Jerry Seinfeld talks Transcendental Meditation at David Lynch Foundation Gala

Summary

In his speech, Jerry Seinfeld discusses his 40+ year relationship with Transcendental Meditation (TM). He credits TM with helping him manage the intense pressure of producing his hit TV series, allowing him to take a vital midday break to meditate. At 60, busy with stand-up, family obligations and an internet show, Seinfeld assumed he should throttle back. However, adding the recommended second daily TM session gave him an unexpected boost in energy and stamina. He now proselytizes TM as an essential tool for thriving in life's daily stresses. Seinfeld argues that being a person is hard; TM offers a way to regularly recharge so you can live at your highest potential.

Takeaways

• 😀 Jerry has been practicing TM for over 40 years and credits it with helping him deal with the pressures of his hit TV show
• 😮 He now realizes he wasn't doing TM properly by skipping the recommended morning meditation
• 😃 Since adding the morning TM back to his routine, he has much more energy and focus at age 60
• 🧘‍♂️ Jerry is obsessed with telling everyone about TM now, believing it helps people function better
• 😆 He uses humor and analogies to explain how TM makes you feel more energized and clear-headed
• 🔋 Jerry compares TM to recharging your cell phone so you have juice to take on anything
• 😴 He argues TM gives you deep rest unlike poor sleep which leaves you still fighting stress
• ⏰ Jerry believes you can get more done in less time when you take a TM break to rest your mind
• 😥 He sympathizes that modern life is inherently difficult and tiring even without extra challenges
• 💡 Overall, Jerry passionately advocates for TM as a way to relieve stress and gain mental clarity

Q & A

How long has Jerry Seinfeld been practicing TM?

Jerry Seinfeld has been practicing TM for about 41 years, since he first learned it in college around 1972.

What does Jerry say TM helped him accomplish during his time working on Seinfeld the TV show?

Jerry says that the 20 minutes of TM he did every day enabled him to handle the intense pressure and workload of starring in, executive producing, writing, casting and editing the show for 9 years.

Why does Jerry say he originally stopped doing the morning TM session?

Jerry says he stopped doing the morning TM session early on because he didn't understand the concept of getting out of bed and then resting.

How did adding back the morning TM session impact Jerry recently?

Jerry says adding back the morning TM at age 60, along with his busy work and family schedule, has enabled him to function at an energy level he didn't think was possible for someone his age.

What analogy does Jerry make between TM and charging a cell phone?

Jerry analogizes TM to having a cell phone charger - it enables you to keep using your phone at full power all the time.

How does Jerry describe the feeling TM provides compared to a good night's sleep?

Jerry says TM makes you feel every day like you had one of those rare great nights of sleep where you wake up feeling how you should feel all the time.

What Richard Pryor quote does Jerry share about the difficulty of life?

Jerry references Richard Pryor saying "you know it's hard just being a person forget about having to deal with racial hostility just being a person is hard".

Why does Jerry say it's dumb not to practice TM?

Jerry says not practicing TM is dumb because it provides energy, focus and ability to handle life's challenges more easily.

What visual indications does Jerry say show who in the audience practices TM?

Jerry says he can tell by people's facial expressions who in the audience already practices TM and who doesn't.

How does Jerry counter the objection that there's no time for TM with lack of sleep already?

Jerry argues that even if you sacrifice a bit of sleep, 4.5 hours of sleep and 20 mins of TM will make you feel better than just 5 hours of disjointed sleep.

Outlines

00:00

😄 Jerry Seinfeld on early days of TM practice and effects

Jerry reminisces on starting TM in college in the 1960s. He says his severe acne cleared up overnight after doing TM for the first time. He believes TM helped him become a famous comedian. However he regrets not doing the recommended twice daily TM practice over the years.

05:00

😩 Jerry struggled with high pressure of producing his hit TV show

Jerry describes the intense pressure of starring in, executive producing, writing and editing his hugely popular TV sitcom for 9 straight years. He says TM was instrumental in handling the stress, by meditating during his lunch breaks on set. But he recently learned he should've also been doing the morning TM session.

10:01

😀 Morning TM gives Jerry energy comparable to best night's sleep

Now aged 60, Jerry tried adding the morning TM practice per his teacher's advice. He assumed he would need to wind down at his age. Instead, the additional TM gave him incredible focus and energy exceeding his expectations. He describes the daily TM as having continuous full charge, like a fully charged phone.

Keywords

💡TM (Transcendental Meditation)

A form of silent mantra meditation. Jerry Seinfeld has practiced it for over 40 years and credits it with helping him manage stress and maintain energy and focus, even now at age 60 with his busy lifestyle.

💡Stress

The mental and physical pressure Jerry faced doing his hit TV show for 9 years. TM gave him a daily 20-minute respite to relieve the stress so he could keep functioning at a high level.

