2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
David Lynch extolls value of transcendental meditation
By Debbie Kang on 9/29/05
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded transcendental meditation, a procedure practiced 20 minutes twice a day, sitting comfortably with the eyes closed.
Lynch said his first experience with transcendental meditation was "like the cables of the elevator were cut."
"I didn't know what transcendentalism was," Lynch said. "I didn't know what transcending was. I went and they took me to a little room and told me to meditate. The word 'unique' should be saved for that experience. It was beautiful."
Dr. Hagelin said that our brain is wired to experience a "inner unity" that connects everything, including human beings. This is the meditative state; it is also known as a "spiritual experience," the fourth major state of consciousness. At the meditative state, the body enters a profound state of rest that can be two to three times deeper than sleep.
"Life is fundamentally unified and superficially diverse," Dr. Hagelin said.
Dr. Hagelin also said that this type of experience was vital and "without the experience of the knowing and consciousness, people can go through life and they don't really know what they are."
"The specialization is not the evil," he said. "The evil is the specialization at the expense of knowing how to systematically expand comprehension to be global. Experience one's unbounded nature as universal consciousness. That is the organization's core nature."
The David Lynch Foundation will offer scholarships to students who are willing to learn the meditation techniques and who want to attend the schools, colleges, and universities that foster the consciousness-based approach to education.
"True happiness isn't out there," Lynch said. "True happiness is within. But where is this within and how do you get there? This is transcendental meditation. There's an ocean of it. It's called bliss. Bliss takes where happiness leaves off. If students can feel this bliss then that's all you need to know."
Lynch said his first experience with transcendental meditation was "like the cables of the elevator were cut."
"I didn't know what transcendentalism was," Lynch said. "I didn't know what transcending was. I went and they took me to a little room and told me to meditate. The word 'unique' should be saved for that experience. It was beautiful."
Dr. Hagelin said that our brain is wired to experience a "inner unity" that connects everything, including human beings. This is the meditative state; it is also known as a "spiritual experience," the fourth major state of consciousness. At the meditative state, the body enters a profound state of rest that can be two to three times deeper than sleep.
"Life is fundamentally unified and superficially diverse," Dr. Hagelin said.
Dr. Hagelin also said that this type of experience was vital and "without the experience of the knowing and consciousness, people can go through life and they don't really know what they are."
"The specialization is not the evil," he said. "The evil is the specialization at the expense of knowing how to systematically expand comprehension to be global. Experience one's unbounded nature as universal consciousness. That is the organization's core nature."
The David Lynch Foundation will offer scholarships to students who are willing to learn the meditation techniques and who want to attend the schools, colleges, and universities that foster the consciousness-based approach to education.
"True happiness isn't out there," Lynch said. "True happiness is within. But where is this within and how do you get there? This is transcendental meditation. There's an ocean of it. It's called bliss. Bliss takes where happiness leaves off. If students can feel this bliss then that's all you need to know."