Transcendental Meditation
Published:
Trinidad Guardian Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Many have searched the world, high and low, to find ways to manage stress or to eliminate it from their lives altogether. There has been mounting evidence that stress contributes to a number of physical and psychological problems, and it has also been linked to the numerous social problems, such as crime, drug abuse, prostitution and juvenile delinquency, plaguing societies across the globe. But is there really a “cure” for stress? How does one really manage stress, or can it even be managed? How does one deal with the unavoidable everyday hustle and bustle of life? According to regional director of the International Meditation Society, Richard Robertson, Transcendental Meditation (TM), is the answer to all the questions asked about stress. Robertson has been practising the technique for the past 38 years, and has been teaching it for 35 years in T&T and other Caribbean countries, including Dominica and Guyana. He has even introduced it to some countries in Africa where he resided for some time. Robertson's wish is that the Government of T&T would adopt the technique into the education and prisons system to form a better society. He believes that stress is the main reason for a country’s depreciation. He explained why the technique is practiced by some of the world's most successful and influential people including, philanthropist and business mogul, Russell Simmons and Women's Health specialist and author, Dr Nancy Lonsdorf.
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| Richard Robertson Reg director IMS |
Q: What is Transcendental Meditation?
A: It is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practised for 20 minutes, twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. It’s not a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle. It’s the most widely practiced, most researched, and most effective method of self-development.
Q: Where did the practice originate?
A: The Transcendental Meditation technique is based on the ancient Vedic tradition of enlightenment in India. This knowledge has been handed down by Vedic masters from generation to generation for thousands of years. About 50 years ago, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi— the representative in our age of the Vedic tradition — introduced Transcendental Meditation to the world, restoring the knowledge and experience of higher states of consciousness at this critical time for humanity. When we teach the Transcendental Meditation technique today, we maintain the same procedures used by teachers thousands of years ago for maximum effectiveness.
Q:What happens when you meditate?
A: The Transcendental Meditation technique allows your mind to settle inward beyond thought, to experience the source of thought, pure awareness, also known as transcendental consciousness, or the unified field. This is the most silent and peaceful level of consciousness — your innermost Self. In this state of restful alertness, your brain functions with significantly greater coherence and your body gains deep rest.
Q: Have you any information on the global practice?
A: More than five million people world-wide have learned this simple, natural technique — people of all ages, cultures, and religions — making it one of the most popular of all meditation techniques.
Q: What proof is there that this technique really works?
A: The TM technique is the most widely researched of all meditation techniques. Over 600 research studies have been conducted at more than 250 universities and research centres (including Harvard, UCLA, and Stanford). These studies have been published in more than 100 journals. Besides this, every institution, where this technique was introduced, a post-mortem was done by its own directors and they found a vast difference in students, inmates, employees etc.
Q: What are the benefits?
A: The benefits of meditation are greater clarity, more creativity, reduced stress, improved health. With TM, you experience restful alertness. In this state of mind the total brain is developed and accumulated stress is eliminated. TM allows increased creativity and intelligence and improved health—this is what has been reported by all who practice the technique.
Q: How is it different from other meditation techniques?
A: Usually with when you meditate, you focus on something specific, but with TM you cause the mind to simply, naturally and effortlessly transcend thinking and to experience a deep state of restfully alert consciousness. The holistic benefits that have been found to result from the practice of the TM technique are the automatic result of this unique experience.
Q:How long has it been practised in T&T
A: The TM programme was introduced in T&T in 1966 by Ena Mahabir, and is registered as a non-profit charitable organisation under the International Meditation Society. It has been mostly practiced at private institutions and companies. We have made it available to the last administration and the present one, but unfortunately we haven't had any favourable responses. We would like to have bigger projects in T&T as we had in Ecuador with the military, Brazil, Dominica and in Guyana, where the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport Affairs, have adopted TM into youth training centres and juvenile institutions. We have seen the change in some countries where if the programme was introduced even in just a particular community, crime went down, there were less broken homes, students excelled more at academics and there was just an overall upliftment. This is what we want to give to T&T because we have tried everything to create a better society but all have fallen short. So maybe the government should take this opportunity, it is not a chance, it is an opportunity because it will work.
Q: How will this programme help T&T?
A: Accumulated stress can cause people to act out most times negatively. This country, like the rest of the world, is under a lot of stress. We are talking about unemployment, capitalism, poverty, broken homes, negligence, abandonment, illiteracy, to mention a few. When a society struggles to live with such strongholds, the result would be deviant behaviour. We are just offering a way of eliminating your stress, thus giving you a chance to connect with a more conscious and improved state of mind that would affect your behaviour positively.
For more info on Transcendental Meditation call: 633-7016/717-7540
Email: maharishi.institute@yahoo.com Web: http://trinbago.tm.org/ Register for free TM intro: Wednesdays 6:30pm, 28 Geridot Cres, D/Vale, D/Martin.
