TM-EX NEWSLETTER TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION EX-MEMBERS SUPPORT GROUP WINTER 1992 RHODE ISLAND Troubled times for the Maharishi: Medical branch accused of deception, misinformation The bad news just keeps coming for the fans of Maharishi Ayur-Veda, a medical offshoot of the Transcendental Meditation cult, led by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A professional conduct board in London has revoked the medical licenses of the two physicians who have been Great Britain's biggest promoters of the Maharishi's herbal remedies. Dr. Roger Chalmers, dean of medicine at the Maharishi Ayur-Veda College of Natural Medicine, and Dr. Leslie Davis, dean of physiology at the Maharishi University of Natural Law, were found guilty of using unproven Maharishi treatments to treat patients infected with the AIDS virus. The doctors didn't even know what was in the products, said the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Medical Council. Newspaper accounts of the case say some of the herbal preparations sold by the pair were found to contain fungus, feces and bacteria, and persons with AIDS were charged $500 a month for the remedies. The pair have a right to appeal. Double trouble: The case marks the second black eye in a month for Maharishi Ayur-Veda, which markets its medicines in the United States from Lancaster, Mass. The first came when the Journal of the American Medical Association reported finding a ``widespread pattern of misinformation, deception, and manipulation of lay and scientific news media'' designed to promote Maharishi Ayur-Veda. JAMA's criticism was sparked by an article the medical magazine ran last May, an article sympathetic to Maharishi Ayur-Veda. It was written by Dr. Hari Sharma of Ohio State University, Brihaspati Dev Triguna of the All India Ayur-Veda Congress in New Delhi, and Dr. Deepak Chopra of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine in Massachusetts. The trio said doctors who use Ayur-Veda's techniques of ``balancing'' the body ``are finding it to add valuable knowledge'' in the quest to prevent disease. They reported that some herbal preparations had already been found to be effective against cancer. But the authors didn't reveal that the herbal medicines of Maharishi Ayur-Veda are sold exclusively by the Maharishi's organizations, and they have ties to his organizations. Sharma, Triguna and Chopra had previously asserted, in writing, that they were not linked to those organizations. The discovery of that conflict of interest prompted the medical magazine to run a small-print, half-page correction, one of the longest in JAMA history. When Andrew Skolnick, an associate news editor for JAMA, investigated further, he made other intriguing discoveries. Among the skills taught to Ayurvedic practitioners is pulse diagnosis, where the pulse alone is used to detect anything from diabetes to cancer. He asked Chopra, America's top promoter of Maharishi Ayur-Veda, to arrange a scientific test of ``pulse diagnosis'' to see if it really works. Chopra declined. According to former members of the Maharishi's movement, Ayur-Veda has other unconventional practices. There are ritualistic offerings to Vedic gods to improve health. Gems and ornaments are worn to promote wealth, longevity, happiness and prosperity. Skolnick investigated claims that Dr. Tony Nader, billed by the organization as a ``professor'' and ``eminent researcher,'' had conducted research at Harvard and MIT demonstrating the benefits of a Maharishi concoction on the immune system. But Nader's advisers at Harvard and MIT--where he had been a student and research fellow, not a faculty member--said they knew of no such research. Chopra then told Skolnick that Nader had done research with pathologist Paul Newberne at MIT. But Newberne, now at Boston University, said Nader never produced any noteworthy results. The group says it has documented the effectiveness of Ayur-Vedic treatments at scientific meetings. But in a 1987 case, the Ayur-Vedic researchers ``couldn't even provide the scientific names of the medicinal plants they claimed to have tested,'' said Charlotte Gyllenhaal of the University of Illinois, the co-organizer. A group called the World Medical Association for Perfect Health, which has ties to the Maharishi's organization, claimed that Dr. Thomas Malone chaired a conference on Maharishi Ayur-Veda when he was deputy director of the National Institutes of Health. ``I am convinced that the meditation being practiced here and the utilization of natural law can prevent disease,'' Malone was quoted as saying. Malone said he never chaired such a conference and that his quotes were made up. Gutter journalism: Chopra says JAMA's report ``employed the classic tactics of gutter journalism'' and was ``an attempt to suppress a viable form of alternative health care on the part of a journal supported by the world's richest and most powerful drug companies.'' His press release did not address specifics. ``We know that it is difficult for some people to see how the ancient system of Maharishi Ayur-Veda could possibly do patients any good, but it does,'' Sharma and Chopra wrote. The Providence [R.I.] Sunday Journal, Science/Technology, November 24, 1991, Gene Emery~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ZAMBIA Dear TM-EX: Greetings to you for the New Year! I'm sorry to be tardy in getting off this note to you. Our fax line has been dead for over a month. I've been hoping each day it would revive and so I've put off writing to you. But with no hope in sight, I'd better write today or you will think I've forgotten you and all the help which you provided. I thought of you several weeks ago, hearing your voice on a BBC news show about TM. As I indicated in my brief fax of 7 November, the elections went very smoothly and the transition has been peaceful--thank goodness! Over 3000 Zambians served as volunteer monitors, keeping the elections ``free and fair'' and demonstrating the people's commitment to democratic change. After 27 years of rule under the ``founder,'' it is a big change to come into political freedom. But the economy is very bad and tough times are ahead. The price of mealie-meal (basic maize food for the people) doubled last week, and of course it is the poor who suffer most. The last days of Maharishi's ``Heaven on Earth'' were comic-tragic. big advertisements appeared in the paper extolling the great development which would follow thousands of young Zambian men (quite sexist) being recruited to be trained in TM methods to improve agriculture. Letters from some Christian church people from outside the country were published praising TM, emphasising it was not a religion and was scientifically acceptable. Then, on the night before the elections, a half-hour television special described what Zambia would be like as ``Heaven on Earth.'' It was so ridiculous and culturally insensitive to Africans as to be unbelievable (North Americans and Indians telling us what to do, giving promises of an end of sickness and famine, electric-powered cars for every Zambian, national invincibility against our neighbours and recognition as world leader, etc., etc.) After watching the show, I was almost convinced it had been put on as a plot by the MMD (opposition party which won the next day)--just to embarrass the president by making him look ridiculous to be associated with such a group. It praised him as the ``Father of Heaven on Earth in Zambia--surely enough to seal his fate at the polls! He gained only a little over 20% of the popular vote, and his party