Why is the TM technique trademarked?

by Tom McKinley Ball

If the Transcendental Meditation program is taught by a non-profit educational organization, then why is the TM technique trademarked—like McDonald’s or Microsoft?

The registered trademark sign (®) is commonly associated with for-profit corporations who use trademarks to protect their brand names, products or services against infringement by competitors, and thus help insure profits. However, in the case of the Transcendental Meditation technique and other programs founded by Maharishi, there is a different reason for the registered trademark.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is unique. There is no other practice that works in the same way or produces quite the same results. Many scientific research studies conducted at medical schools and independent research institutions worldwide have investigated and compared the effects of Transcendental Meditation technique to various types of meditation practices—such as Zen, Vipassana, mantra meditation, and various relaxation techniques—and no other meditation procedure has been found to produce the wide range of effects for mind, body, behavior and environment that result from TM practice.

The only way to legally distinguish the TM technique from other types of meditation available is to maintain the technique’s registered trademark. This way, when someone learns the Transcendental Meditation technique, they can rest assured they are learning the real thing, because only highly trained and certified TM teachers can teach this technique or legally use the name ‘TM’ or 'Transcendental Meditation.'

Trademarks protect consumers by allowing them to identify ‘the real thing’ as opposed to a facsimile. If meditation techniques were all basically the same and produced the same results, there would be no altruistic reason to trademark or otherwise distinguish the Transcendental Meditation technique. But all practices are not the same and do not produce the same results, as research shows. 

The registered trademark is another way of maintaining the effectiveness or 'purity' of the Transcendental Meditation program—helping ensure that even future generations will benefit.

About this site—a note from the editor

This is a non-official blog that aims to provide reliable information and critical discourse for anyone interested in learning about the Transcendental Meditation program. We provide corrective, expert responses to myths and misunderstandings about the TM program propagated on the Web, and answer questions raised by skeptics—with explanations supported by scientific reference and factual evidence.

Why this blog? Everyone knows that just because something is posted on the Internet, that does not make it true. There are several prominent Websites that claim astronaut Neil Armstrong never landed on the moon. Similarly, there are sites claiming that there are no real scientific studies verifying the TM program's benefits, that it's no different from relaxing in your easy chair, that it's a form of mind control with dangerous effects, that it's a religion or cult—seriously—that it's a moneymaking "$3 billion empire" with plans to take over the world, convert everyone to a foreign religion without the masses knowing they were converted, all while secretly setting up a worldwide "Vedic theocracy" to sacrifice horses!

Sites making unfounded assertions can gain visibility on the Internet because search engines collect information based on keywords and “relevant” content, not on accuracy. It’s not surprising, then, that search engines would yield a handful of disingenuous "anti-meditation" sites posing as “objective” or “skeptical,” which, in fact, have agendas and present untruths or misinformation about the TM program. (The same is often true for “Wikipedia,” an amalgam of shifting content assembled by a rotating group of “volunteer editors”—who are not required to have any expertise on a given subject.)

Both sides: The blog is called "Skeptics On TM" because it presents the most common objections to the TM program raised by skeptics, but unlike the existing "skeptical" resources, here we present both sides: scientists, medical doctors, psychologists and scholars respond to the standard criticisms.

Independent: The blog is independent because it is personally maintained by a board of advisors and contributors—people friendly to the TM program and knowledgeable about the practice—acting voluntarily and not under the auspices of any organization. Also, unlike some so-called "critical" Internet resources on the TM program, this blog is independent of (i.e., not driven by) the extreme bias and negativity that typifies the "anti-meditation" mindset.

Non-official: The blog is non-official because the site itself is not affiliated with or overseen by the TM organization.

For the official Transcendental Meditation program Websites, please visit www.TM.org or see the resources link on our home page.

Submissions, comments, questions and contrasting viewpoints are invited. ENJOY!

Site editor: Tom McKinley Ball


Skeptics on TM Advisory Board:

Jonathan Shear, PhD: Founding editor of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and Affiliated Associate Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University

Peter Scharf, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Sanskrit, Department of Classics, Brown University

David Haight, PhD: Professor of Philosophy; Chairman, Dept. of Philosophy, Plymouth State University

Patrick Pomfrey, PsyD: Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, Asheville, NC

Bridget Harwell, PhD: Clinical Psychologist, Cleveland, Ohio