Intelligence that included 33 videotaped-lectures by the Maharishi,<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 24th| publisher = Barron's ;;Hi Marketing| isbn = 9780764172946| last = Barron's Educational Series, Inc.| title = Profiles of American colleges| location = Hauppauge N.Y. ;London| year = 2000}}</ref><ref name=JME>{{Cite journal|url=http://jme.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/5/580|last1=Schmidt-Wilk|first1=Jane|last2=Heston|first2=Dennis|last3=Steigard|first3=David|title=Higher education for higher consciousness Maharishi University of Management as a model for spirituality in management education |journal=Journal of Management Education|volume=24|issue=5|pages=580–611|year=2000|doi=10.1177/105256290002400505}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Random House Information Group| isbn = 9780375765575| author = Princeton Review| title = Complete Book of Colleges, 2007 Edition| date = August 15, 2006}}</ref> but by 2009, it was only required of graduate students, according to the MUM catalog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mum.edu/pdf_catalog/mvs.pdf|format=pdf|title= MUM catalog for the Department of Maharishi Vedic Science|accessdate=September 2010}}</ref> The president of MUM credits SCI with the success of its graduates.<ref>{{Cite news|page=18|work=The HAWK EYE |date=May 23, 1982|title=Maharishi bucks 'Guru U' image|first=Alice|last=Noble}}</ref> Individuals who have earned master's or doctoral degrees in the Science of Creative Intelligence include [[Bevan Morris]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Election 1992: Somewhere over the rainbow|first=Robert|last=Shrimsley|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London (UK)|date=April 4, 1992|page=5}}</ref> [[Doug Henning]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Will squadron of yogic flyers be our best line of defence?|first=Jamie|last=Lamb|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=October 1, 1993|page=A.3}}</ref> [[Mike Tompkins]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Natural Law Party joins race|first=Edward T|last=McHugh|work=Telegram & Gazette|location=Worcester, Mass.|date=August 29, 1992|page=A.3}}</ref> Benjamin Feldman the Finance Minister for [[Global Country of World Peace]],<ref>{{Cite news| work=Institutional Investor International Edition|date = March 2003|volume=28|issue=3|pages=8–11|title=The maharishi and transcendental disintermediation}}</ref> [[John Gray (U.S. author)|John Gray]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mars and Venus at work; Critics aim to bring Gray back down to Earth|first=Lauren|last=Murphy|work=Washington Times|date=February 14, 2002|page=A.02}}</ref> and David R. Leffler. SCI is also on the curriculum of lower schools including the [[Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment]] in Iowa, [[Wheaton, Maryland]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=This School Offers Readin', 'Ritin' and Mantras|first=Stephen|last=Buckley|work=The Washington Post|date=March 19, 1993|page=D.01}}</ref> and [[Skelmersdale]], UK.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Children meditate on top class GCSEs|first=Claire|last=Tolley|work=Daily Post|location=Liverpool|date=January 12, 2002|page=13}}</ref>


===Maharishi Effect (1974)===
Theologian [[Robert M. Price]], writing in the ''Creation/Evolution Journal'' (the journal of the [[National Center for Science Education]]), compares the Science of Creative Intelligence to [[Creationism]].<ref name=Price/> Price says instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique is "never offered without indoctrination into the metaphysics of 'creative intelligence'".<ref name="Price"/> Skeptic [[James Randi]] says SCI has "no scientific characteristics",<ref name="randi.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Transcendental%20Meditation.html |title=James Randi Educational Foundation — An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural |work= |accessdate=September 2, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5sSbpEJ3V|archivedate=September 2, 2010}}</ref> and in a 1982 book, says that TM's claims are no more substantiated by scientific investigation than other mystical philosophies.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Randi, James |title=Flim-flam!: psychics, ESP, unicorns, and other delusions |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, N.Y |year=1982 |page=94 |isbn=0-87975-198-3 |oclc=|doi= }}</ref> [[Astrophysicist]] and skeptic [[Carl Sagan]] writes that the 'Hindu doctrine' of TM is a [[pseudoscience]].<ref name="Sagan, 1997 p16">{{Cite book|author=Sagan, Carl |title=The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |year=1997 |page=16 |isbn=0-345-40946-9 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref> [[Irving Hexham]], a scholar of New Age and new religious movements, describes the TM teachings as "pseudoscientific language that masks its religious nature by mythologizing science".<ref name=Kennedy/> [[Neurophysiologist]] [[Michael Persinger]] writes that "science has been used as a sham for propaganda by the TM movement".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Establishing Transcendental Meditation's identity; Few can agree if it's a religion, Hinduism or meditation|first=Bob|last=Harvey|work=The Ottawa Citizen|date=December 18, 1993|page=C.6}}</ref><ref name=Persinger>{{Cite book| last1 = Persinger | first1 = Michael A. | last2 = Carrey | first2 = Normand J. | last3 = Suess | first3 = Lynn A. | title = TM and cult mania | year = 1980 | publisher = Christopher Pub. House | location = North Quincy, Mass. | isbn = 0-8158-0392-3 }}</ref> Sociologists [[Rodney Stark]] and [[William Sims Bainbridge]] describe the SCI videotapes as being largely based on the [[Bhagavad Gita]], and say that they are "laced with parables and metaphysical postulates, rather than anything that can be recognized as conventional science".<ref name=Stark/> Maharishi biographer Paul Mason suggests that the scientific terminology used in SCI was developed by the Maharishi as part of a restructuring of his philosophies in terms that would gain greater acceptance and hopefully increase the number of people starting the TM technique.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mason|first=Paul|title=The Maharishi|location=Great Britain|publisher=Element Books Limited|year=1994|page=210|isbn=1852305711}}</ref> In the court case ''Malnak v Yogi'', SCI was held to be a religion.<ref name=Merriman/>
{{Main|Maharishi Effect}}
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi postulated that the quality of life would noticeably improved if one percent of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique. This is known as the "Maharishi Effect" and according to the Maharishi, it was perceived in 1974 after an analysis of crime statistics in 16 cities.<ref name="Science of Being">page 329</ref><ref name="Karam">Karam, Ted (2005) Jumping on Water: Awaken Your Joy, Empower Your Life, page 137</ref><ref name=Wager>{{Cite news|title=Musicians Spread the Maharishi's Message of Peace|first=Gregg|last=Wager|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 11, 1987 |page=12}}</ref> Author Ted Karam writes that there have been numerous studies on the Maharishi Effect including a gathering of over 4,000 people in Washington DC in the summer of 1993.<ref name="Karam"/> With the introduction of the [[TM-Sidhi program]] including Yogic Flying, the Maharishi proposed that the square root of 1 percent of the population practicing this advanced program together at the same time and in the same place would create benefits in society. This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".<ref name="Karam"/><ref name="Maharishi University of Management"/>


The TM organization has linked the Maharishi Effect to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] and a reduction in global terrorism, US inflation and crime rates.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Maharishi mob meditates on Limerick's ills|first=Liam|last=Fay|work=Sunday Times|location=London (UK)|date=June 13, 2004|page=32}}</ref> The Maharishi Effect has been endorsed by the former President of Mozambique [[Joaquim Chissano]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/12/01/mozambique/print.html|last= Roach|first=Mary|title=The last tourist in Mozambique|work=Salon|date=December 1, 2000}}</ref> and examined in 42 scientific studies.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Meditation touted as crime-fighter // Study presented builds the case for 'Maharishi effect'|first=Conrad|last=deFiebre|work=Star Tribune|location=Minneapolis, Minn.|date=October 7, 1994|page=03.B}}</ref> Critics, such as [[James Randi]] have called this research "pseudoscience".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Stop the bleeping pseudoscience; Quantum physics film drowns in its own bunk science High point in What The Bleep is stunning animation sequence|first=PETER|last=CALAMAI|work=Toronto Star|date=October 9, 2004|page=J.13}}</ref> Randi says that he investigated comments made by former Maharishi International University faculty member Robert Rabinoff in 1978. Randi says he spoke to the [[Fairfield, Iowa|Fairfield]] Chief of Police who reported local crime levels were the same and the regional Agriculture Department who said farm yields for [[Jefferson County, Iowa|Jefferson County]] matched the state average.<ref name=Randi106>{{Cite book|author=Randi, James |title=Flim-flam!: psychics, ESP, unicorns, and other delusions |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, N.Y |year=1982 |page=106 |isbn=0-87975-198-3 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref>
===Views on consciousness===


===Maharishi Vedic Science (1981)===
In his 1963 book, ''The Science Of Being and Art Of Living,'' Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says that, over time, the practice of allowing the mind to experience its deeper levels during the Transcendental Meditation technique brings these levels from the subconscious to within the capacity of the conscious mind. According to the Maharishi, as the mind quiets down and experiences finer thoughts, the Transcendental Meditation practitioner can become aware that thought itself is transcended and can have the experience of what he calls the 'source of thought', 'pure awareness' or 'transcendental Being'; 'the ultimate reality of life'.<ref name="Phelan"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Science of Being and Art of Living|publisher=Meridian|year=1963|page=53|jstor=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Interview with Larry King|first =Larry |last=King|date=May 12, 2002|work=CNN}}</ref> TM has been described by the movement as a technology of consciousness.<ref name=Hunt/> According to Vimal Patel, a pathologist at [[Indiana University]], TM has been shown to produce states that are physiologically different from waking, dreaming and sleeping.<ref name=Patel>{{Cite book|last=Patel|first=Vimal|publisher= Humana Press|isbn = 9780896034402|editor1-last = Humber| editor1-first = James M.|editor2-first = Robert F. |editor2-last=Almeder|title = Alternative medicine and ethics|year = 1998|pages=55–56|chapter=Understanding the Integration of Alternative Modalities Into an Emerging Healthcare Model In the United States|url=http://books.google.com/?id=E7X7d_DZlLkC}}</ref>
The Maharishi proclaimed 1981 as the Year of Vedic Science.<ref name="Science of Being">page 336</ref> Maharishi Vedic Science (MVS) is defined by author Patrick Williams as "a practical, workable Vedic science that is integrated with modern science" and a "scientific approach to human development based on complete knowledge and systematic techniques".<ref name="Williams"/> It is based on the Maharishi's interpretation of ancient Vedic texts and includes subjective technologies like the Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi program plus programs like Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV) and Maharishi Vedic Astrology (MVA) services which apply Vedic science to day-to-day living.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Bonshek | first1 = Anna | last2 = Bonshek | first2 = Corrina | last3 = Fergusson | first3 = Lee | title = The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space. (Consciousness, Literature the Arts) | date = |publisher = Rodopi | location = | isbn = 978-90-420-2172-3 | pages = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5rcQprTT5|title=Modern Science and Vedic Science: An Introduction |publisher=Modern Science and Vedic Science, Volume 1 |date= |accessdate=November 15, 2009|first=Kenneth |last=Chandler}}</ref> Vedic science studies the various aspects of life and their relationship to the Veda.

Girish Varma, a nephew of the Maharishi's who is a [[Brahmacharya|Brahmachari]] and chairman of the [[Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools|Maharishi Vidya Mandir]] Schools Group, says that scientific studies have proven that practitioners can attain divine power through TM.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Develop virtue of Satoguni chetna:Brahmachari Dr.Girishji|date=March 16, 2010|publisher =Maha Media|url=http://www.mahamediaonline.com/newsDetails.jsp?Id=20266|accessdate=July 17, 2010|archivedate=December 10, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5ut7eIeOK}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Mahesh Yogi cremated as large gathering pays tribute|date=February 11, 2008|first1= Sharat |last1=Pradhan |first2=Madhusree |last2=Chatterjee|agency=India News|archivedate=December 9, 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5vmlWahLp|url=http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2008/feb/11/mahesh_yogi_cremated_large_gathering_pays_tribute.html}}</ref><ref>[http://www.maharishividyamandir.com/bordDirector.jsp] Maharishi Vidya Mandir official web site</ref>

