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DENT DEVELOPMENT

AND TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

COLLEGE STU

AN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON

Dissertation for the Degree. ofPh. D A

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

WILLIAM HENRYaBARR

 

            

 

 

   

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ABSTRACT

COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSCENDENTAL
MEDITATION: AN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON

By

William Henry Barr

A possible integration between the "student develop-
ment philosophy" of Arthur Chickering and the "meditation
philosophy" ("transcendental meditation") of Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi is explored. The central propositions of each
system--as they pertain to human growth—-are presented,
analyzed, and discussed in light of published commentary
and research.

Chickering's central propositions about human growth
are his seven "vectors of development": developing com-
petence; managing emotions; developing autonomy; establishing
identity; freeing interpersonal relationships; developing
purpose; and developing integrity. Maharishi's central
propositions about human growth are "deep rest"; a "fourth
state of consciousness" ("transcendental consciousness"); a
"fifth state of consciousness" ("cosmic consciousness");
"natural development"; and "self-awareness." The extent
to which Chickering's and Maharishi's central propositions

are substantiated by research is illustrated.

f‘
{K7 William Henry Barr
0
03

66 The attempted integration between these two models
is unsuccessful. The major difficulty is their diverging
views of identity development. For Chickering, identity
eventuates from a fusion of both "inner" processes (within
the consciousness) and "outer" events (in the environment).
For Maharishi, identity is solely the result of an "inner"
process within the consciousness. Thus the two models are
fundamentally incompatible.

Had the integration been successful, Maharishi's
meditation technique might have been shown to be useful in
achieving the goals of student development in higher edu-
cation. Also, attempts to integrate other meditation
philosophies with educational theory would have been worth
pursuing. Because this integration failed, those prospects
seem remote.

An introduction to transcendental meditation is
provided, describing its "ritual," "belief," and "world
plan" aspects. A report of the exposure of transcendental

meditation in published media is provided in the appendix.

COLLEGE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSCENDENTAL

MEDITATION: AN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON

BY

William Henry Barr

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration and Higher Education

1974

©Copyright by
WILLIAM HENRY BARR

1974

DEDICAT ION

To my wife, Corry, who gave--and gives-~50 much.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Graduate students oriented primarily to theory need
the ”realism" of those oriented to plain English, clear
sentences, and appropriate notation. Such students are
often surprised to discover that realism about detail can
be combined with strong "intuitive hunches" within one
professor. Yet such is the case with Dr. Louis C.
Stamatakos, the chairman of the doctoral committee, to
whom the author is particularly indebted.

The author has profited greatly from the "mountain
top" vision of Dr. Max R. Raines, a professor who made the
jungle less "jungle-ish" and often revealed the thin out-
lines of a path.

The advice of a professor concerned with "dis-
interested interest"--Dr. Walter F. Johnson--was also of
great value to the author.

The professor who initially encouraged the author
to understand the meaning of culture and cultural change is
Dr. Iwao Ishino, an anthropologist who spent far too much

time in "field work" with a confused graduate student.

iii

A special word also, to Miss Joy Tubaugh, who read
the final draft and, in this writer's absence, followed
'through with a host of details in presenting this disserta-
tion to the graduate office at Michigan State University.

The author is grateful to Mrs. Linda Kraut, who
typed many rough drafts and offered several suggestions.
Mrs. Fayann Lippincott typed the final manuscript--a

thankless, frugal adventure.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vii
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Two Theories of Human Growth . . . . . 1
Need for this Study . . . . . . . . 3
The Wider Context . . . . . . . . . 3
The Narrower Context . . . . . . . . 7
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Purposes of This Study . . . . . . 8
II. TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION . . . . . . . 10
TM Ritual. . . . . . . . . . . . 10
TM Belief. . . . . . . . . . . . 14
"Being" . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
"Art of Living". . . . . . . . . . 17
The TM Movement. . . . . . . . . . l9
Propositions About TM. . . . . . . . 21
Proposition One: Deep Rest. . . . . . 23
Proposition Two: A Fourth Stat of
Consciousness. . . . . . . . . . 25
Proposition Three: A "Fifth State of
Consciousness. . . . . . . . . . 27
Proposition Four: Physiological Aspects
of the "Fifth State of Consciousness". . 27
Proposition Five: Psychological Aspects
of the "Fifth State of Consciousness". . 30
Proposition Six: Natural DevelOpment . . 35
Proposition Seven: Self-Awareness . . . 37

Chapter Page

III. THE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY: HENRY
MURRAY, ABRAHAM MASLOW, AND ARTHUR
CHICKERING . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Murray's Personology. . . . . .
Maslow's "Self-Actualization". . . . . 46
Arthur Chickering's "Identity" . .

Chickering's Central Theme. . . 51

Vector One: Developing Competence . . . 56
Vector Two: Managing Emotions . . . . 58
Vector Three: Developing Autonomy . . . 60
Vector Four: Establishing Identity. . . 62
Vector Five: Freeing Interpersonal
Relationships . . . . . . . . . 63
Vector Six: Developing Purpose . . . . 64
Vector Seven: Developing Integrity. . . 65
Overview of Chickering . . . . . . . 66
IV. A COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF TRANSCENDENTAL
MEDITATION AND THE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
PHILOSOPHY OF ARTHUR CHICKERING . . . . 70
Conclusion of Argument . . . . . . . 80
V. IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION: THEORY
AND PRACTICE 0 I O C O O O O O O 83
"Model Of" and "Model For". . . . . . 84
Four Normative Statements About Theory
Buj- lding O O O O O O O O O O O 85
TM and Student Development: Models. . . 86
TM and Student Development: Movements. . 87
Encountering TM Students . . . . . . 92
The Prospect of Further Integration. . . 98
APPENDIX TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION IN THE
PUBLISHED MEDIA. O O O O O O O I 102
BIBLIOGRAPHY O O O O O O O O I O O I O l 32

vi

LI ST OF TABLES

Table Page

3-1. Number of People Initiated Into Tran-
scendental Meditation in the United States . 103

3-2. Geographical Distribution of PeOple

Initiated Into Meditation in the United
States--September 30, 1971 . . . . . . 104

vii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This dissertation is addressed to professors,
administrators, researchers, and theorists in higher edu-
cation. It is an attempt to integrate two theories of
human growth, and is especially focused on that growth
which occurs during the college experience of the young

adult.

Two Theories of Human Growth

The first theory is the so-called "student develop-
ment philOSOphy," a point of view now in vogue among some
theorists of higher education1--especially those associated
with counseling, "experimental college" programs, student
affairs, and similar fields. The central thesis of the
student development philosophy is that the college student
hosts within himself a vast, untapped "potential self."

The potential self, in this view, encompasses a wide

 

1"Student Development Services in Higher Education,"
Commission on Professional Development, Council of Student
Personnel Association in Higher Education, July 14, 1972.

sensibility: intellect, emotions, volition, and ethics.
The student development philosophy is a position that
teaching, administration, and the out-of—class life of the
student should be structured around a commitment to
"actualizing" the inner potential of the emerging young
adult. The case of the student development philosophy is
based on existing research and theory in the behavioral
sciences: psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

The second theory may be called the "meditation
philosophy," a program of "inner learning" now embraced by
thousands of college students (and faculty) as well as
many people outside of higher education.2 As with the
student development philosophy, the meditation philosophy;
affirms the existence of a potential self with vast
possibilities for human sensibility and behavior. The
meditation philosophy, too, is a position that higher edu-
cation should focus on giving birth to this potential self.
The proponents of the meditation philosophy, however, are
Eastern spiritual teachers, monks, and gurus. They base
their case primarily on Oriental metaphysics--Hinduism,
Buddhism, Zen, and their Western re-interpretations. Yet
many of the claims about meditation are now being tested
within the paradigm of Western physical and behavioral

sciences. As a result, some educators are taking a second

 

2Jacob Needleman, The New Religions (New York:
Doubleday, 1972); John White, The Highest State of Con-
sciousness (New York: Doubleday, 1972).

 

 

look at the meditation philosophy to determine whether edu-
cational theory and methodology ought to incorporate

Eastern meditative techniques into Western curricula.

Need for this Study

Because both the student development philosophy and
the meditation philosophy seem to be affirming similar
goals-eat least at first g1ance--it is theoretically
possible that the meditation philosophy could serve the
goals and methodology of the student development philosophy.
The methods of meditation may provide a "technology"
effective for engendering the individual growth valued in
the student development philosophy. It is that possibility

which prompts the present investigation.

The Wider Context

There is a wider context, however, toward which
this dissertation can only gesture. It nonetheless
provides a framework for the efforts herein. In this wider
context more is at stake than the possible integration of
two philosophies of human growth. What is at stake is a
major problem facing modern education.

Modern man, on the one hand, has created a vast
technology. To build and manage this technology requires a
certain kind of consciousness. It requires habits of

thinking and responding which "mesh" with the needs of the

technology.3 And an education which is modern, clearly,
must prepare its adults-to-be by engendering in them modes
of thinking commensurate with the demands of technology.
For education to fail in that would be scandalous.

Equally scandalous, however, is an education which
fails to acquaint the young with another dimension of human
existence. For modern man, on the other hand, has an

"inner life"--a constellation of images, intuitions,
4

"archetypes,' and so forth. Yet modern "technology" for
inner life exploration seems quite primitive alongside, for
example, the technology for exploring outer space. Modern
man builds a great missile but seems to suffer from a weak
sense of personal identity.

Although technological forces and inner potential
may not necessarily be opposed to each other, many modern
men clearly feel that to be the case. The rise of much of
the so-called "counter culture" in the 19605 bears witness
to that sentiment, as Theodore Roszak has shown.5 Perhaps
it is more accurate to state that modern men are ambivalent

--ambivalent about technology and ambivalent as well about

the mysterious world within.

 

3See especially Peter Berger, Brigette Berger, and
Hansfried Kellner, The Homeless Mind (New York: Random
House, 1974).

4See Frieda Fordham, An Introduction to Jung's
Psychology, 3rd. ed. (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1966).

 

 

5Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture
(New York: Doubleday, 1969).

Be that as it may, modern education faces a highly
significant problem. In establishing goals, in shaping the
curriculum, in building a symbol system which can inform
practice, which is to be decisive? The requirements of the
technocracy or the inner life of the human being? Will
both weigh equally? This question, of course, is not
particularly new.

Historians of American education have traced
problems similar to this throughout this nation's develop-
ment.6 The issue takes form as "professional" versus
"liberal" education, as "vocational" versus "great ideas"
curricula, and other controversies. The energies of many
institutions have been rallied about concepts such as
these, even though in some (perhaps most) large public
universities no single concept holds total sway.

College students have played a central role in
institutional life, particularly during social upheaval and
rapid cultural change.7 Particularly in the 19605, the
power of college students was probably felt by almost every
institution in the country. The anti-war movement; drastic
changes in music, dress, and "life-style"; the rise of the
"counter culture" and assorted mystical religiosity--all of

these seem to have been introduced and manifested primarily

 

6Frederick Rudolph, The American College and Uni-
versity: A History (New York: Vintage Books, 1965T:

7Ibid., Chapter 7.

by college students. Some of these changes, welcomed or
not by adults, persist in the 19708.

The meditation philosophy is one of these per-
sisting phenomena, and its persistence seems to suggest
that meditation is filling some kind of "felt need" in the
lives of students. The persistence of the meditation
philosophy may suggest that even those students who have
not chosen to meditate also feel a vacuum in their inner
life. For marginal people in a society--in this case,
meditators in college--often are sensitive to problems
which "mainstream" people also feel but do not immediately
act upon.8 Meditators could be thought of as pioneers, the
first to explore new territory. The more cautious may
later follow them. (Of course, the reverse is possible.
Mediators may have left the mainStream and opted for what
is in fact a 22$.SS.§22 leading nowhere. Some "pioneers"
are probably more driven than they are genuinely sensitive
to new directions of human life.)

In any case, the point is that the meditation
philosophy is a model of human growth nested in a movement
for cultural change. In a sense, the student development
philosophy is also a movement--it has a certain following
in higher education. Whether the meditation philOSOphy
and the student development philosophy--as movements--hold

strong prospects for success is not central to this study.

 

8Rollo May, Love and Will (New York: Norton,
1969), Chapter One.

 

Neither is the tension between technology and inner
potential. But the wider context is a kind of framework
which looms in the background and gives a sense of urgency
to any effort exploring issues which address, even in part,

some of the broad problems of modern education.

The Narrower Context

The effort at hand, narrow as it is, must focus
even narrower. For to attempt to integrate the student
development philosophy and the meditation philosophy
requires that both be clearly defined. The primary need
in such a definition is for the central propositions of
student development and meditation to be specified, analyzed,
and discussed in light of the writings and research on them.

Then an integration may be attempted.

Methodology
Two broad methodologies are possible. Various

approaches to student development and meditation may be
presented or a "representative position" from each field
may be presented. This dissertation follows the latter
strategy. By examining an approach from each field, the
material chosen is easier to identify and manage; each view
can be represented in greater detail; and more precision is

possible in the integration stages.

The student development philosophy is represented
by Arthur Chickering's book Education and Identity.9 The
rationale for selecting Chickering over other writers is
presented in Chapter III.

The meditation program of Maharishi Mehesh Yogilo
(known as Transcendental Meditation or "TM") has been
chosen to represent the meditation philosophy. There are
several reasons for this selection. (1) The form of
meditation advocated by Maharishi is offered widely
throughout the United States. (2) Many college students
have learned his form of meditation. (3) Several research
reports with favorable findings about TM have been published

in reputable scientific journals. (4) Some psychologists

use the TM technique as an adjunct to therapy.

The Purposes of This Study
The purposes of this dissertation are to define the
central propositions of Chickering's development theory; to
define the central propositions of Transcendental Meditation
as it pertains to human development; to show the extent to
which these propositions have been substantiated by

research; to compare the central propositions of each

 

9Arthur W. Chickering, Education and Identity
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1972).

 

10Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Science of Being and
Art of Living (New York: New American Library, 19637.

 

model; and, finally, to determine the extent to which these
models are compatible with each other.

Chapter II is an analysis of Transcendental
Meditation (TM). It provides an overview of TM, presents
several propositions about TM and human growth, and shows
what published research on TM establishes or fails to
establish regarding each proposition.

Chapter III is an analysis of the student develop-
ment philosophy of Arthur Chickering. It presents his
seven "vectors" of development and their relationship to
his central concern--identity.

Chapter IV is a comparison and contrast of TM and
Chickering's theory. It reveals their agreements, partial
agreements, and disagreements.

Chapter V is a discussion of the implications of
this study for higher education.

The appendix is a summary of the exposure which the

TM movement has received in published media.

CHAPTER II

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

The founder and ultimate authority of the TM move-
ment is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a monk from India. A
detailed account of Maharishi's exposure in the United
States may be found in the appendix.

"TM" is an ambiguous term. It may mean (a) the
meditation ritual, (b) the belief system about that ritual,
(c) the movement as a whole and the organizations which
bear the movement, (d) or combinations of the above. In
this study, the meaning of "TM" will usually be clear by
the context in which it appears. Mainly, "TM" will mean
either the ritual or the belief system. But in order that
the reader can visualize "TM" as a whole, all of these
meanings will be discussed. Then seven propositions or
summary statements about TM will be presented along with

analysis and commentary on those propositions.

TM Ritual
TM ritual is a technique performed twice a day,

once before breakfast and once before the evening meal.

10

11

For about twenty minutes the meditator sits comfortably,
usually in a room by himself,* closes his eyes, and medi-
tates as he has been instructed. The technique which is
used

may be defined as turning the attention inwards toward

the subtler levels of a thought until the mind tran-

scends the experience of the subtlest state of the

thought and arrives at the source of the thought.11
Not much more may be said about TM ritual. The reason is
that, prior to being taught TM ritual, the candidate con-
sents that he will not disclose how Transcendental Medi-
tation is taught. The issue seems to be not so much secrecy
as maintaining the "purity" of the instruction. For learning
TM is an oral process which, unlike yoga postures, cannot
be recaptured on paper or "explained" to someone else.

But certain aspects may be disclosed. TM ritual

has little in common with the usual notion of meditation in
Western culture. It is not "day-dreaming," concentration,
or self-hypnosis. Nor is it introspection, "self-analysis,"
or a search for authentic feelings. TM is a process which
seems to induce a certain kind of consciousness. This
consciousness is different than the three "common" types of

consciousness: waking, sleeping, and dreaming. But the

consciousness which one attains during TM ritual is held to

 

*Meditation may be done in a group setting but the
process is the same.

llMaharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bhagavad—Gita: A New
Translation and Commentary (London: InternationaI SRM
Publications, I967), p. 350.

 

 

12

be a fourth state distinct from the usual three. It is
called "transcendental consciousness."

This fourth state of consciousness is held to be
easily attained by anyone who has received proper instruction
from a specially trained "initiator" or teacher. The key
process in teaching TM is the selection and impartation of
a mantra--a Sanskrit sound which allegedly energizes cer-
tain properties or powers in the person who employs it. A
mantra is a syllable or collection of syllables imparted
during personal instruction by a teacher under the
observance of a particular ritual. Strictly speaking, a
mantra is not a word but a word-event. Like the dependent
clause, a mantra cannot dangle: it has meaning only in the
"grammar" of the teaching ritual and daily meditation.

The TM teacher selects a mantra for the candidate
depending upon the needs and goals of the candidate, and
instructs him in its use in reaching the fourth state of
consciousness. This private instruction is part of a
seven step process which is standardized for all who wish
to learn TM. The teaching is done by a TM teacher in group
meetings, except steps three and four.

Step One: Introductory lecture. During this
meeting the prospective meditator receives a lecture on
the benefits of TM, particularly its effect on physiologi-
cal processes. Published scientific studies on TM are
presented, as well as a broad theoretical basis for medi-

tation. Those who wish to learn TM are advised to abstain

13

from non-prescription drugs for fifteen days prior to
personal instruction (step four). Religious professionals
must be approved by Maharishi before they can receive
instruction, and people receiving psychiatric treatment
more than once a week are advised to wait until their
therapy is completed.

Step Two: Preparatory Lecture. The second meeting
is designed for those who intend to continue on with the
entire process. The teacher emphasizes more of the
mechanics of the ritual to prepare the candidate for the
personal instruction in step four. The candidate provides
some brief personal information on an application form.
This helps the teacher to identify the goals of the candi-
date. The teacher advises the candidate not to eat two
hours before the instruction in order to maximize physio-
logical receptivity.

Step Three: Interview with the TM teacher. Both
the teacher and the candidate discuss the goals of medi-
tation, and some of the procedures which the teacher will
use. The candidate is advised to bring fresh flowers,
fresh fruit, and a clean white handkerchief to the initi-
ation. The handkerchief and some of the flowers and fruit
are returned to him afterwards. The candidate is also
expected to contribute forty—five dollars if a student and
seventy-five dollars if working full-time.

