Whether it's on the best-seller list is not really the point. It's a formidable book by someone whose credentials are beyond dispute. How embarrassing for the anti-TM faction on this board, who insist ad nauseam that the TM movement is almost dead, the research is worthless, etc, etc, etc. Time to eat humble pie, gentlemen.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > A few facts to balance the hyperbole: > > * As far as I can tell, the book being touted is *not* on the New > York Times Bestseller List, at least not in the Top 35 listed on its > hardback non-fiction page, or in the Top 30 listed on its paperback > Non-Fiction page. > * It also fails to appear on Amazon's page listing the "The New York > Times Bestsellers," either for hardback or paperback non-fiction. > > * It appears to be ranked at #662 on Amazon, which is admirable, but > hardly a best seller. (More interesting, the author of this blog's book, > so conveniently touted at the bottom of this article to hype sales of > it, is #11,876.) > * Harold Bloomfield, one-time TMO poster boy and author of the first > book Phil Goldberg waxes so nostalgic about, was later arrested for > drugging his female patients and taking sexual liberties with them. He > plead guilty to two felony counts in the matter and had his license to > practice medicine suspended (at least for a while...I can find no > information about whether it was ever reinstated). So much for the > benefits of meditation. > > We now return you to your normally-scheduled reality. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > HUFFINGTON POST: Transcendental Meditation: Topping The Bestseller > > List Since 1975 by Philip Goldberg Posted: 06/21/11 08:10 AM ET > > > When I saw that a book about Transcendental Meditation > > <http://www.tm.org/> (TM), written by a scientist, had landed on the > New > > York Times bestseller list, my reaction was to quote the great Yogi of > > Berra: "It's déjà vu all over again." > > > > In 1975, "TM: Discovering Inner Energy and Overcoming Stress" was > > propelled onto the list when its lead author, psychiatrist Harold > > Bloomfield <http://www.haroldbloomfield.com/> , appeared on Merv > > Griffin's <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv_Griffin> syndicated TV > > talk show (the Oprah of its day) with TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi > > <http://www.maharishi.org/> . The book remained a bestseller for six > > months, and then had a solid run on the paperback list. During that > > period, Merv devoted a second show to Maharishi, and TM centers could > > barely keep up with the demand. By the end of 1976, over a million > > Americans had learned to meditate. > > > > This was the culmination of a remarkable eight-year run that began > when > > the Beatles famously learned TM and sojourned at Maharishi's ashram > > <http://www.thebeatlesinindia.com/> in India. Between that watershed > > moment and the two Merv programs, meditation moved from the > > counterculture to the mainstream, from weird to respectable, from > > youthful mind expansion to middle-age stress remedy. Now, the > celebrity > > meditators were not rock stars but Clint Eastwood and Mary Tyler > Moore, > > and you could not get more mainstream than the nation's big screen > hero > > and its TV sweetheart. > > > > The route from esoteric mystical discipline to respectable relaxation > > technique was paved by science. It started in the late '60s when a > young > > meditator named Robert Keith Wallace was persuaded by his guru, > > Maharishi, to study the physiology of TM. The research became his > Ph.D. > > dissertation, and then a Science magazine article in 1970. Wallace's > > follow-up study, conducted with Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, > was > > published in 1971 in The American Journal of Physiology and Scientific > > American. The data sparked an avalanche of research. By 1975, a > > substantial body of evidence had demonstrated the efficacy of > meditation > > on various measures of physical and mental health. > > > > Now comes another psychiatrist, Norman E. Rosenthal > > <http://www.webmd.com/norman-e-rosenthal> , with "Transcendence: > Healing > > and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation > > > <http://www.amazon.com/Transcendence-Healing-Transformation-Through-Medi\ > \ > > > tation/dp/1585428736%3FSubscriptionId%3D1E2MCMDX6VVV67W7T882%26tag%3Dabs\ > \ > > > -bookdetailsapi-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26\ > \ > > creativeASIN%3D1585428736> ." Once again, celebrity endorsements add > > pizzazz, in this case Mehmet Oz, David Lynch, Martin Scorcese and > > Russell Simmons, with