Why I Dropped Transcendental Meditation
After 30 Years Of Regular Practice

Before I found TM I already had a strong desire to experience what is often referred to as the transcendent - that state of awareness where there is conscious union between human consciousness and the broader all-pervading consciousness. I wanted this The words that had been floating around in my awareness at the time were transcend, transcendent, transcendence and the word meditation.

When I saw an advert for Transcendental Meditation (something I'd never heard of) I decided to go to the introductory lecture to see if someone could teach me how to experience that transcendental state of awareness, and also cultivate it to grow in my daily life.

So, my strong desire for 'cosmic consciousness' already existed before I came across TM. From the advert, Transcendental Meditation sounded as if it might be the means to my desired state of 'being'. And once I found by personal experience that it did in fact 'work', and my consciousness was indeed 'expanding', my desire to share this approach with others became stronger.

Some obstacles to sharing TM with others

Over time some people voiced their fears and concerns about TM. At times I find I was explaining or 'defending' some of the aspects that were of concern to a fair number of people who wanted a better life.

These concerns included, for example, the way TM is taught (the puja ceremony, the idea of a 'personalized' mantra of Eastern origin, and so on). In later years people's concerns included some of the TM movement's traditions and tendencies, some of which the general public felt were bordering on weird or bizarre.

Also, there was, and still is, a concern amongst many people that TM is of Eastern origin, with Hindu overtones, and therefore not compatible with their own belief system.

A mantra-free method is born

One day after my own afternoon TM session, I had a profound insight. I suddenly just 'knew' that - for me at least - all that stuff people were concerned about was now actually superfluous.

Based on my past childhood experiences, and this new realization, together with my understanding of the mechanics of how the mind seems to function, I knew anyone could experience the same, or a very similar, state of 'restful alertness' as experienced by TM meditators, yet without the TM mantra.

Thus, as far as I was concerned, any impediment to sharing the knowledge had just dissolved away.

The CMR course is developed

I was immediately inspired to set this method out in the form of a course so that I could share it with others. This all happened very quickly, almost as if it were 'inspired' - including the 'beta' version of the audio course which is still being used today, warts and all in the sound-effects department.

I taught a number of people personally and the results were positive. People liked it and reported similar results to what TM meditators had frequently been reporting.

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