💡Morning Meditation

The TM practice of meditating both morning and evening for 20 minutes each. Jerry admits he stopped the morning meditation early on, only realizing after 40 years that he should have kept doing both sessions.

💡Energy

The enhanced mental and physical vitality Jerry says he's experiencing now at age 60 after adding back the morning TM meditation to his routine. He feels able to take on high workloads and pace of family life.

💡Focus

Jerry credits TM with improving his ability to concentrate amidst chaos and pressure of producing his hit show. The term also relates to his current obsession with getting everyone he meets to try TM.

💡Comedian

Jerry Seinfeld's career. TM helps fuel his creative process for continually developing fresh stand up material and comedy content even after years in the business.

💡Acne

Jerry vividly recalls TM helping clear up his bad adolescent acne within his first session. An anecdote showing the transformative physical effects some adherents claim.

💡Sleep

Jerry argues that even if you lose a little sleep to fit in 20 minutes of morning TM, you'll actually feel more rested and energized than getting more sleep without it. He says TM provides deeper rest than conventional sleeping.

💡Charger

Jerry's analogy that TM acts like recharging your cellphone so you have full battery as you go about your day. The daily TM sessions keep your mind in an optimized state.

💡Mantra

The soothing repeated word or sound meditators focus on during TM sessions to settle into a clear, tranquil state of restful alertness. Specific mantras are assigned during instruction.

Highlights

I had a horrible thought that Amazon's drone idea could be a cynical marketing ploy to get us thinking about Amazon over the holidays.

I started doing TM in 1972 when I was 18 to try new things and flush the feeling of the 60s. The first time I did it, I was up all night because I never felt that good before.

Doing TM is how I survived working incredibly long hours for 9 years on my TV show. Taking 20 minutes to meditate saved me.

After 41 years of TM, I just learned this year from Bob Roth that I wasn't doing it right by skipping the morning meditation.

Now at age 60 with 3 young kids, stand-up shows every weekend, and other projects, adding the morning TM gave me energy I didn't think was possible.

I've become obsessive about telling everyone to try TM because it's dumb to live without it.

Being a person is hard. TM helps recharge you so every day you feel powered up.

TM is like getting the charger for your cell phone so you can keep using it and it will work all the time.

With TM, you can wake up feeling refreshed like you got 3 great nights of sleep in a row, instead of just 3 days a year.

When you sleep, it looks like a war went on in your bed. That's not restful. TM gives you the break you need.

Even if you're only getting 5 hours sleep, adding the 20 minutes for TM will make you feel better than extra sleep because it's deeper.

I started TM to improve my terrible acne. It went away and I became a famous comedian - that's my whole life story!

The 9 years doing my hit TV show were intense. As the star, writer, producer etc I loved it but the pressure was nonstop. TM saved me.

I introduced my kids and others to TM. Everyone loves Bob Roth who taught them.

Even driven, successful people here don't need to die from overwork. TM gives you the energy without killing yourself.

Transcripts

ladies and gentlemen the great Jerry

Seinfeld thank you so nice to be here so

happy to do this and I just wanted to

say before I even started talking about

TM I had a horrible thought on my way

down here a horrible thought and I I

have to tell you about it I had a

thought that perhaps

the Amazon

drone

idea and let me apologize in advance for

how horrible this thought is could

possibly be a cynical marketing

exercise to get us thinking about Amazon

between Thanksgiving and Christmas I

know that sounds crazy and I know it's

highly

unlikely but isn't it quite a

coincidence

that on Cyber

Monday Amazon's all over the goddamn

news with a stupid project that will

never

happen no one wants their Chihuahua

attacked by

drones how could this possibly ever be

anything but all it takes is an a bad

kid and a rock and it's over the whole

thing is in the toilet no just they're

not

who needs a diaper in 10 seconds that we

can who's planning their life that badly

it's just I know it's horrible to think

that a company of such Integrity would

do something like that but I just wanted

to say that I had the

thought anyway so I want to talk to you

about TM which I have now been

doing um 41 years 40 41

years

I don't remember exactly how I

started um it was a some kid I knew I

had just gone to college and uh you know

we were still kind of in the flush of

the feeling of the 60s and I just wanted

to try any new thing that I heard about

and uh so I went and I and I learned TM

and I do remember the very first time I

did it and I remember that I was up the

entire night cuz I never felt that good

before and I had terrible acne I was I

think I was about 18 and it it just it

all just went

away and uh and I became a world famous

comedian that's my story that's the

entire story of my

[Applause]