====Seven States of Consciousness====
According to the Maharishi there are seven levels of consciousness: (i) waking; (ii) dreaming; (iii) deep sleep; (iv) Transcendental or Pure Consciousness (Skt: ''[[turiya]]''); (v) Cosmic Consciousness (Skt: ''turiyatita''); (vi) God Consciousness (Skt: ''bhagavat-chetana''); and (vii) Supreme knowledge, or unity consciousness (Skt: ''brahmi-chetana''). The Maharishi says that the fourth level of consciousness can be experienced through Transcendental Meditation, and that the fifth state can be achieved by those who meditate diligently.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=dkuHUWYnW80C&pg=PA66&dq=maharishi+%22god+consciousness%22#v=onepage&q=maharishi%20%22god%20consciousness%22&f=false Tillery, Gary, ''The Cynical Idealist; A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon''] Quest Books, 2009 ISBN 0-8356-0875-1, 9780835608756 pp 66-67</ref> The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness says that it may be premature to say that the EEG coherence found in TM is an indication of a higher state of consciousness.<ref name=Lutz>{{Cite book | isbn = 9780521857437 | editor1-first = Philip David | editor1-last = Zelazo | editor2-first = Morris | editor2-last = Moscovitch | editor3-first = Evan | editor3-last = Thompson | title = The Cambridge handbook of consciousness | year = 2007 | pages = 534–535 | publisher = Cambridge University Press}}</ref> A sign of cosmic consciousness is "ever present wakefulness" that is present even during sleep.<ref name="Walsh R, Shapiro SL 2006 227–39">{{Cite journal|author=Walsh R, Shapiro SL |title=The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: a mutually enriching dialogue |journal=The American Psychologist |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=227–39 |year=2006 |month=April|pmid=16594839 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.227 |ref=harv}}</ref> Research on individuals experiencing what they say is cosmic consciousness as a result of practice of TM has found EEG profiles, muscle tone measurements, and REM indicators that suggest there is physiological evidence of this higher state.<ref name="Walsh R, Shapiro SL 2006 227–39"/><ref name=Shapiro>{{Cite journal|first1=Shauna L. |last1=Shapiro |first2=Roger|last2=Walsh |url=http://www.brittonlab.com/publications/Shapiro,%20Walsh,%20Britton%2003.pdf |title=An Analysis of Recent Meditation Research and Suggestions for Future Directions|journal=Journal for Meditation and Meditation Research|year=2003|volume=3|pages=69–90}}</ref>


==Characterizations==
==Characterizations==
Characterizations of the TM technique vary amongst scholars, clergy, notable practitioners and governments. According to the Maharishi his technique requires no preparation, is simple to do, and can be learned by anyone.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|year=2001|publisher=Plume|title=The Science of Being and Art of Living|isbn=978-0-452-28266-7}}</ref> The technique is described as effortless<ref>ABC7, Research Summary: ADHD Meditation, May 23, 2006, "William Stixrud, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist, says:TM is a mental technique that involves simply narrowing the focus of the mind in a very effortless way that allows the mind to settle down."{{Verify credibility|date=September 2010}}</ref> and without [[contemplation]] or concentration<ref name="Russell1">{{Cite book| last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. |authorlink=Peter Russell (author)| title = The TM technique| year = 1976 | publisher = Routledge Kegan Paul PLC| location = | isbn = 0-7100-8539-7 | pages = 40–42|url=http://books.google.com/?id=TZ89AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+TM+Technique&q=}}</ref> Author Peter Russell says trying to control the mind is like trying to go to sleep at night, it won't work.<ref name=Russell1/> He says instead, the TM technique utilizes the tendency of the mind to move towards greater satisfaction.<ref name="Hunt" /><ref name="Shear" /><ref name="psychophysiology1" /><ref>{{Cite news|work=New Life magazine|date=Sept–Oct, 2003|first1=Frederick|last1=Travis|first2=Ken |last2=Chawkin|title=Meditation Can Change The World}}</ref> According to TM advocates, the technique is "purely a mechanical, physiological process", the "two-minute ceremony" invokes no deities, the mantras are "sounds without meaning" and the technique "pre-dates Hinduism by 5,000 years".<ref name="Conant2008-05-29"/> Anthony Campbell, author of the book ''Seven States of Consciousness'', writes that TM requires no "special circumstances or preparations" and does "not depend upon belief".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Seven States of Consciousness|first=Anthony |last=Campbell|publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd.|year=1980|page=11|oclc=462796392}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Inayatullah | first1 = Sohail | last2 = Gidley | first2 = Jennifer| title = The university in transformation: global perspectives on the futures of the university | year = 2000 |location=Westport, Conn.|publisher = Bergin Garvey |isbn = 978-0-89789-718-1 | page =209|url=http://books.google.com/?id=I_jaYF-iyp0C&pg=PA217&dq=maharishi+university+of+management+%26+technology&q=maharishi%20university%20of%20management%20%26%20technology}}</ref> A 2011 article in ''[[Details (magazine)|Details]]'' characterizes the TM technique as a "Hindu meditation practice ["stripped"] of its religious baggage" offered "as a systematic, stress-reducing, creativity-building technique".<ref name="Details Mag">Hooper, Joseph(September 2011) [http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201109/transcendental-meditation-pure-consciousness Meditation Nation] ''Details'', retrieved July 3, 2012</ref> [[Martin Gardner]], a mathematician, has referred to TM as "the Hindu cult"<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.csicop.org/SI/show/doug_henning_and_the_giggling_guru/ |title=Doug Henning and the Giggling Guru|first=Martin|last=Gardner|volume=19|number=3|date=May/June 1995|work= Skeptical Inquirer |accessdate=May 30, 2010}}</ref> According to author R.S. Bajpai, the Maharishi "secularized the TM [sic] by purging it of all the religious rites and rituals and spiritual mysticism".<ref name="Bajpai, R.S. 2002 page 554">Bajpai, R.S. (2002) Atlantic Publishers, The Splendours And Dimensions Of Yoga 2 Vols. Set, page 554</ref>
===Self characterizations===
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes Transcendental Meditation as a technique which requires no preparation, is simple to do, and can be learned by anyone.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|year=2001|publisher=Plume|title=The Science of Being and Art of Living|isbn=978-0452282667}}</ref> The technique is described as being effortless<ref>ABC7, Research Summary: ADHD Meditation, May 23, 2006, "William Stixrud, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist, says:TM is a mental technique that involves simply narrowing the focus of the mind in a very effortless way that allows the mind to settle down."{{Verify credibility|date=September 2010}}</ref> and natural, involving neither [[contemplation]] nor concentration, and relying on the natural tendency of the mind to move in the direction of greater satisfaction.<ref name=Hunt>{{Cite book| last1 = Hunt | first1 = Stephen | authorlink=Stephen J. Hunt|title = Alternative religions: a sociological introduction| year = 2003 | publisher = Ashgate | location = Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT | isbn = 978-0-7546-3410-2 | pages = 197–198|url=http://books.google.com/?id=0GuWbJhYIccC&pg=PA197&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation }}</ref><ref name=Shear>{{Cite book| last1 = Shear | first1 = J. (Jonathan) | title = The experience of meditation : experts introduce the major tradition| year = 2006 | publisher = Paragon House | location = St. Paul, MN | isbn = 978-1-55778-857-3 | pages = 23, 30–32, 43–44}}</ref><ref name="psychophysiology1">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.09.007|last1=Travis|first1=F|last2=Haaga|first2=DA|last3=Hagelin|first3=JS|last4=Tanner|first4=M|last5=Nidich|first5=S|last6=Gaylord-King|first6=C|last7=Grosswald|first7=S|last8=Rainforth|first8=M|last9=Schneider|first9=RH|title=Effects of Transcendental Meditation practice on brain functioning and stress reactivity in college students|journal=International Journal of Psychophysiology |year=2009|volume=71|issue=2|pages=170–176|pmid=18854202}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|work=New Life magazine|date=Sept–Oct, 2003|first1=Frederick|last1=Travis|first2=Ken |last2=Chawkin|title=Meditation Can Change The World}}</ref> Advocates of TM say that the technique is "purely a mechanical, physiological process" and that "the practice pre-dates Hinduism by 5,000 years".<ref name="Conant2008-05-29">{{cite journal | last = Conant | first = Eve | url = http://www.newsweek.com/id/139206 | title = Much dispute about nothing | journal = Newsweek | work = Newsweek.com | date = 2008-05-29 | accessdate = 2010-12-05 }}</ref>


===Religious leaders===
In his book ''The TM Technique'', [[Peter Russell (author)|Peter Russell]], a teacher of Transcendental Meditation who had spent time with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says Transcendental Meditation allows the mind to become still without effort, in contrast to meditation practices that attempt to control the mind by holding it on a single thought or by keeping it empty of all thoughts.<ref name="Russell1">{{Cite book| last1 = Russell | first1 = Peter H. |authorlink=Peter Russell (author)| title = The TM technique| year = 1976 | publisher = Routledge Kegan Paul PLC| location = | isbn = 0-7100-8539-7 | pages = 40–42|url=http://books.google.com/?id=TZ89AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+TM+Technique&q=}}</ref> He says trying to control the mind is like trying to go to sleep at night&nbsp;— if a person makes an effort to fall asleep, his or her mind remains active and restless.<ref name=Russell1/> This is why, he says, Transcendental Meditation avoids concentration and effort.<ref name=Russell1/>
Some religious leaders and clergy find Transcendental Meditation compatible with their religious teachings and beliefs while others do not.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vesely|first=Carolin|title=Its All in Your Mind|work=Winnipeg Free Press|date=March 21, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Smith | first1 = Adrian | title = A Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: Christian Understanding of Transcendental Meditation | year = 1993 | publisher = Book Guild Ltd | location = | isbn = 0-86332-863-6 | pages = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Pennington | first1 = M. Basil | title = Daily we touch Him : practical religious experience | year = 1977| publisher = Doubleday | location = Garden City, N.Y. | isbn = 0-385-12478-3 | page = 73 }}</ref> Catholic monk [[Wayne Teasdale]] writes in his book ''The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions'', that Transcendental Meditation is what is called an open or receptive method that can be described as giving up control and remaining open in an inner sense.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Teasdale | first1 = Wayne |authorlink=Wayne Teasdale| last2 = Bruteau | first2 = Beatrice | title = The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions | date = 2001-04-01| publisher = New World Library | location = | isbn = 978-1-57731-140-9 | pages = 137–139| url=http://books.google.com/?id=fEBnxS3rslIC&pg=PA137&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation}}</ref> In 1968, the archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey "came to the support of Maharishi's theory".<ref name=Jefferson/> Author William Jefferson writes in 1976 that a Jewish Revivalist called TM "an insidious form of worship" while [[Trappist monk]]s in [[Spencer, Massachusetts]] find it useful.<ref name=Jefferson/> In 1984, Cardinal [[Jaime Sin]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila|Archbishop of Manila]], wrote a pastoral statement after Philippines President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] invited more than 1,000 members of the TM movement to [[Manila]], saying that neither the doctrine nor the practice of TM are acceptable to Christians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcam.org/library/pastoral_statements/1981-1986/0025.htm |title=October 16, 1984 – The Basic Conflict Between Maharishi and Christianity |publisher=Rcam.org |date= |accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> In one of his books, the Maharishi referred to TM as "a path to God".<ref name="Meditations of MMY">{{cite book | title=Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi | publisher=Bantam | author=Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh | year=1973 | pages=59}}</ref> {{quotation needed|date=June 2012}} In 2003, the [[Roman Curia]], a Vatican council, published a warning against mixing eastern meditations, such as TM, with Christian prayer.<ref>{{Cite web|author=moreorless|url=http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vat_na_en.htm |title=The Vatican document on the New Age (Feb. 3, 2003) |publisher=Cesnur.org |date=|accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> Clergy who practice the TM technique and find it compatible with their religious beliefs include: Catholic Father Len Dubi,<ref>Dubi, Len (April 7, 2010) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1W2Ypv7KA&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL6F0F4E08560D9328 Father Len Dubi: How Transcendental Meditation enriches my religious life] Transcendental Meditation Channel, YouTube, retrieved June 12, 2012</ref> Orthodox Rabbi Abe Shainberg ,<ref>Shainberg, Abe (Aug 27, 2010)[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjZFPG3zUc Rabbi speaks on his Transcendental Meditation practice] Transcendental Meditation Channel, YouTube, retrieved June 12, 2012</ref> Irish Jesuit William Johnston,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=William|title=Silent Music:The Science of Meditation|publisher=Fordham University Press|page=15|isbn=978-0-8232-1774-8}}</ref> Donald Craig Drummon; a Presbyterian minister, Rabbi Raphael Levine; Rabbi Emeritus Temple De Hirsh Sinai, Reverend Placide Gaboury; a Jesuit priest who teaches at the [[University of Sudbury]]<ref name="TM ABC guide">page 182-185</ref> Reverend Kevin Joyce; a catholic priest and Keith Wollard, a United Church minister.<ref>Harvey, Bob (Dec 18, 1993) Establishing Transcendental Meditation's identity; Few can agree if it's a religion, Hinduism or meditation, ''The Ottawa Citizen'', page 6</ref>


