Tm is easy, enjoyable, and anyone can learn*

Transcendental Meditation is easy. Anyone can learn how to meditate in a few evening sessions, it is completely effortless and enjoyable to practice, and the effects are usually noticeable from the first few weeks.
TM is easy because it’s fundamentally different from other meditation techniques. Most people understand “meditation” to be some form of controlling the mind, usually through some kind of concentration (on a sound, the breath, or “being in the now”), with the aim of getting some silence or relaxation. Concentration, however, tends to takes a lot of disciplined training, and is usually not all that enjoyable. It can feel unnatural for the mind to be controlled.

The Transcendental Meditation technique originates from the 5000 year old Vedic tradition and was rediscovered 60 years ago when a young Indian scientist, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, learned that true meditation is not about controlling the mind at all. He developed a way to train people to activate a natural process where the mind will go to a state of complete inner silence by itself, completely effortlessly.

Practicing TM also does not require any special postures nor silence in the environment nor a group to practice together. This creates a lot of flexibility in terms of when and where you can practice the technique. You can literally do it anywhere: the bus, the train, the park, at home or even on a bench in a noisy market, all in the same easy, natural and effortless way.

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Unique Results*

Stress has been described as “the plague of the 21st century”. We live in a world with a never ending flow of information coming at us, where work environments typically create stress both in terms of the job demands and the work relationships with colleagues, where human interactions are replaced more and more by screen-time and where we don’t give our mind and our body enough of a break to recover every day from everything we had to deal with. This tends to gradually reduce our health, happiness, clear thinking and stress-resistance over time.

Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless mental technique practiced 20 minutes twice a day that allows our mind and body to settle down into a state of deep rest that is rejuvenating and allows to neutralise the negative of effects of stress.

And just like all parts of a tree do better when you water its roots, people find many different areas of their life improve fundamentally when they can create this deep rest for themselves as a foundation for the rest of their day. More than 600 scientific research studies done in 250 different universities and research institutes including for example Harvard University show that people tend to sleep better, worry less, improve their balance and well-being, improve their clarity of thinking and creativity, improve their relationships with other people and overall just improve their life.

As we know research can be boring, we decided to focus instead on sharing what TM meditators have to say about the benefits for their lives. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to also see some of our scientific research studies.

Sleep better

Less stress

Work Smarter, not harder

Improve your Inner strength

Beat burnout

Don’t worry, be happy

Improve your Balance

Take Care Of Yourself

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Unique Training

Teachers of Transcendental Meditation are exceptionally highly trained. The TM teacher training courses take 5.5 months, full-time, in-residence in Thailand and people can only join after several years of preparation in their home country. Also, there are a lot of tests at the end of the training and only the people who pass all the tests are certified to teach TM.

Global TM teacher training campus in Thailand

This high level of training is very important because while TM is very easy to learn, it is very difficult to teach. Everybody’s mind works differently and a TM teacher has to know how to adapt the teaching so anybody can learn how to meditate and transcend easily and effortlessly. This is also why the technique is taught in a one-on-one setting and is so easy to learn: the teaching process gets fine-tuned to you by your TM teacher.

Another aspect that makes the teaching of TM unique is that it is just a technique – it is not religious in any way, it is not a philosophy and it does not require any lifestyle changes. This is why by now 6 Million people from all religions, countries, professions and lifestyles have learned the technique.

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In this old video, you can see a programme on Canadian National Television where Maharishi explains in more detail what exactly TM is.

The generally accepted wisdom about meditation was that it was a way for the mind to come to inner silence, and that this was achieved by forcing the mind to rest, usually through a form of concentration on a word, a sound, or a visual point, or through visualisation techniques. The mind soon gets bored with this and will want to go somewhere else, but we will tell it: “no, stay here, stay focused”. At some point the mind will grow so tired from all the effort from that concentration, that it will check out. At that point one may (possibly) find deeper experiences, although usually the mind is so tired that the experiences will hardly ever be very clear.

This process requires a lot of effort and discipline, and the general wisdom therefore is that only monks that can afford to spend many hours each day on meditation, could ever hope to get such “higher” experiences. This was how a point was reached where an experience that was described on many occasions throughout time in the most incredible terms, actually turned out to have very little practical use in every day life, as it was so difficult to achieve that experience.

