It’s a Beautiful World, is a film made by Richard Beymer as he accompanied David Lynch with Bob Roth and a film crew to India. David went from northern India to the south retracing his master Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s footsteps for a documentary film he was going to make. Richard records the early stages of the making of that film on Maharishi.
David first visits Jyotir Math where Maharishi served his teacher Guru Dev for 13 years. After his passing, Maharishi went into silence for 2 years in a small cave-like room in a house in Uttar Kashi, the Valley of the Saints. David takes us right into that cave! A persistent thought brought Maharishi out to travel to a famous temple in Rameshwaram. From there he continued on to the great Temple to Mother Divine in Kanyakumari located at the southern-most tip of India where the 3 oceans meet. Along his return journey northwards a man from the Trivandrum Public Library asked Maharishi to speak. The film takes us to those sites and into that library where Maharishi gave his first series of 7 lectures. People had asked to learn what he was teaching, and that was the start of the TM movement. What had taken Maharishi two years, David covered in 10 inspiring eventful-packed days.
About a year or so before David made his trek to India, he also had the opportunity to visit with Maharishi in Vlodrop, Holland at his International Headquarters. A special interview was arranged and David was able to ask Maharishi some questions. It had been recorded, possibly for David to use in his documentary. I mentioned that interview to Richard and he checked with David for permission to use some of it. David directed Richard to use specific segments of an answer Maharishi gave him to a particular question. The film ends with it, coming full circle, of Maharishi explaining why he came out of the Silence of the Himalayas to bring his message to the world. He told David he thought what he had to offer would be useful to humanity. He said that the nature of life is bliss, and the nature of the individual is cosmic. And all those years of teaching TM had borne that out, later verified by hundreds of scientific research studies on the range of benefits in people’s lives, and the development of higher states of consciousness.
This film is also a rare glimpse into David’s personal life. Throughout the journey David reveals snippets of his film career. It’s an intimate look at David Lynch the man, the director in action, the devoted meditator, and his inspiration to share the gift of Transcendental Meditation with the world through his Foundation. Watch this skillfully edited trailer, then visit the website to order the film to stream or download.
For those who have been following Jerry Seinfeld’s award-winning online series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, his latest guest was Howard Stern. (See The Last Days of Howard Stern.) Jerry and Howard talked for several hours about a wide range of topics, including how their over 40-year TM practice has impacted their lives. Because of time constraints that section had to be edited out, but Jerry gave us permission to share this 6-minute segment for everyone’s enjoyment! Thanks guys.
See another blog post where Howard Stern talks about TM on Letterman. Embedded there is a video of Oprah and Dave talking about meditation. He reveals that he and some of his staff have been doing TM. They learned it from Meditation Bob, who happens to be the same person who taught Oprah. A year later, Lindsay Lohan is on Dave’s show and they decide to call Oprah. They mention Meditation Bob, which is Bob Roth’s Twitter name. The Washington Post described the three of them as a Comedy Dream Team.
Listen to today’s (March 27, 2014) Iowa Public Radio report on how Iowa Veterans have been historically treated for what is now known as PTSD — from lobotomies, to drugs and therapy, to finally a more benign approach, that of meditation, specifically Transcendental Meditation.
Iowa Public Radio correspondent Rick Fredericksen produced an impressive historical report on the subject. Early attempts to deal with this misunderstood medical problem were crude and frightening. Introducing TM as a viable option shows you how far we’ve come in dealing more humanely with Veterans suffering from PTSD!
It aired twice this morning with a third broadcast on All Things Considered this afternoon at 4:50pm CST. You can listen to the 7:30 minute report online http://bit.ly/QjMY00, where you can also see a 3-photo slideshow, and link to the Wall Street Journal investigation.
Marine veteran Daniel Gannon meditates in the IPR studios.
Interviews with meditating Iowa veterans include Luke Jensen, Afghanistan veteran; Vietnam veteran Daniel Gannon, Iowa Dept of Veterans Affairs; and Jerry Yellin, WWII veteran, and national TM advocate for veterans.
