Thank you for signing up to use the Transcendental Meditation mobile application (the “App”), and services (together, we’ll call these the “Services”) of Maharishi Foundation International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization (including any predecessors or successors, “MFI”, “us”, we” or “our”). The term “you” refers to the person accessing or otherwise using our Services.
This Terms of Service Agreement (the “Terms” or this “Agreement”) describes the rules of our relationship with you and is a legal agreement, so please read it carefully.
You must be at least 16 years old to use the Services (or such other age as determined by us at our sole discretion, taking into account factors such as the jurisdiction in which you are a resident).
Your use of the App constitutes your acceptance of these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, then you should not install or use the App.
MFI reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms, at any time. It is your responsibility to check these Terms periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of changes will mean that you accept and agree to the changes. As long as you comply with these Terms, MFI grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited privilege to use the Services.
If you are a participant in one of our Digital Courses (as defined below), then the terms and conditions set forth under the caption “Additional Terms Applicable to Digital Course Participants” below apply to your participation in the Digital Course, and constitute a part of these Terms.
The entire contents of the App are copyrighted by MFI, unless otherwise noted.
We own or license all copyrights in the text, images, photographs, audio, video, graphics, artwork, user interface, computer code and other content provided on the Services, and the selection, coordination and arrangement of such content (the “MFI Content”) to the full extent provided under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. You are prohibited from selling, leasing, renting, assigning, performing, teaching, modifying, copying, reproducing, publishing, uploading, posting, publicly displaying, mirroring, encoding, translating or transmitting and distributing in any way to any other computer, server, web site or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise any of the content of the Services for any purposes, and nothing otherwise stated or implied in the Services confers on you any license or right to do so.
You may use the Services and the content contained in the Services solely for your own individual non-commercial and informational purposes only. Any other use, including for any commercial purposes, is strictly prohibited without our prior written consent. Systematic retrieval of data or other content from the Services, whether to create or compile, directly or indirectly, a collection, compilation, database or directory, is prohibited without our prior written consent.
Transcendental Meditation®, TM® and Maharishi® are subject to trademark protection in the United States and are used under license or with permission. Transcendental Meditation, TM, Maharishi and other terms used in the App are subject to trademark protection in other countries and are used under license or with permission. Unauthorized use of these trademarked terms is prohibited under the trademark laws of the United States and other countries. Nothing stated or implied in the Services confers on you any rights to use these trademarks.
All page headers, custom graphics, button icons and scripts are copyrighted to MFI and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent.
You will not reproduce, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, perform, teach, display, publish, distribute, transmit, broadcast, sell, license or otherwise exploit the MFI Content.
You are responsible for any activity that occurs through your account and you agree you will not sell, transfer, license or assign your account, followers, username, or any account rights. MFI prohibits the creation of (and you agree that you will not create) an account for anyone other than yourself. You also represent that all information you provide (or have provided) to MFI upon registration and at all other times will be true, accurate, current and complete and you agree to update your information as necessary to maintain its truth and accuracy.
You agree that you will not solicit, collect or use the login credentials of other App users.
You are responsible for keeping your password secret and secure.
You must not adapt, merge, make adaptations, translations or derivative works of, disassemble, decompile, reverse compile, attempt to discover the source code, or reverse engineer, any part of the Services, except to the extent these restrictions are expressly prohibited by applicable law.
You must not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. You agree to comply with all laws, rules and regulations applicable to your use of the Services and your content, including but not limited to, copyright laws.
You must not change, modify, adapt or alter the Services or change, modify or alter another website so as to falsely imply that it is associated with the Services or MFI.
You must not create or submit unwanted email, comments, likes or other forms of commercial or harassing communications (a/k/a “spam”) to any App users.
You must not interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, including by transmitting any worms, viruses, spyware, malware or any other code of a destructive or disruptive nature.
You must not attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the servers or networks connected to the Services or breach the associated security or authentication measures without proper authorization.
You must not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of the App or one or more of the Services.
You must not use any "deep-link", "page-scrape", "robot", "spider" or other automatic device, program, algorithm or methodology, or any similar or equivalent manual process, to access, acquire, copy or monitor any portion of the App, the Services or any MFI Content, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the App, the Services or any MFI Content, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents or information through any means not purposely made available through the App.
You must not create accounts with the Services through unauthorized means, including but not limited to, by using an automated device, script, bot, spider, crawler or scraper.
