This book is a clear and compelling introduction to TM for people with a scientific outlook on life.
The title perfectly reflects my own experience with TM. Before I learned to meditate, my mind was incredibly noisy. It was so noisy I could hardly hear myself think, if that makes sense. To use an analogy, my mind was so chaotic it felt a bit like being in a room with three TVs tuned to different channels, all at high volume—for virtually all my waking hours, every day. Needless to say, I was completely miserable. When I learned TM, it was as if two of the channels were turned off and the volume on the third was turned way down. And when I meditated, there were periods of blessed relief where the sound was completely off. Over the last 47 years of meditating regularly, that inner silence has continued to deepen. And it continues to become more and more blissful. I was in college at the time, and my grades went from mediocre B’s to straight A’s after I learned to meditate. That was an unexpected bonus.
I doubt that I would be here now if I hadn’t learned to meditate. I was in that bad a state at the time. I was desperate and really didn’t want to live. Now I am happy and able to function in a way I couldn’t even have imagined back then. Physically, I look and feel much younger than my 69 years. This technique is priceless—truly, utterly, absolutely priceless.
As others have noted, this book is not an instruction manual. I completely agree with the author that personal instruction is really necessary. Live interaction is essential to learning the technique. It’s an extremely simple technique, and the method of teaching it that Maharishi perfected and systematized is pure genius. While there are many other meditations that aim the experience of transcendence, I don’t believe that there are any that come close to being as effortless and effective as this one. Those that use concentration and mind control can be truly excruciating, and the effort involved can be tremendous.
While this is an excellent introduction for skeptical, scientifically-minded people, it might not be the book to give someone who is more spiritually minded. However, the technique itself is as universal as any technique can be and it doesn’t matter at all what your outlook on life is, whether you are an atheist, an agnostic or deeply religious. Clarity of mind is essential no matter who you are, what you do, and what you believe.
TM is definitely not a religion, but the experience of transcendence supports any spiritual or religious inclinations as well as scientific ones (which are not mutually exclusive, although many people seem to think they are) because it is the basis of everything. Maharishi brilliantly integrated the scientific and spiritual viewpoints in a way no one else has ever done.
There is at least one troll who claims that TM is a religion, but you can learn TM and go on your merry way without even seeing anyone else involved with the organization ever again, so how is that a religion? I live in a remote place in the mountains and often go months without even seeing another meditator, though it’s a real joy when I do. There’s no religion. You don’t even have to believe it works, but it does anyway. and people from all the major religions happily practice it without conflict.
TM doesn’t change you into something you aren’t. And it doesn’t make you change your religion. If you were never really a believer in the religion of your family, you might or might not become one. You might even find that your own inclinations take you in a completely different direction. But the point is that they are your inclinations, which were already there in some way, and not inclinations determined by practicing this technique.
For instance, a person raised in a strict religion might find their beliefs moving in a more liberal direction. On the other hand, a person raised by agnostics or atheists might feel the need for a structured belief system. And many people report that their understanding, appreciation and experience of their own religion has become more profound from the practice. I’ve known many people who only really began practicing the religion they were raised in after learning the practice because transcending gave them a new perspective on it.
Of course, there are always people who will latch onto anything and make it a religion, and some have no doubt done this with TM. But it’s definitely not due to any inherent quality of the technique—otherwise everyone would do it. The vast majority of meditators have not made a religion of it, so, hey, it’s not a religion. It’s as simple as that.
It amazes me that some people are so insecure in their own beliefs that they can feel threatened by a simple, rather mechanical, mental technique. Seriously, you use a sound without any associated meaning. If this person ascribes the ability to change one’s religion to this little sound, then he clearly recognizes that there is great power in that sound. There is, for sure, immense power in the sound, but its special power is to bring you into tune with your own true self.
I deeply admire Roth’s dedication to bringing TM into the mainstream of education. It’s clear that he’s extremely passionate about it.
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