Step Four: Personal Instruction or Initiation.

During this private, personal instruction the candidate is

14

taught how to use a mantra in meditation. The teacher
orally coaches the candidate until both are satisfied that
the meditation is being done satisfactorily.

Steps Five, Six, and Seven: Teacher Analysis and
Coaching. The last three steps are essentially identical
and occur in the three days following the personal
instruction. During these two or three hour sessions the
new meditator is interviewed--"checked"--by the teacher to
insure that he is still meditating properly. He also
attends additional lectures, discussion, and group medi-

tation.

TM Belief

 

TM belief provides a context of meaning for TM

ritual. Its main source is Maharishi's book-~The Science

 

of Being and Art of Living, hereafter abbreviated as SBAL.
Cited to a lesser extent in this dissertation are his
Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary, and
Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

(One caution should be expressed. Maharishi should
be understood as he would like to be understood, and should
not be made to stress that which he does not seem to stress.
This is why the discussion of TM belief herein begins where
Maharishi begins--with his metaphysics. A "psychological"
treatment might begin at a different place, such as with
his desire to eliminate suffering in the world. That

approach might show that Maharishi's doctrines are a

15

rationalization for his revulsion of suffering. But
although Maharishi desires to eliminate suffering, that is
not where he prefers to begin. The researcher must try to
be fair to him and discern his central message.)

In developing his case for TM, Maharishi appeals to
several different kinds of evidence: (a) authority, (b)

"experience,' (c) Western scientific formulations, and (d)
metaphor.
The authority Maharishi cites is three-fold: the
Vedic literature generally, the Bhagavad-Gita in particular,
and the metaphysics by which he renders the Vedas and the
Gita into his own world-view. What he calls "experience,"
however, is a hazy concept. Sometimes12 it seems to mean
his own experience with meditation. At other times it
seems to mean that anyone will validate his findings—-
provided, of course, that TM is the vehicle employed.l3
Western scientific concepts are often used to describe the
physiological concomitants of TM. Examples are the nervous

15 Maharishi

system14 and the metabolic system as a whole.
invokes Western physics to supplement his discussion of

metaphysics.16 Sometimes he uses metaphors to prove a

 

lzgggp, p. 25.

l3;2;g., pp. 33-34, 47.

l4l21§~: p- 125. lsgggg., p. 194.
16

Ibid., pp. 22-23.

16

point; other times metaphors illustrate his meaning. The
ocean is often used to express Being, with the surface

levels contrasted with the deeper levels.l7

"Being"

Man's daily activity--thinking, speaking, doing,
and so forth--are obvious aspects of existence. Man is
aware of these because, all around him, they are manifested,
undisguised, unconcealed. Most men and women are aware
solely of this "gross” level. But this "gross" level,
Maharishi argues, is only the surface of life. Beneath that
surface, unobvious and unmanifested, is Life itself, Being.
Being is not obvious because, as physics has shown, "the
whole of creation is built up of layers of energy, one

"18 At the outer layers are Life's

inside the other.
obvious aspects but at the "innermost stratum" is Being.
And this Being is the "ultimate reality of all that was, is
or will be." It is eternal, unbounded, the basis for all
existence, and is the "source of all time, space, and
causation." It is neither matter nor energy but pure Life.
The nature of Being, and thus of Life itself, is
"bliss." We know this through "experience." Yet this
attribute of bliss not only describes Being but the nature

of human life: man is born to be happy. This is not a

mere announcement; it is an invitation. For if man could

 

17323g.. pp. 26. 61. 181bid.. p. 22.

17

become energized by his real nature, if man could be as
Being is, then he would be able to actualize that bliss in
his own being. And man has access to that bliss through the
system of Transcendental Meditation. In essence, that is
what Maharishi affirms in the "Science of Being" part of

SBAL.

"Art of Living"

His "Art of Living" is tied very closely to the
"Science of Being." For if a man regularly contacts the
Being through TM ritual, then his life and character will
change in predictable ways which can be broadly defined.
Those broad ways are what he describes in the "Art of
Living."

The "art of living" can be viewed from perspectives:
as an ideal and as a promise.* On the one hand, the "art
of living" is a set of ideals. It is normative, the way
life ought to be lived: free of tension, war, and disease;
full of bliss, peace, and health. On the other hand, the
"art of living" is a promise. A person who meditates gill
actualize certain ideals in his life and character. This
duality of ideal and promise is crucial in understanding

Maharishi's thought. The relationship between the "Science

 

*This is a re-statement of Maharishi's thought. He
does not explicitly formulate the "Art of Living" as ideal
and promise. But his writings strongly imply this, even
assume it, and nothing in his writings contradicts it.

18

of Being" and the "Art of Living" is not coincidental but
causal.

A person will actualize these ideals, however, not
if but only if he meditates the TM way. The art of living
is a singular endowment, an exclusive franchise of TM
society.19

Maharishi discusses many ideals and promises for
the meditator. The three presented here reflect much,
though not all, of his message. These three are: "cosmic

cognition," "mastery of creation,‘ and a daily activity

which expresses a highly evolved sensibility. (These three
terms are not Maharishi's, but seem adequate "handles" for
stating his meaning.)

"Cosmic Cognition." A person who regularly
practices TM will eventually develop "Cosmic Cognition."

There is nothing in the cosmos, either in the material
plane or in the spiritual plane, which cannot be
directly cognized. [The] Vedas provide a direct method
of direct cognition of material existence in this
unlimited cosmos and also they provide a direct tech-
nique to cognize that which is evenly pervading the
entire physical structure of the cosmos, that all-
pervading reality, Almighty God.20 '

"Mastery of Creation." The regular practice of TM

will actualize in the meditator the "mastery of creation."
When by practice of [TM] the mind becomes familiar with

the deeper levels of consciousness . . . then the mind

gains the ability to work from any subtle or gross
level of consciousness. Then it comes within its power

 

lgIbid., pp. 155 and 160.

zoMeditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, pp. 20-21.

 

-A‘
v

19

to stimulate any stratum of creation for any advantage.

This opens the door of mastery of creation for man.

. . . [Tlranscendental meditation is quite enough to

enlarge the conscious capacity of the mind to the

greatest extent possible. It unfolds the subconscious

and brings into conscious capacity the entire field of

the ocean of mind. At the same time it brings a chance

to every man to unfold all the latent faculties and

arrive at the mastery of nature.21

Daily Activity. The daily activity of the meditator

will express a highly evolved sensibility. His thinking,
speaking, and acting will be natural, clear, efficient,

creative, harmless, and right.22

The TM Movement

The teaching of TM ritual and belief are nested in
the efforts of hundreds of individuals who share (probably
in varying degrees of affirmation) the world-view of
Maharishi. What they share is a view of the present and
a possibility for the future. The disparity between the
present and the future seem to be the warp and woof out of
which a new cultural fabric can be woven. That is to say,
hope is a powerful force in the TM movement. That hOpe
lies in the vision of an utopian civilization in which man,
individually and collectively, can realize his highest
aspirations.

Maharishi and TM teachers often refer to this
vision. Maharishi argues, in essence, that if man would

only practice Trascendental Meditation, his life would be

 

21SBAL, p. 259. 22SBAL, p. 77 ff.

20

free, joyful, full of creativity, intelligence, peace and
happiness; in short, a paradise. The present time is ideal
for the message of TM because man has virtually lost the
traditional anchorage which religion has provided him.23

Vision alone, of course, is not enough. Plans,
objectives, and activity structured around them are
essential. The TM movement has plans and objectives, and
the activity of over 3,000 teachers throughout the United
States center around those broad notions.

The "World Plan" of the TM movement is simple con-
ceptually. It entails the establishment of 3,600 centers
throughout the world where TM may be taught. Each center
will serve an area of the world with a population of one
million people. Each center is to host 1,000 teachers.

The United States, for example, has been divided adminis-
tratively into two area headquarters--Washington, D.C. and
Los Angeles, California. To serve a population of 205
million people, the United States will require 205 centers,
with 107 coordinated out of Washington, D.C. and 98 coordi—
nated out of Los Angeles. All 205 centers in the United
States are now operating, although each has only a few
teachers.

Six different organizations comprise the TM move-
ment in the United States. (1) The Students' International

Meditation Society (SIMS) teaches TM to students in

 

23Ibid., p. 249 ff.

21

secondary schools and higher education. (2) The Inter-
national Meditation Society (IMS) serves the adult popu-
lation. (3) The Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM) is
geared for retirees and senior citizens. (4) The American
Foundation for the Science of Creative Intelligence (SRI)
will offer TM to businessmen and corporations. (5) Tran-
scendental Meditation Centers (TMC) serves the American
Negro (and retains all funds in the Black community). (6)
The teachers in all five of these organizations are trained
by Maharishi International University (MIU), Maharishi's]
"seminary" which holds courses at various locations

throughout the world.

Propositions About TM

The foregoing discussion of TM ritual, belief, and
"world plan" introduce the reader to TM. But to show a
possible relationship between TM and student development,
more specific statements are required. For TM has become
more than its ritual, belief, and the activity of its
organizations. The claims made about TM and its effects
have been taken seriously by more than a few scientists and
have been studied by researchers in various fields. (The
reader may find the appendix helpful at this point.)

Two broad questions are being asked: What do the
TM claims about its ritual mean? and Are those claims
true? The asking of these two questions shifts the focus

of interest from Eastern metaphysics to the "rule of

22

evidence" of Western science. That is, if during daily
meditation the person enters a "different consciousness,"
how can that be understood in Western scientific language?
What is different for the person?

Because Maharishi's claims about TM are broad, at
times even vague, the Western scientist must provide a
conceptual framework in which Maharishi's claims can be
understood and tested. And for his claims to be tested
they must be translated into hypotheses which can be shown
to be true or false. This is, generally speaking, what has
characterized much of the research reports on TM since 1970.

The published scientific literature on TM has not
examined all the claims made about it. Those which have
been examined in the literature are offered herein, and
have been translated into seven propositions. Five of
these propositions were derived by reading published
accounts and, in each case, determining which claim the
study supported (or did not support). Two propositions
were derived (propositions six and seven) from Maharishi's
writings but have not been tested. They are presented here
because they bear closely on a comparison with student
development theory. Each of the seven propositions is
numbered, defined, discussed in Maharishi's language, and
discussed in light of scientific findings or analyzed in
light of the significance each seems to have for human

growth.

23
Proposition One: Deep Rest

(a) Definition: TM is a behavioral process which
produces "deep rest" in the nervous system.

(b) Maharishi's concgpt. Maharishi describes TM as a
process which engenders "restful alertness" in the nervous
system. During TM, the entire system is "alert in still-

ness,‘ in a state "of suspension wherein the nervous system
is neither active nor passive."24 He cites several bodily
changes during TM: the softening and refining of the
breathing; less carbon dioxide in the plasma; reduced
oxygen in-take; and others. Maharishi considers this deep
rest as a "normalization" of the nervous system.25
(c) Scientific studies. Some scientific studies
support Maharishi's claims. Wallace found during TM
decreases in oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide elimination,
heart rate, cardiac output, blood lactate, and base excess.
These findings, along with an increase in skin resistance,
led Wallace to view TM as promoting a highly restful state
--exceeding in some indicators the rest found after many

hours of sleep.26 In a later study, Wallace teamed up with

Benson and Wilson. Their findings confirmed those of

 

2422—19." p' 193' ZSIbid-I P- 67 ff.

26

Transcendental Meditation,
1970), pp. 1751—54.

Robert Keith Wallace, "Physiological Aspects of
" Science, Vol. 167 (March 27,

24

Wallace's earlier study and led them to describe TM as a
"wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state."27
Other scientific studies, however, dispute
Maharishi's claims. Gary Schwartz, Daniel Coleman, and
Lynn Levin, in a series of studies at Harvard, "have never
found large increases in skin resistence during meditation."
They assert that "it is possible that Wallace's original
measurements were in error, or that one's depth of medi-
tation varies depending upon the conditions under which one
meditates."28
Leon Otis, at the Stanford Research Institute,
found that the meditators he studied "seemed to go through
less startling body changes" than those in Wallace's
studies. This may be due to "the different background of
our meditators, as well as different test procedures and

29 Yet two associates of Otis, who

ways of analyzing data."
conducted the tests, "believe that TM has little effect on
heart rate or blood pressure, and that the simple act of
resting every day over a three-month period may produce

more alpha waves than meditation."30

 

27Robert Keith Wallace, Herbert Benson, and
Archie F. Wilson, "A Wakeful Hypometabolic State," American
Journal of Physiology (September, 1971), 795 ff.

28Colin Campbell, "Transcendence Is As American As
Ralph Waldo Emerson," Psychology Today_(April, 1974), 40.

 

29Leon S. Otis, "If Well-Integrated But Anxious,
Try TM," Psycholggy Today (April, 1974), 46.

3OIbid., p. 46.

25
Prgposition Two: A Fourth State
gt_Consciousness

(a) Definition: TM is a mental process which produces
a state of consciousness during meditation which is differ-
ent from.waking, sleeping, and dreaming.

(b) Maharishi's concept. In SBAL, Maharishi calls this
fourth state of consciousness "transcendental conscious-
ness." He describes it primarily in metaphysical language--
experiencing "bliss consciousness" by diving deeply into the
"ocean of Being." Initially, one dives only to a certain
level. As one becomes more practiced in TM, the dives
become deeper and deeper. Thus the initiation into TM is
but the beginning of an inner life which will progressively
grow over time. But the meditation experience is a con-
sciousness which transcends normal awareness and is quite
different from sleep, dreaming, and the usual waking state.

(c) Scientific studies and analysis.

(1) That TM differs from the normal waking state
has already been studied by Wallace. Wallace, Benson, and
Wilson found that TM differs also from sleep in electro-
encephalographic readings, skin resistance, and other
measures.31

(2) Other researchers, however, see it differently,
and "secularize" Maharishi's concept of "transcendental

consciousness." Robert Ornstein, for example, does not

 

31Robert Keith Wallace, t 1., pp. cit., p. 795.

 

26

dispute whether TM engenders a different state of conscious-
ness, but approaches it from a different angle. The idea
of TM as engendering a state in which one goes beyond
specific thought and arrives at the "source of thought"--
as TM teaches--can also be thought of in purely psychologi-
cal terms. Schwartz summarizes Ornstein's view:
When a person concentrates on a single stimulus, it
seems eventually to disappear, leaving pure attention
without any specific content. Scientists have studied
this process of habituation behaviorally and physiologi-
cally; it reflects a basic process of neural function.
In TM, the single object of attention, the mantra, first
reduces a person's attention to other stimuli, and then,
with repetition, vanishes itself, leaving awareness of
nothing in particular--or “pure consciousness." People
react in similar ways to any repetitive stimuli that
isn't objectionable.32
This implies that to call something such as this
"transcendental consciousness" is to unnecessarily inflate
the experience with metaphysical language.
(3) Schwartz regards the mantra as having "signal

value." It is a special symbol for the meditator: you
are about to feel relaxed." Schwartz suggests that belief
about the mantra is more important than the mantra itself.
To invoke it is not dissimilar to counting sheep. "When-
ever problems or images threaten to attract the meditator's
attention, he quietly focuses again on the mantra, which

blocks them out."33

 

32Gary E. Schwartz, "TM Relaxes Some People,"
Psychology Today (April, 1974), 43.

33Ibid.

 

27
Proppsition Three: A "Fifth State
of COnsciousnes§I_i

(3) Definition: The fourth state of consciousness which
one enters during TM, when regularly alternated with the
activity phase of life, will engender in the person a
"fifth state of consciousness."

(b) Maharishi's concept. This fifth state of conscious-
ness Maharishi calls "cosmic consciousness." It means that
activity is charged with the same bliss, energy, creativity,
and intelligence which one experiences during meditation.
The unfolding of this fifth state is what Maharishi seems
to mean by what was called above the "promise" aspect of
the "art of living." The right action during activity is
the "natural" result of proper inwardness. It is manifested
both physically and psychologically. For clarity, then,
this proposition is divided into two further propositions:
one about the physiological aspect (proposition 4), the
other about the psychological aspect (proposition 5).

Proposition Four: Physiological Agpects of
the "Fifth State of Consciousness

 

(a) Definition: Through the regular alternation of TM
and activity, the body becomes increasingly refined until
it arrives at a state of maximum efficiency.

(b) Maharishi's concept. During Transcendental Medi-

 

tation the body, as well as the mind, is brought into tune
with Being. The slowing down of the metabolic processes

and the "unstressing" of tension eventually becomes the

28

normal state of the meditator's physiology. Life then is
lived with a minimum of exertion and a maximum of results.
A meditator whose evolution is such has achieved "cosmic
consciousness."

(c) Scientific analysis. No scientific studies have yet
been published which adequately treat the physiology of
meditators who have achieved "cosmic consciousness." The
importance of "cosmic consciousness," however, can be made
more clear if its relationship to the autonomic nervous
system is shown.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is comprised of
two branches oppositional to each other: the sympathetic
and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic branch is acti-
vated when a person senses danger or threat to himself or
others. It accelerates the heart beat (to pump more blood
for the impending struggle), contracts the peripheral blood
vessels (to conserve arterial blood), quickens the breathing
(to make more oxygen for the blood), and activates more
sugar out of the liver. These and other functions of the
sympathetic branch prepare the organism for the "fight-
flight" response to perceived danger. The parasympathetic
branch counteracts the sympathetic branch. It slows down
the heart, dilates the peripheral blood vessels, slows

down the breathing, reduces blood sugar, promotes digestion,

29

et cetera. The parasympathetic rests the body and restores
energy.34

The point is that if TM refines the nervous system
and engenders in the body resources which are capable of
fully meeting the demands of life, then the regular
practice of TM should result either in autonomic stability
(a balance between the two branches) or parasympathetic
dominance.

This point is what David Orme-Johnson explored in
"Autonomic Stability and Transcendental Meditation."35 In
this paper Orme—Johnson cites two studies of his own which,
because of the extremely small samples (twelve and fourteen),
are only suggestive of TM's effects on the ANS. He studied
the ability of meditators to habituate quickly to auditory
stress. He was also interested in how much "spontaneous
anxiety" meditators generate. He found that meditators
habituate faster than non-meditators to auditory stress and
that they generate less "spontaneous anxiety" as measured
by galvanic skin responses.

Orme-Johnson's perspective, however, seems of much
greater importance than his studies. He suggests that the

regular practice of TM promotes autonomic stability or

 

34Rollo May, The Meaning of Anxiety (New York:
Ronald Press, 1950), pp. 62-64.

35David W. Orme-Johnson, "Autonomic Stability and
Transcendental Meditation" (unpublished paper, August,
1971).

