Some thirty years ago, one of the most controversial and popular meditation that caught the world by a storm is Transcendental Meditation. As early as the 1950s, this type of meditation was being taught in India by the founder -Mahareshi Yogi. Many individuals got hooked with this technique since they were looking for ways to relieve themselves from the grind of daily living. According to the TM website, a mantra sound is uttered during the 15-20 minute meditation wherein one is sitting with eyes closed. This meditation is practiced twice a day for desired results that claims ‘ supernatural powers’. Not only common people like students started practicing Transcendental Meditation but famous people like Hollywood celebrities and world leaders as well. Most of the followers of this meditation technique came from the United States. Later, the TM institute promoted training of people through the TM Sidhi program who wanted to learn more advanced techniques that included levitation. According to some TM practitioners, the meditation is adequate to create a peace-inducing field which was questioned by a publication that discussed epilepsy.

The roots of Transcendental Meditation could have been influenced by Hinduism. Certain mantra words are believed to have been part of the Tantric tradition according to a new age writer named Williamson while other experts trace back the mantras from the old Vedic tradition in ancient India. The founder himself, Mahareshi Yogi ( who passed away some years ago) claims that using a certain thought or words to connote a thought can be significant since such thoughts have unlocked powers that can be discovered as one learns the discipline of meditation. Furthermore, he advised people that such thoughts have power especially when they become mantras such as oooommm. Fundamentally, this is the keystone behind Transcendental Meditation. For this reason, many individuals became practitioners of meditation hoping that they would acquire positive energy vibrations.

Many scientists and academician doubt TM’s claimed results since there is not much scientific research to support the claims. Indeed, TM is still popular since many loyal followers attest to have derived health benefits from TM that calm both body and mind.