TM-Sidhi program

Template:Totallydisputed--Sueyen 18:19, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The TM-Sidhi™ program was introduced world-wide by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-1970s. He had earlier introduced Transcendental Meditation, and according to TM.org, the TM-Sidhi program "is a natural extension of the Transcendental Meditation® program and may be learned after two months of regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique."[1] The practice of the TM-Sidhi program is said to accelerate the benefits gained from practice of Transcendental Meditation.[2] Maharishi states that he derived the TM-Sidhi program from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, containing phrases or “sutras” (threads), the practice of which can supposedly lead to development of advanced human abilities, called Siddhis, including levitation and peace creation.

Research on the TM-Sidhi program

Research on the practice of the TM-Sidhi program relative to the practice of Transcendental Meditation alone shows increased EEG coherence in the brain during levitation or "Yogic Flying", one of the components of the TM-Sidhi program, as well as long-term increases in EEG coherence. The TM-Sidhi program has also been shown to enhance neurological efficiency and to increase endocrinological efficiency and balance. In addition, a study on EEG coherence associated with practice of the TM-Sidhi program is correlated with greater creativity as measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking.

Initial marketing of the TM-Sidhi program

Early promotional posters for the advanced technique offered meditators powers of levitation, invisibility, the ability to walk through walls, and the "strength of an elephant."[3] The TM movement eventually stopped talking publicly about these powers, except for the ability to hover and fly; the movement says that TM-Sidhi meditators (called Sidhas) have already achieved the first of the three stages of "Yogic Flying" – hopping. Further practice of the technique is said to lead to the second stage, which is hovering or levitation. When the meditators achieve the third stage, they will be flying though the sky without the aid of airplanes. Accounts within the movement of yogic flyers advancing beyond the hopping stage have varied over the years. For example, in 1978, when the host of The Merv Griffin (TV) Show asked Maharishi Mahesh Yogi how many of the 40,000 TM-Sidhi students he taught learned to levitate, he answered, "Thousands."

The Maharishi Effect

The TM movement says that practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs in a group produces a "Maharishi Effect," which benefits society in general, not just individual practitioners, by increasing "the influence of coherence and positivity in the social and natural environment."[4] According to Maharishi, if just the square root of one percent of the population regularly practices the TM-Sidhi program together, the entire population will experience greater coherence - including reduction in violence, crime, disease, deadly storms, and other destructive natural forces. They will enjoy more abundant crops and a decrease in poverty.

James Randi, a magician and critic of paranormal claims, investigated the claims of Dr. Robert Rabinoff, a former Maharishi International University physics professor who claimed that a large gathering of TM meditators had reduced crime and accidents and increased crop production in the vicinity of Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. Rabinoff made the claims during a talk at the University of Oregon in 1978. Randi spoke with the Fairfield Police Department, the Iowa Department of Agriculture, and Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles and was unable to substantiate the claims.

Study on the Maharishi Effect in Washington, D.C.

A study on the Maharishi Effect published in 1999 in the peer-reviewed journal Social Indicators Research suggested that there was a correlation between the gathering of a group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs in the District of Columbia, and a reduction in violent crime in that city. The experiment took place over a two-month period in the summer of 1993.

At a 1994 press conference to announce the analysis of that study, John Hagelin said that, during the period of the experiment, Washington, D.C. experienced a significant reduction in psychiatric emergency calls, fewer complaints against the police, and an increase in public approval of President Clinton -- all of which was consistent with the hypothesis that a coherence-creating group of TM experts can relieve social stress and reverse negative social trends. Overall, there was an 18-percent reduction in violent crime, he told the press. When a reporter asked, an 18-percent reduction compared to what, Hagelin answered, compared to the level of violent crime had the TM meditators not meditated. Hagelin said that criminologists have shown that violent crime fluctuates significantly relative to the temperature. Crime goes down when it's cold and up when it's hot. The standard methodology for assessing whether the crime rate changed or not is to compare it with what is expected for that particular season. Hagelin said that by using the standard methodology (time series analysis), they were able to show the level of violent crime in Washington had dropped well below the expected level based on previous data.

In his book Voodoo Science, physicist Robert L. Park called the TM study a "clinic in data manipulation." Study coauthor Maxwell Rainforth writes that Park gives "no supporting data or analysis for that assertion, and makes not another comment about it," either in his book or in the shorter version that appeared in Skeptical Inquirer. Further, Rainforth writes that "Park’s objection to our use of time series analysis is not based on any scientific argument . . . ." The researchers also question whether Park read the published study, since his criticism focuses on a preliminary Interim Report released at a press conference in 1994.

Park questions the validity of the study by saying that during the weeks of the experiment Washington D.C.'s weekly murder count hit the highest level ever recorded. According to the study, statistical analysis suggests that the murder rate, which typically goes up during hot weather, fell within the range of what would have been expected for that time of year.

In 1994 John Hagelin received an Ig Nobel Prize in peace to commemorate the study. This spoof of the Nobel Prize is given annually to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think."

