Dr. Director of the TM Peace Palace Project:
I hardly know how to begin other than to express my extreme disappointment
and disillusionment over the introduction to the practice of TM and the
potential of a Peace Palace being built here in our city.
Your presentation was something right out of an L Ron Hubbard Dianetics
seminar.
I have had the TM web sight book marked quite some time. I have read about
the meditative benefits and life changing opportunities on the web site, in
many periodicals, most recently an article on meditation in my latest Yoga
Journal. I have been reading about the quest that David Lynch has taken up
and had thought it most noble.
The total lack of altruism, and I believe misrepresentation, of your
promotion of the TM practice and the Peace Palace is outrageously incredible
and severely naïve for a group that promotes "Enlightenment". I believe you
will find our city much more enlightened than your group took our community
for.
I speak only for myself and Terri – but we have achieved a level of
enlightenment through our separate searching's and readings and life choices
and in our coming together to share and explore and meditate through many
outlets – that I am quite embarrassed by your elementary attempt to reach
out to the community under the guise of 'science meets enlightenment and
world peace' at the low, low cost of $2500.
There are other true Vedic teachers and others of many followings and
beliefs, who teach, train mentor and guide to be found in the world who do
so out of an inner desire to share and to love and to help and all they
require in return is the possibility and potential of those that seek them
and that come after.
I find it hard to express succinctly exactly how I feel.
I will be commenting on the TM web site and I will write to the editor of my
Yoga Journal and pass on my experience with this introduction to the TM
practice, and I will pass on to anyone who expresses an interest in the
Peace Palace that, yes, it may be coming and may be available to
anyone who is willing to pay.
REPLY:
e-Conversation with someone who came to my intro last night. Please don't forward to anyone without first removing my name and address. I've changed the names to protect the innocent.
Hi Alice,
Thanks for coming to the intro and for your candid if somewhat searing critique of our programs and presentation. I was going to call you to get your feedback to see if it concurred with my intuition of your reception - that you (and Terri) were "turned off" by the price of instruction--$2500.
Is that correct? I'm sorry that I wasn't able to overcome that objection and it's a BIG objection, the dichotomy between what's commonly taken for spirituality and materialism. This has even divided people in our organization--I know several TM teachers who have refused to teach at this rate. I'm curious to know at what price point your objection would drop and you would begin the practice, as you indicate that you think it would be good to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique, with its "meditative benefits and life changing opportunities".
Thanks for taking the time to write this fairly long and thoughtful e-mail. I think we can respect each other's opinions and feelings--and if I can't "convert" you--that we can nevertheless, 'agree to disagree' (excuse the cliche') and maybe yet become friends? Ultimately we want the same things for ourselves, our families and even our country, don't we? Perfect health, peace, prosperity, happiness, and the 24 hour bliss of Brahman (Unity) Consciousness? In that respect are we not comrades rather than adversaries?
As I have never been to one, I'll have to take your word for the Dianetics thing and take it as a complement? And I agree that this city is a wonderful place with a lot of highly intelligent and creative people, but I'll disagree with your use of the term "enlightened," reserving that for a specific state of human consciousness that increasingly can be verified by its physiological correlates--brain functioning primarily but many others as well. The terms enlightened and enlightenment, like the co-opting of mantra and pundit, have come to mean something much less than their original meanings. So when I use the term I will capitalize it and use it to mean one or all of the 5th thru 7th states that I presented last night--Cosmic, God and Unity Consciousness. To try to improve our communications (assuming if I may, that we will hopefully continue them), I will tell you that my understanding of Cosmic Consciousness is that this is the state somewhat commonly referred to as Nirvana, i.e., that there are two more states of consciousness beyond that.
The sword of materiality cuts both ways, Alice, and from my side of this apparent line you've drawn between us in the virtual sand of cyberspace, I can reflect the charge of materialism back to you--backed up with a couple of New Testament morsels:
Mathew 13
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013;&version=31 <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013;&version=31> ;
I can tell you from my own personal experience and that of many in my family and nearly all of my friends, that the $2,500 course fee is infinitesimally small in comparison to what you'll get from regular practice of Transcendental Meditation. I tell you truthfully that you can't begin to even imagine it! And I tell you truthfully that there is simply nothing else in this world that you can spend $2,500 to learn that will bring you what this will. Nothing.
The course fee of $2,500 was set by Maharishi himself after a great deal of thought and to the consternation of nearly everyone who was teaching TM at the time (I wasn't actively teaching then but I recall that the course fee then was $1,000), and I think he did so for a couple of reasons--the first being a test.
The second is that it is an immutable truth that movements move on money. Our Movement is on the verge of spending about $3,000,000 to buy the land and build this first Peace Palace in this city. Who should pay for that? Who should pay for the phone lines, utilities, Internet connection, printing and advertising costs? Who should pay me so that I can do this full time? Maharishi? In what other endeavor or system of learning does the teacher pay the student; the provider pay the consumer?
Thanks for your time and consideration. I await your reply with interest.
Peace, Love, and Understanding.
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