What are your thoughts on Transcendental Meditation?

[bazera]

Hey guys,

I've found a local teacher who teaches TM. He charges money for giving a custom mantra that you're not supposed to tell anyone and instruction for how to use it. I don't know how that mantra is special or how effective the meditation is. But I want to try it and see it because I've met a couple of his students and they say that TM has changed their life and meditation itself is very effective.

Have you tried TM and if so, what were your results?

[Space]

@bazera One of the few meditation practises I haven't ever tried. But I know about the teacher charging you money for an exclusive mantra. My best friend does this. 

To be honest it seems like a total scam to me. A special mantra might be useful or applicable to that top 1% spiritually gifted and hyper sensitive meditators, but for most people the specific mantra you use is probably largely unimportant. 

Regarding the students, has TM actually changed their lives or are do they just think/believe it has? What are they more conscious of now that they were not before? 

[bazera]

@Space

Quote

Regarding the students, has TM actually changed their lives or are do they just think/believe it has? What are they more conscious of now that they were not before? 

Don't know for sure, but one person I've talked to seemed to be a person you've described, a spiritually gifted one because he was telling me stories from his childhood when he was feeling connected to the universe and things like that, without even any meditation. And now, as he claims, TM made him able to connect to universal consciousness and God. Don't know any other details. 

I was thinking about how that mantra can be effective, I mean, it's just a word right? How can some custom mantra words repeated and observed be helpful for becoming more conscious?

[TheSelf]

You should be initiated to a mantra for it to work on you as far as I know, yes, but I don't know how a basic meditation teacher(not a guru) like all Transcendental Meditation teachers can initiate people?

Sooo I guess I'd not take this Transcendental Meditation thing seriously.

Edited April 19, 2021 by m0hsen

[bazera]

Quote

You should be initiated to a mantra for it to work on you as far as I know, yes, but I don't know how a basic meditation teacher(not a guru) like all Transcendental Meditation teachers can initiate people?

The teacher I'm talking about does this for like 25 years.

I guess there is only one way to find out if it's valid or not. I'll try it and see how it goes, maybe there is something real in a custom-given mantra that I don't know at this point yet.

[TheSelf]

1 hour ago, bazera said:

I was thinking about how that mantra can be effective, I mean, it's just a word right? How can some custom mantra words repeated and observed be helpful for becoming more conscious?

When your mind focus on something long enough like a mantra, "you" will slowly fadeaway also along with other thoughts, when this finally start to happen after a lot of practice, you'll gradually reach a higher state of consciousness.

[TheSelf]

So "you" is the main hindrance  to reach higher state of consciousness, if you can focus on something either a mantra or your breath or whatever so intensely that you kinda lose yourself into it (no more I thoughts), the gates will open for you.

[Space]

1 hour ago, bazera said:

@Space

Don't know for sure, but one person I've talked to seemed to be a person you've described, a spiritually gifted one because he was telling me stories from his childhood when he was feeling connected to the universe and things like that, without even any meditation. And now, as he claims, TM made him able to connect to universal consciousness and God. Don't know any other details. 

I was thinking about how that mantra can be effective, I mean, it's just a word right? How can some custom mantra words repeated and observed be helpful for becoming more conscious?

TM can definitely be an effective practise. I'm not denying the efficacy of the technique, just the importance of a specific individual mantra.

I'm not sure how the technique works.

[TheSelf]

59 minutes ago, Space said:

just the importance of a specific individual mantra

it's important if a real guru initiate you, but most of the TM teachers are just simple teachers.

[bazera]

2 hours ago, m0hsen said:

When your mind focus on something long enough like a mantra, "you" will slowly fadeaway also along with other thoughts, when this finally start to happen after a lot of practice, you'll gradually reach a higher state of consciousness.

Yeah, I understand that, but then the question is, why can't I use any random silly-sounding mantra? Something that I come up with. 

