Save time here. Do we really need to tell you that meditation is good for you in 2023? There are more and more distractions, from the micro to the macro, each demanding our attention 24/7. In a world that looks like so much, a regular practice of sitting still and quiet and clearing your mind in some way probably makes sense. Is it helpful, welcoming, soothing, beneficial, and all that good stuff?
You tried it, right? It is certainly so. No, I didn’t just try. end that. I have meditated in a million ways for a million days. When I was in high school, I had a strange urge to sit cross-legged in front of a candle in my bedroom and try to do this. just stare at the flames Without, you know, think too much About staring into the flame. Years later, when I studied Zen, Buddhism, and Eastern philosophy and religion in college, I experimented with many variations and permutations of the theme. I recently visited a Zendo, soaked in a sound bath, tried walking meditation and various mindful apps.
Each of these experiences seemed like a great idea before and after. Some of it even created a vague (and short-lived) kind of lucid mood, on top of the complacency I had. Hooray. But none of them seemed necessary and never became a practice, a habit, a regular part of my life. Probably for the same reason between you and whatever kind of self-care you want to practice. , from going to the gym to becoming one with the universe. Zendo was too inconvenient. The sound bath was fun, but too weird. And apps, somehow, were too easy, too available, too all-encompassing to make the kind of life-changing changes I wanted. I mean, please. There are people who endure hour-long journeys each way to a Zen temple, endure silence and excruciating pain among strangers, completely empty their hearts and souls, and struggle to achieve some vague clarity of mind. Or? No: Grant me a revelatory transformation, an effortless mastery of time, space, and dimension!
That brings me to Transcendental Meditation. I’ve been hearing about it for years, but always at arm’s length. Friends of friends were raving about it in ways that were mind-bogglingly non-specific. The musicians, artists, and directors whose work I followed swore by it. But what was it? What is “transcendent” about it, how can we achieve it, and why hasn’t it been done before? My only understanding is that it requires a secret mantra, and that it requires a specialized and seemingly expensive It was said that this could be conveyed through visible personal training.
