Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation

by Bob Roth

A simple, practical, and straightforward guide to Transcendental Meditation from world authority Bob RothOprah Winfrey and Jerry Seinfeld. Ray Dalio and Ellen DeGeneres. Gwyneth Paltrow and Howard Stern. Tom Hanks and Gisele Bündchen. What do they have in common? The answer is a Transcendental Meditation teacher named Bob Roth, who has spent the past forty-five years helping many thousands of people access their innate creativity and power through this simple, nonreligious technique. Roth’s students range from titans of business and the arts to federal prisoners, from war-scarred veterans to overworked moms and dads. Medical experts agree that the epidemic of stress is damaging our physical and emotional health at younger and younger ages. While there is no one single cure, the Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple practice that dramatically changes how we respond to stress and life’s challenges. With scientifically proven benefits— reduced stress and anxiety, and improved focus, sleep, resilience, creativity, and memory, to name a few—this five-thousand-year-old technique has a clear and direct impact on our very modern problems. Once a skeptic, Roth trained under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the twentieth century’s foremost scientist of consciousness and meditation, and has since become one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation teachers in the world. In Strength in Stillness, Roth breaks down the science behind Transcendental Meditation in a new, accessible way. He highlights the three distinct types of meditation—Focused Attention, Open Monitoring, and Self-Transcending—and showcases the evidence that the third, Self-Transcending, or Transcendental Meditation, is a uniquely accessible, effective, and efficient way to reduce stress, access inner power, and build resilience. Free of gimmicks, mystical verbiage, and obscure theory, Strength in Stillness is a clear and practical guide to calming mind, body, and spirit.

Genres: Nonfiction, Meditation, Self Help, Psychology, Spirituality, Philosophy, Health

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2018

About the author

Bob Roth is one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation teachers in America. Over the past 40 years, Bob has taught Transcendental Meditation to many thousands of people and authored an authoritative book on the subject, fittingly entitled, Transcendental Meditation, which has been translated into 20 languages. Bob currently serves as the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity which has brought meditation to over 500,000 inner-city youth in underserved schools in 35 countries, to veterans and their families who suffer from post-traumatic stress, and women and children who are survivors of domestic violence. Bob also directs the Center for Leadership Performance, another nonprofit, which is bringing meditation to Fortune 100 companies, government organizations, and nonprofit charities. Bob is the host of the SiriusXM radio show, "Success Without Stress" and has spoken about meditation to industry leaders at such gatherings as Google Zeitgeist, Aspen Ideas Festival, Wisdom2.0, and Summit.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I expected. It read like a sales brochure, complete with celebrity name-dropping and cheesy endorsements throughout, a lot of repeating the same information over and over again, and a long personal biography of the author and his various works. And the kicker is, Roth doesn't even tell the reader HOW to meditate! We get the instructions of twice per day, sitting anywhere, and you'll focus on a mantra, but the rest is SECRET and you have to find a TM teacher to learn it - no doubt so we can all drop some $$$ just like our favorite celebrities, so TM teachers like Roth can take more famous-person-begging-for-help phone calls during halftime at another "Knicks game at Madison Square Garden." Barf. This book is a huge waste of time.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a complete waste of money. It’s not a book that teaches you to meditate, it’s an over-prices sales pitch on why you need to sign up to see a meditation teacher.

The very first step is that you need to get a mantra. But, surprise! You can’t pick it yourself, your teacher has to give it to you!

Without the mantra, this book is nothing more than a lot of rich and famous people saying why you should sign-up to this practice.

[Sorrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give it 0 stars I would.
Marketed as a “how to” TM meditation guide, it’s just a list of rich celebrities talking about how an expensive TM teacher and a specific mantra is what you need to change your life.
Bob Roth’s CV is not what I wanted to read.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book won't teach you meditate. It is really just an advertisement to spend up to $960 to learn how. I found all the celebrity name dropping a turn off.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book could have been a paragraph: TM is a life-changing practice that is becoming more popular and well respected each year. You can only learn it through a costly, four day, in-person training seminar. Here’s a bunch of endorsements from celebrities.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buyer beware. This is a long sales pitch for Transcendental Meditation. Thankfully, I got it from the library, and didn't buy it. What a waste.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s unfortunate to see that this book has such a low rating bc so many of the people who read it & gave it 1 star completely missed the point. this book is called “the power of transcendental meditation” not “how to meditate”..... although the irony is that the author tells us how to meditate within the first 20 pages. he states that all you need to know about meditation is already within you and can be accessed in stillness anytime, anywhere. rather than expecting a step-by-step, academic, “how-to”, you need to actually immerse yourself into the experience itself. a meditation teacher is not a requirement but is something the author encourages for most people bc of the deep conditioning we go through in life that separates us from our natural intuition & mindfulness and makes the journey harder to navigate without an experienced guide. he offers an abundance of scientific data to explain how transcendental meditation positively impacts people who practice it & gives us personal and celebrity testimonies as a way to encourage people to dedicate time everyday for meditation... he’s not flexing that he’s worked with celebrities, CEOs etc - he simply recognizes that we live in a time where people blindly follow celebrities for all the wrong reasons, so why not mirror a part of their lifestyle that will benefit everyone on a deeper level?

