New York (dpa) - Regisseur David Lynch (62) hat einer Universität in Iowa eine Million Dollar (rund 635 000 Euro) versprochen, wenn sie ihren Studenten weiterhin die Kunst des Meditierens beibringt.
«Amerika braucht ganz dringend wenigstens eine Universität, in der die Wissenschaft des Friedens gelehrt wird - und sich damit für den Weltfrieden einsetzt», sagte Lynch laut New York Daily News in einer Erklärung. Die Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield im US- Bundesstaat Iowa wurde 1971 gegründet. 2000 Studenten können dort Informatik, Kunst, Design, Wirtschaft und nachhaltige Entwicklung studieren. Der Filmemacher will Studenten mit einem Stipendium unterstützen, die dort auch Meditation lernen wollen. Lynch, Regisseur von Kult-Filmen wie «Blue Velvet» und «Mulholland Drive», praktiziert selbst transzendentale Meditation.
© Die Welt
erschienen am 18.03.2008 um 09:59 Uhr
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Filmmaker launches peace plan
David Lynch Foundation
USA,14 March 2008
Press Release
David Lynch's Foundation to Provide $1 Million Scholarships for Students to Learn to Meditate, Attend Maharishi University in Iowa
''America has more than enough war colleges promoting the science of destruction.
The nation urgently needs at least one university to teach the science of peace—and to actually promote peace in the world.'—David Lynch
ONLINE NEWS CONFERENCE
Wednesday, March 19 • 11 am (PDT) davidlynchfoundation/news
• 1-512-225-3019, ext 60345#
Filmmaker David Lynch
Physicist John Hagelin, Ph.D.
See video of David Lynch and John Hagelin on meditation and peace
Film director David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, INLAND EMPIRE) will announce his foundation's plan to provide $1 million in scholarships for students to learn to meditate and attend Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa during a special online news conference on Wednesday, March 19, 11 a.m. (PDT).
The news conference will be broadcast at davidlynchfoundation.org/news and via teleconference call at 1-512-225-3019, ext 60345#.
The scholarships are part of the David Lynch Foundation's national effort to reduce student stress and promote peace in the nation by providing funds for tens of thousands of students in U.S. schools to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique.
Lynch has been practicing Transcendental Meditation for 34 years, and credits the technique for his high levels of creativity and innovation. Lynch will be joined during the news conference by renowned quantum physicist John Hagelin, Ph.D., director of the MUM Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy executive director of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace.
The benefits of Transcendental Meditation for students, which include decreased anxiety and improved IQ and grades, have been verified by hundreds of research studies conducted at major independent universities and research institutions, including Harvard Medical School, UCLA Medical School, Cornell Medical School, and University of Michigan Medical School. Many of the studies have been funded by nearly $25 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Moreover, extensive research published in leading scientific journals, including Yale University's Journal of Conflict Resolution, has verified that just a few hundred to a few thousand people meditating together in a group are enough to reduce acute societal stress, violence, and conflict in the country as a whole.
Maharishi University of Management was founded in 1971 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and is accredited to the doctoral level by the Higher Learning Commission. The University offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in traditional academic disciplines, including computer science, art, design, business, and sustainable living.
Students at the University also practice Transcendental Meditation to develop their total brain potential, increase creativity, improve academic performance—and promote peace in the nation.
Lynch says the country has more than enough war colleges promoting the science of destruction. ''America urgently needs at least one university to teach the science of peace—and to actually promote peace in the world. With more students at MUM practicing these peace-promoting meditation techniques, Maharishi University of Management will become a true university of peace, transforming the nation from a source of global fear and violence to a lighthouse of peace and progress for the family of nations,'' he said.
Lynch and Dr. Hagelin will co-host the upcoming David Lynch Weekend at Maharishi University of Management, from April 25 to 28. The theme of the weekend is 'Exploring the Frontiers of Creativity, Sustainability, and Peace,' and will feature a live concert by legendary '60 troubadour Donovan, famed musician Moby, and singer Chrysta Bell.
Lynch is the author of the bestselling book, Catching the Big Fish (Tarcher/Penguin), which details his passion for filmmaking, creativity, and meditation. All author profits from the book, which is now out in paperback, are going to the Lynch Foundation's scholarship fund.
For information on the Lynch Foundation scholarships and the Lynch Weekend, see www.lynchweekend.org.
