Advanced Lectures and Online Distinguished Speakers Series: Profound Knowledge for Personal Growth
Advanced Lecture meetings at a local TM® Center offer meditators advanced knowledge for a deeper, more profound understanding of their own TM practice, their growth of higher states of consciousness, and the fascinating development of the applications of the TM program in society. Each meeting begins with a group checking of the Transcendental Meditation practice followed by specially recorded talks by Maharishi or other prominent speakers on a wide range of topics, with time for Q & A, refreshments, and meeting other meditators. Advanced Lectures are part of the free lifetime follow-up program offered to all TM practitioners.
“I learned that the fourth state of consciousness is unchangeable, and when we enliven it through meditation, it starts to radiate through the other changing states. We are not temporal beings—there is a field of nonchange, a great mountain of bliss, just beneath the changing surface of life. We are part of this greater whole.”
Ron’s Journey
From outward appearances, Ron Phillips was leading a full life. An international shipping specialist for an express shipping company, he also performed in plays, commercials, and a promising indie film that made the rounds at Sundance and other film festivals. Married with two teenage children, he had everything a 40-something American could ask for.
Yet by his own account, he felt empty inside. “I had struggled for years with anxiety and anger,” he says. “I was generally unhappy, and I felt like life was just a chore. I told my therapist, ‘I remember feeling unbounded joy as a kid, but I don’t have that anymore.’”
Ron tried other forms of meditation, but they didn’t stick. So he started taking medications to ease his pain, but they made him feel even less healthy. Then in early 2010, his wife saw a poster for a TM lecture, and the whole family took the TM course together.
“I can honestly say that by the second or third day of instruction, I was looking at the world with brighter eyes,” he says. “That unbounded joy continued as the weeks went on. Along with the improvement in my general well-being and feelings of happiness—which is great in itself—I’ve had better relationships with my children and my wife. I’m more responsive to them, more understanding of their needs. So many aspects of my life have very quietly and quickly improved. I used to be very indecisive, and having to make choices to manage my day at work was a great frustration to me. Now I make good choices. It’s a real miracle how this practice—for 20 minutes twice a day—has had such profound effects on every aspect of my life.”
The Value of Advanced Lectures
Ron feels that a major part of his transformation and growth resulted from regular attendance at Advanced Lectures.
Advanced Lectures offer a blend of knowledge, group meditation, and discussion to deepen understanding of how to maximize human potential in every aspect of life—mind, body, behavior, and environment. The Advanced Lecture program includes insightful videos of Maharishi and other speakers explaining the sequential stages of development of human potential.
Advanced Lectures often feature special speakers and experts. In Vero Beach, Florida, for instance, a series of Advanced Lectures featured medical doctors and professors introducing various disciplines from Maharishi Vedic ScienceSM, including Ayurveda—the most ancient system of natural healthcare from India—and Vedic architecture.
“We know things are happening when we perceive them outside ourselves. But when something is happening within our own self, we may not understand it until we analyze what is happening. That is why it is valuable for meditators to intellectually analyze how creative intelligence applies itself to life. This intellectual understanding makes one aware of the substantial value of the change that is taking place within him….
“If someone gives us a diamond and we start wearing it without being aware that it is a rare opportunity not available to everyone—that one is fortunate to have such a jewel—we may begin to feel uncomfortable under the weight of it. But in order to enjoy having it, knowledge of the diamond is also vital. Once we have started to experience creative intelligence automatically applying itself in our life, then it is useful to analyze the cause of our increased energy, vitality, clear thinking, relaxation, improved behavior, and sharper perceptions.”
—Maharishi, 1972
Many TM Centers also connect via video conference with nationally known experts such as Dr. John Hagelin, an award-winning quantum physicist at Maharishi University of Management, who speaks about the relationship between the unified field of quantum physics and the experience of transcending during the Transcendental Meditation technique. Other lectures may include a tape by Maharishi and opportunities for meditators to discuss their experiences with certified TM teachers, who are happy to address any questions about experiences in meditation or in daily life. Advanced Lectures are offered at TM Centers free of charge.
For Ron, a major benefit comes from meeting with a group of meditators. “At our center in Long Island, there’s a core group that attends every month,” Ron says. “We often listen to a tape by Maharishi and then have a chance to ask questions and discuss the tape with the TM teacher. We explore the inner meaning and discuss how the knowledge in the tape relates to our lives.”
Ron remembers vividly the first Advanced Lecture he ever attended, when a tape called “The Source, Course, and Goal of Love” was being played. “I had seen the tape before, but until we had seen it as a group and discussed it, I didn’t really understand the difference between the big Self (cosmic ego) and the little self (individual ego). And that is the key to Advanced Lectures—seeing the tapes together and discussing them as a group.”
