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I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Transcendental Meditation technique's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.
Reference named "Williamson":
I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 18:09, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
I removed the extra reference in the first sentence to "Transcendental Meditation". The header states that the article is about TM technique and refers the reader to the TMM article. There is further reference to TMM in the lead and is linked, so the extra reference to TM is not needed. -- BwB ( talk) 09:05, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
The material in the "TM in schools and universities 1990s–present" section is increasingly related to, and sourced from, the David Lynch Foundation. It seems like this material is more relevant to that topic than to the general topic of the TM technique. I suggest we move the DLF-funded programs to the DLF article or, less ideally, merge the DLF article here. Any other suggestions? Will Beback talk 04:13, 4 October 2010 (UTC)
The article identifies Chalmers as an Ayurveda practitioner. Is there a source for this? According to this 2003 full-disclosure bio in BMJ, he hasn't practiced Ayurveda since 1991. He's been with the National Health Service since 1996.
Competing interests: Roger Chalmers is a full-time locum general practitioner and has derived more than 99% of his income from NHS clinical work over the past 7 years. He became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in 1975, and has lectured widely on research and medical applications of this and related techniques over the past 27 years. From 1982-1996 he was directly involved with institutions publicly advocating TM<holding a number of non-salaried academic positions (including co-editing of collected papers on TM research). From 1987-1991, he worked in full-time private medical practice utilizing the complementary system known as Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health, which includes TM, alongside modern medicine.
TimidGuy ( talk) 11:32, 14 October 2010 (UTC)
Click on "GP Register entry date":
"If a doctor is on the GP Register, the GP Register entry date shows the date they were entered on the GP Register. To work as a general practitioner (GP) in the NHS, other than as a trainee, a doctor must have their name on the GP Register and be fully registered with a licence to practise. For many doctors the date of entry will be 1 April 2006 as this is when the GP Register was established."
TimidGuy ( talk) 09:38, 16 October 2010 (UTC)
What is the source for him being an NHS physician and a "former" MVAH practitioner? Will Beback talk 22:30, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
This doesn't seem like an accurate summary of the source. [9] What does the source say about double blinding? Will Beback talk 13:29, 7 November 2010 (UTC)
I'm also concerned that this source may be referring to studies already discussed in the article. If so, it's be better to have a full discussion of each paper. Further, since there have been well over 300 studies, finding just two that meet standards is in itself remarkable. Rather than leaving them anonymous, we should be discussing these two acceptable papers in more detail, if we're not already. Will Beback talk 01:16, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Hold on here. I just realized this text was actually removed from the article. Why? Per the TM arbItration you do not remove reliably sourced content. Will since you removed it do you want to replace it? Or of course someone else can readd it. ( olive ( talk) 02:21, 9 November 2010 (UTC))
My apologies for not putting in the correct page numbers. Also, Will, I'm still learning the new ref style used on MVAH and I wasn't sure how to integrate the chapter title. I've now gone back to the old style and have put in all the information. Sorry about that. I think if anyone reads the chapter, the concerns expressed above will be met. This book is an evidence-based examination of alternative and complementary approaches to cardiology. This chapter discusses proper research design for non-pharmacological approaches to medicine. It looks at the NIH-funded randomized controlled trials in process and a few high-quality studies recently completed. It outlines the Cochrane and AHRQ reviews of CAM modalities in cardiology. We shouldn't remove the general statement regarding mind/body studies, since it clearly includes TM in the context of this chapter. Note that none of the statements in Ospina about quality specifically mention TM. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:08, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Have removed this text:
According to a chapter in a book on complementary and alternative medicine for cardiology, double blinding isn't usually possible in mind/body studies, but it is important to blind assessors and study coordinators. The chapter examined two studies that involved TM and found them to be carefully blinded where possible, in that the technicians and physicians involved in assessing the outcome didn't know whether the subjects were in the TM group or control group. The authors said the studies had many other essential design features, including contact time with instructors, structure of the intervention, level of expectation for positive results, and assessment of adherence. They said that the greater adherence level in the TM group in one study called into question the results of previous studies on TM that showed the TM group was superior to control groups because the results may have been due to greater adherence compared to the control group. They also said that although studies of dosage are uncommon in mind-body research, TM research should study the most effective doses. One of the studies they looked at examined not just TM but was multimodal, including diet, yoga, and an herbal formula. The authors said that decisions made about which aspects of intervention to control in this study made it impossible to discern the impacts of any single component of the intervention on the cardiovascular risk factors. Richard Nahin, Josh Berman, Catherine Stoney, and Shan Wong, "Approaches to Clinical Trials of Complementary and Alternative Medicine," in Integrative Cardiology: Complementary and Alternative Medicine for the Heart, eds., John Vogel and Mitchell Krucoff, McGraw Hill Medical, 2007, pp 63-86, "Double blinding is not usually possible in mind-body and procedure-based intervention trials, as well as trials of special diets." (p 73) "These studies [Schneider 2005, Fields 2002] had in place many of the design features and implementation strategies outlined in our discussion of CAM clinical trial design. For example, these researchers implemented careful blinding strategies where possible, particularly in regard to key outcome variables." (p. 81)
Alt med textbooks are not reliable sources when it comes to research methods. Please get approval at the reliable notice board first. The opinions are alt med books are also not WP:DUE. Opinions of other edits here are clear in this matter [10] Doc James ( talk · contribs · email) 19:24, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
James. You removed content while the topic of whether its reliably sourced is still under discussion. That's not particularly good protocol. Because you happen to agree with the uninvolved editors doesn't make it right or true. What it looks like is that you waited for comments that suited you then used that as a reason to remove content. I'm going to assume that's not what you mean to do, but unfortunately that's what it looks like. You might wait next time before removing content that some editors feel is reliably sourced.( olive ( talk) 21:17, 9 November 2010 (UTC))
Clarification This discussion was brought to the Reliable Notices noticeboard to bring in outside input on whether the source (above) is reliable... and not.... on whether this is a text book or a book. That isn't the concern raised here, and isn't the question raised at the RS Noticeboard.( olive ( talk) 01:03, 10 November 2010 (UTC))
I referred to it as a textbook because McGraw-Hill Medical is known as a leading publisher of textbooks. It's sold as a textbook in the University of Minnesota bookstore. [12] This review says that the book is useful to educators and clinicians. [13] But I'm fine if we don't refer to it as a medical textbook. The feedback we got at RSN is that sources should be peer reviewed. In particular, when I asked whether it was appropriate to use newspapers and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal as a source, Cirt said, "When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources." So if we delete the Integrative Cardiology material, we should also delete this other material that uses sources not peer reviewed. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:03, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
