I've been becoming interested in meditation lately, and my wife has too. I'm wondering what your experiences with meditation are. What do you think of transcendental meditation? What other types of meditation are worth investigating?

Well, I haven't done it in awhile, but I have been meaning to get back to it.

A friend of mine turned me on to it and for awhile I was meditating several times a week. She said she noticed the difference. Then one day I stopped meditating and about a week after I stopped meditating she asked me if I had stopped. She said she could tell.

I didn't notice the difference at the time, but apparently to others it is a noticable difference.

I'm going to start doing that again.

Yes.

I was in Eckankar when I was younger. Did a lot of meditating with that.

Also did a lot of tai chi for awhile...Moving meditation.

Also for several years I meditated, but it wasn't any particular kind of meditation. It was just basically sitting with my eyes closed and totally letting go of the mind.

As for TM, I never did it but had a friend who's whole family was really into it. I could definitely see benefits in him from doing it .

Actually lately, I've been wandering back towards meditation a bit. Taking on new projects and a new girlfriend, has me needing to find a way to relieve stress.

Really relaxing the mind is such a wonderful thing!

The only thing about meditating that I know is that I should relax, start chanting at first out loud and then just in my head, and just focus on the chant and nothing else.

It seems to help my mind stay more focused. I think I need to start doing that again. I have been so scatterbrained lately.

Are you chanting something in particular?

I'm chanting something she gave me to chant. I don't know what it means, but she told me that it was my personal chant and to not share it with others. I trust her since she meditates a lot.

I have tried meditation to relieve the stress of a bad health condition I am experiencing. I found it very relaxing and refreshing, but lately I've gotten out of the habit of doing it every day. I believe it is something that needs to be done on a regular basis to feel the benefits.

BTW - What is the difference between trancendental and regular meditation?

BTW - What is the difference between trancendental and regular meditation?

Transcendental Meditation (http://www.tm.org/) basically involves inwardly chanting a specific mantra. But they give you a personal one when you take the course. How they decide what yours is, I don't really know. There are also more advance levels of it, which I don't know much about.

Transcendental Meditation (http://www.tm.org/) basically involves inwardly chanting a specific mantra. But they give you a personal one when you take the course. How they decide what yours is, I don't really know. There are also more advance levels of it, which I don't know much about.
I guess that is what I was doing.

I think they pick something that would support you in whatever you are up to. I know that my friend picked one that she thought would help me in particular, and about a week late after I started it, she asked it I was resisting it or having trouble with it. I think she picked something that at the time was hard for me to grasp, but was something she felt I needed to work toward.

It could have been a number of things, but I know that at the time I was unfocused, wasn't confident with myself, couldn't realiztically see myself with a lot of money or with a lot of success, and I was not very stable. I'm sure what she had me chant addressed one or more of those areas. But, then again, I have no clue. She wouldn't tell me what the chant means at the time, and I have never asked her since. If I remember correctly, she said that later she might tell me what the chant meant when I was ready for a new one.

When I sit down to 'meditate', I do a form that Deepak Chopra teaches called Primordial Sound. It is similar to TM in that it has a "Secret Mantra" too. My Teacher (in Washington) made a ritual of the passing of the Mantra to me, and seperately to my friend. Several years later, I asked Deepak about that, and he said the secret allows it to be more of an individual part of you.

The entire chant is 3 words long, the middle is the personal Mantra. Om - _____ - Nehmah'. "Om" is the basic sound of the Universe, "Nehmah' is "The End." (or so I was told)

The Primordial Sound aspect is in reference to the 108 Celesteal Sounds the Universe makes, and your sound is given based on the time and date of birth. Mines really cool! It's Om Lu ..... HEY! That wouldn't make it a secret any longer! :-)

The one I was given wasn't based on that formula. It actually means something and when I chant it I am affirming whatever it means. It's like doing affirmations except I don't know what this particular affirmation means.

The Primordial Sound aspect is in reference to the 108 Celesteal Sounds the Universe makes, and your sound is given based on the time and date of birth. Mines really cool! It's Om Lu ..... HEY! That wouldn't make it a secret any longer! :-)

Maybe that is how they figure one's mantra in TM too. It would make sense to me as I think there is a lot of truth to be found in Astrology, if one looks in the right places...Not the newspaper horoscopes though. :D

The one I was given wasn't based on that formula. It actually means something and when I chant it I am affirming whatever it means. It's like doing affirmations except I don't know what this particular affirmation means.I think I might be askin' about the meaning. That way, your other-than-conscious mind has a better direction when the conscious mind and voice speak it, aloud or in silence. So now, you'd have an enhanced meditative Affirmation / Incantation.


or do you like surprises? ;)

I think I might be askin' about the meaning. That way, your other-than-conscious mind has a better direction when the conscious mind and voice speak it, aloud or in silence. So now, you'd have an enhanced meditative Affirmation / Incantation.

or do you like surprises? ;)
I think that she did that on purpose so my mind would accept the incantation. In the state I was in at the time, I would have resisted any affirmations big time if my conscious mind knew about it. My response to any affirmations consciously would have been "that could never happen to me." In fact, she was even concerned that my subconscious mind would also resist it. So it was actually in my best interest at the time to not to tell me what the incantation meant.

Also, she knew me very well, and we were very close at the time. I could guess what the incantation is about based on what we always talked about, but I don't know what it exactly means. I'm sure it has something to do with focus and confidence.

I think my wife and I might take the transcendental meditation course. We are both under a lot of stress lately and thinking it will help relax. It's just a matter of finding the time to do it.

Transcendental Meditation (http://www.tm.org/) basically involves inwardly chanting a specific mantra. But they give you a personal one when you take the course. How they decide what yours is, I don't really know. There are also more advance levels of it, which I don't know much about.

Thanks Tom, I'll have a good look at that website.

I tried to learn how to meditate once, but I don't think I was doing it right. I never felt like it was helping me and I didn't feel more relaxed from it.