hi my name is Bob Roth and I've been a teacher of Transcendental Meditation for
over 40 years I want to start right off with a very simple working definition of
Transcendental Meditation number one TM is a very simple technique it's simple
not because it's simplistic or a beginner's meditation but because
there's an elegant simplicity to the practice very profound elegant
simplicity to the practice number two its natural there's no manipulation
there's no suggestion every human being can practice Transcendental Meditation
as well as every other human being very simple to learn and very enjoyable to
practice number three it's effortless effortless in contrast to many other
meditation techniques which involve concentration or control of the mind
trying to clear the mind of thoughts this is completely effortless as we'll
see in a few moments it's practiced 20 minutes twice a day sitting comfortably
in a chair with your eyes closed it can be done you know on a train it can be
done on an airplane it can be done in a car if someone else is driving but it
can be just done see it's just done sitting comfortably it's a silent
technique with your eyes closed and this is what it's not it's not a philosophy I
have no philosophy for you when you learn Transcendental Meditation no one's
going to give you a TM philosophy of life there's no philosophy whatsoever it
doesn't involve any change in lifestyle you don't change your diet or anything
and the third thing is there's nothing to believe in I want to emphasize that
because sometimes people think oh and I learned to meditate I have to believe in
it for it to prefer it to work you can be a hundred percent skeptical and the
technique works just as well the benefits are just as profound as if you
went into this thing thinking oh I believe in meditation that's it's going
to work there's no belief whatsoever so to understand what Transcendental
Meditation is and to understand how it compares to other forms of meditation or
self-development I like to use the metaphor or the analogy of an ocean
you're on a small boat you're in the middle of the ocean out in the middle of
the ocean and all of a sudden you get these hue
swells these huge 40 60 foot high waves and you think oh my god
the whole ocean is in upheaval well not really because if you do a cross-section
of the ocean you see these little 40-foot high waves and the ocean is like
in reality a mile deep and the ocean is active on the surface but at the depth
of the ocean it is naturally silent that's the nature of the ocean active on
the surface silent at its depth and the analogy is our mind the surface
of our mind is the active thinking mind all the things that we're thinking about
all during the day it's like the waves on the surface of the ocean and I like
to call it the gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta gotta mind I got to do this
and I got to do that and I got to call him and I got to call her and I got to
make a list and I got to find the list and I got to make a new list and I got
to get going and I got to slow down and I got to get to sleep and I got to wake
up we I'm sure everybody's had a gotta gotta got in mind at some point and
there's a natural inclination a natural desire to have some some inner calm some
inner clarity some inner focus some inner inspiration some inner peace some
inner happiness natural and the operative word there is inner and the
question is where is that inner and how do we get there
every human being deep within all of us is a level of the mind that is already
calm already settled already wide awake
the ancient meditation texts use very big words they say it's a source of our
unbounded creativity unbounded intelligence happiness focus clarity
now the big question is how do you get there how do you go from the active
thinking gotta gotta got a level of the mind to these quieter and quieter and
quieter levels to that source of thought and how do you get there effortlessly
it's there right now we don't have to muscle it we don't have to believe in it
we don't have to clear our mind of thoughts that's trying to stop the waves
on the surface we're accessing a level of our mind that's already calm
the natural tendency of the human mind to be drawn towards some field something
more satisfying absolutely spontaneously more satisfying inside is a field of
great satisfaction source of thought creates a very charming field in
Transcendental Meditation we learn how to give the attention of the mind in
inward direction instead of outward through our senses toward that nice
music that interesting conversation that you know is it hard to watch a great
movie no your attention is drawn to it so but that all goes out through the
senses now like that cross-section of the ocean we learn how to give the
attention of the mind in inward direction and automatically the
attention is drawn settled quieter and quieter and quieter levels because
quieter levels of the mind are increasingly more satisfying them
Transcendental Meditation is always taught one-to-one by a trained certified
teacher of TM I need to emphasize that this isn't never it Transcendental
Meditation is not a mass meditation it's not something you learn out of a book
not something you get from a tape the technique is taught over 4 consecutive
days of about an hour to an hour and a half a day over 4 consecutive days and
the first day always one-to-one with a trained teacher of Transcendental
Meditation certified teacher and at that time what you learn from your teachers
you're given a sound the proper mantra a proper vehicle for you to settle down
and you're taught how to use it properly Transcendental Meditation is just a
simple natural effortless technique to give access to that calm silent level of
the mind that is always there but is overshadowed
because of the constant noise noise crazy crazy crazy of the day so there's
no change in lifestyle there's nothing to believe in
there's no philosophy it's just a simple natural effortless technique that once
learned you carry with you for the rest of your life