Transcendental Meditation: Where Does the Money Go?

by Dr. Keith DeBoer
When we hire an event planner and a disc jockey for our daughters sweet sixteen birthday party we don’t usually care about where our hard earned cash ends up. However, when we’re contemplating a course in meditation, we'll somehow it seems a little different. It’s those purchases that are a more abstract that we sometimes question. You know, like health insurance and taxes. So where does the money go after we fork over the cost of a course in the Transcendental Meditation® technique? After all, inquiring minds want to know, right?

Bang For the Buck--First, it’s good to know that the course fee (currently $1500 for adults and $750 for students) includes approximately 10 hours of personal and group instruction and a lifetime of follow up classes, anywhere in the U.S. (including Hawaii). I mean, a college course is expensive too, but there’s no personal instruction and a lifetime opportunity to audit that course at dozens of locations around the country. So Transcendental Meditation offers a package deal that’s something pretty special.

NonProfit--The organization that teaches the Transcendental Meditation technique is called Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (MVED). It is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational entity. Its mission is to provide the technique of Transcendental Meditation to millions of people so that they may reap the scientifically validated benefits of health, happiness, prosperity and inner peace.

Scholarships--The organization offers financial aid just like other educational institutions. They facilitate, long term, low interest, student loans as well as full and partial scholarships for qualifying students, families etc. As much as 35% of all MVED revenues are used to provide scholarships for Transcendental Meditation courses, for those that could not otherwise afford it. The organization also works closely with a number of charitable foundations that provide full and partial scholarships to students and at-risk youth. Over the past two years more than 50,000 students in schools across the United States, Latin America and Africa have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique through this program. 

Salaries--For more than a decade I was an employee of MVED Corporation and worked as a financial manager and regional director. As such, I can verify that the salaries that the organization paid were modest and below the national average for comparable work. As an administrator in a leadership role I received almost the same salary as many entry level employees. I had frequent interactions with senior members of the organization many of whom, worked full time, on a volunteer basis and received no compensation whatsoever. 

Maharishi—The founder of the technique, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, worked tirelessly, twelve to fifteen hours per day for more than 50 years. His only focus, day and night, was to create an organization that could provide the benefits of his meditation technique to millions of people around the world. When he first began teaching in the 1950’s he relied only on donations. However, as the organization grew and buildings were needed to establish Transcendental Meditation centers and a permanent organizational structure, standardized course fees came into existence. As for Maharishi himself, he was a monk with no possessions. He never owned a car, a house, a plane or a building at anytime in his life. He lived only for the good of all people and never thought of himself.

So when you pay your course fee for Transcendental Meditation you can rest assured that your hard earned money is going to good use. You are receiving a technique and follow up classes that will provide life long benefits and you will sleep well at night knowing that, through your course fee, others will also have the opportunity to benefit.

®Transcendental Meditation and TM are registered trademarks of Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, a non-profit educational organization.

www.TM.org
http://adventuresintranscendentalmeditation.blogspot.com/