Rick Fredericksen did a fantastic job! What a testament to TM, and boost for MUM, gearing up to welcome veterans as students!
The Voice of the Cape’s after five Drivetime Show has a national and international flavor focusing on issues making news where the biggest story of the day or week is analyzed. South African host Shafiq Morton interviewed American Dr. David Leffler this week, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, on a unique solution to the growing violence in Kiev.
David R. Leffler, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) at the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, in Fairfield, Iowa, USA. He spoke on IDT, Invincible Defense Technology, as a viable solution to the rising crisis. Dr. Leffler explained how increasing stress levels erupt into opposing factions, violence and war, and how group practice of Transcendental Meditation and its advanced procedures can defuse such collective stress and prevent war, softening the atmosphere for people and groups to more harmoniously discuss solutions to their problems without resorting to violence.
I was so impressed by Morton’s questions and responses to Leffler’s informative answers, I posted this comment:
When Marconi said we could communicate through the airwaves they thought he was crazy. He was just using a technology that was able to take advantage of the electromagnetic field that was already there. Invincible Defense Technology similarly uses an advanced procedure to allow our minds to collectively enliven the all-powerful, all-nourishing Unified Field, the source of all the force and matter fields, the home of all the laws of nature, for the good of society, and the world, depending on the size of the group. Thank you for exposing your listeners to this hopeful and intelligent out-of-the-box proven approach to creating world peace!
The editorial piece referred to in the interview was co-authored by Dr. Leffler and Dr. Mykola Didukh, National Director for TM in Ukraine. Titled, “Proven Strategy to Prevent Turmoil in Ukraine,” how Invincible Defense Technology could be implemented to solve the crisis, the Op-Ed was published earlier this month in a number of locations: NEPAL: Review Nepal; WORLD SERVICE: The Common Ills; UNITED STATES & CANADA: Times of Earth; INDONESIA: Sigma News; and UKRAINE: Evening Lugansk, which was also published in Russian and Ukrainian.
Transcendental Meditation significantly reduces PTSD in African refugees within 10 days
This is lead author Col. Brian Rees, MD, MPH, US Army Reserve Medical Corps
African civilians in war-torn countries have experienced the threat of violence or death, and many have witnessed the abuse, torture, rape and even murder of loved ones. Many Congolese living in Ugandan refugee camps are suffering from severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
New research shows that Congolese war refugees who learned the Transcendental Meditation® technique showed a significant reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder in just 10 days, according to a study published today in the February 2014 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress (Volume 27, Issue 1, pages 1–119).
“An earlier study found a similar result after 30 days where 90% of TM subjects dropped to a non-symptomatic level. But we were surprised to see such a significant reduction with this group after just 10 days,” said study author Brian Rees, MD, MPH.
The subjects were assessed using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Civilians, (PCL-C), which rates the severity of PTSD on a scale from 17 to 85. A score below 35 means the symptoms of PTSD have abated.
Eleven Congolese refugees who had been tested three times over a 90-day period on the PCL-C, which rates the level of PTSD on a scale from 17 to 85, began with an average score of 77.9. They learned Transcendental Meditation within 8 days of the third test and after 10 days their average score dropped to 48, which was highly clinically significant. They were retested 30 days later measuring an average score of 35.3. With scores below 35 considered non-symptomatic, they were practically symptom free.
The subjects in the study initially tested with an average score of 77.9. After just 10 days of practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique, their PTSD test scores dropped to an average of 48, which was highly significant clinically.
Thirty days later the subjects were tested again with their PTSD scores falling to an average of 35.3 — meaning that they were nearly without symptoms of PTSD.
“What makes this study interesting is when we tested them in the 90 days before they began the TM technique, their PTSD scores kept going up,” said coauthor Fred Travis, director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management. “During that period their scores were rising, from 68.5 at the beginning to 77.9 after 90 days. But once they started the Transcendental Meditation technique, their PTSD scores plummeted.”