received only 16% of the Parliament seats. The day after the elections, the paper reported that the Maharishi's followers were fleeing the country. One of the defeated cabinet ministers had been heavily involved with them, and he hasn't been heard much from since. What is sad is that some highly-placed people could be taken in by this. The materials which TM-EX sent were circulated widely to church people and others, and helped to put perspective on what was going on. So I express our appreciation to you. Because my own role in getting this information was ``behind the scenes''--necessary, since I'm an expatriate in a very sensitive situation--I will of course request anonymity in any thing which you might write up about the Zambian case. But you certainly use what I've written here, without citation. If you want more information, let me know. Again, my thanks and best wishes! Lusaka, Zambia, Central Africa, December 19, 1991~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MASSACHUSETTS Letter to Dr. Tony Nader from MIT Dear Tony, An officer of the Massachusetts General Hospital happened to read the attached article in the Los Angeles Times, and he was embarrassed by it, as were John Growdon and myself. This interview implied sanction by MIT and Harvard of this really low-grade kind of investigation. Please stop doing any work on your herbal preparations so long as you have any contact with my laboratory or John Growden's, whether that work is done in our space or that of any other investigator at MIT or Harvard. What you do after you leave here is your business--but what you do while you have appointments generated by John Growdon or myself is very much his and mine. Sincerely yours, Richard J. Wurtman, M.D., Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Director, Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 27, 1986~ Statement from MIT Provost Mark S. Wrighton Dr. Tony Nader's connection with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ended in Sept. 20, 1989, when he received the Ph.D. in brain and cognitive sciences. During his time as a student, from October 1985 until Sept. 20, 1989, he held a visiting physician appointment at MIT's Clinical Research Center. He was not authorized to undertake any research on his own. In 1986 Dr. Nader told the Los Angeles Times that he was doing research at MIT on what is known as the ayur veda herbal compound. When that article reached the attention of his thesis advisor at MIT, that professor--Richard J. Wurtman, M.D.--instructed him in writing to stop the unauthorized research at once and to stop suggesting that the work was supported by MIT. MIT has called to the attention of its law firm recent comments and documents which indicate an effort to suggest a continuing research relationship between Dr. Nader and MIT. News Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, July 26, 1991.~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USA TM Ayurveda Article Comes Under Fire: Top American Medical Magazine Questions Propriety of Story Authors It was a pitta (body/mind ayurveda type that is ambitious) accomplishment for the Transcendental Meditation movement--getting an article on their program of the Hindu science of ayurveda into the May `91 issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). TMer's from Maharishi International University in Iowa to the world headquarters in India celebrated with unified field theory euphoria. Deservedly so. JAMA is read with critical reverence by tens of thousands of medical doctors in the US. It is widely quoted in other journals, and news media often transplant stories from it. Titled Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Modern Insights into Ancient Medicine, the 3-page article was co-authored by Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Hari M. Sharma and Brihaspati Dev Triguna. It incorporated a bit of Hindu (the word Hindu is never mentioned) medical history and a good digest of ayurveda physiology and psychology--all of it backed up with TM's own research data. Worldwide ayurvedic physicians could say ayurveda looked good in JAMA. Stuck into the article like intravenous tubes were a number of TM ayurvedic products and the Transcendental Meditation program itself. The most touted product in the article was Maharishi Amrit Kalash. But the celebratory bubbles at TM began to burst as JAMA was informed that the authors of the Maharishi Ayur-Veda article gave misleading disclosures--statements that tell what executive, associative or financial connections the author has with the institutions, services or products referenced in an article. A standard in professional magazines, disclosures ensure editors and readers of the writer's neutrality. In the Sharma/Chopra/Triguna case JAMA received in October 1990 a letter from the three authors stating they were consultants for Maharishi Ayur-Veda Products International (MAPI), the sole distributor of TM's line of ayurvedic substances. A second letter from them in January 1991 stated that the three had no associations with the TM organizations and listed non-TM associations as their affiliations. After publishing the article in JAMA in May, JAMA was notified of the possible undisclosed financial interests. The questionability of disclosure set off a chain reaction that engulfed chief Maharishi Ayur-Veda spokesman and promoter Dr. Deepak Chopra, the TM ayurveda program and TM itself. Chopra is a personal, articulate speaker and writer with four published books on the Maharishi Ayur-Veda. An endocrinologist in Western medicine, he embraced TM and ayurveda in 1985 and says he has treated 10,000 patients since. More than any other individual he has introduced ayurveda (Maharishi ayurveda) to western mainstream doctors. The TM article appeared in the May edition of JAMA, an issue dedicated to exploring ancient and traditional medical models. So JAMA was not antagonistic to publishing an article on ayurveda or one associated with TM. In contrast, the Journal's parent--the American Medical Association (AMA) is a powerful lobbying body in the US which has viciously attacked the chiropractic profession and other alternative health approaches. Two years ago it bit into animal rights groups, including secret plans to prod the IRS to revoke such groups' non-profit status. Ironically and sadly, TM's own ayurvedic products are tested on animals. By June JAMA was under a blizzard of pro-and-con letters on the article and JAMA writer Andrew A. Skolnick was busy putting together a biting, carefully researched expose on TM's health program and marketing strategies. The JAMA editors also allowed him to criticize Hinduism in the process. Skolnick had already interviewed Chopra by June 17th who admitted being a consultant for MAPI. Chopra is also medical director of the Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Center. Both MAPI and the health facility are located in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Chopra was also president, treasurer and clerk until 1988 for MAPI. On June 20th Skolnick received a faxed letter from Chopra claiming he no longer had any connection to MAPI. In August JAMA ran the three authors' revised disclosure, including Chopra's statement that he was a board member of MAPI. Things went nuclear in October with JAMA's publication of the article's letters-to-the-editor and Skolnick's plutonium-packed 6-page report entitled, Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Guru's Marketing Scheme Promises the World Eternal `Perfect Health.' Science editors at big city newspapers picked up on