Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

Washington Post: Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD?

May 4, 2012

Posted at 02:45 PM ET, 05/03/2012.
This story has been updated. Previously titled: Summit Examines Use of Transcendental Meditation to help Vets with PTSD. Later published in Washington Post: VA testing whether meditation can help treat PTSD

Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD?

By Steve Vogel

Seeking new ways to treat post-traumatic stress, the Department of Veteran Affairs is studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The reality is not all individuals we see are treatable by the techniques we use,” said W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a summit on the use of TM to treat post traumatic stress Thursday in Washington.

Director David Lynch founded a charitable organization that funded a summit on using Transcendental Meditation to treat military veterans with PTSD. (David Livingston – GETTY IMAGES)

The VA is spending about $5 million on a dozen trials involving several hundred veterans from a range of conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Results from the trials will not be available for another 12 to 18 months.

But Gould said he was “encouraged” by the results of trials which were presented at the summit.

Two independent pilot studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans showed a 50 percent reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress after eight weeks, according to the summit’s sponsor, the David Lynch Foundation, a charitable organization founded by the American filmmaker and television director.

Results from the initial phase of a long-term trial investigating the effects of Transcendental Meditation on 60 cadets at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont, have been encouraging, school officials said at the summit, held at The Army and Navy Club.

Students practising TM showed measurable improvement in the areas of academic performance and discipline over a control group. “The statistical effect we found in only two months was surprisingly large,” Carole Bandy, an associate professor of psychology who is directing the study at the university, said at the summit.

“For us, it’s all about the evidence,” said Richard W. Schneider, president of the university, who added that he was a skeptic before the trial began.

“Conventional approaches fall woefully short of the mark, so we clearly need a new approach,” Norman Rosenthal, a clinical professor of of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School.

Operation Warrior Wellness, a division of the foundation, is providing TM training to troops recovering from wounds at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Troops report “dramatic improvements” in sleep, according to the foundation, as well as significant reductions in pain, stress and the use of prescription medications

Lynch, the director of “Blue Velvet,” “Mullholland Drive” and the television series “Twin Peaks,” is a longtime practitioner of TM, a meditative practice advocates say helps manage stress and depression.

Related articles: POLITICO: Coping with PTSD | Norwich University President Receives “Resilient Warrior Award” at National Veterans Summit in Washington, DC | Huffington Post: David Lynch Brings Transcendental Meditation To D.C.

Donovan and Deepak talk about meditation, music, on abc carpet & home via livestream

May 2, 2012

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Here’s an online streaming event with Donovan and Deepak talking about the old days with Maharishi, Transcendental Meditation, The Beatles, and the music from the 60’s. Thanks to Linda, Donovan’s wife and muse, for suggesting Donovan be on this special event: http://livestre.am/1IWyp on abc carpet & home via @livestream.

Also see: Donovan shares his excitement and fulfillment after playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Billboard interview: Donovan Q&A: Catching Up With a Folk Rock Superman | Ode to Donovan by Meghan for Altavoz: Conan introduces Donovan while holding the DLF Music vinyl box-set “Music That Changes The World” | Donovan Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Donovan and Ben Lee on Good Day LA | The former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunion for David Lynch’s benefit concert airs on New York’s THIRTEEN, Sunday, April 29

The David Lynch Foundation Quiet Time Program in San Francisco Schools

May 2, 2012

The David Lynch Foundation Quiet Time Program in San Francisco Schools

Here’s a recently produced inspiring 7-minute video showing the benefits of the Quiet Time program for students, teachers, and administrators at Visitation Valley Middle School, and other schools in the San Francisco Unified School District in California. Principal James Dierke and Superintendent Carlos Garcia are featured.

Here’s another previously posted video and article, with links to more: Meditation for Students: Results of the David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time/TM Program in San Francisco Schools | The San Francisco Examiner—Meditation program mends troubled Visitacion Valley Middle School.

New Video: Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology

May 1, 2012

Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology

This new video beautifully encapsulates Dr. Tony Nader’s paradigm-changing discovery. He shared these profound details with an audience during one of the first New Paradigm Tour events. He explained how, under the guidance and blessings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, he discovered that the sounds of the Veda and Vedic Literature, and their architectural design, are actually structured in the human physiology. He described it as “a tremendous enlightening discovery.”

After that work was done and published in his first book, Human Physiology – Expression of Veda and Vedic Literature, with further direction from Maharishi, Dr. Nader went on to find their dynamic interactions displayed in the Ramayana, revealed as the growth and evolution of the human physiology towards enlightenment. The result was the recently published as Ramayan in Human Physiology. See the 12-page book preview: http://www.mumpress.com/ramayan. Now available as an ebook on iTunes.

