^“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” – Matthew 6:7

“Transcendental meditation (or TM) is a trendy technique for supposedly attaining inner peace and spiritual renewal by sitting for 20 min. with eyes closed repeating a mantra silently. The practice of TM has its roots in the false religion of Hinduism. It was taught by Maharishi Mahesh (his devotees called him “his holiness”) based on his interpretation of Hindu Vedic traditions. He even claimed practitioners can attain the ability to levitate and to create world peace. TM is one of the most widely researched and practiced meditation techniques and is espoused by scores of celebrities from Katy Perry, Ivanka Trump, to Oprah. Despite claims TM is unique, it’s just a garden variety of Hindu meditation. It is a simplified yoga technique designed to alter one’s consciousness to achieve the realization of one’s supposed divinity. The mantras are an invocation of Hindu deities – it is a religious prayer. Via the practice of TM, it has been reported people have been afflicted with symptoms of demonization such as blackouts, hallucinations, and epileptic seizures. The Bible is clear we are to meditate on God’s word (Psalm 1:2). Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Peace is not found in emptying one’s mind. The Bible condemns TM as a form of idolatry.”

I have encountered several people who were involved with Transcendental Meditation (TM) and ended up demonized. TM is presented as something healthy but it is the opposite. Even secular studies will show that is the case (more about that later).

The Lord Jesus of the Bible warned that there will be false prophets and Mahrishi Mahesh Yogi (1908-2008), the founder of TM, was one of them. Maharishi was the guru who hosted the Beatles, Mia Farrow, and other celebrities on their excursion to India in the 1960s. Today, celebrities like David Lynch and Katie Perry promote TM.

Maharishi made the false statement (among others) “I don’t think Christ ever suffered or Christ could suffer” (Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, p. 123). This directly contradicts the Bible (read Isaiah 53). Jesus according to his teachings is merely an enlightened teacher, as opposed to being the only-begotten Son of God who suffered and died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). TM is not consistent with Christianity, its underlying religious philosophy is opposed to the Christian faith and denies the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for all humans.

Maharishi’s principal god is Shiva, not Jesus Christ. Commenting on Beacon Light of the Himalayas, one wrote, “When the Maharishi speaks, as he often does in this discourse, of bringing souls to his lord, he means bringing converts to Shiva just as literally as any tent-revival preacher brings souls to Jesus in the U.S.”

A Brief Background of Maharishi

The birth name of the one who brought TM to the West was Mahesh Prasad Varma, a former physics student at the University of Allahabad in India. Mahesh attended a lecture by the recognized guru, Brahmanada Saraswati (also known as the “Guru Dev” or “divine teacher”), and decided to change his major from physics to spirituality. Mahesh spent 12 years as a disciple of Guru Dev who encouraged him to take the teaching to the West.

After Guru Dev’s death in 1953, Mahesh retired to a cave in the mountains. When he emerged three years later, he changed his name to Maharishi (meaning “Great Sage” or “Seer”) to begin a ministry in India. In 1958, he established the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in Madras with the aim of bringing about the spiritual regeneration of all mankind. Maharishi became famous through the Beatles and started his enterprise in the U.S. with Fairfield, Iowa as his HQ.

The Supposed Purpose of TM

The purpose of Transcendental meditation is to supposedly usher in a New Age of world enlightenment and is a solution to all mankind’s problems, individually and collectively. It will supposedly forever end war, violence, and crime. TM is being promoted to the military, on Wall Street, in prisons, in universities, and as a program called “Quiet Time” in a number of schools across the country. It is now accepted by the American Heart Association.

The old serpent who told the lie that Eve could become like God (Gen. 3:5) is still telling the same lie through TM, which is to help us realize we are divine:

“This thesis will enable all men to … find their God within themselves” (TM, p. xv).

“The full potential of man is the unlimited potential of the universal Being … The potential of human life should mean the potential of the almighty divine on earth … a God-realized life, in divine consciousness … the practice of transcendental meditation … unfolds all the divine in man and brings human consciousness to the high pedestal of God consciousness” (TM, p. 80f).

“Transcendental deep meditation is the practice … through [which] man readily rises to the level of divine Being” (TM, p. 255)

The Puja

In TM, you must be initiated via the puja, a Hindu ceremony in which the participant verbally agrees in Sanskrit to honor and bow down to various gods and gurus in the lineage of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who started TM in India in 1955.

