I What
seemed like a tough, serious and a no-nonsense exterior, cracked the
moment T.C. Perumal - Centre Coordinator, Maharishi Transcendental
Meditation Centre, began speaking about Transcendental Meditation
(TM); obviously his favourite subject in the world. He wouldn't
settle down to any structure and, what started off as a formal interview,
ended in an informal chat.
Simple, down-to-earth and candid T C Perumal has been practising and
teaching TM for the last 25 years, ever since he was initiated by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Hrishikesh in 1974. This Postgraduate
in History and Education, faced numerous opposition from friends,
relatives and teachers at that time. But he continued undeterred on
his chosen path.
According to him, TM is a simple tool to attain all your life goals,
be it wealth, fame or peace of mind. It is universal, in that it can
be practised by anyone over the age of 10, regardless of religion,
caste, creed, time or place. "All it requires is 20 minutes
of your time in the morning and in the evening. A person practising
TM not only develops positive thinking, but also brings harmony to
his immediate surroundings. It does not require any great concentration
or deep thinking, unlike other forms of meditation. All you need to
do is think the mantra when and if it comes, and if thoughts come,
let them. Do not curb your thoughts, as they are a form of stress
release. Let things happen naturally, do not try to concentrate".
Most of the diseases man has are psychosomatic. TM gives the body
rest, normalises blood pressure, reduces incidence of heart disease
and gives better sleep.
 When
asked about the misconceptions related to TM, he said "People are
scared that they will leave the material world once they start practicing
TM. On the contrary people become much more attached to their family
and become more effective at their workplaces as they become more
focussed. They develop positive thinking and are able to empathise
with their fellow human beings. Given half a chance, we will all like
to be good individuals. But we have various physical and mental limitations,
complexes, worries, too much work and too little time, which
prevents us from being positive. Once you practise TM, you start living
in the here and now. You do not allow your past to haunt your present.
You focus only on the task in hand. TM makes you balanced and allows
you to accept others and the circumstances, the way they are. It allows
you to rise above the circumstances and find solutions to the problem
at hand. As they say, 'A calm and collected mind is a fountainhead
of activity'."
The advanced TM Siddhi programme is a means to stabilise meditation
learnt at the basic level. 'Siddhi' means perfection. The Siddhi
programme includes meditation, pranayama and yoga.
It is a dynamic and practical way to tone the mind and the body.
TM is recommended by the medical fraternity, Dr. Ramamurthy (leading
Neuro-surgeon) and Dr. Rangabashyam (leading Cardiologist)
are among the advocates of TM. Also, some of the leading business
houses in Chennai like the TVS group and L&T-ECC group
have recommended TM for their employees.
Author : Anuradha Sriraman
Photographs : Lesleee Lazar |
