I just wanted to clarify that this specific terminology, which has been popularized by Krishna devotees, actually covers a much broader scope of Vedic literature. It isn't just the four Vedas; it includes the Puranas as well. Their teachings rely heavily on those later Puranic texts, much like much of modern mainstream Hinduism does—though there are still plenty of distinctions within that group. It might be more accurate to specify exactly who is making a claim. Otherwise, it sounds like a universal Vedic or Hindu doctrine, when in reality, it's just one specific tradition within the larger Hindu landscape.
I hope I’m not stepping on any toes or offending anyone truly spiritual here, but there are a few oddities in his biography that I can't quite shake. It seems unlikely that a teacher of such significant stature would be this obscure online.
I haven't seen any mention of him in the biographies of Jawaharlal Nehru or Indira Gandhi, even though he was introduced to Indira by Nehru himself (with some speculating he was actually her lover). Usually, when people talk about Indira's teacher, they point toward Dhirendra Brahmachari—and let's just say that guy's reputation isn't exactly spotless.
Of course, none of this is definitive proof of anything. Still, I think it's better to stay cautious until the facts catch up. In these circles, it's safer to pay attention to the details, since there are far more skeptics than believers out there.
casualmaker13 said:Look, TM is just a technique, not a religion or some organized movement. You should be mature enough to know the difference. The fact that some people who learn the technique end up following everything else being pushed on them is a different story entirely, and hey, that's their own choice. The truth is, this is one of the most heavily researched meditation techniques out there, with proven benefits documented in over a thousand papers. Of course, people from other religions or those practicing different meditation/relaxation methods get jealous. They're envious because there's little to nothing scientific research on their specific practices, so they aren't even sure if they actually work or if they're just spinning their wheels.😍 As for objectivity, you could nitpick the objectivity of any study ever. Doctors study their field, scientists study theirs—if we went by that logic, everyone would be considered biased.
In TM, getting a mantra involves a traditional initiation process (you're offered fruit, you receive a mantra in front of a guru's picture). It’s a classic Hindu ritualistic initiation where someone acts on behalf of a guru to pass down a spiritual legacy. The way they twist the story to claim it's just a formal thing between a meditation teacher and a guru is just nonsense.
The research is questionable.
Most other groups don't feel the need for this kind of pseudo-scientific marketing, so they don't bother researching themselves.
It would be objective if, say, an independent institute studying social movements looked into how meditation affects crime rates. Instead, we have Maharishi's scientists at Maharishi's institute researching the Maharishi effect, only to conclude—using methods and projections known only to them—that crime has dropped, even when police statistics show it's actually higher than it was during the same period last year.😁
Anthony Fowler83 said:I can't keep up with all these posts, Look, if you're feeling terrified of TM, then just run the other way! It’s blindingly obvious that this isn't working for you, so why on earth would you push forward? You'll just end up paying for every single new level they introduce. Honestly—I know a guy who went all the way through the whole thing, paid every cent, and you know what happened? In the end, they promise you paradise and enlightenment, provided you kneel before some portrait of their chief god or guru—I can't recall which one specifically—and offer up sacrifices (food, flowers, whatever) and bow down to him. Then you spend your time repeating formulas for the instructor leading you, and suddenly you hear this buzzing sound... just buzzing and buzzing until it starts drilling right into your skull. It feels like it's trying to force its way inside your head. And if it actually does get in there, well, then you're enlightened too, aren't you? Then you can just head out into the world to recruit new followers, rubbing the "scientific nature of TM" into their eyes and insisting it has absolutely nothing to do with religion. All while collecting more checks from them.
Every religion with a heavy preaching or expansionist streak pulls the same stunt: they aggressively smear things they don't understand using heavily ideological stances, a mountain of prejudices, and incredibly childish arguments.
That applies here with TM when it's promoted through cheap tactics (like those highly questionable scientific studies or pretending it isn't a spiritual/religious movement), but this current take (much like plenty of other "official" statements from church sheep) is pretty mindless as well.
