Subject: Meditations on a calm and coherent Washington (Washington Times)
Keywords: WASHINGTON TM CRIME
X-Index: 0105

From TM-EX Newsletter, Summer 1993
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WASHINGTON  D.C.

Knott Necessarily

Meditations on a calm and coherent Washington

It's not going to be the same around here without the followers of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

You know how it works with Mr. Maharishi and his crowd. You go to a
room, get really comfortable, focus on a word and repeat it to
yourself for however long necessary. Good things are supposed to
follow these sessions of Transcendental Meditation.

I recently tried this.

My mantra was lotto.

Lot-to. Lot-to. Lot-to...

So far, no luck. Perhaps it's because I'm not a professional.

The professionals recently completed their seven-week goodwill stint
in the city, spreading ''calm and coherence'' through meditation.

I don't know about you, but I was so ''calm and coherent'' while they
were in town that I was beginning to feel like Perry Como.

They came to the District, 4000 of them did, seeking to reduce violent
crime. Predictably, they claim to have been highly successful, cutting
the city's violent crime rate by 24 percent from June 7 to July 30.

Try telling that to the poor man from Manassas [VA] who noticed he was
missing part of his anatomy on the morning of June 23. [The man's wife
cut off his penis].

Well, he no longer is the poor man from Manassas, and he no longer is
anatomically incorrect.

His name is John Bobbitt, and her name is Lorena Bobbitt, and they now
have lawyers and the like, and sadly, it appears as if their marriage
is in serious trouble.

Or perhaps the group's ''calm and coherence'' did not reach the outer
suburbs of Manassas.

Whatever.

There is a price tag for all this ''calm and coherence,'' and it comes
to $20 million a year.

Somebody by the name of John Hagelin (Remember him? He was the Natural
Law Party's presidential candidate last year and scored a whopping
31,408 votes) says the group is willing to keep 2,000 meditators in
the city if the D.C. government or a group of private donors will pick
up the $20 million tab.

''The mayor should move quickly on this or be prepared to answer to
taxpayers,'' Mr. Hagelin says.

This has the scent of blackmail.

Pay up if you want to maintain the ''calm and coherence'' in your
midst or return to your murderous ways.

To be honest, this is not too ''calm and coherent'' on the part of
Mr. Maharishi.

He shows us the light for seven weeks at no charge. Now he wants $20
million a year to leave the light on. Name one power company that can
get away with this kind of rate increase.

It's doubtful Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly is ever going to respond to
Mr. Maharishi, much less pay $20 million a year for his services.

Besides, there's is some dispute over whether the group was
successful.  The Metropolitan Police Department is still examining the
results.

One fact is certain. There where six more homicides this year than
last year. Obviously, the message did not reach everyone. But that's
all right. Nobody is perfect.

Mr. Maharishi certainly talks a good game. If he didn't, he wouldn't
be a guru.

You know all that flooding in the Midwest?

Mr. Maharishi makes a connection to his group. Now follow closely.
 
Many of the meditators in the District were from the Maharishi
International University in Fairfield, Iowa. Their absence in the
Midwest, Mr. Maharishi says, contributed to the flood by creating ''an
upset in the balance of nature.''

Hmm. It sounds good. Yeah, I can buy that.

The group also claims to have had a positive effect on the Clinton
administration.

Basically, if you're Mr Maharishi, you can take credit for just about
anything that happens.

Let's say you get hit on the head by a gang of thugs this
week. Exactly,.  It will be because Mr. Maharishi's group is no longer
in town.

I want to believe in Mr. Maharishi's power, although not at $20
million a year.

The District was able to muddle along without Mr. Maharishi before
June 7 and undoubtedly will be able to do so in the weeks, months and
years ahead.

Seriously, there are places in far worse shape than the District.
There are places where 4,000 meditators could achieve lasting
prominence by spreading ''calm and coherence.''

Sarajevo, to name one, could use some ''calm and coherence.''

Maybe the D.C., government should book the flight for the meditators.
Please, make it one way. Tom Knott, August 3, 1993, The Washington
Times~