Transcendental meditation is a movement founded by Maharishi (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) in 1957. It started with an organization named Spiritual Regeneration Movement. Maharishi aimed to establish a teaching center of transcendental meditation for every million people of the world's population.

The whole process takes fifteen to twenty minutes everyday. During the meditation, the person focuses his or her mind on a simple statement that is called a mantra. The ultimate goal, as practitioners say, is to achieve pure consciousness. The exact procedures of transcendental meditation cannot be simply learned by reading available materials. They have to be taught by a transcendental meditation expert.

However, there have been studies that say transcendental meditation has negative effects. A scientist in an American institute said that the whole process of such meditation could be hazardous to the mental health of a certain person. The weight of the impact depends on how long the person has been practicing transcendental meditation.

Transcendental meditation has also been criticized because of the exorbitant fees that go with learning them. As of the year 2000, fees have been reported to reach as much as $2,500. Other critics even point that the fee does not make sense because the founder, Maharishi, even stated that such meditation is a birthright.

Aside from these, transcendental meditation also earned the ire of a number of people because of its strict policies, particularly those that relate to building structures. Maharishi declared that all buildings should be constructed based on an Indian philosophy that can be compared to Feng Shui. In this belief, the main entrance of the structure must face the east and the rooms should be arranged in a circular fashion. The rooms should revolve around a central area called the seat of divinity. Because of their strict adherence to this belief, there was even a time when a Catholic church situated in a Maharishian university was demolished because it did not abide by the rules of this Indian philosophy.

While there may be criticisms on the practice of transcendental meditation, there have also been studies that say the process is helpful in improving blood flow. In the end, the decision to practice transcendental meditation, or any kind of meditation for that matter, still lies on the convictions of an individual.