Transcendental meditation

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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (2007)

Transcendental Meditation (TM) is the name of a " Spiritual Regeneration Movement " founded in 1957 by the Indian Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , which attracted attention in the West through its attempts to fly, known as "Yogic Flying". The name TM also stands for a slightly modified form of traditional yoga brought to life by Maharishi , which includes a specific series of meditative exercises. The meditation technique (TM) is taught for a fee and is protected by trademark. The organization, often referred to as the "TM movement", has been renamed several times. Since 2000 it has appeared as the “Global Country of World Peace”. According to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the technique is based on ideas from the Vedas and oral traditions of his teacher Brahmananda Saraswati . There are also extensive economic activities in Ayurveda . Associated with the techniques is an esoteric teaching system widespread by Maharishi and his organization , the so-called "Maharishi Vedic Science", which contains, among other things, teachings on architecture, astrology, music and education. The aim of the movement is to rebuild society according to its principles, which should lead to a reduction in suffering and more happiness for all people. In addition to economic activities, the organization is active in the field of education in various countries. In order to pursue political goals, several natural law parties were founded in 1992 , which were dissolved again in 2004.

history

1957-1969

In 1957 Maharishi founded the Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM) in Madras during a memorial event in honor of his deceased teacher Swami Brahmananda Saraswati with the aim of worldwide "spiritual renewal". Extensive travels took him to Southeast Asia, the USA and Europe. Maharishi visited West Germany for the first time in 1960. Two years later the organization already had 18 meditation centers in what was then the Federal Republic. In 1961 the first TM meditation academy was established in Rishikesh , Uttar Pradesh , in northern India , in which the first international TM teacher training courses were held in the same year. Two books written Maharishi at this time: The Science of Being and Art of Living (Engl .: The Science of Being and the Art of Living ) and an annotated retranslation of the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita , a key text of the Vedic literature.

While in the early years mainly spiritually interested middle-class adults learned TM, with the founding of the Students' International Meditation Society (SIMS) in 1965 the younger generation's interest in TM also grew . In 1968, 12,000 students in the United States had already learned TM; in 1970 there were 32,000. As a result of this development, Maharishi began to clothe his message in terms that seemed scientific. The result was the Science of Creative Intelligence ( Science of Creative Intelligence , WKI), today part of the course program. In parallel with the new terminology, Maharishi urged scientific substantiation of the effects of Transcendental Meditation. The social scientist Hank Johnston sees two reasons for the success of the TM organization at the time: the universality of its meditation technique and the ability of the organization to adapt its message to different target groups.

In 1968, the turn of pop and film greats - The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , Mike Love ( The Beach Boys ), Donovan , Mia Farrow , Shirley MacLaine - ensured a growing media presence and a boom in the number of course participants. The pictures that showed the Beatles and their wives, Donovan and Mia Farrow at the feet of Maharishi in what was then the meditation academy in Rishikesh , India (1968), went around the world and were an important stimulus for the beginning flower power movement. At the same time, the West's interest in Eastern philosophy grew and contributed to this development. The Beatles temporarily turned their backs on Maharishi due to rumors of advances to a student. John Lennon wrote his furious Maharishi-themed Sexy Sadie , which was released on the White Album (1968). Later, Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Harrison's friend Deepak Chopra denied that there had ever been attacks and reaffirmed their support for him and his meditation.

Foundation of the "World Government of the Age of Enlightenment"

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

His "Age of Enlightenment" proclaimed on January 12, 1975 on Lake Lucerne , Switzerland, and the "World Government of the Age of Enlightenment" founded in 1976 with ten "Ministries" (including a "Ministry of Health and Immortality") - at that time was the headquarters the movement in the Swiss mountain village of Seelisberg - irritated not only skeptics. The reason was statistics according to which the number of TM meditators had exceeded the threshold of 1 percent in a dozen small and medium-sized US cities and a decrease in crime had been observed at the same time. The TM organization related both to one another and has since spoken of the “Maharishi Effect”, with the help of which it is possible to bring the whole world into a state of peace and prosperity. The strikingly provocative proclamation of this “new era” in metropolises such as New York, London, Paris, Hamburg and Berlin increasingly called on critics who saw the movement as a “dangerous youth sect”.