But at a certain time in 1955 someone arrived from the Himalaya’s in India with a wholly different interpretation of meditation. This was a young scientist who, after his studies in Western science, had spent 13 years with one of the most important Vedic teachers of his time, and had learned what meditation should actually be like.

From these studies with his master and from his own experiences, the young student learned that the mind should not be forced to come to inner silence. It is the most pleasant experience available for the spirit, the ability to come “home”, and discover its own infinite power. From its own nature the mind is drawn to a feeling of happiness. Wherever we look for happiness, in a relationship, a bigger house or a better position at work, the ultimate driver for all that we do is to be happy. The mind’s true nature, its home, is a reality of pure happiness, and the mind will therefore automatically want to go there, whenever it gets the chance. To force the mind to go there is counter-productive. The only way to experience this inner reality efficiently, is when this process comes naturally. We merely need to point the mind in the right direction, and can then let it do its thing.

This natural process is what the young scientist structured into a technique that he called “Transcendental Meditation”. To transcend literally means to “surpass”. It’s a process of surpassing the finest level of thought into a state of a total silence. He obtained the technique from his master and it was thanks to his (western) scientific mindset that he was able to analyse and structure it in a manner that allowed it to be taught as a technique that anyone can practice at home. Nevertheless he always insisted for the technique to be taught in the name of his master, and not in his own.

The young student later was awarded the title “Maharishi”, which means “great visionary” in Sanskrit. His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was his full title.

Maharishi’s biggest contribution only came later, once he succeeded in not just structuring the technique, but also in structuring the teachers’ education to enable them to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique correctly. The only reason why this natural technique was lost, was the lack of available teachers who knew how to teach real meditation. History showed that it was difficult to teach the technique perfectly so that the practice was fully natural and effortless, otherwise the technique would have never been lost. The natural experience is very subtle and personal, and requires a careful guidance of a teacher with the requisite experience (and this is why TM cannot be learned from a book). The education to become a Transcendental Meditation teacher requires a full-time course of almost 6 months. Maharishi has taught more than 40.000 TM teachers around the world. This education has proven successful, as evidenced by all the research and the experiences of more than 6 million people that have already learned the technique. The TM technique is easy to learn, pleasant to practice and has an evolutionary influence on all areas of life, because it goes to the source of all life. This is what real meditation should be like, much more than just relaxation. It should be returning to oneself, and discovering one’s true nature.

Over the 50 years Maharishi was focused on this, till he passed away in 2008, he has revived numerous other methods from the Vedic scriptures (one of the oldest traditions in the world) to bring us back in touch with ourselves, and has brought this to the attention of the world, such as Ayurveda.

In 2000 he established a global organisation to make all this knowledge and the technique more available. The Global Country of World peace is a not-for-profit organisation with the objective to better the world. The leader of this organisation, and Maharishi’s successor, is Dr. Tony Nader, M.D., Ph.D., M.A.A.R., a Medical Doctor trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D. in neuroscience) and Harvard University, and a globally recognised Vedic scholar. He did fundamental research around the connection between consciousness and the human physiology and how it all relates to the Vedic knowledge.

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How do I learn Transcendental Meditation?

Anyone can learn Transcendental Meditation. It is easy and enjoyable to practice and gives immediate results.

Transcendental Meditation is taught according to ancient methods that naturally allow the mind to experience the most fulfilling state in its own true nature. There is no need for a long period of practice, because the process is natural and intuitive. This means that anyone can learn how to meditate, regardless of cultural, religious or educational background, and the results are usually noticed immediately. (See what we mean by “immediate results.”) Twenty minutes twice a day is enough to produce the desired effects.

Personal guidance is necessary.

Every person is unique, and therefore the experience of meditation is different for every individual. This is why the personal guidance of a trained Transcendental Meditation teacher is necessary. When meditation is taught in a correct, personalized way, the process develops naturally and effortlessly, and only then can the greatest effects be obtained.

