TM-Free News Brief, 19 January 2011

Photos of Transcendental Meditation's King and Queen: The promoters of Transcendental Meditation, like David Lynch and his friends, don't feature this basic fact on their web pages when they're promoting TM. But the head of the global organization that teaches TM, a former medical doctor from Lebanon with an MIT Ph.D. named Tony Nader, is today called "His Majesty Maharaja Adhiraj Raja Raam" by those who remain with the organization, which calls itself the "Global Country of World Peace." They earnestly believe that their "global administration through Natural Law," which generally means selling Vedic products and practices produced by their particular sect, will bring about world peace, and their "administration" takes the form of a monarchy.

While the spectacle of a bunch of grown men playing at government but not actually having one in reality might evoke the image of a fading royal family and court in exile, for King Tony, as I call him, it's a 24/7 lifestyle at the TM organization's world headquarters compound in Vlodrop, Netherlands, or a rumored 2-story Paris condo. These photos of Tony, his wife and their kids, are now circulating among some of the TM faithful; they were taken during the organization's celebrations of Tony's and Maharishi's birthdays last week.

Birthday of a King of a "Global Country" that will "Transform the World:" January in the TM movement has long been marked by the birthday of its founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on January 12, and now the movement also celebrates the birthday of its King, er, Maharaja on January 10. Through one of the worlds' most boring, glacially-paced and incomprehensible (to the casual Western  observer, anyway) TV channels - Maharishi Channel 3, delivered over the Internet - we can, at a distance, get an idea of what passes for "celebration" among the kingdom's subjects.

Much of the celebration, outside of the Vedic recitation, Maharishi video-watching, bagpipe-playing and cake-cutting, consists of a bunch of robed guys with crowns telling Tony that he'd make a good deity, and that he's about to lead the world to Sat Yuga which will begin Real Soon Now. In those professions of devotion there were a number of passages in which, for example, a king is called "deity in human form," and the inevitability of world transformation brought about by the existence of his Global Country is simply assumed.  For instance, Bevan Morris invoked the mythical ancient kingdom of Ayodya, ruled by Raja Raam the Great, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, while implying that the Global Country was the return of that kind of kingdom, in which "suffering belonged to no one."

I'll have a later post here with more of those kinds of details, for now, here are some stills taken from the Maharishi Channel.

King Tony on the throne at MERU, Holland.

Bevan Morris at the Brahmastan of India.

Girish Varma, Maharishi's nephew, and head of TM movement operations in India.

The setting in India, with various "ministers," "Rajas" and other functionaries surrounding Girish Varma.

These are the "Mothers of the World from the Sovereign Domain of Consciousness."

A sampling of "Maharishi's Vedic Pundits" who performed Rajabhishek, the traditional Vedic ceremony of coronation.  

"Royal Bagpipers" who concluded their appearance by playing "Amazing Grace."

Cutting the cake, which was in the form of a "Maharishi Tower of Invincibility."

The audience at the India gathering; only young boys could be seen on the video feed.

"Raja" John Hagelin, in the standard "raja" costume he wasn't wearing at the Met last month.

Eike Hartmann, the movement's "Minister of Architecture," which means he'd probably like to rebuild the planet by bulldozing your house. His tribute to King Tony consisted, in part, of reading from verses 2 through 8 of chapter VII of the Laws of Manu.

Like that image of Guru Dev, only different: The celebration of the January 12 birthday of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi seems to serve as a reaffirmation of the connection between the current TM movement and some stream of the "tradition" that spawned Mahesh and "Guru Dev," whose picture was seen by all meditators when they learned TM. In this vein, the several hours of speech-making, puja, Vedic recitation and Maharishi video-watching also included the presence of His Holiness Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Maharaj, Bhagwan Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, to use the full title that Bevan used when introducing him. The Shankaracharya is patron of the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation, which is in charge of the pundit project.

Here's a video still of the Shankaracharya and his entourage. This might be familiar to those who remember the Guru Dev image from their initiation into TM, but wait - who's that guy on the right?

That is, in fact, an armed security or police officer. Times have changed, haven't they?

"David Wants to Fly" Plays in San Francisco: David Sieveking’s masterful account of his journey through and around today's TM movement played at the Castro Theatre this past Sunday as part of the German Gems Film Festival. Check out Gina's review of the film, and her personal reflections of the day, both here at TM-Free, and on her personal blog, Coming to Life. The next scheduled showing in the U.S. is in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 15, but stay tuned here for updates as we hear about them.

Briefly: Another story about the Gore-Tex family fortune feud I covered last week showed up in the Wilmington, Delaware News-Journal... Looks like at least one TM center, or whatever they call them now, is down to advertising in newspapers for volunteers to handle clerical tasks... Despite the continued prevalence of articles like this one, it bears repeating that the main thing the TM program will "empty" is your wallet, though your mind might follow.