Prediction of peace and prosperity

In July 2006, Hagelin said that the United States government would "enjoy greater success" if the country had just 1730 (the square root of one percent of the U.S. population) Sidhas flying regularly together as a group. With at least that many practicing Yogic Flyers in the United States, "Peace and prosperity will reign, and violence and conflict will subside as America rises to become a lighthouse of coherence and invincibility for the world,” he said.[5]

"Maharishi’s Supreme Military Science"

The TM organization is offering world leaders a method to make their armed forces "invincible" through the technology of "Maharishi's Supreme Military Science." One published TM study says: "Over 50 studies indicate that groups practicing this Invincible Defence technology alleviate problems in society that may derive from collective stress, which is viewed by Maharishi as the root cause of adversarial relationships leading to war.…It has been field-tested by the Mozambique military to prevent hostilities and avert the rise of enemies. This approach could greatly improve the military's peacemaking and peacekeeping abilities, while reducing risks to personnel and civilians."[6]

Yogic flying

One component of the TM-Sidhi program is referred to as "Yogic Flying". While sitting cross-legged or in a "lotus" position, yogic flyers hop about on springy mats. The TM organization says this is the first of three stages of levitation called "the perfection of leaping like a frog". The organization emphasizes that only the first stage of yogic flying has been shown:

The physical manifestations of the "Yogic Flying" vary with the practitioner. The Yoga Sutras of Maharishi Patanjali describes three stages of immediately visible results. Stage One is generally associated with what would best be described as "hopping like a frog." Stage Two is flying through the air for a short time. Stage Three is complete mastery of flying. The above photo and all "Yogic Flying" demonstrations to date depict Stage One results.[7]

While yogic flying appears to be simply cross-legged hopping, EEG studies comparing yogic flyers with a control group voluntarily hopping found that the neurological characteristics were different. ImmediateSueyen 18:57, 28 March 2007 (UTC)ly before hopping the yogic flyers showed significant shifts in EEG coherence and power, whereas the controls did not. The differences in EEG spatial distribution and mean amplitude between the two groups suggested that a different biological mechanism underlies the EEG activity in the two groups.

The movement has presented a number of public demonstrations of "Yogic Flying", such as the one in 1999 described by Robert L. Park, professor of physics at the University of Maryland and author of the weekly science Internet column, What's New. The Yogic Flying demonstration was presented at a press conference at the Washington, DC Press Club by physicist and Natural Law Party Presidential candidate John Hagelin. Hagelin had called the press conference to offer help in ending the war in Kosovo by sending 7000 Yogic Flyers to create positive coherence in the violence-torn country. Proponents of yogic flying claim that world peace and many other social and environmental benefits can be generated by having at least seven thousand yogic flyers around the world hopping at the same time. This is how Park described the demonstration:[8]

Mattresses were spread right there on the floor, and 12 fit-looking young guys seated themselves in the lotus position. The audience was cautioned to make no sound as they meditated. After a few minutes, one of them suddenly levitated. Well, he didn't exactly float, mind you, just sort of popped up a couple of inches and thumped back down. Then another levitated, and another, till the scene looked like corn popping. There was nothing to suggest they didn't follow parabolic trajectories. My guess is they were suddenly contracting their gluteus maximus. It must be hard work. They were soon panting heavily.

History of yogic flying

Yogic flying traditionally stems from the Vedic rishi Avatsara, "the flying-one". Later yogic texts also describe this siddhi ("perfection") in varying degrees of detail, most notably the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

A system of yogic flying also exists within the inner tantras (anuttara-tantras) of Tibetan Buddhism as a system to attain enlightenment. In this system the practitioners work at the dissolution of the vital airs, prana, into the centermost part of being, the avadhuti or "central channel". In the initial stages this is used in a system of yogic-running where the practitioner is able to proceed across the ground in large jumps. Some of kings of the Himalayan kingdoms kept speed-runners from this tradition to carry messages over long distances.

Once perfected, the adept of this school (rlung-gompa) can then work for the attainment of simultaneous bliss and emptiness (in Sanskrit, shunyata). Ultimately one attains mahamudra siddhi, total non-dual realization, and is able to radiate bodhichitta, the intent to gain enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings.

Facilities and practitioners

Facilities for yogic flying are located at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, at Maharish Vedic School in Antrim, New Hampshire, and at Maharishi European Sidhaland in Skelmersdale, U.K..

During the 1990s, various Natural Law Parties encouraged the use of yogic flying as part of their party platform. Current plans by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation Program and related programs, include building 3000 Peace Palaces in major cities, and creating permanent groups of 8,000 yogic flyers to create permanent world peace. His plan also calls for a group of 500 Vedic pandits, all flyers, to take up residence at Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.

Criticism of yogic flying

Though members of the TM organization have claimed that TM practitioners have achieved actual levitation [9], in a 1987 Washington Post article the Cult Awareness Network criticized yogic flying as "fake," and to date, no one has demonstrated levitation. Former TM adherents from Maharishi University of Management say the activity was "strictly physical exercise ... [with] nothing spiritual about it."[10]

In the 1998 ABC News special The Power of Belief, John Stossel documents a series of disputed phenomena beginning with yogic flying.

External links

• Bubbling Bliss of Yogic Flying. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
• Yogic flying competition photos
• Video of Yogic Flying

--Sueyen 21:34, 19 March 2007 (UTC)