|

Eee

ANALYSIS
by Harriett Fjaagesund |

Normally, when 1 write an ar-
ticle 1 concentrate on the facts at
hand and try to keep whatever
personal opinions 1 may have
out of the writing (or at least toa
minimum). But because of the
subject matter of this article,
which concerns the Transcen-

_ dental Meditation lecture recent~-
‘ty held at Northwest Community

College, I found I had to rely as
much on intuition as I did facts.
My opinions are my own (you'll
find them at the end of this arti-
cle) and are not meant as a
guideline for you to follow.

The -Transcendental Medita-
tion program (or TM, as it is
popularly referred to) was
founded by Maharishi Mehesh
Yogi in 1957, and is now pur-
ported to have approximately
three million converts world-
wide,

Maharishi, who has a back-
ground in physics, travelled to
the Himalayas where he joined a
monastery to study the
§,000-year-old science of
Sthapatya-Ved (the term is de-
rived from the word sthapana
meaning ‘‘to establish’’ and ved
meaning ‘‘puré knowledge’’).
Armed with this knowledge,

<a

Transcendental Meditation
lecture unenlightening ©

Maharishi then proceeded to
develop his Transcendental
Meditation program through a
non-profit organization.

Peter Cameron, an extension
professor at the Maharishi Inter-
national University (MIU) in
Fairfield, lowa, explained at the
Terrace lecture that TM is a sim-
ple, natural technique that in-
volves two 15- to 20-minute ses-
sions daily in which practitioners
focus their attention on a “‘man-
tra’’,.a word or sound in San-
skrit, that they recite mentally
to promote relaxation and
relieve stress.

A native of Wolfville, Nova
Scotia, Cameron gave up a

‘promising musical carrer as a

pianist, arranger and composer

for full-time involvement with -

the TM movement, which he
first became aware of in 1970.

. While attending the Berklee Col-

lege of Music in Boston, he at-

tended'a TM lecture at Harvard,

out of curiosity.

_’ He was impressed enough to

take the eight-hour course of-
fered (which is taught in a series
of private lessons and costs

‘$400, with discounts for fami-

lies, students and seniors, and
free to anyone who has taken it
before), and eventually. decided
he wanted to teach others the
benefits of TM, so began train-
ing in Europe as an instructor.

Travel is high
Mar. 21-Apr. 19

July 23-Aug. 22

VIRGO
Aug. 23-Sept. 72

LIBRA

get together.

SCORPIO
Oct. 23-Nov, 21

SAGITTARIUS

Nov, 22-Dec. 21

CAPRICORN.

Dec, 22-Jan.19 all in Caprico
AQUARIUS

Jan, 20-Feb. 18

PISCES
Feb, 19-Mar. 20

lighted the next few weeks, and

can be very pleasurable with the right partner.
Choose your companions with care.

Legal matters could be prominent in your schedule,

TAURUS
Apr.20-May.20 . Joint financial matters indicate a need to study
security plans,

GEMINI Close personal and business relationships are
May21-Sune20 | emphasized. The new moon on. Sunday could
signal thestart of anew partnership: -

CANCER Good news concerning a health matter gives areal
June21-July22 boost in morale. Additional responsibilities on

. _ the job bring rewards.
LEO Thereis no easy road toriches but it won't doany

harm to fantasize about hitting it big. .

Pay close attention to family and property inter-
ests in the holiday hustle and bustle. Be aware

of health hazards. ;

_.. Neighborhood activities add an air of festivity.
Sept. 23-Oct. 22 There's plenty of action when family and friends

Financial decisions made under the new moon
influence take on a new direclion, Be wary of
aquick-fix proposition.

Finances are sure to be a prominent point of in-
terest. There are hidden factors that emerge at
thestrangest times. ae

Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Venus, and Sun, are

rn at this time, causing great hap-

penings, some positive, somenotso positive,

The holiday season should generate plenty of
social and romantic popularity. Pay attention to
the needs of the younger set.

_ Friends and social activity are emphasized. The
effect you have on those you come in contact with
is an inspirational experience.

ms ve nee, iy | aed

4603 Park Ave. Terrace (across from the library)

. 4 large variety al
meats, cheeses, European
novelties, super
sandwiches, fresh salads.
We cater for large and
small partias and picnics.
635-6440

cain ma teen a hana fel bedi eam pen one ana ae tans ne Uta te Le meee:

Training for an instructor takes
approximately eight months.

After completion of the train-
ing course, Cameron returned to
Wolfville to take up his musical
studies at Acadia, and taught
meditation on the side up until
1983, when he began his Masters
degree..in business administra-
tion at MIU.