You must not inject content or code or otherwise alter or interfere with the way any MFI Content is rendered or displayed in a user’s browser or device.
You must not attempt to restrict another user from using or enjoying the Services and you must not encourage or facilitate violations of these Terms or any other MFI agreements.
You understand and agree that MFI cannot and will not be responsible for content posted by others on the Services and you use the Services at your own risk.
You are solely responsible for your interaction with other users of the Services, whether online or offline. You agree that MFI is not responsible or liable for the conduct of any user.
MFI reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor or become involved in disputes between you and other users. Exercise common sense and your best judgment when interacting with others.
You agree that you are responsible for all data charges you incur through use of the Services.
If you violate the letter or spirit of these Terms, or otherwise create risk or possible legal exposure for MFI, we can stop providing all or part of the Services to you and/or terminate your App account.
We may investigate occurrences that may involve violations of the security of the App, the Services or of the law, and we may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.
Although it is our intention for the Services to be available as much as possible, there will be occasions when the Services may be interrupted, including, without limitation, for scheduled maintenance or upgrades, for emergency repairs, or due to failure of telecommunications links and/or equipment.
We reserve the right to remove any content from the Services for any reason, without prior notice. Content removed from the Services may continue to be stored by us, including, without limitation, in order to comply with certain legal obligations, but may not be retrievable without a valid court order.
MFI is not a backup service and you agree that you will not rely on the Services for the purposes of content backup or storage.
We will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Services, or the loss of any content.
You acknowledge that the Internet may be subject to breaches of security and that the submission of content or other information may not be secure.
We reserve the right to modify or terminate the Services or your access to the Services for any reason, without notice, at any time, and without liability to you. Upon termination, all licenses and other rights granted to you in these Terms will immediately cease.
We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change these Terms from time to time (hereinafter, the “Updated Terms”).
You agree that we may notify you of the Updated Terms by posting them on the App or in the Services, and that your use of the Services after the effective date of the Updated Terms constitutes your agreement to the Updated Terms. Therefore, you should review these Terms and any Updated Terms before using the Services.
The Updated Terms will be effective as of the time of posting, or such later date as may be specified in the Updated Terms, and will apply to your use of the Services from that point forward. These Terms will govern any disputes arising before the effective date of the Updated Terms.
We reserve the right to refuse access to the Services to anyone for any reason at any time.
AS PART OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, YOU CONSENT TO THE PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM, INCLUDING THE PROCESSING AND STORING OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR TRACKING INDIVIDUAL USE OF THE SERVICES. BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF PROTECTIONS FOR YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION THAT EXIST IN YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE, AND YOU NONETHELESS CONSENT TO THE PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. WE WILL TAKE MEASURES AS REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH APPLICABLE LAW REGARDING THE TRANSFER, STORAGE AND USE OF CERTAIN PERSONAL INFORMATION.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and security and we have explained in detail the steps we take to do so in our Privacy Policy. You, in turn, agree and consent to the terms of the Privacy Policy by your use of the Services. Our Privacy Policy applies to use of the Services, and its terms are made a part of these Terms by this reference. Additionally, by using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that Internet transmissions are never completely private or secure. You understand that any message or information you send to the App may be read or intercepted by others, even if there is a special notice that a particular transmission is encrypted.
MFI DOES NOT PROMISE THAT THE SERVICES (OR ANY CONTENT OR FEATURE OF THE SERVICES) WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL PROVIDE SPECIFIC RESULTS. THE SERVICES AND ITS CONTENT ARE DELIVERED ON AN "AS-IS" AND "AS-AVAILABLE" BASIS. ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE APP AND IN THE SERVICES IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. MFI CANNOT ENSURE THAT ANY FILES OR OTHER DATA YOU DOWNLOAD FROM THE APP WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR CONTAMINATION OR DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES. MFI DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. MFI DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR THE ACTS, OMISSIONS AND CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE APP AND/OR ANY SERVICES. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR USE OF THE APP AND THE SERVICES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY AGAINST MFI FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE APP, THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT IS TO STOP USING THE APP, THE SERVICES OR ANY SUCH CONTENT. THIS LIMITATION OF RELIEF IS A PART OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE PARTIES.
The above disclaimer applies to any damages, liability or injuries caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use, whether for breach of contract, tort, negligence or any other cause of action.
