Transcendental Meditation – Jack Forem

486 Pages·2012·4.21 MB·English

by  Forem, Jack

Praise for Transcendental Meditation

“In the ongoing transmission of India’s practical wisdom to
the West, nothing has had a bigger impact than Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation. This
engaging and comprehensive update of Jack Forem’s seminal
book is well timed, as the knowledge it contains is vital in our
stressed-out, plugged-in era.”

— Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda:
From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation,
How Indian Spirituality Changed the West

“Jack
Forem’s
groundbreaking
book,
Transcendental

Meditation, inspired thousands of people, including myself, to
learn meditation and investigate the scientific basis behind its
effectiveness. In this new edition, he brilliantly distills all the
latest
advancements
and hundreds
of scientific
papers

published in leading academic and medical journals. As
Maharishi himself said about the original edition, this book
‘offers a clear, comprehensive, and thoughtful presentation of
the essence of our teaching,’ and that is certainly true of this
new edition as well. I strongly encourage everyone to read
this book and to take full advantage of the programs it
describes. It is an invaluable resource for all who desire a
bright future for themselves and for our world.”

— John Hagelin, Quantum Physicist and Educator
President, Global Union of Scientists for Peace
Featured in What the Bleep Do We Know!? and The Secret

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“A comprehensive, reader-friendly study of the teachings of a
great modern master. Jack Forem’s book isn’t just about the
TM technique and its massive body of scientific research, but
it reveals practical and enlightened approaches to the fields
of education, health care, personal relationships, psychology,
religion, and business, and a novel and powerful strategy for
achieving world peace. Informative and inspiring!”

— James S. Brooks, M.D., co-author of Ayurvedic Secrets
to Longevity & Total Health, Medical Director of Mental
Health
Centers in Chariton and Fairfield, Iowa

“As a rabbi and longtime practitioner of the TM program, I
particularly appreciate the new chapter on Religion and
Spirituality in Jack Forem’s book. Jack quotes Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi’s teaching that religions have ‘one common
ground: that the light of God is kindled in each heart.’ This is
what TM accomplished for me in my life. I never would have
desired to become, nor would I have been able to succeed as
a rabbi, without the spiritual awareness that the practice of
TM awakened in me.”

— Alan Green, Senior Rabbi, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue,
Winnipeg, Canada

“Many books have been written about the Transcendental
Meditation technique and the array of benefits enjoyed by
those who practice it. Jack Forem’s book stands out not only
because it is eminently readable and entertaining, but
because it is such a clear and comprehensive introduction to
TM, the principles behind it, and the research demonstrating
its effectiveness. It’s a joy to read and a breath of fresh air.

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“In addition to delineating the value of TM for individuals,
Forem explains cutting-edge, paradigm-shifting research
showing that groups of people practicing TM together have
significantly reduced tension and hostility in the environment.
He argues persuasively that in TM, we have a technique to
benefit the individual and at the same time generate harmony
and reduce stress in society as a whole. “This is a book to
read and take to heart.”

— Gary P. Kaplan M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of
Neurology,
Hofstra University School of Medicine

“Jack Forem’s new book on Transcendental Meditation
offers a wealth of research with real-world examples of how
TM can increase personal and corporate success and
effectiveness. This book offers numerous examples of how this
simple technique has had a tremendous effect on people from
all walks of life. I know it has helped me, my family, my
company, and my clients.”

—
Nancy
Slomowitz,
President
&
CEO,
Executive

Management
Associates, Inc., author of Work Zone Madness! Surviving
and
Rising Above Workplace Dysfunction

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Copyright © 1973 by Jack Forem

Revised Edition Copyright © 2012 by Jack Forem

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay
House,
Inc.:
www.hayhouse.com®
•
Published
and

distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.:
www.hayhouse.com.au • Published and distributed in the
United
Kingdom
by:
Hay
House
UK,
Ltd.:

www.hayhouse.co.uk • Published and distributed in the
Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.:
www.hayhouse.co.za • Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast:
www.raincoast.com • Published in India by: Hay House
Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Amy Rose Grigoriou • Interior design: Tricia
Breidenthal Indexer:
Jay Kreider • Photo on page 84: Fred Travis

Illustrations of scientific research were prepared by Allen
Cobb, based on graphics developed by Maharishi University
of Management (MUM) Press. Used by permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in
the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in
a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for
public or private use—other than for “fair use” as brief
quotations embodied in articles and reviews—without prior
written permission of the publisher.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or
prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for
physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice
of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the
author is only to offer information of a general nature to help
you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In
the event you use any of the information in this book for
yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the
publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Originally published in 1973 in the United States by Dutton
(ISBN: 0-525-47341-6).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Forem, Jack.

Transcendental meditation : the essential teachings of

maharishi mahesh yogi / Jack Forem. — Rev. and updated for
the 21st century.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4019-3156-8 (tradepaper : alk. paper) 1.

