I think it is important to note how Oprah makes the distinction between spirituality and religion in both the first YouTube clip and on her website. She describes meditation as more of this spiritual event rather than a religious practice and she makes it known that spirituality and religion are different. So, she’s says that you first need to focus on your spirituality and fulfill it before becoming closer to God, which is the religion aspect. I think a good analogy for what Oprah is trying to say is that you need to know yourself first(spirituality) before you can get to know things bigger than you (religion). Meditation in these videos were not depicted as a religious activity. For example, the practitioners never said they were part of a certain religion. However, Oprah did mention how meditating and fulfilling herself spiritually has helped her become closer to God, which I believe is religion. I think that Oprah’s definition of spirituality is knowing the fullness from which you’ve come and understanding yourself. I think that Oprah’s definition of religion is being connected to that which is greater than yourself and becoming closer to God. And you need to do the first in order to do the second.
Two other terms that I thought were important from the videos were health and science. As Oprah toured around the houses and school in Fairfield she was constantly lectured on the health benefits of meditating. Meditating allowed students to feel like they could be themselves, have better relationships with their friends and family, be able to concentrate better, and was even able to get rambunctious elementary-aged students to sit still during class. It makes them feel calmer and better about themselves. All of these things seen as beneficial to human health and relationships are due to a sense of inner peace that meditating brings. This is why they meditate. I thought that the way the homes were built in the town was very interesting too. The aspect of science was brought in when they built homes around a center peaceful core just like how human cells and the universe are organized. Science was also brought into how homes were built by placing certain rooms in certain places. For example, the kitchen is supposed to be in the southeast of the home because it increases digestibiltiy. Also, the bedrooms should be set up with your head to the east because our brains have the maximum prefrontal cortex coherence when we are facing east, which is good for our thinking. So, parts of the video don’t even have to do with spirituality or religion but just plain science that improves health.
The word TM meditation was not mentioned too much in the videos or at least wasn’t a highlight of them. Maybe the practitioners know the roots behind the meditating that they are doing but it was not highlighted in the videos. I don’t ever remember hearing the word cult in the videos but the videos of the students at the school meditating definitely gave an image of a cult. It almost looked like the kids were being forced to do it. But for the most part all of the these other words like spirituality, religion, and meditating were framed in a good light and being positive for human health. It is for this reason that people continue to meditate.