It is important to note that 600 scientific studies have been conducted on the TM technique. In fact, most meditation techniques and articles on meditation refer to TM research and benefits when they are actually promoting meditation in general and their technique in particular.This is highly misleading as few if any of these techniques are simple, natural, effective, scientifically tested or reliable.

The Transcendental Meditation technique is all of the above and has been taught in the U.S. for more than 50 years.In a recently published study comparing meditation techniques, Dr. David Orme-Johnson concludes the following:

“. . . it is highly misleading to imply that all meditation techniques have the same medical benefits. I reviewed 10 meta-analyses of 475 studies on approximately 20,000 subjects and found overwhelming evidence that different meditation and relaxation techniques do not produce the same effects(1) . The Transcendental Meditation program showed superior results in reducing stress, improving mental health, decreasing hypertension, reducing anxiety, and decreasing consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. The concept of a common “relaxation response” turns out to be a myth.”

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Vedic scholar and teacher and the founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique, was considered to be the worlds greatest authority in the field of Consciousness. Maharishi strongly advocated that meditation should be natural and effortless and that methods of concentration, contemplation, mindfulness and mood making are not effective, and can even be harmful. These methods keep the mind engaged on the surface level of thinking and inhibit the natural goal of meditation, which is to go beyond, or transcend the conscious, thinking level of the mind.

I feel you owe it to your readers to recommend the most effective form of meditation, and not to generalize when it comes to meditation or relaxation techniques. Certainly, you owe it to them to avoid recommending methods that have not been thoroughly researched. Some of these techniques can actually increase stress and tension due to the effort, concentration and mind control involved in the practice.

The TM movement is totally non-profit. In fact, as Ralph Nader once pointed out in a major consumer magazine, it’s one of the only truly non-profit organizations in the U.S. TM’s current price of $2000 is a bargain! It comes with a lifetime follow-up program and it works for everyone of any age or culture or religion.

Plus financial help is available:1. Scholarships for StudentsDavid Lynch’s foundation helps students who can’t afford the fee.David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education.Post Office Box 93158Hollywood, California 90093Tel/Fax: 323-874-2467info@davidlynchfoundation.org

2. Low Interest LoansCiti-Bank offers very low interest loans with up to 15 years time to repay. You apply online and take the course at any TM center. Open to adults or students of any age.Details here: http://www.mum.edu/tmcourse/

3. Employee BenefitMany companies are paying for half or more of the TM fee for employees. Here’s a partial list for the U.S.—US Post Office, IBM, Motorola, General Motors, Ford Motor Co., Toyota, Tower Companies, US Veterans Admin., AirTel, Bank of America, ESPN-Star Sports, Eveready Industries, GE Capital, Hero Honda, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and Xerox.

of meditation like teachings out there now. 

While carrying different elements, there is something for everyone who is inclined to explore such things. I'm a reiki practitioner, have been since the end of March. That carries cost as well, but for me... well worth it.

In fact, time for a little session pre-sleep. 

nelle

Marisa is incorrect when she says "Vedic meditation" is the same as the Transcendental Meditation technique, and that "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi mainstreamed Vedic meditation under the name Transcendental Meditation."

It seems these misunderstandings are being advanced so that a few people can promote their own forms of meditation and use the scientific studies on TM to support the meditation they are teaching — saying, 'It's all the same meditation." Sorry, Marisa, but it's not all the same, not according to hundreds of published, peer-reviewed scientific research studies.

"Vedic meditation" is quite different from Maharishi's TM program. TM is taught by only by professionally trained, recertified teachers. These TM instructors maintain the tested and proven, tried and true system of teaching developed by Maharishi, which insures that the person learning receives the practice in its purity. "In its purity" means in its original effectiveness, with nothing tampered with, nothing changed, the same as taught by the great Vedic meditation teachers of thousands of years ago. This insures maximum benefit for everyone learning today and for future generations.

What Marisa and others promoting "Vedic meditation" fail to mention is that this ancient form of meditation, known today as TM, was lost to the world for thousands of years, and that Maharishi not only revived it but established its practical benefit on the objective ground of modern science. Before Maharishi developed the TM program, this simple, natural technique for 'transcending' was unknown even to Vedic scholars in India, the land of the Veda. Before Maharishi came along with his rediscovery of TM, common misunderstandings about meditation were the norm: meditation is difficult, it requires concentration or mind control, it takes many years to get good at, and rare is the case of anyone succeeding at it and producing demonstrable results, even among yogis who committed their lives to meditation. This was the background against which Maharishi introduced the TM technique. The claim that Maharishi merely mainstreamed a meditation practice that had been around for thousands of years and had been commonly practiced is simply preposterous.

