Interview  with the Transcendental Meditation  Teacher Svetlana Galstyan

- Some psychologists say that  by 2020  the whole world will be gripped by  depression. Already  quite a few people  display  extreme signs of depression. What can be done?

-Psychologists say that people use  3-5 % of their  brain potential.  The reason   is that stresses and strains prevent  total  brain functioning, which results in wrong decisions and  wrong actions causing  suffering. The nature of life, however,  is not suffering. The nature of life is  to grow in happiness.  Stresses,  tiredness, strains,  anxiety  prevent  us from  enjoying the full  value of life   in ever-increasing  fulfillment.

 50 years ago  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi   brought to the world  Transcendental Meditation,   a simple, natural, effortless  mental  technique which, according to over 600 research  studies carried out in  250 Universities and Research Institutes   in 32  countries,  document  that  this technique  provides a state of rest which is 2-3 times as deep as the deepest sleep, while the  mind is  fully awake  and alert within itself, just like an arrow drawn back on the bow. In this deep rest  one experiences the unbounded  field  of creative intelligence, the  totality of the Natural Law  at the source of thought where thought is most powerful. A powerful thought  leads to skill in action, which means one  naturally,  spontaneously, effortlessly   preforms  actions  resulting in  fulfillment, not suffering.

 -Today the Internet  spreads more  and more negative energy to people, which  causes stress even in   people  of  normal   psychological make-up. Why is the negative  energy so rampant   nowadays?

- Stess, stain, fatique  hinder our evolution. Most people overwork nowadays and get tired, tiedness  results in stress and strain. And then progress is endangered: progress  can be safely secured  when there is creativity. Anyone involved in creative work, no matter what kind of work it is,  anyone using their full creative intelligence gets  fulfillment. Monotonous work leads to fatique and dissatisfaction.If people are  not satisfied with their acievements, they cannot  be happy. At workplaces  a stressful atmosphere is a common phenomenon, relationships between employers and empoyess, between  colleagues  are far from being harmonious. Schools, as a matter of fact, are   very stressful places nowadays and  one cannot turn a blind eye to it.  Children are becoming  victim to contemporary educational system. Total Knowledge,  knowledge of  the full range of  consciousness is totally missing from contemporary educaton.  Only  through  the  experience   of that  state of restful alertnes, unboundedness, the most peaceful, silent  state, yet a state in which  the mind is fully awake  within itself will it be possible to  use one's full mental potentia. According to the brain expert Fred Travis, it is  through  this experience that people  can become creative. It gives inexhaustible energy, makes us more dynamic. It is the basis of   spontaneous right actions. There are  53 countries that have introduced TM in  at least one school in their countries. In Brazil 38 000 schools are beginning  to  practice TM as part of their school routine.   Meditating children  display better academc progress and diplay decreased aggressive behaviour, there is less bullying,  the atmosphere  in schools becomes more friendly. In the UK,    the academic progress of the Maharishi School was so outstanding  that the school was granted  a state-school status. Only through optimizing one's full brain potential will it be possible to  accompish one's desires, gain ever-increasing achievemnets  and live a progressive, fulfilling life.

- But will it be possible?:

- Yes! The technique  that is offered is simple, efficient, and easy to learn. This is the uniqueness of  TM.

It is  different from other mental techniques, other types of  meditations. When we  have stresses, we  do not make progress  and when we do not  grow,  do not evolve, we get stuck in a vicious cycle. Non- progress means stagnation. Stress and strain are the diseases of the  contemporary age. Moreover, it is now commonly acknowledged  that they are the root cause of all diseases. There is a disease today called PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).  According to statistics,  the number of  suicidal deaths by  the veterans of  the Afghanistan and Iran wars  outnumbers those in the battlefield. This is a grave siruation. However, Transcendental Meditation helps them  overcome this depression. And by the way,  the gala events organized  through David Lynch Foundation  are a great contribution to help  these and other at-risk people  to come back to normal life. The latest event took place on December 3, in New York.

There is another disease called  ADHD. We all  see  teachers keeping saying: 'Pay attention, don't get distracted.'  But this is exactly what the child siffers from! Attention deficit, they cannot  concentrate and they are constantly rebuked  for not being able to focus on, to pay proper attention to their tasks.  Again, research has  shown  that by practicing TM, children become more focused.  TM normalizes blood pressure  and reduces heart diseases. Well,  all these good things can come if we meditate regularly and correctly twice a day.

 - Well what  can you offer to  those  who want to change their life for the  better?

