Pioneering Despite Inconvenience. A Teaching Tale for Startup Leaders, Other Entrepreneurs, and Seekers of Self Improvement
Here’s a tale about launching TM for credit in American public schools. Also a tale of howling cats.
“Pioneering is not feeling well,” wrote the poet John Berryman. But despite your tender feelings as an innovator? They’re not always the point, are they?
Today’s teaching tale has a funny side. Not only because it’s easier to laugh, nearly 50 years later. More important, you’ll see how unlikely beginnings launched ambitious success of a certain kind. Resulting in the first accredited teaching in public schools… The first teaching of Transcendental Meditation (TM) through a course in “The Science of Creative Intelligence.” A teaching that spread to many more American school systems and states — up to a certain point.
In addition, there might be some life lessons for you. Right now. Especially if you’re launching a startup. Or otherwise an innovator. Alternatively, like me, you may simply care passionately about Self Improvement. Therefore, you’re always on the lookout for inspiring stories, what I call “teaching tales.”
For any of these reasons, you may long remember the following tale of pioneering despite inconvenience.
How I Found Myself Pioneering Despite Inconvenience
We were a team, Donald Davis and his wife, Laura Davis. (My second of a series of seven names that would later bring me to the name Rose Rosetree.) Together we’d studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, first a month in Poland Springs, Maine. Later we completed Teacher Training in Mallorca, Spain. The essence of all that was recounted in my memoir, “Bigger than All the Night Sky.”
After Maine and Spain, where to go? We were sent by America’s Regional Coordinator to start up a physical center in Miami. Of all the weird places! By day, I listened to buzzing mosquitoes. By night, I heard ambulance sirens. Equally upsetting, to me, were all the palm trees. To this native New Yorker, palm trees always seemed just plain WRONG.
Yet we shoved all discomforts aside — including such poverty that, for two weeks, we lived on cornmeal and tomato paste. Of course we shoved all discomforts aside! Because Maharishi wanted us to give Introductory Lectures and then initiate, initiate, initiate. To us, at the time, there was no higher calling.
Our Biggest Pioneering Prize
Actually, it turned out, Maharishi wanted more of us. Always mighty entrepreneurial for a monk, he came up with a plan to get TM into public schools. For credit. And he wanted us to help him.
The name of his new course was “The Science of Creative Intelligence.” (SCI) A series of his audio lectures had been made on the hot new technology, VHS. Cleverly built into the course was a little assignment: “Learn Transcendental Meditation.”
Now teachers like Donald and me had a new goal. Get public schools to agree to teach SCI for credit. And we went at it like the true believers we were. What followed?
- The first TM course in a community college, at Coral Gables.
- And then, wham! Getting approval to teach SCI at a high school in Dade County, Florida.
Pioneering Despite Inconvenience
To their credit, two big executives wanted to try before the big buy. Both the Superintendent of Schools and the head of the School Board. (As I recall it. Mostly I was scared to even look these two hotshots in the eye, let alone teach them a thing. You see, for some unaccountable reason, they chose me — not Donald — to teach them.
Initiation Day dawned hot and… so rainy!
Early that Saturday morning I arrived at the home of “strong meditators” whom I’ll call “Joe” and “Gladys.”
Why commute? Because Donald and I could afford only a tiny apartment, good enough for “checking” meditation. Plus, we had enough space to plan our lectures and mail out our press releases. But for actual teaching, we always had to use somebody else’s home.
Three months before, I’d felt comfortable teaching at Joe and Gladys’s place. After all, unlike Donald and me, these people actually owned furniture, beyond a lumpy bed, kitchen table, and chairs.
Only this morning I was in for a rude shock.
Pioneering Despite Inconvenience: Initiation Day for the Hotshots
Now that house stank. There’s no pretty-pretty transcendental but honest term for the olfactory allure of that house.
Apparently, Joe and Gladys had bought a couple of cats. By now, they had definitely dominated that dwelling.
