Yogananda

Maharishi

In 1920, an authentic Indian holy man, Paramahansa Yogananda, came to the US, to a California-based World's Fair. One would not think that any of the many cults and sects of Hinduism and Buddhism would have much appeal to the benighted, Bible-clutching denizens of the USA, but somewhat unexpectedly Yogananda found many people interested in his particular brand, which emphasized simple Yoga techniques and postures, and a simple form of meditation that supposedly promotes consciousness expansion and awareness of the soul, whatever that means. He founded the Self-Realization Fellowship, which exists to this day, in Los Angeles, although it has remained quite small in membership. I first noticed it in advertisements contained in non-slick magazines such as FATE and POPULAR MECHANICS, back in the early 1950s!

Next came the eventually far more famous Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He popularized his brand of a particular Hindu sect in world tours in 1958-65, eventually establishing headquarters in India and in the Midwest of the USA. Once again his version emphasized a very simple, short meditation, Transcendental Meditation, which was supposed to relieve fatigue, banish stress, improve performance of all tasks, enhance memory, etc., etc., etc. Some followers of the Maharishi in the US, with his permission, decided to strip TM of its explicit religious trappings and promote it as a proven technique for improving health in all respects. After the death of the Maharishi in 2008, the leadership of the movement passed to a prominent follower, Tony Nader. With the selling point of TM being that it was a "scientifically tested" technique, a lot of effort was devoted to conducting completely bogus "studies" which proved that TM could lower high blood pressure, reduce blood toxin levels, etc., etc. A kind of sort of "university," the Maharishi University, was created in Iowa to generate revenue and many more such unsubstantiated claims, now backed up by genuine "university affiliation" of the study authors!  But at the same time the TM leaders were trying to emphasize that the product was "scientific," the cult was also associated with increasingly wild claims, somewhat mimicking those of Scientology.  Anyone who advanced far enough in their TM training--- with new, expensive courses being offered all the time--- could come to develop genuine supernatural abilities.  This was the famous TM Sidhi program! Attempting to gain some political clout, at state or national level, the US TM movement even founded the Natural Law Party!  Also promoted was the infamous Maharishi Effect, namely that if a community had at least a certain fraction (unspecified, but sometimes claimed to be as low as 1%) of inhabitants who were paid-up practitioners of TM, the community would automatically become a utopia--- everyone would be kind, cooperative, calm and non-violent, crime would vanish, dogs would cease to poop on the sidewalk, and cats would learn manners.  TM also went into health quackery in a big way, with Ayurvedic Healing, consisting of worthless and sometimes dangerous "medical" treatments based completely on Vedic magic rituals, including recitation of magical spells, and even animal sacrifice!!