===Other views===
====Notable laypersons====
Notable laypersons who practice the TM technique include David Lynch, who was raised a Presbyterian and [[Clint Eastwood]] who says he found "there were no religious aspects,"<ref name=Jefferson/><ref>Williams, Alex (Dec 31 2006) [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/fashion/31lynch.html?pagewanted=1 David Lynch’s Shockingly Peaceful Inner Life], retrieved June 12, 2012</ref> Political commentator and Roman Catholic, [[Andrew Sullivan]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/04/catholicism-and-transcendental-meditation.html#more|work=The Atlantic|title=The Daily Dish: Catholicism And Transcendental Meditation| first=Andrew |last=Sullivan|date=April 8, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2010/04/welcome-my-brother.html|work=Vanity Fair|title=Welcome, My Brother!|first=James|last=Walcott|date=April 12, 2010}}</ref> and [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner, [[Tim Page (music critic)|Tim Page]].<ref>Page, Tim (Oct 27, 2009) [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/10/21/DI2009102103314.html Living with Asperger’s Syndrome] retrieved June 12, 2012</ref> Musician [[George Harrison]] was once asked if TM could substitute for religion, to which he replied, "It's not a substitute for religion. It is a religion."<ref name="Turner2006">{{cite book|last=Turner|first=Steve|title=The Gospel according to the Beatles|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5pImAQAAIAAJ|date=15 April 2006|publisher=Westminster John Knox|isbn=978-0-664-22983-2|page=145}}</ref> According to [[John Lennon]], "You can make it with meditation if you're a Christian, a Mohammedan or a Jew. You just add meditation to whatever religion you've got".<ref>Goldberg, Phillip (2010) Harmony Books, American Veda, page 132</ref>
According to Catholic monk [[Wayne Teasdale|Wayne Teasdale's]] book ''The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions'', Transcendental Meditation is what is called an open or receptive method that can be described as giving up control and remaining open in an inner sense.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Teasdale | first1 = Wayne |authorlink=Wayne Teasdale| last2 = Bruteau | first2 = Beatrice | title = The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions | date = 2001-04-01| publisher = New World Library | location = | isbn = 978-1-57731-140-9 | pages = 137–139| url=http://books.google.com/?id=fEBnxS3rslIC&pg=PA137&dq=transcendental+meditation&q=transcendental%20meditation}}</ref>


===Scholars===
Anthony Campbell says that because TM is a natural process, its practice requires no "special circumstances or preparations". Campbell writes that Transcendental Meditation is "complete in itself" and does "not depend upon belief" or require the practitioner to accept any theory.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Seven States of Consciousness|first=Anthony |last=Campbell|publisher=Victor Gollancz Ltd.|year=1980|page=11|oclc=462796392}}{{Request quotation|date=September 2010}}</ref> A reporter for ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' was initiated into the TM technique and said it did have a calming effect, though he called the idea that TM could help bring world peace "ludicrous".<ref>{{cite news|work=The Sunday Times|location=London|title=Mantra with a mission; Feature Om or ominous? The maverick film director David Lynch wants to bring Transcendental Meditation to our classrooms, and believes in 'yogic flying'. Can he get it off the ground?|first=Alex |last=Hannaford |date=December 27, 2010|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/Features/article468906.ece}}</ref>
The Transcendental Meditation technique has been variously described by sociologists and religious scholars as religious and non-religious.<ref>Chryssides George D. Defining the New Spirituality http://www.cesnur.org/conferences/riga2000/chryssides.htm ''One possible suggestion is that religion demands exclusive allegiance: this would ipso facto exclude Scientology, TM and the Soka Gakkai simply on the grounds that they claim compatibility with whatever other religion the practitioner has been following. For example, TM is simply – as they state – a technique. Although it enables one to cope with life, it offers no goal beyond human existence (such as moksha), nor does it offer rites or passage or an ethic. Unlike certain other Hindu-derived movements, TM does not prescribe a dharma to its followers – that is to say a set of spiritual obligations deriving from one’s essential nature.''</ref> According to sociologist [[Stephen J. Hunt]], author of the book ''Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction'', the TM technique describes itself as a "technology of consciousness" and has the goal of developing the full potential of the person, including spiritual and psychological progress, while fulfilling some of the self-improvement goals of many religious and semi-religious organizations. Its adherents says it is a non-religious, "scientific strategy", yet it appears to have "spiritual elements" such as the puja ceremony performed during the TM instruction.<ref name=Hunt/> Religious studies scholar [[Eugene V. Gallagher]] writes that, "TM practitioners describe TM as a science rather than a religious discipline", but its "meditation principles were clearly derived from Hindu practice".<ref>Gallagher, Eugene V. (2004) Greenwood Press, The New Religious Movements Experience in America, page 106</ref>


In the book ''Cults and New Religious Movements'', author [[Roy Wallis]] characterizes Transcendental Meditation as a "world affirming new religion" that "lacks most of the features traditionally associated with religion".<ref>Dawson, Lorne L. (editor) (2003) Blackwell Publishing, Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader, page 44</ref> Authors Liebler and Moss write that "unlike some forms of meditation, the TM technique does not require adherence to any belief system".<ref>Liebler, Nancy; Moss, Sandra; [http://books.google.com/books?id=AWf303UKhDUC&pg=PA102&dq=transcendental+meditation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vt_UT9i8KaSi2QXKoaGfDw&ved=0CF8Q6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation&f=false Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way] page 102</ref> Religious studies scholars Michael Phelan and [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] say that TM participants "may meditate for relaxation, but otherwise have no contact with TM", and that TM "attracts a large number of people with low levels of commitment around a much smaller group of highly committed followers."<ref name=Phelan/><ref>Lewis, James R. (2004) Oxford University Press, The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements</ref> Moreover, Phelan writes that TM is "being opposed by many religious groups who believe that it is a religious practice", and that "the TM objectives and methods are congruous with the criteria of revitalization movements [as] defined by Anthony F.C. Wallace"... "whose goal is to create a better culture."<ref name=Phelan/> Religion scholar Charles H. Lippy writes that earlier spiritual interest in the technique faded in the 1970s, and it became a practical technique that anyone could employ without abandoning their religious affiliation.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Lippy | first1 = Charles H. | title = Pluralism comes of age: American religious culture in the twentieth century | year = 2000 | publisher = M.E. Sharpe | location = Armonk, N.Y. | isbn = 978-0-7656-0151-3 |page = 112 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=gNvKatGnoUcC&pg=PA112&dq=students+international+meditation+society&q=students%20international%20meditation%20society }}</ref>
===Government===
Transcendental Meditation and some of its associated organizations have been described as a religion or a cult. A US courts held it to be a [[religion]] in ''Malnak v Yogi'' (1977 and 1979). In addition to the 3rd Circuit opinion in ''Malnak'' holding that Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intellingence were religious under the Establishment Clause,


On the other hand, [[William Sims Bainbridge|Bainbridge]] finds Transcendental Meditation to be a "...highly simplified form of Hinduism, adapted for Westerners who did not possess the cultural background to accept the full panoply of Hindu beliefs, symbols, and practices",<ref name="Bainbridge"/><ref name="web.archive.org">{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060831081613/religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/tm.html|publisher=Religious Movements Homepage Project|title=Transcendental Meditation|date=January 12, 2001}}</ref> and describes the Transcendental Meditation [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] ceremony as "...in essence, a religious initiation ceremony".<ref name=Bainbridge/> [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] Maximos of Pittsburgh of the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] describes TM as "a new version of Hindu Yoga" based on "pagan pseudo-worship and deification of a common mortal, Guru Dev".<ref name="Aghiorgoussis 21, 34"/>
A 1980 report by the West German government's Institute for Youth and Society characterized TM as a "psychogroup". The TM organization{{Who|date=May 2010}} sued unsuccessfully to block the release of the report.<ref name=SFGate/><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Middle East, abstracts and index, Part 1 24Ei |author= Library Information and Research Service |year=2001 |publisher=Northumberland Press |location= |isbn= |page=609|url=}}</ref> The 1995 report of the [[Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France]] listed Transcendental Meditation as a cult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-enq/r2468.asp |title=Commission d'enquête sur les sectes |work=Assemblée nationale |accessdate=}}</ref> In 1987, an Israeli government report condemned TM and other groups as cults.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Gabriel Cavaglion |title=The Theoretical Framing of a Social Problem: The Case of Societal Reaction to Cults in Israel|journal=Israel Affairs |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=87–89 |year=2008 |month=January |pmid= |doi=10.1080/13537120701705882 |url=|ref=harv}} p. 87: “However, cult groups that were more positively oriented towards the central values of society and more likely to accommodate values of Judaism and Zionism, such as '''Transcendental Meditation''' . . . were also targeted by anti-cult activists.” p. 89: “An inter-ministerial Commission of Inquiry on Cults report was published almost a decade after the first major responses from anti-cult activists. . . Other groups defined as cults included Scientology, '''Transcendental Meditation,''' Bhagwan Rajneesh, Ananda Marga, The Divine Light Mission, The Unification Church, and a few psychological seminars.”</ref> However, Gabriel Cavaglion, an Israeli social scientist, says that scholars in Israel viewed the report as "one-sided and negative".<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Gabriel Cavaglion |title=The Theoretical Framing of a Social Problem: The Case of Societal Reaction to Cults in Israel|journal=Israel Affairs |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=94 |year=2008 |month=January |pmid= |doi=10.1080/13537120701705882 |url=|ref=harv}}</ref>


In the book ''Cults and New Religions'', [[Douglas Cowan|Cowan]] and Bromley write that TM is presented to the public as a meditation practice that has been validated by science, but is not a religious practice nor is it affiliated with a religious tradition. They say that "although there are some dedicated followers of TM who devote most or all of their time to furthering the practice of Transcendental Meditation in late modern society, the vast majority of those who practice do so on their own, often as part of what has been loosely described as the New Age Movement."<ref name=Bromley>{{Cite book|last=Cowan|first=Douglas E.|last2=Bromley|first2=David G.|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|series=Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2007 |page=18 |isbn=1-4051-6128-0 }}</ref> They say that most scholars view Transcendental Meditation as having elements of both therapy and religion, but that "Transcendental Meditation has no designated scripture, no set of doctrinal requirements, no ongoing worship activity, and no discernible community of believers." They also say that Maharishi did not claim to have special divine revelation or supernatural personal qualities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cowan|first=Douglas E.|last2=Bromley|first2=David G.|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|series=Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2007 |pages=48–71 |isbn=1-4051-6128-0 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/FIR/article/viewFile/7015/4718|title= Book Review: Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|journal=Fieldwork in Religion|format=pdf |first=George D.|last=Chryssides |year=2008}}</ref>
===Religion===
Cardinal [[Jaime Sin]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila|Archbishop of Manila]], wrote a pastoral statement in 1984 after Philippines President [[Ferdinand Marcos]] invited more than [[History of Transcendental Meditation#1980s|1,000 members of the movement to Manila]] to reduce dissent through [[Yogic Flying]]. Sin said that neither the doctrine nor the practice of TM are acceptable to Christians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rcam.org/library/pastoral_statements/1981-1986/0025.htm |title=October 16, 1984 – The Basic Conflict Between Maharishi and Christianity |publisher=Rcam.org |date= |accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> In 2003, the [[Roman Curia]], a Vatican council, published a warning against mixing eastern meditation, such as TM, with Christian prayer.<ref>{{Cite web|author=moreorless|url=http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vat_na_en.htm |title=The Vatican document on the New Age (Feb. 3, 2003) |publisher=Cesnur.org |date=|accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> Other clergy, including Catholic clergy, have found the Transcendental Meditation to be compatible with their religious teachings and beliefs.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vesely|first=Carolin|title=Its All in Your Mind|work=Winnipeg Free Press|date=March 21, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Smith | first1 = Adrian | title = A Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: Christian Understanding of Transcendental Meditation | year = 1993 | publisher = Book Guild Ltd | location = | isbn = 0-86332-863-6 | pages = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Pennington | first1 = M. Basil | title = Daily we touch Him : practical religious experience | year = 1977| publisher = Doubleday | location = Garden City, N.Y. | isbn = 0-385-12478-3 | page = 73 }}</ref> Religion scholar Charles H. Lippy writes that earlier spiritual interest in the technique faded in the 1970s and it became a practical technique that anyone could employ without abandoning their religious affiliation.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Lippy | first1 = Charles H. | title = Pluralism comes of age: American religious culture in the twentieth century | year = 2000 | publisher = M.E. Sharpe | location = Armonk, N.Y. | isbn = 978-0-7656-0151-3 |page = 112 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=gNvKatGnoUcC&pg=PA112&dq=students+international+meditation+society&q=students%20international%20meditation%20society }}</ref> [[William Sims Bainbridge|Bainbridge]] found Transcendental Meditation to be a "...highly simplified form of Hinduism, adapted for Westerners who did not possess the cultural background to accept the full panoply of Hindu beliefs, symbols, and practices",<ref name=Bainbridge>{{Cite book|last1 = Bainbridge | first1 = William Sims | title = The sociology of religious movements | year = 1997 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | isbn = 0-415-91202-4 | page = 188|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eCKbw8QuhEkC&printsec=frontcover&q=tm }}</ref><ref name="web.archive.org">{{Cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060831081613/religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/tm.html|publisher=Religious Movements Homepage Project|title=Transcendental Meditation|date=January 12, 2001}}</ref> and describes the Transcendental Meditation [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] ceremony as "...in essence, a religious initiation ceremony".<ref name=Bainbridge/> [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] Maximos of Pittsburgh of the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] describes TM as being "a new version of Hindu Yoga" based on "pagan pseudo-worship and deification of a common mortal, Guru Dev".<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The challenge of metaphysical experiences outside Orthodoxy and the Orthodox response|first=Maximos|last=Aghiorgoussis|work=Greek Orthodox Theological Review|location=Brookline|date=Spring 1999|volume=44|issue=1–4|pages=21, 34|ref=harv}}</ref>


