So I've heard from many people over the last couple of years how advantageous it is to practice Transcendental Meditation.
I never really distinguished it from meditation in general and never understood the difference at all.
That is until I decided I'd like to learn it. The first thing I noticed was a significant amount of peer reviewed literature about the benefits of TM. The American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, etc. are all on board with the practice citing that it dramatically reduces cardiovascular disease including blood pressure, cholesterol and a host of other things that suck.
In addition to that, there's a never ending supply of 'celebrities' who can't stop talking about TM and how it has transformed their lives.
Everyone from Dr. Oz to Howard Stern promotes it.
They've integrated the practice into public schools to increase focus and even the U.S. Army for PTSD.
The second thing I noticed when attempting to learn TM was that there was NO source of information about HOW TO perform it.
There are no books, no youtube videos, no torrents, no DVDs, nada.
The ONLY place you can learn this esoteric technique is from a certified TM instructor found on their organizational website.
To boot, in spite of the fact it's been taught since the late 50's as a formal discipline....there are only a handful of folks teaching it in various states. There are literally only 3 places to get it in NJ where I hail from. There are possibly a few more in NY and the surrounding areas...which is surprising considering how much folks tout TM.
Apparently to become an instructor you've gotta goto France for 5 months for training...so I guess that's a bit of a hindrance...but still in 50 years you'd think more folks would be out there teaching.
Nonetheless: To begin the practice, you've gotta sit through a 'lecture' that's very similar to those sorts of talks you get when someone is trying to sell you a time share. It's not a 'HARD' sell, but it's not really soft and fluffy either. Then they take you back for an "interview" which is basically them asking some health questions, your motivation for learning TM and then they grill you about the use of Hallucinogenic drugs and recreational drugs.
Apparently they want you to dry out for 15 days prior to learning TM and they're pretty rigid about that.
Their take is that it interferes with the brain's ability to learn or whatever.
TM is a 5000+ year old technique, but it was really kicked into the public consciousness with the advent of the Beatles. When they were all tripping balls and such, they met this Maharishi:
He taught them the technique and the rest as they say is history.
Not sure how he got them to curtail their proclivity to take drugs but they clearly never stopped on a permanent basis.
Anyway I've got issues with folks telling me to dry out, but I'm very interested in TM for a variety of reasons relating to the health benefits.
The only thing I can glean from talking with some of these instructors and the spotty info. available online is that you're given a "mantra" or sound that you can focus on...like OHM.
My basic understanding is that focusing on something like the mantra allows the brain and body to achieve deep relaxation.
Now if that's the ENTIRE basis of TM I'm gonna be pissed off because I can sit in a room and chant OHM for awhile without shelling out $ or drying the F.U.C.K. out or having to allocate 4 consecutive days in a row to work with an instructor 1 on 1 (which is the other catch).
I'm curious if anyone out there practices TM and has a take on it that would help me understand better the secrecy of the practice, the almost multi-level marketing B.S. with a splash of Scientology mixed in for good measure.
I can't ignore the myriad of different legitimate medical resources that speak of the benefit and the host of different high profile celebutantes that can't say enough good things. But at the same time there seems to be a lot of nonsense and hoops to jump through to learn it.
I'm frankly shocked nobody has put together a rogue video or book to expose the secrets of the technique to date.
Discuss.
I never really distinguished it from meditation in general and never understood the difference at all.
That is until I decided I'd like to learn it. The first thing I noticed was a significant amount of peer reviewed literature about the benefits of TM. The American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, etc. are all on board with the practice citing that it dramatically reduces cardiovascular disease including blood pressure, cholesterol and a host of other things that suck.
In addition to that, there's a never ending supply of 'celebrities' who can't stop talking about TM and how it has transformed their lives.
Everyone from Dr. Oz to Howard Stern promotes it.
They've integrated the practice into public schools to increase focus and even the U.S. Army for PTSD.
The second thing I noticed when attempting to learn TM was that there was NO source of information about HOW TO perform it.
There are no books, no youtube videos, no torrents, no DVDs, nada.
The ONLY place you can learn this esoteric technique is from a certified TM instructor found on their organizational website.
To boot, in spite of the fact it's been taught since the late 50's as a formal discipline....there are only a handful of folks teaching it in various states. There are literally only 3 places to get it in NJ where I hail from. There are possibly a few more in NY and the surrounding areas...which is surprising considering how much folks tout TM.
Apparently to become an instructor you've gotta goto France for 5 months for training...so I guess that's a bit of a hindrance...but still in 50 years you'd think more folks would be out there teaching.
Nonetheless: To begin the practice, you've gotta sit through a 'lecture' that's very similar to those sorts of talks you get when someone is trying to sell you a time share. It's not a 'HARD' sell, but it's not really soft and fluffy either. Then they take you back for an "interview" which is basically them asking some health questions, your motivation for learning TM and then they grill you about the use of Hallucinogenic drugs and recreational drugs.
Apparently they want you to dry out for 15 days prior to learning TM and they're pretty rigid about that.
Their take is that it interferes with the brain's ability to learn or whatever.
TM is a 5000+ year old technique, but it was really kicked into the public consciousness with the advent of the Beatles. When they were all tripping balls and such, they met this Maharishi:
He taught them the technique and the rest as they say is history.
Not sure how he got them to curtail their proclivity to take drugs but they clearly never stopped on a permanent basis.
Anyway I've got issues with folks telling me to dry out, but I'm very interested in TM for a variety of reasons relating to the health benefits.
The only thing I can glean from talking with some of these instructors and the spotty info. available online is that you're given a "mantra" or sound that you can focus on...like OHM.
My basic understanding is that focusing on something like the mantra allows the brain and body to achieve deep relaxation.
Now if that's the ENTIRE basis of TM I'm gonna be pissed off because I can sit in a room and chant OHM for awhile without shelling out $ or drying the F.U.C.K. out or having to allocate 4 consecutive days in a row to work with an instructor 1 on 1 (which is the other catch).
I'm curious if anyone out there practices TM and has a take on it that would help me understand better the secrecy of the practice, the almost multi-level marketing B.S. with a splash of Scientology mixed in for good measure.
I can't ignore the myriad of different legitimate medical resources that speak of the benefit and the host of different high profile celebutantes that can't say enough good things. But at the same time there seems to be a lot of nonsense and hoops to jump through to learn it.
I'm frankly shocked nobody has put together a rogue video or book to expose the secrets of the technique to date.
Discuss.