life and now here's the tragic part of

my TM story slightly tragic so I'm doing

TM from

1972 and I started started and I didn't

do the morning one you're supposed to do

it twice a day and I stopped doing the

morning one pretty early in me doing it

because I didn't understand getting out

of bed and then

resting I had trouble with that concept

the get out of bed now

rest okay so I don't know maybe I did it

for a couple of months and then I just

stopped but I was very regular with my

afternoon meditation and um when I was

was doing the TV series in which I was

um um the star of the

show the executive producer the

headwriter

casting and editing for 22 to 24

episodes on network television not

cable network for nine

years okay that's a lot of

work

and I'm a regular guy pretty much you

know I'm not one of these crazy people

that has endless Boundless Energy I'm

just a normal guy but that was not a

normal situation to be in and so what I

would do is every day when everybody

would have lunch I would do TM and then

while we'd go back to work and then I

would eat while I was

working because I had missed lunch but

that is how I survived the nine years it

was that 20 minutes in the middle of the

day would save

me because you know and you also you got

to imagine and I don't I don't I know

everybody's life is hard and every job

is hard and but I mean when it's your

name on the goddamn show the pressure is

it's it's intense and then the show got

successful and everybody expected each

week to be even better than the last and

it was a lot of pressure and I loved

every second of it but it was a lot of

pressure and a lot of work and it was

all great but never could have

accomplished it without TM but I was not

doing the morning one as I told you and

this past January Bob

Roth who everybody

loves he taught my kids TM and so one

day we were standing in my kitchen and I

was I was telling about something that I

was doing and he says you know you

really should try doing the morning

one 41 years

in I find out I'm not doing it

right that's the tragic part of the

story

oh so now I do the morning one and now

okay so my life

now which is you know I apologize I

don't like to take up too much time but

you know so I've got a wife I've got got

three kids I do standup comedy almost

every weekend I I fly out Friday I'll do

a show in one city then I'll fly to

another city I'll do a show in another

city I'll come back like Saturday night

at like 4:00 or 5 in the morning and

then I have three little kids and uh and

I do this other little internet show and

so I'm very busy and now and I'm 60 by

the way I'm 60 years

old and I really thought well it's the

time has come I'm 60 the time has come

to kind of throttle back the output that

I'm you know of life I I need to work

less I need to do less because I'm old

and you know let's cut the engines and

glide a little

bit well so Bob introduced me which I

should have known 40 years ago but I

didn't to the morning TM and my entire

energy and focus and ability to function

all day and come home and have the

family I'm 60-year-old guy with little

kids it's all screwed up it shouldn't be

like

this and now I am functioning on this

level that I really did not think was

possible for someone my age and at the

you know I just thought it would be too

much so that's how my life changed

dramatically this year meeting Bob and

doing TM properly and um I I can't tell

you uh and I and I've become obsessive

also talking to people about it I've my

my uh press officer is here I got him to

do it I got my assistant every person I

meet now I'm just grabbing them by the

lapels and going you got to do this

because it's um it's just a dumb way to

live not doing it it's just

dumb I I'll quote a line from Richard

PRI this is one of my favorite lines

it's a it's actually from a bit he did

about racism and he starts the bit and

he says before we even talk about racism

he says you know it's hard just being a

person forget about having to deal with

racial hostility just being a person is

hard and that that would be my

introduction to people who don't think

they need TM being a person is hard now

all these people that we just saw these

are people that really H have some

enormous challenges but all of you here

uh by virtue of the fact that you here I

know you're you're slamming it you're

killing yourself and that's fun and

great but you don't need to die for what

you want to accomplish and that's what

TM is about and Bob and I did a show we

did I think it was ABC uh Good Morning

America and I came up with the line that

TM is like you have a cell phone and

someone gives you the

charger and you go

oh this is now I can keep using this

thing and it will work all the time the

the other way that I describe it so are

there a lot of people here that don't do

TM that just are just here to kind of

learn a little bit about okay so the

other way I'll describe it to you is and

I can see from the faces who does it and

who doesn't do it by the

way the other way I will describe TM to

you is do you know how three days a year

you get a good night's

sleep and you wake up and feel like oh

this

is how I should feel all the time but

you can't get more than three good night

sleeps a year because of the

circumstances of your life well TM you

can you can have that every day that

every day you're just the the bar on the

cell phone is all the way up you leave

the house and the charger is full you

know that tremendous feeling of power

when your phone is fully

charged and somebody calls and you go I

want to hear every detail of this story

I am loaded with

juice that that's what TM is I will now

take

questions I will is there anything you

want to ask I'll take a couple of

question they told me just to do five

minutes I think I just did it but

anything you want to ask me about t i do

it and here's the other thing that's

crazy okay here's a crazy TM thing well

look I I'm only getting five hour sleep

as it is I'm not going to get up earlier

than that to do te

p.m. it it works it's better you'll get

you'll feel better sleeping 4 and 1 half

hours and doing that 20 because that's

deeper than anything you're get when

you're sleeping look at your bed when

you get out of it what does it look like

it looks like a war went on in

there and that's not

restful all you did was stop and you

took the fight from your day into the

bed but you're fighting all day you're

fighting all night you need a break

folks you need a

break that's what TM is thank you very

[Applause]

much