r/transcendental

For context, I learned TM 6 years ago during the covid-19 pandemic. My teacher was really nice and I enjoyed having a lot of conversations with him. However I also had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

This kind of messed up my perceptions of the world around me and I felt that TM only amplified this. At first I experienced benefits, calmness, needing less sleep, and feeling energized after meditating. I also noticed my skin was “glowing” and my I would notice strange sensations in my forehead while transcending. It was pleasant. I’ve also had really, really strange experiences - such as a perception of feeling like the boundaries between self and other become very blurred. I’ve also had really strange experiences where there would be a “shimmering effect” where objects have a quality of “consciousness“ to them. I discussed all this with my teacher and he explained it in a way that seemed to make sense. One last strange experience with TM is that I was going through a kind of manic episode following doing my TM practice and I was posting on social media doing a bit about a gucci belt, and later that day it was raining, and my janky car window wouldn’t roll down… and I didn’t know what to do. And a guy walked past, a guy I’d never seen before in my neighborhood, holding a couple bags, and I greeted him, and then he dropped his bags, and said “after 6 times posting about a gucci belt I think we get the idea.” And then he gave me a temporary solution to my problem - tape, towels, and trash bags, and walked off. Mind you I’ve never seen this guy in my life as far as I’m concerned and I do not have a big social media presence - maybe 150 followers. I asked my teacher about this and he kind of brushed it off, but I was positively spooked. Like very spooked. I still don’t know what to make of this experience.

Note I’ve always had trouble being consistent with TM, I’m every TM instructor’s worst nightmare with how many tune ups I’ve gotten haha. And while I feel like there is some validity in the practice of the brain releasing alpha waves while meditating, the whole concept of the “Unified Field,” “stress” and “karma” really confused me. Also the identity of Consciousness or God in the TM context.

I’ve had many long talks with my teacher and he would blow my mind with the things he said, and I remember when I first met him I felt his brain waves or a peacefulness radiating off of him - it was very powerful. but when it comes to being more and more “immune to the stresses of the world,” I don’t know if I personally experienced that benefit. Perhaps I wasn’t consistent enough.

Anyways how does this all tie in to being a Born again Christian? Well in John 3 when Nicodemus comes to Jesus and inquires of him Jesus says “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.3.ESV

He also says in the same conversation “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.5.ESV

it may seem like I’m quoting Bible verses out of context and maybe I am. I’m not the most Biblically literate Christian out there.

However I found that during the spring of 2025 it seemed the Lord was drawing me to him; random people were coming up to me and mentioning Jesus, telling me that Jesus loved me, and to top it off my Dad who isn’t a devout Christian took me to a Christian themed play called the Thorn.
it seemed all too coincidental to be random. So I decided to pray to Jesus and asked Him to reveal himself to me and I felt a peace that surpassed the transcendence from TM. It was a personable peace, the peace of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Since then every time I tried going back to TM my body and heart would not feel at peace and I’d get extremely agitated, despite multiple checkings. I would be unable to sustain my TM practice. also the Holy Spirit, which dwells inside every believer, would convict my heart regarding this matter. On top of that, I had serious body dysmorphia and mental chaos which even the psych meds could not cure, that got healed the instant I received the Holy Ghost. I know that TM is not about getting too attached to experiences, but on a daily basis I feel the presence of God, Yahweh, in my heart convicting me in the form of an undeniable spiritual sensation; its hard to explain

this may seem like mumbo jumbo but this is just my experience with both TM and Christianity; I still respect people who do TM and have a good relationship with my teacher and at times have desires to go back to TM due to doubts of whether my brain is just stressed and needs a break.

Anyways hope everyone is having a blessed day, and if anyone explain the TM related experiences to me that would be great, especially in the case of the guy who dropped his bags.

also if you look in my post history this led me to researching Neville Goddard and his solipsistic view on reality as well as other stuff. which effectively led me nowhere.

I’m curious as to your guys thoughts on all this. and I know its a long post

TLDR; weird TM experiences, compared to undeniable spiritual Christian experience that vastly differs from the typical TM experience

I was told that to have a few hours gap post-meal and a little even post-water intake before your meditation. But saw that David Lynch (one very prominent TM practitioner and promoter) does his post-coffee.

So was wondering if that "preferably not keep meditation soon after eating/drinking" advice isn't part of the general teaching. Any thoughts or corrections here?

Would definitely find it easier to have mine after my breakfast if it's not ill-advised.