30

parasympathetic dominance. And he discusses the importance
of this in light of the fact that psychosomatic disease
states are not found in persons with autonomic stability
(balance) or parasympathetic dominance. But psychosomatic
disease states'are found in persons whose sympathetic branch
dominates the ANS. Thus if TM promotes autonomic stability
or parasympathetic dominance, then TM seems to refine the
nervous system in ways consistent with Maharishi's asser-
tions.

Proposition Five: Psychological Aspects of

the 1rEifEH—State of Consciousness

(a) Definition: A person who has achieved the fifth
state of consciousness will actualize his full potential in
his personality and behavior.

(b) Maharishi's concept. The personality of the medi-
tator who has achieved cosmic consciousness does not
essentially differ from meditation to activity. His life
expresses the ultimate adjective--bliss--and his actions
are always good. He is a fully realized man. All the
ideals and promises of the art of living are manifested in
him.

(c) Scientific studies and analysis.

 

(1) Fehr, Nerstheimer, and Torber (at the Uni-
versity of Cologne, Germany) compared forty-nine TM teachers
with "an average German population." The dependent vari-
able was the Freiberger Personality Inventory, a test

similar to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

31

They found that the TM teachers differed from the "average
German." Meditators showed less nervousness, aggression,
depression, irritability, tendency to dominate, inhibition,
self-criticism, and emotional instability. Meditators

showed more sociability, self-assuredness, outgoingness,
36

"staying power,‘ and efficiency.

The Fehr study, however, is highly problematic. TM
teachers are hardly a random sample of the total TM popu-
lation. Also, people who are attracted to TM may not
represent a larger population at all but may already have
the characteristics measured. Further, that meditators
exemplify these traits has not been shown by the Fuhr study
to be caused by TM. Other variables may intervene. Yet
the official TM publications which cite studies like these
never mention any of these limitations.

(2) TM literature often describes "cosmic con-
sciousness" in the language of Maslow's theory of "self-

actualization." One study37

used Maslow's theory of
self-actualization as formulated in the Shostram Personal
Orientation Inventory (POI). Nidich, Seeman, and Banta

administered the POI to thirty-five undergraduates at the

 

36Demetri P. Kanellakos and Phillip C. Ferguson,
"The Psychobiology of Transcendental Meditation (An
Annotated Bibliography)" (Maharishi International Uni-
versity, Spring, 1973).

37Sanford Nidich, William Seeman, and Thomas
Banta, "The Influence of Transcendental Meditation on a
Measure of Self-Actualization" (unpublished paper, n.d.).

32

University of Cincinnati. Two days later fifteen of these
began TM, whereas the other twenty served as a control
group. After two months, both groups again took the POI.
The control group scored essentially the same as before.
But meditators showed increases in inner directedness,

"time competence,‘ self-actualizing value, spontaneity,
feeling reactivity, self-acceptance, and capacity for
intimate contact. Although this research is a suggestive
pilot study, the researchers do not indicate how their
samples were chosen or how students were assigned to the TM
group and the control group. It is just as weak methodologi-
cally as the Fehr study, discussed above.

(3) In an article which is mainly analytical and
exploratory, Daniel Goleman of Harvard University discusses
several forms of meditation.38 TM plays a major role,
however, in his thinking. Goleman regards meditation as a
"meta-therapy": "a procedure that accomplishes the major
goals of conventional therapy and yet has as its end a
change far beyond the scope of therapies, therapists, and
most personality theorists--an altered state of conscious-
ness."39

Goleman compares the psychological state during

meditation with "systematic desensitization" (of Wolpe and

 

38Daniel Goleman, "Meditation as Meta-Therapy,"
Journal of Transpersonal Psyghology, Vol. 1 (1971).

 

39Ibid., p. 4.

 

33

Lazarus) and theorizes about the impact of meditation of
learning, perception, "energy levels," and unstressing.
But his major interest is that a "fifth major state of
consciousness exists which is a fusion of the fourth state
[during meditation] with the waking, sleeping, and dreaming
states but has properties distinct from the first four
states."40
Goleman's concept is identical with Maharishi's.
And Goleman describes a person living in the "fifth state"
in the language of Maslow's "transcending self-actualizers."
That is, the fifth-state person views the world both as
sacred and secular; he is an innovator, has Taoistic
objectivity, and knows who he is, where he is going, and
what he is good for. Yet all of this is engendered without
sacrificing good "reality testing."41
Goleman recognizes that this is theoty.
There is at present [1971] only circumstantial and
anecdotal evidence to support these propositions. . . .
To my knowledge there have been no studies of fourth-
state psychophysiologic effects on subjects in the
waking state performing normal activities.
Goleman is one of the few advocates for meditation, of
whatever variety, who makes this important point clear.
(4) One researcher believes that TM stimulates only

part of human mental processes. If his findings hold, then

the "cosmic consciousness" which Maharishi argues for may

 

40 41

Ibid., p. 16. Ibid., p. 22.

421bid., p. 19.

34

be a rather limited consciousness. Gary Schwartz43 tested
sixteen TM teachers and sixteen non-meditators using the
Barren-Welsh Art Scale and a battery of tests devised by
M. A. Wallace and Nathan Kogan. These are standard measures
of creativity. Schwartz was surprised that meditators
"scored no better than non-meditators." And on some
unspecific scales “the meditators did consistently worse."44
On story-telling tasks, however, the meditators scored
consistently higher than the non-meditators.

These results, Schwartz believes, may suggest that
TM promotes activity in the "low arousal and self-reflective
behavior typical of right-hemispheric processes" of the
brain. TM stimulates spontaneity and creativity in "free
associational tasks." But there is another side to
creativity. The expression of "novel integrations" requires
activity, excitement, and rational thought--left-hemispheric
activity. And "too much meditation may interfere with a
person's logical, left-hemispheric processes."45 Even
though TM may enhance "the germinal stages of creativity,"
excessive meditation may mitigate against the creation of a
"recognizable creative product." The import of what
Schwartz is saying is that "cosmic consciousness" may be a
very limited consciousness and not at all what one might be

led to believe from reading TM literature.

 

43Gary E. Schwartz, op. cit., p. 43.

44Ibid. 451bid.

 

 

35

Proposition Six: Natural Development

(a) Definition: As a result of the regular practice of
TM, the meditator will seek naturally those things which
are "life supporting."

(b) Maharishi's concept. A mind established on the
level of Being will behave in conformity with cosmic law.
The activity of a person established in Being will reflect
the cosmic law, will always act in harmony with it. The
fully evolved person may act as he will and it will be good,
innocent, and life-supporting.

(c) Analysis and commentaty. This proposition assumes
that (1) there is an essence to nature; (2) that TM is the
means for contacting that essence; and (3) that such con-
tact changes the behavior of the meditator into ways which
are consistent with nature. It is important to understand
what Maharishi is repudiating in this view. Maharishi
denies the efficacy of planning one's behavior.

It is not necessary to plan how to behave; it is not

necessary to think much about how to behave, what to

do, how to speak, how to handle a situation. Let the
situation come, handle it innocently and naturally.

. . . It is absolutely a waste of time and energy6to

think about the manners of behaVior With others.

Maharishi backs away from this strong statement in
another section of SBAL. Until "the consciousness has been

raised to a sufficiently high degree, it is necessary . . .

to gauge the possibility of successful performance. . . .

 

46SEAL, p. 112.

36

[It] is necessary to be practical . . . on one's own level

of consciousness. For the fully evolved person, however,

planning will be automatic and effortless.48
This proposition about natural development does not
appear to be testable--at least not within the paradigms of
current Western science. It is an article of faith. About
all that a scientist can presently rely on is anecdotal
testimony of meditators. Such testimony is scattered
throughout the literature on TM but is not in a usable
form. For example, one TM organization (SIMS) published a
booklet entitled "TM: Some Results." It was sent to this
researcher, unsolicited, through the mail. Its entire
contents are forty-six pages of testimonials by 128 medi-
tators about how TM, allegedly, has solved all their
problems: drugs, sexuality, cigarette smoking, parental
relationships, and so forth. No analysis is provided. And
no cases are included of those who discontinued meditation
or for whom meditation did nothing particularly exciting.
On the whole, literature published by TM organizations is
notoriously lacking in objectivity and thoroughness. It
invariably documents TM's good health as a movement and as
a model of human growth. But how can a researcher evaluate

this literature without considerable skepticism?

 

47Ibid., p. 177. 481bid., p. 176.

 

 

37

Proposition Seven: Self-Awareness

(a) Definition: Because the essence of Being and the

 

essence of the self are identical, the increased awareness
of Being is synonymous with increased self-awareness.

(b) Maharishi's concept. Human life-~at one level of
analysis-—consists of three aspects: the outer, the inner,
and the transcendental. The outer aspect is the body and
the surroundings. The inner is the "subjective aspect of
the personality which is concerned with the process of
experience and action." The transcendental aspect is
Being.49 The outer and the inner aspects belong to the
relative sphere of life--as manifestations of Being. These
relative aspects, because their ultimate source is Being,
must be linked with Being to have meaning. Thus the
essence of the self--outer and inner--is synonymous with
Being.

(c) Analysis and Commentary. As in the proposition of
natural development, this concept of the identity of the
self with Being is not testable within Western science.

It is axiomatic. It seems important, however, to show what
Maharishi's concept of self and self-awareness excludes
from consideration. For what Maharishi excludes contrasts
greatly with Western views.

Maharishi does not discuss sexuality. He mentions

the senses, but never sex. Creation, renewal, and

 

491bid., p. 63.

38

regeneration are discussed but not procreation. The impli-
cation seems clear: if the fundamentals are established--
i.e., if one meditates-~then other aspects of human life
will fall into place.

Also ignored by Maharishi is vocation. Other than
one's behavior changing toward the ideals and promises of

the "art of living, what does TM mean for social role?
Maharishi would certainly affirm that, as a result of TM,
criminals would no longer commit crime, prostitutes would
no longer solicit, and so forth. (Whether such in fact
happens is another matter.) But what would change for
"normal" people, other than increased happiness et cetera?

Maharishi's probable response would be that the
individual's full potential would be actualized. But what
about those peOple who are trapped in menial jobs or
riveted to an assembly line? Would they not, with a higher
self now being born, wish to take on an occupation in which
cosmic consciousness could be fully expressed? Would not
cosmic consciousness mean more than merely turning the
same bolt for the next thirty years? Maharishi does not
address such issues.

To be fair to Maharishi, however, it is:important
to understand that his concern is not the concern of
Western man. That is, the central issues of life are not
sexuality, career, and other preoccupations of the West.
For Maharishi, the central issue is man's relationship to

the transcendental. To begin with the quotidian would

39

falsely locate the issue. It would be attempting to "solve

problems on the level of the problems, which is not a
solution at all. For life is such that when the tran-

scendental Being is energized, the problems take care of
themselves. And for some people, perhaps many, Maharishi

may be right. But such an "article of faith," in the

opinion of this writer, is impossible to prove or disprove.

CHAPTER III

THE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY: HENRY
MURRAY, ABRAHAM MASLOW, AND

ARTHUR CHICKERING

A student development philosophy which would be
ideally suited for this dissertation ought to meet three
requirements:

1. It should stress the development of the "whole
person," not just intellectual growth to the
exclusion of other aspects of human life.

2. It should focus on the develOpment of the college
student and the particular developmental problems
which the college student has.

3. It should offer some prospect of a possible inte-
gration with Transcendental Meditation.

The first two requirements express, in part, what
"student development" means. The first requirement
reflects a normative view of "development." That is,
development has a wide range; it is not only an intellectual
process but an emotional, volitional, and even an ethical

one; and such a range includes much of importance about

40

41

human sensibility and behavior. The second requirement
focuses on a particular "beneficiary" of such development—-
the college student. Although many theories of growth
include the stage of "young adulthood" as part of a larger_
picture, what is needed herein are theories which are
addressed specifically to college students or which can be
readily addressed to that audience. The third requirement
insures that some promise exists that by using the theory
in question, the purposes of this dissertation might be
achieved--an integration with TM.

There may be many theories which meet all of these
conditions. Many more would meet two of these conditions.
The purpose at hand, however, is not to exhaust all
developmental theory. The purpose is, given a theory of
student development, to explore its possible integration
with TM.

This researcher has reviewed three theories of
human development. Each of these stresses the "whole
person" point of view; each could apply to the development
of the college student (some more easily than others); and
each offers some prospect of integration with Transcendental
Meditation. These three theories are: Henry Murray's
"personology," Abraham Maslow's "self-actualization," and

Arthur Chickering's "identity."

42

Murrayts Personology

Henry Murray's Explorations in Personality, at a
first reading, seems a prime contender for the efforts
herein.50 Although the research on which his theory is
based was conducted on a small sample of Harvard men,
Murray's theory has implications for human growth which
seem particularly appropriate to the theory of Transcenden-
tal Meditation.

1. Murray views the human organism as characterized by
rhythms of "activity and rest which are largely

51

determined by internal factors." He rejects the

view that the organism is inert, responding merely
to external stimulation.

2. Murray developed a concept of "regnant processes"
in the brain as well as "regnant processes" in the
organism. It would be interesting to compare his
concept with Transcendental Meditation.

It may prove convenient to refer to the mutually
dependent processes that constitute dominant configu-
rations in the brain as regnant processes; and, further,
to designate the totality of such processes occurring
during a single moment . . . as a regnancy. . . . It
may be considered that regnancies are functionally at
the summit of a hierarchy of sub-regnancies in the
body. Thus, to a certain extent the regnant need
dominates the organism.52

 

50Henry A. Murray, Explorations in Personality
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1938).

511bid., p. 39. 521bid., p. 45.

 

 

43

The importance of this idea for TM is that ". . .
the constituents of regnancies in man are capable of
achieving consciousness (self-consciousness) though not all

«53

of them at once. Thus it is necessary for Murray to

postulate the existence of "unconscious regnant processes."S4
And this leads to his metaphor about consciousness, a
comparison which is suggestive about how TM could be con-
ceived in Murray's theory.
It is as if consciousness were illumined regions
of regnancies; as if a spotlight of varying dimensions
moved about the brain, revealing first one and then
another sector of successive, functionally-related
mental events. . . . Thus, to explain a conscious event,
as well as to explain a behavioral event, all the major
variables of a regnancy must be known.55
Perhaps it would be heuristic to think of Tran-
scendental Meditation as such a spotlight illuminating
different layers of consciousness. As a person continued
in meditating, perhaps more and more areas of the con-
sciousness could be thought of as being illuminated in
Murray's sense.
3. If one attempted to merge TM and Murray's psychol-
ogy, he would find considerable stimulation in two
of Murray's concepts. They are bi-polar variables:

(a) extraception and intraception; and (b)

exocathection and endocathection.

 

54

53Ibid., p. 46. Ibid., p. 47.

551bid., pp. 51-52.

44

(a) An extraceptor favors "concrete, clearly
observable, physical conditions (tangible,
objective facts)." But the intraceptor favors
"diffuse personal feelings and inclinations
(intangible, subjective facts)."

(b) A person who favors "practical activity and the
affairs of everyday life" is high on exo-
cathection, whereas a person who favors
"things of the mind" is high on endocathec-

tion.56

What is valuable in these two concepts is how these
variables combine in different personalities. There are
four such combinations.

(a) Exocathection fused with extraception. Such a
personality adapts to the world as it is; he is very
practical, may seek wealth, and values security. He tries
to live without illusions, is conservative toward values,
and may work effectively with mechanical appliances.

(b) Exocathection fused with intraceptipp. Such a
person lives imaginatively, "dramatizes the self," and
expresses his beliefs in action. He engages in social
movements, speaks against abuses, and proposes reforms.

He is guided by an image of the future, seeks adventure,

and may be quite amorous.

 

56Ibid., pp. 211-12.

45

(c) Endocathection fused with extraception. This
person is interested in ideas and theories about substantial
events, especially the physical sciences. He reflects and
writes about external occurrences and systems: history,
economics, education. He collects data and thinks
inductively.

(d) Endocathection fused with intracpption. This
person is devoted to artistic or religious representations;
he dreams, broods, and introspects. He may become absorbed
in solving inner conflicts; he seeks the deepest psychologi-
cal truths. His thinking is deductive and idealistic, and
he is inclined toward metaphysics.57

It would be interesting to determine which of these
four paragraphs would most often describe transcendental
meditators. Perhaps none would be found to be definitive
of meditators.

There are important aspects of Murray's theory
which seriously limits his comparison with transcendental
meditation. One is the marginal status which he assigns to
the need for Passivity, which seems to be a relaxing of
the will.

The tendency for Passivity is subjectively repre-

sented by the desire to relinquish the will, to relax,
to drift, to daydream. . . . The tendency inclines a
person toward a placid, vegetable existence, free from
excitation or stimulation, or towards a life of waiting

for external stimulation. . . . Freud describes
Passivity as the tendency to reduce excitations to a

 

57Ibid., pp. 222-23.

46

minimum, to "return to the womb," or even to an in-
organic state. . . . The efforts of Orientals to reach
the state of Nirvana may be taken as an extreme
instance of this general tendency.58
In another part of the book, Murray discusses
Nirvana as a "claustral complex" that may be derived from
the pre-natal period or from the traumas of birth.59 The
cathection of (the attraction toward) Nirvana seems to be
organized by an unconscious desire "to re-experience the
state of being which existed before birth."60
Murray's view of passivity, overall, is very
negative. Even when he discusses Seclusion it is conceived
as the opposite of Exhibition and not a variable in its own
right.
Perhaps the most striking problem in relating
Murray's thought to TM is his sheer complexity. He has far
too many variables--valuable and stimulating though they

be. To compare Murray with another system is a gargantuan

task, if not the magnum opus of one's life.

Maslow's "Self-Actualization"
One psychologist who is often cited in TM literature
is Abraham Maslow. His concept of "self-actualization"

seems to dovetail reasonably well with TM theory.

 

58 59

Ibid., p. 134. Ibid., p. 363.

60Ibid.

 

47

In Motivation and Personality,61 Maslow argues that
no one need or set of needs can be shown to be definitive
of the human organism. Rather, human needs are a hierarchal
system. Physiological needs (food, sleep, etc.) are the
most basic, but when these are met the person needs
security, stability, and protection-~a set which Maslow
calls the "safety needs." At the next level are the
"belonging and love needs" (intimacy, affection, tenderness).
Even higher in his hierarchy are the "esteem needs" (self-
esteem and the esteem of others). But the highest need is
what Maslow calls "self-actualization."62

Before discussing self-actualization, it is impor-
tant to understand that the tendency of the human being to
actualize himself, in Maslow's view, is not a theory which
is imposed 23 the data of psychology. It is inherent ip_
man. The psychologist is reporting something viewed as
operating in the subjects he studies. This is one reason
TM leaders are so attracted to Maslow's concept of self-
actualization.