Casey Morgan26 said:So, I finally finished up my degree... though, if I'm being honest, I barely ever actually showed up to the lectures because they were just so incredibly dull... I ended up dealing with some pretty bad insomnia, mostly because of exam stress and spending way too much time scrolling through the internet and stuff...
Just record them and listen to the lectures at night.😁
The internet is acting up, though it seems fine on my end—must be my bandwidth.
Honestly, you need sports, fresh air, and a solid diet first. A person needs to get those basic physical fundamentals in order (which obviously includes sleep) before even thinking about meditation.
Well, it's an old classic. It isn't exactly being marketed right now—mostly because that's not its primary purpose, much like TM—but honestly, it's far more effective at curing insomnia than TM could ever be.
The method is called: State 😍
Enroll in college and sit through the most mind-numbing lectures imaginable. If you manage to stay awake, you've already won.😍
Casey Morgan26 said:I know they hand them out based on whatever year you were born, but honestly, they just have about ten standard mantras they give to everyone... then they spin this whole story about how it’s some special, personalized mantra meant specifically for you... and yeah, that's pretty much how the whole initiation process goes... But what I find most ridiculous is how they market themselves as just this "stress relief and relaxation technique" that supposedly has nothing to do with religion, only to turn around later and lecture you with all their specific philosophy and religious doctrines....
Yeah, I’m with you there. That’s my main gripe too. Everything else isn't even that controversial, except for how much they overhype it just to feel different from everyone else. I mean... people can do whatever they want. It's not illegal or anything. 😁 I usually end up being the one who looks like a total fool for even bringing it up. 😁
Everyone doesn't get the same mantra; it’s actually assigned based on your birth year. During the course, you undergo an initiation—which essentially means accepting Maharishi as your teacher—even if they don't frame it quite that way. You know, that moment when you bring some fruit and the instructor mumbles something in front of a photo of Maharishi or Gurudev (Maharishi's teacher). I can't say I remember the exact ritual.
Respecting the teacher isn't really up for debate.
I find it a little funny, though—this frantic push to present themselves as a "scientific" organization rather than a spiritual one. It feels like masking the initiations and tweaking Sanskrit terms just to try and look more original...
I mean... it's not all that deep. At its core, it's just pretty standard mantra meditation. Over time, as you go through further initiations, you add extra syllables before and after that base bija, which makes it start looking like a more traditional Hindu mantra (like Om followed by something else). 😁
Edit: Regarding techniques, I think boldsailor2’s suggestion—that first stage of Yoga Nidra—is actually more effective than standard meditation. Or maybe some other kind of progressive relaxation; it feels more like a structured system.
I do remember a stretch when I was getting acupuncture constantly, and it just didn't work. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Even though I could get my body perfectly relaxed thanks to previous autogenic training, being physically immobile while my mind was racing just made the mental buzzing worse. Honestly, I'm more of a hiking person. Get out into the fresh air, eat until I can't move, stay warm... then just sleep. 😁
Spiritual techniques were designed for spiritual work, not for psychiatry. You really should be in a healthy headspace to even start using them. If you look at the prerequisites in the literature, they don't suggest you just be "healthy"—they basically expect you to be a desert saint before you even begin.
The rest of it is mostly just clever ways for certain organizations to spread their message and repackage old ideas to make them seem trendy and original—promising mountains and valleys for almost zero effort.
Regarding research, as I mentioned, most of it is heavily pushed by those involved. Sure, there are studies on yoga or women’s health, but it feels like the initiative usually comes from within those specific circles, often just to promote themselves. That dictates what gets studied and how much.
How much we can actually trust those studies is a whole different issue.
For instance, I already wrote about one such study in another thread.
Basically, they gathered meditators in some American city to test the theory that just one percent of the population could significantly impact the surrounding area—specifically, reducing crime rates and things like that.
And according to their study, it worked perfectly. Well, when they are the ones talking about it.
