Transcendental Meditation

Last night in a group I was facilitating, a participant talked to us about TM. I’m intrigued with this type of meditation for a couple of reasons. The first is based on personal experience. Many years ago (19 to be exact) I ran into Deepak Chopra in Chicago. I was at a conference where he was speaking and we were both walking down the street before it started. Chopra was known for practicing TM at that time.

We had a short conversation, because I could not NOT talk to him, and after I said goodbye and walked away tears began to flow down my face. They were not tears of sadness, rather they were a physiological response to his spirit. I have heard that the presence of a guru can invoke tears, and that is what this felt like. His energy was so powerful and pure that my body responded by shedding tears. The tears kept streaming down my face for no apparent reason. It was mystifying.

The other reason I’m intrigued is because of the overwhelming research that shows that TM dramatically helps heal illness, reduce anxiety AND reduce crime! Yes, you heard me – reduce crime. There was a study in Washington DC that showed a 23.3% decrease in crime when a group of 4000 meditators came together to see if their daily practice could reduce the crime rate.

This, and my total commitment to well-being, inner peace and world peace has me rethinking my approach to meditation. Practictioners of TM “sit” twice daily for 20 minutes while repeating a mantra (Which I understand can be any word of your choice) to quiet the mind. It’s that simple and, I believe, worth a try!