News

By Steve Pike

    Ann Purcell remembered the first time she met the maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Seelisberg, Switzerland, in 1974.
“I had to walk up eight flights of stairs to get to a meeting room,’’ said Purcell, whose book The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment was published last May and is available through her website (www.enlightenmentforeveryone.com) and Amazon.com.
    “I had no idea of protocol or anything. I remember myself walking into the room and immediately calming down. I became very quiet.
“The maharishi was very concerned about my mother because my father had just passed away. I was only 20 years old and he wanted my mother’s blessing (for her daughter to continue teaching and learning). That made a big impression.’’
    The maharishi, who died in 2008 at the age of 90, made an impression on millions, from the Beatles and Beach Boys to mere mortals and their journeys to enlightenment through transcendental meditation. It’s what the maharishi called, “the glory of the nature of the self.’’
    Purcell’s book, published by Green Dragon Press of Lake Worth, chronicles her journey from growing up in Delray Beach to her introduction to TM as a freshman at Alvescot College in Oxford, England, to becoming a full-time teacher of transcendental meditation since 1973.
“It’s actually the most practical state of living,’’ Purcell said of TM. “It’s not just something to enjoy, but a state where people can accomplish the maximum in life.’’
    Purcell, who splits her time between Delray Beach and Livingston Manor, N.Y., has taught TM around the world. She also has worked on curricula and course development for universities and continuing education programs. She has a bachelor’s and a master’s of the science of creative intelligence from Maharishi European Research University in Seelisberg, and a PhD in supreme political science from Maharishi University of World Peace, Vlodrop, Netherlands.
    The book is Purcell’s second attempt to write about (and defend) the world and benefits of TM.
Purcell originally tried to publish it two years ago under the title Let Your Soul Sing: Enlightenment is for Everyone, but the publisher suggested including transcendental meditation in the title. The decision paid off, as it received a Books for Better Living Silver Award from IndependentPublisher.com in 2015.
    Purcell refers to the book as “timeless’’ in its message to get across her points that enlightenment is a “possibility for everyone’’ and should be the most “natural state’’ that everyone can achieve.
    Like transcendental meditation itself, Purcell’s book may not be for everyone, but it’s a good glimpse into a world that most people don’t understand.