The material I specified at RSN was this:
According to The Jerusalem Post, The Canadian, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, some of the research has been "criticized for bias and a lack of scientific evidence",[102] for "methodological flaws, vague definitions, and loose statistical controls",[103] and for "failing to conduct double-blind experiments" and for "influencing test results with the prejudice of the tester".[104] According to Newsweek, early research was "not of high caliber", failing to adequately address self-selection and the placebo effect, but later research has been "much more rigorous".[105]
There's also this:
Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, was quoted in The Guardian newspaper as saying that "there is no good evidence that TM has positive effects on children. The data that exist are all deeply flawed."[94]
It seems important that we adhere to the guideline, especially since there was support on RSN for not using sources such as these that aren't peer reviewed. TimidGuy ( talk) 11:37, 28 November 2010 (UTC)
We got an outside opinion at RSN. Why are we ignoring it? An uninvolved editor said that these sources weren't compliant because they're not peer reviewed. I asked if the consensus was that they should be removed, and no one objected. And the consensus was that the medical book was compliant. TimidGuy ( talk) 11:25, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
We don't know that it's not peer reviewed. I have some medical textbooks that list the peer reviewers. My impression is that it's common for textbooks to be peer reviewed. Note that this section of the article that discusses quality cites many sources that aren't peer reviewed, including newspapers, a magazine, a debunking book from a popular press, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal. Should all these be deleted? TimidGuy (talk) 18:34, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources. -- Cirt (talk) 18:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
We don't know that it's not peer reviewed. I have some medical textbooks that list the peer reviewers. My impression is that it's common for textbooks to be peer reviewed. Note that this section of the article that discusses quality cites many sources that aren't peer reviewed, including newspapers, a magazine, a debunking book from a popular press, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal. Should all these be deleted? TimidGuy (talk) 18:34, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources. -- Cirt (talk) 18:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Readers might be interested in learning about who practises TM; has the article ever listed some prominent practitioners? -- JN 466 15:15, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
Per earlier discussions, we felt The Humanistic Psychologist was the stronger source, since it's put out by APA. I finally got a copy of the article and substituted it for Journal of Meditation and Meditation research. Fine if you feel the latter should also be included, but please restore the citation to The Humanistic Psychologist. Thanks. TimidGuy ( talk) 16:56, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
We could modify almost every assertion with this phrase.
And so on. I don't think the article would be improved by adding that phrase in every possible situation. If we have actual sources which contradict the first source then the neutral POV would be to provide both views. "A 2008 source says X, while a 2009 source says Y." Will Beback talk 12:31, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
I have seen sources that mention ill-effects from practicing TM. But I don't see a specific mention of TM and contraindications in the cited source. [16] Is the page correct? Will Beback talk 18:48, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
Just want to check that no one disapprove that we move here the Theoretical concepts, Characterization and Marketing sections from the TM article. I especially ask for the Marketing section because this section was not a part of the consensus in the recent TM article Rfc. Edith Sirius Lee ( talk) 16:39, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
Identifiers are most effective if they're specific. Identifying MMY as a "proponent" of TM may be an accurate statement, but it hardly gives the reader specific information. Its a bit like saying the Queen of England, the figure head of the Anglican Church is Anglican... sure... but we'd be more efficient in our writing to just say, she 's the head of the Church of England. If anyone is attached to saying proponent go ahead but I think its unnecessary.( olive ( talk) 17:14, 13 December 2010 (UTC))
The research part of the lead doesn't reflect what's in the article. As well, the research section is dense and hard to wade through. I'd like to suggest:
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help) Cavaglion, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work and the Department of Criminology at Ashkelon Academic College, Israel, says in a detailed analysis that both the government commission and the Israeli media took a “negative” and aggressively anti-cult stance in the late 80’s in deference to the strong views of orthodox religious factions with great political influence. The report of the government Commission on cults was, says Cavaglion, a mockery of objectivity and fairness: “It is no accident that scholars stated that the report of her Commission was ‘one-sided and negative’, far from being accurate and sophisticated in its analysis. . . . In the arguments put forth by the commission, the pros and cons of both sides were not presented. . . . The final report was based on secondary sources, unverified information, selective quotations from anti-cult material, and was devoid of significant confirmation from scholarly academic research. The content was far from forming an objective, statistical, or socio-demographic analysis. The three academic experts in the various social and psychological issues of cults, appointed as members of the commission, resigned before the publication of the final report. . . . More than validating the views of the Commission by an empirical overview, the purpose of the report was to discredit those of the cults.”
I'm concerned about this text. We devote as much or more space to attacking the report in general terms than to what it says about TM. There's a huge quote in the footnote that doesn't mention TM at all. Could user:Early morning person, who added this, be so kind as to quote what the source says about the TM technique? Will Beback talk 22:43, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
The text in the article is a line and a half. Although Flad has kindly drafted something, I don't see anything wrong with what EMP has edited, now that he's made changes. I'm fine with EMP's edit and see no reason to remove it or change it, to override another editor's editing. Its concise and summarizes pretty clearly what's in the source. Since the wording is pretty strong he quotes it which is appropriate. Why is there a problem with this text? The section itself is pretty strange, since it is completely pejorative. I'll look around for sources to add that give a more complete picture.( olive ( talk) 15:44, 19 December 2010 (UTC))
Here are excerpts from a very long Jerusalem Post article on TM in Israel:
And it is no coincidence that the Maharishi ... is eager for the world's salvation to come from Israel, though he has made identical proposals to other countries.
Israel has the highest proportion in the world of TM trainees; according to both the movement itself and those who monitor it, some 50,000 people have taken at least the first-level course since TM was introduced here in the Sixties. And, as the Maharishi explained in an ITV interview last November: "Israelis tell me Israel is the land of God... God the Father wants everyone to be happy."
There is, of course, another small consideration. According to Kutai, eight Jewish families in Mexico are willing to bankroll the project, to the tune of $170 million. [..]
In 1970, the TM organization started referring to itself as the World Government. According to TM doctrine, simultaneous meditation would lead to cosmic changes in the "unified field" of nature - bringing about worldwide political stability, lower crime rates and a rise in stock markets. [..]