As a scientist, Dr. Nader said the Ramayana was a scientific treatise on the human physiology, “a precise scientific description of how our body works, how our body evolves” towards enlightenment. Dr. Nader shows events that take place in the story of the Ramayana and what they mean in terms of the growing and evolving human physiology. “Now we know we truly are wholeness.”

This video was published today, May 1, 2012, on the Tony Nader M.D. YouTube channel. You’ll also notice other videos listed there of Dr. Nader answering questions on this topic. But this clip was taken from an actual presentation in the early part of the tour, which began in California. More videos from the tour will be added as time allows.

See photos in A report halfway into the New Paradigm Tour: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana and the Self.

See the general press release with links to some of the news coverage added at the bottom of Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self — A New Paradigm Tour Will Visit Ten Cities.

Details of the tour can be found at: www.NewParadigmTour.org. Check out the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VedaConsciousness. And more videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/DrTonyNader/videos.

Some relevant quotes by famous scientists on changing paradigms

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. — Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. — Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. — Max Planck (1858-1947)

Also see how one poet describes a remarkably similar understanding: What Turkish Sufi poet Yunus Emre realized — everything was found within his cosmic body and Yunus Emre says Wisdom comes from Knowing Oneself — a Singularity that contains the Whole.

A lecture by Dr. Tony Nader, International Head of the Transcendental Meditation Organization, was recorded in Silicon Valley at the Indian Cultural Center, April 10, 2014, later posted Oct 4, 2019: Unfolding the Mysteries of Veda: How Ancient Knowledge Influences Your Life.

Here is the same talk, but with the formal introductions and final credits posted 3 1/2 years earlier, April 5, 2016, by the Silicon Valley TM Center. Actual title: VEDA Discovering the Structural Relationship Between Consciousness, Natural Law, Physiology, and the Universe.

A report halfway into the New Paradigm Tour: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana and the Self

April 28, 2012

We are about halfway through the New Paradigm Tour now, and here is a summary report from a recent Maharishi Global Family Chat sent out with beautiful photos and descriptions: New Paradigm tour continues in waves of success and appreciation.

In the San Francisco Bay area, the New Paradigm Tour held its first public event for Indo-Americans, featuring keynote speaker Dr Tony Nader as well as John Hagelin, Ramani Ayer, and host Dr. Howard Chancellor. Well over 300 people filled the hall, mostly Indo-Americans hearing of Maharishi Vedic Science for the first time.

Dr Hagelin explained how Veda (Knowledge) or consciousness is the unified field of quantum physics, and how the Vedic technologies of Maharishi Yog and Maharishi Yagya benefit individuals and society (especially Transcendental Meditation and its advanced programs).

Dr. Nader then gave a captivating keynote address about the new paradigm that recognizes science and spirituality as two flavors of one Reality. Several times he was interrupted by spontaneous waves of applause!

A special moment then came when Shiv Sagar — whose grandfather Ramanand Sagar created the original Ramayan television series beloved throughout India — connected from India to express his family’s appreciation of Dr. Nader’s book Ramayan in Human Physiology. Shiv played a short video clip from the family’s more recent serialized production of the Ramayan that was watched by 600 million Indians. When a member of the audience requested if Dr. Nader would translate the characters and plot of that same Ramayan clip into the workings of the human physiology, he did so and won a round of applause.

Members of the audience were filled with wonder at the profundity of Maharishi Vedic Science and by the scientific insights brought to light by Dr Nader and Dr Hagelin. They were completely amazed when Ramani Ayer showed videos of 1,000 Maharishi Vedic Pandits in Iowa, USA and 2,500 in the Brahmasthan of India, and explained that these Peace Professionals are the main power-generators of a scientifically-documented Global Peace Initiative. Listen: http://bit.ly/vedicpandits.

Time and again remarks were heard like: “We feel so proud of our Vedic tradition!”; “Thank you so much for taking time to speak to us — we never knew!”; and “Now we must help create peace with you!”

While in the San Francisco area, Dr. Nader also presented to a group of about 100 enthusiastic Indian physicians, bringing the total to over 350 physicians in California. He also conducted a 3-hour Ramayan in Human Physiology Seminar to 130 meditators and Sidhas. In Vancouver he then spoke to over 500 Indo-American at two more lectures, and also gave a Ramayan seminar to about 120 people. In every case, he is being deeply acclaimed and respected for his wisdom and radiance.

