Lynch has been a proponent of Transcendental Meditation for years, practicing the method since 1973, and has described it as a daily practice that provides “effortless access to limitless reserves of energy, creativity, and deep-down happiness” (via David Lynch Foundation). Lynch’s current initiative will invest roughly $500 million in its first year alone, in partnership with the Global Union of Scientists for Peace, an organization that aims to promote evidence-backed nonviolent approaches to preventing sociopolitical conflict.
In a promotional video for the initiative, Lynch discussed the importance of peace in a war-torn world (via PEOPLE):
“We don’t know what tomorrow will bring if we don’t achieve peace on this planet. This war in Ukraine, people said it was not going to happen, and now it has. People are dying. Cities are being destroyed. Things are very, very precarious, everyone knows it.
People do a lot of things to help humanity, but this has been going on for a long time. Talking, marching, singing, has not brought peace.”
In proposing an alternative way to solve these problems, Lynch emphasized meditation as a means to “begin to clear away” the emotions of stress and negativity inherent in the human experience. The director went on to credit Dr. Tony Nader for championing the Transcendental Meditation movement, which emphasizes that change must occur within the “collective consciousness.”
Details of the initiative reveal that meditation training will be funded for 10,000 students at Maharishi International University in the US (founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), 10,000 students at sister schools in India, and 10,000 students at partner universities around the world.
Dr. Nader also expressed his feelings about Lynch’s efforts:
“David Lynch is not only a brilliant filmmaker: he believes that world peace is attainable and achievable. His plan will do what all bombs can’t do: help us create real peace in the world.”
Lynch’s digital film “Inland Empire” recently returned to the big screen after undergoing a 4K remaster, made in association with janus movies.
