In recent years, people start to concern about mental health due to their high working pressure. Meditation is one of the best techniques for relaxing your mind and working as an effective counterbalance for high-pressure work.
One of business leaders from Wall Street, the co-founder of Bridgewater Associates in Wall Street, has introduced Transcendental Meditation to his 735 employees in 2016. In the same year, a spiritual movement with transcendental meditation was advocated by most celebrities in Hollywood as well [1]. When it is recommended by both celebrities and business elites, people start to explore what it is and how it provides benefits to us.
What is transcendental meditation?
What is transcendental meditation (TM)? It is a form of silent meditation which promotes a state of awareness, and helps you to experience a “higher state of consciousness” [2]. During the meditation process, the original thinking process is “transcended” and replaced by a state of pure consciousness. The meditator will achieve perfect stillness and complete absence of mental boundaries [3].
The creator of TM, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who is from India, introduced the technique to the U.S. in the 1960s. At the beginning, it is called Transcendental Deep Meditation and then renamed to Transcendental Meditation (TM) by Maharishi during the propagation. TM has met its peak time by the early 2000s, in the support of the most famous rock band the Beatles.
Transcendental vs. Mindfullness meditation
Most people are more familiar with mindfulness meditation, which encourages us returning our conscious awareness to the present moment. It is a useful method to help us observe our anxious or depressive thought patterns and make mindful choices.
Mindfulness meditation is to train the brain in conscious awareness, while the goal of T.M. is to go beyond the thinking process. Imagine mindfulness meditation is like you having a surfboard that allows to ride your “thoughts” waves effortlessly. The more you practice, the easier it becomes to manage your thoughts. While T.M. is like having a submarine, which can help you to get to the deepest depths of your mind, where it’s calm and peaceful.
How to Do Transcendental Meditation?
So how to do the transcendental meditation exactly? The TM technique involves the use of a silently used sound called a mantra, which is a word or sound from the Vedic tradition that is used to focus your concentration.
Usually, it is taught by certified teachers through a standard course of instruction. But simply to say, it is a simple repetition of a “mantra” or word given out by age or sex.
By doing a standard TM practice, all you need is to keep your eyes closed and chant your mantra. There is no specific gesture or pose, and you can do it anywhere, as long as the environment is quite enough.
Here is the re-requisite for you to get start:
- Try to think about the word given to you, but not allow it to transcend (go beyond) that level.
- When you start practicing “mantra”, its vibration has a resonance with its source in the primordial hum (Om) close to the silent [4].
- This attracts the mind which settles with the mantra towards silence.
List of TM Mantras
The most common mantra is the Homm. In Hinduism, the sound Homm reflects the sound of all vibrations combined, both positive and negative.
Other examples of mantra such as:
By chanting a mantra, you should vary the length and tone of each letter, such as chanting Kirim to Kiiiiiiririmmmm. Therefore, it would be easier to induce this “trance” effect on your mind.
Is TM the right fit for you?
By understanding what is transcendental meditation, each type of meditation works different for each person, and we cannot say TM is better than other types of meditation. But if you are new to meditation, you’d better start from mindfulness meditation with an App like Headspace or MindZone. Try a 30-day trial and watch yourself the tangible change you will have got.
Learning about your mind is a delightful experience, click here if you want to know more knowledge about meditation.
References
- [1] Thrillist. 2016. Inside the Blissed-Out, Tight-Lipped, Spiritual Movement That Has Hollywood Obsessed. [online] Available at: <https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/transcendental-meditation-hollywood> [Accessed 17 April 2021].
- [2] Business Insider. 2017. Transcendental Meditation, which Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio calls ‘the single biggest influence’ on his life, is taking over Wall Street. [online] Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-trend-transcendental-meditation-2016-10> [Accessed 17 April 2021].
- [3] WebMD. 2020. Transcendental Meditation: Benefits, Technique, and More. [online] Available at: <https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/transcendental-meditation-benefits-technique> [Accessed 17 April 2021].
- [4] Lifehack. 2021. How to Do Transcendental Meditation (Step-by-Step Guide). [online] Available at: <https://www.lifehack.org/848704/how-to-do-transcendental-meditation> [Accessed 17 April 2021].
- [5] Frost, D. (1967.) Interview with John Lennon and George Harrison. Audio recording from The Frost Show. [online] Available at: < https://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/george-harrison-profile-3898/photo-gallery > [Accessed 17 April 2021].
