T.M.

Does any one have any experience with transcendental meditation?

Ive started reading a book on TM. Im a couple of chapters in and so far I have to say it has been a great read but since TM differs from the meditation styles I use/have used in the past, Im not sure if Im practicing it correctly.

From what I understand the technique centers around a path of least resistance, letting the mind flow naturally to what it wants to until it 'sinks' lower and lower into subtler and subtler thoughts until the mind reaches a baseline awareness with or with out the use of silent mantras to help interrupt thought patterns. The freedom of TM is whats throwing me off I think, my preferred meditation styles had a degree of control to them which have got me great results in the past. With this however, I dont feel very different than when Im not meditating.

[Miss Hepburn]

I always was told it was based on a mantra given to you from an
'instructor'...and then that there were about 5 different mantras only.
You have told me more than I ever knew.

I never do or would bother with a mantra...mantras are like a candle... they end...
why would anyone concentrate on something that ends?
That was finite...imperfect?
Good topic.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I always was told it was based on a mantra given to you from an
'instructor'...and then that there were about 5 different mantras only.
You have told me more than I ever knew.

I never do or would bother with a mantra...mantras are like a candle... they end...
why would anyone concentrate on something that ends?
That was finite...imperfect?
Good topic.

The difference between candle method and mantra is a candle is observed and a mantra is done.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Gem

The difference between candle method and mantra is a candle is observed and a mantra is done.

Thank you,

And they both end....answer the phone, where is the mantra....
candle burns out where is the flame?
If someone wants to concentrate on them that's ok...they help quiet the mind, for sure.

My thing in everything...asking for assistance in a store, asking directions...
is go to someone that knows....go to the Manager that has the authority to lower the price, for example.

So, in meditation I do that also, it's how my mind works...I focus on That Thing that is eternal, has always been
and always will be...I mean why spend time on 'middle management'....
It's also called the Donald Trump Method, I joke, but it's true!!!!

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Thank you,

And they both end....answer the phone, where is the mantra....
candle burns out where is the flame?
If someone wants to concentrate on them that's ok...they help quiet the mind, for sure.

My thing in everything...asking for assistance in a store, asking directions...
is go to someone that knows....go to the Manager that has the authority to lower the price, for example.

So, in meditation I do that also, it's how my mind works...I focus on That Thing that is eternal, has always been
and always will be...I mean why spend time on 'middle management'....
It's also called the Donald Trump Method, I joke, but it's true!!!!

Well, things don't really start and end, it's just change. The difference between active and passive meditation is, the former person has to generate something or maintain some kind of breath control, and the latter person is simply there as a witness to change as it happens to be.

I'm not advocating any particular technique or mode of meditation, because like everyone else, I'm biased toward my own mode of practice, so I merely discuss more in depth about the methods.

''That thing which is eternal'... as one remains present, everything changes, so the candle is lit and burns out, the breath comes and goes until your last one it taken and the mantra ends as soon as one stops, but ending only applies to the named, and in the actual experience, the mantra simply transforms into another form. That form wasn't intended or willfully created, it just so happened to occur... and then that transforms like, 'hey, I was supposed to be mantra', which again transforms into the mantra... and that transforms and so on. "Eternal" was present throughout all that transformation.

[jonesboy]

I have been told that AYP is very, very close to TM.

[Gem]

I'd keep clear of it because TM courses are outrageously expensive. I keep clear of chanting because it's a material persuit that belongs to the impermanent.

[kkfern]

love tm, but i am a very adventurous person. no need for control. love the freedom. love where tm has led me.

with tm, you are releasing the left side of the brain. you allow your right side to work. the difference is vast.

kk

[Gem]

Originally Posted by kkfern

love tm, but i am a very adventurous person. no need for control. love the freedom. love where tm has led me.

with tm, you are releasing the left side of the brain. you allow your right side to work. the difference is vast.

kk

tm is a controlled technique, though. Mantra is controlled.

[kkfern]

Originally Posted by Gem

tm is a controlled technique, though. Mantra is controlled.

no much simpler then counting or concentrating on a candle. it is kind of like melting into the zone

kk