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Appreciating the mantra The scene: A university variety show. Just before Krystle and John were about to sing an old classic, vintage 1934, the dean had a few words to say. ‘We are dedicating this song to our mantra,’ John offered. ‘It’s called “The Very Thought of You.”’ Krystle and the audience laughed with approval. They were at Maharishi University of Management (MUM) where students, faculty, and staff all practise the Transcendental Meditation technique. Offstage—a look at Transcendental Meditation and the mantra To better understand why the audience couldn’t help but chuckle at John’s dedication of the love song to one’s mantra, the words of the founder of the Transcendental Meditation programme and MUM are helpful. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi offers insight into the practice of Transcendental Meditation and the resulting benefits in a video about the role of the mantra. Maharishi begins, ‘Actual practice [of Transcendental Meditation] involves thinking of a word, a word devoid of meaning.’ He then clarifies the significance of the mantra being meaningless. ‘We don’t know the meaning. We don’t try to know the meaning. And the principle is that if we know the meaning, then meaning is a static thing.’ Maharishi explains the static nature of meaning by saying that although a sound—such as the word pencil—may change in its value, the meaning remains the same. It can, for example, be experienced in the mind as a loud sound or a soft sound, but in either case the meaning of pencil is unchanged. ‘So, if the mind is on the meaning,’ Maharishi says, ‘then there is no chance of refining the meaning.’ On the other hand, Maharishi brings out that ‘If the mind is not on the meaning, then there is a chance of refining the sound. Then there is a chance of experiencing the sound in its finer values ‘til the finest could be transcended and the awareness could reach that inner wakefulness devoid of any perception. This will be Transcendental Consciousness.’ Maharishi explains that with the proper use of the mantra, the mind experiences the thought in finer and finer states and then goes beyond thought. ‘The mind is left wide awake by itself without any sound to experience.’ Maharishi uses the analogy of a wave settling down to the expanded flat surface of a lake to make more concrete the experience of the mind settling down to enjoy its own inner unbounded silence during the practice of Transcendental Meditation. ‘This [is] unbounded awareness,‘ he says, ‘where the perception is no longer within boundaries—it is unbounded. ‘This is a silent state of the mind, and it is so fulfilling that the physiology—having tasted this kind of quietness of activity—it cherishes that. And because it’s cherishing to the whole physiology, to the whole experience, the physiology tends to maintain that state naturally even when there are activities. . . . ‘So, by nature that state is experienced. By nature, through practice, it becomes stabilised in the field of activity,’ Maharishi continues, emphasising the naturalness of both the practice of Transcendental Meditation and the growth that comes from it. ‘And once that is stabilised in the field of activity, we have life on the level of all possibilities, perfect orderliness. And all that we know from quantum mechanics to be the characteristic of vacuum state is experienced, becomes one’s personal experience throughout life,’ Maharishi concludes and then adds, ‘That kind of life we want to generate.’ Inspiration, creativity, enlightenment Back on the variety show stage, John Speer added a few more words, reflecting how Maharishi’s desire to enhance life was being realised. ‘My time at MUM has been the most blissful and wonderful time of my entire life,’ the dean said. His words were greeted with the audience’s applause. ‘I think,’ John continued, ‘that from the president on down to the last student that enters, they are so inspired, so enlightened, and especially the students—I cannot get over the talent that is in this university. I really can’t.’ As he burst into song and dance with Krystle, the talent and inspiration he had observed were abundantly displayed. * Also see Excellence in Action article about Krystle Liggins, From performing to teaching Transcendental Meditation. © Copyright 2012 Global Good News®
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