# Transcendental Meditation: Worth the $$$ for a course? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482 "2015-03-07T22:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lee\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@Lee\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lee_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/1 "2015-03-07T22:42:18Z")
Hoping for insight and impressions from anyone who has taken a sanctioned TM course. The ones I’ve looked into cost almost $1000 and the pitch is always about how it costs this much even though it’s “very simple” because it is tailor-made for each individual and it takes one-on-one time to make sure you get it exactly right for you to get optimum results. Depending what results are likely to be, it may not seem like such a steep cost if you figure it’s something you’ll use (if you are devoted) the rest of your life. Bottom line: Is it worth the money? I want to know how, and how much, it differs from other meditation techniques, including ones that involve a mantra or chanting. Any practitioners, has it affected you profoundly? Any and all insight greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/2 "2015-03-07T22:48:03Z")
I don’t know a lot about it, but any course that charges $1000 is up to something. Are they the group that says they give a unique mantra to everyone, when it is really the same for most people? > **[Postcript: About Transcendental Meditation - Wildmind](https://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/tm)** > > Just about everyone has heard of “Transcendental Meditation,” to the extent that it’s often the first thing people think of when the word “meditation” is mentioned. Transcendental meditation is simply mantra recitation, although the mantras are... > [@](#): > > The TM movement claims that its secret mantras are chosen specifically for the individual, who must not reveal his or her mantra to anyone else, or even discuss their meditation practice. However, there are web sites revealing all the TM mantras, which appear to be allotted by means of a simple formula based on the age and sex of the student. Personally I find deep rhythmic breathing (in for 4, hold for 2, out for 8) while using a device that measures heart rate variability works for me (at least sometimes). ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/3 "2015-03-07T23:18:02Z")
If it has “Transcendental” in the title, you should assume the answer is “No.” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/4 "2015-03-07T23:37:35Z")
I would think on it for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/5 "2015-03-08T01:13:29Z")
TM? Is it the 1970s again? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/6 "2015-03-08T01:57:33Z")
$1,000 to teach you how to breathe slowly and empty your mind of all anxiety? Dude, I just taught you the course, and it cost you nothing! The TM gang are a mob of frauds, no better than $cientology. They’re after your wallet, not your chakras. (Also, their beliefs regarding quantum physics are howling mad. These guys really are… Oops, this ain’t the Pit. Um… These guys really are of no intellectual worth.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/7 "2015-03-08T02:05:15Z")
Consider looking into [mindfulness meditation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_meditation) which is based on a Buddhist tradition of [Vipassanā](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81) meditation. I think it would work just as well, and you can probably find lessons inexpensively. (See if there is a Buddhist community or monastery in your neighborhood. They might give lessons, as the late monk [U Silananda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silananda) did in the San Francisco area.) Note that it takes long practice and dedication to get good at it. I think this must be true of any kind of meditation tradition. I don’t know what exactly the Transcendental Meditation course promises. If they promise you something quick and easy (like diet pills), then it’s woo. ETA: Given the remarks of **Trinopus** just above, I would definitely suggest looking into more generic Mindfulness Meditation. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/8 "2015-03-08T02:35:38Z")
> **[Vipassana Meditation](https://www.dhamma.org/en/index)** > > Homepage of Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin I went to one of their 10 day silent retreats years ago. The 10 day course is required before you’re allowed to attend their more frequent weekend/3 day retreats. No money up front - you donate what you want (anonymous envelope) at the end. Feel free to give them $1000 if you think that’s what it was worth. I thought it was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![beamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@beamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beamer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/9 "2015-03-08T03:00:41Z")
Hi, different people get different results depending on how they are. Just like getting a great nights sleep can help different people differently, only TM provides a very profound level of physiological rest in a short time. When I started I didn’t notice anything flashy but it felt good & I wanted to keep doing it. There are some symptoms of correct TM practice & I had some of them so I felt I had got it. Life just seemed to get better, I felt more simpatico with other people & even things. Group meditation is more powerful & after practicing for a while I had an experience of lighting up from within, a feeling of bliss and expansion. That doesn’t happen all the time but in general I do feel that life has taken a good direction, that I get a lot of support for my needs an desires. The positive research on TM is very wide ranging, I think more than any other meditation technique. If you want those same results, best follow the same path to get there. I totally recommend TM, you do have to do it to get the benefits of course and not expect any particular result, but gaining deep rest and allowing the active mind to settle to its ground state, contacting that source of your thoughts, your own intelligence, creativity and bliss does seem to bring out those qualities into your active thinking and life. It feels like you are contacting the source of intelligence in not only your own nature but in the nature of everything. Happy coincidences happen to me, I feel supported and more in tune. I haven’t got sick for a long time and am happy. Good luck, 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/10 "2015-03-08T04:04:13Z")
