Do You Need a Teacher to Learn How to Meditate?

There's no shortage of opportunities for learning practices called "meditation." You can pick one up during yoga class, on YouTube, here on The Huffington Post or at the grocery store -- seriously, last week a guided meditation was going on ("All Shoppers Invited!") in the cafe of my local market.

In Western culture, meditation has reached a new height of respectability, partly because scientific research has shown that an effective meditation technique can yield transformative, lifesaving benefits.

Many of my meditation students say they've tried meditating before on their own. When I ask what kind of meditation, they sometimes say, "Oh, just something I made up from things I've read." The accessibility of so many practices suggests that learning meditation doesn't require an expert teacher.

Yet, within the venerated traditions of meditation, effective practice is an acquired skill. The teacher's role has always been to offer careful, step-by-step instruction in the art of meditation and provide understanding as the student unfolds new and deeper potentialities of the mind.

Certainly there are approaches to be enjoyed without the benefit of a real, live teacher -- taking a moment to focus on your breath and collect yourself or kicking back in a zero-gravity massage chair and zoning out to a meditation CD. For some, meditation is contemplative -- about thinking and striving for insight, or monitoring thoughts non-judgmentally, with do-it-yourself mindfulness instructions (breathe, observe, be in the moment) beaconing from every corner of the Internet.

So, Why a Teacher?

I first got interested in meditation as a teenager in Omaha. I studied every approach I could find and was humbled by the intellectual frameworks of different traditions. I relished the writings of great sages who spoke of a transcendent state where the mind has come back home.

The book, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind," by Shunryu Suzuki, encouraged me. The ideal meditative mind, Suzuki held, is not the habituated mind, brimming with "advanced" ideas and judgments about how to meditate. It is the beginner's mind, less identified with accumulated habits -- simpler and more innocent, therefore more awake to its possibilities.

Many texts described a naturally peaceful state of consciousness beyond thinking, a knowingness in pure being. During my attempts at self-taught meditation, I occasionally slipped into such a state. Trying to regain this experience, every effort seemed to thwart the process. It's hard to let go and be innocent while striving to be both teacher and student. Self-instructing or controlling attention can interfere with settling inward beyond the thinking mind.

Most books claimed that meditation wasn't supposed to be easy, that it may take years to get significant results or achieve transcendence. Others urged not to aspire beyond ordinary, day-to-day consciousness because everything is here in the "now" -- just accept "what is," without judgment. However, I had glimpsed richer, clearer, deeper realms of experience, so I knew there was more.

I continued my informal study of meditation but wished for a teacher who could clarify matters. What I found, on the library bulletin board, was a poster: "Transcendental Meditation: A simple, effortless technique to expand awareness and develop your full potential."

Revival of Effortless Transcending

The transcendental meditation technique was introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1955. This specific practice, a patently secular form of meditation, had been lost to society even in India. The technique employs a mantra or sound, not associated with meaning, valued for its healthful effects. During TM instruction, one is taught to use the mantra in such a way that it serves as a vehicle for spontaneous transcending -- for traversing progressively quieter states of thought until the faintest thought is transcended and one arrives at the state of pure awareness. This process allows access to inner reserves of energy while giving the body deep, rejuvenating rest.

What's the catch? The technique can be learned only through personalized instruction from a well-trained teacher. Why? Because of the incredible subtlety of what you are learning. With TM practice, you are not learning how to watch your thoughts or control your breathing, but how to experience subtler states of thought and levels of awareness deeper and more refined than the active waking mind.

After decades of meditating, this is still the technique that works best for me, which is why I also teach it. The practice is always done with a "beginner's" innocence -- it doesn't demand of you effort or control. The benefits, even among new students, are often quietly astounding.

Finding a Meditation Teacher

We all understand the privilege of studying with a consummate teacher, whether learning violin, tennis or the culinary arts. Meditation is similarly a refined skill with instructional dos and don'ts that affect the outcome. Numerous studies on meditation techniques consistently show different kinds of practices producing varying results, especially on brain function.

It's simple to find a teacher. Whatever approach one chooses, I suggest the marks of a good teacher to be:

1. The meditation offered produces verifiable results.
2. The teacher's concern is not to gather followers but further the student's self-sufficiency in daily practice.
3. The teacher seeks no recognition but gives all credit to the practice and where it came from.

