Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 59
Transcendental Meditation (TM)
A Transcendental Meditation (TM) spokesman says TM meditators in Iowa and
Washington, D.C., deserve credit for improvements in Lebanon, Gulf Coast weather, and the
stock market, among other positive world developments. ..In light of strongly voiced
criticism from anti-cult lawyer Ford Greene, and the David Lynch Foundation‘s withdrawal of
promised funds to mount it, a Marin County, CA, high school has dropped plans to set up a
TM program there. Nonetheless, the school principal, who proposed the program, said she‘d
encourage students to pursue interests in meditation, which she believes is an effective way
to reduce stress.
The Chairman of the Transcendental Meditation Society in Israel has called on the
government to recruit a group of 256 ―Yogic Flyers‖ who, using an advanced TM technique,
would create a shield of invincibility around the country and bring an immediate end to the
violence with Hezbollah. He says the advanced meditation technique brings consciousness
to a level where thinking is without content, where the Flyer connects with the ―source of all
energy and intelligence — beyond any thought and at the same time the source of all
thought.‖
Transcendental Meditation is building a new establishment in Smith Center, KS, that will
house 2,000 professional mediators who, the organization believes, will bring peace and
invincibility to the U.S. ―The feeling is that unless you reduce the stress in collective
consciousness, no (other) effort to create peace is ever going to bear fruit,‖ a TM
spokesman said. Leading a group of ministers opposed to the new project, the pastor of
Smith Center‘s Evangelical Free Church declared, ―They say they‘re not a religion. I say
they‘re a sect of Hinduism. Bottom line is, I don‘t buy you can be a Christian and a Hindu at
the same time.‖ The mayor, reflecting apparent widespread hostility, said, ―Their way of life
and this community‘s way of life are just about as opposite as you could get. Is it going to
affect us? Yes. Because cultures will clash. We just hope we can co-exist.‖ A newly formed
local group has called in cult experts and former TM practitioners to denigrate the
movement. The town has placed a moratorium on land use changes and many vow to
boycott businesses that deal with TM. Others say the establishment will help the moribund
local economy.
A Marin Independent Journal editorial of 10/16/06 says parents of students in San Rafael,
CA, have legitimate concerns about Terra Linda High School‘s decision to offer
Transcendental Medication (TM) as the stress management part of a new wellness
program because TM has religious overtones. The proposed TM unit is made possible by a
$175,000 grant from filmmaker David Lynch‘s foundation. At a presentation on the benefits
of TM, anti-cult lawyer Ford Greene asked pointed questions that dominated the session,
and one parent, who said she‘d taught TM for 35 years, called it a ―destructive cult.‖ ...In
response to the threat of a lawsuit, Smith County, KS, officials have decided not to use a
zoning moratorium in an attempt to keep a TM affiliate from building 12 marble ―peace
palaces‖ on local farmland it has purchased. County commissioners say they are still
seeking ways to prevent the development.
Trinity Foundation
Trinity Foundation head Ole Anthony, self-proclaimed watchdog of America‘s
televangelists, who helped expose the crass, money-making schemes of a number of
influential TV preachers, is now being called a cult leader. Former Trinity member Wendy
Duncan, in her new book, I Can’t Hear God Anymore, claims that Anthony subjected
followers to ―hot seats,‖ scathing verbal attacks that were supposed to cleanse but that
brought them under his control and scarred them so deeply that they‘ll no longer pick up a
Bible. Anthony denies the charges, pointing out that the hot seat practice ended in 1991,
Transcendental Meditation (TM)
A Transcendental Meditation (TM) spokesman says TM meditators in Iowa and
Washington, D.C., deserve credit for improvements in Lebanon, Gulf Coast weather, and the
stock market, among other positive world developments. ..In light of strongly voiced
criticism from anti-cult lawyer Ford Greene, and the David Lynch Foundation‘s withdrawal of
promised funds to mount it, a Marin County, CA, high school has dropped plans to set up a
TM program there. Nonetheless, the school principal, who proposed the program, said she‘d
encourage students to pursue interests in meditation, which she believes is an effective way
to reduce stress.
The Chairman of the Transcendental Meditation Society in Israel has called on the
government to recruit a group of 256 ―Yogic Flyers‖ who, using an advanced TM technique,
would create a shield of invincibility around the country and bring an immediate end to the
violence with Hezbollah. He says the advanced meditation technique brings consciousness
to a level where thinking is without content, where the Flyer connects with the ―source of all
energy and intelligence — beyond any thought and at the same time the source of all
thought.‖
Transcendental Meditation is building a new establishment in Smith Center, KS, that will
house 2,000 professional mediators who, the organization believes, will bring peace and
invincibility to the U.S. ―The feeling is that unless you reduce the stress in collective
consciousness, no (other) effort to create peace is ever going to bear fruit,‖ a TM
spokesman said. Leading a group of ministers opposed to the new project, the pastor of
Smith Center‘s Evangelical Free Church declared, ―They say they‘re not a religion. I say
they‘re a sect of Hinduism. Bottom line is, I don‘t buy you can be a Christian and a Hindu at
the same time.‖ The mayor, reflecting apparent widespread hostility, said, ―Their way of life
and this community‘s way of life are just about as opposite as you could get. Is it going to
affect us? Yes. Because cultures will clash. We just hope we can co-exist.‖ A newly formed
local group has called in cult experts and former TM practitioners to denigrate the
movement. The town has placed a moratorium on land use changes and many vow to
boycott businesses that deal with TM. Others say the establishment will help the moribund
local economy.
A Marin Independent Journal editorial of 10/16/06 says parents of students in San Rafael,
CA, have legitimate concerns about Terra Linda High School‘s decision to offer
Transcendental Medication (TM) as the stress management part of a new wellness
program because TM has religious overtones. The proposed TM unit is made possible by a
$175,000 grant from filmmaker David Lynch‘s foundation. At a presentation on the benefits
of TM, anti-cult lawyer Ford Greene asked pointed questions that dominated the session,
and one parent, who said she‘d taught TM for 35 years, called it a ―destructive cult.‖ ...In
response to the threat of a lawsuit, Smith County, KS, officials have decided not to use a
zoning moratorium in an attempt to keep a TM affiliate from building 12 marble ―peace
palaces‖ on local farmland it has purchased. County commissioners say they are still
seeking ways to prevent the development.
Trinity Foundation
Trinity Foundation head Ole Anthony, self-proclaimed watchdog of America‘s
televangelists, who helped expose the crass, money-making schemes of a number of
influential TV preachers, is now being called a cult leader. Former Trinity member Wendy
Duncan, in her new book, I Can’t Hear God Anymore, claims that Anthony subjected
followers to ―hot seats,‖ scathing verbal attacks that were supposed to cleanse but that
brought them under his control and scarred them so deeply that they‘ll no longer pick up a
Bible. Anthony denies the charges, pointing out that the hot seat practice ended in 1991,
