Transcendental Meditation can help Victims of the Silent Epidemic, Traumatic Stress, which can be Caused by Living in a State of Fear, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
August 5, 2013
At the age of 22 when I had just learned how to mediate, I went home to visit my family for an afternoon. Some of them said they noticed a change in me that they couldn’t figure out, and they were puzzled by this. I told them I had learned how to meditate and was really enjoying it. It made me feel better. The difference in my behavior and attitude was so remarkable that I was asked to arrange for an introductory lecture so that my family could understand what was going on with Tom, and to find out if maybe there was something in this for them, too. After the lecture, some of my brothers and sisters learned to practice Transcendental Meditation (TM), and eventually eleven of the 22 family members began to meditate!
At that time in the 1970s, it was also the cool thing to do. After all, the Beatles and the Beach Boys were meditating! (In fact, the Beach Boys’ last album for Reprise, M.I.U. Album (1978), was recorded at Maharishi International University in Iowa, my alma mater, which I write extensively about in True North – The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours”.)
Some of the earliest writings on the subject of meditation, around 1500 BCE in the Vedas (large body of texts originating in ancient India), refer to the unlocking of the secrets of the universe and all the Laws of Nature within the individual as a result of the periodic and regular practice of TM. The Vedas were also the description of direct experience of God. Even the Christian Bible quotes Jesus who said, “The kingdom of heaven is within.” (I don’t believe he meant within a church.)
It is believed as individual awareness expands through regular practice of TM and going within, a natural infusion of undifferentiated pure Being into the body-mind takes place. Over time, this change in the functioning of the meditator’s consciousness is experienced as Bliss. What is Bliss? Imagine sugar taken beyond sweetness. In that same way, happiness taken to an extreme and beyond itself is Bliss. The great yogis and masters from all spiritual traditions teach that, this Bliss, is the source of all existence.
I certainly understand how practicing TM can help victims of the silent epidemic, Traumatic Stress, which can be caused by growing up in a state of fear, child abuse and domestic violence. Though I wish someone had helped us with that when we were kids, I’m grateful to have had the good fortune of being led to TM when I was. It was truly a turning point in my life, and even today, I know that practicing TM is important for my ongoing recovery.
I encourage you to look into TM, a life skill that can serve you as long as you want it to. In fact, the longer one meditates, the more Bliss they will infuse into their body-mind. The more Bliss they infuse, the more they will radiate that into their environment, thereby making the world a less violent and better place for everyone. And isn’t that what we all truly desire?
Here are a couple of resources to find out more:
Maharishi Foundation
The David Lynch Foundation