*TM Continues to Flourish, Despite Legal Battles*
Despite a growing number of lawsuits and legal troubles,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) empire is
continuing to flourish.
In recent months TM officials have launched an especially
ambitious enterprise: the Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development
Corp. Its leaders have been crisscrossing the country contacting
real estate developers. The reason? Maharishi wants partners to
help him build 50 "noise-free, pollution-free and stress-free
communities" throughout North America.
Plans are already in the works to build communities in Los
Angeles, Toronto, Hartford (Connecticut), and Austin (Texas).
What's more, Maharishi wants to place his "Heaven on Earth"
communities in 108 countries worldwide.
Montague Guild, Jr., president of Maharishi's development
group, said the communities will be housing clusters from 100 to
200 homes where residents will live on chunks of land in areas with
an abundance of streams, flowing water, and greenery. Guild, who
was quoted in the March 11, 1989 _Philadelphia Inquirer,_ said the
homes would be designed using the techniques of Sthapatya-Veda,
which is "an ancient science of architecture that emphasizes the
constant flow of fresh air, the use of non-toxic building
materials, and orientation of the home with respect to the passage
of the sun."
Each community will also have a Maharishi School of
Enlightenment, Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Centers, and Maharishi
Festival Halls, Guild said.
Despite such grandiose plans, trouble for the TM empire has
been steadily building for the past three years. In fact, the
biggest onslaught of all against the TM empire was formalized in
August when a Los Angeles woman sued Maharishi's far-flung empire
on the basis that it caused her psychological damage. Although nine
others have sued TM since 1986 making similar charges, this recent
case is distinct in that the plaintiff is going after Maharishi
using federal racketeering (RICO) statutes which are usually
reserved for mobsters who run corrupt organizations....
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