Most people know David Lynch for his movies about the dark side of life, but few know that he has been devoted to a Transcendental Meditation practice for the last 30 years. He describes being really angry when he started the practice at the age of 27, and how it really improved his life in beautiful ways. Now he is putting his money where his mouth is and has launched the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-based Education and World Peace. He plans to launch $7 billion (with a b) this year to go towards teaching TM in schools, award individual scholarships to TM-focused colleges, and expand schools' existing meditation programs. So far about 40 elementary and middle schools have signed up.
What a great concept. Can you imagine a world where children were taught meditation as part of the curriculum? It's hard to fathom what the world would be like when they grew up. Now that would be a great thing to see.
My mother complains of being told to meditate in a convent school in the 50s without any prompting of how to do so. And so many children come out of religious systems not really understanding the mechanics of prayer. I'm more interested in the physiological benefits of meditation myself, and from that viewpoint I agree, it's a great thing to teach children. My sister, a mainstream teacher, has a great interest in doing just that.
Posted by: genevieve | October 14, 2005 at 11:48 AM