Even worse, I knew Maharishi’s policy about “No animals.” In case you’re wondering, it’s quite the balancing act:
- Preparing to do a lofty incense-rich ceremony, where I’d chant the names of all of Maharishi’s favorite ancient saints from India.
- Struggling to comport myself before Joe and Gladys with dignity. Yes, mustering the dignity of an INITIATOR, despite feeling all elbows and (now, sadly) nose.
- Frantically decorating the bedroom bureau with a couple of books and a bedsheet, etc. All this in order to quickly make a lovely altar for the ceremony.
And now, having to demand that my annoyed hosts throw their cats into the back yard. In the rain. Because they had to.
Pioneering Despite Inconvenience. Winning Lukewarm Praise
As for what I had to do, I had to initiate both of the make-or-break leaders of Miami schools. Besides the usual, this time I had to pretend that each executive wasn’t a hotshot. And wasn’t twice my age. And definitely didn’t intimidate me — since otherwise, I’d besmirch the golden dignity of TM.
Definitely I couldn’t act as though it was unusual for my hands to shake.
Obviously, the entire house stank of cat and, apparently, my hosts’ questionable skills with kitty litter. However, it was a little harder to disguise the yowling.
You see, those cats didn’t happen to like being dumped outside, in the rain. With a persistence I might otherwise have found admirable, they yowled and growled all afternoon.
At least, the teaching went successfully. And so did the three following meetings. Fortunately, these were held in a different location, without any cat input.
And the big shots liked TM. So they approved SCI for a Miami-Dade high school.
Really Good Praise
One of the local meditators, Steve Glickman, was now on his Teacher Training Course with Maharishi. Accordingly, I wrote him about what happened, mostly emphasizing the cats. Later, he wrote me back.
Diplomatically, Steve read out the sections of my very detailed letter that weren’t about the cats. Like, how the successful initiations augured well for SCI in the first public school in America.
Glory be! Maharishi heard what Steve read out in that meeting. In response, our guru said, “Good.”
When that thrilling praise came back in Steve’s next letter to me, I was just walking on air for a week.
Pioneering Despite Inconvenience, What Followed
The SCI course progressed, and that was what mattered. Not only to Donald and me. That course set a precedent. In years to come, SCI would be taught in other American public schools as well. Until it wasn’t.
And why wasn’t? Due to a court case in New Jersey. ““Courses in transcendental meditation have been taught in ‘schools ‘in Dade County, Fla.; Louisville, Ky., Eastchester N.Y., and San Lorenzo, Calif.” (Incidentally, that last link is to the New York Times. Pretty funny, since I’ve given over 1,000 media interviews since my TM days. Yet this is as close as I’ve come so far to making the Times.)
Of course, Maharishi went on to other projects. Yet Donald and I had still scored a big success.
Over time, remembering that helped me.
My Biggest Life Lesson
What if, like me, you’re constantly collecting life lessons? For me, here’s what comes to mind from this particular teaching tale:
The process of plowing ahead matters.
Plowing ahead, as if clearing snow from a driveway.
Or back to how I learned to survive in Miami? Getting really good at using a towel to whack-and-kill mosquitoes in my apartment. So the only siren sounds all night could come from the many, many ambulances.
As for future projects… Since 1986, what would that mean for me? Bringing Energy Spirituality™ into the world, a field I wound up founding. For all my projects since SCI in public schools in 1971… I would just plow ahead.
No matter how it smelled. Or how howling the opposition. Nor how deafening the indifference of the public, from time to time.
Like that photo of me at the top of this article, shoveling snow, guess what? I simply do what is before me to do.
Forget about “Keep your eyes on the prize.” That’s too highfalutin for a worker like me. Most of the time, I’ll keep my eyes aiming right in front of me, thank you very much. Also, I’ll do whatever my current project of choice requires. Because, it always turns out, that matters.
COMMENT Away, Blog-Buddies
Any reaction to my tale of pioneering TM?
I pioneered hard from 1969 until 1986. Do you think that could have been helpful background for founding Energy Spirituality?
