> > > Terrorism is the worst it has ever been; Iran
> > > and North Korea are boming up with nukes; 
> > > Robert MacNamarra said that we are in a worst
> > > state than in the Cuban Crisis; India has had
> > > several floods; T'sunani killed 200K; and the 
> > > movement is in pieces. And that is off the top
> > > of my head. Give me a little while and I'll
> > > bulk it up alot more, if you want.>>>
> > 
> > Lol, you obviously don't remember the Cold War. 
> > Even a highly effective terrorist nuclear attack on US or Europe 
> > would be small scale compared to the threat of the all out 
> > nuclear 
> > war between highly charged superpowers that we lived under for 
> > decades ....
> 
> ...Yes, I agree, but the wall came down in '89
> after many years of improved relations, starting,
> maybe, around '82 ??
> 
> At this time, the TMO had almost fifteen years of 
> continuous reasonably adequate marketing during 
> which vast numbers of people were taught TM, sidhis,
> SCI courses weekend courses, WPAs, National Parliaments,
> (for what they were worth). It was the TMO at its 
> best and the wall came down. All I say to MMY is:
> "Using your existing ideas, replicate that success 
> if you can. Do the equivalent of bringing down a wall
> or drop back to the methods of the '60s and '70s".

As uncharitable as it may seem, I've always wondered
about the chicken-and-the-egg nature of the "Maharishi
Effect."  As I remember it (which may be flawed since
I was in the process of bailing out of the movement
at that time), the whole *theory* of not needing to
initiate large numbers of people in order to "save
the world" arose just after the number of initiations
tanked and the TM movement was having serious financial
difficulties.  Voila!  Large numbers of people learn-
ing to meditate were no longer needed and relatively
expensive TM-Siddhi courses appeared to fill the 
financial gap.  So which came first, the reality that
the pricing structure for teaching TM was a failure
and few people were starting any more, or the theory 
that it wasn't *necessary* for large numbers of people
to start any more?

Whatever the answer (and I really don't know what it
is), the bottom line is that around the time of the
introduction of the Siddhis, the economy of the TM 
movement shifted from being based on expansion (more
and more people learning to meditate) to being based
on maintenance (the existing members being expected
to pay all the bills through their continuing purchase
of "advanced courses" and TM-related products).  This
economic theory has not changed since, except to hit
up rich people for donations to supplement the ever-
diminishing member-supported income stream.

My feeling is that such an approach leads not to "main-
tainence" of the current number of strong TMers but to
"contraction," as the people expected to pay all the
bills get tired of it over time and bail out.  Badgering 
the few who remain into paying to be "recertified" at 
skills they already possess and then working full-time 
for a movement that doesn't care enough about them to
pay them on time will cause even more of them to bail.

The operating word really is "sad."

Unc






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