In 1975, when the Maharishi announced the "Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment," he proclaimed a program that would bring invincibility to Israel and urged American Jews to attend a two-month sidhis course here. Three years later, he asked countries around the world to set aside lands for "stabilizing world peace." These events are chronicled in the 1987 report of the Interministerial Commission on New Religious Movements in Israel, headed by MK Miriam Glazer- Ta'asa.
In 1983, the World Government offered to sell its "invincible defense" to several countries, according to Prof. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, of Haifa University's psychology department and author of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects and Cults. [..]
A 1991 article in Yediot Aharonot touted an answer to the problem of absorbing the immigrants: The Maharishi had ordered his followers here to establish a 7,000-soul colony at Hararit, by absorbing 1,000 immigrants a year, the tabloid said. Hararit resident Yossi Shimoni told Yediot the package-deal solution - which would include a year of studying Hebrew and TM - would provide employment, housing and relaxation, and would also lower tensions in the region.
In the 1992 elections, TM's Law in Nature Party - which ran in national election campaigns in other countries as well - claimed that the answer to Israel's security problems was to establish a group of 7,000 experts in TM yogic flying. [..]
In 1994 the idea resurfaced as a jobs-and-housing plan for Israelis.
Ads in the biweekly Jerusalem Report, in the form of a letter from Dr. Benjamin Feldman, added that it was a nonpolitical and nonreligious "permanent solution to the problems in the Middle East" and called for donations to build housing units in the "Israeli Capital of One Government for One World." The minimum donation requested was $25,000, to build housing for one person. [..]
Two weeks later, Kutai phoned the Post to announce the phenomenal success of the ad campaign: $25 million had been raised. A phone call to Feldman, however, revealed that only $600,000 had been pledged. Perhaps, he said, Kutai's figure was based on what he thought Feldman's family would contribute. Today Kutai says that in the end none of the pledge money was used, and that all the $170 million needed for the project has been donated by eight Jewish families. The money is being held in the US by the Israeli Capital of One Government for One World Foundation.
According to Kutai, the money is to serve as loan guarantees for prospective residents of the village, who will be allowed to rent their houses for the first year but then will have to buy them. Feldman is the executive vice president of the foundation, and his father, Mishe, is the president. [..]
In response to a recent media blitz about the project, the mayor of Tiberias and the head of the Council of Settlements Surrounding the Kinneret have declared that as long as the group buys the land, goes to work and doesn't disturb its neighbors, they have no objections.
Not so the Forum Against Cults, an alliance of Concerned Parents Against Cults and Lev Le'ahim, an offshoot of Yad Le'ahim, a haredi group that since the Fifties has been fighting missionary and cult activity here. Earlier this month, the forum wrote to mayors and other local officials, as well as agencies involved in settlement, warning of the "grave danger in participating in the cult's rituals" and demanding that they not let the village be built.
The letter also claims the Maharishi himself - whose exact age is not known but who is at least 80 years old - is planning to come and live in the settlement, because of the Dutch authorities' objections to his "dangerous activity."
BOX ARTICLE
That very proliferation of new religious and secular groups, however, gave rise to a government-appointed commission that concluded TM can be dangerous in some cases. In 1982 - at the urging of concerned parents and a haredi anti-missionary group - the then education and culture minister, Zevulun Hammer, appointed the Interministerial Commission on New Religious Movements in Israel, headed by his deputy minister, Miriam Glazer- Ta'asa.
According to the commission's report, which appeared five years later, TM works through a combination of placebo effect and hypnotic suggestion, though the organization is never explicit about this. Most people who learn TM stop meditating after a while and discontinue their contact with the organization. But those who continue are likely to take part in an advanced course for sidhis, or yogic flying, which involves long periods of meditation.
The report cites Dr. Ruchama Marton, an Israeli psychiatrist, who says she treated a severely psychotic TM practitioner and that she knows of other such cases. Marton warns that though there is no proof of a causal connection, it appears that in some cases prolonged meditation may precipitate such a breakdown.
The report adds that there is no screening by mental health professionals of candidates for yogic flying, and that the use of self-hypnosis without supervision by such professionals on hand to deal with crises is extremely risky. [..]
n 1987, the Health Ministry petitioned the High Court of Justice to stop the TM organization from using an endorsement for TM written by a ministry official in 1980 and which the ministry later retracted. The court ruled against TM.
But some people are far more concerned with another matter discussed in the commission's report, namely that the organization is registered as a nonprofit society but is taking money out of the country.
-Peace of Mind; Esther Hecht. Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem: Jan 23, 1998. pg. 12
Based on this material, we might have a longer treatment of TM in Israel and the report, either here or in the TMM article. Will Beback talk 10:14, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
I certainly agree that we should attribute opinions, but this seems like an uncontested fact. I'm sure we could add three dozen sources which say the mantra is given after the puja ceremony. I'm not aware of any source which suggests a different sequence. Is there any particular reason for so much attribution in this section? If we attribute every assertion in every sentence this article will probably grow 50% longer without improving it 50%. Will Beback talk 12:59, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks. I'm not sure I understand your analogy to doctor-patient confidentiality - could you explain? I'm also not sure about what content was reverted. Will Beback talk 07:09, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I've added most of what I intended to add, but expect to work more tomorrow, adding sources and rationalizing the structure further. In the meantime if there's any feedback feel free to comment. Will Beback talk 08:49, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I've split out sections on the practice itself, and as last minute improvement, on TM teachers. The latter can grow as I've only added a few handy sources so far. I'm not sure why we never explained the practice before, but a short section is an overdue entry. Will Beback talk 12:43, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
It's a new section and there's much more to add.
