Filmmaker David Lynch Launches Foundation to Bring the
Transcendental Meditation Program to the Classroom
http://www.istpp.org/news/2005_07_lynchfoundation.html
America's students and teachers now have a new ally-David Lynch.
On July 21, the award-winning filmmaker will launch the David Lynch Foundation
for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, dedicated to bringing the
benefits of the stress-reducing, health-promoting Transcendental Meditation
program to students, teachers, and parents (www.DavidLynchFoundation.com).
After he saw the serene faces of children deep in their practice of the
Transcendental Meditation technique at an inner-city Detroit school, watched
teens who meditate at a school in Iowa act in a play with great poise and
skill,
and heard a college student talk frankly about how daily practice of the TM
technique had brought down his high blood pressure and saved him from a life of
drugs, the celebrated filmmaker knew he had to do something "big and bold" for
America's students.
Mr. Lynch, who is in the midst of directing his new film, Inland Empire, says
his Foundation aims at helping students of all ages, nationalities, and
religions learn better, handle stress better, and "know themselves" better
through the Transcendental Meditation program. Mr. Lynch believes that in this
way his Foundation will help to promote a strong basis for a healthier, more
harmonious, and peaceful world.
"The Transcendental Meditation technique has been learned by tens of thousand
of students in schools, colleges, and universities all over the country. There
is also extensive published research to document the technique's wide-ranging
health benefits for mind, body, and society. I have started this Foundation to
ensure that every child in America who wants to meditate can learn," Mr. Lynch
says.
Dr. John Hagelin and his staff at the Institute of Science, Technology and
Public Policy have been working very closely with Mr. Lynch this year to
establish the David Lynch Foundation. To promote the goals of the Foundation
and
to build up its capital, Mr. Lynch and Dr. Hagelin have launched a national
tour
of college campuses, also visiting leading philanthropists, celebrities, and
entrepreneurs across the country to secure their support for the Foundation and
its educational initiatives.
The David Lynch Foundation will fund in-school TM programs-and support
scientific research on the effects of the technique-for developing a student's
brain potential, improving academic performance, and helping students with
learning disabilities, high blood pressure, and other stress-related disorders,
such as anxiety, depression, drug abuse, etc.
"Our schools are under enormous pressure to cram as much information as quickly
as possible into a student's brain. But the sheer amount of information is
exploding so fast that students are physically incapable of absorbing all that
information and putting it to use. And that is why the problem of stress has
become so all-pervasive in our schools," Mr. Lynch says.
Mr. Lynch says the TM program is the ideal antidote. "The Transcendental
Meditation program makes it much easier for students for learn and teachers to
teach," Lynch says. "It can be a huge help for our schools."
Mr. Lynch has been practicing the TM technique for 32 years