MFI reserves the right to do any of the following, at any time, without notice: (i) to modify, suspend or terminate operation of or access to the App or the Services, or any portion of the App or the Services, for any reason; (ii) to modify or change the App or the Services, or any portion of the App or the Services, and any applicable policies or terms; and (iii) to interrupt the operation of the Services, or any portion of the Services, as necessary to perform routine or non-routine maintenance, error correction, or other changes.
Except where prohibited by law, in no event will MFI be liable to you for any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental or punitive damages, including lost profits, even if MFI has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
If, notwithstanding the other provisions of these Terms, MFI is found to be liable to you for any damage or loss which arises out of or is in any way connected with your use of the App, the Services or an MFI Content, MFI’s liability shall in no event exceed the greater of (i) the total of any subscription or similar fees with respect to any service or feature of or on the App paid in the six months prior to the date of the initial claim made against MFI or (ii) US$100.00. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations of liability, so the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.
You agree to defend (at MFI’s request), indemnify and hold harmless MFI, its officers, directors, shareholders, predecessors, successors in interest, employees, agents, subsidiaries and affiliates, from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including without limitation, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, arising out of or in any way connected with any of the following (including as a result of your direct activities on the Services): (i) your content or your access to or use of the Services; (ii) your breach or alleged breach of these Terms; (iii) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation, any intellectual property right, publicity, confidentiality, property or privacy right; (iv) your violation of any laws, rules, regulations, codes, statutes, ordinances or orders of any governmental and quasi-governmental authorities, including, without limitation, all regulatory, administrative and legislative authorities; or (v) any misrepresentation made by you. You will cooperate as fully required by MFI in the defense of any claim. MFI reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you will not in any event settle any claim without the prior written consent of MFI.
The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to this Agreement. You agree that all matters relating to your access to or use of the Services, including all disputes, will be governed by the laws of the United States and by the laws of the State of Iowa without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions. You agree to the personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts in Jefferson County, Iowa, and waive any objection to such jurisdiction or venue. The preceding provision regarding venue does not apply if you are a consumer based in the European Union. If you are a consumer based in the European Union, you may make a claim in the courts of the country where you reside. Any claim under these Terms of Service must be brought within one (1) year after the cause of action arises, or such claim or cause of action is barred. With respect to any and all disputes arising out of or relating to the Services or this Agreement (including, without limitation, the Privacy Policy), you and MFI agree to negotiate in good faith to achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution. All disputes arising under this Agreement that cannot be settled through informal negotiation will be settled exclusively through confidential binding arbitration in accordance with the Consumer Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (for disputes subject to U.S. law). The arbitrator's award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction. You agree that MFI may seek any interim or preliminary relief from any court of competent jurisdiction necessary to protect its rights or property pending the completion of arbitration. By agreeing to arbitrate, you agree that you are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) all disputes in court before a judge or jury.
Any proceedings to resolve any dispute will be conducted solely on an individual basis. Neither you nor MFI will seek to have any dispute heard as a class action or in any other proceeding in which either party acts or proposes to act in a representative capacity. In addition, no arbitration or proceeding will be combined with another without the prior written consent of all parties to all affected arbitrations or proceedings. If the prohibition against class actions and other claims brought on behalf of third parties contained above is found to be unenforceable, then all of the preceding language in this paragraph will be null and void.
MFI reserves the right to change this dispute resolution provision, but any such changes will not apply to disputes arising before the effective date of the amendment. This dispute resolution provision will survive the termination of any or all of your transactions with MFI.
MFI is a U.S. non-profit corporation. We do not represent that the content or materials presented on the Services are appropriate (or, in some cases, available) for use in other locations. The information provided within the Services is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject MFI to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. If you access the Services from a jurisdiction other than the United States, you agree that (i) you do so on your own initiative and (ii) you are responsible for compliance with local laws (if and to the extent local laws are applicable to your use of the Services). We reserve the right to limit the availability of the Services, or any portion of the Services, to any person, geographic area, or jurisdiction, at any time and in our sole discretion, and to limit the quantities of any content, program, product, service or other feature that MFI provides.
MFI provides content regarding, and technologies which facilitate the teaching of, Transcendental Meditation and its related programs. In this respect, we render services in the health and wellness sector. We are not a health care provider or a medical device provider, and our Services should not be considered medical advice. Please consult your physician or other health care provider for medical advice.