Facts on the David Lynch Foundation
— The David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace was established on July 21, 2005, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to provide scholarships for any student to learn the Transcendental Meditation program of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
— The Foundation has provided over $5 million in grants for tens of thousands of students to learn to meditate in public, charter, and private schools in the U.S. and around the world.
— Transcendental Meditation is a simple, easily learned, nonreligious technique, practiced for 10 to 20 minutes twice daily, sitting quietly in a chair with the eyes closed, which provides the mind and body with a unique and rejuvenating state of restful alertness.
— Research conducted on meditating students at major universities, including Harvard Medical School, UCLA Medical School, University of Michigan Medical School, Cornell University, American University, and the Medical College of Georgia, has found the TM technique reduces anxiety, depression, and high blood pressure; improves ADHD and other learning disorders, brain functioning, IQ, test scores and grades.
— More than 50 studies, many published in top scientific journals, including Yale University's Journal of Conflict Resolution, have shown that as few as the square root of one percent of a nation's population practicing advanced meditation techniques together in a group produce a peaceful ''spill-over'' effect throughout the whole population. Research confirms reduced societal stress, crime, violence, conflict, and terrorism in the nation. The number of meditation experts required to produce this peaceful effect in the United States is approximately 2000.
— The David Lynch Foundation's new initiative to provide scholarships for students to learn to meditate and attend Maharishi University of Management will help to increase the number of meditating students on the MUM campus beyond this peace-promoting threshold of 2000
c)
Film maker David Lynch launches peace plan
by Global Good News staff writer
Global Good News
21 March 2008
Dr David Lynch's Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace will provide $1 million in scholarships for students to learn to meditate and to attend Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. Dr Lynch gave a webcast press conference on 19 March 2008, to answer questions about this announcement.
'America has more than enough war colleges promoting the science of destruction. The nation urgently needs at least one university to teach the science of peace—and to actually promote peace in the world.'—David Lynch
Question: Why are you giving scholarships to learn to meditate and attend Maharishi University of Management?
Dr David Lynch:
'I had the great pleasure several years ago, my first time visiting Maharishi University of Management—and while I was there, I was taken to a high school play. I thought it was going to be one of the most boring nights. It was a cold and rainy night, a small theatre, high school play: I thought, ''I'm in for a long night.''
'Out onto the stage came students who weren't actors, but who were glowing with consciousness. This performance they put on blew my mind! It was so unbelievably smart, funny. Their timing, their performances, and their faces and the way they went, I saw something that made me realize that this place is extremely special.
'I started meeting the students later—each one themselves, but so strong, so self-assured, so kind, so understanding, so appreciative of life. This is because they're unfolding this consciousness and glowing it. We are like light bulbs. We enjoy this light of unity within and we radiate it—when you radiate this, you're radiating dynamic peace; you're radiating harmony, coherence, bliss out into the world. You're affecting other people in the most positive, positive way.
'To give someone a scholarship—come to the David Lynch Weekend, ask all these questions, meet the students, get the feel of the vibe of this place, it's so special. Know about enlightenment, know about experiencing the big Self deep within, it's so, so sweet to get there with Transcendental Meditation—from your first meditation.
'Learn about unfolding your true, true potential. Learn about enlightenment. Learn about how peace is so possible; become a peace-creating expert. It's so beautiful.'
Question: Is this meditation-based approach to peace theory or is it fact? What is the evidence to back up your claims?
Dr John Hagelin*, world renowned quantum physicist, answered this question giving information on the enormous body of scientific evidence over the past 30 years, which shows that Transcendental Meditation, especially group practice, powerfully promotes peace in the environment and dissolves social stress and tension, including the acute political, ethnic, and religious tensions that fuel violence and war.
Scientific research has shown Transcendental Meditation produces a unique fourth state of consciousness, Dr Hagelin explained. He showed charts that exhibit orderliness and coherence between the different parts of the brain, saying that the whole brain functions in concert, in a completely coherent, unified experience.
'This is a fundamental breakthrough in the field of education and brain development,' Dr Hagelin said, 'because scientific research shows that this orderliness of brain functioning corresponds with increased creativity, increased intelligence, IQ, increased memory, improved academic performance, enhanced moral reasoning. Everything in life depends on the orderly functioning of the brain, the systematic use of the entire brain.