According to the researchers, during this particular meditation technique one experiences a deep state of restful alertness. Repeated experience of this state for 20 minutes twice a day cultures the nervous system to maintain settled mental and physical functioning the rest of the day. This helps to minimize disturbing thoughts, sleep difficulties, and other adverse PTSD symptoms.
In this video, Dr. Travis explains the neurophysiology of trauma and how TM relieves it. He says, “Something very profound is happening. Because experience changes the brain, and trauma locks in a specific brain functioning (the over stimulated amygdala), you’re stuck in a specific way of thinking and feeling, (vigilance, fear and mistrust) and appreciating the world.” He further explains how the experience of transcending, with Transcendental Meditation, calms the amygdala, relieves PTS symptoms and frees the individual “to see more possibilities.”
Congolese refugee Esperance Ndozi and her 5 children
Esperance Ndozi was one of the Congolese refugees traumatized by the civil war. The 35-year old mother of 5 was part of the group of refugees that learned TM. Before learning the effortless technique, Esperance couldn’t find relief from a flood of dark disturbing memories. She could hardly sleep. After a week of meditating 20-minutes twice a day she describes increasing relaxation and relief from PTSD symptoms. “Your mind, your body relaxes. You feel you are out of the outside world. You are just in your peaceful world. No negativity. It doesn’t come near me now.” Like other refugees in the study the calm and peace grew to last throughout the day. Watch the video.
A previous study of Congolese refugees, which involved 42 subjects found that the Transcendental Meditation group had an average Checklist score of below 35 after 30 days, a non-symptomatic level, while the average score of the control group actually worsened over the same period.
“This is now the fourth study to show an improvement in PTSD,” said Dr. Rees, a colonel in the US Army Reserve Medical Corps. “The Transcendental Meditation technique is increasingly being seen as a viable treatment by the US military.”*
###
Study co-author Dr Fred Travis is a professor of neurophysiology at Maharishi University of Management, an accredited university to the PhD level, where Transcendental Meditation is incorporated into its curriculum and practiced by faculty and students. This provides a way for students, including veterans, to reduce the effects of past stress and trauma, and make learning easier and more enjoyable. www.mum.edu
*Two earlier studies have shown the Transcendental Meditation (TM®) technique to effectively lower post-traumatic stress in veterans of Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan wars.
Transcendental Meditation Reduces Teacher Stress and Burnout, New Research Shows
Effect of Transcendental Meditation on Employee Stress, Depression, and Burnout: A Randomized Controlled Study
This graph shows the average level of change in total burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, in the Transcendental Meditation group compared to controls. The graph displays a marked reduction in burnout symptoms in the TM group, with the control group showing a small increase in burnout over the duration of the study.
A new study published in The Permanente Journal (Vol. 18, No.1) on health showed the introduction of the Transcendental Meditation® technique substantially decreased teacher stress and burnout.
Research indicates that stress and burnout are pervasive problems among employees, with teachers being especially vulnerable to feeling frequent stress from their jobs. Burnout, a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and job dissatisfaction, has been found to contribute to lower teacher classroom performance and higher absenteeism and job turnover rates.
This current study sought to determine whether practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program results in lower psychological distress and decreased burnout in teachers and support staff at the Bennington School in Vermont, a special in-residence school for students with behavioral problems.
This graph shows the average level of change in perceived stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, in the Transcendental Meditation group compared to controls. The graph displays a marked reduction in perceived stress in the TM group, with the control group showing a small increase in stress over the duration of the study.
According to Dr. Charles Elder, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and a Senior Physician in the Department of Internal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, “The results of this randomized controlled trial are very striking and demonstrate the utility of introducing a stress reduction program for teachers and other public and private employees. The four-month study found significant and clinically important decreases in perceived stress, emotional exhaustion associated with teacher burnout, and depressive symptoms in those practicing the TM program compared to a wait-list control group.”
