Your first two statements contradict each other, but nitpicking apart, I think it's important that we continue to explore consciousness and the impact of TM practice on its development, particularly in light of where previous encouraging studies have been directing us. You make a valid point about the qualitative and quantitative distinction in 'essential' awareness between the novice and the expert meditator, which challenges the proposition that expertise is a significant factor. A common experience of TM practitioners is that they've been able to effortlessly experience enhanced states of inner wakefulness together with significant reductions in 'mental traffic' from the first day of the their TM practice. Studies like this are key to establishing the different mechanisms involved so that we can better understand what really works.