Authors of the book ''A Reader in New Religious Movements'', [[George D. Chryssides]] and Margaret Z. Wilkins, write that Transcendental Meditation and other new religious movements have been criticized for "surreptitiously smuggling in forms of Eastern religion under the guise of some seemingly innocuous technique of self improvement or health promotion".<ref name="Chryssides, George D.; Margaret Lucy Wilkins 2006 7">{{Cite book|author=Chryssides, George D.; Margaret Lucy Wilkins |title=A reader in new religious movements |publisher=Continuum |location=London |year=2006 |pages=7 |isbn=0-8264-6167-0 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref> Chryssides goes on to say in his book ''Exploring New Religions'' that although one can identify the Maharishi's Hindu background, Hindu lineage, mantras and initiation ceremony, TM is unlike religion in its "key elements": "there is no public worship, no code of ethics, no scriptures to be studied, and no rites of passage that are observed, such as dietary laws, giving to the poor, or pilgrimages."<ref name="Chryssides 2001 301–303"/> Psychiatry professor [[Norman E. Rosenthal]], author of ''[[Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation]]'', writes that "Maharishi extracted the TM technique from its religious context and distilled it to its essence, which he believed could be of value to people of all creeds."<ref name="Rosenthal 2011 4"/>
William Johnston, an Irish Jesuit, says that despite its religious origins the TM technique as introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has no attachments to any particular religion.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=William|title=Silent Music:The Science of Meditation|publisher=Fordham University Press|page=15|isbn=978-0-8232-1774-8}}</ref> Former [[Maharishi University of Management]] Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, James Grant writes that the Maharishi's techniques for the development of consciousness are non-sectarian and require no belief system.<ref>{{Cite book| last1 = Inayatullah | first1 = Sohail | last2 = Gidley | first2 = Jennifer| title = The university in transformation: global perspectives on the futures of the university | year = 2000 |location=Westport, Conn.|publisher = Bergin Garvey |isbn = 978-0-89789-718-1 | page =209|url=http://books.google.com/?id=I_jaYF-iyp0C&pg=PA217&dq=maharishi+university+of+management+%26+technology&q=maharishi%20university%20of%20management%20%26%20technology}}</ref> The official TM web site says it is a non-religious mental technique for deep rest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tm.org/discover/glance/what.html |title=Meditation Techniques |publisher=Tm.org |date= |accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> The Maharishi refers to the technique as "a path to God".<ref>''Meditations of Maharishi''. p. 59</ref> [[Andrew Sullivan]], political commentator for [[The Atlantic Monthly|The Atlantic]] and an openly gay Roman Catholic, wrote in 2010 that he does not consider his practice of Transcendental Meditation to be a "contradiction of my faith in Christ".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/04/catholicism-and-transcendental-meditation.html#more|work=The Atlantic|title=The Daily Dish: Catholicism And Transcendental Meditation| first=Andrew |last=Sullivan|date=April 8, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2010/04/welcome-my-brother.html|work=Vanity Fair|title=Welcome, My Brother!|first=James|last=Walcott|date=April 12, 2010}}</ref> [[Martin Gardner]], a mathematician, refers to it as "the Hindu cult".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.csicop.org/SI/show/doug_henning_and_the_giggling_guru/ |title=Doug Henning and the Giggling Guru|first=Martin|last=Gardner|volume=19|number=3|date=May/June 1995|work= Skeptical Inquirer |accessdate=May 30, 2010}}</ref>


===Government===
In the book ''Cults and New Religions'', [[Douglas Cowan|Cowan]] and Bromley write that TM is presented to the public as a meditation practice that has been validated by science but is not a religious practice nor is it affiliated with a religions tradition. They say that "although there are some dedicated followers of TM who devote most or all of their time to furthering the practice of Transcendental Meditation in late modern society, the vast majority of those who practice do so on their own, often as part of what has been loosely described as the New Age Movement."<ref name=Bromley>{{Cite book|last=Cowan|first=Douglas E.|last2=Bromley|first2=David G.|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|series=Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2007 |page=18 |isbn=1-4051-6128-0 }}</ref> They say that most scholars view Transcendental Meditation as having elements of both therapy and religion, but says that on the other hand, "Transcendental Meditation has no designated scripture, no set of doctrinal requirements, no ongoing worship activity, and no discernible community of believers." They also say that Maharishi did not claim to have special divine revelation or supernatural personal qualities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cowan|first=Douglas E.|last2=Bromley|first2=David G.|title=Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|series=Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2007 |page=48–71 |isbn=1-4051-6128-0 }}</ref></ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.equinoxjournals.com/ojs/index.php/FIR/article/viewFile/7015/4718|title= Book Review: Cults and New Religions: A Brief History|journal=Fieldwork in Religion|format=pdf |first=George D.|last=Chryssides |year=2008}}</ref> Transcendental meditation has been accused of "surreptitiously smuggling in forms of Eastern religion under the guise of some seemingly innocuous form of health promotion".<ref name="Chryssides, George D.; Margaret Lucy Wilkins 2006 7">{{Cite book|author=Chryssides, George D.; Margaret Lucy Wilkins |title=A reader in new religious movements |publisher=Continuum |location=London |year=2006 |pages=7 |isbn=0-8264-6167-0 |oclc= |doi= }}</ref>
The characterizations and responses to the TM technique by governmental agencies have varied depending on the time period, the specific agency and its country of origin. In 1968, the Maharishi conducted a one hour meeting with [[Secretary General of the United Nations]] [[U Thant]]. In the 1970s, courses in the TM technique were conducted at 47 military installations around the world (including eight in the U.S.), with 150 enrolling in the course at the [[West Point]] military academy. The TM technique was also taught at five U.S. federal prisons, and three in Germany and Canada. During this period, ten U.S. Senators and more than 100 Congressional staff members learned the technique.<ref name=Jefferson/> In 1972, the Maharishi met with the Governor of Illinois ([[Daniel Walker]]) and received a standing ovation when he addressed the [[Illinois]] state legislature before they passed a resolution characterizing Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence as useful for Illinois public schools.<ref>[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=kyIrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XZ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3743,2143748&dq=maharishi+illinois+legislature&hl=en] "People", ''[[Anchorage Daily News]]'', 1973-03-14. Note: "The Maharishi addressed the Illinois legislature Tuesday and made a few suggestions on how to handle fiscal problems. "The basis of a restful budget is no problems in society," he told legislators. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.</ref><ref>[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=kW8zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oTgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3048,1889826&dq=maharishi+illinois+legislature&hl=en] "The TM believers are expanding their universe", ''[[Bangor Daily News]]'', 1973-03-6. Note: "The legislature in the State of Illinois passed a resolution this past year recommending the inclusion of SCI teaching in the public schools." Retrieved on 2010-12-01.</ref> In 1974, Transcendental Meditation was cited in two Congressional records regarding the Science of Creative Intelligence course being offered at 30 American universities and the TM technique being "in use" in some American prisons, mental institutions and drug rehabilitation centers.<ref name="TM ABC guide"/>


In 1975, TM's founder met with Canadian Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] to discuss "the possibility of structuring an ideal society" through Transcendental Mediation,<ref>[http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=3-BYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b1IMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4744,1878994&dq=trudeau+maharishi&hl=en] "Maharishi says Trudeau 'Receptive'", ''Canadian Press'', ''[[The Windsor Star]]'', 1975-03-22. Retrieved on 2010-10-21.</ref><ref>The Gazette, March 22, 1975, "PM and TM leader"</ref><ref>The Citizen, March 22, 1975, "Trudeau "intelligent man" Guru Says After Long Talk"</ref> and the U.S. Congress passed ''Senate Resolution #64: A Resolution to Increase Public Awareness of Transcendental Meditation'' and gave TM a "favorable" characterization.<ref name=Phelan/> In 1977 a New Jersey, U.S. district court held that a curriculum comprising the Science of Creative Intelligence and TM was religious in nature (''Malnak v Yogi''). The decision was appealed and in 1979 the 3rd Circuit opinion affirmed the decision and held that although SCI/TM is not a theistic religion, it deals with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those of well-recognized religions and it therefore violated the [[Establishment Clause]]. Beginning in 1979 the German government released a number of booklets about problems arising for seven new religious movements in Germany, with the German term for these organizations variously translated as "psychogroups" and "psychotheraphy groups." These organizations, including TM, filed lawsuits trying to block the reports. The courts ruled that the booklets must only include factual information and exclude speculation, rumors, and matters that are unclear, and the booklets were re-released primarily containing quotations from materials of the organizations themselves.<ref name=SFGate>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1995/12/29/MN65432.DTL|last=Epstein|first=Edward, |title=Politics and Transcendental Meditation|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=December 29, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Middle East, abstracts and index, Part 1 24Ei |author= Library Information and Research Service |year=2001 |publisher=Northumberland Press |location= |isbn= |page=609|url=}}</ref>{{quotation needed|date=June 2012}}<ref name=Schoen/> In 1996 a commission appointed by the German government concluded that new religious movements and "psychotherapy groups" did not present any danger to the state or to society.<ref name=Schoen>{{cite journal |first=Brigitte |last=Schoen |title=New Religions in Germany: The Publicity of the Public Square |journal=Nova Religio |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=266–274 |quote=It concluded that at present new religious and ideological communities and psychotherapy groups presented no danger to state and society or to socially relevant areas. |date=April 2001}}</ref> In 1987, an Israeli government report that was criticized as "one sided and negative", defined TM as a "cult group"... "targeted by anti-cult activists".<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Gabriel Cavaglion |title=The Theoretical Framing of a Social Problem: The Case of Societal Reaction to Cults in Israel|journal=Israel Affairs |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=87–89 |year=2008 |month=January |pmid= |doi=10.1080/13537120701705882 |url=|ref=harv}} p. 87: "However, cult groups that were more positively oriented towards the central values of society and more likely to accommodate values of Judaism and Zionism, such as Transcendental Meditation . . . were also targeted by anti-cult activists." p. 89: "An inter-ministerial Commission of Inquiry on Cults report was published almost a decade after the first major responses from anti-cult activists. . . Other groups defined as cults included Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Bhagwan Rajneesh, Ananda Marga, The Divine Light Mission, The Unification Church, and a few psychological seminars."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Gabriel Cavaglion |title=The Theoretical Framing of a Social Problem: The Case of Societal Reaction to Cults in Israel|journal=Israel Affairs |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=94 |year=2008 |month=January |pmid= |doi=10.1080/13537120701705882 |url=|ref=harv}}</ref> The 1995 report of the [[Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France]] included Transcendental Meditation in its list of cults.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-enq/r2468.asp |title=Commission d'enquête sur les sectes |work=Assemblée nationale |accessdate=}}</ref>{{quotation needed|date=June 2012}} The U.S. government has characterized the Transcendental Meditation technique as worthy of research and has awarded more than $25 million in funding from different branches of the [[National Institutes of Health]] for scientific analysis of the effects of TM on high blood pressure.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Winter |first=Caroline |title=Transcendental Meditation May Help Stressed Vets |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=February 6, 2013 |url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-06/transcendental-meditation-may-help-stressed-vets}}</ref><ref name="Harvard Review">Dakwar, Elias, and Levin, Frances R. 'The Emerging Role of Meditation in Addressing Psychiatric Illness, with a Focus on Substance Use Disorders', Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 17: 4, 254 — 267</ref><ref name=Blumenthal>{{cite news|title=Mind over markets|work=Barron's|url=http://online.barrons.com/article/SB108217504872085505.html|date=April 19, 2004|first=Robin Goldwyn|last=Blumenthal}}</ref> The U.S. [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs]] sees it as a potential tool for the "treatment" of [[post traumatic stress disorder]] (PTSD) in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and commenced research on the technique (and two other meditation systems) in 2012.<ref>(May 5, 2012) [http://www.heraldandnews.com/members/news/inside/article_605f2d42-96f7-11e1-a178-0019bb2963f4.html Meditation being studied for treatment of PTSD in veterans] ''Bloomberg'' news service, retrieved June 7, 2012</ref><ref>(May 4, 2012) [http://www2.tbo.com/news/nation-world/2012/may/04/namaino10-meditation-used-to-treat-ptsd-ar-399759/ Meditation used to treat PTSD] ''The Washington Post'', retrieved June 7, 2012</ref> According to author Patrick Gresham Williams, "the government will pay" for any U.S. veteran to learn TM if it is prescribed by a Veterans Administration medical doctor.<ref name="Williams"/>
Psychiatry professor [[Norman E. Rosenthal]], author of ''[[Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation]]'', writes that "Maharishi extracted the TM technique from its religious context and distilled it to is essence, which he believed could be of value to people of all creeds."<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation]]|authorlink=[[Norman E. Rosenthal]]|first=Norman E.|last=Rosenthal|publisher=Tarcher Penguin|year=2011|isbn=978-1585428731|page=4}}</ref>

