--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of mainstream20016 > Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2007 7:51 PM > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [FairfieldLife] was: Moments of movement now: Relax. Response > precipitated Sidhis ? > > > The widespread popularity of TM probably led Benson to research TM > > Somehow Benson linked up with Keith Wallace to do the early research. I > forgot how they met. > > and the creation of > the generic RR technique. > > The popularity of TM definitely inspired him to do that. Benson never > learned TM, because he claimed that he wanted to remain objective. But for a > while he was a TM spokesman. One time I drove up to Cambridge from > Connecticut to drive him down to Yale for a lecture, and then back to > Cambridge. > > Benson's claims of RR technique's equality with TM coincided with the > development > of the TM-Sidhi program (earliest development of TM-Sidhi courses in late > 1975). Might > the development of the Sidhis program been a premature reaction to the > competition from > the RR technique? > > Might have been. Benson tried to follow suit for a while, or at least made > some initial investigations. He travelled to Tibet to find yogis who could > perform sidhis. He did find some who could do more than any TMer I've ever > met. He observed a group of monks who could dry wet clothing in 10 degree > weather by generating body heat. This adventure inspired him to write Beyond > the Relaxation Response - http://tinyurl.com/2goac8 > > The development of the Sidhis caused a huge inward stroke in the TM > movement's organization, and a corresponding decreased presence in the > market - the > field TM teachers vacated the market in favor of attending long rounding > courses that > taught the teachers the Sidhis. > > It also scared away a lot of celebrities like Mary Tyler Moore and > professionals like Dr. Charles Glueck head of The Institute of Living > who had become a supporter. > > I'm curious to hear any suggestions as to how the TM movement might have > thrived with just the basic TM instruction remaining as its only product, > rather than what > actually happened with the introduction of the Sidhis as the product that > represented the > movement. > > My guess is that if MMY had stuck to his core message of TM, and conducted > himself sensibly and with compassion for his teachers, the movement would be > much more mainstream than it is today. It still wouldn't be in the schools > because of the puja and other Hindu associations, but far more people would > have become participants than have. Claims of flying, Rajas, etc., put TM > far outside the mainstream, and although the movement tries to put up a > public façade which hides these things, anyone who becomes more than mildly > curious discovers them and most steer clear.
How might the TM movement today offer instruction of just the basic TM technique? Might a fully certified branch organization be created that would have as its mission to teach only the TM technique, residence courses, and SCI, and nothing else? Perhaps if a certified yet distinctly independent organization were created, the general public might be secure in approaching such a setting where just basic TM instruction occured --a setting where the basic experience of transcendence was considered self- sufficient to generate maximum well-being, and where one would never be enticed to consider acquiring additional products or services? How might such an arrangement be created today, to the benefit of all ?