If you find meditation daunting or unsatisfying, a qualified teacher can make all the difference. With proper instruction, anyone can meditate easily and successfully.

VIDEO: Mantra and meditation explained by Maharishi

 

 

 

Follow Jeanne Ball on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeanneball

Comments

[brasil]

03:38 PM on 08/28/2011

One point that is rarely appreciated by those who have not themselves undergone the very rigorous training to become a teacher of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation program, is the great subtlety of the teaching process. That process removes the influence of the teacher's small ego from the teaching. This results in the teacher teaching from a level of cosmic intelligence. When the teacher imparts the mantra and gives the delicate instructions in its proper usage, he is teaching the technique in its purity, as it has been taught by enlightened sages for millenia.

[brasil]

03:37 PM on 08/28/2011

Do You Need a Teacher to Learn How to Meditate? Yes and no. Before I was formally instructed in Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) program I had had the experience of transcending thought. This happened when I was a young child and happened from time to time, ususally when I would be sitting quietly on my bed. It was very pleasant. But I did not know its value, and I did not have a technique to provide that experience with regularity. Years went by and I forgot about that pleasant, fulfilling state of restful alertness. Then, while taking a shower from a forceful, needle-like stream of water, the sensation of which somehow grabbed my total focus of attention, I was transported into that serene state once again. But once again, I had no technique to get it back (no, further such showers didn't do the trick). Finally, in my senior year of college, I was instructed in the Transcendental Meditation program by a certified TM teacher who had been trained by Maharishi. From that time on (1971) I have meditated regularly, and have had a profound expansion of clarity of that transcendental consciousness. I also went on to spend five months studying personally with Maharishi in Spain, and became a teacher of the technique. I have since trained over 1,000 people in the TM technique. (Many of them had practiced other meditation techniques, and they almost always said that TM was superior).

[tlc-ji]

03:00 PM on 08/28/2011

Wonderful article that so mirrors my own experience with mediation.

[David Orme-Johnson]

09:46 PM on 08/27/2011

The tricky thing about transcending for most goal-directed Westerners like myself, is that our habit is to apply more effort if things aren’t working the way we want. If the mantra isn’t refining, OK, I’ll just force it to refine. Quieter, damn you! Well, that doesn’t work for transcending, simply because any effort only creates more mental activity, which keeps the mind from settling.

The good news is that transcending is simple and automatic. In the Transcendental Meditation technique you simply set the initial conditions and let go. But it is very subtle, and you definitely need interaction with a qualified teacher to learn it.

I can tell you as one who has gone through a PhD program that the TM teacher training is much more exacting and precise than anything I ever had in graduate school. As Maharishi said in the video clip, the TM course is laid out in a sequence that gives the student just the right knowledge he needs at just the right time based on his growing experience and familiarity with meditation. Unlike any other meditation programs, certified TM teachers have a marvelous checking program, which systematically gives the meditator the right start of meditation. Checking is free for life, and standardized around the world. Most people are aware of the many benefits for health, happiness, mental clarity, and social behavior but did you know that it will increase your longevity? Is that worth learning to do it right with a qualified teacher?

[Demetri Kanellakos]

08:42 AM on 08/27/2011

Most people get a greater benefit and grow faster in the field of spiritual development and meditation if they have a living teacher who can answr their personal experieneces, especially at the beginning of lerning. This article explainw why this is so. Very well written and easy to understand. Congratiulations to Jeanne Ball.

[budanatr]

04:28 AM on 08/27/2011

I have been teaching meditation for the past 35 years all over the world. I believe I have some small insight into the processes of learning meditation.

A teacher is not required.
Practice and committment are required.
There are hundreds of viable and very powerful meditation methods, practices and techniques.

I hope Jeanne allows this to post and stay available for people.

[BuddhaMind]

03:07 PM on 08/27/2011

The author clearly acknowledges that there are forms of "meditation" that do not require a teacher. But she extends the logic to a specific process of meditation that does require a teacher.

What makes you think Jeanne has any control over the comments? She does not -- bloggers do not moderate their own comments. As long as you obey the rules and do not attack others your comments will show.

[budanatr]

11:54 PM on 08/27/2011

Actually bloggers do have the option of moderating all comments to their articles on Huff Po. I asked.

