Burn the bridge?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Burn the bridge?

The feud pits the Iowa nonprofit that has taught transcendental meditation for decades against Thom Knoles, a former associate who left and built his own group of followers. The outcome could decide whether the Fairfield, Iowa-based Maharishi Foundation will continue to control the teaching of U.S. transcendental meditation – or whether rivals can market similar services and its benefits without obtaining a license from the group.

The sides are fighting for customers and to protect their own reputations in a federal court case over whether the foundation can enforce its trademark rights and claims of false advertising against Knoles and other teachers of his rival Vedic Meditation. With high stakes, the litigation over a technique that supporters say can reduce stress and blood pressure is getting tense.

To the foundation, Knoles and his followers are using the credibility and positive image associated with its technique to promote themselves and mislead customers. To Knoles’ backers, the foundation is unfairly seeking a monopoly on a technique that’s existed thousands of years.

Supporters of transcendental meditation – which involves closing one’s eyes twice daily for 20 minutes while silently thinking to reduce stress and promote health – are being warned to choose sides carefully.

“Once you’ve formally burned your bridges, however, I’m afraid there’ll be nothing more I or anyone can do to help you,” a foundation supporter wrote in 2011, advising a businessman to reconsider his commitment to Knoles, in an email included in court records.