Maybe you already know how to meditate, but do you know how to do transcendental meditation?
Meditation was first developed in India many years ago (around 5000–3500 BC). It took some time to become popular in the Western world, but today it is known as a therapeutic tool for relieving stress, anxiety, depression and addictions. In recent years, it has been recognized to improve mental performance and hence has become a multi-billion dollar business.
When we think of meditation, we usually think of “mindfulness meditation,” but there are seven different types of meditation that are practiced around the world:
- Loving Kindness Meditation
- Body scan or progressive relaxation
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Breath Awareness Meditation
- Kundalini yoga
- Zen meditation
- Transcendental meditation
Over the past decade, Transcendental Meditation (also known as TM or TM Meditation) has become extremely popular, gaining a staggering 5 million followers who practice it daily. You may have heard about the benefits of TM and wondered what it's all about.
TM is a type of mantra meditation that was introduced to the Western world in 1950 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He taught the practice around the world for 40 years, spreading the movement and involving everyone from politicians to The Beatles.
Today, many celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Ellen DeGeneres and Howard Stern have publicly stated that TM has changed their lives. Popular film director David Lynch even created a foundation to spread transcendental meditation around the world.
These big names have certainly contributed to the success of this practice, along with plenty of research proving its benefits. But the main reason for the popularity of TM is its simplicity.
If you've tried meditation in the past but couldn't stick with it long enough to experience its benefits, keep reading.
In this article, I will highlight the main differences between mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation, and explain why some people like one type more than the other. I will tell you how a TM organization trains its students, and also give a step-by-step guide on how to conduct TM yourself.
Transcendental Meditation vs Mindfulness Meditation
To understand what makes Transcendental Meditation (TM) unique, we need to go back and learn the basics of mindfulness meditation. All other forms of meditation use a similar mechanism of attention, with the exception of TM. For simplicity, we will focus on the differences between these two approaches.
In modern culture, mindfulness meditation encourages the development of nonjudgmental attention to the present moment, both during practice and in everyday life.
We are all periodically distracted by various thoughts that prevent us from focusing on the current moment. Maybe it's a to-do list or memories triggered by music. In any case, we often spend more time in our thoughts than in the here and now.
Mindfulness meditation helps bring our attention back to the present moment, for example by focusing on the breath or parts of the body, which allows us to observe our anxious or depressive thoughts.
Simply put, it means noticing your thoughts and learning to let go of them by shifting your attention from the thought to something specific, such as your breath.
Actively observing thoughts without judgment and trying to let them go by focusing on the body serves as a brain training exercise. The better we do this in meditation and in everyday life, the more we can make conscious choices rather than automatically reacting to negative thoughts.
To better understand this concept, imagine your mind as an ocean. Various thoughts are agitated on the surface, but in the depths there is peace and silence. Your thoughts are waves.
In everyday life, you swim among the waves of your thoughts, trying to face them. Sometimes you manage to swim through them, sometimes you feel overwhelmed by their power.
Mindfulness meditation is like a surfboard that helps you ride the waves with ease. The more you practice, the better you will become at mastering the technique and the easier it will be to manage your thoughts.
Sometimes, by going through this process, people can finally achieve a state of complete peace of mind, which is called the “second state of meditation” or transcendence.
It is important to note that the goal of mindfulness meditation is not to achieve this state. Its goal is to actively train the mind, helping to clear thoughts and develop the ability to make conscious choices in everyday life.
I have personally spent thousands of hours practicing and teaching mindfulness meditation to my clients, with impressive results. However, I have noticed that some people find it difficult to follow this approach and enjoy the brain training.
These people often have very active and noisy minds, and they may find mindfulness meditation techniques that require them to “shut their thoughts down” to be challenging. For such people, transcendental meditation is often more suitable because it has a completely different approach to achieving a state of peace.
How is Transcendental Meditation different?
Returning to the ocean example, imagine that your mind is like a submarine descending into the deepest depths of your consciousness, where peace and tranquility reigns.
Now let's look at how transcendental meditation works. If the goal of mindfulness meditation is to train the mind in mindful attention, then the goal of TM is to move beyond the thinking process. Properly performed TM practice can be a natural extension of the flow of mindfulness meditation, where the means to achieve this state is the mantra. (I'll explain in detail how this works later.)
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Using a mantra, just as a submarine dives into the ocean, we slowly reach the depths where silence and calm reign.
This state of conscious calm allows us to connect to the source of energy, thoughts and creativity (Carl Jung also called it the collective unconscious). When we reach these depths, we experience deep peace and are freed from even the deepest stresses.
The positive effects of TM occur spontaneously when we are able to achieve a state of transcendence. Those who regularly practice TM report improved mindfulness and significant reductions in stress levels.
