Every day for more than 50 years, in TM® Centers around the country, individuals facing financial hardship come for help. Our goal is to never turn away anyone who has a sincere desire to learn the Transcendental Meditation® technique.

Over the past 10 years, our non-profit organizations, including the Friends of the TM Program and the David Lynch Foundation^SM, have helped more than 1 million individuals in need learn the TM technique with grants and scholarships.

We invite everyone to become part of this great initiative. Please visit TMFriends.org and give generously to the TM Center of your choice. Your gift will help ensure that this life-transforming technique is available to everyone. Thank you!

Please visit TMFriends.org and give generously to the TM Center of your choice. Your gift will help ensure that this life-transforming technique is available to everyone. Thank you!

Enjoy Highlights from the “Silence the Violence” Benefit Concert

Katy Perry, Norah Jones, Mavis Staples, Jeremy Elliot, and the Celebration Gospel Choir rocked The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on October 11th. The David Lynch Foundation (DLF) “Silence the Violence” concert played to a packed house to raise funds to teach the Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) technique for free to 10,000 vulnerable youth and their families in Washington, D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8.

DLF is partnering with area businesses, community centers, veterans service organizations, schools, church groups, substance abuse recovery centers, and correctional institutions to accomplish this goal.

To learn more about this remarkable project in our nation’s capital, see this Enjoy TM News article.

As Katy Perry said, “I am so proud to give an intimate performance at the ‘Silence the Violence’ benefit concert at The Anthem on October 11, to raise funds to bring the power of meditation to 10,000 D.C.-area young people. I have been practicing TM for over nine years, and it has changed my life. It is one of the most important tools I use to keep me balanced and creative with a positive mindset.”

Watch clips from the “Silence the Violence” Benefit Concert

“I have been practicing TM for over nine years, and it has changed my life. It is one of the most important tools I use to keep me balanced and creative with a positive mindset.” —Katy Perry

How TM Friends Can Help during Times of Need

Here are a few comments from the thousands of people who have been able to begin the TM technique thanks to the generosity of fellow meditators.

Great Effects in My Life

“I am on disability and could not afford to pay for the full course. If not for the scholarship program, I would not be able to attend. I have been meditating for a little over a month, and I’m starting to see how the TM technique is having great effects in my life. I hope that the scholarship program will continue so that others who are in need of financial assistance can receive it, and they too can obtain this wonderful practice. Thank you, Diana and Jeff, for being such wonderful teachers, and thank you to the people who support the scholarship fund.” —Christine Harrigan, Cary, North Carolina

A Priceless, Precious Lifelong Gift

“Words cannot express my gratitude to the TM organization, especially my instructors. Without the scholarship, I could never have learned. I started practicing the TM technique during a time when I needed it most but could not afford it. Now it is a priceless and precious lifelong gift.” —Sandi Broadhurst, Pleasantville, New York

“I hope that the scholarship program will continue so that others who are in need of financial assistance can receive it, and they too can obtain this wonderful practice.” —Christine Harrigan, Cary, North Carolina

Helping Me Cope with Trauma

“The TM technique has been invaluable in helping me cope with recent trauma. It continues to amaze me with its simplicity and effectiveness. Getting the lowered rate for financial need was key in getting me into the TM Center in the first place. I don’t see how I could’ve done it otherwise. I am eternally grateful for the technique and the teachers who I have learned so much from.” —Daniel Pearce, New York City

Solitude and Relaxation Every Day

“Receiving the TM grant was the first step in a turning point for me. After experiencing some acute and longer-term emotionally and physically difficult issues, I was suffering from severe anxiety. After my very first lesson, my husband could see a difference in my level of anxiety. I’ve now been practicing the method faithfully for five months and find that both my body and mind crave the 20 minutes of solitude and relaxation each day. I am extremely appreciative of this grant, for without it I simply could not have afforded to learn the TM technique at a time when it was critically needed. Many thanks.” —Sarah Ripp, Madison, Wisconsin

Helped to Catalyze a Major Life Change

“The TM program seemed to reach out and find me at a time when I needed it the most and had the least means. The offer of a scholarship not only provided a way, but also provided a sense of universal support that helped to catalyze a major life change. Thank you so much!” —Terah Cox, Westchester County, New York

“I am extremely appreciative of this grant, for without it I simply could not have afforded to learn the TM technique at a time when it was critically needed. Many thanks.” —Sarah Ripp, Madison, Wisconsin

Helping Students and Young People

Through the “Quiet Time” program in schools around the United States and the world, the David Lynch Foundation has brought the TM technique to over 500,000 underserved children in at-risk communities.

Watch educators speak about the power of the “Quiet Time” program (begins at 5:56)

Thanks to TM scholarships at local TM Centers, students and young people who need it most are also able to gain relief from stress and have a tool to unfold their full potential from within. Here are a couple of their comments.

