We get a lot of requests for information about meditation techniques from Deepak Chopra.
In my opinion, that is really good.
It is not well known, but Deepak Chopra was for many years deeply involved with the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. He rose to second in command there, and expected to be the leader after Maharishi Mahesh Yogi passed away. But Chopra and the guru had a falling out, and Deepak went out on his own.
I don’t mention this to bring up the conflict, but rather to let you know that Deepak is famous for many writing and teachings now… but his start, and base, and deepest knowledge all are rooted in meditation.
He still teaches TM, but calls it Transcendence instead of Transcendental. You will see this as the first technique in the four minute video below
Meditation Techniques From Deepak Chopra
That video was goooood, wasn’t it?
Would you like more detailed instruction on how to practice and of the four techniques described above? Just as a reminder, they are …
- Transcendence — a mantra meditation, repeating a specific word or phrase
- Divine Feelings — deep quiet exploration of the higher emotions thru your body sensations. The free Loving Kindness Meditation that is the first in our Guided Meditation Series is a version of this. If you have not yet signed up for this free series, click here to sign up. It’s free, no obligation at all, and you get instant access.
- Reflection — asking yourself profound questions repeatedly. The great spiritual teacher and mystic Ramana Maharshi was a powerful influence on me personally – and he had us go deep into the question ” Who am I” …
- Self Regulation — sensing, exploring, and changing body functions
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I would like information about each aspect. I am BRAND NEW to this! I have been reading about the healing properties of meditation for some time and I would like to start doing this myself. I would be grateful for any and all information. Thank you!
Hi Kelly… thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your interest. Did you sign up for the free guided meditation series? There is a form at the top right hand corner of each article where you can sign up. The first in the series is a loving kindness meditation.
very nice …. love his emphasis on the divine & the profound questioning …
but also, quite intrigued to know how these two masters parted …
Thanks for the link. Appreciate it.
I am interested in Reflection meditation – I have practiced the other 3 aspects but never this and would like more information
The last one of solf-regulating the body is very interesting, potentially of great value, and like he said not too well known. I wonder if it is like biofeedback.
Hi Jamzen … thanks for the comments. Bascially there was a personality conflict between two very ambitious men… Maybe I will write up a big article about it soon … mostly I like to keep totally positive here….. but it IS a verrrry interesting story.
I was a teacher of TM. It is a beautiful, simple practice and Maharishi was a very divine being. However, The organization was getting very hierarchical with pompous titles and high costs for courses. Also, if you were actually representing TM you had to follow a very rigid “group-think”. It became impossible for me to stay in it. And not just me.
Hi Geer … for sure there will be some guidance and teaching on Reflection meditation.
I was a student of Ramana Maharshi’s teachings for a long time,
and found great benefit from his reflection meditation technique
(called Vichara by that set of teachings).
It’s almost like an inquiry into consciousness itself….
Not promising anything really fast… but it’s totally on my to-do list for this site.
Thanks for your comment,,,, and your interest.
Hi Lawrence — I studied TM, and loved it from minute one! Like any big organization, it attracts ” careerists” , which is not bad in itself, but can certainly lead to challenging group dynamics (otherwise known as office politics).
And group think is a universal characteristic of human groups. Think about it.
I still think the TM organization has done a verrrry great deal of good int the world, despite the flawed but decent humans running it.
It’s exactly like biofeedback!
At least that’s my understanding of how it works. Basically, we are already self-regulating our body on all kinds of levels… right? In my experience… it’s not a logical conscious experience… more like learning to wiggle your ears …. even once you can do it, you cannot verbally express it… but you can learn it and teach it.
Overt self regulation may seem really appealing, especially for health issues. But other less overt forms of meditation also have powerful positive effects on the body and its various functions. One does not have to speficially meditate on lowering blood pressure… for example… in order to actually lower it far better than the powerful drugs that are commonly prescribed for hypertension.
But you nailed it in your question…. it’s a biofeedback look, implicit in some ways… explicit in others.
Thanks for the comment…
Well, what Chopra teaches on that video isn’t TM or even remotely like TM. If you think it is, you either didn’t learn TM or need to get checked (its free). And careerists, or not, a big organization has one advantage: it can do big things. Consider what the David Lynch Foundation is doing, ranging from teaching 150,000 school kids TM around the world (with one million on the waiting list to learn TM in RIo de Janeiro alone) to teaching former child sex workers in Columbia and LA to teaching American Indians (100,000 on the waiting list), etc.
Then of course, there’s the various military group around the world that are learning TM, both as a treatment for PTSD and as peace promotion….
If office politics is the price to pay for that level of organization, then so be it.,