Dear Robert, I have just read Ten Thousand Things, and your latest book should be arriving today! I would be most grateful if you would consider my question. I practiced TM (transcendental meditation) from 1986 to 2001 mainly because I loved meditating, not to achieve enlightenment. During that time, I trained as a TM teacher and also joined a monastic group they offer. I had a blast and really enjoyed it. There was a lot of weirdness around the organisation, but I thought it was kind of entertaining.
I too was on the TM path and took many courses at the Maharishi University to become a teacher of the technique, until I was told, before talking taking the next step, that I had to shave my beard and buy a business suit and wear a tie. When I pointed out that Maharishi himself had a beard and did never wear a suit, they showed me the exit. So I took a different path and wore a white turban for a decade and lived in an ashram. It took me a long time to realize I was following assholes. I was also court-martialed for disrespecting a superior officer in the US Air Force, sued by a surgeon for libel, and vulgarly cursed by a famous guru for refusing to follow his advice. Now I am here reading your essays. Life is too short!
As you say, things are as they are and cannot be any different.
Some people might be in the habit of drinking coffee in the morning. Why? They found It makes them feel better, so they got into that routine.
That’s how I feel about Transcendental Meditation. I found it makes me feel better, more relaxed, more energetic, so I got into that routine.
It’s called Transcendental Meditation, but I am not trying to transcend ordinary life; I just find it makes me feel better.
I agree that doing TM in order to try to attain enlightenment in the future is counter-productive, and can keep one from being fully open to what is arising right now.
Also, I agree that stress is a part of human primate life. But if a human primate finds a way to feel more relaxed, nothing wrong with that.
You say that TM creates a dull, sedated mind. That’s not my experience.
You’ve talked about how clients of yours commented about your relaxed, equanimous nature. I think you credited that to your awake perspective. I feel that TM has helped me with my equanimity.
Always enjoy this perspective on things. Uncertainty is something that some ‘enlightened’ gurus or schticks claim in some of their teachings but also tell you they know the Truth; What a contradiction.
As it seems, humans are always limited by the biological components present in our moment-by-moment life. To believe that we can transcend our brain functioning or our biology is deluded thinking. To also believe that there is an independent ‘person’ somewhere in our biological makeup which has free will is also a stretch in my opinion. The neurotic dog chasing its tail chase of the ‘person’ who is striving to be complete or enlightened is simply a fools errand.
The mention of TM always reminds me of the time they wrote to me, out of the blue, to tell me the term "Transcendental Meditation" was protected and I must stop using it, or I would be hearing from their legal team. I hadn't, in fact, used it, but did describe the meditation I taught with words that included "transcendental" - something like, "this practice can lead to transcendental feelings", I forget now. This was about 1997, when I first set up my counselling practice and put this on my website. It just emphasized that the organisation was more interested in its profits than helping anyone learn meditation.
Since then, the New Age industry has exploded, selling its snake oil. After I stopped doing therapy, my next move was to set up as a spiritual teacher. I thought I'd better get serious in my study first and made contact with some Buddhist groups and was looking into doing a Vipassana retreat, when it all started to unravel. The Buddhists on the forums were just endlessly sniping and arguing about whose was the true lineage or what the meaning of some term was, and the recruiter for the Vipassana course was unable to answer my questions, and was clearly just repeating the slogans. I gradually got into critical thinking, and that's what I made my blog about. I think people often get too far down a path and can't change course, so I'm really glad I didn't start pontificating about enlightenment and selling spiritual merchandise for a living.
Yoga asana practice helps me to manage this embodiment and I’m grateful to have this tool. It slows my mind stuff down, so I can lay it all out and pick through it to discard the rubbish…mostly rubbish.
Doing my best here, to express all the qualities and expressions of love which gives my live purpose and meaning. Sharing what I know about Yoga asana/postures and techniques to stabilise and glimpse equanimity in the practice, is of great purpose to me. I love the saying “pearls before swine” because often it is. Even if it’s a small offering (“pearls before swine”) my efforts are rewarded when a student says that they feel lighter.
That was so lovely. Life is fucking hard and gloriously beautiful. And there is no guarantee how it will go. We know nada. I love the way Robert verbalizes. No mince meat words.
Thank you for this terrific tour de force, dear Robert! I'm not quite sure why it made me laugh, but I am still smiling as I type. Lots of love to you and household.