Maslow has drawn a "composite impression" of self-
actualizing people. They have a "more efficient perception
of reality and more comfortable relations with it" than do

non-self—actualizers. They find it possible to "accept

 

61Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality
(New York: Harper & Row, Second EditiOn, 1954).

62Ibid., Chapter 4.

48

themselves and their nature without chagrin or complaint
. . ." They are spontaneous in behavior and very spontaneous
in their inner life, and show little artificiality or undue
strain. They are problem-centered, not ego-centered. They
enjoy solitude and thrive on it. They are autonomous--
relatively independent of environment--and exude a "con-
tinued freshness of appreciation." The "peak experience"
is found in most self-actualizing people: they feel at
times "great ecstasy and wonder and awe." They feel a
kinship for other human beings, yet their friendships tend
to be few and deep, and are characterized by "democratiC"
feelings. They are quite confident about ethics, but can
laugh and that in an unhostile way. They exude the
creativity of the child but, unlike the child, are less
vulnerable to enculturation.63
Maslow, of course, studied real people. Self-
actualizing people are very human, fully endowed with
imperfections. Maslow's self-actualizers can be "silly,
wasteful, thoughtless . . . boring, stubborn, irritating.
. . . Temper outbursts are not rare." Because they are

i

very strong, they can exhibit a "surgical coldness,‘ such
as that of a man who discovered that a long-trusted friend
was dishonest: he "cut himself off from this relationship

sharply and abruptly and without any observable pangs

whatsoever." Self—actualizers concentrate fully. When

 

631bid., Chapter 11.

49

absorbed, they are apt to be so uninterested in anything
else that they "may be very distressing, shocking, in-
sulting, or hurtful to others." They are not free of
"guilt, anxiety, sadness, self-castigation, internal
strife, and conflict."64
This qualification about self-actualization makes
an integration between Maslow and TM problematic. Whatever
self-actualization may be, it is not something which (when
rightly understood) can be wedded to Maharishi's "cosmic
consciousness." For to have achieved cosmic consciousness,
in Maharishi's theory, means that the activity phase of
life is not essentially different from the meditation
phase. That is to say, bliss pervades all of life; activity
is charged with Being; a fully realized person now thinks,
speaks, and acts such that all aspects of his life are
completely in tune with cosmic law. How could such people
be "silly, wasteful, thoughtless" and have "temper out-
bursts"? And even though TM leaders compare Maslow and
Maharishi, such a comparison is a half—truth which may
mislead those who will not take the time to understand
Maslow.
Important also is that Maslow derived his concept
of self-actualization by studying what he considered to be
the top 1 or 2 per cent of the population. By so limiting

his "sample," he falls short of what student development

 

64Ibid.. pp. 175—76.

50

and TM include--a broad range of "beneficiaries." A student
development philosophy, ideally, is a symbol system around
which a broad curriculum can be designed for a wide range

of students (if not all students).

Arthur Chickeripg's "Identity:

Arthur Chickering's Education and Identity65 is a

 

strong affirmation of the "whole person" point of view.
Chickering not only argues for the intellectual, emotional,
volitional, and ethical development of college students; he
often suggests relationships between those aspects of
growth. He ranges wide, also, in his citation of both
research and theory. And the seven "vectors" of development
he presents are specifically formulated for the college
student. His recommendations for the improvement of higher
education are cogent and, for the most part, well-
substantiated.

Chickering's theory, at first glance, offers
several prospects for an integration with TM. He gives
strong recognition to "inner learning." His law of
differentiation and integration seem exciting ideas to
attempt to dovetail with TM. His concept of identity
flows from his first three vectors, suggesting that they
serve as a sort of preparation, as does meditation for

Maharishi. His final three vectors could be thought of

 

65Arthur W. Chickering, Education and Identity
(San Francisco: Josesey-Bass, 1972).

51

as an expression of identity taking mature form, as in
Maharishi's "cosmic consciousness." Whether these initial
thoughts hold for a comparison between Chickering and TM
will be discussed in Chapter IV. But Education and

Identity meets all three requirements well.

Chickeringjs Central Theme

Chickering's title reflects his central theme--
identity. Development flows toward identity and, once
identity is achieved, the process flows on toward other
human abilities. "At one level of generalization, all the
developmental vectors could be classified under . . .
'identity formation.”66

Borrowing heavily from Erik Erikson, Chickering
describes the establishing of identity not only a safeguard
against "the anarchy of drives" and the "autocracy of
conscience" but as "a sense of psychological well-being."
A person who has achieved identity feels "at home" in his
body, knows where he is going, and has confidence in him—
self. Identity is the "inner capital" which the person
gains from successful achievement in growing.67

Chickering expresses his concept of identity also
with the theory of S. R. Heath, whose hero is the "reason-
able adventurer": a furture oriented, curious, "self-

objectified" person with humane interests, intimate

 

66Ibid., p. 78. 67Ibid., pp. 78-79.

52

friendships, and strong personal values, as well as a
"tolerance for ambiguity" and a "lively but benign sense

of humor."68

The concepts of Sanford, Parsons, Newcomb and
Feldman, and others, also come into play.

Chickering's recurring theme, moreover, is that
developing identity is not achieved "once for all" but is
rather a turning point in one's life, a kind of marker which
points backward to certain expectations; and which shows
the present to be one frame in a motion picture-~an on-
going process.

Chickering agrees with Erikson and Sanford that
basic to the development of identity are "relative freedom
from anxiety and pressure, varied direct experience and

"69 A college experience

roles, and meaningful achievement.
which is too stressful inhibits identity, and if, because
of competitive pressures, a student decides prematurely for
a self-concept which is not suitable for him, his identity
suffers. Wide "self-testing" is needed. And that requires
a climate in which trial-and-error is not only permitted
but encouraged and responded to with intelligent guidance.
Because our society does not have clear-cut goals which
give or symbolize meaning for the individual, achievements
which have meaning are difficult to program for the indi-
vidual student. The ordeal of the young, indeed, is to

choose among "multiple alternatives,‘ the embracing of

 

681bid., p. 79. 69Ibid., p. 90.

 

53

which requires an identity that is continually being
reformulated as one's experience, and receptivity to more
experience, becomes larger.70

Chickering, of course, is not attempting to build
a distinctively original view of identity. His purpose is
to show that, based on existing theory and research, it is
possible to design educational experiences in college so
that identity (in the broadest sense of the term) is
fostered. And he builds his case by appropriate citation
of published research.

In his study at Goddard College, for example,
Chickering found that students can and do grow substantially
in "Personal Stability and Integration." And that growth
is fairly regular--it has a steady upward flow--even though
there are ”spurts" at some key points, particularly during
the seventh semester of college.71

There is in Chickering's book an eXplicit concept
which he often invokes in discussing development. It is
the necessity for differentiation and integration. For
Chickering, the concept has the status of law: "Develop-
ment occurs through cycles of differentiation and inte-
gration."72

(This law seems founded on a dualistic assumption

about "reality,' an assumption which is not explicit in

 

70Ibid., p. 92. 7llbid., p. 85.

 

721bid., p. 292.

 

54

his book. On the one hand, reality is diverse, complex,
varied, and subtle. Its nature is not obvious to the
uncultured observer. To know the world as it is requires a
rich and varied consciousness, a habit of intellect,
feeling, and volition which permits, even demands, that one.
achieve the ability to see "the same thing" from many
different perspectives. On the other hand, there are
relationships in "reality." There are commonalities
between daffodils and driftwood, between history and
psychology, between "sheer impulses" and the deeper sources
of emotion. There is in Chickering's inexplicit ontological
perspective a tension between pluralism and monism. These
are not, of course, central issues for him, but they lurk
in the background unresolved. Yet his commitment, clearly,
is to education and to a "law" of development which edu-
cation must recognize and program around. He is not con—
cerned, and need not be, with ultimate metaphysical
problems.)
The developmental process exudes differentiation

when the person

comes to see the interacting parts of something formerly

seen as unitary . . . when actions are more finely

responsive to purposes or to outside conditions, when

interests become more varied, tastes more diverse,

reactions more subtle. In short, we become more com-
plex human beings.73

 

73Ihia.

 

55

But the developmental process at other times, appears to
be integrative: parts fit into wholes, different disciplines
are compared and connected, and impulse and emotion "pull
together with conscience and reason."74

Differentiation and integration are described by
Chickering as if they were an alternating current, suc-
cessively following each other but both together, in their
differing ways, activating a powerful process.

Yet the quotidian meaning of this law-—its expres-
sion in the lives of students--is that those who are
developing may appear, at time "a," to be thoroughly
confused and chaotic. And they are. They are breaking
down the "old integration" to let in the new differentiating
experiences, so that, at time "b," they will appear to be
thoroughly reposed--at a new state of integration. Again,
this is not a concept original to Chickering. Dewey,
Sanford, Rausenbusch, Festinger, Heider, Newcomb--many
scholars have thought of education in this way.75

Chickering's "originality" lies in the manner in
which he has organized theory and research, with how he
compares it with practice, and with how he suggests that
educators might begin to revitalize higher education. For

around his concept of identity and the law of differenti-

ation and integration, Chickering weaves the academic gown.

 

The gown is woven with seven threads--"vectors." The
74Ibid. 75Ibid., pp. 293—97.

 

56

vector of identity is fourth in Chickering's order but, as
has been illustrated, is central to his thought. Yet
identity does not happen by itself. It is the result of
(though not totally defined by) the development of three
other vectors: developing competence, managing emotions,

and developing autonomy.

Vector One: Developing Competence
For a person to achieve identity, he must develop
competence. Chickering's metaphor for competence is that
of a pitch fork with three tines--intellectual competence,
physical and manual skills, and interpersonal competence--
and the sense of competence is the handle.
Although "intellectual competence has been studied

more than any other aspect"?6

of student development,
Chickering asserts that some of its most important aspects
have been ignored. Most research cites student performance
on the Graduate Record Examination tests and other standard
measures. But still unknown is how college fosters one's
ability to identify and define problems, to "synthesize and

integrate information,’

ses."77 These unresearched questions are central to

and to "invent answers or hypothe-

Chickering's concept of education. The implication of his
perspective is that we do not know very much of significance

about how intellectual competence is fostered, and we know

 

76Ibid., p. 21. 77Ibid., p. 24.

 

57

even less about its interaction with other vectors of
development. Chickering does not dwell on this at length,
but it seems a major indictment of educational research.
Chickering argues, without substantial research to
support him, that one's experience in athletics can
"provoke reactions sharply relevant to the development of

78 O
" and can increase

competence and the sense of competence,
emotional awareness (especially awareness of aggression) as
well as the management of emotions. His broader context
however, is the development of physical and manual skills,
which can be fostered not only by athletics but also by
"encounters with wood, stone, clay or paint." He ventures
that "an integrated system of concrete experience" when
fused with abstractions about creativity can engender a
bridge between the body and mental processes. Most
colleges, nevertheless, restrict intellectual activities to
symbolic manipulation; learning, as a result, "is more
passive than active." Competence suffers.79
Chickering discusses interpersonal competence at
this stage of his thought because there is a sense in which
relating to others is a skill which is different from
"managing emotions" and "freeing interpersonal relation-
ships"-—two other vectors discussed below. He means by

interpersonal competence that simple ability to relate to

others in the quotidian aspect of life: cooperating,

 

781bid., p. 29. 791bid., pp. 29—31.

 

58

listening as well as talking, following as well as leading.

Interpersonal competence must procede the more penetrating

tasks of managing emotions and freeing interpersonal

relationships.80
The sense of competence is the confidence a person

has that he can do something well. It is not only 22322

fit but feeling fit. The sense of competence gives students

courage to venture further and explore new ground.

Vector Two: Managing Emotions

 

In all societies, probably, emotions must be
managed to some degree. Yet to manage emotions, in
Chickering's view, does not necessarily mean to repress,
crush, or distrust them. It means to express them fully
but in ways which reflect a high level of development
rather than raw impulsiveness. Chickering prefers the word

"managing" over "mastery,' and the first idea he intro-
duces on the topic is that in college awareness of feelings
must be increased. The repression of earlier years should
be loosened, rigidity broken down, and impulsiveness
stimulated. Of course, aggression and hostility are still
quite strong in college (for some, perhaps, even stronger
than in high school) but the controls of the superego must

now be challenged so that the college student can become

his own adult.81 Research at several schools shows that

 

802232-7 P- 33. 81Ibid., pp. 39-41.

59

older students are more impulsive than younger ones.82 A
college climate can foster or discourage impulse expression.
Impulse expression, in a sense, is a differentiating
experience: it opens up previously forbidden recesses. But
integration must also occur. The student must now define

his own limits and, out of that experience, give form to

his ethics. This is especially true with sexual impulses.
With sexuality, Chickering desires that the college student
avoid both repression and totalistic gratification, and
permit sexual behavior to become a vehicle expressing

"83

"affection, nurturance and respect. For the "increased

awareness . . . of sexual impulses is only a beginning.

. . . It leads eventually to a "larger range of

84 Then genuine management can occur: the

feelings."
student knows a fuller range and can choose for himself.
Chickering cites research on the physiological
aspects of emotion, not only by showing the neurological
processes involved but also by describing "the reciprocal
relationship between increasing awareness and increasing

"85 With Pribram as his authority, Chickering

integration.
shows that a person varies his control over his environment
not only by acting on the external world but also by

adjusting inner processes. And the adjustment of inner

processes may take the form of either increasing or

 

83

821bid., p. 42. Ibid., p. 43.

 

84Ibid., p. 11. 85Ibid., p. 51.

 

60

decreasing the rate of processing information. We either

participate and take in more, or we disengage in order to

do "repair work" and inside realignment.86
Control fosters openness to new information and the
ability to process it, leading to increasingly complex
varieties of control and levels of sensitivity.
Development proceeds. Noncontrol restricts input and
hampers the ability to process it, and previous

patterns based on internal configurations already

established are employed. . . . Development stalls.87

Vector Three: Developing Autonomy
Chickering's use of the word "autonomy" is normative
and therefore can be somewhat misleading. For he does not

mean "independence,' although becoming independent is a
starting place for autonomy. To be autonomous is to become
one's own person such that, being independent and knowing
and feeling that one is independent, the person can then
recognize and develop the interdependence of the adult--in
contrast to the "sheer dependence" of the child. But to
acquire interdependence requires, paradoxically, that one
must pass through a rather thoroughgoing guest for
independence--emotional1y and instrumentally. This process
seems to reflect Chickering's law of differentiation
(jettisoning the dependence on others) and integration (we

are all, ultimately, dependent on each other to some

extent).

 

86Ibid. 87Ibid., p. 52.

61

Emotional independence usually entails a shift of
allegiance from parents and other authorities to peers,
and then a shift again from peers toward one's own self as
a fundamental reference point. The emotive concommitants
of this process vary from person to person, but Chickering
cites research at Goddard College which shows that the
students studied there did become more emotionally
independent during their four years.88

The achieving of instrumental independence--being
self-sufficient and geographically mobile--is more diffi-
cult for the college student. Even though he is dis-
engaging from his parents emotionally, he is still, as a
rule, dependent upon them financially. Colleges could help
(but rarely do) by fostering situations through which self-
sufficiency and self-support can be deve10ped. Encouraging
students to travel on their own, especially abroad, is one
way.

The recognition and acceptance of interdependence

89 Because the person is

is the "capstone of autonomy."
more his own man—-emotionally if not instrumentally--the
recognition of dependence on others is less threatening.
And, perhaps for the first time in life, the students can

recognize that others are dependent on him. Giving and

receiving are now both possible.

 

881bid., pp. 63-71. 89Ibid., p. 74.

 

 

62

Vector Four: Establishing Identity

To achieve identity, the person must be competent
and know that he is; he must manage his emotions; and he
must be autonomous. Although identity is not merely the
summation of these three vectors, they are essential for
identity to emerge. The main features of Chickering's
notion of identity have already been described. But
further discussion is necessary at this point to show how
Chickering's theory unfolds.

The three vectors which preceded identity, even
though they occur in a societal context, can be thought of
as mainly concerned with the self, with ego-centered needs
which bear fruit eventually in the vector of identity. Yet
developing identity is not so much a destination as it is
an intersection of three tributaries--competence, emotions,
autonomy--which merge into the main river of identity.

And the river takes form for a time, only later to again
split into three channels which severally offer an inter-
locking passageway in which the cargo ships of adult
commerce can float. Those three channels are Chickering's
last three vectors: freeing interpersonal relationships,

developing purpose, and achieving integrity.90

 

901bid., Chapters 5, 6, and 7.

63
Vector Fivei» Freeing Interpersonal
Relationships

It seems reasonable to posit, although Chickering
does not, that a person can be competent, manage emotions
well, be autonomous, and know who he is--all of these
without having a wide range of people with whom he is able
to relate. The developing person, in any case, needs to
free his interpersonal relationships so that he cannot only
tolerate others but respect and learn from people of back-
grounds and values which are quite different from his own.
Again, Chickering's law of differentiation comes into play.
Has identity been stabilized? Good. Now let's be chal-
lenged once more. The tendered athlete can grow by
encountering the artist. The poet and chemist ought to
marvel at how differently each views the world. Upper
middle class white students need to share perspectives with
those of ethnic minorities.

Chickering cites several studies which show that
students do learn increased tolerance during college. They
have a "diminished need to dominate" or "to coerce or
manipulate others to become something alien to themselves."91
Not only does tolerance grow. There comes also a "fusion

92 This is not a

with the essence of other people."
noticeable shift in the capacity for intimacy. The

relationship to others of the student who has established

 

91Ibid., pp. 101-02. 921bid., p. 104.

64

his identity reflects a genuine caring and respect for
other persons.93 And, as a whole, the freeing of inter-
personal relationships creates a larger life-space around

the person.

Vector Six: Developing Purpose

Knowing what one wants to do in life is a formidable
psychological achievement. It gives configuration to
talent and integrates "knowledge, action, and evaluation."94
The central issue in developing purpose is vocation. And
students with vocational plans which have meaning, and which
are clearly formulated, do better academic work than those
who do not95--even though those plans may later change.96

Yet one of the most important aspects of a vocation
for college students is not the character of the work
itself but the implications of a particular occupation for
"style of life." To college students leisure hours are
"more real" than working hours.97

The dominating law in this vector is that of inte-
gration. Purpose requires that one begin not only to
choose among certain occupational opportunities and life
styles but also to know why he has chosen as he has, and

to integrate that choice around what he feels to be

distinctively himself, emotionally and intellectually.

 

93 94

Ibid., p. 105 Ibid., p. 108.
951bid., p. 113. 96Ibid., pp. 119-120.
97

Ibid., p. 17.