Maharishi's launch of supplementary meditation techniques in 1976 provided further material for discussion. The TM-Sidhi program, derived from a text by the Vedic scholar Patanjali , aims to promote supernatural abilities and “higher states of consciousness”. "Yogic flying" in particular has been causing heated disputes since then and repeatedly exposes the TM movement to the scent of charlatanry.

Undeterred by such criticism, the TM organization announced in 1978, based on new statistics, that with the help of the TM-Sidhi program, only a fraction of that "1 percent of the population" was sufficient to trigger the desired Maharishi effect: provided the program is implemented practiced simultaneously by large groups. This “extended Maharishi effect” works like a silent “government”: as “world government of the age of enlightenment”, as Maharishi now called the organization.

In 1975 the "Residence of the Age of Enlightenment" was opened in Schledehausen near Osnabrück in Lower Saxony . The establishment of further academies u. a. in Boppard, Bad Urach, Wachendorf and Maharishi Ayurveda clinics met with criticism and rejection from the public.

TM school ban and proof of religion 1977

In 1977, a small coalition of TM opponents sued a US court in New Jersey to get a ban on TM courses at a public school. In addition, the TM opponents had to plausibly prove to the court that TM is a religion , which the TM lawyers vehemently denied. Proof was successful, the TM opponents won the process and since the American Constitution forbids state support for a certain religion, the court ruled that TM is "religious in nature" and that the implementation of TM courses in public schools is against the constitution of the United States violates. This court ruling was upheld in 1979 and is still in force today.

Maharishi Ayurveda, political parties and invincibility schools

In 1980 Maharishi moved its headquarters to New Delhi , India, and began to campaign for a renewal and reorganization of the ancient Indian health teaching Ayurveda . He was able to win over a number of well-known representatives of this doctrine for the project, including the then President of the All India Ayurveda Congress , Brihaspati Triguna. With reference to old Ayurveda textbooks, TM was defined as an indispensable key technique of Ayurveda and in 1986 a “World Plan for Perfect Health”, based on what is now called Maharishi Ayurveda , was launched. The establishment of numerous Maharishi Ayurveda clinics were the result.

TM headquarters building in Vlodrop, the Netherlands

Starting in 1991, at the suggestion of Maharishi, political parties were founded in several states to promote the movement's postulates and programs. In the German-speaking area, the party called the Natural Law Party or Austrian Natural Law Party (ÖNP). In the Federal Republic of Germany it was able to gain 1,500 members according to its own information. In elections she ran for, she was insignificant. The Natural Law Party, founded in Germany in 1992, was dissolved in 2004 for lack of success; most of the other parties were also disbanded. Thereupon the establishment of so-called invincibility schools was started (as regular schools in private ownership). This project seems to have stagnated since 2009.

Settlements, patrons and TM currency

On October 7, 2000, Maharishi renamed its umbrella organization “Global Land of World Peace ”: a virtual, borderless country “for all peace-loving citizens of the world”. Tony Nader, a Lebanese neurophysiologist and a close associate of Maharishi for many years, was crowned the first “regent”. In 1998, in his book “Human Body: Expression of the Veda and Vedic Literature”, Nader showed similarities that exist between the structure of Vedic literature and the human body. In recognition of this work, it was weighed in gold by Maharishi on October 12, 2000.

A separate currency was introduced, the raam, which was circulated to a limited extent in the Netherlands and the USA.

In 2001 the organization founded Maharishi Vedic City north of the North American town of Fairfield , Iowa, a model settlement with a few hundred inhabitants. Within the community boundaries, buildings must be built according to ancient Indian ( sthapatya-Vedic ) architectural principles and the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers is prohibited.

Since 2005 the TM organization has been supported by the film director David Lynch and his David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace . The foundation awards scholarships to learn TM, promotes the construction of “invincible universities” and promotes an education system based on awareness-raising. The foundation acquired the site of the former listening station of the USA on Berlin 's Teufelsberg in order to build the “University of Invincible Germany” there. A building permit has not yet been granted by the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district .

In 2007, folk singer and songwriter Donovan announced plans to build an Invincible Donovan University in his native Scotland .

On January 11, 2008, Maharishi announced his retirement from day-to-day business and handed over the reins of his organization to Tony Nader. On the same day, Maharishi announced the establishment of the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust , an India-based foundation intended to finance the maintenance of large meditation groups. Maharishi died of natural causes on February 5, 2008 at his residence in Vlodrop , the Netherlands. On February 11th, his body was cremated under state honor in Allahabad , India .