According to Vail Carruth, a former TM teacher:

We teachers were never to teach TM without the Puja (the Sanskrit initiation ceremony). Though it was not apparent to newcomers, this is actually a declaration of worship offered to various Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as TMs honored lineage of gurus. For instance, part of the Puja translates:

To the Lord Narayana, to lotus-born Brahma the Creator, to Vashishtha, to Shakti and his son Parashar, to Vyasa, to Shukadeva, to the great Gaudapada, to Govinda, ruler among the yogis, to his disciple, Shri Shankaracharya, to his disciples Padma Pada and Hasta Malaka and Trotakacharya and Vartika-Kara, to others, to the tradition of our Master, I bow down… offering an ablution to the lotus feet of Shri Guru Dev, I bow down. Several of the most revered gods in Hinduism are mentioned right at the start: Lord Narayana (another name for Vishnu), Brahma, and Govinda (another name for Krishna). Shri Guru Dev was Maharishi’s mentor. So, unknown to novices in the movement, during the initiation a consecration to Hindu deities and a psychic link to the Hindu tradition of departed masters (represented by Maharishi) is established. The Puja is not merely a polite ceremony to honor the tradition, which is the excuse for requiring it.

The Mantras Invoke Hindu Gods Which Are Demons

In TM, people are taught to meditate repeatedly on a mantra. What is a mantra?

“Mantra … an invocation used by Hindus in worship in the form either of a brief petition or of the repetition of a sacred word” (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary). Note that a mantra is an invocation – a prayer. It is used in Hinduism and is a form of “worship.” It involves the repetition of a sacred word [Click here for more information]. That is exactly what is done in TM.

As stated here before, satan likes to deceive people into receiving worship. Most people wouldn’t utter the mantras if they knew it was calling upon gods (really demons). Teachers of TM claim that there is nothing religious about it. But is that really the case?

According to former Hindu priest now Christian, Rabi R. Maharaj, “the mantra both invites the being to enter the one using it and also creates the passive state in the meditator to facilitate the fusion of beings.”

Another source reads:

“When you look at the modern TM movement you realize that the entire TM theological framework…..rests on the thinking or uttering of magic sounds that supposedly curry favor with Vedic gods.”

The Maharishi himself, in a quote from the Beacon Light of the Himalyas, admits that the mantras he dispenses invoke householder gods: “For our practice, we select only the suitable mantras of personal Gods. Such mantras fetch to us the grace of personal Gods and make us happier in every walk of life” (Maharishi [Bala Brahmachari] Mahesh Yogi [Maharaj], 1955, p. 65).

The prayers are conducted in the Sanskrit language preventing one from understanding what is being said and that one is submitting to deities.

Transcendental Meditation Potentially Opens A Person to Demonization

Well, if one is going to involve himself in a form of idolatry and invoke Hindu gods, which are really demons, then is it surprising it can result in demonization? I have expressed countless times here that New Age meditation can open oneself to demonization, the same applies to TM. Vail Carruth, who was practicing TM, wrote:

One night an evil spirit tried to take possession of me. This was not a dream or figment of my imagination; it was a real, powerful being with the intention of taking complete control of me. I could feel it putting pressure all over my body, and it was very frightening. Someone asked Maharishi, What do you do if you see a demon? to which he replied, Just ask it in. On another occasion he conceded that if a demon tries to force itself upon you, resist it and it will leave. So the teaching was not always consistent. Providentially, I chose to resist. The Hindu tradition does not recognize the very real conflict between good and evil, as the Christian faith teaches. Because of my early commitment to Christ, I knew I should resist evil. However, others on the course did not fare so well. One acquaintance of mine told me that she had personal knowledge of an entire wing of a psych ward that was filled with TM practitioners who had flipped out.

Carruth also relates:

Many meditators experienced astral travel, visitation of spirits, psychic awareness, and other manifestations. I began to be awake during my sleep state, aware of the beginnings of astral travel. However, I always had a concern. What would happen if I checked out of my body? Would someone or something else check in while I was gone? I have since concluded that allowing one’s mind to become passive (unattended) is like a country failing to properly guard its borders from foreign invaders. In TM there is something called the blackout phenomenon, where one goes blank and cant remember anything during that time. For me, this virtual black hole experience could last anywhere from a few seconds to an hour.