“Burnout and other psychological distress factors have been linked to negative health behaviors, obesity, and hypertension, all of which are major contributors to cardiovascular disease,” emphasized Dr. Sanford Nidich, EdD, study principal investigator and Professor of Education at Maharishi University of Management. “Prior medical research has found that practice of the TM program is effective in reducing both risk factors for heart disease and cardiovascular events. Taken as a whole, this present study and prior research provide evidence for the value of the TM program for enhancing mental and physical health and well-being, explained Dr. Nidich.”
This graph shows the average level of change in decreased depression symptoms, as measured by the Mental Health Inventory-5, in the Transcendental Meditation group compared to controls. The graph displays a marked reduction in depression symptoms in the TM group, with the control group showing a small decrease in depression over the duration of the study.
The study included 40 teachers and support staff measured at baseline and then randomly assigned to either immediate start of the TM program or delayed start (wait-list control group). Compliance with practice of the TM technique throughout the four-month intervention period was high; 100% of the participants assigned to the TM group meditated at least once a day. Of those, 56% meditated regularly at home twice a day.
This is the first study to investigate the effects of Transcendental Meditation on teacher burnout. Recent published studies have shown a positive impact of this program on student graduation rates, academic achievement, and psychological distress. Transcendental Meditation has seen widespread implementation in secondary schools across the country within the context of school-wide Quiet Time programs.
The TM technique is a simple, natural, effortless procedure practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. Extensive peer-reviewed research studies have found that TM reduces psychological distress, including anxiety and depression, and promotes overall mental and physical health.
The TM technique is available in the USA through Maharishi Foundation USA, a federally recognized non-profit educational organization. Through partnerships with other non-profit organizations and foundations, full TM scholarships have been given to more than 250,000 at-risk children, school teachers, veterans suffering from PTSD, homeless people, and others. Visit http://www.tm.org for more information.
About Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management is an accredited university offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in the arts, sciences, humanities, and business, where Transcendental Meditation is also practiced by both professors and students. Visit http://www.mum.edu for more information.
Published over a year ago, this report on Transcendental Meditation, by the ABC’s Catalyst in Sydney, Australia, takes an objective look at the uniqueness of the practice, and its personal and health benefits. One skeptical physician says most people would sooner pop a pill to lower their blood pressure than waste time meditating. But, based on the scientific research, the American Heart Association now recommends that physicians may safely prescribe only TM for those patients who want to lower their blood pressure naturally, instead of taking long-term costly medications with potentially harmful side effects.
Dr. Robert Schneider’s tour in Australia and New Zealand educating physicians on the value of TM for heart health
Dr. Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, a leading medical researcher on the application of Transcendental Meditation for heart health, toured Australia and New Zealand in the fall of 2013. He presented the breakthrough scientific research findings of TM’s ability to reduce heart attack, stroke and early death by about 50%.
Dr. Schneider also mentioned the AHA statement, based on meta-analyses of data on different relaxation and meditation techniques, that physicians could only recommend TM to their patients wanting to naturally lower their HBP. You can see a video clip from a presentation made at Macquarie University Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
While making presentations in New Zealand, Dr. Schneider appeared on NZTV’s Breakfast ONE News program explaining how TM improves heart health, and the response from the medical community. You see that lively interaction here.
Here is an article in the Israeli paper Haaretz about a film on David Lynch’s 16-country tour made several years ago. One of the countries he had visited was Israel. The film was shown at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque Monday night, January 20, 2014, David’s 68th birthday. David also connected with the audience after the film via Skype to answer questions.
Real peace isn’t just the absence of war the legendary director tells Israeli filmgoers via Skype, and sets the record straight on the ‘Twin Peaks’ rumors.
Article and photo by Avshalom Halutz | Jan. 22, 2014 |12:54 PM
David Lynch speaks to Israeli moviegoers via Skype, on Monday
Moviegoers might associate director David Lynch with wailing babies, dead women in plastic bags and severed ears, but the audience at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque Monday night got nothing but peace and positivity from the man responsible for the perversity in films like “Blue Velvet,” “Eraserhead” and “Mullholland Drive.”