School projects

In September 2011, England took over a former private TM school into state funding, as a so-called Free School . In India, Maharishi Vidya Mandir is the largest private provider of general education with over 200 schools in 16 states. In San Francisco , USA, the "Quiet Time" program is being used in several middle and high schools. It includes ten to fifteen minutes of TM twice a day at the beginning and end of class.

Teaching

Transcendental meditation

In Transcendental Meditation, the meditator should sit comfortably and upright and mentally repeat a mantra , a Sanskrit word , with his eyes closed . The choice of mantras is kept secret by the organization. According to former TM teachers, these are said to be names of Hindu deities, selected according to the age and gender of the course participants.

In meditation, the method aims to leave thought activity behind, to “ transcend ” it, and thus to experience one's own consciousness “purely”: according to the teaching of Maharishi, the self of man. As the practice progresses, this self-awareness will also be maintained during the activity. Concentration or contemplation are not required. Transcendental meditation should be practiced for twenty minutes twice a day.

TM is taught in a seven-step basic course. Two information lectures and a personal conversation with a TM teacher are free of charge. The subsequent basic course, consisting of four two-hour lessons and a technical review ten days later, is chargeable. The introduction to the TM takes place in step four through the initiation puja in front of a picture of Guru Dev with offerings from the adept, and subsequent mantra giving. Follow-up meetings to review the practice are optional and free of charge for life, as is attending group meditations and individual sessions to review and, if necessary, correct the meditation practice. In Germany, 1,170 euros have been charged for the basic course since 2015. Schoolchildren, trainees, students, people in need and families receive a discount of up to 50%. Installment payments are possible.

Due to trademark protection , the technique under the name Transcendental Meditation may only be taught by authorized (certified) TM teachers. Courses that are partly offered by former TM teachers under different names are not recognized by the TM organization.

TM-Sidhis and "Yogic Flying"

Transcendental meditation can be expanded with additional and advanced techniques: for example with the techniques of the TM- Sidhis and the so-called “Yogic Flying”. As Sidhis (also Siddhis ) are referred to here mental abilities, as a result of which so-called "higher" states of consciousness should develop, as they are described in the ancient Indian teaching system of yoga . When choosing and compiling these techniques, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi based himself on the Yoga Sutras Patanjalis , a standard work of yoga.

Essentially, the TM-Sidhi techniques consist of mentally repeating a selection of the formulas described by Patanjali after the TM technique. One of these techniques, Yogic Flying, is designed to enable the practitioner to float freely. Most users of the TM-Sidhi technique can, according to the provider, regularly observe the first stage described - hopping. Levitation states of the other stages (hovering and flying), which would violate the usual laws of physics , have not yet been demonstrated. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi allegedly did not practice this technique in public on principle.

Maharishi effect

The TM organization describes social changes as the “Maharishi Effect” when a certain proportion of the population exercises TM or, in groups, TM Sidhis and Yogic Flying (“extended Maharishi Effect”). Social effects that are expected by TM supporters and TM-related scientists are a decrease in crime, accidents, military activity or illness and at the same time an increase in positive trends in society, economy (such as less inflation and unemployment) and politics. For a global effect 8,000 people are necessary in one place. Various studies, some of which have been published in scientific journals, are intended to demonstrate the effect. Over 4,000 TM meditators participated in one of these studies in Washington, DC in 1993 . The TM organization evaluates the results of the study positively, critics see the experiment as failed and unscientific. Study director John Hagelin and the TM Institute in charge were awarded the satirical Ig Nobel Prize in 1994 in the "Peace" category.

politics

Maharishi has spoken out against democracy as practiced today on several occasions. He has called on governments several times to seek advice from his TM organization: in favor of an education system that puts the training of consciousness in the foreground. In order to develop the crime rate , national security, economy and environment positively, the use of large groups of yogic pilots is the most effective and cheapest method. Efforts to obtain public support for this concept have so far been unsuccessful. Attempts to sue state organs for this failed. In 1979, the TM organization in Germany had its members file around 1,000 criminal charges against the German federal government for negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm, since the federal government only promotes " conventional medicine " but systematically hinders objective information for the population about transcendental meditation. The public prosecutor's offices rejected all criminal charges because there were no actual indications and therefore no reason for an investigation. The TM organization also called for tax refusal because of what it saw as the illegal participation of the federal government in the Kosovo war . From 1992 to 2004 there was the Nature Law Party in Germany , a small party like the Nature Law Parties in other countries, which for the most part dissolved by 2004.