[GoldRider]

04:09 PM on 08/27/2011

But if a teacher is not required, why have you been teaching meditation for 35 years?

[budanatr]

11:54 PM on 08/27/2011

Because it is my joy to do so.

[Linda Wagoner]

01:19 AM on 08/27/2011

There is something very reliable about a meditation technique that has come from a very ancient time tested tradition of knowledge that originated from awakened teachers. It is something that can be passed on when it is taught in a systematic way by a trained teacher. I too was one who dabbled in many techniques, but the benefits of TM came so FAST and undeniably and only got better, especially after a year or so, real steady, long absorption and bliss were effortless and continuous.

[Acorns]

11:37 PM on 08/26/2011

Thanks Ms. Ball for this important article. However, as a clinical psychologi­st it is bewilderin­g to me that an article like this has to be written at all. In what other field of knowledge would we ask if we need trained profession­als?

Transcende­ntal Meditation is perhaps the most important tool for stress reduction, normalizat­ion of the nervous system and higher stages of human developmen­t. Proper training of the teacher is critical. I can’t refer someone to another psychologi­st and say—“Well, he hasn’t been trained in the field, but I think he was in psychother­apy once—and he may have read some books on it!”

Regarding an earlier comment on having psychologi­sts teach meditation­. To teach watching the breath or “Mindfulne­ss” techniques does not require a Ph.D. These are not delicate technologi­es that require trained teachers. However, if a patient wants a genuine technology to develop their full potential it is important to refer to a teacher of the Transcende­ntal Meditation Program. I know several of these teachers—m­ost of them spend a full school year in residence studying how to teach the TM technique. My advice—Use the profession­als. You’ll recognize the difference immediatel­y.

[livefortruth]

08:55 PM on 08/26/2011

My issue with this article, and many of the comments, is this:

" The technique can be learned only through personalized instruction from a well-trained teacher. Why? Because of the incredible subtlety of what you are learning."

I shudder at the thought of a 'teacher' 'clarifying' my unique meditative experience. I cannot imagine such a thing.

I do not have issue with any methods of meditation, unless, and until, someone puts their method into a box and labels it 'Only'.

I have never read a book on meditation. No teacher. No methods.

One thing I do have, is the love of truth.

Meditation found me.

I also have issue with the 'different kinds' of meditation. Compassionate, mindfulness, contemplative, etc. etc. etc. If you are not getting ALL of those things, I don't know that I would call it meditation. I don't know what I would call it.

[jf12]

12:05 AM on 08/27/2011

Was it a Winnie the Pooh story, where he had to teach someone how to quickly go to sleep? You just lay down, and ..snnxx.

I'm also skeptical whether quiet thoughtfulness can be taught, whether "don't do anything else" is really a technique, a process with steps. Encouraged, exhibited, practiced, yes. Taught, no.

[Saijanai]

09:46 AM on 08/28/2011

Research on the physiological correlates of pure consciousness found during TM practice:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7045911
Breath suspension during the transcendental meditation technique.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10512549
Pure consciousness: distinct phenomenological and physiological correlates of "consciousness itself".

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9009807
Autonomic patterns during respiratory suspensions: possible markers of Transcendental Consciousness.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10487785
Autonomic and EEG patterns during eyes-closed rest and transcendental meditation (TM) practice: the basis for a neural model of TM practice.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19862565
A self-referential default brain state: patterns of coherence, power, and eLORETA sources during eyes-closed rest and Transcendental Meditation practice.

Research on the physiological correlates of the stabilization of pure consciousness outside of meditation in long-term TM meditators:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12406612
Patterns of EEG coherence, power, and contingent negative variation characterize the integration of transcendental and waking states.

http://www.tm.org/american-psychological-association
Abstract for the 2007 Conference of the American Psychological Association
Brain Integration Scale: Corroborating Language-based 
Instruments of Post-conventional Development

Research on the physiological correlates of the stabilization of pure consciousness outside of meditation in non-meditators:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.01007.x/full
Higher psycho-physiological refinement in world-class Norwegian athletes: brain measures of performance capacity

[neuromancer2010]

09:40 PM on 08/28/2011

It's a good point. "Quiet thoughtfulness" can actually be measured by EEG studies. Brain researchers call it the state of inner wakefulness or restful alertness. It has an EEG signature of high alpha coherence. And the studies show that basically anyone who learns TM begind to experience this state on average of 2-3 months, and that long term TMers show high EEG coherence even outside of meditation. So, it appears it can be taught and objectively measured.

