What is the TM-Sidhi programme?

The Transcendental Meditation-Sidhi programme, or the TM-Sidhi programme as it is also called, is derived from the Yoga Sutras of Maharishi Patanjali. Yoga means “union”, or union with Transcendental Consciousness, and Sutras (literally, threads) are aphorisms or concise.

An analogy for the TM-Sidhi programme might be this: Just as purifying channels through which water flows enables the most pure, crystal-clear water to flow yet remain unpolluted, so, through the perfection of mind-body channels, Transcendental Consciousness is able to take a specific direction. These specific directions are described in detail by Maharishi Patanjali, a great seer of the Vedic tradition of knowledge, and the seer, or Rishi, (in Sanskrit), who codified the teaching of Yoga into 195 sutras and arranged them into four chapters of a book that became known as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Although the Yoga tradition has been preserved in India, experiences derived from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are non-cultural and beyond language. Only the descriptions and explanations of these experiences are influenced by prevailing cultural norms and states of knowledge.

The mechanics of the TM-Sidhi programme are simple to understand. Whereas Transcendental Meditation practice allows the mind to settle down and experience Transcendental Consciousness, the TM-Sidhis, specific sutras found within the third chapter of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, extend the experience of Transcendental Consciousness and train the mind to think and act from this level. Maharishi explains in more detail that “Specific mental formulae are introduced as gentle impulses of thought during the experience of unbounded awareness. The mind then lets go of this gentle impulse and returns to the state of unbounded awareness.

The result is experienced as the specific effect of the particular TM-Sidhi technique”.[1] Thus, the benefits, gained through the TM technique, are accelerated through a process that helps to stabilize the experience of inner silence, extend the ability of the mind to settle down to a state of deep rest and experience pure consciousness, develop mind-body co-ordination, increase inner bliss, and enhance the ability of the individual to maintain the inner calm experienced during Transcendental Meditation practice, while engaged in outer activity. The specific sutra techniques are subordinate to the state of pure consciousness and not practised for their surface effects. The result is that the practitioner is fast-tracked along the road to enlightenment.

Reference:

[1] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, (1980). Science, Consciousness, and Ageing:Proceedings of the International Conference. Rheinweiler, West Germany, 1980. Maharishi European Research University Press. p. 39.