 

65

Vector Seven: Developing Integrity

It is consistent with Chickering's philosophy of
development that integrity is presented as his final
vector. For integrity—-encompassing as it does the
congruence between belief and behavior--ref1ects the
culmination of a long maturation, of a slow movement and
not a sudden revolution. As Chickering shows: although
"the content of values and the patterns of their inter-
relationships may not change dramatically during college,"
yet the "bases on which values rest, the ways in which
they are held, and the force with which they operate in
daily life, may be more important--within limits--than the
particular values held." The central concern, then, of a
college "is to increase the role of values" in students'
lives.98

The ultimate eventuation of developing integrity
is the congruence between belief and behavior. But in
order for one's beliefs to be congruent with behavior,
those beliefs must belong to the person--be fully his.
And this requires that the person disengage from the
beliefs which he may have uncritically accepted, and
thereby liberate his conscience from the superego's
dominance. This Chickering calls the "humanizing of

values,‘ a sort of "urban development" by which the person

destroys that of others to make room for his own. A

 

98Ibid., pp. 126-27.

66

person who has humanized his values rejects "literal

belief in rules" for an attitude in which precepts are
"perceived in relation to the social purposes they were
designed to serve."99

The humanizing of values, though, is a differ—

entiating process which may create a condition where values
are "so relative that adequate guides are lacking . . ."100

The resultant anxiety needs resolution. The inte-

gration aspect of Chickering's law must now come into

play. The new beliefs, and the way by which those new
beliefs are formulated, must become personalized. A
student who has personalized his values is clear about what
they are; he recognizes that his behavior expresses his
values; and he has increased his ability to recognize those
values as his own and to act on them.101 Then congruence,
"the peak of personhood," blooms into full flower.

When fully realized, integrity is reflected in con-
sistency of belief and behavior, of word and deed.
Internal argument is minimal. Once the implications of
a situation are understood and once the consequences of
alternative actions seem clear, the response is highly
determined. It is made with conviction, without
debate or equivocation.102

Overview of Chickeripg
Chickering's concept of human growth is a vision of

what education can "lead forth" in the college student.

His view of the process of identity formation is that it

 

991bid., p. 127. lOOIbid., p. 136.

lOIIbid., p. 139. 1021618., p. 142.

 

67

does not just happen but must be fostered. Such fostering
entails not only an understanding of individual psychology.
It entails also an understanding of the social context in
which growth occurs. Growth is not something which flows
only from inward processes of thinking, feeling, willing,
et cetera. The outer world must be brought to bear on that
which is being "led forth." A model of education which
fosters growth toward identity must show how the processes
of individual growth can be activated by the environment in
which the individual lives.

This suggests Chickering's second law of develop-
ment: the ”impact of an experience depends upon the
characteristics of the person who encounters it."103
Different people respond to the "same experience" in differ—
ent ways. An experience which "fits" the needs of a
student engenders growth. There is something about the
human being which indicates that "personality development
occurs in steps predetermined by both an inner program and
outside forces."104

The second law of development opens up the second
half of Chickering's book--the "conditions for impact."
His essential point is that diverse aspects of college
life can be designed to help foster the growth of identity

in the broadest sense of the term. When factors such as

institutional size, curriculum, living arrangements, and

 

103 104

Ibid., p. 298. Ibid., p. 307.

68

student culture, as well as the abilities of faculty and
staff members are designed around clear and consistent
objectives--then the vectors of development can be stimu-
lated in students.

It is important to note what Chickering is got
saying. He does not believe that identity is the result
of a process dominated by what Maslow calls "self-
actualization.“ (Maslow, in fact, is mentioned neither in
Chickering's prose nor in his bibliography.) Chickering's
approach is much more social than Maslow's. And develop-
ment, accordingly, cannot be thought of, in any meaningful
sense, as essentially the unfolding of inner potential.105
Not that Maslow ignores culture. But his perspective was
developed as the result of studying the most "highly
developed" specimens of our culture. Chickering's citation
of research, in contrast, ranges far and wide, and the
studies he employs to buttress his argument seem much more
representative of the whole of "reality" than does Maslow's.

If Chickering could be summarized, he is saying
that there is, within the individual, a vast universe of
forces which can be selectively fitted with external
arrangements. If this fitting continuously occurs, the

inner processes of the individual grow heartily along the

 

105This distinction is based on an essay by Clifford
Geertz entitled, "Religion as a Cultural System," in Reader
in Comparative Religion, by William A. Lessa and Evon Z.
VogtiTNew York: Harper & Row, 1965), p. 207. Geertz's
concept is used differently in this study.

69

lines which Chickering broadly defines in the seven vectors
of development. Education for identity is neither an inner
nor an outer process but a continuous fusing process
involving both. Chickering recognizes the existence of
"inner learning" but is firmly committed to extensive
"reality testing" by intercourse with outer environment.
Though students are not mere puppets, neither are they
monadic entities thriving because of mysterious, in—
accessible processes. Identity is a knowable event--
knowable in that its essential contours can be described
sufficiently by reference to research on human growth

which has already been established and published.

CHAPTER IV

A COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF TRANSCENDENTAL
MEDITATION AND THE STUDENT DEVELOPMENT

PHILOSOPHY OF ARTHUR CHICKERING

This chapter is addressed to the relationship
between the student develOpment philosophy of Arthur
Chickering and the TM program of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
This chapter will (1) compare and contrast Chickering's
theory with Maharishi's; (2) show how these two theories
agree, disagree, and partially agree; and (3) determine
whether the TM program can justifiably be integrated into
the student development phiIOSOphy of Arthur Chickering.

This attempted integration is the "pay-off" of
this study. It seems to be an enticing prospect. For as
was pointed out in Chapter I, the student development
philosophy and the meditation philosophy may be affirming
similar goals. If so, the "technology" of meditation
could serve the ends of student development. Chickering
and Maharishi were selected to represent student develop-

ment and meditation, respectively. If these two theorists

7O

71

agree essentially on the goals of human growth, then not
only has one possible integration been established, but
other such possible integrations may be worth exploring.
As a result, the methodology of higher education could be
greatly enriched.

The question, however, is not What can TM learn
from student deve10pment? The question is What can student
development learn from TM? Thus, even though this chapter
compares the two approaches, the student development
philosophy is the system around which the chapter unfolds.
Chickering's seven vectors are the blueprint which
Maharishi's theory may or may not serve. It is TM which is
"on trial," not Chickering's student development philosophy.

First, Chickering's vector will be stated. Then
Chickering and Maharishi will be compared on agreements,
partial agreements (if any), and disagreements. After each
vector has been thus discussed, a summation will be provided.

1. Establishing Identity
a. Agreements

1. The development of identity is the central
task of education. It entails the fullest
range of human awareness: intellect,
emotion, and will.

2. To develop identity requires both differ—
entiation and integration-~the complex

interplay between experiencing the new and

72

giving it shape into a mosaic of meaning
within one's consciousness.

3. To frame an identity from the multiplicity
of alternatives in the current milieu is a
central problem for the emerging young adult
and requires a highly sophisticated con-
sciousness.

Partial Agreements

Although both agree that freedom from anxiety

and pressure is necessary to develop identity,

for Chickering that freedom is relative.

Anxiety and pressure can sometimes force the

student to greater efforts and acquaint him

with hitherto unknown dimensions of life. For

Maharishi, anxiety and pressure only block

natural development, and thus are negative

values.

Disagreements

1. For Maharishi, identity is not created by
interaction with outer experiences. Man's
essence is given; it lies already "inside"
him. For Chickering, identity is the
result of an interplay between inner
processes and outer events.

2. Maharishi holds that the principle of inte-
gration is the starting place. To flood a

young person with highly differentiating

73

experiences from the external world without
his first being integrated only confuses
him. Such differentiation should be
marginal in importance until one is more
ready to handle multiplicity of activity.
The practice of TM of course, differenti-
ates one's consciousness; but the essential
path of inner learning is toward integration
around Being. Then the outer world will
take proper shape. Chickering holds that
some college students may need differenti-
ating experiences; others may need inte-
grating ones. Which it is depends upon the

student's stage of development.

2. DevelopingtCompetence

a.

Agreements

1. Central to education is the ability of the
student to identify and define significant
problems. This is more of an "intuitive"
process than a strictly "rational" one.

2. Concrete experiences, when integrated with
abstractions about creativity, can foster
intellectual competence.

Disagreements

Would not Chickering hold that one must state

the truth as one sees it regardless of where

that leads? Although Chickering does not

74

address it, it seems a question which he must
answer affirmatively to be consistent with the
rest of his thought. Maharishi, however, has
stated that to speak the truth can, at times,
be unwise. It may interfer with other impor-

tant things.

3. Managing Emotions

a.

Agreements

Internal adjustments within the organism are

at times necessary to limit the barrage of

stimuli from the external world.

Disagreements

l. Chickering holds that the increasing aware-
ness of emotions can work hand-in-glove
with the develOpment of better management
of emotions. For Maharishi, it is not
emotions which one should become aware of
but one's own inner nature. Then the
emotions flow outward in a natural way and
do not need management.

2. For Chickering, the two major emotions to
manage are sex and aggression. Maharishi
does not discuss sex at all. Aggression
will dissolve as a result of the proper

inwardness which one attains through TM.

75

3. Chickering holds that the person should be
aware of the full range of his emotions.

By receiving responses from others, he can
learn what is acceptible and what is
unacceptible. Maharishi would probably
respond that Chickering's view puts the
cart before the horse. One ought not speak
and act as one feels but first be centered
in his consciousness. The right emotional
expression then follows.

4. Chickering argues that the balanced person
knows fully the range of his emotions and
intellect. From such a knowledge he can
respond to individual situations. For
Maharishi, the central problem is mental.
And TM engenders a mental dominance over
all of life. Balance is being ruled by the

mind.

4. Developipg Autonomy

a.

Agreements

The interdependence of all men and women must

be recognized by the student both intellectually
and emotionally. Interdependence happens,
however, as the result of a process which can
begin only when the individual person achieves

autonomy.

76

Disagreements

Chickering regards the process of achieving
autonomy as a break from the parents, a shift
toward one's peers, and then a movement toward
one's self. For Maharishi, to break away from
one's parents and to rely on one's peers is
foolishness. The young should respect and
honor their parents. Autonomy is the result of
discovering the Being within, which each person
must do for himself. To look to peers, even
temporarily, is to find merely a "social self"
and, at the same time, to expose oneself to

unstable fads.

5. Freeing Interpersonal Relationshipg

a.

Agreements

The truly educated person enjoys the stimulation

of people of varying perspectives and back-

grounds. This is so because, with his identity

firm, he is not threatened by those different

than he.

Disagreements

l. Chickering's view is that free interpersonal
relationships are the hard-won result of a
directed interaction with those unlike us.
It is a social process in which experiences
"out there" confront the person with the

strengths and weaknesses "in here."

77

Implicit to his thought is that this may at
times mean failure and discouragement. The
growing person, however, each time again
re—enters the arena for interchange and new
knowledge. To Maharishi such a plan
invites trouble. Social interaction with
people who are different from us does not
result in tolerance; tolerance is the
result of an inner process. Negroes and
white people, for example, should be taught
TM in different groups. To mix them is
just to try to create solutions which are
on the same level as the problem. But when
one experiences color-blind, caste-ignorant
Being, the heart is gladdened and love
flows from that contact.

For Chickering, the capacity for intimacy
is central to interpersonal relationships.
It is a tough achievement in today's world.
But Maharishi's view of the psychology of
personal relationships is primarily mental.
Such a thing as intimacy, presumably, is
the natural result of the regular alter-

nation of TM and activity.

6.

78

Developing Purppse

 

a.

Agreements

Purpose is an essential outcome of education.

Purpose gives direction and form to one's

talent and thereby channels creative expression

into activity which can validate identity.

Disagreements

1.

Whereas Chickering's central issue in
purpose is vocation and its implications
for "life-style,” Maharishi's view is quite
general. For him, the purpose of life is
happiness. Once that is achieved (through
TM) the major decisions of life can be made
as part of a natural flow from "inner" to
"outer."

It does not seem unfair to construe
Maharishi's thought as "what one does is
not essentially different from what one
is." Doing lies in Being. Even though
Chickering values an overlap between
identity and work, there seems to be room
in his thought for the view that work
enables a person to do things "off the job"

which could not be done without the income

and social standing which the job provides.

7.

79

Developing Integrity_

a.

Agreements

The concept of integrity suggests an essential

unity between life in its inner sensibility

and life in its outward expression.

stood, both Chickering and Maharishi affirm the

value and necessity of integrity.

Disagreements

1.

But aside from that broad definition, the
two thinkers disagree on what integrity is.
In Chickering's view, integrity is the
congruence between belief and behavior.
For Maharishi, integrity is the congruence
between Being and behavior.

The development of integrity flows differ-
ently for each. Chickering seems to
realize that outer happenings can affect
one's values. Events "out there" are not
only occasions which require ethical judg-
ments; they also may require a re-thinking
about one's inner, ethical sensitivity.
Maharishi, in contrast, holds that if the
inner life is properly alligned, the
response to outer events is naturally good.
The flow of integrity is always from inner

to outer, never the reverse.

Thus under-

80

3. Chickering's concept of the vacuum which
may confront the young person during the
humanizing of values is, for Maharishi,
both reprehensible and unnecessary. A
vacuum in ethics not only confuses people
but reflects their relative position in
evolving cosmic consciousness; they have
not "made it" yet. If one is not cosmically
evolved, he should turn to Scripture, to
elders, or to great men for spiritual
advice. These serve as reference points
for morals and insure that the cosmic order
does not go askew in times of turmoil. In
Maharishi's view, for the unevolved to be
without such guides is anti-developmental
and contrary to education rightly under-

stood.

Conclusion of Argument
Can the TM program of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi be
idrltegrated into the student development philosophy of
Adrrthur Chickering? The reply of this writer is a con-
d-:i..'tional "no." It is conditional because TM may help
People grow in ways which Chickering envisions. It is "no"

“*Wand primarily "no"~-because the two systems are funda—

"iealltally incompatible.

81

TM may help differentiate one's inner consciousness.
It may engender a greater ability to regulate one's
neurological responses to the stress of living. TM may
reduce anxiety as defined by certain physiological indi-
cators. It may eventuate, over time, in a more graceful
articulation between inner awareness and outer action. It
may reduce one's dependence on artifical agents for
altering consciousness and thereby promote greater autonomy.
TM may stimulate certain creative mental powers.

Yet TM may also so focus one's attention on certain
interior processes that growth in other important dimensions
of Chickering's model are neglected. A person focused on
Being may regard the contribution of other people as of
Lesser importance. If TM stimulates parasympathetic
dominance, it may also ignore the emotional terrain related
to other processes, particularly the sympathetic nervous
System. Empathy may thus be diminished. The emotionally
deep and socially explosive aspects of a developing sexu-
ality will need to be explored by the maturing student
" outside" of the contribution which TM makes to his develop-
It“ant. And the social struggle out of which Chickering's
autonomous person emerges may be so loosely regarded by the
Ineditator that his social awareness receives little
attention.

The most fundamental difference between Chickering's
theory and Maharishi's is their opposing views of sociali-

2ation. Whereas Chickering affirms the social nature of

82

caducation, Maharishi seems to regard such a view as "shared

Once the die is cast in this way, any con-

ignorance . "
Although in

\Iergence between their theories is fortuitous.
ssome vectors Maharishi and Chickering seem agreed, they are

t>ut ”fellow travelers" who, for a time, share a small

E>ortion of the journey. Their theories, as systems which

<c:an inform practice, are incompatible.

CHAPTER V

IMPLICATIONS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION:

THEORY AND PRACTICE

This dissertation has explored the question of
whether the student development philosophy of Arthur
Chickering is compatible with the TM program of Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi. Chapter IV has given a "conditional no" to
that question.

This final chapter is designed to bring home
several further conclusions which, in this writer's view,
are important in placing this study in a broader context.
Those conclusions fall into four categories:

1. Conclusions about TM theory and student development
theory as models of human growth;

2. Conclusions about TM and student development theory
as forces or movements for change in higher edu-
cation;

3. Conclusions about TM with recommendations for
professors, administrators, and counselors who

encounter students in TM; and

83

84

4. Conclusions about further prospects of an inte-
gration between meditation and student development.
But to set the stage for further analysis, some conceptual
grounding needs to be introduced at this point. The first
is a distinction between "model of" and "model for." The
second is a set of four normative statements about building
a theory of human growth. After these distinctions and
statements are made clear, they will be used extensively in

the analysis which follows them.

"Model Of" and "Model For"

The meaning of the distinction between "model of"
and "model for" becomes clear in the following example.
Suppose a jazz pianist creates out of his intuition a piece
of music, playing it as he composes it in his head.
Suppose, also, that in the same room with him is a composer
of music. While the pianist plays, the compoSer draws on a
score the notes which the pianist is playing. (The com-
poser is a very fast writer.) At the end of the number, the
composer shows the score to the pianist. That score is a
"model of" reality; it describes what has been played.

Suppose now that the composer revises the score.

He tries to improve on what the pianist has played and
urges, "Try it this way and see if the number doesn't sound
better than before." The pianist does so. The score he
uses is a "model for" reality; it prescribes what is to be

played.

85

Four Normative Statements About Theoty Building

The four statements which follow were developed

intuitively by this writer as an aid to analysis. They are

not offered as polished propositions about theory con-

struction, but as tools helpful in contrasting the student

development theory and the meditation philosophy. And when

Chickering and Maharishi, in particular, are compared on

these four statements, an interesting contrast emerges.

Those statements are:

1.

3.

A theory of human growth must be descriptive. It
must be based on reliable research. It is thus a
"model of" human growth.

Paradoxically, a theory of human growth must be
prescriptive. It must be based on value commit-
ments. It must be a "model for" human growth.

A theory of human growth must be capacious enough
to permit an interaction between description and
prescription, between "model of" and "model for."
The result is an "overtone" which could be called
the "dialectic between description and prescrip-
tion."

A theory of human growth when formulated, as in a
book, must lead the reader into the consciousness
stimulated by the dialectic between "model of" and

"model for."

I
VP

86

TM and Student Develppment: Modelg

The theory of human growth expounded by Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi, clearly, is almost exclusively a "model for."
It is a prescription for living. The propositions in his
theory are charged with value commitments--commitments
which, in Maharishi's view, are in principle unchallenge-
able by the paradigm of Western science. For Maharishi
believes that research in the Western physical and be-
havioral sciences can and will illustrate the truth of his
philosophy, as well as render his philosophy into modes of
consciousness commensurate with the level of development of

Western science.106

The corollary of this is that research
will not invalidate the propositions in his philosophy; if
it does, the research has originated from a consciousness
which as yet is not sufficiently evolved to grasp the
meaning of his overarching symbol system: i.e., the Vedas,
the Bhagavad-Gita, and his interpretation of them. In
other words, for Maharishi, "model of" serves "model for"
but never the reverse. A genuine dialectic between
description and prescription is in principle impossible.

