Transcendental Meditation, service mark for a meditation technique and program founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and based on Vedic philosophy. Stressing natural meditation and the mental and physical benefits and personal development that could be achieved, Transcendental Meditation is said to help individuals achieve a higher level of consciousness. Brought by Maharishi from India to the West in 1959, Transcendental Meditation was a distinct subculture within the 1960s youth movement, attracting actress Mia Farrow, cultural philosopher Marshall McLuhan, and the Beatles, and continues to have many practitioners. See also meditation.
See A. Campbell, Seven States of Consciousness (1973); R. Roth, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Mediation (1987); D. Chopra, Return of the Rishi (1991).
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