==Marketing==

The late 1950s and the 1960s saw increasing interest in consciousness raising and mind expansion. [[Alan Watts]] popularized Zen Buddhism while [[Richard Alpert]] (Ram Dass) and Timothy Leary spread the gospel of [[LSD]]. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began developing the framework to support Transcendental Meditation in the West in 1959. TM's eventual success as a new social movement was based on "translation in Western language and settings, popular recognition, adoption within scientific research in powerful institutions, and the use of sophisticated marketing and public relations techniques."<ref>{{cite book |author=Donald McCown, Diane C. Reibel, Marc S. Micozzi |title=Teaching Mindfulness:A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators |publisher=Springer |location= |year=2010 |pages= |isbn=9780387094830 |oclc= |doi= |url=http://books.google.com/?id=O0TsBpTRXMYC&pg=PA47&dq=public+relations+Transcendental+meditation#v=onepage&q=public%20relations%20Transcendental%20meditation&f=false}}</ref> At least until 1992, the organization had a [[public relations officer]] on staff.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dagmar Wujastyk; Smith, Frederick Miller |title=Modern and global Ayurveda: pluralism and paradigms |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, N.Y |year=2008 |pages=262 |isbn=0-7914-7490-9 |oclc= |doi= |url=http://books.google.com/?id=kHYj2S_c-gMC&pg=PA262&dq=public+relations+Transcendental+meditation#v=onepage&q=public%20relations%20Transcendental%20meditation&f=false}}</ref>

According to a 1985 book titled ''The Future of Religion'' by sociologists [[William Sims Bainbridge]] and [[Rodney Stark]], while the movement attracted many people through endorsements from celebrities such as the Beatles, an even greater promotional method was "getting articles published in scientific journals, apparently proving TM's claims or at least giving them scientific status".<ref name=Market85>{{cite book |author=Bainbridge, Sims; Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William Sims |title=The future of religion: secularization, revival, and cult formation |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley, Calif |year=1985 |pages= |isbn=0-520-05731-7 |oclc= |doi= |url=http://books.google.com/?id=lTzPyvT2yusC&pg=PA285&dq=public+relations+Transcendental+meditation#v=onepage&q=public%20relations%20Transcendental%20meditation&f=false}}</ref> Philip Goldberg's 2010 book on the spread of Vedic philosophy to the West, ''American Veda'', states that Maharishi decried the fact that Vedic teachings had been "shrouded in the garb of mysticism," and instead used the language of science. Goldberg said that "Maharishi’s appropriation of science was clearly part of his agenda from the beginning".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Philip|year=2010|title=American Veda—How Indian Spirituality Changed the West|pages=163–165|publisher=Crown Publishing/Random House|location= New York|isbn=978-0-385-52134-5}}</ref> The movement then used apparent endorsements from the scientific establishment as "[[propaganda]]", reprinting articles that were favorable to the TM technique. Bainbridge and Stark also say that the movement aggressively used positive statements by governments officials in their publicity efforts.<ref name=Market85/>

Sociologist Hank Johnston analysed TM as a "marketed social movement" in a 1980 paper.<ref name="Johnston">{{cite journal|title=The Marketed Social Movement: A Case Study of the Rapid Growth of TM|first=Hank |last=Johnston|work=The Pacific Sociological Review|volume=23|issue=3|date= July 1980|journal=The Pacific Sociological Review|pages=333–354 |publisher=University of California Press|jstor=1388826}}</ref> Johnston says that TM has used sophisticated techniques such as tailoring promotional messages for different audiences and pragmatically adapting to different cultures and changing times.<ref name=Johnston/> Johnston says that TM objectifies the rank-and-file membership, markets the movement as a product, and creates a perception of grievances for which it offers a panacea.<ref name=Johnston/> He concludes that these "calculated strategies" led to the "rapid growth" of TM.<ref name="Johnston"/>

A 1991 JAMA article found on investigation of the movements marketing practices a "widespread pattern of misinformation, deception, and manipulation of lay and scientific news media."<ref name="JAMA91">{{cite journal |author=Skolnick AA |title=Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Guru's marketing scheme promises the world eternal 'perfect health' |journal=JAMA |volume=266 |issue=13 |pages=1741–2, 1744–5, 1749–50 |year=1991 |month=October |pmid=1817475 |doi= 10.1001/jama.266.13.1741|url=}}</ref> These were seen as efforts to gain "scientific respectability".<ref name="JAMA91"/> Similar concern has been raised in the 1980 book ''[[TM and Cult Mania]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last =Smith, Jr, MD | first=Ralph S. |title=Maharishi Ayur-Veda|journal=[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]|publisher=[[American Medical Association]]|volume=266|issue=13|pages=1773–1774| date =October 2, 1991|issn=0098-7484}}</ref>

For its consistency and ubiquity, TM has been called "the McDonald's of the meditation business" by columnist [[George Goodman|Adam Smith]].<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Ballantine Books| isbn = 9780345276551| last = Smith| first = Adam| title = Powers of mind| date = 1978-03-12|page=126}}</ref> Yale University architecture professor [[Keller Easterling]] compares TM to "Arnold Palmer Golf Management", a developer of golf courses, saying that both are "ideologies and practices" that are regarded as "commercial products".<ref name=Easterling/> According to Easterling, TM maintains a partial story which allows it to keep the "brand amnesiacally refreshed" and alter plans without explanation.<ref name=Easterling>{{Cite book| publisher = The MIT Press| isbn = 0262550652| last = Easterling| first = Keller|authorlink=Keller Easterling|title = Enduring Innocence: Global Architecture and Its Political Masquerades| date = 2007-10-31}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tm.org/?leadsource=CRM984&gclid=CISzr-zW6LMCFUqoPAodJz0AoQ Official web site]


{{Transcendental Meditation}}
{{Transcendental Meditation}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Transcendental Meditation Technique}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transcendental Meditation Technique}}
[[Category:Transcendental Meditation movement]]
[[Category:Transcendental Meditation]]
[[Category:Meditation]]
[[Category:Meditation]]

Revision as of 18:30, 22 March 2013

The Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation[1] developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It is often referred to as Transcendental Meditation or simply, TM. The meditation practice involves the use of a mantra and is practiced for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with one's eyes closed.[2][3] It is reported to be one of the most widely practiced,[4][5][6] and among the most widely researched, meditation techniques,[7] with over 340 peer-reviewed studies published.[8][9] The technique is made available worldwide by certified TM teachers in a seven-step course,[10] and fees vary from country to country.[11][12] Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations, and prison programs in the U.S.A., Latin America, Europe, and India. In 1977 a U.S. district court ruled that a curriculum in TM and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) being taught in some New Jersey schools was religious in nature and in violation of the First Amendment.[13] The technique has since been included in a number of educational and social programs around the world.[14]

The Transcendental Meditation technique has been described as both religious and non religious, as an aspect of a new religious movement, as rooted in Hinduism,[15][16] and as a non-religious practice for self-development.[17][18][19] 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. Advanced courses supplement the TM technique and include an advanced meditation called the TM-Sidhi program. In 1970, the Science of Creative Intelligence became the theoretical basis for the Transcendental Meditation technique, although skeptics questioned its scientific nature.[20] Proponents have postulated that 1 percent of a population (such as a city or country) practicing the TM technique daily, may have an impact on the quality of life for that population group. This has been termed the Maharishi Effect.

Practice

The technique is practiced for 20 minutes, twice daily. Meditation is recommended once after waking in the morning, and in the afternoon before dinner, but is not recommended immediately after eating.[21] According to the Maharishi, "bubbles of thought are produced in a stream one after the other", and the Transcendental Meditation technique consists of experiencing a "proper thought" in its more subtle states "until its subtlest state is experienced and transcended".[22][23] Because it is mantra based, the technique "ostensibly meets the working definition of a concentration practice"; however, the TM organization says that "focused attention" is not prescribed, and that the "aim is an [sic] unified and open attentional stance".[24] Other authors describe the technique as an easy, natural technique or process,[25][26][27] and a "wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state".[28] Practice of the technique includes a process called "unstressing" which combines "effortless relaxation with spontaneous imagery and emotion". TM teachers caution their students not to be alarmed by random thoughts and to "attend" to the mantra.[29] British chess grandmaster Jonathan Rowson has said that his TM practice gives "a feeling of serenity, energy and balance", but does not provide "any powerful insight into your own mind". Laura Tenant, a reporter for The Independent, said that her TM experience includes going "to a place which was neither wakefulness, sleeping or dreaming", and becoming "detached from my physical self".[30] Worldwide, as many as four to ten million people are reported to be practitioners.[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]

Mantra

The TM technique consists of silently repeating a mantra with "gentle effortlessness" while sitting comfortably with eyes closed without assuming any special yoga position.[26][39] The mantra is said to be a vehicle that allows the individual's attention to travel naturally to a less active, quieter style of mental functioning.[40][41][42] One author discusses neurological theories about the importance of selecting the correct mantra. According to these, the mantra enters "the central nervous system via the brain’s speech area", and represents "a direct input of ease and order".[25] TM meditators are instructed to keep their mantra secret[26] to ensure maximum results ("speaking it aloud, apparently defeats the purpose"),[43] to avoid confusion in the mind of the meditators,[22] and as a "protection against inaccurate teaching".[44][45]

Selection

The Maharishi is reported to have standardized and "mechanized" the mantra selection process by using a specific set of mantras and making the selection process "foolproof".[22][43] Professor of psychiatry, Norman E. Rosenthal writes that during the training given by a certified TM teacher, "each student is assigned a specific mantra or sound, with instructions on its proper use".[40] He explains that the selection of a proper thought or mantra "becomes increasingly important when we consider that the power of thought increases when the thought is appreciated in its infant stages of development".[46][47] The Maharishi says that mantras chosen for initiates should "resonate to the pulse of his thought and as it resonates, create an increasingly soothing influence",[48] and that the chosen mantra's vibrations "harmonize" with the meditator, and suits their "nature and way of life".[49][50] TM students are therefore given a "specially suited mantra".[15][51] Author George D. Chryssides writes that, according to the Maharishi, "using just any mantra can be dangerous", the mantras for "householders" and for recluses differ. The Transcendental Meditation mantras are appropriate mantras for householders, while most mantras commonly found in books, such as "Om", are mantras for recluses and "can cause a person to withdraw from life".[52][53][54]

Former TM teacher and author Lola Williamson reports that she told her TM students that their mantra was chosen for them based on their personal interview,[55] while sociologist Roy Wallis, religious scholar J. Gordon Melton and Bainbridge write that the mantras are assigned by age and gender.[15][56][57][58][59][60] In 1984, 16 mantras[15][61][62] were published in Omni magazine based on information from "disaffected TM teachers".[63][64] According to Chryssides, TM teachers say that the promised results are dependent on a trained Transcendental Meditation teacher choosing the mantra for their student.[52]

Meaning and sound value

In his 1963 book The Science of Being and Art of Living, the Maharishi writes that words create waves of vibrations, and the quality of vibration of a mantra should correspond to the vibrational quality of the individual. Likewise, religious studies scholar, Thomas Forsthoefel writes, "the theory of mantras is the theory of sound".[65] Author William Jefferson writes that the "euphonics" of mantras are important.[43] Sociologist Stephen J. Hunt and others say that the mantra used in the Transcendental Meditation technique has no meaning, but that the sound itself is sacred.[42][62] In Kerala, India, in 1955, the Maharishi spoke of mantras in terms of personal deities, and according to religious studies scholar Cynthia Ann Humes, similar references can be found in his later works.[65][66]

According to authors Peter Russell and Norman Rosenthal, the sounds used in the technique are taken from the ancient Vedic tradition, have "no specific meaning",[40][67] and are selected for their suitability for the individual.[68] Author, Lola Williamson writes that the bija, or seed mantras used in TM come from the Tantric, rather than Vedic tradition, and that bija mantras are "traditionally associated with particular deities and used as a form of worship".[69][70] According to Needleman, many mantras come from the Vedas or Vedic hymns, which are "the root for all later Hindu scripture",[22] while the 1977 court case Malnak vs. Yogi accepted the TM mantras as meaningless sounds.[71] Likewise, philosophy of science scholar and former Maharishi International University professor Jonathan Shear, writes in his book The Experience of Meditation: Experts Introduce the Major Traditions, that the mantras used in the TM technique are independent of meaning associated with any language, and are used for their mental, sound value alone.[72] Fred Travis, Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science at Maharishi University of Management, writes in a 2009 article published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology that "unlike most mantra meditations, any possible meaning of the mantra is not part of Transcendental Meditation practice".[73]

