--- In [email protected], "Hugo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <unnoted snip> > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > Following is a series of posts made by John Knapp > > (taskcentered) on alt.meditation.transcendental > > in June 1996 (a year after he claims he began > > "writing about reforming TM"). Ellipses are mine; > > I took out some extraneous background material > > about TM, MMY, and the TMO. I'll be happy to > > provide links to the original posts if anybody's > > interested. > > > > > > TRANCENET ALET: MAHARISHI PREDICTS GLOBAL BIOLOGICAL WAR > > John M. Knapp <snip>
> So Judy, are you saying that MMY *didn't* make these claims about > an upcoming war? Uh, Hugo, what I said is the paragraph above the "TRANCENET ALET" [sic] headline. Everything else (including "The Maharishi is creating small isolated groups of dedicated fanatics. Without contact with the outside world, they're being charged to carry out a mysterious apocalyptic vision," and that this was the "delusions of a mad man leading blind followers into isolated camps to await a holocaust") is what John Knapp, who claims he doesn't want to see TM destroyed, said 12 years ago to at least 10 Usenet newsgroups, begging everyone to contact their congresscritter and the media to warn them about this potential Jonestown-type situation in the TMO in the hope that it could be stopped in time. I don't believe these "press releases" were ever successful in arousing general alarm (it's not clear they were even sent to the media) or spurring congressional action on this "emerging crisis," but I just thought the effort by Knapp was interesting. In fact, of course, MMY's project was to establish TM centers in towns and cities in third world countries where TM didn't yet have a presence. (And no children were involved; participation was limited to married couples without children.) > Because if true it's another instance of MMY talking complete > nonsense. Averting dangers before they arise is a major money > spinner for the TMO. Could be. In this instance, however, I'm not sure there was ever any plea for funds. In any case, averting world catastrophe was MMY's declared goal for the TM movement from the very beginning. Knapp got it a little confused, as you can see, telling everyone that MMY was creating "isolated camps" in the jungle where TMers were to go to "wait out" the "holocaust," "without contact with the outside world," rather than to introduce and teach TM to those in the outside world with the intention of *averting* a holocaust.