the story. David Perlman of the San Francisco Chronicle began, ``The Journal of the American Medical Association charged yesterday that followers of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi duped the magazine into publishing an article touting a line of Hindu herbal medicines without revealing their own financial interest in the healing systems.'' Perlman talked to Chopra in Belgium. Chopra said JAMA's charges were ``hilariously comical,'' pointing to the magazine's advertising ties with the medical industry. He told the Chronicle, ``I don't see how this can be a conflict of interest.'' Skolnick's story methodically relates TM's research, finance and marketing policies. The story took particular aim at the expensive price tags for Maharishi Ayur-Veda treatments. A year's supply of Maharishi Amrit Kalash cost US$1,000, more than half of the average health care cost of an American citizen. TM's yagyas (fire ceremonies) performed for illness cost from $3,300 to $11,500. Yet Skolnick failed to mention that western drug treatments are equally as expensive. Drs. Chopra and Sharma are men of integrity and it is very doubtful there was purposeful deception here. Their original article presented ayurveda as viable and even visionary. But the disclosure carelessness has cast a shadow on not only TM but ayurveda as well. Hinduism Today, December 1991~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MASSACHUSETTS AIDS Cults: From Transcendental Meditation to the LaRouchies, modern-day snake-oil salesmen are taking advantage of people's fear of disease The Maharishi's method: Meditating to cure AIDS For people who went to college in the `70s, the letters ``TM'' hardly conjure an image of a destructive cult. Yet ex-members and cult-watchers say those who were pulled into Transcendental Meditation beyond the twice-a-day meditation routine entered a tightly controlled, costly and cosmic world of Hindu religious rituals and hour-upon-hour of mind-numbing mantras in the name of Maharishi's ``Master Plan To Create Heaven on Earth.'' Twenty-four years ago, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi hung out with the Beatles. Critics say his organization now targets people with AIDS. The vehicle: Maharishi Ayur-Veda, the Maharishi's own brand of herbs, oils, teas, and meditation, supposedly based on ancient Indian folk medicine. Maharishi Ayur-Veda is hyped as the ultimate health package. In the words of one of the Maharishi's minions, Neil Paterson, Governor General of the Age of Enlightenment for North America, ``Ayurveda is for those who desire immortality.'' In August, a TMer affiliated with the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts, gave a talk as part of a ``Holistic Approach to Positive Living with HIV'' workshop, co-sponsored by AIDS Project Worcester. Michael Garvey, an ex-TMer, showed up and gave his own talk about the nether side of Transcendental Meditation. He says he recalls hearing the TM presenter say: ``When you get your body in tune with nature through meditation and through Maharishi Ayur-Veda, you're able to resist all diseases. You're getting to the point of perfect health.'' ``By doing Maharishi Ayur-Veda and doing TM you can become immortal?'' Garvey says he asked. ``Yes,'' came the reply. That same month, a TM organization called the Lancaster Foundation issued a progress report on Maharishi Ayur-Vedic treatments for promoting enhanced immune response in a handful of AIDS patients: ``Increase in T4 cell counts...Reduction of opportunistic infections...Weight gains of between ten and thirty pounds...Improvement in mental health and well-being.'' ``If that's true, I think they should be nominated for the Nobel Prize,'' Dr. John Renner, co-chair of the National Council Against Health Fraud's AIDS Quackery Task Force, commented upon hearing these claims. ``They ought to submit it to a refereed journal,'' said Renner. ``It sounds more like a sales pitch than a scientific study.'' The Boston Phoenix, December 6, 1991, Ric Kahn~ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USA Thought Reform Tactics Used in the TM Movement Any ideology--that is, any set of emotionally-charged convictions about man and his relationship to the natural or supernatural world--may be carried by its adherents in a totalistic direction. But this is most likely to occur with those ideologies which are most sweeping in their content and most ambitious--or messianic--in their claims, whether religious, political, or scientific. And where totalism exists, a religion, a political movement, or even a scientific organization becomes little more than an exclusive cult. A discussion of what is most central in the thought reform environment can thus lead us to a more general consideration of the psychology of human zealotry. For in identifying, on the basis of this study of thought reform, features common to all expressions of ideological totalism, I wish to suggest a set of criteria against which any environment may be judged--a basis for answering the ever-recurring question: ``Isn't this just like brainwashing?'' These criteria consist of eight psychological themes which are predominant within the social field of the thought reform milieu. Each has a totalistic quality; each depends upon an equally absolute philosophical assumption; and each mobilizes certain individual emotional tendencies, mostly of a polarizing nature. Psychological theme, philosophical rationale, and polarized individual tendencies are interdependent; they require, rather than directly cause, each other. In combination they create an atmosphere which may temporarily energize or exhilarate, but which at the same time poses the gravest of human threats. 1. Control of communication within an environment, even within one's own mind. At Maharishi International University (MIU), faculty and staff will not freely give out information or opinions without permission from someone higher in the organization. Some even try to have no opinions of their own. 2. Mystical manipulation--the leaders become mediators for God or enlightenment. It is a common belief among TM people that they are getting the ``support of nature'' when something happens to help them out. It is not called luck or coincidence that a parking space appears in the city, but it is ``support of nature'' brought to one as a result of meditation. TM members who are ``sidhas'' spend an average of up to four hours a day meditating inside two large domes on campus. At other times there are meetings to attend and long residence courses where people meditate for longer periods and view video tapes of Maharishi or his inner circle. Those that choose to miss a meditation are made to feel guilty for world conflicts and stress by not contributing to the ``Maharishi Effect,'' (they believe that if a certain large number of meditators meditate together, the ``coherence'' of brain waves will bring peace to the world). 3. Demand for purity--purity of the groups' teachings, a radical separation of pure and impure, good and evil. At MIU, purity of the knowledge is top priority. The meditators are sworn to secrecy about the techniques. No one but a ``qualified'' TM teacher may dispense the meditation techniques or teach Maharishi's Science of Creative Intelligence. 