It was the Israeli premiere of the documentary “Meditation, Creativity, Peace,” which follows Lynch’s tour through 16 countries in Europe and the Middle East. The main topic: Transcendental Meditation.
Most of the documentary was shot by film students. The movie, which was edited by Noriko Miyakawa, was completed in 2012 and is in theaters across the United States now. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of one of history’s great filmmakers.
After the screening, Tel Avivians were treated to a Skype conversation with Lynch himself, who was celebrating his 68th birthday. He answered questions at length on meditation, cinema and creativity – and the Mideast conflict.
The documentary begins with Lynch’s visit to Israel in 2007, when he met with President Shimon Peres and thousands of enthusiastic film students. It opens with Lynch speaking to the camera while holding a jelly doughnut.
“This is a doughnut,” Lynch says. “It is very sweet, and very good. But if you’ve never tasted a doughnut, you wouldn’t really know how sweet and how good a doughnut is …. Transcendental Meditation is like that. Transcendental Meditation gives an experience much sweeter than the sweetness of this doughnut. It gives the experience of the sweetest nectar of life: pure bliss consciousness.”
The film then spends 70 minutes following Lynch on his tour. He explains how Transcendental Meditation, which he has been practicing morning and evening for 40 years, has changed the way he thinks and creates.
Lynch doesn’t lecture, he goes straight to the Q&A. So the film is mostly questions by film students and his take on topics like his love for Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” how to write a script, and living a more positive life.
During a session in Edinburgh, one questioner asks how he dares talk about meditation and world peace after visiting Israel, and how meditation can help Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Lynch answers that people are similar all over the world, and that he was happy to meet Israeli film students, Peres and the mayor of Haifa. He wasn’t at all ashamed to visit Israel.
But the trip to Israel had a special objective: to achieve regional peace by establishing “peace groups” that would practice meditation and effect change.
Take it from the Maharishi
When Lynch appeared on the cinematheque’s big screen live via his home computer, the audience sang “Happy Birthday” and followed with an ovation. It’s not every day Israelis interact with giants like Lynch, though the birthday boy remained humble throughout.
One questioner wanted to know if Lynch considered his visit to Israel a failure given that there was still no peace. Lynch mentioned the father of Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
“I think the journey was to plant some seeds. And those seeds are still there, and they do need some watering, for sure. They say that Maharishi is the man who revived the science of consciousness and the technologies of consciousness,” Lynch said.
“One of the technologies of consciousness is Transcendental Meditation, a mental technique that any human being can take, and which allows any human being to transcend, to dive within and experience that unbounded eternal level of life. This unbounded eternal level of life is also a field of infinite unbounded peace.”
This peace has always been there, it just needs enlivening, Lynch said.
“Maharishi brought out the technologies of the peace-creating group – a group of human beings practicing the Transcendental Meditation that enliven the field of unity, this field of peace within, so powerfully that it can bring peace up in the field of diversity and raise collective consciousness,” he said. It can make people feel happier and more harmonious.
“And they say when real peace comes it is because this field within has been enlivened in the field of diversity. You can say it’s unity in the midst of diversity. I was telling all the people in Israel that I met: Start a peace-creating group for Israel, enliven that field of unity, get real peace.”
According to Lynch, “A peace treaty is a piece of paper on the surface of life. It does not address the hate, the anger, the torment inside the human beings. We want peace and here is a technology to truly bring real peace, and real peace is not just the absence of war – real peace is the absence of all negativity.”
Lynch was also asked about the situation in Israel compared to other conflicts around the world.
“The situation in Israel exists in lots of places: People just don’t get along. Surface cures will never work. Never work. If you want to get rid of that negativity that causes disputes you need to enliven that field of unity and peace that has always and forever been there,” he said.
“This is the big, big, big secret: Get to work, help form a peace-creating group for Israel and watch what happens, it will be so beautiful. It’s the real thing. Get to work and make this thing happen.”
When asked if he liked any new Israeli movies, Lynch said he didn’t have time to watch films lately. He said he didn’t understand how Martin Scorsese had the time to watch every movie that exists and still have the time to make more films than him.
