How to join an Advanced Technique weekend

 If you’ve been practising Transcendental Meditation and you’ve loved your experience so far, then it might be time to consider the Advanced Techniques of Transcendental Meditation.

Now first, we should reaffirm what you heard when you first learned TM – that Transcendental Meditation is a ‘complete’ technique. By that we mean it stands alone. You don’t need anything else to experience the full benefits of TM.

So why do we need Advanced Techniques at all?

Well, for many people, the experience of transcending is completely transformational. They get a glimpse of their full potential, and quite naturally they want to reach it as quickly as possible.

This is precisely why Maharishi developed the Advanced Techniques and the Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme: they accelerate your growth of consciousness, supercharging your TM practice and helping to stabilise the experience of transcending in activity to help you live your full potential.

So if you are one of the people who have learned TM, practised it regularly for at least two months, and are looking for more, then we invite you to consider the Advanced Techniques of Transcendental Meditation.

Structure of the Advanced Techniques

The first thing to know is a bit about the structure of the techniques. There are four Advanced Techniques, and you will need to practice each technique for two to four months before learning the subsequent technique. The first is practised outside of your TM just before going to sleep. The other three are enhancements to your TM practice.

These four Advanced Techniques are a prerequisite to taking the Transcendental Meditation Sidhi Programme. You can learn more about the TM-Sidhi Programme here, or ask your TM Teacher about it.

Also, when you sign up for an Advanced Technique, there will be three steps to learning: an orientation session, your Advanced Technique instruction, and a personal checking session. These three steps ensure that you are practising correctly so that you can receive the full benefits of your instruction.

Finding Advanced Techniques in your area

Although it’s not a requirement, if you’d like to learn an Advanced Technique the first thing we’d recommend is to get a TM checking and talk to your TM Teacher about the Advanced Techniques.

To arrange a checking, simply get in touch with your TM Teacher if he or she is nearby, or with your local TM Centre. The checking is for free, and it won’t take more than an hour. This will help ensure correct, effortless practice of TM, which is the foundation of your development.

Your TM Teacher can also discuss the Advanced Techniques with you, and your readiness to learn. If there are opportunities to learn Advanced Techniques in your local area, your teacher will let you know this information, along with the associated costs for your country.

If you don’t have any Advanced Technique weekends in your local area, or if for some other reason you’d like to learn them at MERU, then you can see an overview of the Advanced Technique weekends at MERU here. We offer them regularly at MERU throughout the year, as we know that not every country has Advanced Technique teachers available.

Note that although we typically have Advanced Technique weekends every month at MERU, the absolute minimum time between learning each Advanced Technique is two months, with four months between each one recommended. The bottom line is that it’s important to fully integrate each technique into your regular routine before moving on to the next – there’s no pressure or need to rush.

Costs and housing arrangements at MERU

So what are the costs of learning an Advanced Technique? Since the Advanced Technique is learned over a minimum of two days, there is usually both a course fee and a housing fee associated with instruction:

Course fee

While the course fee is based on your country of residence, it will be the same for you no matter whether you learn the technique at MERU or in your own country. The cost will be similar to your country’s TM course fee. You can ask your TM Teacher about the fee or email our course office at courses@maharishi.net to inquire. Discounts are available for students and couples and may be available in other special circumstances as well – feel free to ask us about this as we want everyone to have access to these profound techniques.

Housing fee 

The housing fees differ depending on where you learn the Advanced Technique. At MERU, some weekends are hosted in the more budget-friendly Hotel St. Ludwig (135 € for two nights), and other weekends in the more upscale Boshotel (250 € for two nights). Visit this page for more information about the dates and locations.

If you learn an Advanced Technique at MERU, this housing fee includes organic vegetarian meals on our Vlodrop campus, and transportation if you’re staying in the Boshotel. (Hotel St. Ludwig is a comfortable 10-minute walk away from campus.)

Applying, travel, and other logistics at MERU

If you’d like to attend an Advanced Technique in your own country, your TM Teacher will inform you about the logistics involved and how to register.

At MERU, we conduct the Advanced Techniques over a weekend, so that you can arrive on Friday evening and leave on Sunday afternoon for a more relaxed stay. Aside from Advanced Technique instruction, the weekend also includes knowledge and extra time for your meditation programme so you feel settled and rested when you learn.

To select a date for your instruction, view our Advanced Technique schedule here. Once you’ve decided which weekend you’d like to attend, simply fill out the application form, which we use to verify that you’ve learned Transcendental Meditation and process your application. It usually takes us a few days to complete this process, but as soon as you’re approved for the course, you’ll get an email notification from us with all the necessary information to make your payment and complete your booking.

Once you’ve received your confirmation from us, you’re encouraged to book your travel right away. You might find this travel information page about the best ways to reach MERU helpful. When scheduling your travel, know that the best time to arrive is in the evening on the first day (a Friday), and the best time to leave is around 14:00 on the last date listed (a Sunday).

If you have any questions during the process, we’ve made this Frequently Asked Questions page for you here, or you’re always welcome to contact our course office.

Can’t learn an Advanced Technique now?

We hope you’re able to join us on an Advanced Technique weekend very soon. But if not, there are lots of other great ways for you to grow and develop in your meditation practice.

You can join a TM retreat, for instance, or even simply learn and start incorporating the Maharishi Yoga Asanas into your routine. Ask your TM Teacher about either of these things – he or she will be very happy to tell you more about them!

Another option if you’re eager to grow your TM practice but don’t have the finances to learn the Advanced Techniques is to join the volunteer programme at MERU, where you can pay for the Advanced Techniques with your time instead of your money. Many of our volunteers have learned the Advanced Techniques and the TM-Sidhi Programme this way, and after learning quite a few choose to continue volunteering at MERU simply because they enjoy the supportive environment.

Whatever your situation, don’t stress about the Advanced Techniques. Simply continuing with your regular TM practice, morning and evening, is always going to be the most fundamental tool for your development. As long as you keep this a priority, we know that things will develop for you beautifully – and that you will soon be enjoying all the benefits of your full potential.

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