4. The cult of confession--repetitious confession of violation of the groups' rules or possession of doubts, may allow the confessor to become a judge of the others. In the TM movement, people are urged to have their meditation checked regularly by an authorized checker who asks, ``How long have you been meditating?'' ``When was the last time you meditated?'' ``About how many minutes have you been meditating each time?''1 5. Sacred science--a linking of a set of dogmatic principles with a claim to a science embodying the truth about human behavior and human psychology. TM has cloaked basic Vedic, Hindu and Tantric teachings by renaming them the ``Science of Creative Intelligence'' which purports to explain everything in terms of the meditative experience of the ``Unified Field'' from which everything arises. 6. Loading of the language--a greatly simplified language which has strong emotional appeal and psychological power. Reducing complex and difficult questions to simple cliches and slogans which effectively end critical thinking. TM has many slogans and cliches such as: ``What you put your mind to grows,'' ``Never entertain negativity,'' and will often dismiss personal problems with, ``You're just unstressing.'' 7. Doctrine over person--there exists a conflict over what one feels and what one is supposed to feel; ``one must feel the truth of the dogma and subject one's experiences to that truth.'' It is commonly believed at MIU that when there are inner conflicts with the philosophy and movement's actions, the solution is not to analyze the problem but meditate more often and for longer periods (``rounding''). Even though people are not enlightened, they feel they should act like the descriptions they have heard of enlightened people. 8. Dispensing of existence--``when one has an absolute or totalistic vision of the truth,'' then those who have not embraced the truth are in the shadows, they are lost, and in effect do not exist. Those accepted or believing in the group may feel part of an elite, something they would not feel outside the group. At MIU, when meeting someone new, TM people ask for the person's status in the TM movement's caste system, ``Are you a Sidha, a Governor?...'' ``Sidha'' meditators may not discuss their meditation techniques with ordinary meditators who haven't paid $3,000 to become a ``Sidha.'' From Robert J. Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ``Brainwashing'' in China, Chapter 22, (1961, 1989, University of North Carolina Press), with TM examples from Larry Bulling's Depth Reporting of the TM Cult, 1991.~ 1--TM ``Checking Procedure'' ``Revised by Maharishi September 74 Zinal, Switzerland.'' Defendant's Exhibit `Ryan #214 1-16-91,' Ryan v. WPEC, 87-0016/OG ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INDIA A Visit to the Shankaracharya Introduction: Over a thousand years ago(1), Adi Shankara, renowned for his revival of the knowledge of Vedic Sanatan Dharma or the worship of God, according to the Vedic Scriptures, and also for his commentaries on several major Hindu Scriptures, established four major monasteries in India. These monasteries, or ``Maths'' were located in the North, South, East and Western parts of India. These Maths or ``Peeths'' (monasteries) were overseen by ``Shankaracharyas'' according to the tradition and wishes prescribed by Adi Shankara. Shankara was also widely accepted in India as the descension of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity responsible for the final dissolution of the universe. The primary responsibility of each of the four Shankaracharyas, while overseeing the four Maths, has been the preservation of the major systems of Hindu philosophy which form the basis of the Hindu religion. Within the monasteries, the Shankaracharyas took disciples, who in some cases, assumed the revered title of Shankaracharya upon the death of their Spiritual Master. Those Shankaracharyas travelled extensively throughout India preaching their particular sect's beliefs to all Hindus. The title ``Shankaracharya'' is a traditional title handed down to that person, who according to Adi Shankara, the original Shankaracharya, is Brahmin by birth, established in Yoga, or in other words, whose soul is in union with God and who is thereby Divine. Having achieved this union through lifetimes of spiritual practice and renunciation, now, as living Divinity, he is ``pujapad,'' his feet are worthy of worship. His Scriptural understanding is so perfect that he can synthesize the Scriptures of all Religions. He is Vedanta Incarnate, the embodiment of Hindu Scripture, and further, he must be recognized as Shankaracharya by the other three Shankaracharyas, having received proper initiation by them according to Hindu Scriptural injunctions. Recognized also means that the other Shankaracharyas are willing to sit alongside him at major religious festivals. According to the rules laid down by Shankara, the only possibility of removing a Shankaracharya is, if, during his lifetime he should become mentally infirm or prove by his actions or judgment that he is not qualified to hold the title which is held sacred by Hindus. If such a case exists, a new Shankaracharya is elected by a learned body of pundits, called ``Kashi Vidwat Parishad,'' according to the tradition. In this way, the title of Shankaracharya and these Maths or monasteries have been maintained and handed down from Master to Disciple for thousands of years. This lineage is commonly known as the ``Shankaracharya Tradition.'' PART I In October 1986, several months before my case against the Transcendental Meditation movement was to begin in Washington, D.C., I contacted Shree Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati. Shree Shankaracharya, reported and pictured in The Illustrated Weekly of India(2), has the unique distinction of holding the dual title, Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math (Jyotish Peeth Monastery) of Northern India, as well as the Shankaracharya of the Dwarka Math in Western India. Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati was a pre-eminent disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (Guru Dev). Brahmananda Saraswati, whose picture is customarily seen behind Mahesh Yogi, was also Mahesh Yogi's Spiritual Master. Guru Dev held the title of Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, the monastery located in Northern India, until his death, by poisoning, in 1954. My interest in contacting the Shankaracharya was to attempt to discern whether or not, from the Shankaracharya's understanding of Indian Scripture, I had been misled by Mahesh Yogi. Further, as a teacher of TM, I wanted to know if, in fact, I represented the Shankaracharya Tradition as I had been told by Mahesh Yogi. Most of all, it was an attempt to find out what had happened to my mind from the practice of TM and the TM Sidhi programs. The Shankaracharya, Swaroopanand Saraswati, had been invited to attend a five day birthday celebration of Guru Dev's oldest living disciple, Swami Akandananda, at the Akandananda ashram in the town of Vrindaban, India. A great tent and stage had been erected to hold several thousand guests. These guests included Shantinand (seen pictured to the right of the Shankaracharya Swaroopanand) and Vishnu Devanand (not pictured with the Shankaracharya), both of whom had previously attempted to lay claim to the title of Shankaracharya of the Northern seat. When I arrived in Vrindaban, I settled into a hotel, then made my way to Akandananda's ashram. There were several hundred people listening to a speech on the Vedas. After making some inquiries, I quickly learned that Shankaracharya had not yet arrived, but was given the address of the house at which he was staying. I visited with the family and left my name and hotel address, hoping that Shankaracharya would contact me when he arrived. Early the next morning, one of