The goal is the "heart's sure release" Just sitting still and quietly will calm the mind, but without penetrative insight into the nature of reality, we are be

The goal is the "heart's sure release" Just sitting still and quietly will calm the mind, but without penetrative insight into the nature of reality, we are beading up on the pyrex sheet of reality instead of coming to know what is common to all. Essentially, there are a lot of habitual patterns of grasping and aversion (mainly grasping) that keep Awareness tethered to the mortal coil and also tethered to a lot of cramped psychic space. While I have not tried Transcendental Meditation, I do have some knowledge of the fundamental notions of Buddha's teaching and would say that meditating on compassion over and over again until you weep for all sentient beings is essential to eliminating the hard shell of the intellect that keeps us from being receptive and sensitive to the abiding nature of reality. In a similar way, you can consider one mushroom and its limited awareness of the forest. If the mushroom were to contemplate a compassionate wish for other mushrooms, the identity-difference would dissolve and the mushroom could become aware of the whole forest floor. Just a simple metaphor, but perhaps the image is clear. Meditating can sharpen your focus, but meditation cannot take you all the way there without knowledge of the way things are in a phenomenological sense. So if you need a recommended regimen, start with compassion and when your compassion is strong ponder identitylessness and interdependence. Pray to find the perfect resources and they will find you.