Even today, in India and elsewhere, the books being written about meditation and the online courses offer many different forms of practice involving concentration or contemplation, but none give clear, comprehensive instruction in how to effortlessly transcend — how to naturally and systematically allow the mind to settle inward to the source of thought and experience pure consciousness, the state of restful alertness documented by hundreds of research studies on TM. People may succeed at transcending in many ways, if they are lucky. But the only meditation instructors who are teaching this original form of meditation in it's purity and simplicity — the technique specifically designed for effortless transcending — are those trained by Maharishi. Where else would anyone have found it in our day and time? If you don't believe me, go to India and ask around. Or go to your local New Age bookstore. There are many varieties of meditation, but no one else is teaching anything close to the TM technique, including the "Vedic meditation" teachers.

When you learn the TM technique, there is a thorough followup of personal instruction sessions and knowledge meetings, offered by well-trained TM teachers. This support system is absolutely necessary to ensure correct practice and maximum benefit and is available for the rest of your life at no further charge after you have paid the TM course fee. Learning TM is essentially a semester-long course, but the knowledge and guidance continues to be available indefinitely. This is the TM program. "Vedic meditation" does not offer the same kind of support and expert guidance. I'm sure that's one reason why they can teach their meditation practice for less money — it costs less to make it available, because much less is being offered. 

Why is TM trademarked? There's an important and profound reason. The TM technique is unique. There's no other practice that works the same way or produces the same results.  Many scientific research studies conducted at independent research institutions and medical schools worldwide have investigated and compared the effects of TM to various other types of meditation practices — such as mindfulness, Zen, mantra meditation, and various relaxation techniques — and found that no other meditation practice produces the wide range of benefits that result from the TM technique. The only way to legally distinguish the TM technique from other types of meditation is to maintain the registered trademark. This way, when someone learns the TM technique, they can rest assured they are learning the real thing, because only highly trained and certified TM teachers can legally teach this technique or use the name ‘TM’. The registered trademark is another way of maintaining the purity of Maharishi’s programs — helping ensure that even future generations will benefit.

Although the people teaching "Vedic meditation" have modeled their courses after the TM course, although they use Maharishi's terminology, although they claim to be teaching the same thing, it is clearly not the same.

Perhaps the most honest statement Marisa's article makes is that she cannot vouch for the TM technique. That's OK, Marisa, because there are millions of people who can, and hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies to vouch for TM. But if you can't vouch for it, should you believe that you can copy it?

Maharishi structured the non-profit TM educational organization for the sole purpose of maintaining the purity of the practice, so people will benefit for generations to come. What is at stake is the effectiveness and future endurance of a technique that brings freedom from suffering. That's why I offered this long clarification, to counter the misinformation that is proffered on the various websites that Marisa'a article is promoting. These "Vedic meditation" teachers may personally enrich themselves and make money on their activities, they may believe they are doing good, but they are disseminating confusion about Transcendental Meditation, and that is a disservice to readers and to everyone seeking to get maximum benefit from meditation.

what do the colleagues, "laughing crow" and "poet", have to say about one learning vedic meditation from someone who was trained by the maharishi mahesh yogi but who chooses not to teach with poet's and laughing crow's transcendental meditation organisation? if the identical method is taught by a different name and the same follow-up is offered, then surely what is important is what is taught, not whom the student pays to learn it.

separately, the maharishi mahesh yogi said and published that he received transcendental meditation from his own master, shri guru deva. if transcendental meditation was innovated and owned by the maharishi mahesh yogi and then if that exclusive ownership was transferred to the modern-day transcendental meditation organisation, why does the transcendental meditation organisation say that transcendental meditation came from an ancient tradition?

if transcendental meditation came from an ancient tradition, how can it be a proprietary teaching owned by the transcendental meditation organisation? does the transcendental meditation organisation possess a deed of sale from the maharishi mahesh yogi's shri guru deva?

if one had learned to meditate directly from the maharishi mahesh yogi's shri guru deva (or if one learned today from the shri guru deva's direct successors who live and teach meditation today in india in shri guru deva's name) would one be learning what the maharishi mahesh yogi's shri guru deva taught to the maharishi mahesh yogi, or would one be learning what the maharishi mahesh yogi "innovated"?

if there is a difference between what the maharishi mahesh yogi "innovated" and what his shri guru deva taught, what is that difference? if there is no difference, how can the modern-day proprietary organisation "own" shri guru deva's teaching? do the custodians in india of shri guru deva's tradition agree that the transcendental meditation organisation "owns" their ancient tradition's teaching?

