From "Group Claims TM Movement Is a Cult," the Washington Post,
July 2, 1987, p. C3
On the eve of a "yogic
flying" demonstration for members of the U.S. House of Representatives by
followers of Transcendental Meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a group of
former TM practitioners and concerned members of the Cult Awareness Network
gathered at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington to debunk the "flying"
and warn about cults.
The group charged in a press
conference July 1 that TM, of which "yogic flying" is an advanced
stage, is not simply a method of relaxation through meditation, but a cult that
ultimately seeks to strip individuals of their ability to think and choose
freely.
"They want you to dress
and think and speak in a certain way and not to ask questions. They go into
hypnotic trances and shut off who they are as a person," said Steven
Hassan, a former member of the Unification Church who has studied cults for a decade.
He said that TM adherents suffer a "destruction of personality. It's an
addiction, akin to alcohol and drugs," and stressed that "physical
and psychological harm" may result from using TM techniques "even if
only for a short time."
But Mark Haviland of Maharishi
International University's College of Natural Law maintained that TM is
"not a philosophy, a life style, or a religion," but "a very
simple, useful thing [with] practical benefits of relaxation, of increased
inner potential."
Haviland said that so far only
the first stage of yogic flying, "hopping," had been achieved, but
that "given the results we've experienced so far, we feel that it won't be
long before we'll be getting onto the second and third stage" of "hovering"
and "actual flight." He said the important thing is
the."coherence" that the "flying" creates individually and
collectively, "which leads to world peace."
Joe Kelly and John Taity, two
former TM adherents who studied yogic flying at MIU in Fairfield, IA, demonstrated
the technique at the press conference. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, they
hopped in an awkward forward motion that lifted them into the air a few inches.
"It's strictly physical
exercise," said Kelly. "There's nothing spiritual about it."
Former MIU student Patrick L.
Ryan said he studied yogic flying in a "totalitarian environment"
where every minute of his day was programmed, but that he "never saw
anybody fly."
Ryan said that a new group
called TM-EX is being formed to offer support to those leaving the TM movement.
He said that when he left the movement he received help from CAN and a related
group, FOCUS, which offers support for those seeking to leave "cultic or
totalistic involvement."
Ryan has sued the Maharishi for
compensation for the eight years he said he devoted to raising money and
promoting TM.
Ex-members of TM said at the
press conference that TM is in fact a religion for its adherents, and that the
Maharishi is seen as a god.
Patricia Ryan, daughter of
California Representative Leo J. Ryan, who was shot to death in 1978 in Guyana
by a member of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple, said that "bright, idealistic
people are the most vulnerable" to movements such as TM, of which
"they become unsuspecting victims."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for
Republican Representative Jim Leach of Iowa said the congressman set up a room
in the Rayburn Building for the TM adherents to demonstrate yogic flying after
receiving a request from MIU in Fairfield, which is located in Leach's
congressional district.
The spokesman said that Leach,
after being told of the criticisms of the TM movement, responded that MIU is
"accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and
also recognized by the Federal Interagency Commission on Education." He
quoted Leach as saying that he has "no objection to any American citizen
expressing their First Amendment rights on Capitol Hill or elsewhere."
Cult Observer, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1987, p. 7