I didn't notice any particularly dramatic changes after starting TM, but my father apparently did. A lifelong, card-carrying Americans for Democratic Action liberal, he declared that henceforward he would vote for any politician who practiced TM, *even if s/he were a Republican*. You'd have had to know my father to realize what an astonishing statement that was.
One other thing that I recognize as pretty impressive in retrospect, although it didn't seem so at the time, was that after some months of TM practice I decided I had had enough of the 9-to-5 rut and would quit my job and start working for myself as a freelance editor. I had no savings and no prospective clients, but I didn't even think about how risky it was; it just felt right, so I did it. And it turned out to be the second-best decision I've ever made, the first being to start TM. --- In [email protected], "feste37" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Nice. Here's my story. When I started TM in the 1960s I was a high school > dropout, smoking 20 cigarettes a day, drinking, working in a dead- end office > job. You could say I was heading for a life of exceptional mediocrity. Within 4 > months of starting TM (which cost me one week's wages, by the way) I had > given up smoking, started to study by correspondence courses for some > qualifications, discovered music and literature for the first time, and conceived > an ambition to actually do something with my life other than boozing, > watching football and chasing girls. Looking back on it, I can only call it an > amazing awakening. I cannot believe that anything else at that time could > have done anything for me. I suspect that even the TNBs here have stories > similar to this, even though sometimes, because it was all so long ago, it is > easy to forget. > > --- In [email protected], Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Just wrote this to a friend. Thought I1d get more mileage of out it and post > > it here: > > > > I had been aware of enlightenment for about a year and seeking it in a > > muddled way through drugs. One night I was tripping on LSD for about the > > 25th time, alone in my room, and I started reading Zen Flesh, Zen Bones to > > steady my mind. The thought struck me like a thunderbolt: "These guys were > > really serious, and I'm just screwing around. If I keep this up I'll live a > > miserable life. That's it. I'm going to stop taking drugs and learn > > Transcendental Meditation and see what happens." I did heroin during my > > 15-day "abstinence," figuring that it would be metabolized more quickly than > > other drugs. I was living with some people in New Jersey and they drove me > > to the George Washington bridge. I walked across, took a subway > downtown, > > walked across Central Park, and arrived at the TM center on E. 78th street > > with no money, no flowers, no fruit, and no handkerchief. I figured that > > those things were relative and if these people were really enlightened, they > > wouldn't care. They sent me home. Back across the park, uptown on the > > subway, walk across the bridge. Got a ride back to Franklin Lakes. That > > night I called my father and said, "Dad, I haven't taken drugs in two weeks > > and I need $35 to learn meditation. It's going to be the best $35 you've > > ever spent on me. He said OK, so someone drove me to the NY State > Thruway > > and I hitchhiked home, walking across the Tappan Zee Bridge and most of > > Westchester. Got home around 4am, got a little sleep, my dad rushed me to > > the train station, missed the train, called the TM center, they said take > > the next train, got into Grand Central, walked up to 78th street, and got > > initiated during a huge thunderstorm. Transcended clearly and had a > > wonderful meditation. Haven't missed one since. Within two weeks I had cut > > my hair, gotten a job, and gotten back into school. Never took drugs again. > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