What else do sources say about TM teachers? Will Beback talk 13:17, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
This section is an effort to describe the technique of TM, but does not give a complete picture and is misleading in parts. All the points are reliably sourced so there is no Wiki policy that prohibit their inclusion in the article, but this section does the reader a disservice in MHO. -- BwB ( talk) 12:59, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
In this section we have the sentence "Otherwise, all who seek to learn TM are taught it." [1] I feel that this sentence must be attributed as it may not be 100% true that everyone who comes to learn TM is taught the technique, even if they meet the no-drugs policy mentioned in the previous sentence. -- BwB ( talk) 13:03, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
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This material was deleted with the edit summary: trivial, uncited, and seems to attribute other person's opinion to a named individual in violation of WP:BLP [20] While I'm sure it can be improved, I don't see how deletion is the right answer. Will Beback talk 21:11, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
This will need refs
"Notable people trained to teach Transcendental Meditation include: Prudence Farrow, John Gray, Mitch Kapor, and Mike Love." Doc James ( talk · contribs · email) 08:18, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
Why was the info sourced to the NY Times deleted as noncompliant, but not the info sourced to The Guardian in the preceding sentence? We had consensus to not use popular media as sources, but then Will added The Guardian info to the article. Seems like we should either remove both, or per WP:NPOV, include both, right? My strong preference is not to use popular media as a source regarding scientific research. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:30, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I removed this reference. Steps of initiation It is not a RS. -- BweeB ( talk) 11:47, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
Per your surprising comment on TG's user page...which seems odd.
So.... do you think its neutral to cite a comment which states the research doesn't help kids with a comment that says it does, rather than leaving the pejorative statement about the research as the definitive statement. ( olive ( talk) 21:36, 9 July 2011 (UTC))
I've added the NPOV template, pending resolution of the discussion of the sentences in the lead related to research on health benefits and weight of opinion of Canter and Ernst. See the discussion on Talk: Transcendental Meditation research. TimidGuy ( talk) 09:37, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
From Russell, Chapter 8, "The Fourth State of Consciousness" opening paragraph:
Throughout the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique one is wide awake. Even when one transcends the finest level of mental activity and arrives at the state of restful alertness one still remains consciousness. In this state of quiet all mental activity has died away. Consciousness has ceased to vibrate and there is no longer anything to be conscious of. The normal thinking activity of the mind has been transcended and for this reason the state is know as transcendental consciousness.
Do we give sufficient weight to the issue of "transcendental consciousness" (TC)? It is listed as the main purpose of TM on the TM website. [26] However we just list in as one of several states in the "Views on consciousness" section. That may be underplaying its importance, as it's apparently more important than the other states, at least for the TM technique. See also the discussion at Talk:TM-Sidhi program#Transcendental Consciousness, the source of thought. Comments? Will Beback talk 07:13, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
I see there are discussions of TC in Goldberg's American Vedanta, Williamson's Transcendent in America, Shear's Experience of Meditation, and Forsthoefel & Hume's Gurus in America. We don't cite any of them in the current material. Are there any other major sources for this material? If not, I'll start drafting text based on those. Will Beback talk 04:38, 26 September 2011 (UTC)
My concern is accuracy. We probably don't even have to actually use a primary source like MMY's Science of Being or could use it along with a secondary source. Russel seems to have a fair amount of content on this topic. I haven't looked at it closely but there's Campbell's Seven States of Consciousness. I'm going to be very busy in RL the next while so I'm not sure what I can do at this time, which is one reason I suggest one person write and the other could add anything from sources they have which the other may not have. You mentioned policies and guidelines, What are your concerns?( olive ( talk) 00:52, 28 September 2011 (UTC))
Keep in mind this is the definitive word on TC, and is more akin to reading/sourcing Kant as a basis for an article on Kant's philosophy and metaphysics. I'll leave you to write since you've volunteered to do so.( olive ( talk) 19:08, 2 October 2011 (UTC))
I have gone through this article today and made a series of small edits with the intention of improving the flow and readability of the text. Very little changes to the text have been made - mostly combining sentences, moving text, creating new subsections, etc. I believe further work is needed to continue the improvement process and welcome input and participation from other editors. -- BwB ( talk) 17:24, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
I propose that we remove the opening sentences form the Marketing section: "The late 1950s and the 1960s saw increasing interest in consciousness raising and mind expansion. Alan Watts popularized Zen Buddhism while Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Timothy Leary spread the gospel of LSD." They are not directly about the TM technique. -- BwB ( talk) 19:46, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
This:"TM's appeal has been described as lying more in its ability to truly relax without the aid of chemical assistance than its scientific research." [1] is not an accurate summary of the source. I'd like to reword this somewhat for the lead. Also we might want to use the source in other parts of this or other TM articles since its quite comprehensive and carries a lot of information. I haven't checked yet to see if we've already used it elsewhere. ( olive ( talk) 14:42, 31 March 2012 (UTC))
References
I'd like to remove the sentence below in bold from the lead. It is redundant info, in my opinion. Any objections?
OK, maybe not redundant but it is repetitive as it gives similar info as the next two sentences. Also the lead is a summary and we don't need names and numbers for every decade. If you don't like the idea of removal then how about a rewrite since all three sentences are cited by the same source (Craze):
The only problem with this new text (above) is that Deepak learned TM in the 80's I think. Can we substitute his name with someone else who did learn in the 60-70's like Shirley McClain, Donovan, Mike Love, or Clint Eastwood? (Clint Eastwood is ranked #20 on Forbes list of top stars.) [27]
So it seems that Mike Love and Donovan are associated with TM as much or more than Chopra and they learned in the 60-70's.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 14:21, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
How about something like:
From the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, the Transcendental Meditation technique received significant public attention in the USA, especially among the student population. During this period, a million people learned the technique. Worldwide, to date, as many as six to ten million people are reported to be practitioners that include many well known figures such as The Beatles, David Lynch, Deepak Chopra, and Mia Farrow.
I'm not attached to which well known figures are added but a range might be good ... men, women, and across a range of time....( olive ( talk) 22:13, 21 April 2012 (UTC))
References
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In July 2010 Jmh649/Doc James added this sentence to the Characterizations/Religion section if the Transcendental Meditation article (which was later moved to this article by Will Beback when the TM article was split):
The above sentence was extrapolated from page 7 in a section called Defining Religion. The paragraph within that section reads as follows:
So I ask the following questions:
The sentence and its implied wrongful attribution to Professor Douglas Cowan was previously removed by visiting editor User:Steve Dufour and then restored after a superficial discussion in which Doc James says: "Yes I though this text put the topic into perspective" -- — Keithbob • Talk • 15:00, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
Today I removed two sources as follows:
Does anyone disagree with the removal of either of these sources? -- — Keithbob • Talk • 19:17, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
References
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Archive 3 |
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Transcendental Meditation technique's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.