cameo appearances by the gray eminences, Ringo > > Starr and Paul McCartney. And once again science confers credibility. > > Whereas Bloomfield was fresh out of his Yale residency when Merv > Griffin > > showcased his book, Rosenthal has 30 years of distinguished clinical > > research and more than 200 scholarly articles under his belt. And by > now > > TM has been the subject of over 300 peer-reviewed articles. The book > > describes the most recent findings, many of them involving common > > maladies such as ADHD, PTSD and hypertension, but not limited to > medical > > conditions. > > > > That meditation is good for you is no longer an eye-opening news > flash. > > But the new book's bestsellerdom suggests that a new generation wants > to > > hear the message. In this era of soaring anxiety, depression and > health > > costs, perhaps the only people who don't think that's a good thing are > > the makers of pharmaceuticals. > > > > As someone who has chronicled the transmission of Eastern spirituality > > to the West <http://www.americanveda.com/> , I hope that this time > > around we can avoid some of the pitfalls of the past. As the title of > > Rosenthal's book "Transcendence," suggests, meditation is not just a > > medical intervention. The deeper purpose has always been the > development > > of higher consciousness, as described in the Vedic tradition from > which > > practices like TM derive. But when yogic methods become medicalized > and > > their benefits quantified, they tend to get disconnected from their > > spiritual roots -- a loss for all of us. > > > > Another consequence of the popularization of meditation was the rise > of > > imitation practices. Health experts, self-help mavens and > entrepreneurs > > did everything they could to de-Hinduize and de-Indianize the > practice. > > Recently, we've seen a similar tendency as practices derived from > > Buddhism were secularized as "mindfulness." The advantage of this > > adaptation, of course, is that it makes such practices far more > > accessible. The downside is that something vital can be lost in > > translation, thereby diminishing their effectiveness. Modernizing the > > language is one thing, but tinkering with the ingredients of a > > meditation practice is not unlike changing a medical formula or a food > > recipe. > > > > Finally, in the past, all forms of meditation were lumped together as > if > > their differences were inconsequential. People who should have known > > better assumed that the initial TM data could be applied to just about > > anything that resembled meditation. That techniques practiced > > differently would produce identical outcomes defies logic, yet the > > premise was accepted on faith and promoted by both healthcare > > professionals and New Age promoters. Recent findings have corrected > that > > mistake to a large extent, and current researchers are sorting out > which > > practices produce which results under which circumstances. > > > > The scientific investigation of ancient spiritual practices might be > one > > of the most important advances of the modern era. But we have to > proceed > > with care and discernment, assimilating the methods without obscuring > or > > dishonoring their roots. If we get careless, we can dilute them, > corrupt > > them and otherwise fail to harness their full potential. It's happened > > to some extent already, and it's happening as we speak in the trendy > > world of yoga studios, where complex and profound teachings are being > > reduced to fitness exercises. Rudyard Kipling's assertion that "East > is > > East and West is West and never the twain shall meet" turned out to be > > mistaken, to our everlasting benefit. But we have to make sure that > East > > does not become West. > > > > This Blogger's Books from [Amazon] <http://www.amazon.com/> > > [indiebound] <http://www.indiebound.org/?aff=HuffingtonPost> > > [American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation > How > > Indian Spirituality Changed the West] > > > <http://www.amazon.com/American-Veda-Emerson-Meditation-Spirituality/dp/\ > \ > > > 0385521340%3FSubscriptionId%3D0JJEH4PKQM4ZHS8QY102%26tag%3Dthehuffingtop\ > \ > > > -20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D\ > \ > > 0385521340> American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and > > Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West > > by Philip Goldberg > > > <http://www.amazon.com/American-Veda-Emerson-Meditation-Spirituality/dp/\ > \ > > > 0385521340%3FSubscriptionId%3D0JJEH4PKQM4ZHS8QY102%26tag%3Dthehuffingtop\ > \ > > > -20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D\ > \ > > 0385521340> > > >