TM-Free News Brief, 19 January 2011. Published irregularly here on Wednesdays by Mike Doughney, who's solely responsible for its content unless otherwise noted.

"David Wants to Fly" in San Francisco

Nearly 30 friends gathered with overwhelming support for a personal coming-out gathering, at yesterday’s 4 pm screening of “David Wants to Fly” for the German Gems Film Festival in San Francisco’s beautiful Castro theater.

We paid our restaurant tab and took a sunny walk to the Castro movie theater. Even more friends turned out at the movie! After keeping my family history quiet for decades, the acceptance and support of intelligent accomplished peers was overwhelming. What an odd way to unite my life's first and second halves - on a sidewalk ticket line. The irony of my coming-out-of-the-closet in San Francisco’s famed tolerant Castro district did not go unnoticed.

Inside the beautiful theater, Eve spoke from the row behind me. “When waiting outside, I asked the person in line next to me ‘Why did you come to see this film?’ He responded, “Transcendental Meditation is being taught at my kid’s high school. I want to see the other side of the story.’ I told him about your family upbringing, how you helped prevent TM from coming to you kids’ high school; that's why we are attending this film! It's exciting. We’re proud of you, Gina!”

I smiled and laughed, not knowing how to respond. “Thank you for coming today. I really appreciate it.”

A master of ceremonies briefly introduced the filmmaker David Sieveking on stage. Then lights dimmed as the red velvet curtains pulled open, and the film began.

The audience watched Sieveking’s skillful and compassionate editing of his enthusiastic youthful journey to meet his idol, filmmaker David Lynch. At Lynch’s encouragement, Sieveking paid 2,800 euros cash for TM instruction. The film then follows Sieveking’s journey through images into some of TM’s global empire, New York, Berlin, Vlodrop, Iowa, India. After filming Maharishi’s memorial service on the Ganges, Sieveking was granted access to inner aspects of the Movement in Vlodrop, Netherlands. He filmed the lavish golden-crowned assembly of rajas in long white robes and gold chains during an early power struggle between Maharishi’s deemed successor, Maharaja Nader Raam, and the Indian factions of the Movement. In several instances, TM leaders directed Sieveking to turn off his camera. Several film clips include former devotees revealing bits of the Movement’s underbelly.

The post-film Q & A primarily revolved around film making. David Sieveking spoke frankly of the irony that he sought David Lynch and Transcendental Meditation to spur his filmmaking career. In the end, David Lynch and the Transcendental Meditation Movement demanded to censure the film. When Sieveking refused to allow the Movement censorship rights, David Lynch and the Movement refused further interviews with David Sieveking. They threatened Sieveking with law suits.

The audience laughed when Sieveking explained that meeting with an entertainment law attorney proved more beneficial for his stress level, than had the Transcendental Meditation technique.

Ironically, Sieveking’s pursuit of David Lynch and Transcendental Meditation did, in fact, provide the basis for a successful film. It’s just not the film that Sieveking had initially expected to make.

My friend Joe stood up, “Thank you, David, for making this film. I spent 15 years devotedly working for this organization. You’ve depicted that world eloquently and compassionately. The only thing missing was stories of the severe psychological and financial damage that occurred to many. The movie did not highlight those aspects, but you probably could not cover that. Transcendental Meditation is both manipulative and dangerous. Over all, your film was an excellent portrayal of the inside of that organization. Thank you.”

After the film, A young man struggling with family relation to TM cornered David Sieveking in the lobby, discussing aspects of the TM Movement. David Sieveking politely spoke with Mark, while trying to work contacts for his filmmaking career. Sieveking is not a professional exit counselor, nor a cult expert. He is a talented young filmmaker who recognized when he had stumbled upon a story, and pursued that story with passion.

Over dinner later, I asked another girlfriend, “So, as an outsider, what did you think of the film?”

“Oh, Sieveking did a great job! I was not fully objective, because I know Gina and I’d heard her stories. In the beginning of the film, I was surprised because I’d expected a hard core expose’. In fact he presented TM’s sales pitch. He showed how wonderful it is to relax with meditation. It was all just lovely, in fact, really lovely. He had a break up, a psychological crisis, and retreated to the comfort of meditation with new friends. Then he slowly revealed the group’s cracks, and the cracks just got bigger across the globe. The viewer walks that road with him through cracks that seem ready to crumble. He also clearly alluded to the fact that there is more to those cracks, but he could not tell those stories because of legal threats. The film clearly shows there is deep ugly dysfunction in Transcendental Meditation. He is a brilliant filmmaker with a bright career ahead of him! The fact that he’s funny and handsome doesn’t hurt!”

For those interested, you can read a more detailed review which includes an ex TMer lunch conversation preceding the screening by clicking to Gina's personal blog for essay "David Wants to Fly" with San Francisco friends.