This does not hold for Chickering. For although
Chickering, clearly, is slanted toward prescription, it is
a prescription which is not only based upon research but

which can in principal be invalidated by further research

which disproves the hypotheses on which that presciption is

 

106Based on conversations with Professor Max R.
Rains, Michigan State University.

87

based. Chickering, to be sure, has strong commitments to
values reflected throughout his entire book. But the

"flow" of his creation is such that values do not run
roughshod over the argument and the presentation of research.
.Without attempting to "psychologize" Chickering, it does
seem that his consciousness of what he is doing-—and the
responsibility he thus assumes for his reader--is a con-
sciousness capacious enough to not only permit but insist
upon a healthy dialectic between "model of" and "model for."
That is to say, description cannot merely serve prescription.
The ideal is that both so mingle that a "third element"
emerges. For Chickering in effect is urging that his

reader permit an "overtone" to develop, an agony between
"how things are" and “how things ought to be." Arthur
Chickering, in this writer's view, is thus a quite balanced

theorist.

TM and Student Development: Movements

There is an aspect of this study which needs
further exploration. It is that, on the whole, the medi-
tation philosophy is neither merely a "model of" nor a
"model for" human growth. The meditation philosophy,
rather, is a model nested in a movement geared to engender
vast cultural change. And the TM movement, in particular,
is an enterprise for nothing less than creating a paradise
on earth. To do this, the TM movement has attracted the

talents of thousands of men and women: artists, writers,

88

organizers, intellectuals, TM teachers, et cetera. (The
organizations which comprise the TM movement were described
briefly in Chapter II.)

As in any movement, TM has an on-going process of
discussion, debates, and competing points of view within

its organizations.107

The crucial decisions, especially
strategic ones, are made by Maharishi himself. Being
capable of attracting many talented people, Maharishi often
receives a wide range of views on almost any subject which
interests him. He listens to these ideas until one
eventually meshes with his own thinking. A program
crystalizes around that idea and the movement responds
accordingly. This continues until a problem is discovered
with the idea or until a new issue arises. Then the process
is repeated. A common theme in Maharishi's discussions
with his followers and consultants is how to bring TM
theory and practice to bear on higher education, the health
professions, government agencies, and other such institu-
tions.

As a result of this process, Maharishi often is
able to hear both descriptive and prescriptive statements
about TM. And in the intermingling of description and
prescription, a kind of dialectic between them appears to
be taking place. But that dialectic, ultimately, is not

genuine. That is to say, the interaction of those planning

 

107Based on conversations with Professor Raines.

89

and executive sessions does not seem designed around nor
geared toward a "pursuit of truth"--a process in which one
"follows the argument wherever it leads." The inter-
action, rather, seems designed around and geared toward
improving the TM marketing program.

From this stance, Maharishi is not a theorist at all

but an evangelist with much more at stake than "mere
theory." And ”evangelist" is an appropriate term. For
Maharishi's strategy is one of "secularizing" what seems
in fact to be more a thinly disguised religion than a
"science" (in the general Western understanding of
"science"). This interaction internal to the TM movement
seems an attempt to create magnetic "images of the future"
--utopian visions which, once created, can rally masses of
people around scenarios which will, it is hoped, actualize
the ideal society as Maharishi conceives it.

(Maharishi's ultimate conceptual objective is the
interweaving of metaphysics and science. Until that is
accomplished, he is still able to use both, depending on
the interest of the prospective meditator. As the appendix
illustrates, Maharishi began his movement mainly with a
mystical strategy, science playing a somewhat lesser role.
In 1970, however, the shift toward science began and con-
tinues today. With this dual approach to promulgating TM,
Maharishi has not only greatly expanded his "market" of
potential adherents; he also may be able to increase the

hold which his program has on his followers. Some modern

90

men seek religion, others science. But those who seek both
may feel that, in TM, they have found the best of both

worlds.)

The point of all this is that marketing overrides
genuine dialectic; and, when reinforced by "success" (as in
an increased rate of growth or the establishment of
Maharishi International University in Santa Barbara,
California), ptggcription can be made to increasingly
dominate and enslave gggcription. In TM, movement and
model are ultimately inseparable.

Arthur Chickering stands in sharp contrast to
Maharishi. For Chickering does not allow prescription to
enslave description. Chickering, of course, seems eager to
press his case and witness the result in higher education.
And he is not above bemoaning the failure of educators to
implement student development theory and research.

The principal shortcoming of American higher edu-
cation is not uncritical acceptance of, or slavish
adherence to, the latest "truth" demonstrated by the
scientific establishment; it is the nearly universal
neglect of such information, and active resistance or
rejection when it is introduced. . . . Such a posture
might have been defensible ten or fifteen years ago
when relatively little research had been done. But if
neglect was defensible then, it is no longer. Feldman
and Newcomb's (1968) recent review cites over 1,200
studies relevant to the impacts of colleges on student
develOpment—-the impacts of different curricula and
majors, residence groupings and arrangements, inter-
personal relationships among students and between
students and faculty, student cultures and college
cultures. . . . Most of these studies have occurred
during the last ten years. All the signs--professiona1
interest, financial support, organizational structures,
journals and publishing houses--suggest that such

91
research will continue, and at an increasing rate. How
long before it will be used?10

Despite this agony of waiting, Chickering--in the
final analysis--affirms a faith that "eventually, research
and theory will be called into service." For "as research
and theory make possible the managment and control of human
development--as they will--the management and control of
human development will be undertaken." But even in
affirming this, Chickering poses quickly the crucial
interrogative: "The question is, by whom?" And he asserts
that if educators and students do not manage and control
human development, legislators, industry, and behavioral
scientists will.109

This aspect of Chickering's book is not a cynical
diatribe against present practice, nor is it the lofty
sentiments of a starry-eyed mystic. In assessing political
realities and possibilities, Chickering reveals what seems
to be an agony for student development. And if this writer
has read Chickering with sensitivity, that agony has been
in part developed from a rigorous dialectic between "model
of" and "model for." Chickering's faith in educators--that
ultimately they will respond to research--seems to mean
that a movement for the revitalization of higher education

need not sacrifice the rigor which a genuine dialectic

entails.

 

108Arthur W. Chickering, op, cit., p. 339.

loglbid.

 

92

Encountering TM Studentt

Both TM and student development are theories of
human growth which have developed in the milieu of the 19605
and early 19703. And it seems that, ultimately, no theory
can be entirely separated from the era in which it arises.

A theory, surely, is in part both a product of the culture
in which it is nested and a response to the issues currently
flourishing in that culture. In a sense, then, both

student development and meditation are commentaries on the
present milieu. They mirror the times.

Yet this writer believes that meditation, even more
than student development, is a response to important
cultural shifts now taking place in the United States.
Throughout the 19603, new religious cults have attracted
hundreds of thousands of young people--many of whom are in

college.110

That college students are attracted to "off-
beat" sectarian ventures suggests that personal identity
and cultural renewal are important problems facing modern
educators. And regardless of whether educators can affirm
the "model for" proposals in these cults, and regardless of

whether educators approve of the tactics which seem

inherent in mass movements, it seems clear that educators

 

f

110See Jacob Needleman, The New Religions (New
York: Doubleday, 1970); Peter RowIey, New Godsiin America
(New York: McKay, 1971).

 

 

93

must respond to students in such cults, listen to them at
length, and offer to students appropriate guidance.111

For much, indeed, is at stake. While scholars such
as Arthur Chickering painstakingly explore the prospect of
an exciting integration between theory and practice, the
very college students for whom he agonizes may be following
the latest Pied Piper with the best tricks for inner life
exploration. A rigorous tension between "model of" and
"model for" is, within the gripping ambience of a cult
setting, quite easily overlooked if not outright dis-
couraged.

This writer senses a responsibility to set forth
some recommendations to educators who may wish to assist
college students involved in cult activity. In so doing,
it is recognized that this departs from the main purpose of
this study. But the reader who has endured this far seems
likely to be at least marginally sympathetic to the purpose
and value of what is commonly known as "counseling,"
"advising," or a similar "helping profession." And just as
Chickering seems to bear a kind of agony in waiting for
practice to reSpond to research, so does this writer bear a
certain agony over the relative indifference toward marginal
students by adult models who find their livelihood in

higher education.

 

111William H. Barr, "Encountering Religious
Fervor," Chronicle of Higher Educatiop (September 24,
1973).

 

94

The recommendations which follow are designed
primarily to help educators counsel students in TM. The
recommendations, however, can also be adapted to students
in other movements.

Educators may find it helpful to distinguish between
three different stances toward TM. That is, students
probably vary in how they embrace TM. What follows sug-
gests three different stances of students, with commentary
on how staff members ought to respond toward each stance.

1. Some students may regard TM as only a ritual. For
the "ritual only" student, TM is a pleasant interlude in
the day. He enjoys it. But he derives from it no unique
personal integration or social significance. TM is inte-
grated with his previous enculturation with little change
in self-concept.

Yet the "ritual only" student may need what
Chickering calls "differentiation." He may need to under-
stand, for example, why he holds TM belief "at arm's length"
and why he does not embrace the wider symbol system which
TM offers. The purpose here, clearly, is not to encourage
the student to "convert" to the TM belief system. Rather,
it is to differentiate his consciousness by making explicit
the limited stance he has toward TM. As a result, the
student may then be able to understand what TM does not
mean for him as well as what TM does mean. For what
students do not affirm, and the thinking process entailed

therein, is a sort of "negative pole" for the "positive"

95

side of his sensibility. A student who understands that
may be then capable of developing an interplay, an "alter-
nating current" between what he affirms and what he does
not affirm. The result may be a differentiated conscious-
ness with "transfer value" to other aspects of his sensibi-
lity and growth.

2. For other students, TM may give form not only to
ritual but to life itself. They now embrace what is for
them a new set of values and ideals for living. Such
meditators may be called "believing meditators." During TM
ritual, a "believing meditator" may feel he has transcended
ordinary consciousness. He believes TM teachings about the
ritual. But when later emerged from the ritual experience
and once again in the world of classrooms and cafeterias,
he may feel quite differently about TM. As Geertz suggested,

. . . religious belief in the midst of ritual, where it

engulfs the total person, transporting him, so far as

he is concerned, into another mode of existence and
religious belief as the pale, remembered reflection of

that experience in the midst of everyday life are not
precisely the same thing.112

The believing meditator may be susceptible to ups
and downs" in his intellectual and emotive affirmation of
TM, depending on how well that day his TM experience seemed
to integrate life. He may also permit TM's world view to

sanction avoidance of what others regard as "hard reality,"

and TM may even serve as an escape from life.

 

112Geertz, pp, cit., p. 214.

96

Sensitive educators can help such a student grapple
with the unsettling effects, intellectual and emotive,
which a "cross-cultural experience" such as TM may provide.
For educators may represent to such a student an "adult
model"--a person more stable than himself. Professors and
administrators should share their own world view with
believing meditators and ought to thereby reflect the
odyssey which a mature belief system necessitates. The
crisis which religious questing often engenders in a person
can be shown to be not the end but the beginning of a more
rich and varied sensibility.

3. For yet other students, TM provides not only a
pleasant ritual, not only an integrating set of beliefs,
but a new "lifestyle," an exciting alternative to roles
offered by "established" society. From a life energy
integrated by TM, such a person seeks to express that energy
into a creative program of evangelism. A student who
embraces TM in this way may be called a "missionary medi-
tator."

For the "missionary meditator," TM becomes a living
thing. It is a venture now new which all men should and
will embrace. The millenium lies just ahead. He may see
himself as the avant-garde agent in pervasive cultural
renewal. Students who hold this missionary orientation are
a nucleus around which local activity flourishes and upon
which TM is dependent for supportive functions. It may be

towards this missionary orientation that some TM teachers

97

tend to press adherents, and it is from this missionary
orientation that TM teachers spawn.

Professors, administrators, and counselors should
become aware of their own feelings about students who exude
a missionary bent. Some educators may respond to them
stereotypically and view such students as deluded fanatics.
For other staff members, students of the missionary orien-
tation may unknowingly represent a threat to self-definition
and evoke a defensive reaction to shelter the fear.

The missionary meditator, however, despite his zeal,
is still a young person who is growing and maturing. He
needs understanding. He also needs to know that stable
people are not going to be steamrolled by his ardor for
"truth," and that there are intelligent people who have
strong, supportable reservations about TM. Staff members
can help "missionary meditators" grow not only by listening
sensitively but by posing uncomfortable questions about TM
and their involvement in it.

The missionary meditator will probably not receive
this challenge to his faith in the way it is (or ought to
be) offered. But at least one adult in the non-TM universe
has listened to him and, without rancor, has registered a
dissent which will remain in that student's consciousness.

Perhaps later he will feel ready for a further encounter.

98

The Prospect of Further Integration

As a result of researching and writing this disser-
tation, this writer has become quite pessimistic about
further prospects of a "marriage" between a student
development philosophy—-such as Arthur Chickering's--and a
meditation philosophy--such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's.
Much of this pessimism has to do with the prOblems inherent
in Eastern meditation philosophies.

1. It does not seem reasonable to hold that Western
educators should ignore, as do Eastern gurus, the social
nature of the learning process. How can Western educators
ignore the contribution of, for example, John Dewey and his
emphasis on experience as central to education?113 How can
reasonable men pretend that the forces of technology, for
another example, have little central claim on curricular
direction and content? Indeed, perhaps the best response of
Western educators now is to vigorously defend the social
nature of education and its relationship to the technology
operative in Western society. Perhaps Western educators,
too, ought to attack the uncritical adoption of existing
theory into the paradigm of meditation, as, for example, the
use TM leaders make of Maslow's "self-actualization."

2. Robert Bellah, the sociologist of religion, has

argued that the current religiosity among young people

 

113John Dewey, Experience and Education (New York:
Macmillan, 1938).

 

99

represents a desire to establish or re-establish a "world

of perfect wholeness,’ to normatively define the "uni-"

aspect of an alleged "universe,"114

Be that as it may, if
such a pristine cosmos exists, so does confusion about what
its unifying principle is and means. Yet, surely, to
understand today's universe requires a sophisticated symbol
system which makes sense out of technology, the changes
technology requires or seems to require of man, and the
consciousness necessary to articulate with technology. But
to attempt to force technological realities into a meta—
physics developed in a pre-industrial milieu, or alter-
natively, to in effect ignore technological realities
altogether--as Maharishi does--is surely to embark on a
disappointing venture.

3. Probably all Western societies have attempted to
fathom the meaning of human tragedy and suffering. But the
treatment of such themes by Eastern gurus seems hardly
adequate for the conceptual and spiritual needs of the
West. As Jacob Needleman expresses it:

The Judaeo-Christian tradition, whatever else one might

say about it, at least knew the weight of human suf-

fering. When held against the torments of grief,
loneliness, pain, disease, self-doubt and anxiety, the

Maharishi's talk about "bliss-consciousness" seemed

romantic, even cheap. Perhaps Western teachings had
shoved man down too far into a sense of incapacity and

 

114Robert Bellah, "The Secular University and the
New Religious Consciousness" (mimeographed speech at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, November,
1972).

100

guilt, but was it any better to waft his ego into the
pink Clouds of "divinity?"115

4. Eastern meditative techniques, of course, may

correct limited aspects of Western man's preoccupation with
the stress of technological living, as Arthur Koestler has
suggested in The Lotus and the Robot.116 But as Koestler

has also argued, such techniques are very limited correctives
and hold no promise whatsoever for the cultural revitali-
zation which gurus promise. And Peter Berger, in a similar
vein, regards current mysticism as yet another example of

"demodernization,' an adaptation syndrome which limits the
hegemony of technology and bureaucracy on one's conscious-
ness but which does not and cannot do anything to effect
directly the forces of technology and bureaucracy as such.117
Meditation, then, is at best a "coping" response to modern
living.

The preceeding commentary underscores this writer's
pessimism about an integration between Western education
and Eastern meditation. For the sum of what Bellah, Berger,
and Koestler all point to is that meditation, in the final
analysis, is a rather private affair. Meditation seems yet

another example of a modern spirituality centered almost

exclusively on the private sphere of life. And although

 

115Needleman, op. cit., p. 131.

116Arthur Koestler, The Lotus and the Robot (New
York: Macmillan, 1961).

 

117Peter Berger, t al., 22) cit.

 

101

meditators may feel better as a result of meditating, even
live their lives more efficiently and morally, what "common
faith" emerges around which modern man can rally in order
to solve his most vexing problems: poverty, warfare, and
social chaos? Eastern cults, in this writer's view, have

little to teach the West.

APPENDIX

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION IN THE

PUBLISHED MEDIA

APPENDIX

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION IN THE

PUBLISHED MEDIA

The appendix is designed to place TM in its histori-

cal context. This will be done:
1. by describing the development of the movement;
2. by reporting analyses and critiques of TM; and
3. by summarizing research on TM's alleged effects--
physiological, psychological, and sociological.
Ideally, data that indicate TM's development would
be based on a reliable survey by "disinterested" researchers.
But if such a survey exists, it has yet to be made public.
At present, the only known basis for assessing TM's numeri-
cal growth is the annual report of the Students' Inter-
national Meditation Society (SIMS), entitled "SIMS Growth
Information Package." This report is developed from
information provided by TM teachers, who submit periodical
statements on the number of people they have initiated.
SIMS collates and summarizes that information in the annual

report. The data in Table 3-1 was developed from this

process.

102

103

Table 3-l.--Number of People Initiated Into Transcendental
Meditation in the United States.*

 

 

Year Growth Cumulative Growth
July 1965 to September 1965 221 221
October 1965 to September 1966 774 995
October 1966 to September 1967 2,634 3,629
October 1967 to September 1968 8,553 12,182
October 1968 to September 1969 8,261 20,443
October 1969 to September 1970 12,990 33,323
October 1970 to September 1971 42,402 75,725

 

*Source: "SIMS Growth Information Package."

Although these figures suggest that TM is growing
rapidly, they must be viewed with caution. The data in
Table 3-1 reflect the number of people initiated into TM
ritual. It includes, therefore, those who have discontinued
meditation, as well as those who discontinued but subse-
quently resumed.

Table 3-2 shows the geographical distribution of

people initiated into TM.

Unfortunately, the reports from SIMS are quite
sketchy. They do not, for example, indicate anything about
its "constituency": age, sex, race, socio-economic level,
occupation, and so forth. The reports seem to be designated
to document SIMS good health, not to convey material useful
for the researchers.

As might be expected, TM's acceptance and develop—
ment in the United States from 1965 until 1972 is reflected

in many publications. By the end of September, 1967, SIMS

104

Table 3-2.--Geographical Distribution of People Initiated
Into Meditation in the United States--
September 30, 1971.