Reference named "Williamson":
I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 18:09, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
I removed the extra reference in the first sentence to "Transcendental Meditation". The header states that the article is about TM technique and refers the reader to the TMM article. There is further reference to TMM in the lead and is linked, so the extra reference to TM is not needed. -- BwB ( talk) 09:05, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
The material in the "TM in schools and universities 1990s–present" section is increasingly related to, and sourced from, the David Lynch Foundation. It seems like this material is more relevant to that topic than to the general topic of the TM technique. I suggest we move the DLF-funded programs to the DLF article or, less ideally, merge the DLF article here. Any other suggestions? Will Beback talk 04:13, 4 October 2010 (UTC)
The article identifies Chalmers as an Ayurveda practitioner. Is there a source for this? According to this 2003 full-disclosure bio in BMJ, he hasn't practiced Ayurveda since 1991. He's been with the National Health Service since 1996.
Competing interests: Roger Chalmers is a full-time locum general practitioner and has derived more than 99% of his income from NHS clinical work over the past 7 years. He became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in 1975, and has lectured widely on research and medical applications of this and related techniques over the past 27 years. From 1982-1996 he was directly involved with institutions publicly advocating TM<holding a number of non-salaried academic positions (including co-editing of collected papers on TM research). From 1987-1991, he worked in full-time private medical practice utilizing the complementary system known as Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health, which includes TM, alongside modern medicine.
TimidGuy ( talk) 11:32, 14 October 2010 (UTC)
Click on "GP Register entry date":
"If a doctor is on the GP Register, the GP Register entry date shows the date they were entered on the GP Register. To work as a general practitioner (GP) in the NHS, other than as a trainee, a doctor must have their name on the GP Register and be fully registered with a licence to practise. For many doctors the date of entry will be 1 April 2006 as this is when the GP Register was established."
TimidGuy ( talk) 09:38, 16 October 2010 (UTC)
What is the source for him being an NHS physician and a "former" MVAH practitioner? Will Beback talk 22:30, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
This doesn't seem like an accurate summary of the source. [9] What does the source say about double blinding? Will Beback talk 13:29, 7 November 2010 (UTC)
I'm also concerned that this source may be referring to studies already discussed in the article. If so, it's be better to have a full discussion of each paper. Further, since there have been well over 300 studies, finding just two that meet standards is in itself remarkable. Rather than leaving them anonymous, we should be discussing these two acceptable papers in more detail, if we're not already. Will Beback talk 01:16, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Hold on here. I just realized this text was actually removed from the article. Why? Per the TM arbItration you do not remove reliably sourced content. Will since you removed it do you want to replace it? Or of course someone else can readd it. ( olive ( talk) 02:21, 9 November 2010 (UTC))
My apologies for not putting in the correct page numbers. Also, Will, I'm still learning the new ref style used on MVAH and I wasn't sure how to integrate the chapter title. I've now gone back to the old style and have put in all the information. Sorry about that. I think if anyone reads the chapter, the concerns expressed above will be met. This book is an evidence-based examination of alternative and complementary approaches to cardiology. This chapter discusses proper research design for non-pharmacological approaches to medicine. It looks at the NIH-funded randomized controlled trials in process and a few high-quality studies recently completed. It outlines the Cochrane and AHRQ reviews of CAM modalities in cardiology. We shouldn't remove the general statement regarding mind/body studies, since it clearly includes TM in the context of this chapter. Note that none of the statements in Ospina about quality specifically mention TM. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:08, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Have removed this text:
According to a chapter in a book on complementary and alternative medicine for cardiology, double blinding isn't usually possible in mind/body studies, but it is important to blind assessors and study coordinators. The chapter examined two studies that involved TM and found them to be carefully blinded where possible, in that the technicians and physicians involved in assessing the outcome didn't know whether the subjects were in the TM group or control group. The authors said the studies had many other essential design features, including contact time with instructors, structure of the intervention, level of expectation for positive results, and assessment of adherence. They said that the greater adherence level in the TM group in one study called into question the results of previous studies on TM that showed the TM group was superior to control groups because the results may have been due to greater adherence compared to the control group. They also said that although studies of dosage are uncommon in mind-body research, TM research should study the most effective doses. One of the studies they looked at examined not just TM but was multimodal, including diet, yoga, and an herbal formula. The authors said that decisions made about which aspects of intervention to control in this study made it impossible to discern the impacts of any single component of the intervention on the cardiovascular risk factors. Richard Nahin, Josh Berman, Catherine Stoney, and Shan Wong, "Approaches to Clinical Trials of Complementary and Alternative Medicine," in Integrative Cardiology: Complementary and Alternative Medicine for the Heart, eds., John Vogel and Mitchell Krucoff, McGraw Hill Medical, 2007, pp 63-86, "Double blinding is not usually possible in mind-body and procedure-based intervention trials, as well as trials of special diets." (p 73) "These studies [Schneider 2005, Fields 2002] had in place many of the design features and implementation strategies outlined in our discussion of CAM clinical trial design. For example, these researchers implemented careful blinding strategies where possible, particularly in regard to key outcome variables." (p. 81)
Alt med textbooks are not reliable sources when it comes to research methods. Please get approval at the reliable notice board first. The opinions are alt med books are also not WP:DUE. Opinions of other edits here are clear in this matter [10] Doc James ( talk · contribs · email) 19:24, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
James. You removed content while the topic of whether its reliably sourced is still under discussion. That's not particularly good protocol. Because you happen to agree with the uninvolved editors doesn't make it right or true. What it looks like is that you waited for comments that suited you then used that as a reason to remove content. I'm going to assume that's not what you mean to do, but unfortunately that's what it looks like. You might wait next time before removing content that some editors feel is reliably sourced.( olive ( talk) 21:17, 9 November 2010 (UTC))
Clarification This discussion was brought to the Reliable Notices noticeboard to bring in outside input on whether the source (above) is reliable... and not.... on whether this is a text book or a book. That isn't the concern raised here, and isn't the question raised at the RS Noticeboard.( olive ( talk) 01:03, 10 November 2010 (UTC))
I referred to it as a textbook because McGraw-Hill Medical is known as a leading publisher of textbooks. It's sold as a textbook in the University of Minnesota bookstore. [12] This review says that the book is useful to educators and clinicians. [13] But I'm fine if we don't refer to it as a medical textbook. The feedback we got at RSN is that sources should be peer reviewed. In particular, when I asked whether it was appropriate to use newspapers and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal as a source, Cirt said, "When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources." So if we delete the Integrative Cardiology material, we should also delete this other material that uses sources not peer reviewed. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:03, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
