Issue #70 / November 2019
Can you please pay for the Transcendental Meditation course for me? It’s really fucking expensive. [ ]
NICOLA, BAULKIM HILLS, AUSTRALIA
You endorse TM, but it’s so expensive (even with their recent pricing shift), I am inherently skeptical of the training program. It seems to be something only afforded by the rich. Can you speak on that a bit? [ ]
MARK, KANSAS CITY, USA
[ ] I had a slight problem with your answer in that it felt like you were generalizing other meditative practices and, by doing so it seemed you were saying that TM is better than other practices. [ ]
LYDIA, ROCKVILLE, USA
Dear Nicola, Mark, Lydia and others,
Thank you for writing, I completely appreciate your points. As far as I am aware the TM organisation has a scaling system depending on what you are able to pay and your individual circumstances. Regardless, you are right TM is not free of charge and you will have to pay something.
I did not mean to discount other practices of meditation; there is an excellent app called Waking Up, where Sam Harris guides you through ten-minute Mindfulness meditations. Sam operates a refund system if you don’t find the introductory course valuable, additionally, if you would like to use his app but genuinely cannot afford it, he is happy to consider free access. Waking Up requires little commitment time-wise, yet is incredibly effective. I use it often, in conjunction with TM.
While I endorse meditation, I also understand the practice may not be for everyone. However, if you are interested there are various types of meditation and numerous apps and courses out there.
Love, Nick