Transcendental Deception: Behind the TM curtain – bogus science, hidden agendas, and David Lynch’s campaign to push a million public school kids into Transcendental Meditation Paperback – January 15, 2018

Aryeh Siegel, has written an important and thorough book about the history of the Transcendental Meditation organization that is both highly readable and informative. As the author reminds us, it costs hundreds of dollars today to learn TM while many equally effective meditation techniques are available at little or no cost. In fact, mindfulness meditation can be learned by just going to the public library and reading about it. And these forms of meditation do not come with the TM religious baggage that, as Siegel points out, is hidden to the public. He also advises that the TM organization is making a strong effort to introduce TM into our public schools including this religious aspect. I am sure the TM technique itself is possibly helpful for many people, but at what cost is the issue. Aryeh Siegel does us a service by pointing out that while the TM technique may be effective, it is costly and has much in its history about which we should be aware. In the interest of openness, I wish to advise the reader that Mr. Siegel is a friend.

Kudos to Aryeh Siegel for an important book about his quest for personal growth through Transcendental Meditation (TM) and questioning the appropriateness of its inclusion as part of a public-school curriculum.In Transcendental Deception, Siegel initially embraces and pursues TM in search of a tool to facilitate mental focus and relaxation through meditation. For more than ten years, he served as a TM instructor, often in proximity to the TM leadership. TM maintains that it is not a religion. However, as Siegel details in the book, TM – through its mantras and pujas – most certainly embraces and proselytizes the Hindu religion, and he meticulously eviscerates TM’s claims to the contrary.Finally, through his own experience, Siegel sheds light on the psychological/spiritual and economic damages caused to Siegel and others by the deception. For example, participating and proselytizing the Hindu religion is a major problem in Judaism and other religions and can often result in family disruption, guilt and depression. Deceiving seekers of an effective, non-religious meditation technique into purchasing expensive advanced courses and convincing some of them to trade work for course credits (often to the neglect of other educational and employment opportunities) has also resulted in economic damage to many well-intentioned students in their quest for truth.Bottom line: I agree with Siegel’s thesis that TM is a religion and has no constitutional or otherwise valid purpose in being taught in the US public schools and should not be publicly funded or otherwise permitted to be taught in US public schools.

This story is an incredible adventure story. The author has detailed how he went from being involved with transcendental meditation to learning about some of the attitudes behind the scenes. The book is a well researched, well written, expose of the materialism and desire for power that runs Transcendental Meditation. So much so that they have a concerted campaign to breach the separation of church and state.What makes this book important is that large groups and organizations say one thing publicly and do another privately. We now live in times when this is a major issue. Moreover, the foundation of our civilization is, in how we educate our children and that they learn to separate truth from fiction. Public education is the cornerstone of our society's survival, and the author does all of us a service by highlighting the attack upon our societal freedoms, and by giving us the knowledge to fight back. If you care about the public education of the next generation, you should read this book.

I group up in the TM movement ("the Movement") in Fairfield and went to the Maharishi school (colloquially known as a ru, short for guru). I left Fairfield and the Movement years ago, and with time and distance had developed nostalgic rose tinted rose tinted glasses about it. I eventually saw it as mainly benign with some cultish aspects. But this book reminded me of some of the darker aspects of the TM movement. I used to call the Movement "tofu totalitarianism," because it operated with a soft sort of totalitarianism. Instead of a boot stomping on your face, it was Bevan Morris in a beige suit talking in his feminine voice about "Maharishi's knowledge" (fellow rus will know what I'm talking about).As this book makes clear, TM is a form of Hinduism. If the TM movement was honest about that I would actually be a fan of it. Maybe it is because I was brainwashed at an early age, but I still subscribe to the Advaita Vedanta hindu philosophy that is at the core of TM. I would probably still enjoy doing a puja to Guru Dev. Unfortunately the TM movement continues to insist that it is merely a "technique." As the book discusses, the reason it does that is for marketing purposes, and to make it easier to make inroads into public schools that are bound by the first amendment to separate church and state.I have no problem repeating the name of a hindu god as a mantra (which is what the TM technique is), or doing a religious ceremony honoring the "holy tradition." But I do have a problem with a movement that constantly lies to people about what it is, and engages in shady cult-like behavior. The section in the book about "pandit boys" details what could be described as human trafficking. There is a dark side of this movement. The book brought back memories of the darkness in a very accurate and fair way. If you are a former ru, or are considering getting into TM, you should read this.I liked that Guru Dev came off looking good in the book. I always preferred him to Maharishi. Jai Guru Dev.

I had stopped practicing TM in 1987 after 13 years of practice and the subject of TM came up in conversation and I started reading up on it for no particular reason and people kept calling it a religion. I was a teenager when I started and forgot about the initiation ceremony and in the book there are court documents that had the english translation of the hindu words said by the teacher at the ceremony. TM has a religious aspect to it. I was lied too. Very good book for those who want to know what is hidden in the TM movement.

I'm a very open minded person and I'm prepared to give everything a fair chance. I am also a keen and experienced meditator. I would however, advise to read this book written by a former TM Coach, and be cautious if you're still considering embarking on a TM meditation course. Moreover, I had attended a pre-course information session, which was run by two TM coaches, and I left feeling quite confused as to whether they were selling a very expensive meditation/relaxation course on eastern religion, which I was assured was not the case, or an entirely newly developed and very secretive relaxion practice. Needless to say, this is what spurred me on to do a little more research into the background of what's technically being sold, and that's how I found this book. The book has confirmed for me what I was already beginning to suspect, which is TM in it's current guise, is a business model set up to alleviate you from a considerable amount of your hard earned cash.

This is one of those books that speaks of 'expose' and revenge. Segal was a Maharishi devotee, but discovered many things about the Guru and his organisation that he could not stomach. Former devotees who suddenly find themselves with big grievances over what they formerly enjoyed are always the most bitter and destructive. Maharishi's organisation, and he himself, were not perfect, but what flawed humanity has achieved through TM is priceless. Segal constantly throws out the baby with the bathwater, focussing on financial dealings gone wrong and his own feelings of being taken for a ride. It is just not a pleasant read and is typical of the nit-picking and bitchy gossiping nature of our age - to find fault with everything, and to look for reasons and justifications for it. Segal has a beef with the Maharishi, and the Transcendental Movement, but doesn't wash his dirty linen in private. He will appeal to those who enjoy tabloid journal-ese and prying expose pieces, to those who endlessly criticise anyone who tries to do good in the world. Who among us, in this age, is not flawed? Frankly, I got fed up with the Maharishi-bashing and the nasty taste left in my mouth.