Shankaracharya's devotees brought word that he had arrived in the middle of the night and I was to come at lunchtime. Arriving at the house, I was taken to a side courtyard. Having removed my shoes according to custom, my host requested that I bathe my hands and feet prior to being taken to Shankaracharya's bedroom. Finally, the moment had arrived. I was taken down a long corridor and ushered into a bedroom. Shankaracharya was sitting crosslegged on the bed. He spoke in Hindi, pointing to one of his disciples dressed in orange. As he spoke, his disciple began translating. Shankaracharya asked my name and if I was the same gentleman who had contacted him. He asked if I had eaten and motioned to one of his disciples to serve me lunch, and we would talk again later. A traditional Indian lunch was served in the courtyard. By this time, about fifty people were at the house, including his disciples, dignitaries and local government officials who had come to receive his darshan and to welcome him to Vrindaban. After resting in the afternoon, Shankaracharya once again summoned me to his room. There were about twenty people in the room sitting on the floor. After bowing in customary fashion to show my respect, I was asked to relate my questions to Shankaracharya. I began by telling him how I had started practicing TM, met Mahesh Yogi (as Shankaracharya called him), and had eventually become a teacher of TM. In particular, I read statements from TM literature saying TM came from the Shankaracharya tradition. I then read aloud the famous statement which was allegedly written by a Shankaracharya, which described Mahesh Yogi as the protector of the Shankaracharya Tradition, Rishi of Rishis and a descension of Shankara himself. I explained that these kinds of statements were used on courses and during fundraisers by TM officials to garner financial and emotional support from TM members. Further, I spoke aloud the sixteen mantras: eng, em, enga, ema, aing, aim, ainga, aima, shiring, shirim, hiring, hirim, kiring, kirim, shyam and shyama, and the method of giving them by age as I had been taught by Mahesh Yogi. Next came the advanced techniques. Finally, I described the TM Sidhi Program. Shankaracharya looked physically distressed and his bowed head shook from side to side as the statements were translated. Then, after what seemed to be an eternal silence, he began to speak. He stated that his Master had left a will which clearly stated the names of those individuals who were to assume the title and responsibilities of Shankaracharya after his death. After the murder of his Master, the next in line was Shantinand. He said Mahesh immediately had him moved into the ashram to assume authority. Then, [Mahesh] used [Shantinand's] name after leaving India, to show that he taught under the authority of Shankaracharya. In the meantime, he (Swaroopanand) said he had been given the title of Shankaracharya of Dwarka Math and travelled extensively throughout India preaching. He recalled that Shantinand did not have the proper training or credentials to hold the title of Shankaracharya, and eventually, after proving himself unfit to hold the title, the same learned pundits who had elected Brahmananda Saraswati to the throne asked Swaroopanand to take the title and responsibilities of the Jyotir Math ashram, until such time as another qualified person could be appointed. He agreed, and was given initiation as Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math. Shantinand, at the direction of Mahesh Yogi, refused to give up possession of the Jyotir Math ashram and forced the matter into litigation. Years later, Shantinand finally gave up the title and Mahesh had Vishnu Devanand assume the title and possession of the ashram. In so doing, they also clearly ignored the will of Guru Dev which had specified the name Dvarikeshanand Saraswati as the second in line to receive the title. This was to occur, according to the will of Guru Dev, should Shantinand prove unqualified or leave the ashram. Swaroopanand continued, stating, it was written by my Lord (Guru Dev) that ``this is my will and command.'' He said that the scheme by Mahesh to appoint Vishnu Devanand was clearly gross disrespect of his own Master's desire. He said all of this was being done to delude Westerners. Mahesh needs a Shankaracharya to continue spreading his net of deception. He said, as Shankaracharya, it is my clear and absolute duty to uphold the true teaching of Shree Shankara. Fact is fact, he stated, these things you have described to me have nothing to do with the Shankaracharya Tradition. The so-called mantras or meaningless sounds as you have described them are primarily used to gain material wealth and comfort, not for spiritual enlightenment. Further, my Master (Guru Dev) never gave the mantras you have described, his mantras were not mantras for material comfort, his were to uplift the soul, remove his material attachments and for realization of God. He invited me to attend the meeting with him in the tent that evening. As he entered the tent, a loud voice announced the entrance of Shree Swaroopanand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth and Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth. There were now about 2,000 people in attendance. All prostrated as he entered the tent, walked on stage and assumed the throne of Shree Shankaracharya. He gave discourse on the special teaching responsibilities of Shankaracharya and those who claim they belong to the Tradition. He described how the world, particularly the West, had no understanding of Indian spiritual traditions or Scriptures. Further, he stated to mislead Westerners was a grave insult to India and to those Westerners who relied on such misrepresentations. I returned that evening to Shankaracharya's house and was immediately taken to see him. He asked, did you see Shantinand on the stage? I replied yes. He said, word came to me that he (Shantinand) had requested to be allowed on the stage. I allowed him to be present only because he has given up this nonsense of claiming title to Shankaracharya. He said Vishnu Devanand, Mahesh's so-called Shankaracharya, was also here in Vrindaban, he also requested to come onto the stage, but I refused. Then, he (Vishnu Devanand) stated he would sit on a lower, undecorated seat if I allowed him to attend. I refused him. Then, he again begged to simply sit on the floor of the stage at my feet, if I allowed him to be publicly present. Again I refused. He said, if I allow him to be seen with me, and all the while wrongfully claiming title as Shankaracharya, it will appear as if I approve of his activity, and I do not. Therefore, he said, I have ordered that he may not even come into the tent to sit in the audience. He went on the describe how some mentally disturbed man in India had put on saffron robes and claimed to be a Shankaracharya. He said he travelled throughout India and gathered a few disciples who innocently were being deceived and who followed him. He said, anyone can build a throne, put on orange robes and claim the title of Shankaracharya--who would stop them? However, the true test of the title is whether the other Shankaracharyas, who initiate the new Shankaracharya, will sit publicly with him. During special spiritual ceremonies, all Shankaracharyas must be present and sit together. He said no other Shankaracharya will publicly sit with Vishnu Devanand, nor would he. Shankaracharya then warned me that Mahesh now knows you are here in Vrindaban with me. He has sent Nadikishor and his spies here with others to watch you, you