Back then I didn’t teach workshops, like I do now. But I taught hundreds of classes on TM. Such as the same Introductory Lecture, outlined by Maharishi. Teaching it over and over and over again: Could that have been good preparation for creating my unique online workshops?
Have you ever accomplished something important, only to receive little or any praise? Tell your tale here. You’re among appreciative friends.
Note: Tomorrow I plan to launch a couple of brand new workshops. Think that all that service to Maharishi could have helped to prepare me to boldly launch new teaching?
Rose, I’ve studied with you for all these years and I had no idea about any of this.
I really appreciate articles that help me get to know you better. This one reminded me of “Bigger than All the Night Sky,” which I loved.
Thanks, LOUISE. :-)
I just came across this article. Do you still meditate? Do you still recommend the Transcendental Meditation Program?
Yay! So glad you published this. I saw it on Medium and really wanted to comment there… so glad I can comment here!
I really like the life lesson here, ploughing on with what’s in front of you.
Timely and helpful for me, thank you Rose.
And from the vantage point of 2020, as a millennial… it’s kind of shocking to think of how things were back then when meditation and mindfulness were NOT heard of by just about everyone!
Getting the very first TM course to be an accredited course in public schools is an inspiring achievement.
And fantastic news about the workshops!!
Good questions, JOHNNY — and welcome to my blog. No, I no longer meditate, including with TM. And I don’t recommend it.
This article can help to explain why I don’t recommend Transcendental Meditation any longer.
EMILY TURNER, thanks for your input here. Yes, when I became a TM initiator officially in 1971, I’d already done volunteer work for “The Movement” for years.
Although the Beatles were famously TMers at the time, most people didn’t know or care much about meditation.
Really, it was the best possible training for founding Energy Spirituality. In Miami, then the North Shore of Boston, then Los Angeles, then in New York City… I kept doing the same thing.
Finding new places to give TM intros. Promoting them. Giving them. Initiating the people. Following up with “Advanced Lectures” for established meditators.
I like the moral of the story: being a leader isn’t always easy or comfortable.
TOM, thanks. You know, I can speak from my experience (at least) when I say this as well:
Because I believed in what I was doing, guess what? I knew how bad I felt, like when trying to get new clients. Personally, I knew I felt like a hot mess. And a failure. BUT I DIDN’T CARE.
What did I care about more?
You can read about that, in some detail, at the end of “Bigger than All the Night Sky.”
Thank you for another big story about paying the price. All the years you spend learning pioneering skills so that we can now benefit. How lucky are we?!
Also love how your hands most definitely don’t shake anymore :D
Me too, HOLLY. You’re welcome.
Funnily enough, I just looked up from first-drafting the article I plan to publish here tomorrow, and found your comments awaiting publication.
This blog post is another in the series about what led to our new breakthrough in Energy Spirituality.
Which breakthrough? Perhaps some of you Blog-Buddies have seen the article I published yesterday about the brand new on-demand Energy Spirituality treat. Launching The New Strong Collection of Online Workshops.
Of course I don’t know what the future will bring. But I can recognize a unique feeling of soul thrill about this development within Energy Spirituality.
Akin to bringing something authentically new into Collective Consciousness, advancing knowledge.
The only other time I’ve felt that way involved the publication of my first book for empaths, in 2001. Yes, it was THE first book for empaths. Comparable to an updated version available now, “Empath Empowerment in 30 Days.”
By now, this field has grown so huge, Amazon now sells 4,000 books if you search on “empath.”
Of course, there isn’t much online yet about “The New Strong.” Nor even about “The Age of Awakening.” (I’ve just given you a link to the only published magazine article I’ve seen yet on what started with the Shift on 12/21/12.)
But we’ll just see what happens, okay?
Rose, thanks for sharing this teaching tale. There have been times where I’ve accomplished something really important only to receive little praise. What mattered more was that I took a huge step forward to do something I wanted to do even if I was nervous or even fearful.
I got immediate feedback on what it was like to take a certain type of action.
Each time I take a step forward to do something I’ve never done, but trust that I can get through it, I seem to win no matter how it turns out.