'Education should develop the total brain, but to achieve this meditation and the experience of this unbounded awareness, universal consciousenss, the Unified Field, must be part of the academic routine,' Dr Hagelin said.
Dr Lynch then spoke about the experience of Transcendental Meditation, saying that 'people look better, you start loving your fellow man, you don't think about hurting anyone, and people seem to like you when you have more and more and more of this. They don't want to hurt you, it's a real phenomenon. And it comes from within. And this field is for every human being, no matter what religion, what nation you come from.
'You know, if you're a human being, this is our field. As Dr Hagelin would tell you, at this deepest level we are all one. It's a field of unity, unity. And when real peace comes to this earth it will be because this field of unity, this light of unity is enlivened in the midst of diversity.
'All diversity will be appreciated fully in the light of unity. All cultures remain, all diversity remains, but it's all appreciated fully. No one wants to hurt any one. The light of unity destroys the enmity in an enemy. It destroys negativity. Real peace is the absence of negativity, the seeds of war.
'[Transcendental Meditation] makes people peaceful, but not a sleepy, dull peace. It makes people happy in the doing, getting ideas, moving boldly if euphorically forward. And it's a real phenomenon.'
Question from a student reporter:
Do you think that human beings are inherently good, peaceful, and kind or inherently evil, destructive, and inhumane?
Dr David Lynch:
'I think people are inherently very good. You know they say that negativity is like darkness—when you analyse darkness, you see that it's nothing. It's just the absence of something, the absence of light.
'No matter how dark the night has been when the sun comes up, automatically darkness goes. No matter how much negativity there is in your life or what you see in the world, enliven this light of unity and automatically negativity goes, like darkness goes in sunlight. We're inherently pure good, pure good.
'Right now it's a dark and troubled world. The secret is the absence of enough of this unity. Every life that is troubled, every person that has been troubled and experiences Transcendental Meditation—'diving within'—they see this phenomenon happen: they start enjoying life; happiness comes from the inside; intelligence grows; self-assuredness grows; and loving more and more the fellow man—their teacher, their parents; getting ideas, becoming more and more creative.
'It is there. We're from this Unified Field, and every single thing that is a thing has emerged from this Field. It's all positive this field. Enliven it and watch things get better. Enliven the Self of us all, and that's the true Self. So we're all totally positive.'
The next question was directed to Dr John Hagelin, Minister of Science and Technology of the Global Country of World Peace, and Raja of Invincible America: Please talk about the Lynch Weekend. What will happen and how is it related to David's scholarship offer?
Dr John Hagelin :
'This weekend will be a fascinating weekend of profound knowledge of consciousness, total brain development, higher states of consciousness, meditation, peace, and sustainability. There will be a deep dialogue and intimate interaction with David Lynch on all of these fundamental topics, and also with other leaders, scientists, and scholars.
'There will be great music, including a performance by Moby; by singer-songwriter Donovan; and by Chrysta Bell who sings spectacularly: she sings for David Lynch's movies.
'There will also be an opportunity, if you would like to apply for a David Lynch scholarship, to learn Transcendental Meditation and to attend Maharishi University of Management—the web site is www.lynchweekend.org—so you can check it out.
Question:
David, are you working on a new film? And if you are can you talk about it?
Dr David Lynch:
'I have just finished—along with [Dr Hagelin] and several others—a 15-country tour talking about these things. This tour was filmed by three or four cameras as we went along over two months, and I'm putting together a documentary of that tour. So I'm working on that.
Question for Dr John Hagelin:
Several reporters have asked for a description of Maharishi University of Management (MUM): what is it? What makes it unique? What are the kinds of students that attend the university? This question was answered by referring everyone to the Maharishi University of Management website.
Question:
Do you have any final comments about the weekend or about your scholarship offer?
Dr David Lynch:
'Come to the David Lynch Weekend. You'll enjoy all those things that John Hagelin just mentioned, and you'll meet some very great and beautiful people. In talking to them I'm sure you'll get fired up to come and study and enjoy your time at this most incredible university—the way a university is supposed to be.'
Dr John Hagelin then closed the press conference, thanking Dr Lynch and saying that they hope to meet many people at the David Lynch Weekend, 25 April to 28 April 2008. To learn more about it, visit www.lynchweekend.org.
'David and I both hope to see you there,' Dr Hagelin said.
Copyright © 2008 Global Good News(sm) Service.
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