[Alex Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has two sides. On one hand, it is a very good book, for anyone looking for information about Transcendental Meditation. Readers who want to understand what Transcendental Meditation, a bit about its history and how it works and how it can improve one's life will find this book useful. There is a lot of information about TM, some research behind it, its current state as well as number of testimonials from people practicing it.

On the other hand, this book will be a terrible waste of time for anyone who wants to learn how to do TM. This book will NOT teach you Transcendental Meditation. It will not tell you how you can start your TM practice on your own. If this is your goal, don't read this books. Otherwise, you may regret it as a waste of time. This book will give you only general information about TM, some history and people's reviews to pitch TM. That it. After you finish this book, you will not learn how to practice TM on your own.

I don't recommend this book if you want to learn how to practice TM.

I do recommend this book if you are about to enroll in TM training. This book will help you understand TM. It will tell you what you should expect from the training itself so you can prepare for it.

[Sandra Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

A glossy TM commercial. It is easy and effortless, anyone and everyone can do it but you can't do it alone: You must have a teacher. If you know anything about TM already this book will not add anything new.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. Incredibly misleading. I would still be disappointed by the lack of actual applicable information but less so if the author didn't intentionally mislead the person picking up the book. Chapters 1-4 are titled Day 1-4 of the practice that TM the organization gives to paying customers. In actuality, the chapters are just details on scientific studies on TM, name dropping and hype. You have to find a TM center in person and pay for the course to learn the actual practice, even though the author reiterates over and over throughout that it is so easy and effortless to learn. Should've been pretty simple to detail in a book, then, right?

If I had come across this practice in some other way, I think I may not have had such a negative reaction to it. But the book advertises something it most definitely does not provide. It's dishonest and that this book has colored my view of TM and the David Lynch Foundation, which really seems to be doing awesome work that I support, makes me very disappointed. One star is one too many for me.

[Arturo Rodríguez · Rating 1 out of 5]

A long and boring infomercial

I bought the book on account of the recommendation of Ray Dalio. Since I have been meditating for a while, I was excited to learn how to do TM. This book is just a long and boring account of something I already know and agree with! It does not say a word on actually how to do it.

Big waste of time and money!!

[mic · Rating 5 out of 5]

written simply and effortlessly, which is how it feels to practice TM. roth puts into words the insanely positive effects the practice can create that i’ve been enjoying since learning how to meditate in february. so so grateful to have it in my life, and I think this book could be a great introduction for the people in your life who you want to join you on the tm train 🚂

[Minh · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a bit weird to read a book on Transcendental Meditation that clearly says that the method can only be learned from a teacher, not from reading text. It's essentially a sales brochure/flyer in a lot more text

[Kirin Bashir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always see people who consider themselves skeptics but are entirely too set in their ways to be skeptical about their own perceptions. I hope these reviews don't discourage people who actually want to learn and have an open mind towards the moving experiences of others in this book. Which is all that it is trying to show you.

[CC · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the hell did I just read?

This book, whose sole purpose is to tell you how to meditate, doesn't tell you how to meditate. Even remotely. At all. Not even a hint. Oh, but it did have a bunch of celebrity quotes on the back!!!

False advertising. And a waste of paper.

[Rajeev Choudhary · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book should have been titled “i need to convince everyone that they must pay someone to teach meditation.”

[Joe Mancewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My initial intention for reading this book was to learn various methods of meditation. As a young meditator, you naturally come across a variety of forms without even realizing it. Advice from friends, podcasts, television, youtube videos, and every other medium begin to pull you in a multitude of directions. Bob Roth was introduced to Transcendental Meditation in the early 1970s while attending Berkley. Though this book is focused on TM, he introduces the three most common forms of meditation which helped myself understand my daily practice more. The rest of the book focused on TM which became gradually more appealing due to the universal simplicity of the practice and benefits realized in the short & long term.

Learning and practice TM is now a top priority in my life, and I feel my other form of meditation (focused attention on gratitude) will be a strong compliment along the way.