Maharishi Ayurveda

Ayurveda services and products of the TM organization are offered by Maharishi Ayur Veda Products Ltd., New Delhi, and its subsidiaries under the trademark Maharishi Ayurveda . Production takes place in India as well as regionally on site. Distribution takes place via mail order and intermediate trade. Certifications are intended to ensure that, according to the manufacturer, the predominantly organic products are residue-free and harmless to health. In Europe, there are the Maharishi Ayurveda Private Clinic in Bad Ems , Rhineland-Palatinate , the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Seelisberg (Switzerland), the Europe-wide mail order company Maharishi Ayurveda Products in Herkenbosch in the Netherlands and the Berlin-based German Society for Ayurveda Headquarters Facilities.

Size and distribution

Maharishi European Research University, Seelisberg, Switzerland

TM is particularly widespread in the United States, Western Europe, and Australia, but less so in India, its country of origin. A distinction is made between TM teachers and those who have attended a TM course. The religious scholar Georg Schmidt estimated the number of TM teachers worldwide in 2003 at 16,000 and gave several hundred TM teachers for Germany. According to other reputable sources, there are around 1,000 trained TM teachers and 5,000 to 10,000 active TM practitioners in Germany. The number of worldwide members and followers varies between 50,000 and 5 million (according to the organization). The German head office is in Hanover. There are currently around 60 teaching institutes (“TM Centers”).

Estimates of the organization's financial value and assets range from € 2.4 billion to € 5 billion. This includes clinics, educational institutions, an Ayurveda sales network, an extensive library of books and videos, and property ownership.

organization

The TM movement is structured hierarchically. At the top is the World Government for the Age of Enlightenment with its headquarters, which until 2006 was in Maharishi Nagar near New Delhi . Below this level, individual TM organizations or their national associations operate, which have changed organizationally over time and are currently in the form of various organizations, foundations and political parties:

  • German-speaking countries: International Meditation Society (IMS), Society of the World Government of the Age of Enlightenment for the Promotion of TM and the Science of Creative Intelligence (GTM), Siddha Corporation, Samhita GmbH, Maharishi Veda GmbH, Vedic Peace Corps, World Plan Center, Center of the Age of Enlightenment, Maharishi College for Natural Law, Academy for Vedic Science, Maharishi College, Maharishi College for Vedic Medicine, Maharishi World Peace Foundation, Maharishi GmbH, Maharishi Center for Invincibility.
  • International: Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM), World Plan Executive Council, World Association for Ayurvedic Medicine, Maharishi Global Revenue Fund, World Peace Endowment Fund, Global Country of World Peace, Brahmanada Saraswati Trust. Educational institutions that refer to Maharishi's teaching include: B. in India the Maharishi Institute of Management , in the USA the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) (formerly Maharishi International University, MIU ) and the Maharishi European Research University (MERU, Switzerland and the Netherlands). In 1979 the MERU Foundation acquired the former St. Ludwig College in Vlodrop, the Netherlands, and expanded the headquarters of the TM movement there. In India the organization maintains a network of private elementary schools ( Maharishi Vidya Mandir ). In Cambodia , it operates three campuses of a Maharishi Vedic University (MVU) : agricultural facilities with the faculties of medicine, agriculture and management. The organization operates the satellite television and Webcast transmitter Maharishi Channel - Maharishi Open University , the five multilingual starts broadcasting.

research

The medical, psychological and social effects of Transcendental Meditation have been scientifically investigated since the early 1970s. The spectrum of investigations ranges from diploma and doctoral theses to extensive statistical surveys. The TM organization advertises its technology with reference to positive research results. Critics point out, among other things, that the majority of the participating researchers practice TM themselves or are connected to the TM organization. The quality of many studies is also criticized.

Intellectual achievement

In 2003 Canter and Ernst reported in the Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift on ten randomized controlled studies that looked at the long-term effects of TM on cognitive functions . Four studies had shown significantly positive, four none and two mixed results. Canter and Ernst noted that in the four significantly positive studies, the test subjects had intended to learn TM before the start of the study and therefore interpreted the results as the result of expectations . For the thesis that TM increasingly improves intellectual performance, they saw "no convincing evidence" in the ten studies.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Several studies have shown significant reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam War veterans who practice Transcendental Meditation . In 2012, the US Department of Defense allocated $ 2.4 million to the Maharishi University of Management Research Institute and the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center to further investigate the effects of the TM technique on PTSD patients.