Once you have learned this perfectly natural technique, you can practice it on your own, but whenever any additional guidance is needed, it is available free of charge from any TM center in the world. The need for further guidance differs from person to person, but the important point is that the guidance is always available.

TM Course Phase 1: Learning the technique

Learning Transcendental Meditation happens in 7 steps, spread over 4-5 sessions of about 2 hours over 4-5 consecutive days.

1. Introduction seminar: An overview of the long-term effects of TM practice. All the information you need to decide whether you want to learn the TM technique, including question and answer session. (Free/without obligation 1 1/2 hours).

2. Preparatory lecture: More details about the exact mechanics of the Transcendental Meditation technique in preparation for learning (30 min). Usually the preparatory lecture is given on the same evening as the introduction seminar.

3. Personal interview: Individual meeting with your TM teacher and the opportunity to discuss private questions (10-15 min).

4. Personal instruction: The actual instruction in the Transcendental Meditation technique. (1 1/2 hours)

5-7. Three follow-up sessions: Verification of the correct practice of the TM technique and acquiring more knowledge, based on the growing experiences of meditation (2 hours per session, on 3 consecutive days after personal instuction)

TM Course Phase 2: Follow-up

The follow-up is optional but recommended. Life-long follow-up, whenever necessary, is included in the course fee.

Transcendental Meditation is a do-it-yourself technique, and therefore the follow-up is entirely without obligation. However, the general experience is that the results are better if you are regularly making use of the follow-up program. (see the importance of regular follow-up)

First 6 months: A bi-weekly to monthly follow-up is recommended to verify the correctness of the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique and to gain more knowledge about its effects.

Weekend residence course: We dive deep into the practice of meditation, and will meditate far more than we normally do at home, together with other TM participants and under strict guidance of a trained teacher. This gives deeper knowledge, deeper experience, and greater appreciation of the TM technique.

Lifelong right to follow-up: TM students can, for the rest of their lives, attend the monthly group meetings or ask any TM teacher in the world to verify the correctness of the practice. This service is free of charge in any one of our TM centers.

TM Course tuition

The personal guidance and follow-up that is required for correct practice of the TM technique has a certain cost, and as long as our health insurance funds are not reimbursing the TM course tuition, this cost has to be paid by TM course participants.

Transcendental Meditation is a highly personalized course and the course tuition will also depend on your personal circumstances as different scholarships are available. For more information please talk to your local TM teacher.

Opportunities to reduce costs

It is up to the government to make this accessible to everyone, just as they do with all other health care.

The experience of transcending is a completely natural experience and it is everyone’s birth right to have this experience. The Transcendental Meditation teachers have therefore been working for 40 years to make Transcendental Meditation accessible for as many people as possible, often by volunteering their time and teaching the technique far below their own costs. But financial obligations require that we charge a tuition to ensure the TM technique can be taught correctly with a thorough follow-up, so that the correct practice can be ensured.

It should be the responsibility of the government and the health insurance funds to make this technique accessible to everyone. In many countries, this is already the case. You can help us with this. (See how my health insurance can reimburse TM.) Until then, there are some things we can do ourselves to make the TM course accessible for everyone.

1. Sponsorship for lower incomes and for the unemployed.
Anyone who has financial difficulties may apply for a sponsorship, so that it becomes possible for everyone to follow a TM course. (See apply for scholarship.)

2. Ask an invoice (stress-management course) 

If you have your own company, be sure to ask for an invoice for your TM course. If you are employed then why not ask your employer if he will pay for the TM course tuition? After all, he can declare the invoice as an expense, which makes his effective cost far lower. Every progressive employer will be open to methods that can increase the productivity in the company; there is sufficient evidence that TM does exactly this. See TM paid by the employer.

3. Payments in Installments
You can discuss this option with your TM teacher.

4. Special price for families
There are special family rates when you learn the Transcendental Meditation technique with the entire family. (An entire family can learn TM for 150% of the standard adult fee. This can make the contribution per person up to 60% lower.)

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Impressum

Association for the Science of Creative Intelligence

Rajapark Institute
68, Soi Navasri, Ramkhamhaeng 21, Wang Thong Lang
Bangkok, 10310

02 319 8201 x213 or x216

rinyarasmi@gmail.com