I too was on the TM path and took many courses at the Maharishi University to become a teacher of the technique, until I was told, before talking taking the next step, that I had to shave my beard and buy a business suit and wear a tie. When I pointed out that Maharishi himself had a beard and did never wear a suit, they showed me the exit. So I took a different path and wore a white turban for a decade and lived in an ashram. It took me a long time to realize I was following assholes. I was also court-martialed for disrespecting a superior officer in the US Air Force, sued by a surgeon for libel, and vulgarly cursed by a famous guru for refusing to follow his advice. Now I am here reading your essays. Life is too short!
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
---Tagore.
Robert,
As you say, things are as they are and cannot be any different.
Some people might be in the habit of drinking coffee in the morning. Why? They found It makes them feel better, so they got into that routine.
That’s how I feel about Transcendental Meditation. I found it makes me feel better, more relaxed, more energetic, so I got into that routine.
It’s called Transcendental Meditation, but I am not trying to transcend ordinary life; I just find it makes me feel better.
I agree that doing TM in order to try to attain enlightenment in the future is counter-productive, and can keep one from being fully open to what is arising right now.
Also, I agree that stress is a part of human primate life. But if a human primate finds a way to feel more relaxed, nothing wrong with that.
You say that TM creates a dull, sedated mind. That’s not my experience.
You’ve talked about how clients of yours commented about your relaxed, equanimous nature. I think you credited that to your awake perspective. I feel that TM has helped me with my equanimity.
Your experience trumps my judgment, David.
When the wrong man uses the right means, the right means work in the wrong way.
When the right man uses the wrong means, the wrong means work in the right way.
---old Taoist text
Always enjoy this perspective on things. Uncertainty is something that some ‘enlightened’ gurus or schticks claim in some of their teachings but also tell you they know the Truth; What a contradiction.
As it seems, humans are always limited by the biological components present in our moment-by-moment life. To believe that we can transcend our brain functioning or our biology is deluded thinking. To also believe that there is an independent ‘person’ somewhere in our biological makeup which has free will is also a stretch in my opinion. The neurotic dog chasing its tail chase of the ‘person’ who is striving to be complete or enlightened is simply a fools errand.
Well said, Stephen.
The mention of TM always reminds me of the time they wrote to me, out of the blue, to tell me the term "Transcendental Meditation" was protected and I must stop using it, or I would be hearing from their legal team. I hadn't, in fact, used it, but did describe the meditation I taught with words that included "transcendental" - something like, "this practice can lead to transcendental feelings", I forget now. This was about 1997, when I first set up my counselling practice and put this on my website. It just emphasized that the organisation was more interested in its profits than helping anyone learn meditation.
Since then, the New Age industry has exploded, selling its snake oil. After I stopped doing therapy, my next move was to set up as a spiritual teacher. I thought I'd better get serious in my study first and made contact with some Buddhist groups and was looking into doing a Vipassana retreat, when it all started to unravel. The Buddhists on the forums were just endlessly sniping and arguing about whose was the true lineage or what the meaning of some term was, and the recruiter for the Vipassana course was unable to answer my questions, and was clearly just repeating the slogans. I gradually got into critical thinking, and that's what I made my blog about. I think people often get too far down a path and can't change course, so I'm really glad I didn't start pontificating about enlightenment and selling spiritual merchandise for a living.
As always Robert just keeping it real. Thank you.
Yoga asana practice helps me to manage this embodiment and I’m grateful to have this tool. It slows my mind stuff down, so I can lay it all out and pick through it to discard the rubbish…mostly rubbish.
Doing my best here, to express all the qualities and expressions of love which gives my live purpose and meaning. Sharing what I know about Yoga asana/postures and techniques to stabilise and glimpse equanimity in the practice, is of great purpose to me. I love the saying “pearls before swine” because often it is. Even if it’s a small offering (“pearls before swine”) my efforts are rewarded when a student says that they feel lighter.
That was so lovely. Life is fucking hard and gloriously beautiful. And there is no guarantee how it will go. We know nada. I love the way Robert verbalizes. No mince meat words.
Thank you for this terrific tour de force, dear Robert! I'm not quite sure why it made me laugh, but I am still smiling as I type. Lots of love to you and household.
Dear Catherine--How lovely to hear from you. I think of you often with deep respect and affection.
https://youtu.be/tSk5U4oHhu0?si=PWBttZyD55eL2O6X