if there is a difference in the teachings, doesn't that difference invalidate the claim that transcendental meditation is an ancient technique that was passed to the maharishi mahesh yogi by his shri guru deva? if so, shouldn't the transcendental meditation organisation stop referring to its technique as an ancient "vedic" technique? if it is a modern, innovated vedic technique, that is, innovated by the maharishi mahesh yogi, then it is not a teaching passed down by the maharishi mahesh yogi's shri guru deva.

no doubt transcendental meditation works, but it cannot be both: ancient and recently innovated. if it is ancient, then it cannot be "owned" by a proprietary organisation; if it is recently innovated, then it cannot be claimed to be "ancient".

Many thanks to this blog for the opportunity to clarify points about the TM program, which was mentioned in the original post and in responses.

And thanks for the above questions, broaching an issue not acknowledged on the “vedic” meditation websites: that even though the teachers of “vedic” meditation do not teach meditation as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi intends it to be taught, and even though they teach their own version of mediation, Maharishi's Teacher Training Course is the original source of their course structure and of the general knowledge they teach about how to meditate.

Maharishi developed the TM program based on knowledge given him by his teacher, Bramhananda Saraswati, Guru Dev, who gave Maharishi specific knowledge about how to create an effective meditation program for anyone, anywhere. Maharishi received from Guru Dev the fundamental principles of transcending and knowledge of higher state of consciousness. Guru Dev *made* Maharishi, cultivated a personality to be an exponent of the Vedic Tradition for our time and future generations. 

While Guru Dev taught various Vedic and Yogic practices, he radiated and disseminated the *essence* of what TM is all about — lively, fully awakened self-referral consciousness. Guru Dev led a spiritual renaissance in Northern India, a revival in experience and understanding for millions of people. He elucidated the knowledge that there are many ways to transcend, but he entrusted Maharishi with the wisdom of effortless transcending and the responsibility of delivering it to the world in its pure form. 

Yes, the technique for effortless transcending was widely practiced in ages past. However, the gap between student and teacher can widen over time. Despite good intentions, through growing misunderstanding and misapplication, and with the decline of Vedic culture, the knowledge and practice eventually became distorted and ineffectual. Over “the long lapse of time" it's original power as an applied science and technology of consciousness was lost. For much of the world, the body of Vedic knowledge came to be regarded as religion, myth or superstition. This “loss of knowledge” is cyclic, as elaborated in the Bhagavad Gita.

What was handed down through the Vedic Tradition was a codified knowledge: signs, symbols and formulations of the Vedas and the technologies of consciousness. An elite inner circle of teachers or "masters" preserved the codes and symbols throughout the centuries; but for society, and even for most Vedic scholars, the practice of spontaneous, systematic transcending virtually died out.

Guru Dev brought it back to life and re-established effortlessness as fundamental to meditation. He passed the teaching (along with the codified formulations and technologies) on to Maharishi, who then developed the seven-step TM course and the follow up and support system for meditators. Thus Maharishi became the most recent custodian in this lineage of illustrious Vedic masters, restoring the completeness to Vedic knowledge and *cognizing* aspects of it that were hitherto unknown.

This is how the TM program is both ancient and modern. It is ancient because it comes from a timeless tradition, passed on from one great teacher to the next; it is modern because it has been revived in our age and established as a scientific reality.

It was not "recently innovated," it was recently restored. 

This sheds light on the faulty arguments that 1) the “vedic” meditation course teaches the same "5000-year-old meditation" that has always been around, and 2) the TM organization therefore has no more right or responsibility to teach the practice than anyone else. (Your figure of "5000 years" is also an inaccuracy, but that's another story.)

The knowledge of how to effortlessly transcend has not 'always been around' in the world.  The natural ability to transcend is innate and cannot be lost; but, all too easily, knowledge of it *can* be lost.

The TM program is a flow of knowledge from the Vedic Tradition — from Guru Dev to Maharishi, and from Maharishi to the TM teachers who teach according to his policies — and from the TM teachers the knowledge flows naturally to all who learn and benefit. This is a flow of wholeness and completeness of knowledge, and it was Maharishi's life's work to protect and preserve that wholeness and effectiveness. Maharishi set up his organization for this sole purpose, and every single policy by which the TM Movement operates is to this end. To learn the TM technique from a certified teacher who is teaching according to Maharishi's guidelines is to learn the TM technique within that flow of wholeness. No one teaching “vedic” meditation is teaching according to Maharishi's teaching policies; they are teaching, at best, according to their personal memory of what they may have once been taught — most likely 30 - 35 years ago. (In some cases, the practice being taught by “vedic” meditation teachers was not learned on Maharishi’s Teacher Training at all, but was passed along secondhand from someone who attended TTC in the 1970s.)

