Question:
The University's Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention recentlyreceived a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health forcontinuing research on the effect of the Transcendental Meditation®technique in reducing mortality rates of African-Americans with heartdisease.This funded research has been going on for five years at the Medical Collegeof Wisconsin and has shown reduced heart disease and death rates amongpractitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Because of theseencouraging results, the new award allows the subjects to be followed for anadditional four years.This research is just one part of an expanding enterprise of the College ofMaharishi Vedic Medicine that currently consists of four NIH grants andinvolves ten major academic medical centers, said Robert Schneider, M.D.,principal investigator and Dean of the College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine.Topping the list of current grants is an $8 million, five-year award fromNIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to fund theCenter for Natural Medicine and Prevention. The Center itself is currentlysponsoring three major studies and a group of smaller pilot studies.Two of the major studies are being conducted in conjunction with HowardUniversity in Washington, D.C. One is on the effect of the TranscendentalMeditation technique on cardiovascular disease in high-risk African-Americanwomen, and the other is studying the effect of Maharishi Amrit Kalash® oncardiovascular disease in older African-Americans.The third major study, in collaboration with Drew University in Los Angeles,is looking at the physiological mechanisms of how the TranscendentalMeditation technique affects the cardiovascular system.The pilot studies are broadening the focus to other high-risk ethnic groupsin the U.S., including a study at the University of Hawaii involving nativeHawaiians and an upcoming study at the University of Illinois that willinvolve Hispanics.The brain is the subject of a third pilot study, at the University ofCalifornia at Irvine, that is using functional neuroimaging technology tostudy the brain changes with the Transcendental Meditation technique.Other current pilot studies are being conducted at the University of Iowaand the University of Pennsylvania.The two other NIH studies currently funded by the National Heart, Lung andBlood Institute include a collaboration with the Medical College ofWisconsin on hypertension and a collaboration with Drew University onatherosclerosis.Other research partners include Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and MorehouseSchool of Medicine.Other investigators on the recent grant are Sanford Nidich, co-principalinvestigator, John Salerno, coordinator, and Maxwell Rainforth,biostatistician.

Answer: With this boost of credibility given to the TMO do you think it may altertheir greedy ways and begin offering the knowledge of TM at a morereasonable price?

If the practice has real and legitimate health benefits it should not belimited to those who have large incomes. We should return to a time when TMteaching generated a large profit, but was taught for rates more in linewith what average people can afford. A time when many city had teachingcenters were manned by dedicated volunteers and administrators.