[Keith DeBoer]

04:37 PM on 08/26/2011

Thanks for bringing some clarity to a rather confusing and misunderstood aspect of meditation for westerners.

[Wes Busch]

04:22 PM on 08/26/2011

As I was reading the comments from Jeanne's article, the question of the cost of the TM technique popped up as it has and inevitably will. The question invariably comes from people who may or may not have practiced other forms of meditation. The standard rate of $1500 sounds like a hefty chunk of change but the obvious fact is that no amount is too little if it doesn't produce. Does TM produce? Is it worth the cost and maybe more importantly, the time to practice it? I know the horde of scientitific research supports the subjective reports that TM delivers the goods, from the outer relief of stress to the inner experience of the sublime. But does that matter if people learn TM but don't take the time to do it? I would interested in a study that compares the regular practice of meditations over time. I know for me, a relatively undisciplined soul, that my practice has always been a treat, never a chore. From the comments of other TMers, a regular sustained practice of the technique is also quite common with many people reporting that they have been at since the sixties and seventies. I dare speculate that something valuable and enjoyable is happening day after day. How much is that worth? I'll conclude by encouraging interested parties to look for value, not cost, when evaluating where they might spend their meditation dollar and time.

[Carol Markowitz]

05:49 PM on 08/26/2011

I recently spoke to a TM practitioner who said they would pay $1,500 for a single sitting of TM! That's how much it was worth to her. That said, if one cannot afford the $1,500, there are scholarships and grants available, so that no one is ultimately turned away from learning if they are sincere about wanting to start. Over 150,000 people have learned TM for free thanks to the generosity of the David Lynch Foundation. A lifetime free follow-up is included in the initial cost to ensure that one is receiving the benefits of their practice. So, I would have to say that it is more than worth the price!

[neuromancer2010]

09:43 PM on 08/28/2011

Another choice of words might be, any amount is too much if TM doesn't produce the desired results. You nicely explained the reasons why no amount is too much...

[Cheryl Stone]

03:50 PM on 08/26/2011

At last! A clear concise explanation of why a teacher is needed to learn the TM technique. It is good to know that a teacher can help anyone to not only have the correct experience, but, because of that, also enjoy the benefits. Thank you!

[Barry Spivack]

03:48 PM on 08/26/2011

Transcendental Meditation is based on refinement of sound and a sound needs a voice. I suppose one could say why not a tape but different people have different experiences and a tape cannot handle individual variations and that is where a teacher comes in. Also experiences can change over time and again it is useful to have a teacher to go back to. Perhaps most importantly is that the technique needs to be effortless and there is a standard procedure which requires a teacher to ensure that practise is spontaneous, effortless and natural.

[Neil Dickie]

03:08 PM on 08/26/2011

This article introduces a most worthwhile subject for us in the West. In the East, the subtleties of the mind, with its many layers of increasing richness are much better appreciate¬¬d. There, the importance of learning meditation from a qualified teacher, is universall¬¬y recognized¬¬. In fact, it is considered folly to attempt to learn meditation from a book, or make it up yourself, in the same way as here it is understood to be folly to attempt to do your own surgery using a trusty how-to manual. And I applaud the distinctio¬¬n drawn here between the relative peacefulne¬¬ss of focusing on your breath, which can give you a bit of a break from the always busy thinking mind, and the more potentiall¬¬y more profound level of knowingnes¬¬s in pure being. The yogis call it sat-chit-a¬¬nanda, absolute bliss consciousn¬¬ess. And real yogis know that although attaining this experience is normal and natural, it is also delicate. It is for most of us new territory. And in a new country, it is wise to have a guide, at least until you get to know it well yourself.

[tmurach]

01:05 PM on 08/26/2011

Excellent article! You wouldn't try to cure an illness or perform surgery with a do-it-yourself book. Why experiment with your mind?? We are so fortunate that we have certified teachers from this ancient tradition. Research has shown that the technique delivers benefits when taught correctly. If you are interested in learning meditation, find a qualified teacher and learn correctly.