Official Transcendental Meditation website
What is Transcending
When we practise Transcendental Meditation we experience a state where the mind is completely silent yet wide awake.
Transcend means go beyond. When the mind has gone beyond all activity, this is an experience of the inner Self, which is perfect peace, Transcendental Consciousness.
Transcending
"It is possible for everyone to go deep within and saturate their mind with inner happiness, with that unlimited pure intelligence that dwells at the source of thought." – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
An analogy
Other techniques
The ability to transcend during TM is what makes it fundamentally different from all other techniques. These invariably involve either concentration (controlling the mind or attention) or contemplation (an active thought process of some kind). In this way, other types of meditation keep the mind active – which actually impedes the transcending process.