[This skepdic article](http://skepdic.com/tm.html) seems to have a pretty decent overview of TM and is probably worth reading. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own experience as a teenager terrified of shots who needed to have a cavity filled and who refused novocaine. Lacking any sort of training in formal relaxation techniques, I desperately recited poetry to myself during the entire agonizing procedure, and it worked a bit to distract me, but it remains the most painful experience of my life. I do not recommend that anyone attempt to transcend dental medication. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/11 "2015-03-08T04:16:50Z")
> [@beamer](#): > > . . . The positive research on TM is very wide ranging, I think more than any other meditation technique. If you want those same results, best follow the same path to get there. . . . Yeah, but a grand? A blinkin’ Grover Cleveland? You can do as well…or better…for a twentieth or less of this much money. > [@](#): > > . . . Happy coincidences happen to me . . . Forgive me for my skepticism, but this is the sort of thing the formal TM organization says, and I really, really doubt them. Remember how they promised we’d see people flying through the air, and how they would hold mass meditation sessions to change the world’s consciousness? If happy coincidences do happen to you, hey, great. But they absolutely certainly do not happen to all practitioners. Even high-level TM gurus get sick, have accidents, are victims of crime, and buy dud lottery tickets. If the TM movement could demonstrate statistically significant levels of life-improving events, they’d be respected by all. They can’t. Your own experiences are only one data-point. (I’m a hard-nosed atheist, and I had two nice coincidences happen to me today. That proves…nothing!) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/12 "2015-03-08T04:21:15Z")
_puts **Left Hand Of Dorkness** on The List_ ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/13 "2015-03-08T05:23:56Z")
Try a sample before you part with $1000. Also, you should perform comparative value analysis. After you sample it, ask yourself : what will I get more satisfaction from the $1000? TM? Hookers? Blackjack? 10-20 hours of back massages? Cocaine? Booze? If it’s better than those, then go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/14 "2015-03-08T15:33:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > _puts **Left Hand Of Dorkness** on The List_ Dude, way too late–I think I’m the cause for that list in the first place. And I don’t regret it a bit. Making terrible puns is what gives joy to my day, puts spring in my step. Give it up? No way–it’s horrible to contemplate such a listless existence. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/15 "2015-03-08T17:01:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Dude, way too late–I think I’m the cause for that list in the first place. And I don’t regret it a bit. Making terrible puns is what gives joy to my day, puts spring in my step. Give it up? No way–it’s horrible to contemplate such a listless existence. You mis-understand. The List is like a HoF. And I will never give up punning, either. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/16 "2015-03-09T05:13:18Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Dude, way too late–I think I’m the cause for that list in the first place. And I don’t regret it a bit. Making terrible puns is what gives joy to my day, puts spring in my step. Give it up? No way–it’s horrible to contemplate such a listless existence. Did you think you made that pun up yourself? Did **running coach** think **Left Hand of Dorkness** made it up? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/17 "2015-03-09T05:30:16Z")
I learned the official Maharishi TM back in the 70s. It cost nothing like that much. You don’t need it. The individual mantra you are give is just made up BS. The free version of [Headspace](https://www.headspace.com/) will be more than enough to start a meditation practice. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/18 "2015-03-09T08:22:38Z")
Another vote for Vipassana - as **CarnalK** notes, their 10-day retreats are free. It’s tough, though. No internet, no masturbation, no talking - for ten days straight. Think you can handle it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/19 "2015-03-09T14:04:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [This skepdic article](http://skepdic.com/tm.html) seems to have a pretty decent overview of TM and is probably worth reading. > > I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own experience as a teenager terrified of shots who needed to have a cavity filled and who refused novocaine. Lacking any sort of training in formal relaxation techniques, I desperately recited poetry to myself during the entire agonizing procedure, and it worked a bit to distract me, but it remains the most painful experience of my life. I do not recommend that anyone attempt to transcend dental medication. That…that was beautiful. ::slow clap:: ---
**Author:** ![Lee\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@Lee\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lee_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482/20 "2015-03-09T16:40:30Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Another vote for Vipassana - as **CarnalK** notes, their 10-day retreats are free. > > It’s tough, though. No internet, no masturbation, no talking - for ten days straight. Think you can handle it? 😉 Actually I HAVE handled it! Have done two Vipassana retreats, each time worth every minute, though you are correct that it’s tough. For me it got progressively easier and the second time was not as tough at the beginning, maybe because I knew the process and outcome would be worth it. I really like the retreat model, including the idea that you pay what you can/what you wish and in so doing help fund another person who does the retreat. I will probably do it again. Right now the one closest to me has a waiting list for the next session. Thanks to all who responded in this thread, especially those who provided links for further specific info on TM. I’d done a lot of reading but had never come across a list of the official mantras by age, for instance, so that was helpful. Overall it now seems clear to me that the “official” training sessions are not necessary and way overpriced in any case. I’ll skip that kind of thing and continue with other methods. Thanks again Dopers! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transcendental-meditation-worth-the-for-a-course/714482.md?page=2)