In a recent meeting, after viewing Maharishi speaking about “Culturing the Nervous System to Maintain Pure Consciousness,” Ron learned about the fourth state of consciousness and how it underlies all the other three states of consciousness—waking, sleeping, and dreaming.
“I learned that the fourth state of consciousness is unchangeable, and when we enliven it through meditation, it starts to radiate through the other changing states. We are not temporal beings—there is a field of nonchange, a great mountain of bliss, just beneath the changing surface of life. We are part of this greater whole.”
Ron says this small section of the tape crystallized something deep within him. “I realized that the source of so much of the suffering, sadness, and depression in the world is a feeling of disconnection from not having touched that unchanging state of Being. For me, there was no other tool to relieve my frustration and despair until I started to do TM.”
Ron also likes the group checking, which is part of the Advanced Lecture structure. “Early on I found that my meditations subsequent to checking were deeper, more profound. It all goes back to reminding yourself how effortless the practice is. The less effort you put forth, the more benefit. It’s a real miracle how that works—as it’s the complete opposite of how life usually works.”
Distinguished Speakers Series
The TM Distinguished Speakers Series offers meditators the opportunity to enjoy specially prepared talks by prominent experts from different fields—online, so that they can enjoy advanced knowledge in the comfort of their homes. Like Advanced Lectures, the online Distinguished Speakers Series presents expert speakers with talks geared to enhance a meditator’s understanding of his or her practice as well as the broad and profound applications of the TM program in society. Guest speakers include top physicians, scientists, educators, and other experts in the fields of stress reduction, neuroscience, cardiovascular health, and integrated medicine. Advanced topics in Vedic Science, including Vedic Architecture and Ayurveda—the oldest, most comprehensive system of natural healthcare—are also featured in this series.
Online Distinguished Speakers Series
Dr. John Hagelin
DR. JOHN HAGELIN
The Origin of the Universe
and the Nature of Consciousness
In this talk, Dr. Hagelin takes us on a fascinating journey exploring the origin of the universe, the nature of consciousness, and the vast range of human potential. Elucidating the latest breakthroughs of modern science and the most ancient wisdom of mankind, Dr. Hagelin offers an all-encompassing perspective on individual and cosmic life that is both visionary and practical.
Dr. Hagelin conducted pioneering research at CERN (the European Center for Particle Physics) and SLAC (the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center). He is responsible for the development of a highly successful Grand Unified Field Theory, which was featured on the cover of Discover magazine.
Dr. Hagelin was named winner of the prestigious Kilby Award, which recognized him as “a scientist in the tradition of Einstein, Jeans, Bohr, and Eddington.” The Kilby Award is presented to scientists who have made “major contributions to society through their applied research in the fields of science and technology.”
Dr. Ashley Deans
DR. ASHLEY DEANS
Unfolding the Inner Genius of Every Student through
Consciousness-based Education: The Extraordinary
Story of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment
Dr. Ashley Deans, the Executive Director of Maharishi School, reports on the remarkable results of one of the most innovative and successful educational systems in the world. He was received with tremendous enthusiasm by education leaders all over the world on his Consciousness-BasedSM education tour.
Over the past three years, Dr. Deans has visited over 40 countries, including China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Egypt, and almost every country in the European Union. Most recently, Dr. Deans spoke in Canada, Switzerland, and the Balkan states.
This video includes interviews with Maharishi School students and contrasts information-based education with the remarkable success of Consciousness-Based Education, which focuses on developing higher states of consciousness in the student, as characterized by the rapid growth of intelligence, creativity, and breadth of comprehension.
Dr. Norman Rosenthal
DR. NORMAN ROSENTHAL
Transcendence: Healing and
Transformation
through Transcendental Meditation
Bestselling author Dr. Rosenthal is the National Institutes of Health researcher who identified seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and developed light therapy to treat it. He is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and has maintained a private clinical practice in the Washington, D.C., area for over thirty years. Dr. Rosenthal is a recipient of the prestigious Anna Monika Foundation Research prize for his contribution to research on treating depression and has been listed as one of the “Best Doctors in America.”
Dr. Rosenthal is the author or co-author of over 200 professional articles and five popular books, including the New York Times and Washington Post bestseller, Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation; Winter Blues; The Emotional Revolution; St. John’s Wort; and How to Beat Jet Lag. He currently serves as medical director and CEO of Capital Clinical Research Associates in Rockville, Maryland.
In this 45-minute broadcast, Dr. Rosenthal reads from his bestselling book and answers questions about his personal journey as a scientist and physician that led him to research and experience first-hand the healing effects of the Transcendental Meditation program.
Additional lectures from the Distinguished Speakers Series will continue to be posted for your enjoyment and personal enrichment.
