The Merriam-Webster provides these definitions of shenanigans: 1 : a devious trick used especially for an underhand purpose. 2a : tricky or questionable practices or conduct.
There are many more Transcendental Meditation shenanigans than the ones mentioned below. These are the shenanigans that quickly come to my mind.
- The TM movement used to say that it took 5-8 years to reach CC and that a person would know that they were in CC just as anyone knows they are in the waking state of consciousness. This statement enticed people to meditate regularly and seemed to back up the boast that TM was the best meditation technique.
- The TM movement said that the practice of rounding would make growth to CC faster although there is no proof that anyone has ever reached CC.
- TM teachers were encouraged to sacrifice their jobs and family to teach TM full time for the sake of the world. Consequently, many TM teachers remained financially poor, and many did not have normal family lives.
- The TM movement told TM-Sidhas to move to Fairfield, Iowa to do group program and then their future well-being would be taken care. There was no financial safe-guard.
- If TM meditators see other gurus, they often are ostracized from the TM movement. Fear of being ostracized kept some on the straight and narrow TM path.
- The TM organization has a non-religious message for the general public, but another message for the inner circle and for hard-core seekers. The TM movement gradually entices some TM meditators to go down the TM rabbit hole that borrows much from Hinduism, is cult-like, and is often hard to escape from.
- The cost of TM instruction has gone up and down over the years. Many people (both inside and outside of the TM movement) think that the cost is exorbitant now and that it should be lower.
- The TM organization has abruptly made changes in the structure of TM centers over the years that were insensitive to the needs of TM teachers.
- The TM movement gave special treatment to celebrities and large donors. The movement sometimes withdrew special treatment as soon as the money stopped flowing from donors.
- Fancy titles to stroke egos have been given to some people who worked full-time in the TM movement (e.g. Governor, Executive Governor, Governor General, Raja). The title of “His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi” fits into the modus operandi of using titles to create an impression of greatness and credibility.
My Enlightenment Delusion 