Details of the tour can be found at: www.NewParadigmTour.org
See videos of Dr Nader at: http://www.youtube.com/drtonynader
A Facebook page is at: http://www.facebook.com/VedaConsciousness

Dr Chancellor reported that Dr. Nader’s New Paradigm tour has been extremely successful in California and Vancouver. The first leg of the tour ended last night with a presentation at the Meadows Club in Chicago.

An overflow crowd of about 800 people flocked to the Meadows Club. Almost all were Indo-Americans with little or no previous familiarity with Maharishi Vedic Science and its practical applied technologies for individual enlightenment, national invincibility, and world peace.

The presentations by Dr. Hagelin, Ramani Ayer and Dr. Nader stretched well over two hours with everyone completely focused on the speakers throughout.

The talks were punctuated by considerable applause, and the audience gave a standing ovation to Dr Nader at the end of his presentation.

There was also a huge round of warm applause when the crowd heard — in fact, they seemed to already be well aware of it — that Maharishi had appointed Dr Nader as his successor in the line of the Vedic Tradition and honored him with the title of the first Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam of the Global Country of World Peace, the umbrella entity for all of Maharishi’s global legacy.

TV ASIA prepared a Brief Highlights report on the the event, which took place at the Meadows Club in Chicago: Maharishi Foundation & GPI Hosts “A New paradigm: Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana and the Self.” The TV Asia Community Roundup program aired on April 26th at 10:30pm (ET) and was rebroadcast on April 27th at 7:30pm (ET).

See the general press release with links to some of the news coverage added at the bottom of Veda, Consciousness, the Ramayana, and the Self — A New Paradigm Tour Will Visit Ten Cities.

See a video clip taken from one of the presentations: Dr. Tony Nader speaks about the Ramayana in Human Physiology.

KTVO News: Groundbreaking Sustainable Living Center a source of pride in Fairfield

April 25, 2012

Groundbreaking Sustainable Living Center a source of pride in Fairfield
by Kate Allt | Posted: 04.25.2012 at 5:03 PM

Maharishi University’s Sustainable Living Center

FAIRFIELD, IOWA — The first university to offer a sustainable living program and a MBA in green technology is still finding ways to look to the future of sustainable living.

Maharishi University’s new Sustainable Living Center proves that a building and a community is capable of giving back more than it takes.

“This building is kind of a signal for hope for people who maybe don’t think this is possible,” said Lonnie Gamble, Sustainable Living professor. “They don’t think that it’s possible, they can point here and see that it is. We needed a place that reflected the principles that we teach, we teach in a building that – if we teach one thing in the classroom, but the building tells a different story, then which gives the stronger lesson?”

Today, the building used sun and solar energy to produce three times more energy than it required to function. Annually, the Sustainable Living Center will produce 30% more energy than it uses.

“The utility cottage… has photovoltaic panels on it and it also has all the inverters that convert DC electrical energy to AC energy that we use in the building,” said Tim Messenger, construction manager. “It’s our own little power center, we’re our own little utility company here.”

Maharishi’s students prove that there is a lot more to energy efficiency and green thinking than one small change.

“If you want to be sustainable, you don’t just really want to install energy efficient light bulbs, but you want to make sure that the source of your energy is sustainable,” said student Peter Hodak. “Everything around you, including yourself.”

And everything about this building is sustainable, from the 25,000 earth blocks made by students, to the windows that allow for the building to be lit by the sun, to the trees that provide the building’s support.

The center is an embodiment of the principles of the sustainable living program, and is close to the hearts of faculty and students.

“I think it’s very important to first of all realize that you can do something and one thing you can do is lead by example,” said John Collins, Associate Chair of the Sustainable Living Department. “And I think this building leads by example. We can yell at our legislators about renewable energy, but if we don’t have our own building that uses it, what’s the point in that?”

“Studying in this school building, it make you feel like you are more yourself and at the same time it makes you feel like… it makes you appreciate your environment much more,” Hodak said.

“It’s actually really amazing that students are allowed to do this because this building is so new and young and there’s so many things that are going to be done,” said student Sam Rose. “And the way this university kind of works is this project, this really homework assignment is actually going to be used and students are going to do this. It gives you hope, it makes you think you can do something great when it’s really intimidating, but you can come together. It’s a beautiful place to work.”

And they’re not done yet. Plans for an edible landscape, a sustainable sewer system and water collection are all in the works. Eventually, the building will be entirely off the grid. 

The students themselves are working on the constant improvements to the building with their class projects. Hodak’s project monitors the intake and outflow of energy, and Rose’s group has several improvements in the works, including a line of trees to block out sound from the highway and a rain garden.