Transcendental meditation. I. Title.

BF637.T68.F67 2012

158.1’25—dc23

2012011499

8

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-3156-8

Digital ISBN: 978-1-4019-3157-5

15 14 13 12 4 3 2 1

1st edition, October 2012

Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction: Meeting Maharishi

CHAPTER 1:
TM and the Search for Happiness

CHAPTER 2:
New Knowledge for a New Age

CHAPTER 3:
The Goal of Life

CHAPTER 4:
Reality: Scientific and Spiritual

CHAPTER 5:
The Neurophysiology of Enlightenment

CHAPTER 6:
TM: Rx for Good Health

CHAPTER 7:
TM and Longevity: Living Longer and

Better

CHAPTER 8:
Family and Friends

CHAPTER 9:
Education for Enlightenment

CHAPTER 10:
The Art of Action

CHAPTER
11:
The
Best
We
Can
Be:
TM
and

Self-Actualization

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CHAPTER
12:
What
Matters
Most:
Values
in
a

Transforming World

CHAPTER 13:
Religion and Spirituality

CHAPTER 14:
Freedom

CHAPTER 15:
The World We Can Create

Resources

Notes and References

Acknowledgments

About the Author

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PREFACE

Transcendental Meditation and the essential teachings and
technologies for the development of consciousness brought to
the world by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi provide a direct path for
anyone, in any time or place, to grow in happiness, creativity,
dynamism, vibrant good health, and a deep sense of inner
peace, regardless of the circumstances of one’s life. They not
only offer profound levels of individual fulfillment, they also
bring warmth and love to relationships, promote harmony and
healing in the social and natural environment, and contribute
to a peaceful world.

This is the message Maharishi delivered when I first heard
him speak in November of 1966. It resonated deeply with me.
I believed it, and I believed in it as a vision of possibilities
worthy of achieving. His very being radiated an indefinable
something, an authenticity and gentle authority that inspired
confidence in the truth of his words.

The first version of this book was published eight years later,
after I learned Transcendental Meditation (TM), trained in
India to teach it, and did extensive research on its results and
benefits. It was my first book, and I was grateful and happy
that it enjoyed substantial success in the United States and in
various editions around the world. Now, a lifetime later,
based on more than 40 years of personal experience with
Maharishi’s teachings and conversations and interviews with
hundreds of people, I have revised and updated it, taking into
consideration, among other things, a mountain of scientific

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research that continues to verify the deep truth, logical
beauty, and universal effectiveness of Maharishi’s teachings.

ABOUT THIS NEW EDITION

Readers of the original edition may wonder if there’s
anything
here
of
value
for
them.
At
the
risk
of

self-promotion—something I may be the last living American
to find abhorrent—I have to say that this revised version is
essentially a new book. In reviewing the scientific research
published since the first edition, interviewing people about
the benefits they’ve enjoyed from practicing TM, and trying
to select only the most important of the many programs
throughout the world utilizing this practice, I realized that
much of the previous material would have to give way to the
new. Here are the main ways in which this book has evolved:

New Knowledge. When the original edition was published,
the
Transcendental
Meditation
technique
comprised

Maharishi’s entire teaching. Since then, he unveiled new
programs and initiatives for health promotion, personal
development, sustainable living, global-peace creation, and
much more, which I will describe and explain.

Research. When I wrote the initial version of the book, only
a handful of scientific studies on TM had been published.
Now, more than 350 research papers on TM have appeared in
top-level scientific journals on psychology, physiology,
health, and social change. You will find many (but I promise,
not all!) of these papers briefly reviewed here, in terms of the
benefits they have uncovered for individuals and society.

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Long-Term
Personal
Growth.
The
original
edition

contained interviews and testimonials mostly from students
and other young people who’d been meditating a relatively
short time—from a few months to about five years. Now
there
are
many
thousands
of
people
who
have
been

meditating for decades. What have they experienced? How
have they grown? How has meditation helped them deal with
life’s challenges as they’ve grown older? You will find
answers to such questions within these pages, along with new
observations from people young and not-so young about the
value they have found in TM in today’s world.

Global Expansion. The first version of the book focused
almost exclusively on the United States and almost entirely
on benefits for the individual. Now TM is taught in schools,
prisons, corporate offices, and industrial plants around the
world. Special programs in Veterans Administration hospitals
are teaching TM to soldiers with post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), and there are meditation classes for kids
with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well
as “at-risk” kids from high-stress neighborhoods. These
programs are everywhere, from the mountaintops of Peru and
the plains of India to Native American reservations. TM is
taught to people throughout North and South America as well
as Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, in
Bali, Ecuador, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Brazil, South
Africa, Uganda, India, Australia, New Zealand, in over 100
countries.

Personal Experience of the Author. In the first edition, I did
my best to keep myself out of the story and just present the
knowledge and research on TM as clearly and objectively as I
could. However, over the years, many people have told me

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