High blood pressure, cardiovascular, addiction

Research suggests that Transcendental Meditation lowers high blood pressure.

In 2004 Canter and Ernst from the Institute for Alternative Medicine at the University of Exeter subjected all studies on the effects of TM on blood pressure to a meta-analysis . The lack of neutrality of the investigators and serious methodological deficiencies in the studies led them to the conclusion that the antihypertensive effect of TM had by no means been proven. They also criticized the lack of evidence of unfavorable side effects of meditation and consider TM to be unjustifiable in conventional medicine. The FAZ criticized in the context frivolous publication such faulty studies in renowned scientific journals.

In 2008, the American Journal of Hypertension published a study that used quality assessment and meta-analysis . All papers published up to December 2006 on the effects of TM on high blood pressure were examined. The authors Anderson, Liu and Kryscio, University of Kentucky , USA, found nine randomized controlled studies that met the quality criteria of the study. TM was used here as the primary measure. On average, with regular TM practice, blood pressure decreased. The values ​​found are so high that, in the opinion of the authors, a significant reduction in atherosclerotic and cardiovascular diseases can be expected, “without drug side effects”. According to Science Daily , this confirms an earlier study. There, Transcendental Meditation significantly lowered high blood pressure compared to other forms of relaxation , meditation, biofeedback or stress management .

In 2013, the American Heart Association (AHA) published recommendations for clinical practice for lowering blood pressure using alternative approaches in its specialist journal Hypertension . The AHA describes TM as having a modest blood pressure lowering effect and is therefore suitable in principle for clinical practice to support conventional medical therapies. However, it recommends other alternative methods that appear more effective or more easily available. No antihypertensive effect was ascribed to other forms of meditation due to inconclusive or mixed results and an overall lower number of studies.

reception

Maharishi effect

The scientific investigation of the Maharishi effect claimed by TM organizations, according to which diverse positive social effects would arise if the square root of one percent of the population were to meditate, has been criticized. The sociologists Evan Fales and Barry Markovsky criticize the handling of such unorthodox theories in the scientific literature.

In response to the study "International Peace Project in the Middle East: The Effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field." Published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, they described the theory of the Maharishi Effect as esoteric , incomplete and incompatible with the laws of Physics. Limit values ​​for the effectiveness of the effect are set arbitrarily. Alternative explanations are also possible for the statistical results: Third-party variables not taken into account, which influence both the number of meditators and the social effects (fire, traffic accidents, warlike events). Researchers who are inclined to TM would improperly exploit the reputation of renowned specialist journals and in this way gain research funding, influence on politicians and influence the public.

James Randi checked statements made by Robert Rabinoff of Maharishi International University (now: Maharishi University of Management) in Fairfield in 1978: The large number of TM practitioners reduced the crime and accident rates in Fairfield and stimulated the production of grain. According to Randis, the Fairfield Police Department, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles failed to confirm these claims. The CRIME STATISTICS for Fairfield-Jefferson County 1991-1998 also says otherwise.

neutrality

According to Markovsky, much of the research on Transcendental Meditation is funded by the TM organizations. The scientists involved are not neutral and do not try to refute their theories (as critical rationalism would demand), but to prove them. In this context, it was criticized that Maharishi himself considers science to be corrupt.

On behalf of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), science journalist Andrew A. Skolnick highlighted the TM organization's financial links with researchers Brihaspati Dev Triguna and Deepak Chopra, who published an article in JAMA on the effectiveness of Ayurveda and Transcendental Meditation without disclosing their financial connection to the TM organization. He also pointed out the financial connections between the researcher Tony Nader and the organization. Further allegations in Skolnick's article targeted the sale of what he saw as “expensive and useless” herbal medicines for AIDS sufferers.

The TM organization counters such criticism, among other things, with reference to the US health authority , which is co-financing this research in the tens of millions, and to the American Medical Association (AMA) , the largest medical professional body in the USA, which has repeatedly been involved in research on health-promoting Effects the TM pointed out.

