Right, but you can make the threshold requirement of the first prong by stating that the intention is secular, rather than religious. If, for example, the stated intention of promoting TM in schools was to create heaven on earth and have all the students act in accordance with the will of god in god consciousness, you couldn't satisfy that first prong.
But if you write a proposal that directs the school administrators' attention to better grades and improved performance (that god consicousness and heaven on earth is going produce), then, at least for the first prong of the analysis, you've done all that's necessary. What most people realize is that even a superficial examination of the TMO reveals is a branch of modern Hinduism. One's subscription to any or all of the specific beliefs within that branch are, to one degree or another, optional, but that doesn't get it off the religion hook. ** --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradh...@...> wrote: > > > On Apr 19, 2009, at 12:04 PM, Marek Reavis wrote: > > > So if you look at TM in the schools (not the DLF initiative, but > > programs that use public school facilities or staff to facilitate > > TM), you can easily satisfy the first prong (better grades, improved > > behavior, etc.) > > Since this tack is based originally on various verses in Hindu > religious scriptures, I'd wonder if a possible legal tack against this > 'first prong' in regards to TM would be to cite Hindu religious texts > where the benefits of increased intelligence, etc. are all said to be > boons garnered from the goddess one is internally worshipping, at the > mental level, through the repetition of shakti mantras? They of course > try to back this up with biased, poorly-controlled "science", but the > claims have been made (since at least 1959) before there was any > "science" on the matter. These are clearly traditional claims and all > relate to "boons" one will get from mental worship of goddesses (and > gods). > > "Maharishi's system of deep meditation has the capacity to improve the > mind and develop it to its fullest capacity so much so that > transformation of a dull mind into a brilliant scholar is counted to > be an ordinary gain of this practice. Thus the meditation is more > educative than even the present system of education, with all its > glories of various branches of learning." > > _Values of Meditation: In View of Maharishi's Easy System of Deep > Meditation. (extracts from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's discourses)._ 1959 >