It may take some time before I can put the pieces together and weave it into other experiences, but all the pieces eventually work together.
If we were in a church, GABRIELLE, I’d be saying “Amen” to every one of those comments.
Such important observations! Thank you.
You know, Blog-Buddies, teaching tales like the one here? It’s one of my favorite kinds of writing to do.
Usually my books are non-fiction, as you may know.
Sharing the story here reminds me how much I would love to edit and publish my memoir Part 2.
This one would begin shortly after the end of my memoir Part 1, “Bigger than All the Night Sky.” And it would help you to understand how I came to found the field of Energy Spirituality.
However, I’ve made myself a promise about publishing that Memoir Part 2. Even though I feel certain that it’s going to be way more powerful than the Memoir Part 1 already published.
Published more than 2 years ago, “Bigger than All the Night Sky” is up to 11 reviews. All five-star, and I’m grateful for that. Specifically, I’m so grateful to all you reviewers. However, here’s the deal.
Back when I taught in Japan (and had loads of spare time, by my standards), I first-drafted both parts of that memoir. That happened in 2010. Later, maybe in 2016? I began editing and preparing “Bigger than All the Night Sky” for publication.
Publishing any book is personal, but nothing more so than a memoir.
And that’s why I resolved that before I go through all that again — a mixture of joy and gratitude and reliving terrible old pain — that I would insist on 100 5-star reviews for that book at Amazon. Require that before I do all that’s required to give you (and others) Part 2.
Please help me to make that happen by reviewing “Bigger.”
Thanks for sharing your story, Rose! I loved hearing about your experiences working to expand the use of TM. You truly were “plowing ahead” through numerous difficulties, and were successful.
“Plowing ahead” is something I understand very well. It has kept me going when things seemed bleak, and gave me some sort of success. At the very least, I learned and grew.
ALEX, you’re welcome. Yes, I recognize in you a fellow plower. :-)
I’ve read most of your books, Rose!
Just recently, I was so inspired to read the “Bigger than All the Night Sky” again. So it holds a very special place in my heart!
I don’t know how I missed the follow-up part for reviewing it before, but now I went and wrote a review for this amazing memoir.
In fact I’m going to check every other review opportunity for your books, Rose, to see if I’ve missed any others too.
I’m not only doing this because I’m looking forward to the Part 2. But also I wholeheartedly believe in you and Energy Spirituality.
And the easiest and effective way to show my support and appreciation would be a review. To let everyone know that you and your work matter to me very much!
MICHAEL T., thank you so much.
For all of you who’d like to follow in MICHAEL’S footsteps, here’s a tip about reviewing for Amazon. Include in each review two details (or more) about the book itself.
Why is this so important? Because Amazon.com now has a policy where they will reject reviews without those details.
I know because my first draft, heartfelt, book review for an author I wished to support was rejected — just for that reason. So please, add a couple of details and then you’ll get a go!
And MICHAEL T., I do think you’re right about “effective.” In today’s world of books, your words can give much-needed credibility to this indie publisher.
No matter how many thousands of dollars I’ve spent in my career on book publicists (zero dollars, actually), it would never impress readers as much as book reviews by real people, people like you. Thanks in advance!!!!
Thank you for this link ROSE!
I celebrate all that you and fellow blog-buddies have accomplished through a zeal that is nurtured, mostly, alone.
Paying the price of a pioneer is not glamorous, caterwaul and disinterest can stain the house of endeavour, sometimes quite literally.
Thankfully, There is, I am learning, PowerWash, which, when effectively applied (Energy Spirituality skills) can keep the zeal warm enough to nourish the guts.
Looking forward to reading more Precedents ~
You’re welcome, CHARLENE GRANT. I do appreciate your comments here.
If you want to bring more spiritual truth into this world, pick the best actions available to you at the time, and just do them. Actions really do speak louder than words.
And thanks too, CHARLENE, for your reference to Powerwash. Blog-Buddies, this comes early on in the interactive online workshop for creativity: Creativity Secrets with Soul.