Is Transcendental Meditation a Religion

There is a rumor on the internet that the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique is a religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. The TM program has been funded by 24 million dollars in federally funded grants over the past 20 years. These projects have included TM's research and/or implementation in health facilities, schools, universities, research facilities, probation programs and prison settings around the USA. This would not be possible if the TM program was considered by the government to be religious in any way.

In addition the Transcendental Meditation technique does not conflict with religious beliefs because it has nothing to do with belief. It does not require that one believe that it will work in order for one to be successful in the practice. There are thousands of priests, nuns, rabbis and Buddhist monks who practice the TM technique and find that it enhances their respective religious beliefs.

At the same time, it is true, that some 30 years ago, there was a federal court case in the state of New Jersey which deemed the Federal Department of Education's funding of a curriculum in "The Science of Creative Intelligence" to be an unconstitutional entanglement of the government with religion. This was due to the claim that the concept of "Creative Intelligence", or unified field of consciousness, was somehow a religious concept. (Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F2d 197, 1979). However, the TM technique itself was never declared by the court to be religious in nature. To emphasize this point Judge Adams stated that his ruling prohibited government funding for the Science of Creative Intelligence and "not a course in TM alone". In particular Judge Adams felt that TM was non religious because the TM instruction ceremony was "performed only once in the case of each student; it was entirely in Sanskrit with neither the student nor, apparently, the teacher who chanted it, knowing what the foreign words meant." Malnak v. Yogi, 592 F.2d 197, 203 (3rd Cir., 1979)

Furthermore many constitutional scholars believe that this isolated ruling, which judged even the concept of Creative Intelligence to be religious, was in error. For example, Laurence H. Tribe, professor at Harvard Law School and legal advisor to President elect Barack Obama, strenuously objected to the court's conclusion. It is for this reason that no court, anywhere in the world, has ever come to the same or similar conclusion. Furthermore, since the New Jersey court case of 1979, hundreds of research studies on the TM technique have validated its mechanical, repeatable, secular nature and created widespread public acceptance of its benefits. Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless technique that is practiced for 20 minutes twice a day sitting comfortably at home. Over 500 scientific studies have validated the benefits of the practice which has been taught around the world to millions of people during the past 50 years.

Here's what Dr. Steele Belok, Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has to say about TM: "In my medical practice, I have found that people of all religions enjoy the Transcendental Meditation technique. Indeed, patients tell me that TM practice deepens their spiritual understanding because it refreshes their mind and awakens subtler values of awareness."

You can find out more about Transcendental Meditation by visiting http://www.doctorsonTM.org or http://www.tmbusiness.org

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