Transcendental Meditation

I practice TM, and I also attend Maharishi University, the pride of the TM movement. I was talking to another member here at the Temple about it, let me find that so I can copy and paste what I wrote here...

Ah, yes. TM came up in a conversation, and I mentioned a little bit about the University, and he replied, "Sounds like a very spiritually advanced university!"

Here's the message I responded with:

"Well, it intends to be a very spiritually advanced university, and in some ways it succeeds in that intention.

Like I said before, it does attract some who are just fashionably pseudo-spiritual. Also, some of the older members of the Movement (if you agree with that use of the word), such as those of the Invincible America Alliance (a group of advanced meditators who congregate in the hundreds every day, in the belief that it contributes to world peace), and the university faculty in the Maharishi Vedic Science department, are extremely resistant to any outside influences in the thoughts of their students and colleagues, even though the Movement claims that Maharishi's teachings are compatible with any other religion or philosophy. And the Transcendental Meditation® (yes, that's a copyrighted phrase) Movement charges outrageous course fees to teach TM. It's $1400, cut down to $700 if you're a college student or are under the age of 18. I would understand that, if they actually used ALL of the money they could afford to to spread the teachings further, and to teach the technique to those who can't afford it. They do send some certified TM instructors to schools and prisons, to give the technique to large groups at a time, on occasion, but for that they use a separate pool of money, the David Lynch Foundation, which collects donations. So when you tour around this town, where the college and many other TM movement facilities are located, and you see the exorbitant mansions that the higher-ups in the Movement have built for themselves using that money the Movement collects from TM fees, well...

To put it bluntly, the Movement has very cult-like attributes, even if it is mostly benign. The Force is strong here, as the environment tends to pull many amazing people together (whether because or in spite of the Movement), but so are rigid traditions and hints of outrageous materialism. There are two conflicting sides to everything, I suppose."

*shrugs*

I know what TM entails... it's nothing special. When you put it behind a door and ask a price to get in, everybody gets excited. Like, I KNOW it's not anything special, and I STILL get excited every time I see the website: "Pay for lessons!" They are taking advantage of our conditioned inclinations. I don't really respect them for that.

One thing I DO think is cool... I love that they offer private coachings and "tune ups". I feel like, if I were to start a meditation school, I would do this as well. But, I have a lot of ideas about that that don't belong here. haha. Another thread for another day.

I hear Ellen practices TM. And like... the non-crazy stars (who somehow end up in Scientology?) generally do some TM, I think. If it raises awareness, it can't be all bad, hahah.

Of course, this is not to take away from your practice, Mica. Meditation is not supposed to be special. That's the whole point!

Aside from that, let me say that I love the technique. It's been a great tool for my health and insight. My main troubles came when I started studying Maharishi's Vedic Science (not by choice, you see: when I came here I was far too burned out on spiritual knowledge, and I was craving to simply experience it without being told what to expect from it or how to analyze it. I feel like being required to intellectualize over my experiences, in order to pass certain courses, has kept me, artificially, in that same burned out state since I began studying here).

Do you find it superior to any other technique you've learned?

Hmmmm... hard to say whether it's superior or inferior to any other technique. It's just different. I did practice Vipassana for two years before I learned TM. Also, I got off easy in that In was taught TM for free, just as part of my learning here at the university. All students here are taught TM. So I hadn't built it up in my mind as this miraculous thing while saving up the money for it, as I would have had to do otherwise.

I suppose the difference for me is that Vipassana left !e feeling very physically invigorated and refreshed. After Vipassana, I always felt like I could take a nap just as easily as I could climbing a tree, I felt very comfortable and in control of my body. TM is more of a mental cleansing. It's more of a form of self-healing through self-reflection. It can be very... Whatever you would call the opposite of grounding, which is why I still practice Vipassana.

Even though the University strongly discourages practicing any other forms of meditation.