Yep, for me it's like the realization is the kite and the tail of the kite is the mantra...
On Friday, March 28, 2014 10:18 AM, "authfri...@yahoo.com" <authfri...@yahoo.com> wrote: I should add that for me, realizing I'm not thinking the mantra and going back to it are virtually simultaneous. The realization instantly evokes the mantra--as if, in some sense, the realization were the mantra. 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.
