User:Bellanapodano/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title: Transcendental Meditation
 * Article Evaluation
 * The Article does a good job of showing Maharishi's depiction of transcendental meditation and its eastern origin but fails to provide scientific discussion on the topic as well as how religion vs. science portray this practice. I also think it is valuable to acknowledge how the scientific community previously rejected these practices as altogether but nowadays there are a vast amount of studies linking transcendental meditation to physiological benefits. This can also be compared to a recent article which questioned why non-pharmacological practices such as transcendental meditation weren't included in the 2017 Hypertension guidelines. It is this sort of historical macro-scale interpretation that the article lacks.
 * Rated: B-Class
 * Rated: B-Class


 * Sources
 * Schneider RH, Fields JZ, Brook RD. The 2017 ACC/AHA Hypertension Guidelines: Should they have included proven nonpharmacological blood pressure-lowering strategies such as Transcendental Meditation?. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2019;21(3):434. doi:10.1111/jch.13488
 * Barnes VA, Treiber FA, Davis H. Impact of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular function at rest and during acute stress in adolescents with high normal blood pressure. J Psychosom Res. 2001;51(4):597-605. doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(01)00261-6
 * Barnes VA, Treiber FA, Davis H. Impact of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular function at rest and during acute stress in adolescents with high normal blood pressure. J Psychosom Res. 2001;51(4):597-605. doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(01)00261-6

Option 2

 * Article title: Transcendental Meditation movement
 * Article Evaluation: This article seems very similar to the "Transcendental Meditation" article, even using the same image. It does a good job at accounting for the historical origin and evolution of the movement yet it fails to show how it's become more than a religious practice, especially within the U.S. It's the link between the eastern movement of Transcendental Meditation and the western interpretation that is lacking in this article.
 * Rated: B-Class
 * Rated: B-Class


 * Sources
 * WEBER, JOSEPH. Transcendental Meditation in America: How a New Age Movement Remade a Small Town in Iowa. University of Iowa Press, 2014. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt20q1t6f. Accessed 17 Sept. 2020.

Option 3

 * Article title History of Transcendental Meditation
 * Article Evaluation: I found conflicts with the opening sentence of this article, which inherently narrows its scope. It claims that "the Transcendental Meditation movement originated with Maharishi" which has two flaws:
 * a) With an article named The History of Transcendental Meditation, I don't think it's apt to talk about who originated the movement but rather how the practice came to originate. Transcendental meditation is considered an ancient practice in Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions. Therefore, it is flawed to talk about Maharishi as the founder and it's disrespectful to the religions that have endorsed this practice for thousands of years. The change in this scope of the article would allow for the research to go further back than Maharishi's life and acknowledge the cross-cultural and religious distinctions and similarities that have formed over time..
 * Rated: B-Class
 * Rated: B-Class


 * Sources
 * Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending:Travis, F., & Shear, J. (2010). Focused attention, open monitoring and automat ic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(4), 1110-1118. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.01.007

Option 4

 * Article titleTranscendental Meditation in education
 * Article Evaluation: Although this article does very in depth research on what educational institutions currently apply "consciousness based meditation" and how its historic expansion came to be, it fails to account for some of the studies or references on why this practice may be beneficial in an educational setting. It succeeds at showing its praise and cross-cultural expansion yet fails to explain why.
 * Rated: B-Class
 * Rated: B-Class


 * Sources
 * Schneider RH, Walton KG, Salerno JW, Nidich SI. Cardiovascular disease prevention and health promotion with the transcendental meditation program and Maharishi consciousness-based health care. Ethn Dis. 2006;16(3 Suppl 4):S4-26.

Option 5

 * Article title Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
 * Article Evaluation I believe this article incorrectly credits Maharishi for creating the Transcendental Meditation technique. The article even mentions that Maharishi himself credits his instructor for his teachings but this practice has been religiously inspired through generations. It is simply incorrect to credit Maharishi as a creator. He did well consolidating the practice and helping western culture embrace it but to say that he invented the technique is false. It's also interesting how his image is used across all Transcendental Meditation articles, creating the false impression that he is the creator of the movement and technique.
 * Rated: B-Class
 * Rated: B-Class


 * Sources
 * Oliver, Paul. Hinduism and the 1960s : the Rise of a Counter-Culture London, England: Bloomsbury, 2014.
 * P.S. This article accurately depicts how Maharishi created a cultural movement with his teachings and how they differed and were inspired by the Vedic tradition of India.
 * Walton, K. G., Schneider, R. H., & Nidich, S. (2004). Review of Controlled Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program and Cardiovascular Disease. Cardiology in Review, 12(5), 262-266. doi:10.1097/01.crd.0000113021.96119.78
 * Walton, K. G., Schneider, R. H., & Nidich, S. (2004). Review of Controlled Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program and Cardiovascular Disease. Cardiology in Review, 12(5), 262-266. doi:10.1097/01.crd.0000113021.96119.78

This article very accurately and clearly states the reality Of Maharishi's influence by stating:

"The TM technique was introduced to the West by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a scholar of the ancient Vedic tradition of India".

Here we gather:

a) TM technique was only introduced to the west by Maharishi, not created by.

b) TM technique originates from the ancient Vedic tradition of India. Which inherently can come into question since Chinese and Buddhist traditions have also practiced TM since ancient times. To further clarify who practiced it first, we would have to reference ancient religious sources.