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The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment: An Interview with Author Ann Purcell
by Linda Egenes
Transcendental Meditation for Women Blog Translate This Article
28 May 2015
Ann Purcell didn't start out to write a book. A teacher of the Transcendental Meditation technique since 1973, she taught Transcendental Meditation and advanced courses in many countries around the world. She also wrote songs about her experiences of transcending.
''My best songs are those that were totally unplanned and just suddenly, spontaneously bubbled up inside of me—the melody and the words seemed to write themselves,'' she says.
Her writing also unfolded effortlessly. One evening as she drifted off to sleep, a flood of ideas washed over her, and she got up to write them down. The flood of ideas continued almost every night for a month, and by the end she had a manuscript.
That became the first edition of her book (published under the title Let Your Soul Sing: Enlightenment is For Everyone). Soon a publisher acquired the book and issued a new edition with the new title The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment. Ann also added an intriguing new chapter called, ''Mother Divine: The Divine Feminine.'' Here she explains how we can access the divine feminine in our own lives.
Linda Egenes: How would you explain the ''divine feminine''? Ann Purcell: The divine feminine is a term that refers to the creative, evolutionary force within nature itself. It is the all-nourishing power of natural law which governs all life in a progressive, evolutionary direction. Because this creative energy is not man made, we can appreciate it as divine. It is within each of us, within the silent depths of our Being and can be enjoyed as a natural part of our daily lives.
Some people call it ''the goddess within.'' The term is quite ancient and comes from many traditions throughout time. For example, the common term ''Mother Earth'' symbolizes balance, healing, renewal and restoration. The divine feminine is that aspect within every woman that reflects the qualities that are nurturing, loving, understanding, compassionate, insightful, intuitive, creative, forgiving, healing, steady, patient and wise. Men also possess this quality because it is a fundamental constituent of natural law itself. But women more readily express it in their natural tendency as the mothers of the world to nourish one and all.
Linda: How does this concept of the divine feminine relate to our busy lives here on earth? Ann: Women want to access more nurturing, intuitive, creative feelings that are deep inside—but unfortunately in this day and age, the stress and day-to-day activities are so overwhelming that many women have lost access to their finer feelings. Women today are busy managing their homes or jobs and trying to balance both. Most women want to be nourishing to their families, but they might get so tired that they start to disconnect from their deeper feelings and get easily angry or stressed out. They've lost touch with the more refined levels of feeling, where the inner qualities of the divine feminine are predominant.
Linda: So you're saying it's a woman's natural state to express the finer level of feeling? Ann: Of course men also have a nurturing, creative side. But women were born with the capacity to give birth to a child, so they naturally have those precious instincts and that nourishing power. It's natural for a mother, and most women have those natural instinctive qualities. It's not that men don't also have these qualities, but it might be a little more natural for a woman to have those tender, motherly, nourishing instincts.
Certainly a mother has to be creative in the household. You might not think of that as creativity, but a mother is always drawing on her creativity, her inner resources to meet the needs of the children, the home, the family.
And of course, women in the workplace are also solution-oriented. Recent research shows that businesses were able to raise their problem-solving ability or ''collective intelligence'' just by adding more women to their teams.
Linda: How is intuition an important feature of the divine feminine?
Ann: I think it's important to consider the question, Where does creativity come from? And where does intuition come from? We've all heard that creativity comes from within. Sometimes something from the outside can cause creativity to flow, but ultimately it comes from inside us.
At the source of thought of every human being is an ocean of silence. We can call this ocean of silence a field of infinite creativity, a field of creative intelligence that pervades the universe. This is the creative intelligence that I was speaking of earlier that is our divine inner essence. Tapping into this creative energy is what produces the connection to our finest feeling level.
The feeling level is closest to this ocean of silence. Most of us are aware of very subtle feelings within or flashes of intuition. That feeling level is on the border—on the junction point, on the level closest to the field of silence from which all creativity wells up. If we have a natural awareness, a quiet attunement to those feelings, our intuition is more sharp.
I think everyone has had the experience of saying, ''Oh, if I'd just gone by my feeling.'' They know that their feeling is right.
Parents often tell their children to learn to listen to their inner voice, to listen to their inner feeling. ''Don't go by what your friends are saying,'' they might tell their kids. ''Listen to your own inner voice, because that will guide you in the right direction.''
What happens is that people have that inner feeling, a flash of intuition, but don't always go by it. Then they find themselves getting into a little trouble—in a work situation or a social situation.
