TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM Part One: Is TM a Religion?

Meditation has been widely acclaimed globally because of its effectiveness and benefits. Meditation is a holistic activity of the body and has been practiced and done subconsciously and consciously since ancient times. In the different generations and practices, there have been different phases and activities done in meditation as this works differently for each individual. Hence, a type of meditation called Transcendental Meditation involves silently repeating a mantra, closing the eyes, and resting the body in a comfortable sitting position.

It has been practiced by people since its discovery in India during the 1950s. This meditation technique is effective for mental, physical, and psychological stress reduction when done for twenty minutes twice a day. Moreover, alongside its proven outcome to relieve stress, the side effect of the activity is said to improve spirituality through spiritual growth and “transcending” one’s understanding to another higher level. TM is practiced for promoting the condition of one’s well-being as its effects in lowering stress levels, providing mental clarity, and eliminating anxiety can lower blood pressure, reduce the risks of heart disease, and improve cognitive function.

Nonetheless, with all the stressors and inevitable anxiety-inducing activities in the modern world, people in the new millennium believe that the yogic practices of Transcendental Meditation are the best solution.

How Transcendental Meditation Works

It is called transcendental meditation because the spirit and soul are objected to transcend into an enlightened and directed nature. TM is a necessity for one’s well-being because it is considered to be a spiritual rest to recharge one’s beliefs and enlightenment. But TM cannot be considered a religion or a ceremony. Transcendental meditation can be a regular practice to maintain one’s worldly confusions, questions, and restlessness that cannot be treated with any herbal or medical solutions. Nonetheless, a god or a deity is not involved in this activity.

The expected results of TM are related to a divine connection in which a soul is aligned to its cosmic equivalence and organizes an individual’s emotions and thinking to the rightful path. The rightful path or the “enlightenment” guides the person to the answers and solutions to his questions, confusions, and concerns because his spirit is calmed and settled. This meditation exactly directs the spirit to a state where it knows where to go and what to do in its own cosmic and divine aspects that humans could not be able to discern.

How to Practice Transcendental Meditation

In this meditation, the inner states (mind, heart, thoughts, and emotions) of one’s being is settled in silent and resting settings. Meanwhile, the outer perplexities of the body are set in dynamic and alert sensations such as constant but soft breathing, focusing on staying still, feeling the senses, and reciting a mantra. By using a customized mantra, which is a sound or a word without any intrinsic meaning or a phrase that changes one’s subconscious positively is essential to the efficacy of this meditation technique.

Through reciting a mantra, the body shifts its entire energy and leads the senses to concentration which also stops the mind from thinking and the heart from feeling emotions. Meanwhile, soft and deep breathing is another factor that lets one steadily detach from the current perceptions. As the body focuses on breathing, the heart and mind rest from the negative energies felt by the body which causes imbalance and an erroneous state.

This method is deemed by its proponent to enable one to transcend cognition and attain a state of profound relaxation and enhanced positive awareness toward the natural and unimpaired state of being. Hence, the ultimate goal of this meditation technique is to pause and stop stirring the distribution of one’s inner issues to gain clarity and peace of mind.

Is Transcendental Meditation a Religion?

Transcendental Meditation may have roots originating from Hinduism, but it generally cannot be considered a religion. It does not require or advocate any religious beliefs or practices. Though it may be a helpful practice to improve one’s spirituality, there is no restricted doctrine to believe in. It is mainly a secular technique that can be practiced by people of any religion or no religion at all.

To conclude, transcendental meditation is a type of meditation that places an emphasis on calming the body in order for the soul’s cognitive ability to function more through aligning with the divine nature. The teachings of transcendental meditation are the awakening of one’s divine state of consciousness. It unites the individual with the divine source of existence and produces a feeling of love, serenity, fulfillment, and cosmic guidance.

In this procedure, the silence of the body lets an individual sense the conditions of his spirit and soul. This is brought by listening closely to shift its belief and dynamism in order to reach a state of consciousness that is higher than the ordinary waking.

Michael Sutherland

Michael Sutherland is the founder of TrueCosmic and a devoted student and practitioner of Neville Goddard teachings. His path to this work was not academic — it was forged in crisis. Raised as a devout Jehovah Witness and Baptist, Michael walked away from the church at eighteen and spent the next 25 years in what scripture calls the far country — the prodigal son, wandering. He built a life by the world rules, searching without knowing what he was searching for. When the biggest crisis of his life arrived, he turned back — not to the church, but to scripture itself. Through Neville Goddard teachings he found what the church had never shown him: that the God of scripture is not an external being to be feared and appeased. God is your own awareness. Your own consciousness. Your own imagination. The I AM within. What he discovered was not a set of Neville Goddard principles — these are cosmic laws, written about not only in the Bible but across every ancient spiritual tradition the world over. The same truth, expressed in different language, in every age. The law of consciousness operates whether we are aware of it or not. We are manifesting constantly — the wanted and the unwanted alike. Understanding how this law works allows us to work with it consciously and intentionally, directing it toward the experiences we actually desire rather than the ones our unexamined assumptions are silently producing. In 2017, guided by two mentors — Dr Bruno R Cignacco and Roupa Jetto, a hypnotherapist and Buddhist practitioner — Michael had his first transcendent experience during deep meditation. In 2018 came something he could never have sought or engineered: what is described across traditions as a Kundalini awakening. A sound like rushing wind in both ears. An electrical current rising from the base of the spine, so intense it seemed impossible to survive. Every experience that followed — out of body states, movement along the spinal cord, sensations inside the skull — was documented in scripture, passage by passage, hidden in plain sight. This is not something that can be earned or manufactured. It is grace. According to scripture, it is every soul birthright — every one of us will experience this unfolding, in this lifetime or another. Michael does not share this to define himself above anyone else. He shares it because it confirmed, beyond any doubt, that what Neville Goddard taught is true — and because that confirmation is the foundation on which TrueCosmic was built. TrueCosmic today is home to the most comprehensive Neville Goddard library available online — 292 lectures — alongside an academy of courses, masterclasses and workshops, and 13 specialist coaches serving students across every continent. At its heart is a global community of over 92,000 members, all discovering what happens when you begin to work consciously with the law that was always operating anyway. The invitation is simple: become aware of the law. Understand how it works. And begin, deliberately, to use it.

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