TM or Mindfulness: Which one gets you to nirvana?

Way back in 1973, Transcendental Meditation (TM) appeared on the scene. It was intriguing, mysterious, and something the Beatles and somebody named Richard Alpert did. They even had their own guru—the Marharishi Mashesh Yogi—in India. Richard Alpert changed his name to Baba Ram Das and wrote a book called Be Here Now. The Beatles became a legend in their own time.

I learned to meditate with my preteen daughter, who promptly lost interest. I, however, struggled for twenty years to reach cosmic consciousness. I never got there and finally gave up. I suppose there are still folks around who do TM, but they are decidedly out of fashion. The new meditation is called mindfulness, Vipassana, or insight (all the same thing).

They could not be more different. One sends you to la-la land; the other grounds you in reality. One is easy; the other is harder than it appears. One is a combination Valium and upper; the other doesn't make any claims. Once you learn one, it is very hard to switch gears (I never succeeded in doing so).

With TM, you focus on a nonsense word (it's probably Sanskrit) and get all spacey. After a while, you shake your head, get up, and go about your business, relaxed but energized. Don't ask me how that works. With mindfulness, you watch your breathing and stay conscious. When you get up after however long you have perched uncomfortably on a hard, little cushion, you don't seem to feel any different (at least, I don't). So, what's the point?

Intellectually, I could write a book on the point of mindfulness meditation. I've certainly read enough of them. The point is insight (hence its other name). The point is living in the moment (or as Baba Ram Das would say, being here now). The point is understanding that everything changes, nothing lasts, and actions have consequences (otherwise known as karma).

Mindfulness is the rage. Everyone is doing it. Well, I'm not because I can't get the hang of it. What's more, I don't seem very motivated. Frankly, I would rather go to la-la land than live in the present. I know that's heresy, but it's true. I prefer being relaxed and peppy at the same time to being aware than I am changing, aging, and not as pretty as I used to be. In short, I am a mindfulness failure.

Trends come and go. If I hang around long enough (another thirty-eight years), maybe TM will make a comeback. By then, I'll really be in outer space.