The SLC is open for visitors who would like to see the building for themselves.

 

Related: WHO TV: BEYOND GREEN: Building Produces Extra Energy | The Fairfield Ledger: M.U.M.’s newest building sets new green standards | WHIO TV (AP): Maharishi University dedicates efficient building | MUM Blog: Now Open: MUM’s New Sustainable Living Center


The Fairfield Ledger: M.U.M.’s newest building sets new green standards

April 25, 2012

M.U.M.’s newest building sets new green standards

By DIANE VANCE, Ledger staff writer | Apr 23, 2012

It’s the ultimate green building, said Craig Pearson, executive vice president of Maharishi University of Management, at Friday’s grand opening of the Sustainable Living Center.

Pearson was quoting how The Associated Press described the newest building on campus while it was still under construction in an article that was published in national media, including Forbes, Business Week and MSNBC.

“This sets new standards,” said Pearson.

David Fisher, chairman of the Sustainable Living program, founded at M.U.M. in 2003, said plans for the building began in 2004.

“Its design evolved over time,” said Fisher. “The intention has been to be off the grid in all ways.

“Scores of environmental buildings are being built across the country, some much larger than this, but this is the only building to do it all in one building.”

Fisher said constructing the Sustainable Living Center was a teaching tool for builders, students and anyone who had a part in finishing the building.

“It’s a work in progress, a living building,” said Fisher.

Sustainability comes from materials used, the design and placement of windows for natural day lighting, rain catchment for water (not yet operational), solar panels and a wind turbine.

A classroom used for Friday’s grand opening news conference was furnished with about 21 wooden tables, constructed on campus.

“These tables are made from 19 different plant families all harvested within 100 miles of here,” said Fisher. “The differences in colors are natural, indicating the different woods.”

Faculty member Lonnie Gamble said designers and builders had to think outside the box on this building.

“This building and university are a great inspiration for the world,” he said.

Designer John Lippman has designed all the new buildings on campus since 2000. He listed the Sustainability Center as following architectural guidelines of Vastu, meeting gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification with plans to reach platinum, meeting the Living Building Challenge and meeting Building Biology standards.

“Vastu guidelines means the building is in harmony with nature,” said Lippman. “We have the silent core at the center of the building. High windows allow daylight to extend from two directions into the building’s rooms.

“We used natural materials in here, earth from the campus and whole tree trunks from Wisconsin.”

Sustainable Living student Makayla McDonald said the building reflects the people in the program.

“Community is strength,” she said. “This building has already drawn many people to come here. But it’s not just a building of classrooms. This is the merging of our dreams for the future. I want to express profound gratitude for this university and program. At age 20, it’s very important to have dreams and get to see them become reality.”

Fairfield Mayor and M.U.M. board of trustees member Ed Malloy, said the university was showing the kind of leadership in education that inspires everyone to consider new horizons with the grand opening of the Sustainable Living Center.

“In 2008, Fairfield began a process of creating a strategic plan for a sustainable community,” he said. “In 2009, we published the Fairfield Go Green plan and received national recognition.

“The theme that runs through the plan is to demonstrate for ourselves and others what a city can look like as it adopts new strategies and community designs. This building sets the highest standard.”

Malloy congratulated the university and everyone involved. He noted it was worthy to be called a learning center.

“Students participated in making the very materials that the walls are made of and participated as the mechanical systems that power the building were assembled,” said Malloy. “They will always know as they study in here that they are sheltered and powered by the very elements of nature that surround them — the earth, trees, wind and sun.

“Last year we celebrated gold LEED certification for Hy-Vee, and Kum & Go completed a renovation that earns them a silver LEED certification.”

The Sustainability Center building produces its own kilowatt energies and can send extra back to the grid to use to power other buildings on campus. With more fundraising, the building will complete the rainwater catchment system and waste treatment process, to move from gold to platinum certification.

URL: http://fairfield-ia.villagesoup.com/news/story/m-u-m-s-newest-building-sets-new-green-standards/814324

Photo by: DIANE VANCE/Ledger photo. Posted with permission from The Fairfield Ledger.

Also see: BEYOND GREEN: Building Produces Extra Energy | Maharishi University of Management to open new Sustainable Living Center, a net-zero energy bldg | Maharishi University dedicates efficient building | The Fairfield Ledger: Fairfield draws ‘who-da thunk it’ quote from Lode

Maharishi University dedicates efficient building

April 25, 2012

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 11:28 a.m.

