Recently one of our informants related a story he heard on a Zoom meeting setup by Bryan Lee, former National Leader of New Zealand. The Zoom meetings are monthly and the participants can share stories, and hear what is going on in the EMPIRE as Bryan calls the Raja Kingdom. Many suggestions and initiatives have arisen from the Zoom meetings.
One participant related how some leaders of TM view the staff and faculty in their unfortunate circumstances. It’s karmic they claim.
One story was about a Maharishi International University faculty member in Fairfield Iowa who was having health problems – he had cancer and didn’t know what to do with it. Although this is not a staff story, but a faculty story, yet there are many parallels in the story.
The faculty member had to quit his job or was sent away, this part isn’t clear, but then for whatever reason he was left stranded in Fairfield Iowa without any real help. This former member of the MIU faculty then set up a tent out in some area near Fairfield and hoped to live through the winter.
As many know Iowa winters are extremely dangerous and they compete with Siberian winters.
Well to make a long story short, this former faculty member did not survive the Iowa winter in his tent. It is unclear how long he had to live in a tent, and it is unclear if he got any medical care or other help. In any case, the short story is that the desperate faculty member had to leave MIU, moved into a tent during the winter, and did not survive. About 30 people heard this story on the Zoom call, and the feeling was unanimous – this was tragic, yet preventable.
We at RajaLeaks do not have the resources to verify this story, but somehow this rings true to our sense of how things are. It is with great anguish that we hear these stories and makes us wonder what is happening to the movement we loved.
Another story we heard from the Zoom meetings is that some of the TM leaders have an attitude that the plight of the people working or worked for the movement, their salary problems, their health problems, and their retirement problems are karmic, that they are working off some bad karma from the past. It seems – at least as we understand it – that certain leaders brush off these problems with the magic “it’s their karma” expression.
Well, given that so many dedicated people have worked for the TM movement institutions, and the global country for decades, it seems to us there are two sides to that coin, and the other side is the leadership. It’s been 15 years since Maharishi passed away, and we haven’t seen any real reform in the TM organizations or the global country organizations. Huge amounts of money wander here and there, and not much of it trickles down to the salary and the retirement of the rank-and-file members of the institutions.
Although we know money does not buy happiness, it does however help to keep the spirits in good shape and it helps reduce stress and strain for the individual. These are factors in any disease that might come up. The retirement problem is a whole other issue that varies from location to location, but when you are old, you expect some financial stability, which if you don’t have can lead to mental and physical problems. The karmic blame game has to stop, and the leaders have to think hard about what they have done wrong, and make changes as soon as possible while the hundreds of former staff and faculty members from around the world are still alive and their spirits can be lifted by generous help – even financial help – even retirement checks based on the number of years served – can be administered to these tremendous souls, who gave their life to the TM Movement. Rajas, do it while you can!!!
Today’s music video is called: Staff, it’s your karma
We hope you like it and share it.
(Verse 1)
In the TM kingdom, where kings wear their crowns,
Staff workers suffer, their dreams falling down,
Vlodrop, Valkenburg, Seelisberg and more,
Their plight ignored, their spirits sore.
(Pre-Chorus)
“It’s your karma,” they say, with a cold disdain,
A cruel way to justify their own gain,
Retirement benefits withheld, a system designed,
By the kings of TM, their ethics maligned.
(Chorus)
It’s your karma, they chant, as the staff workers weep,
Trapped in a cycle, their souls in deep,
But the kings of TM, they have their own share,
Of karma, for upkeeping this unfair affair.
(Verse 2)
Years of dedication, their loyalty tested,
Yet the kings turn a blind eye, their pleas detested,
A system upheld, where retirement fades,
Leaving staff workers stranded, their hopes betrayed.
(Pre-Chorus)
“It’s your karma,” they repeat, with cruel intent,
While the kings of TM remain content,
But karma will catch up, in its own way,
As truth unfolds, justice will have its say.
(Chorus)
It’s your karma, they chant, as the staff workers weep,
Trapped in a cycle, their souls in deep,
But the kings of TM, they have their own share,
Of karma, for upkeeping this unfair affair.
(Bridge)
But we won’t stand silent, we won’t let it be,
Together we rise, for justice we plea,
No more blame on karma, no more despair,
We’ll fight for the staff workers, this burden we’ll share.
(Chorus)
It’s your karma, they chant, as the staff workers weep,
Trapped in a cycle, their souls in deep,
But the kings of TM, they have their own share,
Of karma, for upkeeping this unfair affair.