First of all, it is important to  take proper rest. TM is the technique which will give you that deep state of rest. And then  when we are deeply rested, our thinking becomes clearer,  we grow in creativity, perception gets  refined, the mind becomes broader,  we enjoy better health, we grow in harmony  and enjoy better realationships,  negativity goes down.  This technique, this particular form of meditation is  not a religion, or self-suggestion, hypnosis or philosophy. People of all religious, cultural, educational, social  backgrounds  practice  this techique and enjoy its full benefits.  Anyone can  take deep rest , experience fine states of thought, transcend  its finest  state and arriving at the source of thought.   The ability to rest is inherent in the human nervous system.  Deep rest dissolves deeply-rooted stresses,  resulting in clearer thinking  and better, healthy phisiology and harmonious relationships.

There is no precondition for learning TM.  When one starts meditation, the physiological functioning  becomes  normal and one spontaneously  develops better behaviour,  bad habits go away,  meditators  as a rule  give up smoking, drinking alcohol,  prescribed and non-prescribed drugs, aggressive behaviour. Well, we do have all these negative forms of  behaviour in our country, don't we?

I would like to add that meditators have a  higher appreciation of their  traditional values and their cultural heritage.  It  is a technique that improves all aspects of life.

- Over the past years  many people have   been complaining of the negativity in the atmosphere. This is sometimes claimed  to be the result of poor social conditions. More and more people seem to be wearing  unhappy expressions on their faces.

- It is natural to  aspire to have more achievements, it is natural to make progress day by day. Transcendental Meditation   is a powerful tool which allows us to live a a life in all progress.

Stresses and  strains,  anxieties  block the way to more achievements, to more progress and they  are   spontaneously  reduced by  this effortless technique  and  then  the full value of  life is enjoyed in a spontaneous, natural  manner.

 We observe that everything in Creation  grows, makes progress, evolves, right?   This   growth also involves human beings. However, a technique is needed when there are so many stresses in us and around us. A thirsty person needs water, thousands of  volumes of knowledge about the usefulness of water will not help them.  Transcendental Meditation is that   technique  which powerfully, easily,  spontaneously takes our mind inside, to the field of inexhaustible  intelligence, creativity,  energy, orderliness, happiness.  All the great people, be it religious leaders or philosophers,  artists or scientists,   not to the exclusion of folk wisdom reflected in proverbs and  sayings,  have always  emphasized the importance of inner happiness.

 It will not be an overstatement to say that Transcendental Meditation  seems to  work  like a miracle besause   by starting to pracrise it   we   also start to create our own surroundings. We become  self-sufficient and at the same time create  the kind of surroundings that are most conducive to our progress.  By improving one’s  quality of life, the surroundings become  better.  The bulb lit inside gives light to the surroundings. Only happy people can be compassionate and  extend a helping hand to others; unhappy   people are absorbed in their own unhappiness.  We are all connected with each other. Physicists  have proved that nothing in creation exists in isolation: everything influences everything else . We are responsible for all our actions, our thoughts. Wherever our attention goes to, that field gets enhanced. This is known  to science as    Attention Theory.

 Through Transcendental Meditation  and its advanced TM-Sidhi Program   positivity grows.  Moreover,  through these programs  a small number of people in Armenia, about 200, which is the square root of one 1% of the population in Armenia, can create peace, both inner and outer.  It just takes 200 people   doing Transcendental Meditation  and its advanced TM-Sidhi Program, including Yogic Flying,   together  in one place, to  create  invincibility for the nation and secure  its cultural integrity.  The nation will be free of any negative influences, both internal and external.  Hostile tendencies will get dissolved in the vicinity of such a group, enmity in the enemy will be destroyed. This is easy to do.  Everyone should be made  aware of this opportunity.  There are so many  people  willing to  help the nation  to  overcome   negativity.   They should be informed of this  peace-creating Technology. The group  should be  created right away.  

- So how is negative energy eliminated?                                               

- To eliminate darkness light should be brought in.

- How?              

-  The arrow is   drawn back  in order  to hit the target. Transcendental Meditation is a an effortless, natural  unique  technique which reduces stresses, the mind  gets a  state of  deep rest  at the source of thought ,  and with the experience of unboudedness  at  the source  of thought, the infinite  field of all intelligence and creativity, the mind  comes out  more fresh,  more lively, more creative, more  orderly, infused with the nature of Transcendental pure consciousness, which is a higher state of consciousness.

There is no room for suffering then.  Suffering does not belong to life. The nature of life is to grow in happiness. And that  is what Transcendental Meditation  does. Maharishi’s Vedic Science  and Technology  is  the  complete Knowledge of the  Natural Law for   individual fulfillment, invincibility  for the nation and world peace.  Vedic Knowledge of consciousness   is available  in Armenia and through it  Armenia can rise to Invincibility and radiate peace to the  whole world.  This should be implemented right away. Time does not wait for anyone.

Photo  from S. Galstyan’s  Facebook page