Why is it important to acquire it from a guru? That's the part I'm not getting.

Sound is sound, right?

[TheSelf]

10 minutes ago, bazera said:

Yeah, I understand that, but then the question is, why can't I use any random silly-sounding mantra? Something that I come up with. 

Why is it important to acquire it from a guru? That's the part I'm not getting.

Sound is sound, right?

You can pick any objects for your meditation and fix your mind on it and it'll definitely work and you'll see results by practice, but it's a different story when it comes to sacred syllables mantras which you want them have a special effect on you, this need proper initiation.

this is from the book Talks with Ramana Maharshi:

Talk 8.

“Can anyone get any benefit by repeating sacred syllables (mantras) picked up casually?

M.: “No. He must be competent and initiated in such mantras.”

Maharshi illustrated this by the following story:

A King visited 2Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
his Premier in his residence. There he was told that the Premier was engaged in repetition of sacred syllables (japa). The King waited for him and, on meeting him, asked what the japa was. The Premier said that it was the holiest of all, Gayatri. The King desired to be initiated by the Premier. But the Premier confessed his inability to initiate him. Therefore the King learned it from someone else, and meeting the Minister later he repeated the Gayatri and wanted to know if it was right. The Minister said that the mantra was correct, but it was not proper for him to say it. When pressed for an explanation, the Minister called to a page close by and ordered him to take hold of the King. The order was not obeyed. The order was often repeated, and still not obeyed. The King flew into a rage and ordered the same man to hold the Minister, and it was immediately done. The Minister laughed and said that the incident was the explanation required by the King. “How?” asked the King. The Minister replied, “The order was the same and the executor also, but the authority was different. When I ordered, the effect was nil, whereas, when you ordered, there was immediate effect. Similarly with mantras.”

[mandyjw]

I'd go with your intuition on it. If you're genuinely curious, don't mind spending the money and don't care about the result, you'll already have the mindset in order to be open to it being effective anyway. However exploring on your own can be really rewarding too. 

I once listened to a podcast with someone who was really into transcendental meditation and basically I gleaned from it "Oh, meditation is supposed to feel amazing!". It was a big insight. Maybe they said something about the crown chakra too.

You're already a member of the Illuminati you know, Illuminati, the Eye of Providence, the all seeing eye in a pyramid, (peer amid), Awareness, "what is" looking at this right now. Same damn thing, open and available for everyone, and yet also, completely secretive and unfindable. 

You're more powerful than you know. So powerful you can play student if you'd like. A good pupil is just a black hole that is "what" allows light in, otherwise there's no seeing. 

[Breakingthewall]

that's a scam, tell your intuition whatever. the same as rasa, who illuminates you on Skype, the young girlfriend of the old guru ramaji, with her psychic powers, at $ 250 an hour. The thing is just the opposite of these scams, it is taking full responsibility, get empty. I read Rasa's cheap advertising pamphlet and die of shame. all that of the gurus and the lineages, is ego, falsehood, scam. one more religion, but a candle shop and magic stones. 

[snowyowl]

There's been some earlier discussion about TM: 
https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/57340-transcendental-meditation/
https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/60221-what-is-transcendental-meditation/
I found TM to be a perfectly good mantra meditation technique, although no better or worse than other types. For the price you apparently get checks for life with a teacher, but my main reservation is that you have to pay a large amount upfront before you've tried it. I'd feel more inclined to recommend TM if it was on a monthly subscription which you could cancel when you wanted. 

On the other hand there are online instructions to learn, just do a search for something like 'how to practice TM' or 'list of TM mantras'. The mantras aren't customised btw, they're allocated by your age (at least they were when I learned it, mine was 'aing'). 

The other limitation is that, as far as I can see, the TM people only teach the one technique (their Siddhi programme is something different). If that's what you want, then fine, but there's plenty of other teachers who have a broader range of techniques which can be tweaked to suit your needs as you go through your spiritual path.