My every thought has the power either to wound or heal. I will use my thoughts wisely and respect their power.

We must go beyond the intellect and find recourse in pure intelligence, which is spirit and movement.

As a physician who was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, getting drunk on weekends, stressed out about having 35 patients in the hospital, and not being able to help either them or myself, I had my existential crisis way before I met Maharishi. I did meet him and he was an influence, but I met many other people as well.

Meditation will work on anyone who has a functioning human nervous system. All you need is the intelligence to follow simple instructions. Even children as young as 4 and 5 have been taught to meditate successfully.

The teenage years are years of great chaos and confusion in your lives, but also a time of seeking a deeper meaning.

Today I want to belong. I want to feel safe and at home. I want to be aware of what it is like simply to be, without defenses or desires. I will appreciate the flow of life for what it is-my own true self. I will notice those moments of intimacy with myself, when I feel that “I am” is enough to sustain me forever. I will lie on the grass at one with nature, expanding until my being fades into the infinite.

I went to medical school because I wanted to ask the big questions. Do we have a soul? Does God exist? What happens after death?