TM teachers emphasize that the mind naturally gravitates toward this state of peace. However, the mind also tends to always be interested in the world around us. This is the difficulty with mindfulness meditation, which focuses on actively observing thoughts and makes it difficult to achieve deep calm.
Now the question arises: “How to achieve the state of transcendence?” The answer to this question is much simpler than it seems:
Just repeat the mantra.
What does TM execution look like?
To practice Transcendental Meditation (TM), you just need to sit with your eyes closed—that's all. There is no need for a special position or location. Although it's best to start in a quiet environment with a comfortable chair, once you get the hang of it, you can meditate anywhere—even at your desk or on the bus.
Basic elements of TM practice include sitting with your eyes closed and silently repeating a mantra. It is recommended to repeat the mantra silently for 20 minutes twice a day. This is partly due to our body's circadian rhythm and helps make meditation a natural part of your schedule.
However, there are no strict rules about the frequency or duration of TM sessions. It depends on your preferences and schedule. The main thing is to do this regularly and whenever possible.
Now let's move on to discuss mantras and their role in TM practice.
What is a mantra?
The mantra in transcendental meditation is simply a meaningless sound. There is no special secret behind it, except that it should be meaningless and sound pleasant.
People often become too focused on choosing the right mantra. I have interviewed experienced TM teachers and they all confirmed that “the less we know about our mantra, the better.”
This is due to the fact that our mind is constantly making associations. If we choose a word that is too similar to something familiar, we begin to associate it with sights, sounds, smells and memories. With a meaningless mantra, it is easier to allow the mind to enter a state of deep calm.
You can think of a mantra as a seed. When you plant a seed to grow a plant, you don't have to look for the "perfect seed." Just pick one planted and watch it grow. Freeing yourself from the trap of “choosing the right mantra” will bring you more benefits.
If you still want to know what mantras look and sound like, here are some examples to review.
Examples of personal mantras
Homme is indeed one of the common mantras, although TM teachers usually avoid using it due to the complexity of its sound structure. In Hinduism, the sound "Homm" reflects all vibrations, including both positive and negative.
However, in TM practice, any other mantra can work well. For example:
- Kirim
- Shirim
- Inga
- Aema
Chanting a mantra might look something like this:
- Kiiiiirirmmm Kiiiiirirmmmm
- Shiiiiiiiiiiim Shiiiiiiiiiiim
- Iiiiingaaa Iiiiingaaa
- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
It is important to vary the length and tone of each letter in the mantra as you chant to more easily achieve a trance state in your mind. Again, exactly how you do this doesn't really matter, as long as the mantra sounds positive and without meaning.
Should I try different mantras?
Most TM teachers confirm that both they and their students use the same mantra they were given in the first sessions throughout their lives. The goal here is not to find the perfect sound, but to develop the habit of reducing stress in the mind through repetition of a meaningless sound.
If you are trying to practice TM on your own and find that the chosen mantra is too similar to a real word, you should choose another one that is completely meaningless. For people who speak multiple languages, this may be a little more difficult than for those who only speak their native language, but it can still be easy to find a suitable nonsense sound.
If you are studying TM with a teacher, he will choose a mantra for you after filling out a questionnaire at the first meeting. You will then repeat the mantra with the teacher and then continue your personal meditation practice. During practice, the teacher will give you feedback and help you understand the mechanics of TM. This will be followed by another meeting with the teacher and two group meditations.
This process provides a good foundation for understanding and practicing TM under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
Can you teach yourself transcendental meditation?
If teachers openly state that you can practice TM on your own, then the rules are simple: you just need to practice a little and follow them.
However, the TM course offers more than just self-study. It provides teacher accountability and the support of a group of like-minded people.
Most people who decide to take a TM course are looking not only to learn the system, but also to support them on the path to healing from stress, insomnia, addictions and relationship problems.
If you have already tried mindfulness and just want to compare TM from your own experience, you can do without the course. An easy way to try is to find the TM mantra on YouTube, listen to it and try repeating it the same way as shown in the video. Practice twice every day for about 20 minutes and notice how you feel. If you find TM more satisfying than mindfulness and want to gain a deeper understanding of the method, then you may want to consider taking a full TM course.
So, is TM right for you?
No one can claim that TM is better than any other type of meditation. Every person's experience is different, and it's important to discover something new before jumping to conclusions.
If you are already into meditation, I highly recommend you try TM on your own or with a teacher to broaden your horizons. The same is true for those who are just starting their journey with meditation. In this case, starting with mindfulness meditation using an app like Headspace can be a great option. TM can be challenging for a newbie without the right guidance, and taking the course can also require a significant financial outlay ($250 to $1000 or even more, depending on income).
Whatever type of meditation you decide to try, I recommend practicing daily for at least 30 days. This will enable you to begin to experience noticeable benefits in your daily life.
Exploring your consciousness is a truly amazing experience. The more you study the mechanics of your mind, the more you can achieve personal growth and happiness.