While there is third party evidence from research that Transcendental Meditation can assist in the prevention and recovery process for a wide array of conditions as well as in improving some performance and relationship issues, MFI makes no claims, representations or guarantees that the Services provide a therapeutic benefit.
Any advice or other materials in the Services are intended for general information purposes only. Likewise, any information supplied by any of our employees or agents, whether by telephone, e-mail, online chat, letter, facsimile or other form of communication, is intended solely as general guidance on the use of the Services, and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. You should not rely on this advice or other materials as a substitute for professional medical advice based on your individual condition and circumstances.
The advice and other materials we make available are intended to support the relationship between you and your healthcare providers and not replace it. We are not liable or responsible for any consequences of your having read or been told about such advice or other materials as you assume full responsibility for your decisions and actions. In particular, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no representation or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the advice, other materials and information published as part of the Services.
There have been rare reports where people with certain psychiatric problems like anxiety and depression have experienced worsening conditions in conjunction with intensive meditation practice. People with existing mental health conditions should speak with their health care providers before starting any meditation practice, including Transcendental Meditation.
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and MFI and govern your use of the Services, superseding any prior agreements between you and MFI.
These Terms shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, MFI and you. These terms shall also be binding upon, an inure to the benefit of, the respective successors and permitted assigns of MFI and you.
You will not assign these Terms or assign any rights or delegate any obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, without the prior written consent of MFI. Any purported assignment or delegation by you without the appropriate prior written consent of MFI will be null and void.
MFI may assign these Terms or any rights hereunder without your consent.
These Terms do not confer any rights or remedies on any third parties.
If any provision of these Terms is held to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable during arbitration or by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that provision will be deemed severable from these Terms and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
MFI’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of these Terms will not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. No waiver of any of these Terms will be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.
You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and MFI as a result of this Agreement or your use of the Services.
Nothing contained in this Agreement is in derogation of our right to comply with governmental, court and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the Services or information provided to or gathered by us with respect to such use. A printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.
These Terms were written in English (US). To the extent any translated version of these Terms conflicts with the English version, the English version controls.
At our option, we may give notices to users of the Services by posting a message on the App, by electronic mail, or by any other means by which users obtain actual knowledge thereof. Any notices you give to us must be by electronic or conventional mail. Any notices you send to us by electronic mail must be sent to: legal@maharishi.foundation. Notices to us by conventional mail must be sent to: Maharishi Foundation International, PO Box 624, Fairfield, Iowa 52556; attention Legal Department. Any notice by you to us will not change the terms of this Agreement unless the change is expressly accepted in writing by one of our authorized officers.
Any feedback you provide on the App or the Services shall be deemed to be non-confidential. MFI shall be free to use such information on an unrestricted basis.
Please report any violations of these Terms to legal@maharishi.foundation or Maharishi Foundation International, PO Box 624, Fairfield, Iowa 52556; attention Legal Department.
From time to time, MFI may offer digital MFI Content (“Digital Course Content”) through the App in order to facilitate the teaching of the Transcendental Meditation technique (“TM”) in a course (“TM Course”) taught by a certified TM teacher who has been authorized by MFI to use the App and the Digital Course Content (collectively, the “Digital Course”) to assist in teaching TM Courses.
The following Terms apply to all course participants in our Digital Courses (the “Digital Course Terms”).
Your downloading of the App constitutes your acceptance all of the Terms of the App (including these Digital Course Terms).
If you do not agree to all of the Terms of the App (including these Digital Course Terms), you should not install or use the App and you should not participate in the Digital Course.
The Digital Course Terms supplement the other Terms set forth herein and, if there is any inconsistency or conflict between the Digital Course Terms and the other Terms set forth herein, the Digital Course Terms shall control.
Your acceptance of the Digital Course Terms provides you with a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and temporary license and permission to use the App and the Digital Course Content to participate in the Digital Course, which limited license and permission we may revoke at any time.
As a condition to participating in the Digital Course, you make the following representations and warranties to, and agreements with, MFI with respect to your usage of the App and the Digital Content in connection with your participation in the Digital Course:
As a condition to participating in the Digital Course, you may be required to provide complete and accurate personal information, including, without limitation, your name, address, date of birth, telephone number and e-mail address. Our Privacy Policy explains how this information may be used by us.
These Terms are effective and were last updated on September 29, 2022.