must be very careful. He placed a guard outside of my bedroom door at night and had someone travel with me at all times. Much to my amazement, I discovered that, in fact, I was being followed. The next time, we met with the local press present. There he wanted the world to bear witness against the gross misrepresentations and disrespect which was being perpetrated against the Shankaracharya Tradition. On a warm Autumn evening, in Vrindaban, India, he answered the following questions, which I and others asked him. Robert Kropinski~ -TO BE CONTINUED- 1--Shankara, 788-820, Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion, Schuhmacher, Woerner Editors, Shambhala, Boston 2--The Illustrated Weekly of India, September 13, 1987 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USA Why do we use only 10 percent of our brains? If you believe this, then you probably also believe that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the moon. Or that alligators live in the sewers of New York City. These are Fun Factoids that, unfortunately, lack the attribute of being true. People love `em just the same, though, because they seem to contain a message that's worth embracing. If we use only 10 percent of our brain, then obviously we're much smarter than we ever realized! We're not dumb, we're just underachieving! Richard Restak, a Washington neurologist who has written several popular books on the brain, says the 10 percent myth dates to the 19th century, when experiments showed that stimulation of small areas of the brain could have dramatic results. Touch a tiny part of brain tissue and you might be able to induce the patient (or laboratory rat) to extend a limb. There was an easy, if unscientific, extrapolation: If a small percentage of the brain could do so much, then obviously most of the brain was unused. In reality, most of the brain mass is used for thinking. Any small-brained creature can extend limbs or see what's across the room, but it takes a big brain to handle the wiring necessary for a profound and abstract thought, such as, ``I bowl, therefore I am.'' Today it is possible to watch brain activity taking place through Positron Emission Tomograms, or PET scans, which show electrical firing among billions of brain cells. Not every cell is involved in every thought of nerve impulse, obviously, but there is no evidence that any of your gray matter is superfluous. The brain has no unused appendixes. In fact, the moral of the story should be turned upside down: It's stupid to use too many brain cells to do your thinking. Restak describes a study in which two people, one with high intelligence according to a standard written IQ test, and the other with mediocre intelligence, were examined using PET scans. The result: The smarter person showed less brain activity than the dumber one. Why Things Are, Washington Post, October 31, 1991, Joel Achenbach BUT TM SAYS... ``Psychology says that man uses a small portion of the mind; only 5-10 per cent. This explains why life is not enjoyed in its full potential. Use greater potential to minimise suffering; use full potentential to eliminate suffering. Obviously then everyone has a choice to live on the level he wants to. 1 ``Use greater potential to minimise suffering. Use full potential to eliminate suffering. Use of full mental potential is necessary to enjoy full life. Transcendental Meditation develops full potential in a natural manner.'' 1-- ``Fiuggi Introductory Lecture'' on TM, Point 5, Fiuggi, Italy, 1972 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PHILADELPHIA Sell Me a Boat and Give Me a Float The article in JAMA was very informative in regards to the deceptive, behind-the-scenes activity of the TM movement. It clearly demonstrates that the TM movement's claims of scientific credibility are very bogus. Consider, for example, their efforts to give the impression that the article which they got published in JAMA was the leading article of the entire journal, (seen by all the doctors across the U.S., of course). In fact, it was nothing more than a ``letter'' that happened to appear first in the journal, and may have never even been published if the editors of the journal knew of Deepak's connections to the marketing of TM. This deceptive inflating of the truth is typical of all of their propaganda. Such activities as these seem as though they could be nothing more than a desperate and flimsy attempt to gain associations with those features of our society that will enhance their reputation, and as a result, help to market their products--i.e., they are out to make a name for themselves, merely by putting their name next to the big names in our society (our journals, our institutions and schools, and our scientists and educated people). It seems that for their credibility in science, this is about as deep as it goes! It's not like they have actually contributed something to society, is it? The information in JAMA not only destroys the TM movement's claims to scientific credibility, but even more importantly, I feel, shows that there exists a great disconnection between ``name'' and ``form'' in the activities of the movement. This is one thing we would not expect to find in a movement whose fundamental philosophy and practice is claimed to be the unification of ``name'' and ``form.'' The Sidha program, in particular, is supposed to perfect this skill, but somehow it just hasn't seemed to ``kick in'' for any of them (even though it has kicked in alot of profit). To better understand what I am getting at, consider the ordinary speech between two people. When we speak to someone and say ``I have a boat'' (name), the corresponding ``form'' should be ``A boat is indeed what exists as a piece of my property.'' This would be a good connection between name and form. Now the other extreme is if we were to say ``I have a boat,'' and in reality, we have nothing like a boat; this would be not just a bad connection but more of an outright lie. One extreme is a tight connection; the other is absolutely no connection. But if we were to say ``I have a boat'' and, in reality, all we have is the inner tube of a car tire (to keep us afloat), then this, I would say, is a very bad connection--it is a deceptive connection. And wouldn't it be even more deceptive and outrageous if a businessman wearing a three-piece suit and a Rolex watch drove up in a limousine and said this same thing, that he had a boat, when he only had a car tube? Now to see the ``Maharishi from the Himalayas'' dressed in his beads and flowers, and talking about God and truth, and his ``enlightened'' citizen sidhas, the future leaders of the world--to see them make such loose and deceptive connections, it really makes you wonder... And they look at ordinary people like they were disconnected or something (remember them?--the ``unenlightened''). For crying out loud, they may end up someday saying one of their sutras and turning themselves into a pumpkin! Francis La Cross~ [The author was a student at MIU. TM-Sidha and a member of the Purusha course. He left the TM movement in June 1990.