 

Region* Number
Western 29,548
South/Southwest 10,545
Midwest 12,714
East 22,334

Total 75,725

 

*The states comprising the four regions were not
delineated by SIMS. Source: "SIMS Growth Information
Package."
had initiated 3,629 people in the United States. By
September, 1971, that figure had grown to 75,725. And
during this spurt of growth the American public received
considerable exposure to the movement.

The TM movement, from October 1967 until June 1968,
was treated extensively by popular magazines such as 23mg,
tits, Newsweek, and others. In less than a year, eleven
reports appeared in eight different periodicals. With few
exceptions, they emphasized Maharishi's personality, his
sensationalism, and the quasi-religiousity of his movement.
Maharishi was news.

Several early reports emphasized the famous people
who were attracted to Maharishi.

What do Shirley MacLain, the Beatles, Mia Farrow,

and the Rolling Stones have in common? The answer . . .

is a starry-eyed devotion to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a
bearded Indian guru who preaches a method of

105

"transcendental meditation" that might be summed up as
how to succeed spiritually without really trying.

Maharishi seemed to enjoy the intensive public

exposure.

was

The Maharishi posed for long hours, obviously
delighting in the cameras with the innocent enthusiasm
of a child. He even considered himself something of a
director. . . . First he supervised the building of a
tier of bleachers. . . . Next the Maharishi drew a
diagram indicating where everybody was to sit. . . .
"Now, come on, cosmic smiles . . . and all into the
lens."2

The personality that emerged in this public exposure
that of an enthusiastic and happy man.

The little man in the white silk robe plucked
tenderly at the petal of the yellow rose he held in his
lap. "It is delightful," he said, smiling. "It is
tremendous," he went on, grinning broadly, "It is un-
believable," he concluded. Then his bearded head
rocked back, and he laughed. A hard, hearty cackle
that was an irresistible invitation to join him in a
huge joke--even if one was not at all sure what the
joke was. . . . Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a tirelessly
itinerant guru from the Himilayas, laughs often. With
his grayish-white beard, mustache and long, dark,
stringy hair, he sits crosslegged on his deer hide and
chirps pleasantly from time to time. . . . As gurus go,
the Maharishi . . . is riding very high these days, and
his creed of transcendental meditation not only tickles
him into expressions of delighted incredulity but it
also has captured the lively imaginations of some
surprising converts . . . Shirley MacLain . . . Mia
Farrow . . . and the Beatles . . . [whose] faith . . .
has already given the Maharishi a powerful boost among
young people around the world.3

 

1Time, October 20, 1967, p. 86.

2Lewis H. Lapham, "Guru from Rishikesh" (Part II)

Saturdgy Evenipg Post, May 18, 1968, p. 30.

3Loudon Wainwright, "Invitation to Instant Bliss,"

Life, November 10, 1967, p. 26.

106

But not all of Maharishi's followers approved of

the "super stars" who were entering the movement.

The Maharishi's doting fondness for the Beatles
disconcerted a number of the other meditators in
residence, some of whom felt themselves too much
reminded of headwaiters deferring to show-business
personalities in Hollywood. Others, who had followed
the Maharishi so faithfully for so many years, at first
resented the intrusion of usurpers . . . however, most
of them managed to stifle it. They argued that the
Beatles had attracted wide notice to their movement and
had promised, after all, to build a meditation academy
in London.4

In May, 1968, Maharishi planned visits to some

college campuses particularly on the West Coast, to raise
money for SIMS and to generate interest in TM. The May 13
issue of Newsweek headlined the event as "Yogi on the
Beach." They viewed Maharishi's use of the Beach Boys (and
an eleven piece band) as techniques to draw interest to his
lecture which would follow the musical fiesta. The Beach
Boys suggested this "magical mystery tour" to the Maharishi
and entitled one of their songs "Transcendental Meditation":

"Transcendental Meditation can

Emancipate a man

and get you feeling grand."5

Newsweek seemed to view the show with reservation:

 

Whether it's a musical advance is a question.

But the flower-power show is on the road.

"If anybody benefits from this tour," says guitarist
Al Jardine, "it'll be the florists."6

 

4Lapham, op, cit., p. 29.

5Newsweek, May 13, 1968, p. 112.

61bid.

 

107

In July, 1968, Maharishi spoke to approximately
fifty student affairs administrators who were participating
in a year-long NDEA Institute at Michigan State University.
When a TM team later visited the campus especially to work
with this group, many administrators were initiated into
TM. How many administrators continue to meditate and
support the movement is unknown.

Other early reports on TM featured testimonies by
meditators. Paul Horn, a jazz flutist, wrote of his
experience with Maharishi and TM.

Transcendental Meditation was first introduced to
me two years ago [in 1966] by some close friends in
Los Angeles, at a time in my life when things were con-
fused and chaotic. They told me it was a mechanical
process. No amount of belief would make it work any
better, and no disbelief would make it work any less.
With me, it worked so well that when I later met
Maharishi I asked--and received--his permission to
attend his Academy of Meditation . . . [to learn how]
to teach meditation to others. But a major purpose in
my going--as has been true with everyone else--was
simply to have the rewarding experience of being in his
presence. Maharishi . . . is a beautiful example of
all that he teaches.7

The "conversion" experience of Charles Lutes, a
leader in TM, was reported by Lewis Lapham in the Saturday
Evening Post.

. . . Lutes spoke with the fervor of a Baptist witness
declaring his belief. . . . He had fallen mysteriously
ill several years before . . . and none of the doctors
could discover what was wrong with him. . . . He had
the symptoms of a dying man; he lost weight, he could
hardly walk, he began to lose his sight, and yet . . .
the doctors confessed themselves defeated. He suffered
that way for two years, and then suddenly, when he'd

 

7Paul Horn, Look, February 6, 1968, p. 65.

108

resigned himself to his fate, a voice came to him. The
voice told him that if he wished to help humanity and
commend his life to the service of others, then he
would get well. Silently he agreed to the covenant,
and that same evening, at 6:30, he got up and walked.
The following month he began to attend the lectures of
Manly P. Hall, and there one night a strange man, a
mystic, approached him and said, "You will meet a
master." He never saw the man again, but shortly
thereafter a German scientist brought him a clipping
from a newspaper announcing the Maharishi's presence
at the Masquers Club. "The rest," Lutes said, "you
know."8

Lapham also talked with another follower, Leon

Auerback.

Among all the enthusiasts I met in New York none
surpassed Leon Auerback, who had . . . abandoned his
job as a theatrical agent . . . and dedicated his life
to the service of the Maharishi. The Maharishi on his
last passage through New York had asked Leon to organize
a world-peace movement, and Leon hadn't known how he
could refuse. . . . "If one person in every thousand
meditated," he said, "There would be peace for a
thousand generations." He had plans he couldn't tell
me about . . . but he hinted that he would confer with
those whom he called "the rich and powerful of the
earth," hopefully to persuade them to lend money and
influence to the distribution of Maharishi's message.

Lapham reported that Maharishi's movement in New
York was growing rapidly.

During the next several days I talked with other
followers of the Maharishi in New York, all of whom
testified to the sudden burgeoning of the movement.
Within the past three weeks they said, at least 600
people had applied for initiation. The president of
a New Jersey insurance company wanted to provide
meditation for all of his 150 employees; a women in the
Bronx wanted to buy this as an anniversary present for
her son and daughter-in-law. 0

 

8Lapham, op. cit. (Part I), May 4, 1968, p. 24.

91bid., p. 26. loIbid.

 

109

William Hedgepeth, Assistant Editor of Look,
provided valuable impressions of the initial growth of TM
on the college campuses.

The students had heard of Maharishi. Even if there
were some who hadn't seen him in person when he spoke
on campus last year, there wasn't one who didn't
realize that he was the same jet-age guru who had
guided the Beatles off the psychedelic drug scene . . .

The motives of the Berkeley crowd, therefore, were
typical: some came to hear about what had gotten the
Beatles so excited; some had a vague interest in all
things Eastern and alien; many were acid heads or pot
devotees in search of "mind expanding" ecstacy without
the ill effects of psychedelics. . . . But more than
anything else, the majority of the crowd knew individual
meditators who were noticeably Better People as a
result, and who must, therefore, be on to something
super-groovy.11

Hedgepeth quoted testimonials of students from
several locations—-Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Cincinnati,
New York-~and reported that seventy campuses had been
visited by TM teachers. But the value of Hedgepeth's
article lies more in his interpretation of the TM movement
as an outgrowth of the hippie and drug culture.

Every tuned in collegian knows that the evanescent
beauty of the hippie movement was drowned in a grand-
scale acid bath. Yet pangs of hippielike anguish and
attitude linger on. . . . The hippies were valuable as
the idealogical infantrymen who first popularized the
possibility of "expanding the conscious mind" though
their system ran risks of drug damage to the entire
body. But now, today, at this juncture in the history
of the world--and to the applause of student revolu-
tionaries, ex-hippies and "straight" kids as well--
here has come Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with a safe,
natural and inexpensive vehicle for the continued
exploration of inner space. Better yet, not only does
this meditation come from India but its chief advocate

 

llWilliam Hedgepeth, "The Non-Drug Turn-On Hits
Campus," Look, February 2, 1968, pp. 68-70.

110

wears robes, beads, and a lovely beard. In youthful
eyes, therefore, the whole meditation movement, like
hippiness, enjoys the luminous appeal of something
existing outside society's conventions.12

Hedgepeth writes from the stance of a sympathetic
adult who views Maharishi and meditation as a sequential to
the drug-induced "spirituality" of the hippie culture and
its imitations. And although Maharishi is offering the
disaffected young a new spirituality, the Guru's language

is not unlike that of the drug culture.

Even Maharishi's description of Transcendental
Meditation sometimes seems to reek of the prose of a
psychedelic voyage (" . . . a way to unfold the divine
glory which is present within oneself . . ." " . .
brightens the luster of life with the light of inner
potentiality"). And as for any specific moral code
connected with meditation, Maharishi's philosophy
seems, at first, like something overheard in the Haight-
Ashbury. ("Life should not be a struggle; men are born
to enjoy3. . ." "Do not suffer when you can enjoy

. . .")

Maharishi's "Enjoy what you are, and it will be good"
becomes-~in hippie "jive"--"Do your own thing." The young,
then, perceive Maharishi as the "Ultimate Flower Child" and
the "Supreme Dropout," a culture hero par excellance.14

Hedgepeth insisted, however, that Maharishi "is on
a different trip" than the hippies. The so-called
"spiritual bliss" via psychedelic drugs is "confused non—

sense, an emotional experience that shrinks the mind

despite the disclaimer to the contrary. But "Bliss

 

121618., p. 26. 1311618.

 

141618.

 

111

Consciousness . . . is reached transcendentally by being

beyond the Perception of the senses."15

Life magazine concurred:

The Maharishi's un-Hindu-like concern with the here
and now, his concentration on self-interest and a
philosophy of "Enjoy, enjoy" square beautifully with
his show business followers, and with the hedonist bent
of the swinging young who are making a fad of Indian
clothes, Indian music, and Indian culture in general.
On the other hand, he tells acidheads that LSD is
nowhere, informs young rebels that they owe obedience
to their parents and advises draft protesters to serve
because it's the law. This has been enough to turn off
many prospects and send them out in search of other
spiritual advisors.

One of the most useful treatments in the "early"
period of TM appeared in a long article in Ebony. It was

a stimulating interview with Maharishi and emphasizes an

explosive topic-~race.l7

Maharishi told the Ebony reporter that racial
problems exist because of narrowness of vision.

"Skin difference should not, and, as a matter of
fact, considering the truth of life, cannot be an
impediment to peace in life and harmony in life."
"But," he hastened to add, anticipating my protest,

"We see it does." "Narrowness of vision," he explained
in a lot more words than this, "is the root of the
racial problem. The ingredient of hostility is not
rooted in the skin but in the consciousness, so through
transcendental meditation we raise the level of con-
sciousness in both black and white people. Once
universal awareness begins to gain ground in one's

 

l51bia., p. 72.

16"Year Of the Guru," Life, February 9, 1968, p. 58.

17
May, 1968.

"Meditation Can Solve Race Problems," Ebony,

112

conscious level, all will be peace, harmony and
happiness."

Maharishi told the black reporter that meditation can change
a white, Negro-hating sheriff in Mississippi because

"Hostile tendencies are rooted in the stress and strain
of the individual. That is the basis of all hostilities.
A man is unhappy within himself and then he pounces on
others. As he becomes more and more frustrated he has

to be meaner because he can only react to the atmosphere.
So we neutralize the atmosphere by changing the generator
of disharmony and stress and strain into a generator of
harmony, happiness, and peace."19

Maharishi does not believe that interracial marriage
is a solution to the racial problem.

". . . Interracial marriage can at best put an end to
one race or it can put an end to both of the races,
bring out the third type of race. Ha, ha, ha. Kill
the two fighting men, and out of the two fighting men,
create another man who will be fighting. Ha, ha. . . .
[Fight] . . . cannot be justified by having one aspect,
nationality or community, or racial: These are just
pretexts. We just make a pretext." 0

In response to the reporter's argument that "pretexts are
killing us," Maharishi replied:

"Now that is why the society has to be informed. It

is not white against black. There will be lots of
people black against black. White against white.
Therefore, to raise the issue of imbalance in a society
on national levels is a mistake. The cure will be to
hit out at the root of the problem ."21

Likewise, wars are not created by the military but "the

civilians who remain frustrated, tense and worried . . .

 

lalbid., p. 84. lgIbid.

 

 

201bid., p. 83. 211618.

113

Through transcendental meditation we "can create a society

in the world where wars will be missing for a thousand

years."22

At one point, the Ebony interviewer and Maharishi
diverged on their understanding of the problem.

Maharishi: "Mingling means that in 10, 20, 50 years
putting an end to the whole race. I would
be all for maintaining purity of the race."

Ebony: "Purity? The American Negro is a mixture,
a forcible mixture that began with slavery
over 300 years ago."

Maharishi: "So we can forget about that aspect. No
question!"

Ebony: "But racial hatred remains. How do we
eradicate that?"

Maharishi: "No, no. If there is hatred, it is due to
the frustration of the man who hates . . .
and we can eliminate this through this
technique of transcendental meditation,
right away."23

Further, the slums can be improved by "improving
the level of consciousness, by raising the level of effi-
ciency." Maharishi invited Negroes to come to his academy
in India. "Negroes have not responded to my call, and I'd
like very much to hold a course for Negroes themselves

"24

. . . Maharishi would hold separate instruction for

the blacks:

"Let's have the black teachers and the white teachers
teach their own, because any attempt from my side to
mix them will waste so much of my energy . . . I
wouldn't like to waste my energies in reconciling their

 

221bid., p. 84. 23Ibid.

24Ibid., p. 87.

 

114

differences on the surface, because I know that after
two years, four years, the whole thing is going to
resolve itself because we are hitting at the root.
Ha, ha, ha. We are hitting at the root."25

Maharishi expressed an interest in teaming up with
Martin Luther King.

"I'm dying to meet him. . . . He could fly any day
here. In order to change the course of the earth from
suffering to happiness, it is a cooperative enter-
prize."2

But that cooperation never materialized. Dr. King was
murdered shortly thereafter.

The Ebony reporter seemed to regard Maharishi's
views on race as an oversimplification. But another writer
rejected Maharishi and his followers on a different basis.
William F. Buckley, Jr. wrote in the National Review.

"The wisdom of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is not
rendered in easily communicable tender. It is recorded
by one disciple that he aroused himself from a trance
sufficiently to divulge the sunburst, "Ours is an age
of science, not faith," a seizure of spiritual exertion
which apparently left him speechless with exhaustion, I
mean, wguldn't you be exhausted if you came up with
that?"2

Buckely implies that Maharishi's motive is monetary:

"I am not broke, but I think that if I were, I would
repair to India, haul up a guru's flag and--I guarantee
it—-I would be the most successful guru of modern times.
I would take the Beatles' weekly salary, and Mia
Farrow's, and the lot of them . . ."28

 

251bid., p. 85. 26Ibid., p. 88.

27William F. Buckley, Jr., "Beatles and the Guru,"
Dhational Review, March 12, 1968, p. 259.

28Ibid.

115

He argues that Western people do not understand Christian-
ity, and if they did they would not follow Maharishi.

"The truly extraordinary feature of our time isn't
the faithlessness of the Western people, it is their
utter, total ignorance of the Christian religion. . . .
The Beatles know more about carburetors than they
know about Christianity, which is why they, like so
many others, make such asses of themselves in pursuit
of Mr. Gaga Yogi . . ."29

Some Americans are quite guillible. As Sara

Davidson observed,

Anyone may call himself a swami, a guru, a reverend,
place an ad in the local underground paper and wait for
the phone to ring. An Indian student in New York did
so as a practical joke. "Guru recently arrived from
India now accepting students," read the ad in the East
Village Other. For three days, wearing a ratty si
bathrobe andia turban made of towels, he received
applicants in his apartment. He giggled and told
riddles while a friend snapped Polaroid pictures, but
to his shock, only one out of thirt who visited him
gave any indication of:§uspecting f¥aud.

In June 1968, Esguire published author Kurt
Vonnegut's view of TM and Maharishi. Vonnegut wrote from
his personal encounter with two people who were meditating
--his wife and daughter--but, like Buckley, he was not
sympathetic.

A unitarian minister heard that I had been to see
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, guru to The Beatles and Donovan
and Mia Farrow, and he asked me, "Is he a fake?" His
name is Charley. Unitarians don't believe anything.

I am a Unitarian.

"No," I said, "it made me happy just to see him.
His vibrations are lovely and profound. He teaches
that man was not born to suffer and will not suffer

 

291bid.

30Sara Davidson, "The Rush for Instant Salvation,"
firperg, July, 1971, p. 41.

116

if he practices Transcendental Meditation, which is
easy as pie."

"I can't tell whether you're kidding or not."

"I'd better not be kidding, Charley."

"Why do you say that so grimly?"

"Because my wife and eighteen-year-old daughter
are hooked. They've both been initiated. They medi-
tate several times a day. Nothing pisses them off
anymore. They glow like bass drums with lights
inside."

Vonnegut was not impressed with Maharishi's

teachings.

". . . I took a hard look at Maharishi. He hadn't
wafted me to India. He had sent me back to Schenectady,
New York where I used to be a public relations man--
years and years ago. That was where I had heard other
euphoric men talk of the human condition in terms of
switches and radios and the fairness of the market-
place. They, too, thought it was ridiculous for people
to be unhappy, when there were so many simple things
they could do to improve their lot. They, too, had
Bachelor of Science degrees. Maharishi had come all
the way from India to speak to the American people like
a General Electric Engineer."3

The exposure TM received in the "mass media"
periodicals from October 1967 until June 1968 exhibits
several themes. Maharishi was portrayed, in prose and
photographs, as a charismatic prophet who was attracting
famous people, the culture heroes in American life: movie
stars, musicians, and the like. His technique of TM was
billed as an "instant nirvana," an immediate verifiable
experience that offers an alternative religion for the
disaffected young. Described in messianic terms, Maharishi

was exhibited as a teacher who promises world peace by

 

31Kurt Vonnegut, "Yes, We Have No Nirvanas,"
Esguire, June, 1968, p. 78.

