In 2005, director David Lynch invested $400,000 of his fortune to launch the Transcendental Meditation-inspired David Lynch Foundation

for Consciousness-based Education and World Peace. His goal is to propagate world peace through this silent discipline. Photo: Adam Bordow

MEDITATION, CREATIVITY, PEACE

7 p.m. Jan. 14 Sun-Ray Cinema, 1028 Park St., Five Points Admission is free 359-0047, sunraycinema.com davidlynchfoundation.org

22 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | JANUARY 9-15, 2013

avid Lynch is known for exploring hidden realms. Since the late 70s, the celebrated lmmaker has blended lm noir and a shadowfueled surrealism to create a visual language 2011 with lms including Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990) and Mulholland Drive (2001). In the early 90s, Lynch reinvented drama on the small screen with the popular detective series Twin Peaks, nominated for 14 Emmys. e American auteur says his creative vision stems from his interior discoveries experienced during the practice of Transcendental Meditation, or TM. e 66-year-old Lynch has been an adherent since 1973 and claims he experienced immediate results from this mantra-based meditation. In 1968, e Beatles famously traveled to India, where they learned TM from the movements founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918-2008). Notable TM practitioners include 60s folk-rock icon Donovan, music mogul Russell Simmons, Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah Winfrey. e TM organization claims the nonsectarian technique, centered on sitting quietly while focusing ones thoughts on a mantra, or sound syllable, can alleviate stress, sharpen mental focus and improve overall health. Lynch wants to pump up the power of what he calls the radiant bliss experienced from TM. Hes certainly put his money where his mouth is: In 2005, he took $400,000 of his personal fortune and launched the TM-inspired David Lynch Foundation for Consciousnessbased Education and World Peace. Lynch raised $1 million in donations and has since devoted much of his life and energy toward the ultimate goal of propagating world peace through this silent practice. From 2007 to 09, Lynch traveled through 16 countries to speak about meditations in uence on his art and explain his foundations ongoing work, which includes o ering TM to schools, at-risk youth, veterans su ering from post-traumatic stress,

the incarcerated and the homeless. A documentary about those travels, Meditation, Creativity, Peace, is screened at Sun-Ray Cinema on Jan. 14. A local representative of the TM organization will be on hand to talk about the technique. In an exclusive interview, David Lynch spoke with Folio Weekly about some of his foundations goals and his personal views on meditation. current energy is geared toward promoting Consciousness-based Education in schools. Could you explain how that teaching method works? David Lynch: Sure. Consciousness-based Education is basically giving Transcendental Meditation to the students, sta , teachers and principals so that they have a technique to dive within and experience pure consciousness within, a treasury within, the source you know there are so many names for this eld, the Uni ed Field, within every human being. And, you know, education now is fact-based, and its primarily to get people a job. eres nothing really done for the knower, the student, the knower of the knowledge. And so you add this TM to the curriculum, in the morning and the a ernoon at school, and always it happens: Grades go up, comprehension improves, relationships improve ... and the students get happy, more self-assured, more self-su cient, theyre not as tired, they can focus, they get a lot more energy and a lot more creativity, because its something being done for the knower.

on the health bene ts of diving within, and it brings nothing but bene ts to the human being. More and more people are starting to wake up to this and starting to meditate and seeing their lives improve. F.W.: In the lm, you say directly that TM is not a sect its a technique. Yet you also quote some Vedanta-based sources and describe that what scientists call the Uni ed Field as the Atma, a Vedic term. When you meditate, do you feel like youre touching on a more secular-viewed, fundamental force of the universe or are you having a spiritual, Godconscious experience? D.L.: Its all of the above. Atma means the Self, with a capital S. And theres a line, Know yself. And also at ou Art; that same eld is also known as Brahman, which is totality. And its the Tao, the Kingdom of Heaven it is a thing that has always and forever been there. e Uni ed Field is eternal, unbounded, in nite, immutable and immortal. It has always been there. People have been sitting in meditation throughout time and they do it for a reason: to unfold their full potential and enjoy life. ey say, Mankind was not made to su er bliss is our nature. F.W.: You describe your own meditation experience as a lively silence that combines emotion and intellect and provides you with ideas. As an artist who meditates, how have you learned to di erentiate between mental chatter and true inspiration? D.L.: I use this analogy: Its like, how do you tell when youre in love with a girl? ere are lots and lots of girls out there, and you could be going down the street and passing by many, many girls. But one comes along and boom! you fall in love. You know when youre in love; its a euphoric feeling and a beautiful thing. Ideas come all the time, little chattering ideas and big ideas, but then some come along that you fall in love with. And I always say that I fall in love with cinema ideas for two reasons: one, the idea itself, and the second reason is the way cinema could say that idea.
Dan Brown themail@folioweekly.com

FolioWeekly Folio Weekly: It seems like a lot of your

F.W.: A er decades of practicing TM, have you encountered any misconceptions or even prejudices about meditation? D.L.: e misconceptions were always that this was some kind of Eastern religion or some kind of cult. Somebody told di erent people with certain religious groups that this [meditation] was not a good thing and this is absolutely not true. People from all religions practice TM. Its not against any religion and its not a religion. You dont have to even believe it and it will still work. I always say, Its good to be skeptical unless skepticism keeps you from something good. Now theres so much research