During the early and mid 1990’s I was helping to manage the national communications center in Britain for the Transcendental Meditation movement.
I loved the work; people would ring in from all over Britain wanting to know about the technique and I would address their questions, send them some literature and the contact details of the nearest center where they could learn Transcendental Meditation.
Serendipity in the quietness
One quiet afternoon a call came in and the lady on the other end of the line spoke haltingly with longer than usual pauses between words. I quickly realised that she had some difficulty with speaking itself and kept quiet until I was sure she wanted me to respond. 
What she said changed my life.
She told me that at birth she had suffered some brain damage that meant that, although mentally bright and with a keen intelligence, she was never able to speak out a sentence. She would know what she wanted to say but the language just could not be formed into a coherent sentence by her brain.
This had caused her severe distress all her life. Health professionals were unable to help her and told her that it would never change. The brain had been permanently damaged.
Brain Healing
Then she learned Transcendental Meditation.
She practiced the technique exactly according to the teacher’s instructions twice a day. She said nothing happened.
She was unaware of any changes at all. And yet, as she took great pains to explain to me, she knew in her heart that a lot was happening and she just continued and continued with the practice.
Three years went by.
And then one day, one amazing day, she woke up and spoke out a sentence. Just like that! Spontaneously With no difficulty.
Her voice was simple and sweet. What came across to me on the feeling level of the conversation was a person who had scaled the highest mountain in her own life and was quietly, serenely victorious.
She said she did not want any fuss made about what had happened to her, but that it was important to her to just let someone in the organisation know.
I was that lucky, lucky person.
Healing Two
Our conversation lasted about five minutes and yet I feel we have never put the receiver down on one another. She comes to mind at special times, moments of peace and serenity, moments when I am blessed to witness the courage and luminosity of the human spirit. I will never, ever forget her. And yet I have not spoken of this often. I informed the leadership and once, when someone asked me what inspired me in life I told this tale. But mostly, it stays in my heart and heals me during my every day without ever being formed into sentences.
And here I am, telling you.
I hope she approves and that, wherever she is, she is well and happy and surrounded by love.
I send her my very best wishes – and my gratitude for what she did for my life.
Changed My Life
A year after our conversation I embarked on the training course that would make me a teacher of Transcendental Meditation – something I had been hesitating about for all kinds of stupid reasons. I have never looked back and my life continues to expand in ways that I never would have dreamed possible.
Thank you, thank you, my dear caller.
POINTS TO REMEMBER: Persistence Pays Off
This lady had a very special gift. She knew and trusted herself on a very subtle level of her being. She didn’t need outward signs of progress during those three years. She just trusted herself and the technique.
Transcendental Meditation works on all aspects of us at once. It doesn’t fix our digestion one day and our inability to sleep another. It operates on the level of our WHOLENESS. Every time we close our eyes and begin the practice the whole of us is able to take some space, rest and heal itself. There is never a meditation when nothing is happening.
And, of course, this story demonstrates to us that Transcendental Meditation is a very special friend to the human brain.
— By AMR
This post was first published on the blog of Mother Divine Program
