Transcendental Meditation is by some measure the best gift I was given over the past few years. As transformational, health boosting and life enriching as my Tantric Yoga practice, gentle and easy to do TM is a simple and sure way to enhance my state of consciousness, in a most pleasurable and yet grounding fashion.
Consciousness is just the way you feel, how you live the moment. Many definitions and endless books might have been written on this somewhat Eastern and New Age sounding word, which actually can be found in all philosophical traditions. Consciousness is the “most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives”. So important that is never talked about at school. How are you? Busy would be a common answer. Calm and connected a better one. Connected to what, exactly?
The problem of explaining in words a state of being, is that words somewhat reduce it, even banalise it. I am fine, I am good, I am OK. Sometimes we might suffer from boredom, restlessness. Do you feel worried, even anxious, a bit low or depressed?
All these states of consciousness might be related to the busy mind that constantly wants, feels insecure, craves and suffers. A piece of chocolate, a glass of wine or a quick glance at some media are all means to change our state of consciousness. External, ready to consume ways to boost dopamine or serotonin can become a routine and don’t make for a happy life in the long run.
I don’t know if there is a recipe for long term happiness but calming the mind, letting go of negative emotions while reaching a feeling of balance, peace and harmony is pretty awesome. It’s the closest, surest thing I know to reach momentary happiness. I know the practice of meditation, when done regularly, has the potential to permanently improve my life. So why wouldn’t everyone do it?
Culturally speaking, we are supposed to strive for happiness, is that right? Transcendental Meditation is the opposite of striving. A simple methodology to calm the mind and transcend the ego, the part of us which mediates continuously between instinctual desires and the frustrations of reality. The part that gets jumpy, erratic, horny and occasionally obsessive.
Transcendence might be explained as “…a state of being that has overcome the limitations of physical existence and by some definitions has also become independent of it. This is typically manifested in prayer, séance, meditation, psychedelics and paranormal “visions”.
Not so everyday for most, not very mundane at all, quite extraordinary. It doesn’t have to be, as transcendence is what I do everyday, 20 minutes in the morning, usually after yoga asana practice or a beach walk or pranayama and (often but not always) 20 minutes in the afternoon.
Obvious mental benefits include help with managing stress and increasing self-awareness, less negative emotions, more imagination and creativity.
Mind – body – spirit wellness means general better health.
To fully grasp the concepts of consciousness and meditation as part of it, we are better off leaving the scientists of the western world and appeal to the mystics of the indu and buddhist traditions instead.
A silent mantra is softly repeated until it naturally shortens, lightens and disappears, while my state of consciousness becomes increasingly internal and detached. It feels as the body and mind operate at different levels. A certain wholeness or space might appear in different parts of the body and head, the breath becomes very soft and quiet and then I am gone, really gone, for seconds or minutes as the passing of time becomes difficult to perceive.
Gone where? I don’t know. Where do you go when you daydream, when you fall asleep? It’s neither of those, it’s a different sensation, it’s like the TV is on in a different room, my thoughts being the TV. I know they’re there and yet they are remote and barely audible.
I naturally go inside and gently come back, repeat a shorter version of the mantra to go back inside again, until I surface once more and so on, for 16 or 18 minutes when I stop repeating the mantra and consciously prepare to attune with the “real” world again.
I start to emerge from this dream like reality and connect with external sounds and sensations in the body for 2 more minutes before opening my eyes, refreshed and reset, to move on to a more present and creative day.
When studying Tantric Yoga I was introduced to a somewhat similar technique called Laya Yoga. The way it was taught to me is rather alike Transcendental Meditation and yet, at the time, I couldn’t connect with it the same way I do now. It seems to me that more I practice energy based methods and more I find it easy and natural to transcend.
I once had a 1.5 hours of Falun Gong immediately followed by 1 hour of hatha Yoga and I can tell you the Yoga practice felt really magical. All I am writing here might not be scientifically approved but it works really well, it is totally real to me. And again, what does Western science know about mysticism and spirituality?
I will tell you a secret you shall never tell my Transcendental Meditation teacher, Chris. Some days my mind is a little more scattered or busy and TM doesn’t work as well. I can achieve a level of transcendence but not as deep and satisfying, so I developed a New Age solution. After 5 minutes or so, when I can feel the practice isn’t coming so easily, I gently focus on the chakras, starting from the root, for 20 or 30 seconds each and I “open” them all. Then I move back to the mantra and I go straight in, deep, to get my deserved moment of pleasurable detachment.
Is this cheating? I don’t care. As much as it is good to preserve a tradition and teach it forward as pure as possible, so much I like to innovate and progress in my personal spiritual practice.
Curious enough to try? Transcendental Meditation’s origin traces back to the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s and is one of the most widely practiced meditation techniques alongside Vipassana. TM is today a large movement and global organisation bringing wellness and good to the world.
To improve your ability to live a balanced life, please consider Transcendental Meditation. If quieting the mind doesn’t come easy, start with a Yoga asana practice, breathwork pranayama or any energy based exercise like Tai Chi or Quigong. Life’s too short not to experience the growth of the Soul.