Strength in Stillness: Bob Roth On The Power of Transcendental Meditation & Bringing Calm To The Center of Life’s Storm

A reporter, one time, asked Maharishi [Mahesh Yogi]... 'What's the single most important quality any person needs to have in order to have a better chance of living a healthy, successful, happy life? ... He said, 'Discernment' ... How do I [make] my choices? Who do I spend my life with? What do I eat? Where do I invest my time? Because those choices are what brings back happiness—those deep, simple choices.

We're in an epidemic of stress right now. It's a stress-fueled culture. Most people, when you ask them how they're doing, they're going to tell you they're stressed. And I think that goes hand-in-hand with depression, which is quickly becoming, basically, our number one disability. And people are starting to wake up to the fact that the pills that they're popping are really not working—that they're temporarily masking symptoms that lead to side effects and other problems that compound.

The cortisol reduction aspect of it is super interesting. I was reading that sleep only reduces your levels 10-20%, but meditation, specifically TM, can reduce it 30-40%.

The mind is not wandering aimlessly. Your mind is not just a monkey mind; your mind is in search of something more satisfying.

If it fails and you did your best, fine. But if it fails and you weren't true to yourself, it's impossible to deal with.