Free Lessons on Transcendental Meditation

Many interested in studying stress relieving meditation techniques may seek free lessons on transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation uses the ancient form of japa yoga or mantra (mantram) repetition with new aspects added by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Transcendental meditation helps focus the mind by concentrating on a mantra or carefully selected word or phrase.

Quieting the mind by giving it focus is not new. Most world cultures embrace one or more forms of meditation as a way to bring one’s thoughts into balance. In today’s fractured, fast-paced world, the constant deluge of sensory inputs creates great mental turmoil, which leads to added stress. Meditation techniques such as transcendental meditation train the mind to focus on one thought, the mantra or mantram, until practitioners find within themselves a place of harmony and peace. The positive mantra displaces negative, stressful thoughts. Stress, tension and anxiety fade away as the mind quiets.

Learning transcendental meditation begins with a willingness to devote time to practice and personal lessons. During the lessons, the instructor gives the student a special mantra to repeat during meditation and teaches the student proper posture, breathing, and mantra meditation techniques. Lessons can be pricey. Spending a lot of money on lessons can increase stress, defeating the purpose of learning transcendental meditation as a stress relief technique.

Transcendental meditation teachers provide personal, one-on-one instruction to their students. Students learn through the seven steps as outlined by the official teachings of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Proponents claim that no book or other learning aid other than qualified teacher can teach the novice the proper techniques. They insist that a qualified teacher is the only one who can share the specialized techniques. Official transcendental meditation teachers claim that a teacher who knows his or her student is the only one qualified to select the perfect mantra for the individual. Transcendental meditation techniques emphasize the personal relationship between teacher and student. Practitioners cite this reason to assert their claims that only personal, fee-based lessons help students learn transcendental meditation techniques.

Critics of transcendental meditation contend it is a multimillion-dollar business and that it’s not available free because too many people make too much money from it.

Whether you believe the proponents or the critics, it can be difficult to find free lessons on transcendental meditation, but a few resources do exist. Free resources include:

• How_to_Practice_Transcendental_Meditation provides a basic overview of transcendental meditation for the novice.
• The Transcendental Meditation organization offers a series of free introductory lessons. To learn the technique, the center suggests that students enroll in the full course for a fee, but the information provided in the introductory course should be enough to help individuals decide for themselves if it is worth spending the additional money.
• Project Meditation provides a downloadable, free transcendental meditation course available on their website. After completing the prerecorded course, students have the option of purchasing additional CD-ROMs.
• Many self-help or New Age bookstores often provide free meditation lessons too. Look in your local phone directory for stores near you, and call to see if they offer meditation courses. You may also find free courses at libraries, or low-cost courses offered through continuing education programs in your school district or at a local college.

If money is tight and you still wish to try a form of transcendental meditation for stress relief, the yoga practice known as japa yoga or mantra yoga provides the same effect. Much free information is available online and in books.

• Japa yoga uses repetition of a word or phrase to quiet and center the mind. It can be just as effective as transcendental meditation for stress relief, but has the added bonus of being free! An introduction to japa yoga by Swami Sivananda provides the background on this revered technique.
• Former Berkeley professor Eknath Easwaran embraces mantra meditation and his foundation provides free information online. Easwaran focuses on mantrams with religious connotations, but other teachers state that words evoking a calm state may also be used as a mantra. Easwaran’s book, The Mantam Handbook, available on Amazon, provides details on why mantras work and how to practice mantra or mantram meditation.
• The Vipassana Meditation Center offers a ten-day course which people claim includes techniques nearly identical to transcendental meditation. The center provides the course free of charge, but requests a donation according to the student’s means.

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