32Ibid., p. 80.

117

eliminating stress and tension. His utopian vision was
flashed in jet-age language, a language that attracted
thousands of people, particularly the college students in
whom he seemed to be particularly interested. Although the
reactions to Maharishi were mixed, it appeared as though he
had launched an exciting movement.

But TM quickly disappeared from the glare of the
mass periodicals. From June, 1968, until March, 1970 no
high circulation journal in the United States featured
Maharishi or his movement. The parody of him on the cover
of 529.13 September 1968, seemed to symbolize TM's eclipse
by the political campaigning and other concerns of the

times.33

Even Playboy sensed this "demise." The January
1969 issue gave Maharishi four lines in its year-end
round-up "That Was the Year That Was":

"Where have all your powers gone,

Maharishi Yogi?

The Beatles and the Beach Boys say

You're just a rich old fogy."3
The movement, it seemed, didn't fade away; it vanished.

But that appearance was deceptive. Although TM no

longer caught the attention of mass circulation magazines,
the movement was growing steadily and material about it

began to appear in more specialized media: scholarly

journals, alumni magazines, business reports, and letters

 

33Mad, September, 1968, cover.

34Playboy, January, 1969, p. 153.

118

of endorsement. Further, the treatment changed: it is
viewed no longer as a "pop fad" led by an oriental Pied
Piper, but is offered in educational curricula, is featured
in fighting drug abuse, and is studied for the physiologi-
cal accompaniments of its ritual; and its testimonials come
from businessmen, legislators, and the military, rather
than just from alienated youth in the so-called "counter-
culture."

In 1970 Margaret A. Blair described "Meditation in

the San Francisco Bay Area" in an issue of the Journal of

 

Tranppersonal Psychology. Blair reports that there are
many different forms of meditation (including TM) being
practiced in the Bay area. Stanford University has offered
a course in meditation and 250 students enrolled for credit
and 100 more audited the course. Blair states:

Throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, a number of
groups attended by people of all ages and from widely
divergent backgrounds are now meeting regularly for the
primary purpose of learning about and practicing medi-
tation in one form or another.

Blair discussed the historical background of the

Eastern concept of meditation, summarized some attempts at
defining meditation, and viewed meditation generally as a

therapeutic practice as well as a stimulus to newer levels

of consciousness. There are seventeen different centers

 

5Margaret A. Blair, "Meditation in the San
Friancisco Bay Area," Journal of Transpersonal Psychology,
Ikol.. 2(1) (1970), 61.

119

in the Bay area--including SIMS—-that offer instruction in

meditation.

As a result of her study Blair reached five con-

clusions.

a.

"The practice and study of meditation have taken a
firm hold in the Bay area and interest is now
widespread."

"Various meditation practices are now being
included in the curricula of institutions of
higher learning."

"There is evidence that meditation is being
practiced in new forms and combinations, a number
of which are stressing a Western approach."
"Meditation is widely used for various levels of
therapeutic benefit."

"Various practices of meditation have stimulated a
growing interest in Eastern psychological and

36

philosophical concepts new to many Westerners."

On December 7, 1970 Mr. Dale Warner, a State

Representative to the Michigan House of Representatives,

endorsed TM.

This letter is to personally endorse the program
promoted by the Students' International Meditation
Society which teaches a system of transcendental
meditation.

I have followed their program since October of 1968
when I began meditating in accordance with their

 

36Ibidol pp. 69-70.

120

teaching. Frankly, I am enthusiastic about their
program and its effects. I perceive it as aiding my
personal growth in wholly healthy and stabilizing ways.
As a practical person, I enjoy the benefits that I have
noticed which seem to have spilled over from meditation
into my daily life and the actions I undertake in
seeking to represent about 80,000 people in the central
Michigan area.

Transcendental meditation has also proven fruitful in
my growth as a Christian. I am a member of a conser-
vative, independent Baptist Church and my appreciation
for and understanding of Christian religious teachings
has broadened and deepened considerably and wholesomely
since beginning meditation.

As former chairman of the House Special Committee on
Narcotics, my respect for the practice of transcendental
meditation was tremendously increased when I began to
realize that it operated directly, measurable and
significantly in opposition to drug abuse. This over-
whelming problem can be met head on by the practice of
transcendental meditation which should be carefully
considered whenever drug abuse preventative and re-
habilitative measures are implemented.37

On June 29, 1971, the State of Michigan's Governor's
Office on Drug Abuse issued a written endorsement of TM:

The Governor's Office of Drug Abuse supports the
efforts of the Students' International Meditation
Society (Transcendental Meditation) as a positive and
fruitful alternative to drug use and abuse. . . . We
consider the Transcendental Meditation program a
necessary ingredient to every drug abuse education
effort seriously concerned with providing strong and
useful alternative life styles for its participants.

In August, 1971, Francis G. Driscoll, the Superin-
tendent of Schools in Eastchester, New York, wrote to many
junior and senior high school educators throughout the

United States and Canada. He reported that Eastchester

——

37Dale Warner, Letter (Mimeograph), December 7,

1970.

38Chris Merriam, Letter (Mimeograph), June 29, 1971.

121

students who practiced TM improved their grades; improved
their relationships with teachers, parents, and other
students; and they decreased drug usage. The response of
students and faculty at Eastchester "was so great" that TM
is now part of the curriculum and is also being taught in
their Adult Education Program.39

In January 1971, California Business reported the

testimonial by John Gage, a staff writer for the magazine
who had spent three months studying to be a teacher of TM.
The magazine reported on Gage's discovery for the benefit
of the business readers.

Studying a subject like Transcendental Meditation
may sound "far-out" to many of our readers, but as
another business editor recently pointed out, what is
far-out today is ordinary tomorrow and the time lag
between the two is almost non-existent in modern
iife.40

Gage believes that a silent revolution is taking

place on the campuses, a revolution that is very different
from the so—called revolutions being played up by the
press.

The revolution . . . is based on the expansion of
human potential and is bringing about major changes in

attitudes and desires of people who are practicing
Transcendental Meditation.

 

39Francis G. Driscoll, Letter (Mimeograph),
August 2, 1971. .

40California Business, January 4, 1971.

 

411618.

 

122

But the interest of California Business is practical and
this article reported that the "International Meditation
Society" consists of numerous businessmen, lawyers, and
other professional people who have been practicing TM and
their response has been overwhelmingly favorable." The
writer suggests that TM may be an excellent practice for
businessmen who wish to perform at their peak levels.42

In April, 1971, Herbert A. Otto reported on his
visits to thirty communes throughout the country. Otto
distinguished between sixteen different types of communes,
one of which he calls "The Spiritual/Mystical Commune."

There may be adherence to a religious system, such

as Buddhism, Sufism, or Zen, and a teacher or guru may
be involved. Studies of various texts and mystical
works, use of rituals, a number of forms of meditation
(such as transcendental or Zen meditation), and
spontaneous spiritual celebration play key roles in the
life of the commune. Several of these communes also
describe themselves as Christian and have a strong
spiritual, but not denominational, emphasis.

Standing in stark contrast to TM's appearance in
"anti-establishment" communes was its use and endorsement
by a general officer in the United States Army. Soldiers
magazine discussed Major General Franklin M. Davis'

excitement about TM and his efforts to encourage its

teaching to the military. Happy that TM lowered his blood

 

42Ibid.

 

43Herbert A. Otto, "Communes: The Alternative
Life-Style," Saturday Review, April 24, 1971, p. 18.

123

pressure 10 points, David hoped the armed services will

teach TM on a voluntary basis "at the post level," rather

than as a directive in Pentagon cadence.44

Ironically, in the same month as the Soldier's
article, the Yale Alumni Magazine reported on TM's growth--
over 1,000 meditators--among students, faculty, and alumni.
Six different testimonials were presented, all indicating
that TM has enhanced life in important ways: increased

happiness and more efficient use of intellectual and

artistic energies. And Yale offers TM for credit.45

Yet some of TM's appearance in the recent media has

been "tongue in cheek."

Transcendental Meditation was parodied in the
ABC-TV show "Love American Style." On January 21,
1972, one of the five segments of the show was "Love
and the Guru," a light comedy about twelve minutes
long. A married woman begins receiving spiritual
instruction from a guru who charges $200 for his
services. He insists that she change her diet and
refrain from sex. The husband (played by Frank Sutton,
the "Sergeant Carter" of "Gomer Pyle--USMC") is upset
at the new life-style: no sex, a honey and water diet,
yoga exercises, and meditation. Even though he bellows
out "that turban freak is lousing up our marriage," he
decides to join with her until the fad has run its
course. Unknown to his wife, he cheats on the diet,
but outwardly participates in the activity, running

around the house chanting "Yami, Yami, Yami." Stifling
a burp as a result of his default on the diet, he
remarks "Its ok, just a little 'thought bubble.'" The

Charade ends when the guru insists on a total of $300
for teaching both. After they berate the guru's

 

44"Consciousness 4," Soldiers, Vol. 27, No. 7
(February, 1972).

45A1 Rubottom, "Transcendental Meditation," Yale
Alumni Magazine (February, 1972).

 

124

financial hoax, the wife satiates her hunger by gulping
down a sandwich, while hubby observes gleefully,
knowing that other aspects of their relationship will
soon re-materialize.4

But TM, generally, has been taken seriously in its
recent public exposure. In May, 1972, TM was endorsed by
the Illinois House of Representatives. The House urged
" . . . all educational institutions . . . to study the
feasibility of courses in Transcendental Meditation . . .
on their campuses and in their facilities . . ." The
resolution also encouraged the State's drug abuse programs,
where feasible, "to incorporate the course in TM in the
drug abuse programs . . ."47

These reports and testimonials suggest that
followers of TM have developed not only among youth but
also with those "established" in American culture. Among
them are a few scientists who have begun to examine TM's
claims in a research setting.

In November, 1969, Herbert Benson--a physician and
researcher holding poSitions at Harvard Medical School and
the Thorndike Hospital in Boston--provided an advance look
at some of his research into hypertension.

Since monkeys have been trained to control their

exterior arterial blood pressure, I have been exploring
the possibility that human beings could also be

trained. I have been measuring blood-pressure changes
during "transcendental meditation," a yoga-like

 

46Based on notes by this writer.

47Maharishi International University, "Scientific
Research on Transcendental Meditation" (pamphlet), 1972.

125

practice being taught in several centers in the United
States. . . . [The] practitioners of transcendental
meditation claim to have stopped abusing drugs. The
volunteers have been 20 men 21 to 38 years of age.
Nineteen had previously abused drugs: marijuana,
barbituatés, lysergic acid diethylamide, amphetamines
and, in several, heroin. All reported that they no
longer took these drugs because the drug-induced
feelings became extremely distasteful as compared to
those experienced during the practice of transcendental
meditation. Perhaps transcendental meditation should
be explored prospectively by others who [are] primarily
interested in the alleviation of drug abuse. 8
Four months later, Science published a pioneering
study on the "Physiological Effects of Transcendental
Meditation." The research was done by Keith Wallace, a
meditator and teacher of TM. Using a sample of fifteen
college students who practice TM, Wallace identified some
of the physiological changes during meditation. He found
that the body is in a state of rest: oxygen consumption
and heart rate decreased, skin resistance increased, and the
brain activity reflected an increase in "alpha waves."49
By November, 1970, Benson and Wallace had combined
their efforts and studied the drug usage of meditators.
They reported their findings to 1,150 professionals who
attended the International Conference on Drug Abuse at
Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their research indicates that people

"who regularly practiced Transcendental Meditation (l)

 

48Herbert Benson, "Yoga for Drug Abuse," New
England Journal of Medicine (November, 1969). P. II33.

 

49R. K. Wallace, "Physiological Effects of Tran-
scendental Meditation," Science, 167 (March, 1970),
pp. 1751—54.

126

decreased or stopped abusing drugs, (2) decreased or
stopped engaging in drug-selling activity, and (3) changed

their attitudes in the direction of discouraging others

from abusing drugs."50

In an article in the Spientific American, Wallace
and Benson report that TM ritual is accompanied by distinct
physiological changes. They measured thirty-six subjects
before, during, and after meditation. They found that

. . . our subjects during the practice of transcendental
meditation manifested the physiological signs of what
we describe as a "wakeful, hypometabolic" state:
reduction in oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide, elimi-
nation and the rate and volume of respiration; a slight
increase in the acidity of the arterial blood; a marked
decrease in the blood lactate level; a slowing of the
heartbeat; a considerable increase in skin resistance,
and an electroencephalogram pattern of intensification
of slow alpha waves with occasional thetawave activity.
These physiological modifications, in people who were
practicing the easily learned technique of transcend-
ental meditation were very similar to those that have
been observed in highly trained experts in yoga and in
Zen monks who have had 15 to 20 years of experience in
meditation.51

Brief reports of other studies amplify the physio-
logical accompaniments of TM. Although TM seems to
decrease the amount of blood pumped by the heart, "the
blood volume in the forearm of a meditator may increase

during meditation as much as 300 per cent. . . . This

 

50Chris J. D. Zarafonetis, (ed.), Dru Abuse:
Proceedings of an International Conference IPHiIadeIphia:
Lea and FeBiger, 1972), p. 3747*

51

Physiology of Meditation,
(February, 1972), p. 89.

Robert Keith Wallace and Herbert Benson, "The
" Scientific American, 226

 

127

suggests that the muscles and, in turn, the blood vessels

are much more relaxed during TM and therefore offer less

"52

resistance to blood flow. That some meditators report

more energy after TM may be explained by the 30 per cent
decrease of lactic acid* during meditation. Also, changes
in the activity of the thyroid and pituitary glands may be

indicated by increases in "equivalent skin temperature" of

the forehead and throat.53

A psychologist at the University of Texas at El
Paso, David Orme-Johnson, found that meditators habituate
more rapidly than non-meditators to auditory stress. He
found, also, that the meditators he studied "all had well-
rested, resilient nervous systems." Orme-Johnson's
speculations about TM are enthusiastic:

The practice of TM, then, appears to increase the
proportion of rapid habituators, indicating that medi-
tation results in a rapid recovery of homeostatic
balance under auditory stress and suggesting that the
physiological and behavioral attributes correlated with
rapid habituation, cortical maturity and dominance and
emotional stability may also be advantages derived from
the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Thus, TM
appears to change the style of functioning of the
nervous system in a direction associated with higher
evolution and greater maturity.

 

52"Report on Some of the Current Scientific Studies
of Transcendental Meditation" (unpublished mimeograph),
Circa 1970, p. 1.

53Ibid., p. 2.

54David Orme-Johnson, "Autonomic Stability and
Transcendental Meditation," August, 1971 (Mimeograph), p. 7.

*Lactic acid accompanies fatigue and excessive
amounts of it produce anxiety.

.I I III.) Till. I

128

Brown, Stewart, and Blodgett found that there is no
difference between meditators and non-meditators on per-
formance of four perceptual tasks. They noted, however,
that the presence of "kapparhythm" in meditators suggest
that TM is accompanied by a "higher level of frontal
cortical activity" than occurs in sleep or wakefulness.55

At the University of Cincinnati, Nidich, Seeman
and Banta studied "The Influence of Transcendental Medi-
tation on a Measure of Self-Actualization." The dependent
variable of their study was Shostram's Personal Orientation

tpventoty (POI). Using a control group of twenty non-

 

meditators and an experimental group of fifteen people who
were about to begin instruction in TM, they administered
the POI to both groups twice: once just before the experi-
mental group began instruction in meditation, and two
months later.

Although both groups scored similarly at first, the
researchers found, two months later, that meditators
differed significantly from the non-meditators in several
ways. They were more "spontaneous," more "inner-directed,"
had higher "self-regard," and were more acceptive of their
own "natural aggressiveness." Meditators were also

stronger than non-meditators in their "affirmation of a

 

55Frederick M. Brown, William S. Stewart, and
John T. Blodgett, "EEG Kappa Rhythms During Transcendental
Meditation," Kentucky Academy of Science (Mimeograph),
November 13, 1971, p. 5.

129

primary value on self-actualizing people" and their
"capacity for intimate contact." The researchers conclude:
The practice of meditation for a two month period

would appear to have a salutary influence on [a per-
son's] psychological state as measured by the POI.
. . . Inner-directiveness appears augmented. It is as
though (to use Shostrom's imagery) the meditation
permitted [them] to rely more confidently on their
"psychic gyroscopes."56

In July and August, 1971, a new perspective about
TM begins. The TM movement hosted two symposia, one in
Massachusetts and one in California. Forty-two different
scholars and professionals, from sixteen different fields,
presented papers on their respective specialties. Maharishi
shared the platform with them, and compared each perspective
with that of TM. Over 2,000 conferees witnessed the
exchange. Unfortunately, SIMS has yet to publish the
symposium addresses. Although very brief excerpts were
published, not much basis is provided for close examination
of the speaker's views on TM.

The conference was not billed as "A Philosophy of
Transcendental Consciousness" or "TM--a New Religion." It
was called an "International Symposium on the Science of
Creative Intelligence." This scientific emphasis is a
change in the movement, a shift away from "Being" and its

oriental concomitants, and an appeal to the scientific

bias of Western culture. The "Science of Creative

 

S6Sanford Nidich, William Seeman, and Thomas Banta,
"The Influence of Transcendental Meditation on a Measure
of Self-Actualization" (Mimeograph), n.d., p. 4.

130

Intelligence" not only appeals to a wider market for TM's
"product" but seems symbolic of a body of research about
TM that was developing before the conference and which
continues to grow today.57

But "science," to Maharishi, means not only a set
of predictable outcomes in human life that can be tested by
research methodology. It means, also, that the spiritual
culture of the Vedic tradition can stimulate creative
activity in any field of study. The principles of SCI,
allegedly, are not only confirmed by science; they will
challenge practitioners in any field into new modes of
thinking.

The physiological and psychological accompaniments
of Transcendental Meditation are now being examined by
researchers in various fields. Their findings, so far,
indicate that TM promotes restful changes in the metabolism
of the body. There seems, also, to be something about TM,
or the people who practice it, that eventuates in decreased
"drug abuse." Some researchers, further, are speculating
on TM's implications for personality theory and there-
peutics. But the experimental studies on TM have used very
small or non-random samples in defining a TM population.
This methodological limitation restricts, at present, the

generality of TM's scientific validation. Nonetheless,

 

57International Symposium on the Science of
Creative Intelligenoe, 1971.

131

the TM movement has stimulated important scientific

activity that shows no sign of abating.

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