For me, the answer to Barry's question would be a definite No. (In fact, I think it would take a bit of effort not to go back to the mantra.)
For me, the whole issue of whether TM is effortless comes down to how its adherents would answer the question: "Does it take effort -- when you become aware that you have a choice about what to think about -- to decide to think about something else and then do it?" If they answer "Yes" to that question, then TM is not effortless, because that is its literal instruction: "When you become aware that you are not thinking the mantra, come back to it." If that process requires effort, then TM is not effortless.
