Where the center faces the east

[Guest guest]

Where the center faces the east

The Maharishi Enlightenment Center has a home after nearly a year of

searching. The holdup: It needed the proper orientation.

 

Now, with its front door facing east and the morning sun, the center

just off Hollister Avenue is opening this weekend.

 

"The first rays of the morning sun have a big influence in the solar

system," said Billie Jean Billman, a director and teacher at the

center who has been studying and teaching Transcendental Meditation

and other Vedic sciences for 30 years. "They (rays of the morning sun)

enhance vitality and creativity and according to Vedic text, bring all

things good for an enlightened life."

 

The center has a number of different rooms, including gender-specific

Ayurvedic treatment rooms; rooms for practicing advanced

transcendental meditation, or yogic flying; a product store and a room

intentionally located in the northeast corner of the building in which

transcendental meditation is taught one-on-one.

 

People are usually drawn toward TM, said Dr. Allen Teague, also a

director and teacher, because they are interested in improved health

and well-being. Once they "live" the benefits of a life with

Transcendental Meditation a part of it, they often continue to explore

and learn about other aspects of Vedic traditions, he said.

 

Billman's interest in transcendental meditation was first piqued when

she went to a lecture about the subject with a favorite aunt in Los

Angeles.

 

Teague, who has been practicing TM since 1973, said that he read a

book of Maharishi's and caught him on the Phil Donahue Show

immediately after finishing the book.

 

"There he was, `living the book.' I found him to be very inspiring and

uplifting."

 

Teague began the program when early research validating that something

"real" happens when a person meditates, was just getting going.

 

"Research on TM and brain mapping was just beginning at the time," he

said.

 

Since then, more than 600 studies at 200 different universities and

agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, Stanford,

Harvard and MIT, have shown that Transcendental Meditation creates a

state of deep rest and relaxation defined by measurable physiological

changes. Some of the changes verified include increased muscle

relaxation, decreased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and

increased blood flow to the brain. TM also has been proven to lower

baseline levels of heart and respiration rate, increase the stability

of the autonomic nervous system, support faster recovery from stress

and optimize brain function.

 

Both Teague and Billman attended Maharishi European Research

University, earning doctorates in World Peace.

 

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation

program, now lives in the Netherlands, where the international

headquarters are located. According to both Teague and Billman, the

ultimate goal of Maharishi is to generate an influence of peace for

each community and the world as a whole.

 

The Maharishi Enlightenment Center will be hosting an open house

Saturday and Sunday with Ayurvedic cooking demonstrations, live

Gandharva Veda music, tours and a video presentation by filmmaker

David Lynch about consciousness, creativity and meditation.

 

For additional information, call

681-7100.http://www.goletavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/business/readarticle.cgi?article=562