Sad to say, but I find the below quite believable. I think the parents should sue bigtime. This story is screaming "wrong" on so many levels. The males-on-top culture of the TMO can be so sick.
This is the elitism of the movement's structure -- people in power trample those below knowing that they'll probably get away with it. Mostly men gravitate to these positions. I'm moment by moment ashamed of my gender. On the other hand, a lot of the poor teachers at MSAE were victimized by this too, and many of them were simply in the same boat as the other poor folks and HAD to teach to get their kids' tuitions. They weren't there to pull power plays and brow beat the masses....decent people trying to stay in Fairfield -- even if it meant wearing blinkers to so much -- I still have the dents in my face from wearing my blinkers let me tell you. Hard to throw a stone at parents who let their kids be abused cuz I did it too -- not to the degree that the below parents did, but in kind, yes, I abused my kids by having them stay at MSAE and being, ahem, mum about so much. I was always back peddling to explain something about that system to my kids. That said, don't get me started about real world schools and what's "okay" there. Kali Yuga, sigh. The "black list" -- has it ever been acknowledged openly by the movement "uppers?" Bush's Homeland Security spies could recruit from the ranks of those who were in charge of the black list. It would be chilling to see into those minds with any clarity -- a simple "yuck" response is all I can bear to grunt out. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yeah, sounds like a real nice place: > > http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2007/02/program-pedophilia.html > > One lovely young girl in elementary school was refused admittance to > Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE), after thorough > interogation before an all male board of well-suited MSAE faculty. > They interogated her in detail about a prior childhood sexual > molestation. Her mother's presence was forbidden for this unique > "admissions interview," as the interview board wanted an objective > evaluation of the child. The panel asked detailed questions and > listened attentively to her history. Of course, none of the interview > panel were child therapists, as Maharishi abhors therapy. After this > grueling voyeristic experience, the child was denied admitance to > MSAE as "her impurity would taint the rest of the student body." She > said that experience of blame-the-victim was more traumatic than was > the original sexual molestation. > > --- > http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2007/01/letter-to-san-rafael-school- > boardor-how.html > > The Transcendental Meditation community of Fairfield, Iowa is as-if > my extended family. I harbor no ill will toward individuals in the TM > Movement; in fact I love many of them. To this day, some graduates of > MSAE request my guidance as they strive to function in the real > world, outside of their protected meditation society. Their > intentions are noble, as are those of any True Believer. > > On Sep 5, 2007, at 12:59 PM, Duveyoung wrote: > > > Education at MSAE -- in the 80's -- was catch as catch can. Some good > > teachers, some nice people who shouldn't be teachers, and some anal > > types that were true believers who tried their hardest to sound like > > Bevan. > > > > It was mostly rich folks' kids mixed with the kids of poor folks who > > worked for their kids' tuitions by being MSAE crossing guards etc. > > None of the teachers were "real world" in that they toed the party > > line on most issues. Try to get them to whisper about where all the > > money goes and you'd better be a close friend for them to open up. > > Politics played big with who was in charge, and arbitrary abuse was > > common -- teachers were sometimes just fired for obscure reasons or > > "Maharishi said" reasons. And if the teacher is a good one, it was > > stressing to see them mistreated. > > > > The kids came out pretty good though -- meaning, they weren't > > brainwashed cultists and saw TM for what it is really worth, saw the > > MSAE curricula as about 30% mood making crappola and/or not usable in > > the real world -- like Vedic math, memorized Sanskrit passages, five > > minute meditations before class starts, etc. I'd say maybe 20% of the > > kids were obviously there only because their parents made them go > > there -- they tried to get out of meditation, skipped dome, etc. > > > > I think MSAE works good enough, because the parents are motivated to > > keep the kids churning on the homework etc. For a small school it > > "tests well," and it has lots of success in inter-school activities > > like sports, drama, science fairs, etc. There was a family feel in > > many scenarios. I was happy to drop the kids off. > > > > The bad parts are that the teachers are "slaves" for the most part -- > > working for a free trailer on campus, free kids' tuitions, small cash > > stipend. This reward package attracts only a certain type of teacher. > > > > I don't know the MSAE of today -- it might be much more goofy-assed > > with King Tony Nadar running around -- don't know how his status is > > explained -- how do you tell kids to talk about His Highness in a way > > that wouldn't get the snickers and guffaws going in any non-TM group? > > I feel sorry for the kids in how little they are offered that's real > > world -- something they can use to actually identify with the movement > > that's defensible to non-TMers. My son quit MUM so that his degree > > wouldn't be from there, so that instead is diploma would be from > > another institution with his credits from MUM transferred. It's tough > > to explain to a prospective employer, ya know? There's a palpable > > disconnect in the stance of the teachers regarding the quality of > > MSAE's education -- they pump the kids up with a ton of "we're the > > best," but it leads to an isolationist POV and a snobbishness towards > > townies. > > > > And it costs way too much, because half the dough goes for Girish's > > lavish parties in India donchaknow. The people with school-aged kids > > are the hardest pressed to make ends meet, yet the movement (Girish) > > treats MSAE as just another cash cow instead of, you know, buying more > > books for the library, giving teachers decent salaries, subsidizing > > uniform purchases, gym equipment, etc. > > > > I don't know, but I would bet that most of the rich kids don't end up > > going to MUM....a tell that the rich folks understand the real world. > > > > All that said, I moved to California with the family, but my daughter > > was in her senior year, so we rented a house in Fairfield for her > > (next to a sister-in-law,) and she graduated from MSAE. MSAE never > > knew that she was "living on her own with scant supervision" heh heh. > > But don't miss the point, my daughter had so many friendships there > > that she just couldn't do anything else. That's a testament for the > > quality of personalities in the community -- my daughter is very big > > hearted but not a push over, but she had dozens of friends and a very > > big social life. I think Fairfield can offer an actual "home town" of > > some merit just because somehow the MSAE kids are coming out with a > > real world clarity due to their having been subjected to the MSAE > > delusions which imbues a certain level of cynicism in them towards > > cultish mindsets. A good thing, I guess. > > > > Other parents will tell other stories. The rich folks will be much > > more positive about it. The poor folks will have been shamed many > > times by having to contort their lives to afford the uniforms, field > > trip fees, etc. > > > > The separation of the genders is probably a good thing, but that's > > just me. > > > > And MSAE, back then, was a real pill if you tried to take your kid > > somewhere that didn't mesh with the MSAE schedule. But only for the > > poor kids. The rich kids got to go anywhere anytime and the teachers > > even taught them "long distance" -- Chris Hartnett's daughter > > graduated from MSAE, but she spent a ton of time in Europe during that > > time. These special dispensations were all too common and all too > > visible. Classism was the result to some degree. > > > > Following the lives of the friends of my kids for the last three > > decades has lead me to believe that most of them are able to integrate > > with the real world after graduation, but I wonder how many of them > > brag -- as opposed to "not mention" -- about their cult education. >