Many questioners tried to pry information from Lynch about his next projects; they were eager to see more of his work. One brought up the rumor about a new version of “Twin Peaks,” the cult TV series from the early 1990s.
“Rumors are just rumors. There have always been rumors about things. So there is no real truth to it,” said Lynch.
“I don’t know where these rumors come from, but I think they were based on some misunderstanding of what’s going on. It’s true that there will be a new Blu-ray [disc] of ‘Twin Peaks,’ including the pilot, first season and second season. And there will be some special things that haven’t been seen before. That’s about all I can say.”
Below is a Teaser: “Meditation, Creativity, Peace” – David Lynch 16 Country Tour Documentary posted on the DavidLynchFoundation YouTube channel.
Meditation, a simple yet deep-rooted technique that helps you think better, control your emotions with finesse and even makes you a better person. First practiced in India, meditation is a method carried down through the ages. It was first mentioned in the Vedas and is well-known in India as a doorway to nirvana. But now the Americans have woken up to its benefits.
According to study carried out by Fred Travis, director of the centre for brain, consciousness, and cognition at Maharishi University of Management in the US, physiological measures and first-person descriptions of transcendental experiences and higher states have only been investigated during practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique.
After analysing descriptions of transcendental consciousness from 52 people practicing TM, Travis found that they experienced ‘a state where thinking, feeling, and individual intention were missing, but self-awareness remained’. A systematic analysis of their experiences revealed three themes – absence of time, space and body sense.
‘This research focuses on the larger purpose of meditation practices – to develop higher states of consciousness,’ explained Travis. With regular meditation, experiences of transcendental consciousness begin to co-exist with sleeping, dreaming and even while one is awake.
This state is called cosmic consciousness in the Vedic tradition, said the paper published in the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Whereas people practicing TM describe themselves in relation to concrete cognitive and behavioural processes, those experiencing cosmic consciousness describe themselves in terms of a continuum of inner self-awareness that underlies their thoughts, feelings and actions, added the paper.
‘The practical benefit of higher states is that you become more anchored to your inner self, and, therefore, less likely to be overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of daily life,’ said Travis. TM is an effortless technique for automatic self-transcending, different from the other categories of meditation – focused attention or open monitoring.
It allows the mind to settle inward beyond thought to experience the source of thought – pure awareness or transcendental consciousness. This is the most silent and peaceful level of consciousness – one’s innermost self, said the study.
Wondering what it is? Here is all you need to know about the TM technique
Transcendental Meditation?
Also called the TM technique, Transcendental Meditation is a simple practice one does for 20 minutes twice in a day. All you need to do is sit comfortably and close your eyes. This meditation technique is not a religion, philosophy or lifestyle, it is simply a way to reach self-development.
This technique allows your mind to settle and gives you a chance to experience pure awareness, also known as transcendental consciousness. It allows you to experience the most silent and peaceful level of consciousness – your innermost self. It also allows your brain to attain deep rest helping you be more efficient and betters your cognitive functions.
Where did this technique originate?
About 50 years ago, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the world. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is considered the representative of Vedic tradition in our day and age. This form of meditation helped in restoring knowledge and helps people experience a higher state of consciousness. The most important aspect of this technique is that it is still practiced with the same technique and principles as it was when the Vedas were first written, giving it maximum effectiveness.
How do I learn?
The TM technique has local teachers who will guide you through the process. It consists of seven steps after which one can practice the TM technique on their own.
Benefits of the TM technique
The TM technique is known to calm your mind, directly affecting the stress that your brain experiences on a daily basis. According to the experts, practicing the TM technique regularly helps in developing total brain control, thereby making you more equipped to deal with every day stress. It indirectly reduces the production on hormones that are commonly produced when one is stressed and thereby stops the damage that is normally produced.
Apart from all this, a calm mind and body is the best way to protect your body from cardiovascular stress. The TM technique also has great benefits for students, it helps improve their memory, IQ and helps them fight stress.
The Uncarved Blog 