School system

The use of TM in public schools has been criticized. TM is secretly a neo-Hindu religion. Advocates of the TM counter that the technology of the TM comes from pre-Hindu times, from the Vedic high culture of India .

Film David wants to fly

In 2010 the documentary David wants to fly by David Sieveking was released , in which the director processes his personal experiences with Transcendental Meditation and his encounters with David Lynch and carries out critical research on the background of the TM organization.

Controversy

Since the 1970s, the TM organization has been exposed to recurring accusations, some of which it also contests in court:

German Federal Government vs. TM

In the 1980s, the TM organization tried to prevent negative statements by state "sect reports" in court. The Münster Higher Administrative Court came to the conclusion that there is no statistically increased risk of transcendental meditation, e.g. B. personality destruction has been proven, and the federal government with its judgment of December 18, 1985 (5 A 1125/84) prohibited warnings against TM. Following a revision by the Federal Government, the Federal Administrative Court overturned this decision in a judgment of 23 May 1989 (BVerwGE vol. 82 p. 76 ff), including a. on the grounds that the federal government was in front of the risk of psychological damage, e.g. B. with unstable personality structure, warned. A general causal connection between TM and mental disorders or a statistically increased risk was not claimed by the Federal Government and would not be expected by the public in the event of such a warning. The Federal Constitutional Court (1BvR 881/89 of August 15, 1989), which was also seized, confirmed this view and added that conclusive and incontestable scientific evidence is not necessary for its action. The federal government may warn that the TM organization's plaintiffs had to bear the legal costs.

Evangelical Church vs. TM

A handout published on the Internet by the Evangelical Church in Württemberg (author: Hansjörg Hemminger , Commissioner for Weltanschauung questions) accuses the TM movement of pursuing a “ totalitarian political ideology based on Hindu fundamentalism ” and “actively fighting against democratic forms of government ”and oppose general human rights. Hemminger invokes u. a. to a speech by Maharishi on July 16, 2000. The TM organization sees Hemminger's interpretation as defamation and demagogy .

Butler / Killian vs. MUM

A private lawsuit filed on February 24, 2006 against the operator of the Maharishi University of Management (Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, MVED), Fairfield, Iowa, USA, was dismissed. A lawsuit filed against the university on the same day was settled out of court. The cause of the lawsuit was the acts of violence by a mentally disturbed student: he had stabbed a fellow student and injured another. The plaintiffs alleged that daily practice of Transcendental Meditation (compulsory at this university) could be dangerous for people with psychiatric problems. The university failed to call the police on time and took no action to protect other students.

Primary literature

  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: The Science of Being and the Art of Life. Kamphausen, Bielefeld 1998, ISBN 3-933496-40-3 .
  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: The Bhagavad Gita. Chapters 1-6. Translated from Sanskrit and annotated. Kamphausen, Bielefeld 1999, ISBN 3-933496-41-1 .
  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Government. Automation in administration. Maharishi Prakashan, New Delhi 1995, ISBN 81-7523-002-9 .

Secondary literature

  • Elaine and Arthur Aron: The Maharishi Effect: In Search of the Social and Political Influence of Group Meditation. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-04959-4 .
  • Lewis, Gordon R .: What Everyone Should Know About Transcendental Meditation. Regal Books Verlag 1975, ISBN 978-0-8307-0353-1 .
  • Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack, Thomas Gandow: Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi Veda. 6th edition 1992
  • Hank Johnston: The Marketed Social Movement: A Case Study of the Rapid Growth of TM. In: Pacific Sociological Review. Volume 23, No. 3, July 1980, pp. 333-354.
  • Peter Russell: The direct way. Transcendental meditation according to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Kamphausen, 2003, ISBN 3-933496-75-6 .
  • Dieter von Schmädel: Ayurveda - Quo vadis? Maharishi Ayur-Veda - Progress or Dead End? In: Journal of the European Ayurvedic Society. Volume 3, 1993, pp. 229-249.