The material I specified at RSN was this:
According to The Jerusalem Post, The Canadian, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, some of the research has been "criticized for bias and a lack of scientific evidence",[102] for "methodological flaws, vague definitions, and loose statistical controls",[103] and for "failing to conduct double-blind experiments" and for "influencing test results with the prejudice of the tester".[104] According to Newsweek, early research was "not of high caliber", failing to adequately address self-selection and the placebo effect, but later research has been "much more rigorous".[105]
There's also this:
Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, was quoted in The Guardian newspaper as saying that "there is no good evidence that TM has positive effects on children. The data that exist are all deeply flawed."[94]
It seems important that we adhere to the guideline, especially since there was support on RSN for not using sources such as these that aren't peer reviewed. TimidGuy ( talk) 11:37, 28 November 2010 (UTC)
We got an outside opinion at RSN. Why are we ignoring it? An uninvolved editor said that these sources weren't compliant because they're not peer reviewed. I asked if the consensus was that they should be removed, and no one objected. And the consensus was that the medical book was compliant. TimidGuy ( talk) 11:25, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
We don't know that it's not peer reviewed. I have some medical textbooks that list the peer reviewers. My impression is that it's common for textbooks to be peer reviewed. Note that this section of the article that discusses quality cites many sources that aren't peer reviewed, including newspapers, a magazine, a debunking book from a popular press, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal. Should all these be deleted? TimidGuy (talk) 18:34, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources. -- Cirt (talk) 18:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
We don't know that it's not peer reviewed. I have some medical textbooks that list the peer reviewers. My impression is that it's common for textbooks to be peer reviewed. Note that this section of the article that discusses quality cites many sources that aren't peer reviewed, including newspapers, a magazine, a debunking book from a popular press, and the Encyclopedia of Occultism and the Paranormal. Should all these be deleted? TimidGuy (talk) 18:34, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
When dealing with a science subject, and a medicine subject within science, yes, they should be peer reviewed sources. -- Cirt (talk) 18:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
Readers might be interested in learning about who practises TM; has the article ever listed some prominent practitioners? -- JN 466 15:15, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
Per earlier discussions, we felt The Humanistic Psychologist was the stronger source, since it's put out by APA. I finally got a copy of the article and substituted it for Journal of Meditation and Meditation research. Fine if you feel the latter should also be included, but please restore the citation to The Humanistic Psychologist. Thanks. TimidGuy ( talk) 16:56, 15 November 2010 (UTC)
We could modify almost every assertion with this phrase.
And so on. I don't think the article would be improved by adding that phrase in every possible situation. If we have actual sources which contradict the first source then the neutral POV would be to provide both views. "A 2008 source says X, while a 2009 source says Y." Will Beback talk 12:31, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
I have seen sources that mention ill-effects from practicing TM. But I don't see a specific mention of TM and contraindications in the cited source. [16] Is the page correct? Will Beback talk 18:48, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
Just want to check that no one disapprove that we move here the Theoretical concepts, Characterization and Marketing sections from the TM article. I especially ask for the Marketing section because this section was not a part of the consensus in the recent TM article Rfc. Edith Sirius Lee ( talk) 16:39, 7 December 2010 (UTC)
Identifiers are most effective if they're specific. Identifying MMY as a "proponent" of TM may be an accurate statement, but it hardly gives the reader specific information. Its a bit like saying the Queen of England, the figure head of the Anglican Church is Anglican... sure... but we'd be more efficient in our writing to just say, she 's the head of the Church of England. If anyone is attached to saying proponent go ahead but I think its unnecessary.( olive ( talk) 17:14, 13 December 2010 (UTC))
The research part of the lead doesn't reflect what's in the article. As well, the research section is dense and hard to wade through. I'd like to suggest:
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help) Cavaglion, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work and the Department of Criminology at Ashkelon Academic College, Israel, says in a detailed analysis that both the government commission and the Israeli media took a “negative” and aggressively anti-cult stance in the late 80’s in deference to the strong views of orthodox religious factions with great political influence. The report of the government Commission on cults was, says Cavaglion, a mockery of objectivity and fairness: “It is no accident that scholars stated that the report of her Commission was ‘one-sided and negative’, far from being accurate and sophisticated in its analysis. . . . In the arguments put forth by the commission, the pros and cons of both sides were not presented. . . . The final report was based on secondary sources, unverified information, selective quotations from anti-cult material, and was devoid of significant confirmation from scholarly academic research. The content was far from forming an objective, statistical, or socio-demographic analysis. The three academic experts in the various social and psychological issues of cults, appointed as members of the commission, resigned before the publication of the final report. . . . More than validating the views of the Commission by an empirical overview, the purpose of the report was to discredit those of the cults.”
I'm concerned about this text. We devote as much or more space to attacking the report in general terms than to what it says about TM. There's a huge quote in the footnote that doesn't mention TM at all. Could user:Early morning person, who added this, be so kind as to quote what the source says about the TM technique? Will Beback talk 22:43, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
The text in the article is a line and a half. Although Flad has kindly drafted something, I don't see anything wrong with what EMP has edited, now that he's made changes. I'm fine with EMP's edit and see no reason to remove it or change it, to override another editor's editing. Its concise and summarizes pretty clearly what's in the source. Since the wording is pretty strong he quotes it which is appropriate. Why is there a problem with this text? The section itself is pretty strange, since it is completely pejorative. I'll look around for sources to add that give a more complete picture.( olive ( talk) 15:44, 19 December 2010 (UTC))
Here are excerpts from a very long Jerusalem Post article on TM in Israel:
And it is no coincidence that the Maharishi ... is eager for the world's salvation to come from Israel, though he has made identical proposals to other countries.
Israel has the highest proportion in the world of TM trainees; according to both the movement itself and those who monitor it, some 50,000 people have taken at least the first-level course since TM was introduced here in the Sixties. And, as the Maharishi explained in an ITV interview last November: "Israelis tell me Israel is the land of God... God the Father wants everyone to be happy."
There is, of course, another small consideration. According to Kutai, eight Jewish families in Mexico are willing to bankroll the project, to the tune of $170 million. [..]
