Link with pictures:
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050822/HEALTH/508220302/1093
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Lori Cain | Statesman Journal Dan Dingle meditates at friend Dave Price's house.
Transcendental Meditation
What: Participants silently repeat an assigned syllabic sound (mantra) to rid
themselves of conscious thought and connect with the universal consciousness
that
they believe links all humans.
Why: Proponents say it relieves stress, increases personal effectiveness,
promotes
peace and provides other mental, physical and behavioral benefits.
Origins: An outgrowth of Hinduism, TM was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
during
the late 1950s in India.
cost: Students pay $2,500 to learn the technique during a seven-step process.
Controversy: Critics say TM is expensive, no different from other forms of
meditation and is couched in deceptive science.
Contact: Call (503) 370-2886 or go to www.tm.org
MEDITATION
Peace at a price
Transcendental Mediation is hailed by some as life changing, but others warn
those
interested to give it some thought
BY PARKER HOWELL
Statesman Journal
August 22, 2005
People in Salem who feel unfulfilled, stressed and ineffective have another way
to
seek relief -- one that is said to help you and the world, but those with big
promises comes a hefty price tag.
Learning TM only requires seven classes and about eight hours, but it costs
$2,500.
Local Transcendental Meditation teacher Dave Price touts TM as a technique that
benefits physical health and makes life easier.
Many TM teachers and students claim the technique has changed their lives, yet
some
scientists, scholars and former TM practitioners criticize TM as a deceitful
money-making scam.
TM 101
Founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, famed guru for The Beatles during the 1960s,
the
movement began as an outgrowth of Hinduism in India during the late 1950s.
More than 6 million people have learned TM worldwide, according to the
organization's Web site.
Called a mental technique by proponents, TM is billed by some as the "single
most
effective meditation technique available" to gain mental and physical benefits
and
to "attain inner happiness and fulfillment."
Proponents say it's different from other forms of meditation because the
participant's mind is supposed to transcend physical boundaries to join a
universal
creative force.
TM recently gained more attention because avant-garde filmmaker David Lynch
wants to
raise about $7 billion to teach TM to any child in America who wants to learn
it.
Beginning TM practitioners meditate for about 20 minutes twice daily while
seated
with their eyes closed.
TM is not sleeping but a state of "very quiet and very, very awake thinking,"
Price
said. It's an easy process, he said.
"If you can think a thought, you can meditate," he said.
To rid themselves of conscious thought and connect with "pure awareness," TM
meditators
repeat a mantra -- a syllabic sound assigned to them by a TM teacher based on
their
age when they started learning the technique.
Price said reaching this level of pure awareness allows the meditator access to
greater creativity and increases his or her preparedness for mental or physical
activities.
As people progress in TM, they meditate for longer periods. Price meditates for
about eight hours a day and said he finds the process enjoyable.
Intended effects of TM
The body settles into a deep state of relaxation during TM mediation, lowering
blood
pressure and providing other health benefits, according to TM literature.
After meditating, people experience tremendous alertness, Price said.
Dan Dingle of Salem said he learned TM in high school during the 1970s to
improve
his grades. Dingle, who enjoys rock climbing, said TM helps calm his mind so he
can
climb safely.
"It really did work," he said. "It's the main thing that keeps my mind together
when
I'm climbing."
Dingle said TM also helps him in other ways.
"It gives one practice in how to have peace of mind and not get all stressed
out and
caught up in stressful events," he said.
Dingle, who lived in India and has studied other forms of meditation, said TM is
different because it simplifies meditation.
"I can really say that one of the things that distinguishes Maharishi's
teaching is
he's made it so simple," Dingle said. "He's really distilled the essence of
esoteric
Eastern techniques and made it commonly, readily available for people."
Patti Steurer, a TM teacher from Lake Oswego, learned TM in college after a
student
said it was the secret to his academic success.
"There was something more in me, and I didn't know how to unlock it," she said.
Spreading peace
Beyond the benefits advocates say TM provides, they also claim TM promotes
peace by
tapping into the consciousness that all humans share and broadcasting a positive
influence.
During intense group TM sessions, people practice "yogic flying," a
controversial
technique in which TM practitioners sit cross-legged on foam pads and say they
levitate.
Maharishi has promoted TM as the solution to terrorism and as the means to world
peace.
Practicing TM in Salem would affect the Oregon Legislature by making government
officials more amicable, Price said.
TM controversy
Criticism of TM arises over its cost, its difference from other forms of
meditation
and its status as a religion.
Consumers should be aware that TM is a "kind of high-priced commodity and there
are
alternatives," said Professor Barry Markovsky, chairman of the Department of
Sociology at the University of South Carolina.
Research comparing the benefits of TM with other forms of meditation shows that
though TM charges more for classes and services than other types of meditation,
it
offers no special benefits, he said.
But Steurer said the cost of learning TM is justified, saying Westerners are
willing
to pay $4,000 for a plasma television but not $2,500 for a technique that could
change their lives.
"We don't live in a culture that values meditation technology," she said.
Charging to teach TM is necessary to ensure the practice continues to grow,
Price
said.
Although he still meditates and endorses meditation, Robert Gordon of Eugene no
longer practices TM because of his "discovery of the corrupt nature of the
organization."
A professor of psychology of religion at the University of Oregon, Gordon became
Maharishi's first Western monk in 1967, and he lived in India and Europe "every
moment of every day" with the guru for two years.
"It all started sounding crazy to me," he said. "What began as a very open,
inclusive, simple message became progressively more fundamentally Hindu," he
said.
To achieve physiological effects similar to those of TM, Gordon recommended
reading
"Relaxation Response," a book by Harvard Medical School Professor Herbert
Benson, as
a secular, step-by-step approach to meditation.
Advocates say TM mantras are time-tested and predictable and point to many
scientific studies they say validate the benefits of TM.
They say repeating secular sounds may not produce positive results.
Religion or science?
Members of some religions may be concerned that TM conflicts with their beliefs.
Although Maharishi's teachings began as a religious movement, TM has become
secularized to appeal to Westerners, Markovsky said.
TM advocates say it is not religious and that it nourishes other religious
practices. Maharishi derived TM from the ancient Indian Vedic philosophy that
predates religion, Dingle said.
TM gives people an "increased sense of appreciation for whatever force is behind
this," Price said. "There's sense in life and there's sense in the universe."
Yet Gordon and Markovsky classified TM as a religion.
When people begin TM, they participate in a ceremony that involves bowing and
praying to invoke Hindu gods, Gordon said.
Courts also have classified TM as a religion. The movement lost a 1979 suit over
teaching TM in New Jersey schools after a court found TM was based on religious
concepts.
"It's fundamentalist Hindu," Gordon said. "The argument that it's not a
religious
organization is patently ridiculous."
Religion or not, TM satisfies people on emotional, physical and cognitive
levels,
attracting them because it seemingly provides answers to questions about the
universe, Markovsky said.
"The bottom line is people do what makes them feel good," he said. "And not only
does TM come with this technique that makes people feel good physically, it also
comes with a philosophy -- and I would claim a kind of religion -- that many
people
are attracted to."
While it's plausible that the TM technique has some benefits for individuals,
it is
unlikely that group TM broadcasts positive energy in the community, Markovsky
said.
"I think that there's every evidence that it doesn't happen at all," he said.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or (503) 399-6785
OTHER ARTICLES FROM: Wednesday, August 24
News
Salem native steps gracefully toward a professional dream
Carousel to substitute one discount offer for another
Report: Oregon is only state without gain in obesity data
Salamanders spur lawsuit by coalition
U-turn try prompts a crash that hospitalizes 7, sheriff's office says
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Or go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
