Transcendental meditation without a clock?

[tatsumaru]

I recently gave TM a try and it felt enjoyable and easygoing. As you might now the guidelines for practicing TM require the student to use a clock to measure the length of the meditation precisely. 30 seconds are allocated at the beginning for relaxation, then 20 minutes for meditation and finally 90 seconds for easing back into the non-meditative state. The clock should not use an alarm, instead the one meditating should slightly open their eyes to check on the time every now and then. The thing is using a clock to meditate feels very artificial and forced and unintuitive. I can't imagine a Yogi in the Himalayas meditating in deep trance and having a clock right next to him making sure he's measuring his meditation correctly in Newtonian time. I asked my TM instructor if an experienced practitioner could ditch the clock and he said no and that the clock is important. What do you think? Can TM be done without a clock successfully?

[GreenWoods]

Certain instructions are useful to follow, but using the clock in the way you described seems hilarious. Accidentally meditating for 21 minutes makes you turn into stone or what?

If the clock feels useful, use it. Otherwise ditch it.

But don't tell your instructor, he might get a heart attack.

Edited February 23, 2021 by GreenWoods

[snowyowl]

19 hours ago, tatsumaru said:

Can TM be done without a clock successfully?

TM is a global brand with a specific business model. Although it is (imo) a standard type of mantra meditation, they need to have some way to make it seem unique and special like any other branded product. If you go to McDonald's, you can't start asking for a slightly different recipe of burger, the staff aren't allowed to change the product which is the same everywhere. That's controlled centrally. 

It raises a good question and a big decision for you. Do you want a practice which is strictly controlled and directed for you by the organisation (it's not only TM like this so no judgement of them), or do you want to have some (or all) control yourself? 

This isn't black and white, like if you're a beginner and not very confident then you might want to start by following the teachers until you've built up some experience and confidence, then start experimenting. Although that might mean parting ways with the TM organisation. Have you paid to learn it? I did, made it harder to look elsewhere. 

But of course you can do mantra meditation without a clock and exact times, the thing is, how important is it to be the exact TM recipe rather than some other variation? Over to you. 

Edited February 23, 2021 by snowyowl

[Michal__]

Well, for me I always intuitively felt when the 20 minutes was over. But then again, I did not learn TM from the movement, but I am 99.99 % certain I have the right one.

I do not do TM anymore.

[Petals]

@tatsumaru I use a timer with a gong sound halfway through and at the end. I tried not using a timer for a while because I thought 'isn't it weird that I want to reach timelessness in time?'. but the thing is my mind needs an orientation and if doesn't have that, then it will wander here and there and will do what it wants, becoming lazy, wondering when it will be over, etc.. So I recommend using some sort of timer or clock to give the mind an orientation. And don't take minutia so seriously, choose what suits you. PS: I am assuming this but what are you more likely to find in a (traditional) meditation hall - a gong or a clock?

Edited February 24, 2021 by Petals