This document by an anonymous author in the Meditating Fairfield, Iowa Facebook group traces the lineage and evolution of a specific type of mantra meditation, rooted in the tradition of the Indian philosopher Shankara and practiced by the Dandi Swami order. It highlights how this “effortless” mantra technique, emphasizing natural mantra selection without forced concentration, has branched out over centuries. The text details its transmission through figures like Guru Dev, its influence on Sufi practices, and its modern dissemination through various movements, including Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation and subsequent independent adaptations, illustrating the enduring influence and diverse contemporary expressions of this ancient meditative approach.
“I can say that every Dandi Swami that I’ve met, which is nearly half of all of them, meditate exactly in the TM way, with no concentration. They too ‘favor’ the mantra easily. Furthermore, they all claim this is the traditional method.”
– Dana Sawyer, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies and World Religions.
Shankara: Leading proponent of Advaita Vedanta, ca700s CE. (Founded Dandi Swami order and nine other monastic orders. Today there are 500 to 1000 Dandi Swamis.)
↳ Sufi mystics of the 1600s and 1700s, passed down to today in the practice of Sufi Zikr meditation: During the Mughal period in India there was a well-documented active exchange among Sufi teachers and adepts in Hindu Yoga and Advaita Vedanta that led to many Yoga and Vedanta practices being written about and incorporated by the Sufis. This incorporation included mantra japa meditation. (The word “japa” appears in original Sufi texts of the period.)
The Islamic/Sufi practice called “zikr” or “dhikr” (“remembrance”) includes mantra japa meditation using Arabic or Persian names of God or devotional phrases as mantras. Sufi texts from the time describe many versions of this practice. Some are simple and some are more effortful and complex.
Sufi texts about zikr meditation describe the same awakening/deepening of transcendental and eventually unitive awareness we are familiar with. For example, The Compass of Truth, written by the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh in 1645CE describes the sequence of stages of awakening culminating in:
“There is nothing in the universe that is other than you. Whatever comes before you is just you confronting you.”
↳ Guru Dev: Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, himself a Dandi Swami, d1953.
↳ Swami Satyananda: Disciple of Guru Dev, began teaching traditional Shankara mantra japa meditation in Malaya (present-day Malaysia) ca1949
↳ Father John Main: Initiated by Swami Satyananda in 1955. Introduced traditional Shankara mantra japa meditation to the world as “Christian meditation” recommending the Aramaic biblical mantra, “maranatha.”
Christian Meditation is supported by the World Community for Christian Meditation, which has more than 3000 groups in over 120 countries.
Christian Meditation in Trinidad & Tobago schools
↳ Shankaracharya Shantanand Saraswati: Guru Dev’s successor.
↳ Dr. Francis Roles: Promoted traditional Shankara mantra japa meditation independently from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi through The Study Society, (which he founded in 1951 and remains active to this day) collaborating closely with Shankaracharya Shantanand from 1961 until Shantanand’s passing in 1997. An extensive archive of correspondence and transcripts of audiences with Shantanand is here:
↳ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Began teaching traditional Shankara mantra japa meditation, which he named “transcendental meditation” ca1955
“My life truly began 16 years ago at the feet of my master [Swami Brahmananda Saraswati] when I learned the secret of swift and deep meditation, a secret I now impart to the world” – Los Angeles press conference, 29th April 1959.
Maharishi trained 30,000 to 40,000 teachers of transcendental meditation. Some of them remain active teaching through the official TM organization; others teach independently.
Transcendental Meditation is a trademark of the Maharishi Foundation, which prevents independent Maharishi-trained teachers from using the term. They teach using such names as Vedic meditation, deep meditation, natural meditation, Quiet Path meditation, Inner Peace Fellowship Meditation, etc.
↳ ACEM Meditation: Founded in 1966 by Are Holen MD PhD. Dr. Holen is a psychiatrist and psychologist and professor of psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He is a leading expert on stress psychiatry and was called upon as expert after the terrorist incident in Norway 22 July 2011, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, and the attack on the World Trade Center 11 September 2001.
Research on ACEM Meditation has been published in peer reviewed scientific journals. ACEM Meditation teachers are available for in-person instruction in 14 countries. Online courses are available worldwide.
↳ Christian Centering Prayer: In the early 1970s Pope Paul VI encouraged monastic communities to study Eastern practices for transcendence. On that guidance, Abbot Thomas Keating, Father Basil Pennington and Father William Meninger, incorporated insights gained from years of work with Trappist monks at Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer Massachusetts practicing Shankara mantra japa meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Zen from the Japanese Roshi Joshu Sasaki and teachings from the Christian mystical tradition to develop Christian Centering Prayer.
