Transcendental Meditation is an effortless, simple and profoundly effective, unique form of meditation practised 20 minutes twice daily, sitting comfortably with eyes closed. It’s not a religion, philosophy, or change in lifestyle. It’s not concentration, contemplation, or observing your thoughts – nor is it common mantra meditation.
Transcendental Meditation allows your mind to settle inward beyond thought to the most silent, peaceful level of consciousness – your innermost Self, transcendental, pure consciousness. This deeply restful experience of transcending rejuvenates mind and body, leading to a wide range of benefits.
No, Transcendental Meditation is purely a technique and requires no change in belief. It simply allows the mind to settle down until it reaches a state of restful alertness. This experience has great relevance to all areas of life, but is up to you how you interpret it. You can see it as a technique for personal effectiveness, for relief from stress, for unlocking creativity, for helping a specific health complaint, for putting you back in contact with your Self. Of course, it is all those things and more.
Tens of thousands of people in the UK and millions of people around the world practise Transcendental Meditation every day.
Yes, Transcendental Meditation requires no intellectual effort. Anyone can do it – even children. The technique allows the activity of the mind to settle down in a natural way until it is left quiet, yet wide awake. It’s very easy, and everything you need to know is explained in simple language during the course.
When you practise Transcendental Meditation, you sit comfortably with your eyes closed, in silence. There is no need to adopt any awkward postures. It’s possible to meditate anywhere – on a bus, train, or even on a plane.
No. Many meditation techniques are available today—and they are taught in many different ways. However, Transcendental Meditation cannot be learned from a book or a tape. Even though the process of instruction in Transcendental Meditation is very systematic—making the Transcendental Meditation programme ideally suited for scientific research—the instruction is very much tailored to each individual who learns the practice. Every person is different, and every person has a different pace of learning and a different set of personal experiences. So, Transcendental Meditation is taught on a one-to-one basis, by a highly trained and experienced Transcendental Meditation teacher, using a set procedure such that everyone who learns can be sure they are practising correctly and are thus able to enjoy this simple, natural technique.
This varies from person to person. The results are cumulative, but most people notice significant benefit within a few days of learning.
Many people who practise Transcendental Meditation find that the removal of stress gives them clarity, perspective and vigour, not to mention as well as many health benefits and improvements in relations with friends and family.
Unlike most practices, Transcendental Meditation involves no effort. It’s easy to learn, enjoyable to practise, and most people experience benefits from the start.
Transcendental Meditation is generally recognised by many as to be the most ancient, most easily learned, and most beneficial form of meditation. It is unique and fundamentally different from other forms of meditation. It is not mind-control or mental discipline; it is not concentration, in which the effort involved keeps the mind lively and active; or contemplation, in which the mind drifts around the meaning of a thought or idea.
You don’t have to control your breathing or muscles. You don’t even have to try to relax. Transcendental Meditation is a technique that facilitates a completely natural process that allows the mind to effortlessly go beyond even the finest level of thought, and experience deep inner silence. This is called “transcending”.
The technique provides access to the reservoir of creativity, energy and intelligence deep within everyone – for resulting in more effective thinking and increased happiness.
The experience of the most settled state of awareness, pure consciousness, through Transcendental Meditation practice produces a profound state of inner peace in individual life. But this individual peace spreads naturally to the environment as well. Every individual influences his or her family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and society as a whole, every day. Not surprisingly, if enough people are experiencing inner peace, then that peace can radiate strongly enough into the environment to influence social trends.
A number of sociological studies, published in respected peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the Journal of Conflict Resolution (Yale University Press), suggest that large numbers of people practising Transcendental Meditation in a given population area can reduce indicators of social stress in that area, including crime and violence. These findings appear to uphold the vision of Transcendental Meditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose motivation for introducing the Transcendental Meditation programme to people everywhere was to create a lasting foundation for world peace as well as enlightenment for the individual. He has said that just as light bulbs radiate light and eliminate darkness, individuals experiencing inner peace through the Transcendental Meditation programme naturally radiate that peace into their environment, contributing to the creation of harmony and peace in the world.
The technique of Transcendental Meditation is thousands of years old—it comes from an unbroken tradition of meditation instruction from ancient India. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi first introduced the technique to the West over 50 years ago. It was Maharishi’s idea to subject Transcendental Meditation to scientific scrutiny in order to establish its practical benefits to daily life. Maharishi has trained tens of thousands of Transcendental Meditation teachers who are providing Transcendental Meditation instruction in all parts of the world. In a recent cover story on science and meditation, Time magazine recently credited Maharishi for the revival of meditation and yoga in the USA and around the globe.
That’s fine. You do not need to believe that Transcendental Meditation will work. It is a simple, natural process, and the results speak for themselves. This is because the technique makes use of a natural mechanism within the mind and body—long forgotten by most people—to settle down and take profoundly deep rest. No amount of belief or disbelief will change that inherent ability.
No, if you use “spiritual ” in the sense of a religious practice. But yes, if you define “spiritual ” as the nonreligious, holistic development of mind, body, emotions, and sense of self. In the latter case, Transcendental Meditation is a deeply healthy and satisfying spiritual practice.