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: I am an ex-TM sidha and ex-Fairfield resident. It's been two years since I left Fairfield. There are so many things I'd like to say. The longer I am ``out'' the more appalled I am at what a profound and devastating effect TM has had on my life. I started TM in 1975. I was told it would solve all my problems. I had some problems I wanted to solve so I was a good candidate. Before long I was hooked. I came close to flunking out my senior year of college, (I was a straight A student before that) because I just didn't care about my career anymore. All I wanted was to meditate, escape, and be around ``enlightened'' people. It was very difficult to have relationships anymore. I was in Fairfield for almost 10 years. It was a living hell. My life was a nightmare, yet I really believed I was in bliss, and that I was perfect, invincible and even immortal! It's really scary. When I ``awoke,'' thanks to a dear friend and the patient undying efforts of my mother, and I realized what was really going on there, I was very suicidal. I had wasted 15 years of my life. I had given up my career. I had blown off my family and friends. I was deep in debt from going to the dome, going on courses, and not working. My problems were worse than before, and I had psychological problems on top of all the other ones. Nothing had gotten better and everything had gotten worse! Adjusting to society and reality has been very difficult. I still have anxiety attacks and paranoia, although it's less all the time. I am learning how to think cognitively again (something we never did in Fairfield). I've spent alot of time and money in counselling to get over TM and learn how to be a contributing member of society. Finally I am now able to deal realistically with the problems I joined TM to solve in the first place! If my letter helps just one person not to get involved with TM, or helps one person to get out, I will be ecstatic. The TM movement is insidious, underhanded and deals in bold-face lies. I am continually shocked by the tactics they use to achieve their aims. If anyone living in Fairfield is reading this letter, ask yourself: * Remember when they promised ``enlightenment'' in 5 years? How many years has it been, and has anything in your life gotten better at all? * How can you resolve the pitiful conditions in Fairfield with them telling you it's ``Utopia'' and ``Heaven on Earth''? * How can you accept having to have bake sales to finish the school, when the movement has hundreds of millions of dollars in a bank account in Europe? * Don't you wonder what ever happened to the latest money-raising scheme? Like that fund to get 10,000 sidhas in India. After someone donated a huge sum of money, did we ever hear about it again? * Remember when they raised the dome fees so they could pave the roads and the roads never got paved? If anyone is out there thinking of joining TM or moving to Fairfield, DON'T DO IT! It will rot your brain, and turn you into an ineffective and dysfunctional zombie. TM is not the innocent, altruistic thing it appears to be. All they want is your money and your mind. They're really good at getting both. You can take it from me--I should know! I am so grateful to be out and to have my own thoughts and my own life back, difficult as it has been. Reality, imperfect as it is, is a blessed relief to me after being in the Fairfield concentration camp. TM-EX, thank you for all the work you're doing to educate people. I sure wish I could have talked to you 15 years ago. Maybe I could have spared myself and my family alot of misery, and wouldn't have wasted the best years of my life being brainwashed.Thank you, [Name withheld by request], USA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: I quit school to go on staff. At $35-/month salary, plus room and board, I couldn't pay my student loans (Maharishi said going to any school but MIU was a waste of time anyway). Now after dedicating 15 years of my life to the movement, I want to go back to school and get some job training. I can't get ANY financial aid, because I defaulted on my loans. Sign me: Bitter in DC.[See ``MIU--Highest Default Rate on Student Loans: 19.57%,'' TM-EX Newsletter, Fall 1990.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: Hi, I'd like info on your newsletter about TM. Could you send a sample issue? Thanks, J.F., CA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sir/Madam: Thank you for sending us your TM-EX Newsletter. It was most interesting and informative particularly the article ``Cults in the News'' which has given us ideas for topics for lectures at members' meetings. Our committee members do not know if Transcendental Meditation is practised in the same insidious manner in South Africa but we will now be on the look-out for it. We will also refer any inquiries to you directly. Please would you include our association on your mailing list? Yours faithfully, M.P., South Africa ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: Enclosed is the ad about Maharishi International University which has appeared in the Elderhostel catalogue regularly for the past several years. Elderhostel itself is a respected and well subscribed organization which offers courses and lodging throughout the world--primarily to senior citizens. I do not believe that they had the faintest notion of what TM is when they chose MIU, and I hope that we can enlighten them! This disturbs me particularly because it is obviously a recruitment tactic aimed at seniors--including some of my own family and friends, who seem to be blind to the problem of destructive cults, and don't want to disturb their retirement years with something they don't understand! Sincerely, L.H., New Jersey ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Sir or Madam: My doctor is a member of transcendental meditation. Do you have information explaining that TM is a dangerous religion for my doctor? If so, please send me information. Also please send me information about your organization. Thank you, J.R., CA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: I'm really glad you're there! After 15 years as a meditator (and Sidha) I have stopped meditating. On June 21st this year I chose to go sober and see life without altering my mind thru TM. I thought it no small coincidence that two days later in the mail I got a newsletter from TM-EX. I thought this was kind of spooky because I have only contacted TM-EX once in my life and it was over 2 years ago. Two days after I stop meditating a newsletter shows up. Very weird! But, I'm grateful. I chose to face reality. I now use 12 step support groups to understand my feelings, not shut them off. I take my problems to a therapist. I choose to think for myself. Once again, I'm glad you're there. And hope to send more support later. All the best, M.M., CA ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: Please send me information on the TM organization. I am familiar with their technique and their ideas, I would like to find out the nature of their administration and finances. Thank you for your help. Yours truly, S.W., New York ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friends at TM-EX: Here are some names and addresses of TMers I dug up for you so you can send them the newsletter. Don't tell them I was the one who sent you their name. Sincerely, U.S.A. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: Thank you for sending me the copy of the JAMA article about Transcendental Meditation. I found it interesting, and appreciate the opportunity to have read it. I have spoken to our Deputy Administrator and Medical Director, and they recommend that we place the article on a bulletin board in our Medical Services waiting room. There clients and staff will have access to the information presented in the article, and thus will be able to draw their own conclusions from it. Thank you. Sincerely, [AIDS Clinic], Washington, D.C. