How to do Trancendental Meditation??

[TalkingHead]

I've been meditation for a few years using a variety of techniques from focusing on my breath to staring at point on the wall. I always assumed for some reason that focusing on my breath was transcendental meditation. Now that I started looking into it; it appears you have to go to a 4 day class to learn it; and I cannot find instruction anywhere on the internet.

I find that a bit ridiculous. Can anyone point me to a link or book that gives actual instruction in this. Or is it a simple practice that you can describe?

Thanks!

[CFTraveler]

Years ago I looked into it as it had become 'in' to do TM. When I looked in the internet I found that the only place that actually describes what it is is in Wikipedia- the 'owners' of TM basically charge to learn about it.
I had a link to the only info available about it in the AD pedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Meditation
Here is some more information that may be helpful- it certainly is informative.
http://www.suggestibility.org/whatIsTmShort.php

[Tom]

The short version is that you pay hundreds of dollars to be prescribed a mantra which you must not tell anyone, even family and friends and other students. The idea they give you is that a "wrong" mantra can cause more harm than good for you while the "right" mantra will be "perfect" for you so you get faster progress with it than with any other mantra. My first reiki teacher was into TM for 15 years. He doesn't like to talk about it.

[Korpo]

Basically it's just repeating a mantra in your mind. I don't think that breath comes into it.

I remember that as a teenager I once read a TM book because I wanted to know what the Beatles wanted to learn from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. ;) It prescribed a simple mantra repeating technique, and I guess it was OM, or something equally simple. I did not follow it through, I did not know what to expect, etc. I found it disconcerting and would have welcomed some guidance.

Funnily, reminiscing now about it, my inner vision took up a different color back then when I did it, but I did attribute it to a change in the room's lighting (which I found out years later was not the case when this happened). Missed chance, I guess. A head start in meditation... :|

Oliver

[Korpo]

PS - while mantras are a time-proven technique, I am skeptical about the TM organisation. They claim they can teach you how to fly. :?

They surely know how to take your money.

The Yoga Sutras were source material for TM and might be the more direct access to meditation inspiration.

Oliver

[Tom]

Osho wrote in one of his books that what the TM people really experience is the feeling of dropping the bopdy and floating. Then they open their eyes and see they haven't moved. The levitation thing sells better.

[Korpo]

You say! :lol:

Oliver

[Neil Templar]

i just read a book by film-maker David Lynch.
he describes his use of TM as a means to enabling the creative flow.
no-where in it does he describe what to do.. :?

[CFTraveler]

Repeat a mantra (any mantra, preferably one that means nothing to you) over and over. But before you do tell yourself (using affirmations) that the more you say it the more ____________ you'll be. (Happy, healthy, aware, or whatever you want). Then do it. Twenty minutes a day, every day.
That's it.
That's CFUM (CF's untranscendental Meditation.)

[Nostic]

Focus on your breath.
If you focus deeply enough, you will notice a very short breath "underneath" or "preceding" the normal breath.
Normal breath is trapped by matter. And if it is your primary source of consciousness, you will remain trapped by your body.
You need to focus on a breath so subtle that it penetrates matter.
As you do this, you become much more conscious of your energy body, and you will experience a sense of levitation.

And btw I know of no official definition of Transcendental Meditation. What I wrote above is just based on my experiences.

You can also focus on your "subtle pulse/heartbeat"- the wave of energy that your heart sends out that is unbound by matter.

[TalkingHead]

Great Posts.. I like the idea of trying to focus on the subtlest parts of my breath.

Funny I just saw David Lynch video on youtube where he talks about TM. I never expected him to be so mushy but I still love him.

[Korpo]

This article seems to compare how the TM approach of mantra repetition works in comparison to mindfulness:

http://www.shinzen.org/shinsub3/artMantra.htm

Oliver

[Korpo]

I remember Bruce Frantzis talking about mantras when discussing what meditation is, and it went somewhat like this:

"So scientists know you can lower your blood pressure with meditation by repeating a mantra. Basically any mantra works for that, like - let's say: Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Pepsi... That would work. It might lower your blood pressure. They did a study on that. Great. It's not really doing something spiritual, though."

I think he wanted to say that the mantra should have a spiritual meaning, or you should repeat it with a spiritual attitude. It should open you to spirituality, so that it is even more effective beyond the basic benefits almost any mantra provides. Two aspects maybe - the mantra as a focus for the mind to reduce chatter and the mantra as the focus for spiritual energies?

I do not know how it really works, but giving someone a mantra from a different culture and religion as a word to repeat - it's hard to estimate how effective that is. Maybe you repeat it until you connect to the underlying energy, that it represents beyond words, thought interpretation, etc. Then it would be vital not to meditate on "Turrr-keyyy leeegs", I guess. ;)

Oliver

[CFTraveler]

Repeat a mantra (any mantra, preferably one that means nothing to you) over and over. But before you do tell yourself (using affirmations) that the more you say it the more ____________ you'll be. (Happy, healthy, aware, or whatever you want). Then do it. Twenty minutes a day, every day.
That's it.
That's CFUM (CF's untranscendental Meditation.)

No that simply won't work. It only works when you pay for it, the reason being that money is a burden on our souls and by offloading all our cash we lighten our karmic payload.

Yeah thats it. No sarcasm whatsoever...

I've been on some course where we used mantras and it was a bit weird in retrospect, repeating strange sounds handed down to us as if they were from the voice of god. As such I was influenced by the hype more than anything I may as well have been chanting "Turrrrr-keyyyyy-leggggs" and I still would have got the results.
Ok, then just give me money.
Just send it to CFUM.argh.

[CFTraveler]

Well, if you don't join my school your DNA won't grow those necessary extra strands to ascend and when our space brothers come over and save us from the pole shift in 2012 (or 2026 in mayan) they won't recognize you and you'll be stuck here with the rest of the 'left behinds'.
Did I get enough scary stories together?
Is you shaking to your teeth?

[Ouroboros]

Well, if you don't join my school your DNA won't grow those necessary extra strands to ascend and when our space brothers come over and save us from the pole shift in 2012 (or 2026 in mayan) they won't recognize you and you'll be stuck here with the rest of the 'left behinds'.
Did I get enough scary stories together?
Is you shaking to your teeth?

I'll take two! :| :cry:

...

Wait, what are we talking about again? Oh yeah...


The Yoga Sutras were source material for TM and might be the more direct access to meditation inspiration.

Are the Yoga Sutras available to read online anywhere? I'm gonna do a google search myself to try and find out, but if anybody already has the links I'd appreciate them. :)

[Ouroboros]

Google saves the day! I found what looks to be a very comprehensive site containing TONS of translations:

http://hrih.hypermart.net/patanjali/

[star]

I spoke to a guy over the phone who does mantra work, instead of energy work. His energy felt really nice and this guy liked to talk.

It might sound wierd but I spoke as little as possible and just let him talk to me for two hours so I could suck up everything that was coming in from him. Sometimes energy feels so good.

Although crazies and even advanced spiritualists to normal people can have a blissful feeling to them. I havn't narrowed down what this comes from. It feels great!!! I feel it in my head, crown area.

Perhaps I have psi vampire tendencies, just a bit. Or some people spew energy all over the place.

[CFTraveler]

Maybe you're just empathic.