Science of Being and Art of Living: Transcendental Meditation

This is a wonderful book. I read it when I was 19 years old because I was interested in spiritual ideas that would lead to a wider view of life, the world, the universe, etc. It certainly did that quite well. If all one wants to know is how to meditate transcendentally, just read the chapter titled "How to Contact Being"; it's really about the easiest thing a person can "learn" how to do. I use quotation marks around learn because most all people meditate in this way all the time; they just don't realize it, or do it systematically. How do I know? When I was 21 my dear old mother paid $150 for me to take the transcendental meditation course. (She was a physician at a student health center and had seen her patients become healthier as they reduced their anxieties by meditating. Was the benefit psychosomatic, I asked her? Of course, she answered, the health benefits of anxiety/stress reduction are ALL psychosomatic but nonetheless real.) When I first "learned" I worried that "nothing was happening", so I asked my TM instructor. He basically answered that as long as my experience was consistent with the description of meditation in the book's chapter titled "How to Contact Being", then exactly what was supposed to be happening was indeed happening. In fact, as I continued to meditate over the next several days/months/years I became aware that what was happening during meditation was *exactly* as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi describes in the chapter. As I recall Maharishi Mahesh Yogi points out in the book that meditation is completely natural in the sense people already know, subconsciously, how to do it and do it all the time without knowing it. About 10 years ago I tested this by teaching a friend of mine TM. The teaching consisted of explaining the ideas in the first 50-or-so pages of the book to him, then guiding him in the choice of a neutral mantra. He then practiced TM for several weeks and we had a few discussions where I confirmed his experiences were essentially the exactly the same as those I experienced in TM over about 15 years. So ... the book provides an excellent explanation of what TM is, and why it's beneficial and important to us and society.

This book remains the definitive introduction to the Transcendental Meditation program (TM), the world's most widely practiced technique for developing full potential. Scientific research has found that TM eleminates stress and fatigue, Improves health, Increases energy and well-being, and Expands mental potential. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of TM, her unfolds his vision for bringing life to fulfillment through a simple effortless technique that can be practiced by anyone.

I would reccomend this book to anyone looking for answers to life, the universe, and everything in it. I read this book after I learned the Transcendental Meditation(TM) technique, and it brought a fullness, and an intellectual understanding that satisfied my need to live life in harmony with the laws of nature. Although it's expensive to learn, the benefits I have gained through praticing TM are enormously rewarding. TM gives the basis from which to act, and The Science of Being and Art of Living gives the guidelines to live life in the most fulfilling way possible.

After the persistent urging of a friend (for over 2 years), I tried reading this book. I made it through about 3 chapters before realizing that to really UNDERSTAND I must EXPERIENCE; so I just paid the money (the fee was $1000 but is less now) and learned the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique.You will not find any instruction on the "how to" of Transcendental Meditation in any book. The TM technique is an oral tradition and requires one-on-one instruction.The important thing I want to relay to readers is that most anyone can INTELLECTUALIZE the concepts within this book; but with the EXPERIENCE from a routine TM practice--you will really UNDERSTAND the concepts and incorporate them (and the benefits) into your life without effort.Before learning the TM technique, this book was interesting to read and talked of "pie in the sky" stuff about WHAT and WHO we humans are; but after learning TM, I generally seemed to have an innate understanding / realization of the message being portrayed.With or without TM, I recommend this book; however, I am glad I had a persistent friend because I originally thought the whole thing to be crazy and crazy expensive! If you are "straddling the fence" or searching for a better life, read this book to get concise information that you need to make your own decisions about TM.If you want testimonials, read other books. This book is all meat. TM gives you teeth.

Anyone seriously considering the practice of transcendental meditation will find this updated edition to be a perfect aid to understanding TM and it's benefits. It also contains a survey of the unfoldment of Maharishi's Vedic Science and Technology from the early days up until today. The book was actually recorded onto tapes decades ago and retains the style of the spoken discourse as it deals with the most fundamental issues of practical life and the most profound issues of philosophy in a graceful, direct and simple way.For those already practicing TM, this handbook makes great occasional reading. The reader will frequently notice some new angle of intellectual understanding about his experience as a meditator.