No not that song. The one that taught me that transcendational meditation can emancipate the man and get you feeling grand.
Thanks, never had heard that one before. I guess I owe you a rootbeer float for teaching me something.
"If you can't find enlightenment right where you are, where do you expect to find it?" Eihei Dogen zengi
There are many forms of meditation, most of which are totally unfamiliar to me. In TM, the focus of your attention is on a secret, magical mantra given (purchased) from your guru (I'm skeptical of hocus-pocus; especially with a price tag). You can just as well focus your mind upon a free mantra (the Nembutsu and the Daimoku are popular, depending upon your lights), an image (e.g., the gohonzon), an image in your mind (e.g., maranasati), loving kindness (metta), or my all-time favorite; your breath, which is always readily at hand and costs absolutely nothing.
I used meditation to get through a difficult time and control pain several years ago after a nasty motorcycle accident. They had me on morphine and oxycodine in the 6 weeks in hospital and oxycodine after I went home. I needed something to get me off the painkillers and clear my head and turned to meditation. After researching on the net I set up my own meditation regiment given some limitations due to injuries. When in pain I would set back in my recliner with the house silent and go into a slow even breathing pattern. I would try to clear my mind and relax my whole body. I would close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing. Every breath in was relaxation and every breath out was removal of pain. Within a couple of days I was able to quit taking my pain meds. Every time pain started to build or anxiety set in I would start this regime. There was no mantras or chants. Just me, the silence and breathing.
TM is a form of mantra meditation. Mantra meditation is thousands of years old. Mahatma Gandhi practiced a mantra meditation called "Ramanama." Very simply, it is the repetition of a name of God. Mahatma Gandhi on Ramanama... Ramanama | Mind of Mahatma Gandhi ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The comedian Andy Kaufman practiced TM. I know that Jerry Seinfeld either practiced TM or a similar form of meditation. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I know there are those who are atheists or agnostics. If you choose a mantra unrelated to God, it is really best that the mantra be very benign. Words have a kind of power. So, you want to chose a very simple, nice, calming mantra like "white clouds, blue sky." Just nice images. It is like actors. If they do a stage play, playing an evil character every night for two years...it can actually affect their own behavior. So, you don't want to bomb your brain, nervous system and emotions with some sewage that will pollute you. This is not my advice. This is stuff that has come down from literally thousands of years of practical experience. No use re-inventing the wheel, when others have already figured it out for us.