Linda: How can we break this cycle of stress and express these beautiful qualities of the divine feminine in our daily lives? Ann:One simple way is to be more rested. I know that's a challenge for many people. There is a growing body of research on the impact of sleep on cognitive functioning and health. Many people may have heard Arianna Huffington coming out strongly on the importance of a good night's sleep. Sleep is important for natural well-being, but being rested also helps us act from the fine feeling level. When we're feeling happy and relaxed, there's less noise in the mind, and we can access those fine feelings of love, understanding, compassion, insightfulness, intuition, creativity and patience. So getting more rest is one basic, fundamental way to make those finer feelings more accessible.
Another way is through the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM), which allows the system to get very deep rest. Due to the deep rest, stress released by the nervous system, and when there is less stress and fatigue, the mind is clearer. The deep rest through TM is like a broom that is sweeping away all the stress and the internal, mental noise, the chatter of ''I have to pick up my kids,'' or ''I have to get to work''—all the worry that goes on in the mind. Research shows that with the regular practice of TM, happiness naturally grows, harmony grows, creativity grows—all those qualities of the divine feminine start to shine.
There is another important way that TM can help. The practice of Transcendental Meditation takes the mind from the surface level of thinking to finer and finer and finer levels of the thinking process until it transcends even the finest level of thinking and experiences the source of thought.
That means that the mind, through the process of transcending, becomes habituated to experiencing the finer feeling levels through the process of transcending. So not only is the stress swept away along with the noise in the mind, but you're also accessing the finer levels of the thinking process, so more and more you're able to pick up thoughts on that finest feeling level—including the creative thoughts, the intuitions, the tender feelings of the heart. And you'll be able to use those creative, finer feelings and thoughts to accomplish what you need in your daily life.
Linda: That's a beautiful point, that TM not only clears the noise from the mind, but it allows the mind to become more refined. Ann: And this experience creates a strong feeling of self-empowerment and self-reliance. Because everything we need, all the wisdom we need, is there inside us, in that silence. Our own inner silence is the greatest gift we can draw upon to guide us through the stormy aspects of life. And the beautiful things that happen as well—we want to be just as creative during the good times as the challenging times. We want to be able to draw on those creative, nourishing, intuitive qualities in every aspect of our lives.
Also, the more creative we are, the happier we are, the less stressed we are, the more we're able to transform our outer environment as well. If we're calm, our family and the people around us tend to reflect that calm. If we come up with creative solutions to the challenging situations of life, we're better able to diffuse problems, more able to contribute to accomplishing any tasks, any jobs. So it has many many benefits in daily life.
This is the real meaning of self-reliance or self-empowerment—when we're not dependent on anything from the outside for our power or strength or resilience. It's all there inside. If a storm comes, and if we're securely anchored down, we're not going to get tossed about by the stormy waves. We'll be very resilient, firmly established within, where nothing from the outside can shake our inner stability and inner joy and inner well of creativity.
Linda: It seems that when more and more women are experiencing their divine feminine, we could really change the world to become a more peaceful, happier place. Ann: Exactly. In fact, a few years ago we established an organization to specifically reach out to women, called the Global Mother Divine Organization (GMDO), which is part of the worldwide TM organization. GMDO has opened TM centers just for women, allowing women to enjoy the nourishing quality of being with all women. Many women report that the softened atmosphere allows them to completely relax and be themselves.
And that creates a situation conducive to experiencing the silence inside. Transcending is an extremely nourishing situation in itself, but when you come to group meditation with other women, it's enhanced exponentially.
Also, GMDO has outreach programs to many different women's groups—nursing programs, educational programs for women and girls, cultural programs, programs for women in poverty and programs for self-empowerment. I just read today that this is a worldwide trend—for women to gather together, and organizations for self-empowerment are sprouting up all over the world. What better way to empower the self than to be in the Self, which is the all-empowering field of silence, the power of bliss, the power of creativity?
And the beautiful thing is that it's our own inner nature. It's our own Self. If every woman can access this level, they will create a huge transformation for society through enlivening that inner silence. Real change begins within.
See blog posts by Ann Purcell: ∙ Birds of a feather flock together! ∙ True Beauty
Watch talk by Canadian Junon Maceus: Experience Heaven With Transcendental Meditation
Linda Egenes writes about green and healthy living and is the author of six books, including Super Healthy Kids: A Parent's Guide to Maharishi Ayurveda, co-authored with Kumuda Reddy, M.D.
Copyright © 2015 Transcendental Meditation for Women
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