Course descriptions

The Transcendental Meditation technique is taught in a standardized seven-step course over 6 days by a certified TM teacher.[74][5][26][75][76][77] Except for a requirement to refrain from using non-prescription drugs for 15 days before learning TM,[22][78] all who want to learn are taught. The technique is taught via private and group instruction by a TM teacher trained to instruct students and provide follow up.[40] Instruction is given on separate days, beginning with a one hour "introductory lecture" intended to prepare the student for subsequent steps.[26] The lecture discusses mind potential, social relationships, health, and "promoting inner and outer peace". The second step is a 45 minute "preparatory lecture", whose topic is the theory of the practice, its origins and its relationship to other types of meditation.[26][75][79] This is followed by the third step: a private, ten minute, personal interview, allowing the TM teacher to get acquainted with the student and answer questions.[40][75][80]

According to the TM web site, the personal instruction session takes 1–2 hours,[79] and students are required to bring a clean handkerchief, some flowers and fruit, and their course fee.[15] The initiation begins with a short puja ceremony performed by the teacher. The stated purpose of the ceremony is to show honor and gratitude to the lineage of TM "masters",[15][81] or "Holy Tradition"[82] that is listed in the Maharishi's translation and commentary of the Bhagavad-Gita.[83] It is regarded as putting students in the right frame of mind to receive the mantra.[55] The ceremony is conducted in a private room with a "little" altar "draped in white", filled with incense, camphor, rice, flowers and a picture of Guru Dev.[55][84] The initiate observes passively as the teacher recites a text in Sanskrit.[82] After the ceremony, the "meditators" are "invited to bow", receive their mantra and begin to meditate.[50][55][84][85] Former TM teacher and University professor Don Krieger, calls the ceremony "an act of idolatry",[84] while former U.S. Congressman Richard Nolan describes it as "corny". According to author William Jefferson, "even people who no longer do TM were never bothered by the ceremony".[43]

On the day after the personal instruction session, the student begins a series of three, 90 to 120 minute "teaching sessions", held on three consecutive days, called "three days of checking".[5][40] Their stated purpose is to "verify the correctness of the practice" and to receive further instruction.[79] The first day's checking meeting takes place in a group on the day following personal instruction, and gives information about correct practice based on each student's own experience.[75] The second day of checking uses the same group format, and gives more details of the mechanics of the practice and potential results of the practice, based on student experiences.[75] The third day of checking focuses on subjective growth and the potential development of higher stages of human consciousness, and outlines the follow-up programs available as part of the course.[4][5][86][87] New meditators later return for private follow-up sessions to confirm that they are practicing the technique properly, a process called "personal checking".[22] The preferred schedule for follow up classes is 30 minutes, once per week for one month, and once per month thereafter. The purpose of the follow-up, or "checking sessions", is to verify the practice, give an opportunity for one-on-one contact with a TM teacher, and to address any problems or questions.[40][80] Course graduates may access a lifetime follow-up program which includes consultations, "refresher courses", advanced lectures and group meditations.[88][89] Advanced courses include weekend Residence Courses and the TM-Sidhi program.

According to the TM organization, TM course fees cover initial training and the lifetime follow-up program, while helping to build and maintain TM centers and schools in India and around the world.[90][91] The fees also reportedly provide TM scholarships for special needs groups, as well as grants and scholarships through TM's Maharishi Foundation USA, a government approved 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization.[79][91] The fees may vary from country to country, depending on the cost of living,[91] and has changed periodically during the 50 year period it has been taught.

The Maharishi has drawn criticism from yogis and "stricter Hindus" who have accused him of selling "commercial mantras". At the same time, the Maharishi's "promises of better health, stress relief and spiritual enlightenment" have drawn "devotees from all over the world", despite the fees.[92][93][94] According to The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions, by Brandon Toropov and Father Luke Buckles, insistence on fees for TM instruction has caused critics to question the Maharishi's motives however "the movement is not, to all appearances, an exploitive one".[95]

Residence Course

The TM Residence Course is a multi-day, in-residence event that aims to "enrich a person's experience and understanding" of the Transcendental Meditation technique,[96] and accelerate personal growth.[97] During the course, participants add extra TM sessions to their daily routine and receive information about the "principles underlying the program" in an effort to deepen the restful and revitalizing aspects of the practice.[98] The courses may be up to a week in duration and are supervised by TM teachers,[99] who lead the group meditations, give lectures, teach yoga postures called asanas and breathing exercise called pranayama.[22][100] The TM Residence Course utilizes a more intensive meditation process called "rounding",[101] wherein yoga asanas, pranayama, a standard TM meditation, and rest, are practiced in sequence. Each sequence takes about 50 minutes and may be repeated several times.[102]

Yoga Asanas were initially introduced by Maharishi in 1962. "For good health it is necessary for everyone to do something with the body so that it remain flexible and normal," Maharishi said. "The advantage of Yoga Asanas over other eastern and western systems of physical posture is that they do not consume energy. They help restore life force, promote health and maintain normal conditions in the body." An introductory publication on yoga asanas in cooperation with a professor of yoga was printed at the University of Travancore, India, K.B. Hari Krishna.[103]

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.[104][105] The goal of the TM-Sidhi program is to accelerate personal growth and improve mind-body coordination [106] by training the mind to think from what the Maharishi has described as a fourth major state of consciousness[107] called: Transcendental Consciousness.[108]

Yogic Flying, a mental-physical exercise of hopping while cross-legged,[109][110] is a central aspect of the TM-Sidhi program. With the introduction of the TM-Sidhi program in 1976 it was postulated that the square root of 1 percent of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program, together at the same time and in the same place, would increase "life-supporting trends". This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".[111][112] These effects have been examined in 14 published studies, including a gathering of over 4,000 people in Washington DC in the summer of 1993.[111][113] While empirical studies have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals[114] this research remains controversial and has been characterized as pseudoscience by skeptic James Randi and others.[115][116]

TM teachers

According to Una Kroll in her book, The Healing Potential of Transcendental Meditation, the technique must be taught individually by certified TM teachers. She says the Maharishi was aware the technique could be discredited over time if taught incorrectly and mis-learnt. He felt that human beings because of their complexity could confuse and tangle up the simplicity of the technique, and, according to Kroll, the Maharishi felt the uniqueness of each human being requires individual guidance so that the technique can be most effective. [117]

The Maharishi began training TM teachers in the early 1960s,[118] and by 1978, there were 7,000 TM teachers in the U.S.[119] In 1985, there were an estimated 10,000 TM teachers worldwide,[120] and by 2003, there were 20,000 teachers,[121] and a reported 40,000 teachers in 2008.[122] Notable individuals trained to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique include Prudence Farrow,[123] John Gray,[124] Mitch Kapor,[125] and Mike Love.[126]

The first teacher training course was held in India with 30 participants in 1967 and 200 participants in 1970.[127] A four-month teacher training course was also held in the USA that year. The first part was four weeks long and was offered in both Poland, Maine and Humboldt, California with the final three months being held in Estes Park, Colorado. About 300 people completed the training.[128] In 1973, the TM teacher training course consisted of three months in-residence.[129] A 2007 TM web page and 2009 book, report that the TM teacher training course in more modern times consists of six-months in-residence,[25] and includes courses in Maharishi Vedic Science, extended meditation practice and becoming the "custodian" for an "ancient Vedic tradition". Additionally, TM teachers are trained to speak on the Transcendental Meditation program, teach it to others, provide "personal checking" of their student's meditation, create lectures on related topics, organize and lead advanced TM courses and programs.[130] The Maharishi trained his teachers to "make logical presentations in language suitable to their audiences", and teachers lead their students through a sequence of predetermined steps.[128]

A 2007 research study reported that details of the training and knowledge imparted to teachers are kept private.[80] In 1976, Janis Johnson wrote in The Christian Century that TM teachers sign a "loyalty-oath employment contract", saying "It is my fortune, Guru Dev, that I have been accepted to serve the Holy Tradition and spread the Light of God to all those who need it."[82][need quotation to verify] Author William Bainbridge writes that a section of a training bulletin for TM teachers called "Explanations of the Invocation" draws a "connection to Brahma, the Lord of Creation".[15] A 1993 article in the The Ottawa Citizen reported a partial translation of the puja as "Whosoever remembers the lotus-eyed Lord gains inner and outer purity. To Lord Naryan, to Lotus-born Brahman the creator, to Vaishistha, to Shakti, to Shankaracharya the emancipator, hailed as Krishna, to the Lord I bow down and down again. At whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection day and night".[131]

Some teach the TM technique full-time while those with other careers, teach part-time.[132][133][134] Jerry Jarvis, one of the first TM teachers in the U.S. is reported to have " personally instructed 5,000 people".[43] Some former TM teachers have said they felt they were lying and deceiving their students, regarding details about the mantras and the religious nature of TM.[135][136] TM teachers who have taken the TM-Sidhi course are called "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment".[137]

Research

Scientists have been conducting Transcendental Meditation (TM) research since the late 1960’s and 340 studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals.[8] The Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation[1] developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and has become one of the most widely researched meditation techniques.[7][138] TM research has played a role in the history of mind-body medicine[139][140] and helped create a new field of neuroscience.[141]

Early studies examined the physiological parameters of the meditation technique. Subsequent research included clinical applications, cognitive effects, mental health, medical costs, and rehabilitation. Beginning in the 1990s, research focused on cardiovascular disease supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.[142] Research reviews of the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique have yielded results ranging from inconclusive[143][144][145][146] to clinically significant.[147][148][149][150][151] More research is needed to determine the therapeutic effects of meditation practices and sources vary regarding their assessment of the quality of research. Some cite design limitations and a lack of methodological rigor,[80][144][152] while others assert that the quality is improving and that when suitable assessment criteria are applied, scientific evidence supports the therapeutic value of meditation.[153][154][155] Authors Canter and Ernst assert that some studies have the potential for bias due to the connection of researchers to the TM organization[156][157] while TM researchers point to their collaboration with independent researchers and universities as signs of objectivity.[158]

Institutional programs

In schools and universities

Transcendental Meditation in education (also known as Consciousness Based Education) is the application of the Transcendental Meditation technique in an educational setting or institution. These educational programs and institutions have been founded in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Africa and Japan. The Transcendental Meditation technique became popular with students in the 1960s and by the early 1970s centers for the Students International Mediation Society were established at a thousand campuses[159] in the USA with similar growth occurring in Germany, Canada and Britain.[160] The Maharishi International University was established in 1973 in the USA and began offering accredited, degree programs. In 1977 courses in Transcendental Meditation and the Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) were legally prohibited from New Jersey (USA) public high schools on religious grounds by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[161][162] This "dismantled" the TM program's use of government funding in U.S. public schools[65] "but did not constitute a negative evaluation of the program itself".[163] Since 1979, schools that incorporate the Transcendental Meditation technique using private, non-governmental funding have been reported in the USA, South America, Southeast Asia, Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel.[164][165][166]

A number of educational institutions have been founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Transcendental Meditation movement and its supporters. These institutions include several schools offering public and private secondary education in the USA (Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment),[167] England (Maharishi School),[168][169] Australia,[170][171][172] South Africa (Maharishi Invincibility School of Management),[173] and India (Maharishi Vidya Mandir Schools). Likewise, Maharishi colleges and universities have been established including Maharishi European Research University (Netherlands), Maharishi Institute of Management (India), Maharishi Institute of Management (India), Maharishi University of Management and Technology (India), Maharishi Institute (South Africa)[174][175] and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University (India). In the USA, critics have called Transcendental Meditation a revised form of Eastern, religious philosophy and opposed its use in public schools[176][177] while a member of the Pacific Justice Institute says practicing Transcendental Meditation in public schools with private funding is constitutional.[178]

Corporate programs

Transcendental Meditation has been utilized in corporations, both in the U.S.A and in India, under the auspices of the International Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence and the Maharishi Development Corporation. As of 2001, USA companies such as General Motors and IBM were subsidizing the TM course fee for their employees.[179] A number of Indian companies provide the TM technique to their managers. These companies include AirTel, Siemens, American Express, SRF Limited, Wipro, Hero Honda, Ranbaxy, Hewlett Packard, BHEL, BPL Group, ESPN Star Sports, Tisco, Eveready, Maruti, Godrej Group and Marico.[180] The Sunday Times Herald reports that there are "more than 100 Japanese companies where TM was introduced at induction."[181]

Social programs

The TM technique has been incorporated in a variety of U.S. social programs for criminals, the homeless and war veterans. In 1979, the TM technique was offered to inmates at Folsom prison, San Quentin and the Deuel Vocational Institute. According to a TM representative, meditation has been included at "over 25 prisons and correctional institutions" in the U.S.[182]

In the African country of Senegal, more than 11,000 prisoners and 900 correctional officers in 34 prisons received instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique between 1985 and 1987, and the wardens at 31 prisons signed a proclamation recommending that TM be offered throughout the entire system.[183][184] More recently, the TM technique has been introduced to prisoners in the Oregon Correctional System and a research study is underway to record the effects of the program.[183] Since the late 1980's the TM technique has been offered as part of the programs at Fundacion Hogares Claret sanctuary for homeless and orphaned children in Medellin, Colombia.[185]