The “vedic” meditation teachers are not offering a program imbibed with Maharishi's continued attention and purposefulness, which he gave the TM program throughout his life. They do not have access to the resources and support that Maharishi made available to all his certified teachers. They cannot offer their students the wealth of lectures that Maharishi made available, in which students receive continued knowledge and guidance from Maharishi himself.

Unfortunately, because students of “vedic” meditation have not yet learned the TM technique, these students cannot yet participate in the many advanced programs and courses that Maharishi has carefully structured, available only though the TM organization — such as properly taught Advanced Techniques and the TM-Sidhi program, including Yogic Flying. Even the students of “vedic” meditation are welcome to enjoy all these programs, after they learn the TM technique from a certified TM teacher.

The TM program is aworldwide, grass-roots movement working to raise consciousness and create peace— not by petitioning governments or launching protests, but through meditation, especially the large groups of hundreds or thousands of people around the world practicing TM together at the same time. As over 60 published scientific studies have shown, these large TM groups are having a dramatic, measurable positive effect on society. Everyone is invited to learn the TM technique andbe part of this joyful worldwide endeavor.

More important, participating in these large TM group meditation programs facilitates the growth of enlightenment like nothing else, because there’s a group dynamic, an intensified coherence that personally benefits every participant.

I ask those teaching“vedic” meditation to tell your students what they’re missing by not learning the TM technique from a certified teacher. 

To be entirely honest, you might also explain the facts about the TM course fee (and state the correct fee), instead of being misleading: tell them that the reason the TM technique costs from $500 to $2000 (or much less, with available scholarships) is because of the extensive follow-up that is offered, which includes a commitment ofinnumerable hours of the teachers' time, unlimited follow-up meetings, and a constant inflow of knowledge and guidance over a lifetime — all at no further charge. The TM course fees in North America and Europe also support TM courses in developing nations, where TM is often taught at little or no charge. But most important, the fee covers the upkeep of a non-profit educational organization dedicated to upholding a system of teaching that will guarantee maximum personal benefit for all meditators, in this and future generations.

Like other aspects of the TM program, there is a good and necessary reason for the course fee.

Perhaps you should tell people that, in most cases, they would be learning from teachers who are violating their promise (and signed agreement) with Maharishi and the TM Movement to teach according to Maharishi's policies. I think people have a right to know whether or not their teacher is upholding the trust of the tradition from where the practice comes.

And tell them they will not be getting the real benefits of meditation. Let me explain.

When people learn the TM technique properly, every aspect of the teaching process is structured by a master teacher — Maharishi— and the student is in good hands; the results are predictable and proven. The“vedic” meditation practice is different: what the students learn is in the hands of the individuals teaching it.

The TM program is a completely natural process — which means, in accord with one's deepest, inner nature. This has been verified by millions of TM meditators who have experienced the effortless settling of the mind into pure consciousness, the deepest core of one's Self. Such a knowledge and practice could only come froma source that is attuned and sensitive to the deepest levels of human nature. We know from Unified Field Theories of quantum physics that the deepest levels of human nature are the deepest levels of nature itself — the fundamental field where consciousness and matter are one. The TM course was structured, along with all TM teaching and organizational policies, with a breath and depth of awareness that was cognizant of this fundamental field of natural law. Adherence to the teaching policies and structure that Maharishi developed ensures that one’s practice is calibrated with the whole of natural law and that the meditator will enjoy entirely positive results.

Another way of saying this, in traditional Vedic terms, that the so-called “vedic” meditation is not infused with "guru shaki" — which is the full power of the master, the total potential of the guru’s attention and skill. But there’s more to guru shakti even than this; there’s an added, ‘transcendental’ benefit to being in the stream of the enlightened guru’s activities and energies and guidelines. Either you intuitively recognize this, or you don’t, but it’s a core principle in the Vedic Tradition: if you want the best results, respectfully follow the instructions of a reliable, totally lit teacher.

That’s one reason why your “vedic” meditation is not authentically Vedic at all. It is based on a blatant rejection of the teacher’s trust, which the Vedic Tradition cherishes above allelse.

You may think you’re doing people a favor by saving them a mere few hundred dollars and telling them you’re teaching the same meditation taught by Maharishi's certified instructors. But the loss to the student is infinite.  

