--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophaneros Anartaxius"
<anartaxius@...> wrote:
>
> She seems pissed that the course was so expensive. Assuming
> this was really a standard TM initiation, she seems to have
> confused the introductory lectures as being part of having
> already learned meditation before getting the mantra. In
> other words she has a confused memory. Or, more likely in my
> opinion, she has given a spin to the article to ward off
> others who might want to learn.
Well, that's a given. But I've read any number of articles
with that same spin that described the course accurately.
Here's what she writes:
-----
During the free intro, I heard a lot about scientific reports on the benefits
of TM, like reducing stress and releasing creativity. It sounded reasonable
enough, and I was impressed that the people in the room looked pretty normal.
The instructor didn't go into any religious stuff and could have easily fit
into a corporate office with his clean-cut appearance and fondness for graphs
and charts. The technique, he assured the class, was easy to learn and could
provide a lifetime of benefits for both mind and body. We were invited to
consider taking a beginner course, after which we would have access to a
lifetime of "free followup and support." Then came the kicker: the price of a
beginner course was $2,500.
I gulped. That was quite a pricetag. But at this point, I was already looking
forward to my transformation. Wasn't inner peace worth it? I rationalized that
people paid far more than this for therapy in New York City, and after all, I
had hard evidence from my boyfriend that the technique could have long-lasting
effects. I had just landed a lucrative ghostwriting contract, and if learning
TM would make me less stressed and more productive, it would be worth it,
right? My inner skeptic was silenced. I went for it.
Over several courses, I learned to sit with my eyes closed and just let my
thoughts flow until I began to feel a sense of peaceful awareness come over me.
There was no need to concentrate or sit in any particular way, or refrain from
scratching my nose. A steady flow of references to scientific studies promising
increased intelligence and emotional development padded what was otherwise a
pretty straightforward lesson on sitting still and chilling out. After the
completion of the course, there was a special "graduation" ceremony in which
students were given individual mantras to use in our practice. This was the
first real whiff of spirituality. I was told to bring an offering of flowers to
meet the instructor, who now appeared wearing a robe. He solemnly told me that
he had a special word to give me that was mine alone and would be the key to my
successful practice of TM.
"I know something about you," he said, staring meaningfully into my eyes. "And
that's why I'm giving you this particular mantra." I was no longer a student in
a class, but an initiate into a special order of enlightened beings. I was
invited to attend group meditation sessions where the combined force of our
effort would increase harmonic vibrations of the universe and contribute to
global peace. Or something like that.
-----
I don't think she ever took the course. She's obviously not
confusing the intro stuff with the actual instruction, but
she has the order of instruction reversed, with initiation
coming at the end ("graduation"). Whatever other details
have been wrong in other articles, I've never seen one that
has put the most memorable part of the instruction last
rather than first, or suggested that students were taught
how to meditate without a mantra.
And she doesn't even mention the puja, which is arguably the
most potentially off-putting element of personal instruction
(apart from the fee, which she deals with extensively
elsewhere in the article).
Could all be severe memory problems, I suppose, but a
responsible journalist would have realized her memory was
hazy and checked things out before writing the article.
