Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation is a meditation program that teaches silent repetition of a personal mantra, typically practiced twice daily for about 20 minutes.

Mantra: A word, sound, or phrase repeated or contemplated in a spiritual or meditative practice. Silent repetition of a mantra is the practice’s defining technique.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: An Indian spiritual teacher who founded the Transcendental Meditation movement and popularized its teaching internationally. He developed and led the program that became known as Transcendental Meditation.
David Lynch: An American filmmaker known for films including Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive. He publicly advocated Transcendental Meditation and founded an organization promoting its teaching.
Transcendental Meditation movement: The international network of organizations and programs founded to teach Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s practices and ideas. The meditation technique became the centerpiece of a broader institutional and educational movement.
Meditation: A range of practices that train attention, awareness, or contemplative states. Transcendental Meditation belongs to the broader family of meditation practices.
Jyotirmath: A Hindu monastery in the Indian Himalayas associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Maharishi trained under Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, head of Jyotirmath.
Maharishi Foundation: An organization established to promote Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s teachings and related programs. It helped organize instruction and public promotion of Transcendental Meditation.
Maharishi Effect: The claim that group practice of Transcendental Meditation can reduce violence or improve social conditions at a distance. This controversial social-impact claim extended the practice’s promised effects beyond individual meditators.
Attention: The cognitive process of selecting and sustaining focus on particular information. The practice uses a mantra while allowing attention to settle without forceful concentration.
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati: An Indian Hindu teacher who served as the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath from 1941 to 1953. Maharishi identified him as his spiritual teacher and a source of the tradition he taught.

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