In 1970, the TM organization started referring to itself as the World Government. According to TM doctrine, simultaneous meditation would lead to cosmic changes in the "unified field" of nature - bringing about worldwide political stability, lower crime rates and a rise in stock markets. [..]
In 1975, when the Maharishi announced the "Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment," he proclaimed a program that would bring invincibility to Israel and urged American Jews to attend a two-month sidhis course here. Three years later, he asked countries around the world to set aside lands for "stabilizing world peace." These events are chronicled in the 1987 report of the Interministerial Commission on New Religious Movements in Israel, headed by MK Miriam Glazer- Ta'asa.
In 1983, the World Government offered to sell its "invincible defense" to several countries, according to Prof. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, of Haifa University's psychology department and author of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects and Cults. [..]
A 1991 article in Yediot Aharonot touted an answer to the problem of absorbing the immigrants: The Maharishi had ordered his followers here to establish a 7,000-soul colony at Hararit, by absorbing 1,000 immigrants a year, the tabloid said. Hararit resident Yossi Shimoni told Yediot the package-deal solution - which would include a year of studying Hebrew and TM - would provide employment, housing and relaxation, and would also lower tensions in the region.
In the 1992 elections, TM's Law in Nature Party - which ran in national election campaigns in other countries as well - claimed that the answer to Israel's security problems was to establish a group of 7,000 experts in TM yogic flying. [..]
In 1994 the idea resurfaced as a jobs-and-housing plan for Israelis.
Ads in the biweekly Jerusalem Report, in the form of a letter from Dr. Benjamin Feldman, added that it was a nonpolitical and nonreligious "permanent solution to the problems in the Middle East" and called for donations to build housing units in the "Israeli Capital of One Government for One World." The minimum donation requested was $25,000, to build housing for one person. [..]
Two weeks later, Kutai phoned the Post to announce the phenomenal success of the ad campaign: $25 million had been raised. A phone call to Feldman, however, revealed that only $600,000 had been pledged. Perhaps, he said, Kutai's figure was based on what he thought Feldman's family would contribute. Today Kutai says that in the end none of the pledge money was used, and that all the $170 million needed for the project has been donated by eight Jewish families. The money is being held in the US by the Israeli Capital of One Government for One World Foundation.
According to Kutai, the money is to serve as loan guarantees for prospective residents of the village, who will be allowed to rent their houses for the first year but then will have to buy them. Feldman is the executive vice president of the foundation, and his father, Mishe, is the president. [..]
In response to a recent media blitz about the project, the mayor of Tiberias and the head of the Council of Settlements Surrounding the Kinneret have declared that as long as the group buys the land, goes to work and doesn't disturb its neighbors, they have no objections.
Not so the Forum Against Cults, an alliance of Concerned Parents Against Cults and Lev Le'ahim, an offshoot of Yad Le'ahim, a haredi group that since the Fifties has been fighting missionary and cult activity here. Earlier this month, the forum wrote to mayors and other local officials, as well as agencies involved in settlement, warning of the "grave danger in participating in the cult's rituals" and demanding that they not let the village be built.
The letter also claims the Maharishi himself - whose exact age is not known but who is at least 80 years old - is planning to come and live in the settlement, because of the Dutch authorities' objections to his "dangerous activity."
BOX ARTICLE
That very proliferation of new religious and secular groups, however, gave rise to a government-appointed commission that concluded TM can be dangerous in some cases. In 1982 - at the urging of concerned parents and a haredi anti-missionary group - the then education and culture minister, Zevulun Hammer, appointed the Interministerial Commission on New Religious Movements in Israel, headed by his deputy minister, Miriam Glazer- Ta'asa.
According to the commission's report, which appeared five years later, TM works through a combination of placebo effect and hypnotic suggestion, though the organization is never explicit about this. Most people who learn TM stop meditating after a while and discontinue their contact with the organization. But those who continue are likely to take part in an advanced course for sidhis, or yogic flying, which involves long periods of meditation.
The report cites Dr. Ruchama Marton, an Israeli psychiatrist, who says she treated a severely psychotic TM practitioner and that she knows of other such cases. Marton warns that though there is no proof of a causal connection, it appears that in some cases prolonged meditation may precipitate such a breakdown.
The report adds that there is no screening by mental health professionals of candidates for yogic flying, and that the use of self-hypnosis without supervision by such professionals on hand to deal with crises is extremely risky. [..]
n 1987, the Health Ministry petitioned the High Court of Justice to stop the TM organization from using an endorsement for TM written by a ministry official in 1980 and which the ministry later retracted. The court ruled against TM.
But some people are far more concerned with another matter discussed in the commission's report, namely that the organization is registered as a nonprofit society but is taking money out of the country.
-Peace of Mind; Esther Hecht. Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem: Jan 23, 1998. pg. 12
Based on this material, we might have a longer treatment of TM in Israel and the report, either here or in the TMM article. Will Beback talk 10:14, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
I certainly agree that we should attribute opinions, but this seems like an uncontested fact. I'm sure we could add three dozen sources which say the mantra is given after the puja ceremony. I'm not aware of any source which suggests a different sequence. Is there any particular reason for so much attribution in this section? If we attribute every assertion in every sentence this article will probably grow 50% longer without improving it 50%. Will Beback talk 12:59, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks. I'm not sure I understand your analogy to doctor-patient confidentiality - could you explain? I'm also not sure about what content was reverted. Will Beback talk 07:09, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I've added most of what I intended to add, but expect to work more tomorrow, adding sources and rationalizing the structure further. In the meantime if there's any feedback feel free to comment. Will Beback talk 08:49, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I've split out sections on the practice itself, and as last minute improvement, on TM teachers. The latter can grow as I've only added a few handy sources so far. I'm not sure why we never explained the practice before, but a short section is an overdue entry. Will Beback talk 12:43, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
It's a new section and there's much more to add.