In 1996, Judge David Mason of the 22nd Judicial Circuit of St Louis, Missouri, began offering the Transcendental Meditation program to criminal offenders in Missouri. The program is administered by the non-profit, Enlightened Sentencing Project and has received endorsements from Federal Judge Henry Edward Autrey, and other members of the Missouri District, Federal, and Supreme Courts.[186]

In 2010, the Doe Fund of New York City began offering the TM technique to its residents, and homeless men were given instruction in the TM technique through an organization called Ready, Willing and Able.[187][188][189][190] In 2010, the Superintendent of Prisons announced that the TM technique was being offered to inmates at the Dominica State Prison.[191] In 2011, the technique was taught to about 65 individuals at the Children of the Night shelter for teen prostitutes in Los Angeles.[192][193] Psychiatry professor, Norman E. Rosenthal says that TM is compatible with most "drug treatment approaches" and could be incorporated "into an overall treatment program."[183]

Military

The TM technique was first employed by the military in 1985, when it conducted "a small pilot study" on Vietnam veterans.[194] The Transcendental Meditation technique was taught to military personnel with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) as part of two research studies conducted at the University of Colorado and Georgetown University in 2010.[195][196][197][198][199][200] In 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it was "studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars"[201] and the Department of Defense funded a $2.4 million grant to Maharishi University of Management Research Institute and the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center to further investigate the potential effect of the TM technique on PTSD. [194] Other initiatives to teach the TM technique to war veterans at risk for PTSD, are ongoing.[202][203] The technique has been taught to students at Norwich University, a private military academy, as part of a long-term study on meditation and military performance.[204][205]

Theoretical concepts

Views on consciousness (1963)

In his 1963 book, The Science Of Being and Art Of Living, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says that, over time, through the practice of the TM technique, the conscious mind gains familiarity with deeper levels of the mind, bringing the subconscious mind within the capacity of the conscious mind, resulting in expanded awareness in daily activity. He also teaches that the Transcendental Meditation practitioner transcends all mental activity and experiences the 'source of thought', which is said to be pure silence, 'pure awareness' or 'transcendental Being', 'the ultimate reality of life'.[23][26][41][206] TM is sometimes self described as a technology of consciousness.[42] Pathologist Vimal Patel, says TM has been shown to produce states that are physiologically different from waking, dreaming and sleeping.[207]

According to the Maharishi, there are seven levels of consciousness: (i) waking; (ii) dreaming; (iii) deep sleep; (iv) transcendental consciousness; (v) cosmic consciousness; (vi) God consciousness; and, (vii) unity consciousness.[208] The Maharishi says that transcendental consciousness can be experienced through Transcendental Meditation, and that those who meditate diligently could become aware of cosmic consciousness.[209] A indication of cosmic consciousness is "ever present wakefulness" that is present even during sleep.[210] Research on long term TM practitioners experiencing what they describe as cosmic consciousness, has identified unique EEG profiles, muscle tone measurements, and REM indicators that suggest physiological parameters for this self described state of consciousness.[210][211] However, the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness notes that it is premature to say that the EEG coherence found in TM is an indication of a higher state of consciousness.[212]

Science of Creative Intelligence (1971)

In 1961, the Maharishi created the "International Meditation Society for the Science of Creative Intelligence".[213] In 1971 the Maharishi inaugurated "Maharishi's Year of Science of Creative Intelligence" and described SCI as the connection of "modern science with ancient Vedic science".[214] Author, Philip Goldberg describes it as Vedanta philosophy that has been translated into scientific language.[215] A series of international symposiums on the Science of Creative Intelligence were held between 1970 and 1973 and were attended by scientists and "leading thinkers", including Buckminster Fuller, Melvin Calvin, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Hans Selye, Marshal McLuhan and Jonas Salk.[215] These symposiums were held at universities such as Humboldt State University and University of Massachusetts.[216][217][218][219] The following year, the Maharishi developed a World Plan to spread his teaching of SCI around the world.[219][220]

The theoretical part of SCI is taught in a 33-lesson video course.[221] In the early 1970's the SCI course was offered at more than 25 American universities including Stanford University, Yale, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, and Oregon State University.[219][222][223] Until 2009, Maharishi University of Management (MUM) required its undergraduate students to take SCI classes,[224][225][226][227] and both MUM and Maharishi European Research University (MERU) in Switzerland have awarded degrees in the field.[228] The Independent reports that children at Maharishi School learn SCI principles such as "the nature of life is to grow" and "order is present everywhere".[229] SCI is reported to be part of the curriculum of TM related lower schools in Iowa, Wheaton, Maryland[230] and Skelmersdale, UK.[231] In 1975 SCI was used as the call letters for a TM owned television station in San Bernardino, California.[232]

Theologian Robert M. Price, writing in the Creation/Evolution Journal (the journal of the National Center for Science Education), compares the Science of Creative Intelligence to Creationism.[233] Price says instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique is "never offered without indoctrination into the metaphysics of 'creative intelligence'".[233] Skeptic James Randi says SCI has "no scientific characteristics."[115] Astrophysicist and skeptic Carl Sagan writes that the 'Hindu doctrine' of TM is a pseudoscience.[116] Irving Hexham, a professor of religious studies, describes the TM teachings as "pseudoscientific language that masks its religious nature by mythologizing science".[213] Sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge describe the SCI videotapes as largely based on the Bhagavad Gita, and say that they are "laced with parables and metaphysical postulates, rather than anything that can be recognized as conventional science".[59] In 1979, the court case Malnak v Yogi determined that although SCI/TM is not a theistic religion, it deals with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those in well-recognized religions.[234] Maharishi biographer Paul Mason suggests that the scientific terminology used in SCI was developed by the Maharishi as part of a restructuring of his philosophies in terms that would gain greater acceptance and increase the number of people starting the TM technique. He says that this change toward a more academic language was welcomed by many of the Maharishi's American students.[235]

Maharishi Effect (1974)

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi postulated that the quality of life would noticeably improved if one percent of the population practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique. This is known as the "Maharishi Effect" and according to the Maharishi, it was perceived in 1974 after an analysis of crime statistics in 16 cities.[23][111][236] Author Ted Karam writes that there have been numerous studies on the Maharishi Effect including a gathering of over 4,000 people in Washington DC in the summer of 1993.[111] With the introduction of the TM-Sidhi program including Yogic Flying, the Maharishi proposed that the square root of 1 percent of the population practicing this advanced program together at the same time and in the same place would create benefits in society. This was referred to as the "Extended Maharishi Effect".[111][112]

The TM organization has linked the Maharishi Effect to the fall of the Berlin Wall and a reduction in global terrorism, US inflation and crime rates.[237] The Maharishi Effect has been endorsed by the former President of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano,[238] and examined in 42 scientific studies.[239] Critics, such as James Randi have called this research "pseudoscience".[240] Randi says that he investigated comments made by former Maharishi International University faculty member Robert Rabinoff in 1978. Randi says he spoke to the Fairfield Chief of Police who reported local crime levels were the same and the regional Agriculture Department who said farm yields for Jefferson County matched the state average.[241]

Maharishi Vedic Science (1981)

The Maharishi proclaimed 1981 as the Year of Vedic Science.[23] Maharishi Vedic Science (MVS) is defined by author Patrick Williams as "a practical, workable Vedic science that is integrated with modern science" and a "scientific approach to human development based on complete knowledge and systematic techniques".[100] It is based on the Maharishi's interpretation of ancient Vedic texts and includes subjective technologies like the Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi program plus programs like Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV) and Maharishi Vedic Astrology (MVA) services which apply Vedic science to day-to-day living.[242][243] Vedic science studies the various aspects of life and their relationship to the Veda.

Characterizations

Characterizations of the TM technique vary amongst scholars, clergy, notable practitioners and governments. According to the Maharishi his technique requires no preparation, is simple to do, and can be learned by anyone.[244] The technique is described as effortless[245] and without contemplation or concentration[76] Author Peter Russell says trying to control the mind is like trying to go to sleep at night, it won't work.[76] He says instead, the TM technique utilizes the tendency of the mind to move towards greater satisfaction.[42][72][73][246] According to TM advocates, the technique is "purely a mechanical, physiological process", the "two-minute ceremony" invokes no deities, the mantras are "sounds without meaning" and the technique "pre-dates Hinduism by 5,000 years".[178] Anthony Campbell, author of the book Seven States of Consciousness, writes that TM requires no "special circumstances or preparations" and does "not depend upon belief".[247][248] A 2011 article in Details characterizes the TM technique as a "Hindu meditation practice ["stripped"] of its religious baggage" offered "as a systematic, stress-reducing, creativity-building technique".[249] Martin Gardner, a mathematician, has referred to TM as "the Hindu cult"[250] According to author R.S. Bajpai, the Maharishi "secularized the TM [sic] by purging it of all the religious rites and rituals and spiritual mysticism".[251]

Religious leaders

Some religious leaders and clergy find Transcendental Meditation compatible with their religious teachings and beliefs while others do not.[252][253][254] Catholic monk Wayne Teasdale writes in his book The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions, that Transcendental Meditation is what is called an open or receptive method that can be described as giving up control and remaining open in an inner sense.[255] In 1968, the archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey "came to the support of Maharishi's theory".[43] Author William Jefferson writes in 1976 that a Jewish Revivalist called TM "an insidious form of worship" while Trappist monks in Spencer, Massachusetts find it useful.[43] In 1984, Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, wrote a pastoral statement after Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos invited more than 1,000 members of the TM movement to Manila, saying that neither the doctrine nor the practice of TM are acceptable to Christians.[256] In one of his books, the Maharishi referred to TM as "a path to God".[257] [need quotation to verify] In 2003, the Roman Curia, a Vatican council, published a warning against mixing eastern meditations, such as TM, with Christian prayer.[258] Clergy who practice the TM technique and find it compatible with their religious beliefs include: Catholic Father Len Dubi,[259] Orthodox Rabbi Abe Shainberg ,[260] Irish Jesuit William Johnston,[261] Donald Craig Drummon; a Presbyterian minister, Rabbi Raphael Levine; Rabbi Emeritus Temple De Hirsh Sinai, Reverend Placide Gaboury; a Jesuit priest who teaches at the University of Sudbury[222] Reverend Kevin Joyce; a catholic priest and Keith Wollard, a United Church minister.[262]

Notable laypersons

Notable laypersons who practice the TM technique include David Lynch, who was raised a Presbyterian and Clint Eastwood who says he found "there were no religious aspects,"[43][263] Political commentator and Roman Catholic, Andrew Sullivan,[264][265] and Pulitzer Prize winner, Tim Page.[266] Musician George Harrison was once asked if TM could substitute for religion, to which he replied, "It's not a substitute for religion. It is a religion."[267] According to John Lennon, "You can make it with meditation if you're a Christian, a Mohammedan or a Jew. You just add meditation to whatever religion you've got".[268]

Scholars

The Transcendental Meditation technique has been variously described by sociologists and religious scholars as religious and non-religious.[269] According to sociologist Stephen J. Hunt, author of the book Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction, the TM technique describes itself as a "technology of consciousness" and has the goal of developing the full potential of the person, including spiritual and psychological progress, while fulfilling some of the self-improvement goals of many religious and semi-religious organizations. Its adherents says it is a non-religious, "scientific strategy", yet it appears to have "spiritual elements" such as the puja ceremony performed during the TM instruction.[42] Religious studies scholar Eugene V. Gallagher writes that, "TM practitioners describe TM as a science rather than a religious discipline", but its "meditation principles were clearly derived from Hindu practice".[270]

In the book Cults and New Religious Movements, author Roy Wallis characterizes Transcendental Meditation as a "world affirming new religion" that "lacks most of the features traditionally associated with religion".[271] Authors Liebler and Moss write that "unlike some forms of meditation, the TM technique does not require adherence to any belief system".[272] Religious studies scholars Michael Phelan and James R. Lewis say that TM participants "may meditate for relaxation, but otherwise have no contact with TM", and that TM "attracts a large number of people with low levels of commitment around a much smaller group of highly committed followers."[41][273] Moreover, Phelan writes that TM is "being opposed by many religious groups who believe that it is a religious practice", and that "the TM objectives and methods are congruous with the criteria of revitalization movements [as] defined by Anthony F.C. Wallace"... "whose goal is to create a better culture."[41] Religion scholar Charles H. Lippy writes that earlier spiritual interest in the technique faded in the 1970s, and it became a practical technique that anyone could employ without abandoning their religious affiliation.[274]

On the other hand, Bainbridge finds Transcendental Meditation to be a "...highly simplified form of Hinduism, adapted for Westerners who did not possess the cultural background to accept the full panoply of Hindu beliefs, symbols, and practices",[15][275] and describes the Transcendental Meditation puja ceremony as "...in essence, a religious initiation ceremony".[15] Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh of the Greek Orthodox Church describes TM as "a new version of Hindu Yoga" based on "pagan pseudo-worship and deification of a common mortal, Guru Dev".[16]