Thomas Keating founded the Christian Centering Prayer worldwide organization, named Contemplative Outreach, which has over 120 official chapters in 39 countries, supports over 800 prayer groups and teaches Centering Prayer to more than 15,000 new people every year.
↳ Clinically Standardized Meditation: Introduced in 1978 by Patricia Carrington, PhD after conducting clinical research at Princeton University in the effects of effortless mantra meditation. Dr. Carrington’s research determined that better results are achieved when the student chooses his/her own mantra. Clinically Standardized Meditation has been the subject of numerous research studies confirming its effectiveness.
↳ Pandit Shri Shri Ravi Shankar: Separated from Maharishi and began teaching Shankara mantra japa independently in 1981 calling it Sahaja Samadhi Meditation (trans. “effortless transcending” meditation).”
Pandit Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living is a huge global organization that teaches traditional Shankara japa meditation to millions of people and administers a wide range of humanitarian programs.
↳ Ascension Meditation or the Ishayas’ Ascension: Ishayas’ Ascension meditation was developed around 1990 by a former TM teacher named Vaughn Abrams, who later took the name Maharishi Sadasiva Isham, or MSI.
Originally organized under The Society for Ascension (SFA), the practice experienced a wave of popularity in the 1990s and opened a campus in Waynesville, North Carolina that could house a couple hundred Ascension teachers and trainees at a time. After Abrams’ death in 1997, Ishayas’ Ascension divided into a series of successor organizations reflecting varying approaches to doctrine and culture typical of such groups after the founder’s passing.
Some of the current organizations:
Ascension Meditation- www.ascension-meditation.com is the website of Ishtar Howell, who has been teaching Ascension Meditation since 2002. Ishtar has developed a teacher training program that qualified its first class of teachers in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India in 2023.
www.ishaya.info A well established group of independent minded Ascension Meditation teachers according to reports.
The Ishaya Foundation: www.theishayafoundation.org More institutional culture and attitudes according to reports.
The Bright Path: www.thebrightpath.com Suffered significant attrition of affiliated teachers in 2021 due to internal issues.
This list is not exhaustive. There are many more individual teacher and a few more organization websites.
↳ Thom Knoles Vedic* Meditation: Knoles separated from Maharishi and began teaching Shankara mantra japa independently in 1997. Taking the title “Maharishi Vyasanand Saraswati,” he has trained many teachers (some of whom have since separated from him) and developed a worldwide following.
*The term “Vedic meditation” is used by more than one organization or system of teaching. Teachers trained by Knoles use the term, as do teachers trained by Maharishi and teachers who have no connection with either Knoles or Maharishi. Among the multiple groups whose affiliates teach “Vedic meditation” there are variations in teaching style and group culture even when they are teaching essentially the same technique.
↳ Primordial Sound Meditation: Deepak Chopra, MD separated from Maharishi in 1994. Since then he has taught and trained certified teachers of Primordial Sound Meditation, which is a mantra based effortless meditation technique that uses a different approach to mantra selection than the version of Shankara mantra japa Maharishi labeled “transcendental meditation.”
↳ Inner Peace Fellowship Meditation: An informal fellowship of volunteers, most of whom have been practicing nondirective mantra meditation for over 40 years. The Inner Peace Fellowship operates web sites used by over a million new people each year in 236 countries and jurisdictions. www.innerpeacefellowship.org offers comprehensive online instructions in the practice of Shankara mantra japa meditation.
↳ Advanced Yoga Practices Deep Meditation: Part of the comprehensive set of practices and teachings developed by the anonymous author “Yogani.” This version of Shankara mantra japa can be learned from an AYP-trained teacher or from the book Deep Meditation: Pathway to Personal Freedom in the AYP Enlightenment Series of short instructional books. (It is clear from the book’s content that Yogani has studied meditation intensively with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.)
The Advanced Yoga Practices organization supports a network of teachers worldwide and holds regular teacher training courses. One of AYP’s leaders is Tristan Dorling, who travels and lectures extensively and offers courses on a range of practices and topics.
↳ Natural Stress Relief Meditation: Founded in 2006 under the nonprofit Natural Stress Relief Inc. by David Spector, who studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1971-1972.
↳ Self Recognition Meditation: Developed by Jessie Mercay, PhD through many years of extensive study and hands-on teaching experience, and introduced in 2023. Dr. Mercay and her associates began conducting Self Recognition Meditation teacher training in the spring of 2024.
NOTE: Some of these practices use traditional Sanskrit mantras, some of them use vernacular words from the practitioner’s native language, some use Arabic or Persian words and one uses a mantra from Aramaic.