Mariyah Green, a 2020 graduate of Bogan High School (a part of Chicago Public Schools), was awarded $150,000 by the Clerk of Court from the Northern District of Illinois on October 23 because when she was a student, she was forced to participate in Hindu meditation which violated her Christian faith.

The defendants (the David Lynch Foundation (DLF) and the Chicago Board of Education) each offered to pay Green $75,000, rather than having to go to trial or before a judge.

CPS students were required to participate in “Quiet Time,” which were two daily 15-minute periods dedicated to “transcendental meditation” (TM), made famous by Hindu guru, (“spiritual guide”) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. As part of TM, Green and other CPS students had to engage in a Puja initiation rite.

DLF refers to the Puja as an “expression of gratitude” ceremony to the dead founders of TM. According to the lawsuit presented by Mauck & Baker on Green’s behalf,

“CPS students were regularly asked by the instructors to participate in the ‘Puja’ by placing various items before the image of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, also known as Guru Dev, or to kneel before that image.”

The lawsuit also says,

“CPS students were asked to remain present while the certified ‘Transcendental Meditation’ instructor performed a ritual involving the chanting of Sanskrit words coordinated with certain rehearsed movements.”

The following is an English translation of some of these Sanskrit words:

“Invocation

“To Lord Narayana, to lotus-born Brahma the Creator, to Vashishtha, to Shakti and his son Parashar,

“To Vyasa, to Shukadeva, to the great Gaudapada, to Govinda, ruler among theyogis, to his disciple,

“Shri Shankaracharya, to his disciples Padma Pada and Hasta Malaka

“And Trotakacharya and Vartika-Kara, to others, to the tradition of our Master, I bow down.

“To the abode of the wisdom of the Shrutis, Smritis and Puranas, to the abode ofkindness, to the personified glory of the Lord, to Shankara, emancipator of theworld, I bow down.

“To Shankaracharya the redeemer, hailed as Krishna and Badarayana, to thecommentator of the Brahma Sutras, I bow down. To the glory of the Lord I bowdown again and again, at whose door the whole galaxy of gods pray (sic) for perfection day and night.

“Adorned with immeasurable glory, preceptor of the whole world, having boweddown to Him we gain fulfillment.

“Skilled in dispelling the cloud of ignorance of the people, the gentle emancipator, Brahmananda Sarasvati, the supreme teacher, full of brilliance, Him I bring to my awareness.”

TM instructors also assigned mantras to each student, and students were taught to silently repeat their mantras which honor Hindu gods or goddesses. According to the lawsuit,

“The specific mantra assigned to a particular student is chosen by the instructors according to criteria which the instructors refuse to disclose even though they maintain the mantra is ‘meaningless.’ The students were also told they could not choose a mantra of their own, even though the assigned mantra was supposedly meaningless.”

In addition, instructors told students that participated in their “Quiet Time” program to keep it a secret from others –including their parents and friends.

Green had transferred to Bogan for its basketball program. She knew that she had to get good grades to stay on the team, and she felt like she was forced to participate in “Quiet Time” or she would receive a low grade and then be forced off the basketball team.

Green’s lawyers argued that,

“By proposing that the ‘Quiet Time’ program be facilitated within CPS schools, [David Lync Foundation] knew or should have known that they would be violating the First Amendment Establishment and Free Exercise rights of vulnerable CPS students, including minor students.”

The judgment reached on October 23 was a huge victory for The First Amendment rights of students across the country!

No one should be forced to participate in religious practices that go against their own beliefs.

Let us pray that we will see more such legal victories that will extend to religious conscience protections, parental rights, sex education, LGBTQ indoctrination, and other school curriculum.