When you hear the other side, though: they practically conducted the research themselves. There was no objective way to control the results (I mean, how would anyone know how much crime would have occurred if they hadn't meditated?). In fact, crime was actually higher than during the same period last year. Objectively speaking, you could argue they were doing more harm than good, even if that wasn't the case. How did they reach their conclusion? They used methods known only to themselves to calculate that crime *should* have been even higher than it actually was. It doesn't exactly scream "scientific rigor."
I don't know about other studies, but personally, I’d stay far away from those kinds of propaganda tricks.
Besides, do you know why Lennon left Maharishi (the founder of TM)? Living with him in an ashram in Rishikesh, he saw that the guy's famous persona was somewhat of an act—he knew he had his limits. He didn't care for how much the man tried to project a certain image to everyone else.😁
Anyway, there are plenty of documented cases where spiritual techniques actually aggravated mental health issues or even triggered them, rather than helping.
Technique and meditation are great in theory, but the magic isn't all in the technique, and it’s certainly no universal substitute for a doctor.😁
Casey Morgan26 said:Is this meditation practice actually as beneficial as all those "scientifically proven" studies claim, or is it just another massive scam? I can't help but wonder why, in the West, there seems to be such an obsession with researching TM specifically rather than looking into other meditative traditions. Does TM actually end up doing more harm than good? And don't even get me started on the whole philosophy behind it... it feels like a twisted version of Hinduism, especially with their claims that Hinduism and all other religions are fundamentally flawed.
It's just one method among many, and certainly not better than others... like, say, the Rosary. 😁
They push the "scientific" angle because that’s what sells, even though most people interested in spiritual practices don't really care about that stuff. That’s why you don't see as many clinical studies on spiritual exercises; they aren't trying to frame them through a medical lens. That doesn't make the practices bad, it's just their choice. Though, I'll admit, there is a hint of deception there—they try to present everything as purely technical while hiding behind these mysterious initiations.
The TM component of Indian philosophy (the yogic side) is really just a rebranding. They swapped out traditional Indian terms for their own proprietary names just to sound more exclusive than they actually are. 😁
Anthony Rivera17 said:It seems like you might have cut off mid-sentence... if you were looking for me to rewrite a specific post, please provide the full text so I can get to work on it... I suppose one could attempt to fabricate a persona, though why anyone would bother with such an exhausting exercise in pretense remains beyond my comprehension... if there's any point in pretending to be someone else when the reality is already quite enough to handle... The state of the mind... it remains an elusive, shifting landscape that we struggle to navigate, despite all our modern attempts at psychological clarity... It’s a heavy thing, really, trying to outrun the shadows of one's own making... though I suppose we all find ourselves caught in that particular cycle of self-sabotage at some point... it feels less like a sudden breakthrough and more like a slow, exhausting erosion of the obstacles we built for ourselves... eventually, you just realize the weight isn't actually coming from the outside, but from the internal architecture of everything you thought you needed to survive... and once you start dismantling that, there isn't much left but a quiet, somewhat hollow sort of freedom... body, You find yourself navigating the relentless pressure of systemic enforcement... The state of our environment continues to drift toward an inevitable decline, much like a slow-motion collapse that everyone watches with a sense of detached resignation... It seems we are perpetually circling the drain, waiting for a crisis that has already arrived, yet we continue to act as though there is still time to negotiate with reality... And yet, somehow, you’re managing to pull through... Time... it flows by with such relentless indifference, doesn't it...."
The mind is heavily shaped by its surroundings. We rarely realize how much of what we take for granted is actually just learned behavior. Because of that, the most effective tools for mental control are those specifically designed to work within the framework of a particular mindset (regardless of whatever higher goal we claim to be chasing).
rowdyhawk10 said:I suppose we aren't actually any different from anyone else.
Of course we are. We might not be better or worse, but just as every individual is unique, so is a nation—and historical eras have their own specific flavors too. Even certain professions tend to shape people; if you look at a group of traders, a squad of cops, or a bunch of kindergarten teachers, you'll find certain traits appearing much more frequently in one group than in the others.
Spirituality works the same way, adapting to its local time and place. Even when one culture adopts the spirituality of another, they eventually reshape it until it’s no longer the same as the original.
