Q: Is there any research showing
that Transcendental Meditation,
by itself, can improve health?

Gary Kaplan, M.D, Ph.D., neurologist, New York
University School of Medicine: “Yes, extensive research
published in peer-reviewed medical journals shows this
technique markedly improves overall health. If you can
do something for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day that reduces
stress and allows you to be more creative and dynamic in
your activity—you have a key to better health.”

I watched last night on youtube David Lynch and a video by Fred Travis on the effects of TM on the brain.

Q: What is the difference between TM and Christian Meditation as taught by followers of John Main?

I have been practising Christian Meditation for a number of years; I can see hardly any difference in the practice between TM and Christian Meditation.

“Meditation is to the spirit what food and air are to the body.  We must come to
peacefulness, serenity and our capacity for true vision if we are to live in the
light of God.  Again and again the New Testament tells us that the light shines in
our hearts.  So we need only be open to it in humility and love.”
John Main OSB

However the intent of the meditation could be different. Both meditations are means to an end.

As stated in the catechism of the Catholic Church

• Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the “today” of God is written.

• To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

• There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.

• Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.”