Film-maker Lynch:Success Due to Meditation

[Guest guest]

Lynch tour draws interest at other schools

by Stratton Aivalikes

Staff Writer

"Janet Hoffman, director of the Maharishi Vedic School in New York

City, said Lynch broke his seclusion to tour in support of TM

because the meditation is backed by solid scientific evidence."

"Mr. Lynch has achieved world-wide fame, and attributes much of his

success to TM," Hoffman said. "He wants everyone to have this gift."

 

http://www.washingtonsquarenews.com/images/10-05-lynch.jpg

Dr. John Hagelin sits with director David Lynch at a speaking

engagement at the Cantor Film Center on Thursday.

PHOTO: Perry Kroll /WSN

 

Recluse filmmaker David Lynch's East Coast college tour - which made

a pit-stop at NYU Thursday to promote transcendental meditation -

seems to be yielding positive results from the other schools he's

visited, with one university in talks to establish a center for the

meditation practice.

 

Lynch, 59, a director known for creating dark, complex films

like "Eraserhead" and "Mulholland Drive," has visited seven

universities including NYU this fall endorsing transcendental

meditation, or TM, a form of meditation Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

introduced in the 1970s. He also founded the David Lynch Foundation,

dedicated to providing resources to students interested in learning

TM.

 

Aside from lectures, the David Lynch Foundation is currently working

to establish a TM center at American University, which will also be

open to students of Georgetown and George Washington University,

said Bob Roth, The David Lynch Foundation's vice president.

 

David Haaga, a psychology professor at American University who is

coordinating the program at his school, said the center would allow

students to learn TM, while also researching its scientific effects.

 

"Five hundred students would be involved in the tests," Haaga

said. "The research will include the effects of TM on ADHD, stress,

addiction and academic performance."

 

Janet Hoffman, director of the Maharishi Vedic School in New York

City, said Lynch broke his seclusion to tour in support of TM

because the meditation is backed by solid scientific evidence.

 

"Mr. Lynch has achieved world-wide fame, and attributes much of his

success to TM," Hoffman said. "He wants everyone to have this gift."

 

Roth said the TM tour of colleges and universities is a way to link

students and inner sprituality.

 

"It's well known that college is an extremely stressful time," Roth

said. "Lynch wants students to know there is something to help them

manage and negate stress."

 

Roth said Lynch believes that student meditation would make the

world more peaceful.

 

"There's nothing hidden here," Roth said. "Mr. Lynch just wants to

help students learn."

 

Haaga said the American University center is still in its

preliminary stages and additional details and confirmation are still

pending.

 

American University isn't the only school on Lynch's tour to draw

substantial interest.

 

Brown University's Professor Peter Scharf said that many Brown

students came out to see Lynch speak, and while some people may have

been there to discuss his films, a majority were very intrigued by

what Lynch had to say.

 

"There was an enormous turnout," Scharf said. "We had to turn away

hundreds of people."

 

Lynch has practiced TM for 31 years and was sponsored by the Iowa-

based Maharishi School of Management to undertake this tour, which

will be followed by a similar West Coast college tour this November

including the University of Southern California, the University of

California at San Diego and the University of California at

Berkeley.

 

During the tour, Lynch, who was accompanied by the Maharishi

School's Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. Fred Travis, spoke to students and

faculty about his experience with TM. The school is a university

dedicated to consciousness-based education, incorporating TM as a

part of the curriculum, and Hagelin is known as an TM expert who

claims to be able to prove TM's effectiveness with scientific

evidence.

 

On a hiatus from his current directorial project, "Island Empire,

Lynch would like to establish more TM centers around the nation,

Roth said.

 

"Mr. Lynch would like to establish TM centers in 20 different

cities, allowing students from different universities a chance to

become involved in TM," Roth said. "The value of TM is very

practical. It's not a religion, it's just a tool for waking up the

brain and relieving stress."

 

Those who knew of David Lynch before his visit to NYU found it hard

to imagine him as anything but the director who earned their respect

for his complex and mind-blowing movies. The crowd at Cantor Film

Center was very enthusiastic, said Jeremiah Newton, Tisch School of

the Arts' film, television and video industry liaison.

 

"There were some people there for the film aspect, so they may have

been turned off," Newton said. "However, most people seemed to be

interested in what Lynch had to say." •

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