Before you spend a bunch of money on transcendental meditation, you might want to learn more about the TM organizations.  It is headed by a purported "king" along with a number of "rajas" that paid a million dollars each for the honor.  It may be a nonprofit but the organizations have banked millions of dollars over the years, some estimates as high as 3 billion dollars. 

They sell meditaiton.  They sell food supplements.  They sell "yogic flying" which is really just hopping around.  They sell prayers, or yagyas.  They sell astrology charts.  They sell architure plans for east facing houses.

 I would not want to see my money going to such an organization.

The 600 studies? First, there are not that many studies.  Second, they were almost all performed under the auspices of various TM researchers or organizations, leading to issues of bias.  Third, the quality of the research is poor, as found recently in a large metaanlysis of medition studies. Forth, the studies even if valid show very little in positive effects, maybe a small reduction in blood pressure at best.

TM purports to be science but it is not.  TM tries not to be a religion, but there certainly is a lot that must be taken on faith.  Flying, for instance.  

 Stay away, you don't need to spend that kind of money to get good meditation techniques. 

The above hostile post from the ubiquitous anti-meditation activist signed in here as 'ruth' is replete with contortions, falsehoods and misinformation. The intensly angry tone betrays a state of mind far from cool-headed and clear-minded deliberation. "Raja" means 'administrator' in Sanskrit, and that is the context in which it is used by the TM organization. These TM program administrators are high-minded, honorable people serving the non-profit educational organization, as volunteers to promote world peace. I have met many of them. They are straight-shooting, uplifting and fun people. Most of them are individuals who were outstanding leaders in their fields — software development, buisness, law, etc. — who retired from their professions to dedicate their lives and wealth to creating world peace. These noble souls are far above the slanderous insinuations of the post above. And the word 'king,' with its grandiose implications, has never been used by the TM organization to refer to them.

It is flatout not true that the rajas all paid a million dollars to become rajas, though some of them have gladly and wholeheartedly made very large donations to the TM organization, and many continue do so. No one can 'buy' their position as raja.

Nor is it true that the organization has brought in $3 billion dollars — another flatout lie. Every penny taken in by the TM organization has gone to support the teaching of meditation around the world, especially in developing nations where there is little or no course fee charged to learn meditation. There has NEVER been a legal challenge to the non-profit status of the TM program, and NO ONE, including Maharishi, the founder, personally profited from teaching TM.

Another unfortunate falsehood: the TM organization sells 'prayers.'

Another lie: there are not really 600 scientific research studies. (Actually, there are over 650, I know because I counted them. Go to truthabouttm org website and you can count them yourself.)

Another blatent lie: that the studies were all performed by TM scientists. In fact, the vast majority of the TM studies were conducted by scientists who had absolutely no affiliation with the TM organization. There are over 300 scientific research studies validating the benefits of the TM technique that have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals. These studies were conducted at institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Yale Medical School, UCLA, Standford, and hundreds of other INDEPENDENT research institutions and medical schools around the world. The journals where these studies were published include such prestigious peer-reviewed journals as the International Journal of Neuroscience, Science, Hypertension, Scientific American, the AMA's journal Archives of Internal Medicine, the American Physiologist, Yale's Journal of Conflict Resolution, American Journal of Psychiatry, American Psychologist, and many more. The NIH has awarded over $24 million to scientists to further the research on TM's health benefits. The NIH would not have awarded so much money for TM research if there was not a precedence of solid, impartial science behind the TM program. The NIH research money is extremely hard to get and there is intense competition among scientists for the grants — only the most promising and solid studies get funded.

But 'ruth' is not a scientist, evidently, and doesn't know better than to make such rash and false assertions. To hear what actual scientists and medical docotrs say about the wide range of TM's benefits for mind body, relationships and environment, and about the quality of the research on TM, check out askthedoctors website (.com). These are professors at Harvard Medical School, presidents of state psychiatric societies, heads of cardiology departments, and they know valid research when they see it. "This is the single-most effective mind-body practice that we know of for self-development and enhanced wellbeing," says one such MD, and this is the general consensus.

Anyone with half a brain can see, with even a cursory glance, that TM is not a religion, but is a technique. There is no dogma, no principles to believe in. It is NOT a religion and nothing about it is faith-based. The TM-Sidhi practice of Yogic Flying has nothing to do with religion or faith. If you practice it, it has an effect — there are scientifically verified results, as with the TM technique.

The TM organization has done much good for the world, as millions of people have learned TM and directly benefited. It's a totally positive program. But don't take my word for it. Check out the research yourself and attend an introductory lecture and learn the facts. You'll love TM!