Jerry Freeman has been practicing Transcendental Meditation, the advanced techniques of TM, and the TM Sidhis program beginning shortly before turning nineteen, over 40 years ago. He was trained by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as a teacher of Transcendental Meditation the following year, lived for some years in the semi-monastic program Maharishi founded, and has continued to study Maharishi’s teachings to this day. He writes about Maharishi’s insights into the development of higher major states of consciousness, as they relate to today’s discussions of Advaita, Vedanta, awakening, Self-realization and enlightenment. He is presently working on a book on this subject, tentatively titled: The Enlightenment Puzzle: what everyone should know about awakening. In the book’s introduction, he states, “What I have to say here is not my own invention. … What I will say here is not an official presentation of Maharishi’s teaching, as it includes numerous observations and conclusions that are my own. However, the great insights about awakening, human consciousness, enlightenment, etc. are not mine. They are Maharishi’s Jerry supports a family of adopted children, working as a musical instrument maker. His penny whistles are recommended by many Irish music instructors for their students, as they are affordable and very high quality, and they are played in performance and recordings by many of the most renowned performers of Irish music. Jerry's Facebook page www.tm.org www.davidlynchfoundation.org what Jerry’s whistles sound like Jerry's essay, "Why There are no Perfect Teachers" Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 10/19/2013. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Childhood days 00:02:59 - Searching for Deeper Meaning 00:06:36 - Influenced by Ramana Maharshi 00:10:28 - Laziness and Resistance to Meditation 00:14:00 - Starting Transcendental Meditation and Meeting Maharishi 00:18:17 - Taming the Monkey Mind 00:22:09 - The Quicksand of the Mind 00:25:43 - The Benefits of TM and Open-mindedness to other Teachings 00:29:15 - Building the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge 00:33:04 - The Unified Field and Universal Consciousness 00:36:46 - The Significance of Maharishi's Teachings 00:40:15 - Finding Identity Beyond Purusha 00:43:54 - The Complexity of States of Consciousness 00:47:53 - Gradual Unfolding of States of Consciousness 00:51:42 - Unfoldment of Human Consciousness 00:55:32 - The Three Common States of Consciousness 00:58:58 - Awakening the Inner Silence 01:04:00 - The First Permanent Awakening 01:08:30 - Witnessing Sleep and Awakening 01:12:31 - Awakening and the Progression to Subtle Perception 01:16:45 - The Development of Devotion and Unity Consciousness 01:21:25 - Unity Consciousness in Brahman Consciousness 01:25:52 - The Nature of Brahman Consciousness 01:30:16 - The Faint Remains of Ignorance 01:34:10 - The Faint Remains of Ignorance 01:37:59 - The Mind and Ego 01:41:35 - The Power of Atma-vichara to Destroy the Mind 01:45:17 - Awakening to the Subtle Ego 01:47:56 - Description of God Consciousness 01:50:36 - Wrapping it up and links to further information 01:53:20 - End Credits