Mattias Wilhelm Stenberg:
Basically I have seen a bunch of sales pitches for TM and I am wondering what this is supposed to be and how it is different from other forms of meditation. Anyone have experience of this?
You nailed it.
"What is Transcendental Meditation?"
A marketing tool use to sell Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's
brand to the world.
Simply read the book
The Science of Being and The Art of Living first published in 1963 purported to have been written by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in order to learn all you need to know about the practice.
One of the contemporary spiritual guru's who was initially influence by this sales phenomena was the oft hyped New Age personality Deepak Chopra. Deepak, to his credit, moved on from his initial involvement in the TM movement, and has branched out into his own brand of modified Vedanta Hinduism which he sells in his books and other products to unsuspecting victims of mental conditioning.
Here is a brief excerpt taken from page 52 of the paperback edition of Mahesh Yogi's book. You can judge for yourself.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:
"By necessity, the practice of transcendental deep meditation is verbal; it is imparted by personal instruction. It cannot be imparted through a book because it not only involves telling an aspirant how to experience the subtle states of thinking, but an even greater responsibility lies in finding out what the aspirant experiences when he proceeds on that path. ...
The practice of transcendental deep meditation must always be given by the expert masters of meditation who have been properly trained to give it and who have been trained to check the experiences.
The checking of experiences is a vital point in the practice of transcendental deep meditation. Again, it cannot be done through books. The practice must result in all good in life, but by its nature it is delicate and therefore highly technical. Under personal instruction and guidance the way is smooth and easy."
Earlier in my meditative career, I've tried its practice, instructed by his book and in-depth questioning of other devoted practitioners. It follows the practice of a mantra meditation system, of which by that time I was well familiar. There is nothing special about TM other than what a gullible practitioner will buy into based upon the "personal instruction."
Caveat emptor.