Source

Even secular studies show that TM can lead to symptoms of demonization (of course they don’t interpret the symptoms as such). Christian author John Weldon wrote:

THE DANGERS OF TM

TM promoters claim the practice is “perfectly safe,” but this is not the case: “Warnings have been issued about the dangers of TM by the German government, the Vatican, the Cult Awareness Network, the Task Force on Missionaries and Cults, the Interfaith Coalition of Concern about Cults and various professional organizations.”⁴¹ Anthony D. DeNaro, former professor of economics and business law at Maharishi’s International University (MIU, now MUM), recalled a private meeting with the Maharishi in a sworn court affidavit: “Maharishi had a very cavalier, almost elitist, view about very serious injuries and trauma to meditators.”⁴² (It should be pointed out that the potential dangers mentioned here regarding TM are also true for New Age/Eastern/occult meditation as well, which I have documented elsewhere.⁴³)

There is evidence, which is documented in my earlier book on TM and in the research of others, that TM may lead to serious maladies such as mental illness, suicide, seizures, and demon possession;⁴⁴ unfortunately, space permits discussion of only mental illness. Even Maharishi gently counsels, “In the absence of a proper interpretation of this expression of non-attachment, one might become bewildered, and this great blessing of life might become a liability.”⁴⁵

Harmful effects have occurred since the beginning of TM. John Parks, former manager of the Beach Boys, for example, was initiated into TM by Maharishi himself. He was therefore in a position to know the inside story. Parks personally reported the following to me concerning a 1969 teacher training course: “Maharishi had not put a time limit on meditating and quite a few people ended up in the mental hospital. Some are still there.”⁴⁶

In many cases the propensity for causing mental problems almost seems built into the TM procedure. A review of 75 articles in the International Journal of Psychotherapy noted the positive and negative effects found in studies of relatively small numbers of people. It reported that negative side effects were encountered by more than 62 percent of the meditators studied. The authors did not restrict their study to TM, but the side effects reported were similar to those found in the “German Study” (see below) of TM meditators: relaxation-induced anxiety and panic, paradoxical increases in tension, less motivation in life, boredom, pain, impaired reality testing, confusion and disorientation, feeling “spaced out,” depression, increased negativity, being more judgmental, feeling addicted to meditation, uncomfortable kinaesthetic sensations, mild dissociation, feelings of guilt, psychosis-like symptoms, grandiosity, elation, destructive behavior, suicidal feelings, defenselessness, fear, anger, apprehension, and despair.⁴⁷

In a study of 221 college students (65–70 percent TMers), Michael A. Persinger of Laurentian University reported: “Meditators displayed a significantly wider range of complex partial epileptic-like signs. Experiences of vibrations, hearing one’s name called, [and] paranormal phenomena,…were particularly frequent among meditators.”⁴⁸

According to TranceNet, an extensive analysis of a small sample of meditators done by Germany’s Institute for Youth and Society found that 76 percent of long-term meditators experience psychological problems. The report also notes that 26 percent experienced nervous breakdowns, 63 percent experienced serious physical complaints, and 70 percent recorded a worsening ability to concentrate.⁴⁹ Researchers, ironically, also found “a startling drop in honesty among long-term meditators.”⁵⁰ TranceNet supplies a table of about 10 independent studies that measured the negative side effects of long-term TM practice and which confirm the above conclusions and more.⁵¹ A TM-EX Newsletter also lists about 40 studies that further support this finding.⁵²

Source

Conclusion

Quite simply, with the worship of false gods and man, and subjecting oneself to the false religion of Hinduism – the practice of TM is idolatrous! Idolatry is condemned all throughout the Bible:

“…Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).

“⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens” (Psalms 96:5).

“¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Corinthians 10:14).

“⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips” (Psalms 16:4).

“²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25)

“⁹ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,¹⁰ Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

I would strongly exhort that anybody involved with meditation, yoga, the mystical side of martial arts or New Age Medicine (Iridology, Acupuncture, Muscle Testing, Tai Chi, etc.) recognize that because the roots of the practice (however distant) are in Hinduism, Buddhism and the occult, one should repent and turn to the Lord and God Jesus Christ for deliverance and/or salvation.

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More information on other demonic door openers.

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If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can receive Him into your heart and He can deliver you from darkness and sin and have your name written in His Book of Life.

If you are sincere you can say this simple prayer to the Father (it doesn’t have to be word for word):

“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins just as I forgive others. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I repent of my sins and turn to you. I ask this in the Lord and GOD Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”