Critical literature by former TM teachers or meditators

  • R. Seemann: Years of apprenticeship with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 1983 (impulse No. 18 of the EZW )
  • Therese Schulte: Transcendental Meditation and where it leads. Farewell dispute of a TM teacher. Publisher: Freies Geistesleben GmbH 1987, ISBN 978-3-7725-0722-9 .
  • Erika Lorenz: From Karma to Carmel. Herder Verlag Freiburg 1989, ISBN 3-451-08638-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerald Willms: The Wonderful World of Sects: From Paul to Scientology. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Edition: 1st edition 2012, pp. 194–196.
  2. ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment. ISBN 90-71750-02-7 , p. 200.
  3. ↑ a b c d Hansjörg Hemminger: Transcendental Meditation: Structure and Ideology
  4. ↑ Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is dead. AFP, February 6, 2008 ( Memento from February 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment . ISBN 90-71750-02-7 , p. 494.
  6. ^ A b c Hank Johnston: The Marketed Social Movement: A Case Study of the Rapid Growth of TM . In: Pacific Sociological Review . Vol. 23, No. 3, July 1980, pp. 333-354.
  7. ↑ David Felton: The Healing of Brother Bri. In: Kingsley Abbot (eds.): The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. Hannibal-Verlag, St. Andrä-Wölker 1998, ISBN 3-85445-160-1
  8. ^ Mystic who inspired the Beatles: the town that lost its guru. In: The Independent. February 7, 2008.
  9. ↑ Gerald Willms: The Wonderful World of Sects: From Paul to Scientology. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Edition: 1st edition 2012, p. 194.
  10. ^ A b Hans Gasper, Joachim Müller, Frederike Valentin: Lexicon of sects, special groups, world views . Herder Verlag, 1990.
  11. ↑ a b c d Gerald Willms: The wonderful world of sects: From Paul to Scientology. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Edition: 1st edition 2012, p. 196.
  12. ↑ Homepage of the "Global Country of World Peace"
  13. ↑ World peace for free . Spiegel Online, February 13, 2003
  14. ↑ TM movement founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, this in Holland.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Jerusalem Post, February 6, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / fr.jpost.com  
  15. ^ Homepage of Maharishi Vedic City
  16. ^ Homepage of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace
  17. ^ Thousands of students learn Transcendental Meditation through David Lynch Foundation. Press release from January 23, 2008.
  18. ↑ I don't understand what I was saying. Interview with David Lynch. Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 12, 2006
  19. ↑ Yogic Flying with Lynch. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, November 15, 2007.
  20. ↑ Little chance for David Lynch's confused plans. Berliner Zeitung online, November 18, 2007.
  21. ↑ Don't fight gloom, turn it into light. Upper Austrian News, November 18, 2007
  22. ↑ Donovan wants to found a university in Scotland.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Associated Press, Oct. 27, 2007.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / de.news.yahoo.com  
  23. ^ Donovan Plans a University. The New York Times, October 30, 2007.
  24. ^ A b With his life's work complete, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi "is welcomed with open arms into Heaven". Press release, February 6, 2008
  25. ↑ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in peace. The Guardian, February 6, 2008.
  26. ↑ "Maharishi was well prepared for death." Zisch Neue Urner Zeitung Online, February 7, 2008.
  27. ^ Meditation school to transfer to state sector , The Independent, January 29, 2011
  28. ^ Website of Maharishi Vidya Mandir
  29. ^ Indian Education pioneers of India , Indian Weekender, April 26, 2011
  30. ↑ a b Meditation program mends troubled Visitacion Valley Middle School, The Examiner, May 8 2011th
  31. ↑ meditation transforms Roughest San Francisco schools, SFGate, January 12, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Sekten-Info-NRW"
  33. ↑ Services and price list of the German TM organization
  34. ^ Gabi Brodbeck: Flight / Flying. In: Metzler Lexikon Religion. Present - everyday life - media. JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2005, volume 1, p. 390.
  35. ↑ a b Explanation of the "extended Maharishi effect" on a website of the Maharishi University of Management ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mum.edu
  36. ↑ Website of the "US Peace Government" established by Maharishi ( memento of the original from September 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / permanentpeace.org
  37. ↑ Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website about the study of the so-called "Maharishi Effect" carried out in Washington in 1993 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mum.edu
  38. ↑ agpf.de: The Washington Experiment
