In honor of what FFL was supposed to be and sometimes is, I offer a piece of
writing sent to me by a friend who is both a devout Christian and a TM
aficionado. Those of you reading may not agree or like it, but I think it makes
a number of good points.
Maharishi Defines Himself Through the Spiritual Regeneration Movement
M defines himself as the instrument through which a precious knowledge,
lost after Shankara’s revival, will be given back to the world: “It was the
concern of Guru Deva, His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, to enlighten
all men everywhere that resulted in the foundation of the worldwide Spiritual
Regeneration Movement in 1958, five years after his departure from us.”(p.16)
And again, “...the SRM (was) founded with the sole purpose of spiritually
regenerating the lives of all men in every part of the world. (p.21)
Guru Deva was M’s guru, the Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM) was
created by M, and it is significant that the original name for M’s movement was
“Spiritual Regeneration”.
This is heavy stuff. These are words that belong to the domain of religion
and can only be understood in that context. If M’s explicit aim was to
“spiritually regenerate the world” by spreading enlightenment, creating a
society where every action of the individual was “in accordance with all the
laws of nature”, i.e. in Christian terms “without sin”, the accomplishment of
this aim would represent no less an event in spiritual significance than the
life and death of Jesus Christ. It is difficult to talk about TM not being a
“religion” for those who center their lives around the practice of the
technique, and study the teaching’s of M. For those people who take TM
“seriously”, who devote themselves to both the practice and to M, the following
statements (in italics below) concerning an online Webster dictionary
definition of religion can be honestly made:
Webster Definition Of Religion
re·li·gion noun \ri-ˈli-jən\
: the belief in a god or in a group of gods. TM teaches a great deal about the
nature of god, about getting the favor of gods, and about direct experience of
God.
: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god
or a group of gods. TM teaches a system of beliefs concerning the nature of
spiritual growth, for a fee the organization offers spiritual ceremonies
(Yagyas), performed by specialists, for obtaining the favors of the gods for
the acquisition of specified blessings. All of these are based on faith in the
accuracy of M’s teaching.
: an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or
group. There are many people who completely devote their lives and their
fortunes to M and the TM movement.
Full Definition of RELIGION
1
a : the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion> The TM
organization offers full time monastic positions to certain qualified persons,
allowing them to become Hindu monks and nuns.
b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment
or devotion to religious faith or observance Success with the TM technique is
based on regular practice. Initiates start out with 20 minutes twice a day,
peopl with advanced training often graduate to 90 minutes twice a day. This is
represents a serious commitment to “the supernatural”. While the benefits of
TM help sustain this commitment, there is certainly an element of faith that is
also required. M also talks about the necessity of faith to achieve the goals
of TM.
2
: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs,
and practices. The teaching of M (“attitudes, beliefs, and practices”) have
certainly been codified and institutionalized over the past 50 years.
3
archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness The term “scrupulous
conformity” is a good description especially of the people that live in TM
communities, in terms of dress, language, diet, and overall lifestyle.
4
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith The
teachings of TM include a specific set of beliefs (life after death,
reincarnation, the nature of spiritual growth, etc), and the “ardor and faith”
to which these are held can be witnessed by speaking to almost any committed
practitioner. M’s expressed goal of “spiritually regenerating the world” is a
certainly a cause that many devote their lives to.
The Bhagavad Gita and TM Holy Tradition As Scripture
“The BG is the highest expression of divine intelligence understandable by
man.” (4:1, p.252)
This is a pretty profound religious statement.
“This path of action for gaining success in the world and freedom in divine
consciousness has a long tradition. In its content it is eternal. Even if in
time its purity is lost and it is forgotten by man, each time it is restored in
the world by a wave of revival that comes from God.” (p.247)
There it is, you either accept this as from God or you don’t.
“It is deplorable that such precious accounts of life on the highest human
level as are to be found in the historical material of ancient India should
have been regarded as myth. They should, on the contrary, be recognized as a
most useful history of the highest civilization that has ever existed on
earth.” (p.254)
There are many that might accuse M of being a bit egocentric about his
country’s history.
4:2
“The holy tradition of great masters, which responsible for reviving the
teaching after every lapse, has captured the minds and heart of lovers of Truth
in every age. It is not merely held in high regard, but has come to be
actually worshipped by seekers of Truth and knowers of Reality.” (p.257)
This is religion. I have a feeling M wishes he hadn’t written that.
TM As Fundamentalism
“It may be added that only through TM, which is the direct way to gain PC
and rise finally to GC, can absolute purity be lived in daily life.” (p.312)
This is not only religion, this is fundamentalism! Maharishi presented TM
as the only effective way, the “one way” to enlightenment, and himself as its
messenger. Being a member of the Christian evangelical community, I have to
say that this has a familiar ring to it.
