http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/ ... 118tm.htmlMeditation controversy
By JOY VICTORY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 18, 2004
...
Religious undertones
Bob Roth, a TM spokesman, denied that TM is in any way religious.
"I find people who don't practice TM tell me that what I'm doing is religious," Roth says. "They say it has roots in Hinduism. It predates that."
Ex-member Joe Kellett, who related the same indoctrination process as Krieger, said leaders of the movement are able to recruit new members because the teachings and practice are essentially forms of hypnotism and self-hypnotism.
"Basically, the reason you become relaxed is because you were given a suggestion to be relaxed. You're in a trance, and if you're susceptible, you will carry out the suggestion," says Kellett, a computer consultant in Castro Valley, Calif.
Kellett runs
http://www.suggestibility.org, a Web site critical of TM, which he hopes will explain the unknown elements of the movement ? like the side effects of TM ? to people interested in learning the technique.
Kellett says some people are unable to fully come out of the trance after they meditate, leaving them groggy, tired and nauseous.
Krieger knows this firsthand. After meditating, he says he often struggled to stay awake, although he was getting enough sleep. (He was meditating throughout the day, rather than just twice a day.)
"They tell you it's your fault, or that you're 'unstressing.' They're not described as negative side effects," Krieger says.
Based on his experience, Krieger is completely against TM in schools.
"I certainly wouldn't recommend TM to anybody, or expose their children to it," he says. "I consider the organization to be a predatory cult ... although it's not the most malignant cult."
Boxerman fully denies the allegations that TM is a cult, and is skeptical of Web sites that criticize TM.
"It's not a cult," he says. "It's a scientifically verifiable technique where you do the practice and get the results. (The critics) are people who have crazy ideas, and that's their responsibility. I don't myself keep track of the Web sites that are critical of TM, but whatever their makeup is, they have misunderstood what is being represented. There's no question it's not a cult."