  39. ↑ Robert Park: Lazy Charm. Fraud and Error in Science. How We Can Be Deceived and Protect , pp. 41–44, 2002.
  40. ↑ a b Interview with Maharishi : Larry King Weekend Show, CNN , May 12, 2002.
  41. ↑ a b Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Speech from July 16, 2000 (PDF; 106 kB)
  42. ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Government. Automation in administration. ISBN 81-7523-002-9
  43. ↑ AGFP: Maharishi Cult: Ten thousand lawsuits against the government - without success .
  44. ↑ TM-Center in Germany  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / meditation.de  
  45. ↑ Quote of the day: How the aged yogi and the universities will save the world. Spiegel Online, October 28, 2002
  46. ↑ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: What Meditation Guru to the Beatles. Washington Post, February 7, 2008
  47. ↑ Maharishi's Minions Come to Wall Street. New York Times, July 2, 2007
  48. ^ American Bank Note Company Building. ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. The Masterpiece Next Door, August 15, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.epicharmus.com
  49. ↑ List of some organizations on the website of the Indian Maharishi Institute of Management ( Memento from July 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  50. ^ Homepage of the Maharishi Vidya Mandir
  51. ↑ Homepage of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nos.org
  52. ↑ homepage AACF
  53. ↑ Degree programs, contents and degrees of the MVU ( Memento from July 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  54. ^ The Canberra Times: Beating the drum for Cambodian education , August 20, 2001 ( Memento April 3, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  55. ^ Homepage of the Maharishi Channel
  56. ↑ Link to the video streams of the Maharishi Channel
  57. ↑ a b Transcendental Meditation: Confirmed by highly qualified research
  58. ↑ a b Miraculous Meditation FAZ from June 6, 2005
  59. ↑ Study on TM stopped, June 29, 2011
  60. ↑ Peter H. Canter and Edzard Ernst: "The cumulative effects of Transcendental Meditation on cognitive function - a systematic review of randomized controlled trials". In: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift. November 28, 2003; 115 (21-22): 758-766 (English); doi: 10.1007 / BF03040500, accessed October 15, 2008
  61. ↑ CAM and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder . Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 4 (2007), Issue 1, pp. 131-132.
  62. ↑ War veterans hail meditation as beneficial, cost-effective Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment . ABC, July 17, 2013.
  63. ↑ Transcendental Meditation May Help Stressed Vets . Bloomberg Businessweek, February 6, 2013.
  64. ^ Canter and Ernst 2004, Journal of Hypertension
  65. ^ Meditation Can Lower Blood Pressure, Study Shows. Science Daily, March 15, 2008.
  66. ↑ Hypertension, blood pressure / TM, s. Page 6 and 4 Hypertension April 22, 2013.
  67. ↑ Response to Evidence for Upgrading the Ratings for Transcendental Meditation: Response to AHA Scientific Statement on Alternative Methods and BP Hypertension October 14, 2013.
  68. ↑ a b Fales, Evan and Barry Markovsky (1997): Evaluating Heterodox Theories , Social Forces, Volume 76 (English)
  69. ↑ Orme-Johnson, David W., Charles N. Alexander, John L. Davies, Howard M. Chandler, and Wallace E. Larimore. 1988. International Peace Project in the Middle East: The effects of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. In: Journal of Conflict Resolution 32. pp. 776–812.
  70. ↑ James Randi: Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions. Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York 1982, ISBN 0-87975-198-3 (Chapter 5, "The Giggling Guru: A Matter of Levity")
  71. ↑ http://www.behind-the-tm-facade.org/maharishi_effect-mdefect-fairfield.htm CRIME STATISTICS for Fairfield / Jefferson County 1991-1998
  72. ↑ http://www.behind-the-tm-facade.org/maharishi_effect-mdefect-iowa.htm CRIME STATISTICS for State of Iowa 1991-1998
  73. ↑ Barry Markovsky: Problems with TM Research (English)
  74. ^ Andrew A. Skolnick: Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Guru's marketing scheme promises the world eternal 'perfect health'. (English) ( Memento of February 3, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
  75. ↑ Remid: Mini Statistics TM
  76. ↑ AGPF: The TM process
  77. ↑ Information on the legal position of the TM ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , there appendices 5–7. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tm-information.de
  78. ↑ Settlement apparently reached in MUM student's death , Ottumwa Courier online, January 9, 2009
  79. ^ Trouble in transcendental paradise as murder rocks the Maharishi University , The Observer, May 2, 2004
  80. ↑ Butler v. Maharishi University of Management, US District Court, Southern District of Iowa, Central Div., Case No. 06-cv-00072
  81. ↑ Kilian v. Maharishi University of Management, US District Court, Southern District of Iowa