I Was Basically Able to Change My Life

“The TM program has really helped me. When something stressful happens, I can deal with it in a smarter, balanced, more harmonious way. As a student, money really comes into play in my decisions of what to do. Thanks to the Friends of the TM program, I was basically able to change my life.” —Susana Guerrero, San Diego, CA

Cultivating Peace and Clarity Within

“Having recently graduated from college and facing the reality of student loans, I could not have done the TM course without the assistance of the grant. I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to learn how to meditate. Every day, I look forward to the moment where I can sit in meditation and let the rest of the world fade away, cultivating peace and clarity within.” —Connie Horak, Madison, Wisconsin

“Thanks to the Friends of the TM program, I was basically able to change my life.” —Susana Guerrero

Helping Veterans Take Back Their Lives

Thousands of veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury have learned the TM technique at local TM Centers and other locations through TM for Veterans and Operation Warrior Wellness, a division of the David Lynch Foundation, which provide TM scholarships for wounded warriors and others at risk. Learn more about the remarkable research on the TM program and PTSD in another Enjoy TM News article from this issue.

It’s Made Me Happy

“The anger’s gone. The irritability is on a lesser scale. It’s made me happy! It’s made my family happy.” —Sgt. Jace Badia, Retired, U.S. Army, Iraq War Veteran

Sleeping Better Than I Have in over a Decade

“When I first got back, I was lucky if I would get an hour or two hours’ sleep a night. I was on over 60 pills a day. Pain wasn’t going away; sleep wasn’t getting better; anxiety wasn’t getting better—nothing helped. Once I started doing the meditation, it was unbelievable. I’m sleeping better now than I have in over a decade.” —Sgt. Joshua Corriher, Retired, U.S. Army, Afghanistan War Veteran

A Gift That You Can’t Buy

“To know that something as small of a concept as 20 minutes twice a day can make me feel like I feel now, that’s a gift that you can’t buy.” —Sgt. Leshonda Gill, U.S. Army, Iraq War Veteran

“To know that something as small of a concept as 20 minutes twice a day can make me feel like I feel now, that’s a gift that you can’t buy.” —Sgt. Leshonda Gill, U.S. Army, Iraq War Veteran

Why Meditators Give to TM Friends

“Supporting the local Transcendental Meditation Center is personally a great joy,” says Jeffrey Abramson, a philanthropist and partner at The Tower Companies in North Bethesda, Maryland. “I can think of nothing more important, nothing that will benefit the community as much as helping to make the knowledge of how to unfold our full inner potential more available.” Here are comments from others who choose to contribute as well.

No Better Way to Express My Gratitude

“I have been practicing the TM technique for over thirty-five years. As a result, there have been many positive changes in my life. I decided that there was no better way to express my gratitude for the growth of consciousness, than to donate funds for young, underprivileged kids on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to learn the TM technique. I invite everyone to join and help others discover the bliss and happiness that lies within each one of us.” —Glory Missan, New York, New York

A Profound and Long-Term Benefit

“’Think globally and act locally’ is a popular phrase these days. For generations, our family has been a strong supporter of this idea—to always include the local area in which you live when planning gifts and acts of generosity. Helping to maintain and expand our local TM Center activities has always been at the top of our list of local donations, because it has such a profound and long-term benefit for individuals personally as well as for the community as a whole.” —Bernie and Terry Nevas, Weston, Connecticut

To Transform Everyone’s Experience to Positivity

“Because of the many challenges that people face in the world today, the fast pace, the stress, and other issues, the TM program is needed more than ever. I support the use of the Transcendental Meditation program to transform everyone’s experience to positivity. It is a gift to me to be able to donate so others can experience the state of pure consciousness within. I feel gifted. It’s something that’s good for me. It’s a pleasure.” —Bruce Naschak, San Diego, California 

To Make the TM Program Available to Everyone

“For everyone hearing an introductory talk on the TM program, even those for whom the TM course fees are easily affordable, just knowing that scholarships are available to those in need is a great comfort. The availability of scholarships for people in all walks of life with financial need confirms that the true goal of the TM teacher and the TM teaching organization is to make the TM program available to everyone who wants to learn. Donations to the Friends of the TM program makes this possible.”—Tom and Roxanne Factor, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

“It is a gift to me to be able to donate so others can experience the state of pure consciousness within.” —Bruce Naschak, San Diego, California 

How to Give This Life-Changing Gift

If you would like to help others change their futures and realize their dreams by learning the TM technique, make a tax-deductible contribution to TMFriends.org. You can direct your donation to your local TM Center or any of the TM organizations bringing the TM technique to people at risk. One-time or monthly donations of any amount, large or small, are welcome.

Your contribution will help bring the gift of inner peace to others when they need it most. Thank you, and Happy Holidays!