TM Who Needs It
T.M. – WHO NEEDS IT?
It’s happening across our country!
Large ads in metropolitan newspapers offer free introductory lectures. High school and college students are being taught its basic tenets. Prominent personalities are embracing it openly. It is being taught in the large corporate offices of AT & T, General Foods, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and others. Its leaders claim to be gaining 20,000 new converts every month.
It is Transcendental Meditation or T. M. that is reaching into the lives of thousands of Americans of every way of me. Now claiming over 500,000 believers worldwide since 1965, the movement is beginning to grow by leaps and bounds.
What is T. M. and why are Christians concerned? Transcendental Meditation or T. M. is a popular or westernized form of Hinduism. Under the leadership of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Hinduism has been outwardly stripped of the mystical qualities that have repelled most Western minds for many years. Appealing to basic needs of all People to receive rest of body and tranquility of the mind, T. M. promises to bring about in creased mental ability and improvement of personality.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi studied closely under His Divinity Swami (Master) Brahmanand Saraswati Maharij until 1958. In that year Maharishi left his Himalayan retreat and brought his teachings to the West. After gaining some notoriety by winning followers such as Joe Namath, the Beatles and other show business personalities, he settled down to personally train 4,400 instructors.
Recognizing the American way of thinking, Maharishi patterned a “scientific facade,” for his ancient Indian Brahmanism and Hinduism. Maharishi’s organizations reflect this facade with names like Science of Creative Intelligence (SCI) and The American Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence (AFSCI).
By hiding under the guise of science, T. M. has gained entry into public schools in New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and California. Over 1,000 campus chapters of Student’s International Meditation Society (SIMS) have been established.
The Federal Government has even granted $21,540.00 to SIMS to train high school teacher’s as instructors in SCI.
Some Christians have become involved in T. M. because they believe the “scientific” claims of the teachers. T. M. teaches that Christianity does not have to be abandoned, but rather meditation enhances a Christian’s life.
While the promises sound attractive and seem to offer a relief to the pressures of our hurried twentieth century life style, they are opposed to the teaching of the Holy Bible. Serious Bible believing Christians recognize the unchristian ways of T. M. and know that two masters cannot be served (Matthew 6:24).
A new convert to Transcendental Meditation receives a Mantra which is a mystical sound without meaning given by the teacher. A Mantra is selected for persons according to the distinctive vibrations they are said to emit. The selection of a mantra is the result of matching a proper mantra to a personality type of which there are seven basic types. The mantra may sound like “Ommm” or “Iyim.” During meditation the mantra or secret word is repeated whenever the mind wanders to a concrete thought. This keeps the mind directed toward the impersonal God until Godconsciousness is obtained. A mantra is a unique sound which is to be repeated several times for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the afternoon. The results have been described as refreshing, relaxing and invigorating. Psychologists have described the prayerlike chant as self-hypnotic.
Jesus warned against such repetitive chants, (Matthew 6:7). God’s proper method and form for prayer is so beautifully and simply prayed in Matthew 6:9- 13.
God warned against worshipping any idol (Exodus 20:4-6) yet a prerequisite to entering T. M. is clearly pagan in nature. The initiate is asked to kneel or bow down before a picture of the Guru Dev (Divine Master). Then a sacrifice of 12 fresh cut flowers, 4 pieces of sweet fruit, and a new white handkerchief is offered.
The initiate then prays a prayer in Sanskrit which, in part, means, “To Lord Narayana, to lotus-born Brahma, the Creator, to Vashista, to Shakti, and to his son, Parashar, to Vyasa to Shukadava . . . I bow down . . . At whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray for perfection day and night adorned with immeasurable glory, preceptor of the whole world, having bowed down to him, we gain fulfillment.”
The phrase “I bow down” is repeated twenty six times in the above prayer.
T. M. sees God as the sum total of all universal forces and laws. For T. M. believers, God does not have a personality but is “all.” God is a tree or a star or a rock. The experience of transcendence is a merging of one’s self with the nature of God.
To the Christian, God is a personal infinite being possessing distinct characteristics. He is the Creator who made the trees, stars, rocks and everything that exists. He Is our Heavenly Father and we can become His children through Salvation. By accepting Jesus, God’s only son, we become joint-heirs with Him.
Meditation should be a part of every Christian’s life, but it should be directed by God’s Word. The motivation should be a love of God and not the benefits that can be gained from it. David meditated the Word of God and encouraged others to do so too (Psalms 1:2 and Psalms 143:5). Peace and contentment are the dividends received from God when He is sought.
The Christian who wants to please God will read the Holy Bible daily. With care he will allow God to speak through those Words to inspire and encourage.
Prayer should not be neglected either. Prayer, when done according to the scriptural pattern, is fulfilling. It enriches our lives. It strengthens our spiritual being.
Satan is a clever counterfeiter. For every spiritual truth he has produced a counterfeit. For the hungry soul who could have the joy of sins forgiven and the serene confidence of a loving heavenly father and real inner peace, he has produced the counterfeit, Transcendental Meditation.
Mankind has a need that cannot be satisfied through science, study or wrong meditation. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Those sins can be removed only by faith in Jesus who bore our sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).
Many people believe their paths are leading toward God, but they cannot lead to God. The only way to true peace and forgiveness is by approaching God through the mediator Christ Jesus. Salvation is ours when we confess Jesus as Lord by our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus is the risen Son of God (Romans 10:9).
The salvation of the Lord brings eternal life, joy unspeakable and true peace. Transcendental Meditation, like all other false doctrines, brings despair, hopelessness and eventually, spiritual death. T. M. – who needs it?
David Buttram
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