My recent experiences

Since I post so many answers here, I thought I might do something
a bit different: post both a question and its answer. I
think it might be appropriate to share something of my own
experiences (even though I practice Transcendental Meditation® and
I learned differently and I use a different mantra, it's the same
physiological experience of transcending).


Dear David and everyone else,

I love my meditation, so much so that I have been practicing for many years without skipping even once. I find it indispensable for managing the stressors in my life. But recently I have been having some experiences that have not been as pleasant or as blissful as those I've had in many of my past meditation sessions.

For the past month or two, each session (especially the morning session) has always started with kind of a blanket of noise in my head. I don't mean a sound, but I mean overlapping thoughts and feelings, just like I had before I sat down to meditate. It kind of monopolizes my consciousness, so that it seems impossible to think the mantra effortlessly. I understand enough not to force it, but I wish it were there, so I could have a quiet and enjoyable "diving inward" experience like I do maybe five minutes later, when the noise eases up.

In the middle of my sessions, I have a comfortable and/or enjoyable experience of thinking the mantra, then realizing a minute or two later that I've been thinking some other thought(s), then returning to the mantra without any change in my level of mental activity. I can then feel myself falling into a more comfortable state of thinking than I ever experience in daily activity. Then I realize I'm off on another thought and the cycle continues.

Near the end of meditation, a feeling of pressure starts. It feels different from the noise at the beginning, but it also monopolizes my mind so that it becomes difficult to think the mantra.

What is happening, and what should I do?

David Spector
Massachusetts, USA