Update: TM™ Court Program Not By TM™ Org

File under: Backroom Gurudom

We love it when this happens. A sharp reader with inside knowledge sets us straight:

The State doesn't pay anything in this program. The person being sentenced makes a small contribution, but most of the fee is paid by a non-profit set up for this program. The TM teacher involved in the program has actually split from the TM mov't due to conflicts with the price and other issues. The judge is not a devotee of Maharishi and has no connection at all with the TM org, he has just seen the benefits of TM for juvenile offenders - this program has been going on for many many years and research has been ongoing. Trouble teens learning TM rather than going to jail is a good thing. The weirdness of the TM org at the top levels is a completely different issue.

The TM teacher involved in this is actually your type of guy. Recently, in a letter (now public) to the TM leadership he wrote the following: "Don't delude yourself into thinking that we want to be in the "in" crowd. ("In", of course, refers to the "in-sane" crowd who wish to be certified accordingly!) You guys have never appreciated our work here with the 15 judges and what it means in terms of reversal of the NJ court cases. Our consternation and surprise at the behavior of the movement's leadership is amplified by the many thousands of ex-TM teachers around the world whose TM centers are all closed as the movement tries to rebuild the entire world and to face every building eastwards! The movement can't run one small university or its own small movement (more TM teachers are now OUT of the movement than in), but it wants to rule the world! Fat chance!"

We're much relieved to hear that neither the judge nor the meditation teacher are acolytes of that crazy old windbag in Holland. But we do see a trademark battle looming if they continue to call it TM™. Perhaps this portends a world-wide coup against the Madharishi, yanking the seemingly effective TM™ technique out of his hands and putting it into the minds of ordinary folks for more ordinary fees. This could be the start of something wonderful, folks. All hail the new, insanity-free TM! May its vibrations ripple across the entire planet.