Transcendental Meditation
A TM Meditator's Experience

Happiness Wanting To Become Bliss

Introduction: Before I learned Transcendental Meditation^TM

This is neither a biased pro-Transcendental Meditation^TM section nor one of those anti-TM tirades one finds on the Net. There are plenty of other websites that cater to both of those categories, though my guess is that you'd probably find many more websites in favour of TM than those against it.

So, if you want to read about one person's honest and fairly unbiased views about - and also his subjective experiences of - Transcendental Meditation^TM, then this multi-page section could be of interest to you, especially if you haven't practised TM yourself and would like to get an insider's view of it.

At the end of this biography I'll give you a link to a useful site about Transcendental Meditation^TM, by one of the world's leading scientists involved in meditation research.

Two long words catch my attention

Back in the seventies I had already been a 'spiritual seeker' for a number of years. I had always been interested in the human mind and consciousness. I had looked into several methods for experiencing heightened awareness but none of them jumped out at me as being what I was looking for.

In the few books I had read, of a spiritual - yet not "New Age" - nature, two words seemed to keep cropping up, and both were words that resonated with me. They appeared in different books and journals, including a little monthly booklet that used to be published by The School of Truth.

The one word was the verb 'transcend' and its twin nown and adjective cousins, the 'transcendendent' and 'transcendental'. The other word was 'meditate' and its noun brother 'meditation'. The two words were, however, never used together, as in transcendental meditation. Yet both terms were concepts that I seemed to relate to in a special way.

It's time to experience, not just read about it

I came to a point in my life where I was tired of reading about the transcendent. I wanted the real conscious experience of it.

I just knew inside me that I wanted to align my individual consciousness as far as possible with what I referred to at the time as universal consciousness.

I wanted to experience what some would refer to as the presence of God, although I wasn't particularly attached to the word God, despite my Christian upbringing.

I knew I wanted to 'meditate' so that I could 'transcend' mental activity and experience the 'transcendent'. At the time I had not yet heard about Transcendental Meditation^TM.

I try yoga meditation

I bought a book that included instructions on how to do what was referred to as yoga meditation. So I tried yoga meditation.

There I sat, on my carpeted lounge floor, and started to 'meditate'. I had this candle in front of me, the flame burning steadily as there was no draught in the room to make it jump around much.

Trying to still my mind

Guess what: nothing 'happened'. I experienced absolutely nothing different from if I had just been sitting thinking and not staring at the candle. And I experienced absolutely no change in how I felt afterwards, except perhaps a little disappointed and frustrated.

I tried it again - a few more times - just because I like to be sure that something either is or isn't working for me before I decide to toss it out or continue with it. I didn't want to abandon the yoga meditation without giving it a fair go. So that is what I did.

I abandon yoga meditation

Alas, eventually I just said to myself: This is a load of nonsense - well, at least for me it is. So I packed it in and didn't try the concentration type of meditation again.

Next: I attend a Transcendental Meditation^TM introductory lecture.

Next:
Transcendental Meditation Is Explained By A TM Teacher

Home Page

TM - A Meditator's Experience
This series of pages is about my own personal experiences of the TM and TM-Sidhi programmes - an insider's view, so to speak.

TM Is Explained To Me By A TM Teacher
My experience at a TM Introductory Lecture where TM is explained by a rosy-cheeked young TM Teacher.

TM - A Means To Transcend Thought
The TM teacher explained to us how TM leads the mind to transcend the finest level of thought, to experience the source of thought - pure consciousness.

Learning TM - What I Experienced
Learning TM was a very structured and throrough process, and an interesting experience to say the least.

Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying
From my personal experiences of TM and the Yogic Flying technique, part of the TM-Sidhi programme, I can offer some interesting insights and comments.

The Purpose of The TM-Sidhis Including Yogic Flying
The Yogic Flying technique may seem a bit strange, but its intended benefits are actually quite specific in terms of brainwave coherence.

Other TM Courses I Have Attended
My comments about some of the other TM courses I've attended, including residence weekend, world peace assemblies and the Science of Creative Intelligence course.

TM - My Personal Views
TM elicits rave reports from many of its practitioners, and also some criticism from others. Here are my own views based on my years of experience with TM and the TM-Sidhis.

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