Product Description

Wildly popular in the 1970s and 80s, Transcendental Meditation (TM) continues to be one of the most accessible forms of Eastern spiritual practice in the West. But does it live up to its hype? In this objective exploration of TM, consciousness researcher John White looks at what’s billed as "a simple, natural, and effortless mental technique, practiced twenty minutes a day" and takes on its critics as well as its cheerleaders. White explains what it’s like to take a trip through the "mountains of mind," the purpose of mantras, whether the Maharishi is enlightened, and what science says about consciousness-raising. He also provides a glossary of TM terms and a "how-to" lesson so readers can try it themselves.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105197 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
JOHN WHITE is an internationally known author in the fields of spirituality and higher human development. His books include "The Meeting of Science and Spirit," "What Is Enlightenment?" and a children’s book, "The Christmas Mice." His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Omni, Esquire, and Woman’s Day, and he lectures throughout the U.S. and Canada. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Yale University.

Customer Reviews

very informative !!
This book is unique in that unlike most books telling readers how great TM is, White gives the pros and cons of TM from every view point. The implication I get is that TM works for some people some of the time but not for everybody all the time. No doubt further research and probings are required. To me, everyone who wants to learn TM should read this book carefully.

simplistic
You can't learn TM from a book and to give people the idea that you can just shows ignorance of it. It requires careful step by step instruction from a teacher over a period of days. The teachers take courses lasting months, hundreds of hours of video and training sessions so that they will know everything that could possibly be need to be said to the students to guide them into the proper practice. The book is really a disservice more than a service.

Lame and not TM at all.
If you want a good book about Transcendental Meditation read the one by film maker David Lynch:
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity

John White by authoring this book is trying to cash in on the fact that TM is famous but is actually doing an incredible disservice to the reader by leading them to believe they are doing TM. He wants to make money talking and writing about TM but he is not a teacher of TM. Unfortunately his book and its title is just confusing and misleading.

I applaud the author for focusing on something so incredibly important and almost unknown in the world but....
The simple fact is you cannot learn to transcend thought by reading a book because by its nature reading is thinking. This has been tried myriad times in the past and it just doesn't work.

Anyone can teach meditation. Meditation just means thinking. Concentration, contemplation, and meditation are all just different flavors of thinking.

Transcending thought is the real deal. Save your time and money and find a real certified teacher of TM and learn to transcend meditation.