What else do sources say about TM teachers? Will Beback talk 13:17, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
This section is an effort to describe the technique of TM, but does not give a complete picture and is misleading in parts. All the points are reliably sourced so there is no Wiki policy that prohibit their inclusion in the article, but this section does the reader a disservice in MHO. -- BwB ( talk) 12:59, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
In this section we have the sentence "Otherwise, all who seek to learn TM are taught it." [1] I feel that this sentence must be attributed as it may not be 100% true that everyone who comes to learn TM is taught the technique, even if they meet the no-drugs policy mentioned in the previous sentence. -- BwB ( talk) 13:03, 10 January 2011 (UTC)
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This material was deleted with the edit summary: trivial, uncited, and seems to attribute other person's opinion to a named individual in violation of WP:BLP [20] While I'm sure it can be improved, I don't see how deletion is the right answer. Will Beback talk 21:11, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
This will need refs
"Notable people trained to teach Transcendental Meditation include: Prudence Farrow, John Gray, Mitch Kapor, and Mike Love." Doc James ( talk · contribs · email) 08:18, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
Why was the info sourced to the NY Times deleted as noncompliant, but not the info sourced to The Guardian in the preceding sentence? We had consensus to not use popular media as sources, but then Will added The Guardian info to the article. Seems like we should either remove both, or per WP:NPOV, include both, right? My strong preference is not to use popular media as a source regarding scientific research. TimidGuy ( talk) 12:30, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I removed this reference. Steps of initiation It is not a RS. -- BweeB ( talk) 11:47, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
Per your surprising comment on TG's user page...which seems odd.
So.... do you think its neutral to cite a comment which states the research doesn't help kids with a comment that says it does, rather than leaving the pejorative statement about the research as the definitive statement. ( olive ( talk) 21:36, 9 July 2011 (UTC))
I've added the NPOV template, pending resolution of the discussion of the sentences in the lead related to research on health benefits and weight of opinion of Canter and Ernst. See the discussion on Talk: Transcendental Meditation research. TimidGuy ( talk) 09:37, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
From Russell, Chapter 8, "The Fourth State of Consciousness" opening paragraph:
Throughout the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique one is wide awake. Even when one transcends the finest level of mental activity and arrives at the state of restful alertness one still remains consciousness. In this state of quiet all mental activity has died away. Consciousness has ceased to vibrate and there is no longer anything to be conscious of. The normal thinking activity of the mind has been transcended and for this reason the state is know as transcendental consciousness.
Do we give sufficient weight to the issue of "transcendental consciousness" (TC)? It is listed as the main purpose of TM on the TM website. [26] However we just list in as one of several states in the "Views on consciousness" section. That may be underplaying its importance, as it's apparently more important than the other states, at least for the TM technique. See also the discussion at Talk:TM-Sidhi program#Transcendental Consciousness, the source of thought. Comments? Will Beback talk 07:13, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
I see there are discussions of TC in Goldberg's American Vedanta, Williamson's Transcendent in America, Shear's Experience of Meditation, and Forsthoefel & Hume's Gurus in America. We don't cite any of them in the current material. Are there any other major sources for this material? If not, I'll start drafting text based on those. Will Beback talk 04:38, 26 September 2011 (UTC)
My concern is accuracy. We probably don't even have to actually use a primary source like MMY's Science of Being or could use it along with a secondary source. Russel seems to have a fair amount of content on this topic. I haven't looked at it closely but there's Campbell's Seven States of Consciousness. I'm going to be very busy in RL the next while so I'm not sure what I can do at this time, which is one reason I suggest one person write and the other could add anything from sources they have which the other may not have. You mentioned policies and guidelines, What are your concerns?( olive ( talk) 00:52, 28 September 2011 (UTC))
Keep in mind this is the definitive word on TC, and is more akin to reading/sourcing Kant as a basis for an article on Kant's philosophy and metaphysics. I'll leave you to write since you've volunteered to do so.( olive ( talk) 19:08, 2 October 2011 (UTC))
I have gone through this article today and made a series of small edits with the intention of improving the flow and readability of the text. Very little changes to the text have been made - mostly combining sentences, moving text, creating new subsections, etc. I believe further work is needed to continue the improvement process and welcome input and participation from other editors. -- BwB ( talk) 17:24, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
I propose that we remove the opening sentences form the Marketing section: "The late 1950s and the 1960s saw increasing interest in consciousness raising and mind expansion. Alan Watts popularized Zen Buddhism while Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Timothy Leary spread the gospel of LSD." They are not directly about the TM technique. -- BwB ( talk) 19:46, 10 March 2012 (UTC)
This:"TM's appeal has been described as lying more in its ability to truly relax without the aid of chemical assistance than its scientific research." [1] is not an accurate summary of the source. I'd like to reword this somewhat for the lead. Also we might want to use the source in other parts of this or other TM articles since its quite comprehensive and carries a lot of information. I haven't checked yet to see if we've already used it elsewhere. ( olive ( talk) 14:42, 31 March 2012 (UTC))
References
I'd like to remove the sentence below in bold from the lead. It is redundant info, in my opinion. Any objections?
OK, maybe not redundant but it is repetitive as it gives similar info as the next two sentences. Also the lead is a summary and we don't need names and numbers for every decade. If you don't like the idea of removal then how about a rewrite since all three sentences are cited by the same source (Craze):
The only problem with this new text (above) is that Deepak learned TM in the 80's I think. Can we substitute his name with someone else who did learn in the 60-70's like Shirley McClain, Donovan, Mike Love, or Clint Eastwood? (Clint Eastwood is ranked #20 on Forbes list of top stars.) [27]
So it seems that Mike Love and Donovan are associated with TM as much or more than Chopra and they learned in the 60-70's.-- — Keithbob • Talk • 14:21, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
How about something like:
From the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, the Transcendental Meditation technique received significant public attention in the USA, especially among the student population. During this period, a million people learned the technique. Worldwide, to date, as many as six to ten million people are reported to be practitioners that include many well known figures such as The Beatles, David Lynch, Deepak Chopra, and Mia Farrow.
I'm not attached to which well known figures are added but a range might be good ... men, women, and across a range of time....( olive ( talk) 22:13, 21 April 2012 (UTC))
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In July 2010 Jmh649/Doc James added this sentence to the Characterizations/Religion section if the Transcendental Meditation article (which was later moved to this article by Will Beback when the TM article was split):
The above sentence was extrapolated from page 7 in a section called Defining Religion. The paragraph within that section reads as follows:
So I ask the following questions:
The sentence and its implied wrongful attribution to Professor Douglas Cowan was previously removed by visiting editor User:Steve Dufour and then restored after a superficial discussion in which Doc James says: "Yes I though this text put the topic into perspective" -- — Keithbob • Talk • 15:00, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
Today I removed two sources as follows:
Does anyone disagree with the removal of either of these sources? -- — Keithbob • Talk • 19:17, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
References