[Benni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I purchased this book because this book made it on someone's top 10 books on meditation.

What a rip-off.

For starters, apparently the thing about Transcendental Meditation ("TM") is that you supposedly cannot learn it from anyone other than a certified instructor. I don't think that TM by itself is scammy, but the you-have-to-pay-an-instructor thing sure sounds scammy.

Since you're not supposed to learn TM by book, this book is just an overlong brochure for TM and marketing tool for the author where he gets to name-drop a bunch of celebrities and have those celebrities vouch for him and TM.

I am returning this book.

[Kristen Kieffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for an introductory course discussing what Transcendental Meditation is, this is the book for you. If you want to learn how to actually practice the dang thing... not so much.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically, a 200 page infomercial for a thousand dollar meditation course. Does it work? Who knows? Lots of celebrities seem to think so, but most of us are never going to find out. Only the rich get enlightenment. The rest of us should settle for Netflix.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does not teach you transcendental meditation, but it gives more than enough research data and testimonials to make you aware if it’s importance for everyday life and wellbeing. Excited to start.

[james moffett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing on the techniques of TM!

Nothing Instructive. Had expected at least a chapter on the mechanics of TM. Felt like a sales job. Hoped for more content.

[Ksenija · Rating 1 out of 5]

Da može u -1000 ocena da ide i to ne bi bilo dovoljno. I smeće ima veću svrhu od ove glorifikovane reklame

[Manuela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the bad reviews for this book complain that it is not a helpful how-to guide; however, the author is explicit that Transcendental Meditation is a practice that is taught one-on-one with a certified instructor— this has always been the TM model, so my critique lies elsewhere.

Though I haven’t been practicing long, I have found TM to be pretty transformative and would certainly recommend it. Sadly, I feel this book does it a disservice. I was put off by the constant name dropping and repetitive testimonials. I found it telling that the first testimonial in the book is of a famous lawyer who used TM to maintain his unhealthy lifestyle, making TM sound like an alternative to adderall rather than a practice of self-development. There was a lot of promise for this book to serve as a deeper introduction to TM, the research behind it, etc. but unfortunately, it fell short for me.

[Don Shiffrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've regularly practiced TM for 6 1/2 years. During that time I've noticed positive changes in my focus, a lessening of anxiety and clarity in my thinking and creativity. Yet, in reading the stories of new practitioners who immediately realize positive life changes I feel like I'm some sort of slacker who's mediating wrong. I'm not. My TM benefits have happened slowly and incrementally. But they have definitely happened and I recommend TM and this book to anyone interested in starting or expanding their meditation practice.

[Tom Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is okay... It does seem like a book that will teach you transcendental meditation: but the reality is that it is more of an advertisement. The book encourages you to go on a TM course and learn from a teacher. With a bit of reverse engineering of this book and google you can figure out TM and it is somewhat enjoyable if not time-consuming. Some who are unfamiliar with meditation will find this book helpful. That all said, this was a very easy read and did give some interesting testimonials.

[Pedro Chaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not impressive...

Easy read with a lot of references. To many references, in fact. As if there was a desperate need to convince people that you won't be able to live without transcendental meditation...
I would like to have more information on the meditation itself. And for example a clear explanation on why you can only learn it with a teacher.

[David Wiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a book. It is a long sales brochure.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Strength in Stillness..." is an overview of the philosophy and practice of TM. It is not a how to book as the technique cannot be learned in a book. The author states that only a certified TM teacher can teach the course. One criticism of the book is that it is a collection of testimonials from celebrities and other famous people amounting to a big sales pitch. Another concern is that a substantial fee is required to attend the TM course, however, it should be noted, that there are other meditation techniques that require a fee and that there is a money back satisfaction guarantee. The author alludes to the fact that there are scientific studies attesting to the physical, emotional and psychological benefits of practicing TM. The author presents an intriguing argument for the practice of TM although he may have outlined more specific information into its practice.

[Katelyn Eckels · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️’s
#StrengthinStillness is like the ultimate infomercial on #trascendentalmeditation - it’s selling you on #tm without actually telling you anything about how to do it 🫠
This is frustrating, hence my average rating for this book. You’ve sold me - I want to do TM, but now I have to find a class? And pay to learn? 🤑 and if the celebrity name drops are any indication (Oprah, Hugh Jackman, Jerry Seinfeld etc etc which - on a side note, is a bit of a turn off honestly. I don’t care that Oprah loves TM. Tell me more about the average mom who used TM daily to help her keep peace of mind. THAT convinced me more) it’s gonna be pricey 😬