In the book Cults and New Religions, Cowan and Bromley write that TM is presented to the public as a meditation practice that has been validated by science, but is not a religious practice nor is it affiliated with a religious tradition. They say that "although there are some dedicated followers of TM who devote most or all of their time to furthering the practice of Transcendental Meditation in late modern society, the vast majority of those who practice do so on their own, often as part of what has been loosely described as the New Age Movement."[276] They say that most scholars view Transcendental Meditation as having elements of both therapy and religion, but that "Transcendental Meditation has no designated scripture, no set of doctrinal requirements, no ongoing worship activity, and no discernible community of believers." They also say that Maharishi did not claim to have special divine revelation or supernatural personal qualities.[277][278]

Authors of the book A Reader in New Religious Movements, George D. Chryssides and Margaret Z. Wilkins, write that Transcendental Meditation and other new religious movements have been criticized for "surreptitiously smuggling in forms of Eastern religion under the guise of some seemingly innocuous technique of self improvement or health promotion".[279] Chryssides goes on to say in his book Exploring New Religions that although one can identify the Maharishi's Hindu background, Hindu lineage, mantras and initiation ceremony, TM is unlike religion in its "key elements": "there is no public worship, no code of ethics, no scriptures to be studied, and no rites of passage that are observed, such as dietary laws, giving to the poor, or pilgrimages."[17] Psychiatry professor Norman E. Rosenthal, author of Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation, writes that "Maharishi extracted the TM technique from its religious context and distilled it to its essence, which he believed could be of value to people of all creeds."[19]

Government

The characterizations and responses to the TM technique by governmental agencies have varied depending on the time period, the specific agency and its country of origin. In 1968, the Maharishi conducted a one hour meeting with Secretary General of the United Nations U Thant. In the 1970s, courses in the TM technique were conducted at 47 military installations around the world (including eight in the U.S.), with 150 enrolling in the course at the West Point military academy. The TM technique was also taught at five U.S. federal prisons, and three in Germany and Canada. During this period, ten U.S. Senators and more than 100 Congressional staff members learned the technique.[43] In 1972, the Maharishi met with the Governor of Illinois (Daniel Walker) and received a standing ovation when he addressed the Illinois state legislature before they passed a resolution characterizing Maharishi’s Science of Creative Intelligence as useful for Illinois public schools.[280][281] In 1974, Transcendental Meditation was cited in two Congressional records regarding the Science of Creative Intelligence course being offered at 30 American universities and the TM technique being "in use" in some American prisons, mental institutions and drug rehabilitation centers.[222]

In 1975, TM's founder met with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to discuss "the possibility of structuring an ideal society" through Transcendental Mediation,[282][283][284] and the U.S. Congress passed Senate Resolution #64: A Resolution to Increase Public Awareness of Transcendental Meditation and gave TM a "favorable" characterization.[41] In 1977 a New Jersey, U.S. district court held that a curriculum comprising the Science of Creative Intelligence and TM was religious in nature (Malnak v Yogi). The decision was appealed and in 1979 the 3rd Circuit opinion affirmed the decision and held that although SCI/TM is not a theistic religion, it deals with issues of ultimate concern, truth, and other ideas analogous to those of well-recognized religions and it therefore violated the Establishment Clause. Beginning in 1979 the German government released a number of booklets about problems arising for seven new religious movements in Germany, with the German term for these organizations variously translated as "psychogroups" and "psychotheraphy groups." These organizations, including TM, filed lawsuits trying to block the reports. The courts ruled that the booklets must only include factual information and exclude speculation, rumors, and matters that are unclear, and the booklets were re-released primarily containing quotations from materials of the organizations themselves.[285][286][need quotation to verify][287] In 1996 a commission appointed by the German government concluded that new religious movements and "psychotherapy groups" did not present any danger to the state or to society.[287] In 1987, an Israeli government report that was criticized as "one sided and negative", defined TM as a "cult group"... "targeted by anti-cult activists".[288][289] The 1995 report of the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France included Transcendental Meditation in its list of cults.[290][need quotation to verify] The U.S. government has characterized the Transcendental Meditation technique as worthy of research and has awarded more than $25 million in funding from different branches of the National Institutes of Health for scientific analysis of the effects of TM on high blood pressure.[291][24][292] The U.S. United States Department of Veterans Affairs sees it as a potential tool for the "treatment" of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and commenced research on the technique (and two other meditation systems) in 2012.[293][294] According to author Patrick Gresham Williams, "the government will pay" for any U.S. veteran to learn TM if it is prescribed by a Veterans Administration medical doctor.[100]

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  139. ^ Harrington, Anne (2008). The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 20. This chapter explores three contrapuntal and distinct moments in this process, the historical emergence of three variants employing the basic 'Eastward journeys' template in mind-body medicine: the medicalization of meditation, especially transcendental meditation, in the 1970s....
  140. ^ Stephen Devries, ed. (2011). "The Integrative Approach to Hypertension, Ch. 11". Integrative Cardiology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 237. 978-0195383461. TM was brought to the west in the late 1950s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a visionary Indian sage trained in physics, who saw meditation as a means of alleviating stress in individuals and society. 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 {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  141. ^ Begley, Sharon (February 18, 2008). "His Magical Mystery Tour". Newsweek: 18. Whatever you think of the 'White Album,' give the Maharishi credit for helping launch what's become a legitimate new field of neuroscience.
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  143. ^ Ospina, MB.; Bond, K.; Karkhaneh, M.; Tjosvold, L.; Vandermeer, B.; Liang, Y.; Bialy, L.; Hooton, N.; Buscemi, N. (2007). "Meditation practices for health: state of the research" (PDF). Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) (155): 4. PMID 17764203. Meta-analyses based on low-quality studies and small numbers of hypertensive participants showed that TM®, Qi Gong and Zen Buddhist meditation significantly reduced blood pressure [...] A few studies of overall poor methodological quality were available for each comparison in the meta-analyses, most of which reported nonsignificant results. TM had no advantage over health education to improve measures of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, body weight, heart rate, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol, dietary intake, and level of physical activity in hypertensive patients {{cite journal}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  144. ^ a b Krisanaprakornkit, T.; Krisanaprakornkit, W.; Piyavhatkul, N.; Laopaiboon, M. (2006). Krisanaprakornkit, Thawatchai (ed.). "Meditation therapy for anxiety disorders". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1): CD004998. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004998.pub2. PMID 16437509. The small number of studies included in this review do not permit any conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of meditation therapy for anxiety disorders. Transcendental meditation is comparable with other kinds of relaxation therapies in reducing anxiety
  145. ^ Canter PH, Ernst E (2004). "Insufficient evidence to conclude whether or not Transcendental Meditation decreases blood pressure: results of a systematic review of randomized clinical trials". Journal of Hypertension. 22 (11): 2049–54. doi:10.1097/00004872-200411000-00002. PMID 15480084. There is at present insufficient good-quality evidence to conclude whether or not TM has a cumulative positive effect on blood pressure. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  146. ^ Canter PH, Ernst E (2003). "The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function--a systematic review of randomised controlled trials". Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 115 (21–22): 758–66. doi:10.1007/BF03040500. PMID 14743579. The claim that TM has a specific and cumulative effect on cognitive function is not supported by the evidence from randomized controlled trials. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  147. ^ John Vogel, Rebecca Costello, and Mitchell Krucoff, Chapter 47 in Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, Peter Libbie, et al, eds, Saunders Elsevier, 2007, p. 1157. Quotation: "TM has been shown not only to improve blood pressure but also the insulin resistance components of the metabolic syndrome and cardiac autonomic nervous system tone."
  148. ^ Italo Biaggioni, ed. (2011). Primer on the Autonomic Nervous System. Geoffrey Burnstock, Phillip A. Low, Julian F.R. Paton (3rd ed.). USA: Academic Press. pp. 297–298. A meta-analysis of these studies indicates that TM significantly decreased low and high risk participants' systolic and diastolic blood pressures. . . . In addition, psychological distress and coping abilities were significantly improved compared to control TM groups in both low and high risk groups. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  149. ^ Sedlmeier, Peter (2012). "The Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Meta-Analysis". Psychological Bulletin: 19. doi:10.1037/a0028168. Retrieved Aug 9, 2012. Comparatively strong effects for TM (compared to the two other approaches) were found in reducing negative emotions, trait anxiety, and neuroticism, and being helpful in learning and memory and in self-realization (see also Table 3). This finding is consistent with prior meta-analyses that found superior effects of TM in trait anxiety and measures of self-realization. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  150. ^ Chen, Kevin W. (2012). "Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". Depression and Anxiety. 29 (7): 1, 11–12. doi:10.1002/da.21964. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  151. ^ Stephen Devries, ed. (2011). "The Integrative Approach to Hypertension, Ch. 11". Integrative Cardiology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 236, 237. 978-0195383461. A 2008 meta-analysis of nine studies found a 4.7 mmHg systolic blood pressure and 3.2 mmHg diastolic blood pressure decrease in those who practiced TM compared to control groups that included health education. These decreases were judged to be clinically significant. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  152. ^ Krisanaprakornkit T, Ngamjarus C, Witoonchart C, Piyavhatkul N (2010). Krisanaprakornkit, Thawatchai (ed.). "Meditation therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)". Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 6 (6): CD006507. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006507.pub2. PMID 20556767. As a result of the limited number of included studies, the small sample sizes and the high risk of bias{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  153. ^ Sedlmeier, Peter (2012). "The Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Meta-Analysis". Psychological Bulletin. doi:10.1037/a0028168. Retrieved Aug 9, 2012. . . . notwithstanding the not so positive conclusion of Ospina et al., the claim of therapeutic benefits of meditation is backed up by growing empirical evidence. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  154. ^ Chen, Kevin W. (2012). "Meditative Therapies for Reducing Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". Depression and Anxiety. 29 (7): 545–562. doi:10.1002/da.21964. (referring to studies included in their review) "The general quality of these RCTs were acceptable as per CLEAR-NPT: sixteen (40%) studies had a quality score of 0.8 or better, indicating a good quality in research design (p. 5) . . . . the majority of existing reviews have applied evaluation criteria based on pharmaceutical RCT's that tended to underestimate the actual quality of these studies, since many of the traditional criteria for quality assessment may not apply to the study of meditative therapies (p. 3) . . . . the overall quality of meditation studies have increased continuously in the past 10 years. Our analysis of study quality over time indicates that studies published prior to 2000 had a relatively lower quality score (CLEAR = .66), studies published in 2000-2005 had a slightly higher score (CLEAR = .69), whereas studies published after 2006 has a mean quality score of .75 (p. 13) {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  155. ^ Walsh, R. (2011, January 17). "Lifestyle and Mental Health". American Psychologist: 8. doi:10.1037/a0021769. It is now clear that meditation, either alone or in combination with other therapies, can be beneficial for both normal and multiple clinical populations. (Cites Anderson, Liu, & Kryscio, 2008, among others.) {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  156. ^ Canter PH, Ernst E (2004). "Insufficient evidence to conclude whether or not Transcendental Meditation decreases blood pressure: results of a systematic review of randomized clinical trials". Journal of Hypertension. 22 (11): 2049–54. doi:10.1097/00004872-200411000-00002. PMID 15480084. All the randomized clinical trials of TM for the control of blood pressure published to date have important methodological weaknesses and are potentially biased by the affiliation of authors to the TM organization. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  157. ^ Canter PH, Ernst E (2003). "The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function--a systematic review of randomised controlled trials". Wien. Klin. Wochenschr. 115 (21–22): 758–66. doi:10.1007/BF03040500. PMID 14743579. All 4 positive trials recruited subjects from among people favourably predisposed towards TM, and used passive control procedures … The association observed between positive outcome, subject selection procedure and control procedure suggests that the large positive effects reported in 4 trials result from an expectation effect. The claim that TM has a specific and cumulative effect on cognitive function is not supported by the evidence from randomized controlled trials. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  158. ^ David W. Orme-Johnson, Vernon A. Barnes, Alex M. Hankey, Roger A. Chalmers (2005). "Reply to critics of research on Transcendental Meditation in the prevention and control of hypertension" (PDF). Journal of Hypertension. 23: 1107–111. The six RCTs were co-authored by 10 independent collaborators from Harvard University and the University of Maryland [7], West Oakland Health Center, University of Arkansas, and the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic [8,12], University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics [9], and the Georgia Institute for Prevention of Human Disease and the Medical College of Georgia [10,11]. Blood pressure data were collected blind by personnel at independent institutions. The collaborators did not have any particular commitment to TM or the TM organization and none would gain financially from the research results. The studies were funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health [7], the National Institutes of Health, including the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute [8–12], the Retirement Research Foundation [8], and the American Heart Association [10,11]. Grant proposals from these agencies are subject to stringent peer review under highly competitive conditions, and only those proposals with the best research designs conducted under the most objective conditions are funded. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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