Maharishi University dedicates efficient building

The Associated Press

FAIRFIELD, Iowa —

Dozens of solar panels and a 100-foot-tall wind turbine will help the Maharishi University of Management’s sustainable living center in Fairfield be among the state’s most efficient buildings.

University officials dedicated the building Friday, showing off a building that also makes use of technology such as a heat pump, geothermal tubing and careful placement of windows to maximize the use of daylight.

The Ottumwa Courier reports (http://bit.ly/Jp31nc) that Maharishi University Executive Vice President Craig Pearson expressed hope that the center would help other builders learn about sustainable options and build more environmentally friendly structures.

Lonnie Gamble, the professor and curriculum director for the sustainable living program, said the building will help him teach students about the possibilities of efficient buildings.

“Being in here means that instead of saying ‘here are the principles to build by’ — then apologizing for the building we’re in — I can show them what I’m talking about,” Gamble said.

When the solar panels and turbine produce more power than needed for the building, the energy will be sent to the campus grid and used for other buildings.

Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy, who also is a Maharishi University board member, said students who learn about sustainable structures in the center will later create similar buildings throughout the world.

As more funding becomes available, the school intends to add a rain catchment system to provide water and will handle sewage in an on-site facility.

___

Information from: The Ottumwa Courier http://www.ottumwacourier.com

Copyright The Associated Press.

See: Newton Daily News: Maharishi University dedicates efficient building

Australian TV: Cool School: Melbourne school teaches meditation to students

April 22, 2012

One with learning in peace

One Melbourne school is helping parents take some of the stress out of school children by teaching them meditation.

Nick, the Australian Sunrise TV reporter, asks a Maharishi School student how he feels after meditation. “Really peaceful and relaxed…ya,” the boy answers. “Peaceful and relaxed…how old are you?” Nick asks him. “Ten,” he replies. “I don’t hear many ten-year-olds thinking about being peaceful and relaxed,” Nick tells him. The boy looks him straight in the eye and says confidently, “I do.” Click on URL to see this lovely report! http://bit.ly/Ji8zys

Donovan shares his excitement and fulfillment after playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

April 21, 2012

Donovan on Playing at the Hall of Fame

April 16, 2012 | By Eric Helton

Donovan closed out his performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a special version of his hit “Season of the Witch” with John Mellencamp, which he said afterward was “a great joy.” “I feel like something has been fulfilled on stage tonight which sums up my contribution to this extraordinary world of music,” the singer told Rolling Stone.

Click On performing with John Mellencamp to see video on Rolling Stone.
—————
Donovan: On teaching guitar technique to Beatles April 19, 2012 | By Eric Helton, Max Tiberi. Watch the video: Songwriter recalls studying Transcendental Meditation with Fab Four.
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Rock Cellar Music: The Interview
Donovan is BACK!
1960s Icon Is in Rock Hall of Fame. What’s Next? (Interview)
April 2012 by Greg Feo and Jeff Cazanov
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Listen to Michael Castner of WSJ’s The Daily Wrap interview Donovan about Transcendental Meditation: http://podcast.mktw.net/wsj/audio/20120418/pod-wsjdwdonovontm/pod-wsjdwdonovontm.mp3
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Related: Billboard interview: Donovan Q&A: Catching Up With a Folk Rock Superman | Ode to Donovan by Meghan for Altavoz: Conan introduces Donovan while holding the DLF Music vinyl box-set “Music That Changes The World” | Donovan Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Spinner: Donovan Q&A, on Dylan Rivalry, Helping Paul McCartney Write ‘Yellow Submarine’
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Visit http://www.donovan.ie for more interviews. See a list of related articles and videos on Donovan’s Induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
John Mellencamp Inducts Donovan Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Donovan’s acceptance speech/poem is posted on Govinda Gallery by Chris Murray on May 2, 2012: Rock Around the Clock: From Kid Rock to Chris Rock. Backstage with Donovan at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Acceptance Poem

“From my wandering days on lonely sands
where I sang my song to the moon and stars
To the world’s great stage , honoured am I
to sing my song to a million fans

Always my wish to be of service
to ease emotion deep in the heart
Always your poet , a shaman am I
to lead us all to the realm within

Yet I was branded for my beauty
yet protected by my art
Many plundered me for booty
only one did steal my heart

How she keeps it in her casket
still remains a mystery
Like the moonrise in a sunset
like the silence of the sea

Thank you for this bright green laurel
resting now upon my brow
Thank you Goddess , thank you Muses
thank you … Fellow Artists All”

– Donovan Leitch Copyright ©All Rights Reserved.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Acceptance Poem
Cleveland, Ohio
April 14 2012