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear TM-EX: I have been a member of TM in Australia for about 14 years and exited last year just prior to making a commitment to be a TM teacher. I feel very fortunate to have `escaped.' Without doubt, the TM `movement' is a very dangerous and deceptive cult. Having been very much on the `inside' (to a certain level) and lived around the Australian leaders and their families for years I saw much that was immoral and hurtful, saw the lies that were told and deceptions practiced. However, because I was too frightened and turned off ordinary `society,' I just stayed inside the movement (although I did work in the outside world). I was also on the point of joining the absolute extreme edge of TM--living in the `Mother Divine' group in Holland. If I had gone to live there I doubt if I would have been able to leave. I have had lots of problems relating with non-cult members. An exit counsellor I met in Brisbane has helped a lot. Also, Combatting Cult Mind Control, Steve Hassan's book, has been good. Could you put me in touch with any material to help ex-TMers detoxify and get back to being ordinary? Australia ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TM-EX: Please keep me on your mailing list--particularly for regional and national meetings. Thanks, New Hampshire [We send back issues of TM-EX Newsletters and TM-EX Bulletins as donations allow. If you would like to receive all the issues, you will have to subscribe.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD CULTS IN THE NEWS A Job for Gorby? The Indian commune founded by the Bhagwan Rajneesh after he was thrown out of the United States wants to help former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev find peace. As expected, Gorbachev resigned yesterday. The Osho Commune International, in the Indian city of Poona, has offered Gorbachev a course in meditation and a job as head of an academy for politicians with spiritual and personality problems. ``With six months of meditation, we can guarantee that Mikhail Gorbachev will be a transformed human being--laughing, happy, fulfilled and totally uninterested in the power games of politicians,'' said Swami Amrito, an official of the commune. ``He will then look with compassion on Boris Yeltsin as a man still chained to the futile ambition of power,'' he added. Free love and meditation guru Rajneesh opened the Poona commune in 1986 after being deported from the United States in 1985 when he was accused of arranging illegal marriages. He was known for the nearly 100 Rolls-Royces he kept on his Oregon commune. He died last year. Washington Post, Personalities, December 26, 1991 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DaVinci Ups Mail Ante By Buying Coordinator DaVinci Systems Corp. announced it has purchased Action Technologies Inc.'s Coordinator. The sale will give DaVinci customers the choice of the firm's own low-end eMAIL software or Coordinator, a more sophisticated messaging package with work-flow automation features. Because the DaVinci and Action programs are the No. 1 and No. 2 selling programs based on the Message Handling Service (MHS) mail standard--and together account for more than 600,000 users--DaVinci becomes a strong E-mail rival to Lotus Development Corp. and Microsoft Corp. in terms of sheer numbers of users. The purchase of Coordinator also presents DaVinci, known for its eMAIL program's ease of use, with the opportunity to modify Action's sophisticated program for broader appeal. Coordinator's complex nature kept it from making a big splash in the mainstream corporate market. Action, an Alameda, CA company with 35 employees, last year generated $6.5 million in revenue. PC Week, November 4, 1991, Steve Higgins [Editors' Note: Action Technologies, Inc. is owned by a group including Werner Erhard of est and The Forum, and Fernando Flores of Logonet, who developed the Coordinator software.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life, by Thomas Gilovich. An investigation of how even highly educated people become convinced of the validity of questionable or demonstrably false beliefs about the world, and the unfortunate impact of these beliefs. Cultic Studies Journal: Psychological Manipulation and Society. A refereed semi-annual journal published by the American Family Foundation (AFF), P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959. The CSJ seeks to advance the understanding of cultic practices and their relation to society, including broad social and cultural implications as well as effects on individuals and families. Cult Awareness Network (CAN) News, 2421 West Pratt Blvd., Suite 1173, Chicago, IL 60645, (312) 267-7777. Founded to educate the public about the harmful effects of mind control as used by destructive cults. CAN confines its concerns to unethical or illegal practices, including coercive persuation, and passes no judgment or doctrine or beliefs. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, by R.J. Lifton, M.D. A classic textbook and case study on victims of thought reform and the elements of thought reform programs. Heaven on Earth: Dispatches From America's Spiritual Frontier, by Michael D'Antonio. A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter visits America's spiritual communities including MIU, Fairfield, Iowa. Skeptical Inquirer, Box 229, Buffalo, NY 14215. Journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, which attempts to encourage the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view. NCAHF Newsletter (National Council Against Health Fraud), P.O. Box 1276, Loma Linda, CA 92354. To aid in activism against health fraud, misinformation and quackery. Combatting Cult Mind Control, by Steven Hassan. MUST reading for anyone who has been touched by cult phenomena. TM and Cult Mania, by M.A. Persinger, Ph.D. An in-depth investigation into the claims of TM, hypnosis and research. Influence: The New Psychology of Modern Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. A landmark publication in furthering our understanding of the persuasion process. Books and full reprints of most articles are available from the Cult Awareness Network. ~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT IS TM-EX? Transcendental Meditation Ex-Members Support Group (TM-EX) was founded by former Maharishi International University (MIU) faculty, students, TM teachers, sidhas, meditators, and caring relatives of members of the TM movement. TM-EX is a support network to help former and current members of the TM movement in making the transition to life outside the TM movement. As former members, we have experienced the transition and are available to assist you. WHAT DO WE DO? We are a referral network and source of information to movement members, former members, exit counselors, family members and experienced therapists and professionals. THE TM-EX newsletter is a forum for a varitety of opinions that often cannot be expressed within the movement without fear of reprisal. Contributors do not represent any particular philosophy, opinion or lifestyle. Although numerous religious based groups have challenged TM in the past, TM-EX is not affiliated with any of these. Its members come from a wide variety of religious and philosophical backgrounds. What we do have in common, is our desire to assist those leaving the movement; to make the public aware of the fraud within the movement; and the physical and psychological harm, that has resulted for many, from the practices of the TM Program. We welcome your input: comments, articles, letters, help with printing and postage. Call or write TM-EX: P.O. Box 7565, Arlington, VA 22207 (202) 728-7580 [All telephone calls will be returned collect.]