‘Cameron describes meditation

as a deep level of rest that allows . 7

the body to trigger its repair
mechanisms, something he says
it is unable to do during or-
dinary sleep. He went on to ex-
plain that research indicates
regular practise of TM increases
intelligence and creativity, im-
proves memory, improves
academic performance, reduces
cholesterol: levels, normalizes
blood pressure, reduces insom-
nia, and improves asthmatic
conditions.

A brochure outlining the
benefits of TM states that a
health insurance study found
that TM meditators had less ill-
ness in every disease category,
including 55 percent less cancer,
87 percent less disease of the ner-
vous system, and 87 percent less
heart disease. Cameron added
that the organization is trying to
convince the Canadian govern-
ment to integrate TM into the
health care system. The
brochure also states that over
440 studies have been conducted
worldwide on the TM program
in 27 countries. -

Other long-range plans in-
clude integrating the program
into prisons and jails worldwide,
a proposal based on the reported:

Peter Cameron: Simple, natural technique — for $400.

ties in with a theory called the
Unified Field of Natural Law.
Through quantum field theories,
some scientists believe that all
the laws of nature responsible
for conducting all the activity in
creation spring from one basic
unified field. From this field,
nature governs the universe in
perfect order (and always in an
evolutionary direction). TM re-
portedly puts the meditator in
direct contact with this unified

field. -

All-this information sounds

‘rather impressive, but several
_things bothered me. When I

spoke with Laurel Gregg, owner

success of teaching the technique
to Senegalese prisoners, whereby
the repeat offender rate dropped
from 90 percent down to five
percent.

The organization has also pre-
sented a proposal to the U.S.

- government to hire 10,000 peple
who will be paid an annual
salary of $40,000 to meditate as
a group at MIU on a full-time
basis ‘to help establish world
peace. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
has laid claims that when only
one percent of the populace of a
city practises TM, there is a
marked drop in that city’s crime
rate,

The proposal suggests the
U.S. government will save an
estimated $522 billion over a
three-year period on their initial
$1 billion investment by lower-
ing unemployment and health
care costs, decreased defense
spending, and overall improve-
ment in the economy.

Cameron added that mantras ,

have no religious connotations,

they are used only as sounds and

in no way conflict with relious
beliefs. . ,

Supporters of Transcendental

» Meditation: also: claim that TM

SO Wiehe AE Legh MEETS

and operator of Nirvana
Modern Metaphysics in Thorn-
hill, who also teaches meditation
classes, she felt the TM course
fees were too steep, even taking
into account travel and
operating costs. Gregg says the
most she charges is $75 for an
eight-week progressive medita-
tion course.

There seems to be some con-
troversy surrounding Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi’s actual financial
status. Although he reportedly
owns little more than a few long
robes and a pair of sandals,
there are rumours that he is now
in fact a very wealthy man.

Also confusing was the mys-
tique regarding the mantras each
person receives. Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi supposedly has a
chart of different sounds, one
for each personality type, that
was developed by an ancient
civilization. Each individual re-
ceives their mantra during a
private interview with the in-
structor, and re told they must
keep this word, or sound, secret,
that it must never be spoken out
loud; to do so will render it less
effective.

Grege vigorously disagreed

with this, saying that there is
nothing mysterious or secretive
about mantras (a repeated sound
which enables the meditator to
better focus his or her concen-
tration), they are common
knowledge available to
everyone, and to believe that
saying. a sound out loud will
make it less useful is just plain
silly. An example of a mantra is
the ‘‘om’’ sound.

” \Gregg added that the only
chart for mantras she is aware of

is for chakras (energy centres of ©
the body). You would, for ex-
ample, use.a specific mantra if .

you were having back problems
and you wanted to work on that.
Gregg says the only secret about’
an individual’s mantra ‘is that it
is hidden within themselves, and
what she does is teach you to
find your own individual man-
tra. She questions why anyone
should pay $400 for something

that already belongs to them.

Another point of contention
arose when Cameron explained
the importance of routine
follow-ups to ensure people con-
tinue practising the TM _ tech-
nique properly (apparently the
technique may require subtle ad-
justments as we grow older and
change).

While individuals will not
have to pay for this, there is the
problem in that the nearest TM
centre for the north is located in
Vancouver (and possibly some
time in the future, Prince
George}. Cameron admitted it
could be several years before he
or another instructor will return
to this area. This seems to be
akin to buying a foreign product
and discovering, after it breaks
down, that the nearest replace-
ment parts are located in an-
other country. :

{ have absolutely nothing
against meditation, but I do
question the TM movemeut. For
me there are (oo many grey areas
with unsatisfactory answers.
We're all searching for solutions
to the world’s ills (and our own),
but we should question the an-
swers we receive before jumping
headlong into anything.

mei iota g pp tag aT