Filmmaker David Lynch, founder of an international charity that has brought Transcendental Meditation to more than one million under-resourced children worldwide, has issued a challenge to the world’s philanthropists: use a fraction of your wealth to establish large groups of advanced peace-creating meditation experts in Ukraine and other critical hotspots, and leave a legacy of world peace that will last for generations.

“The problem of violence, at its source, is stress—the escalating buildup of political and societal stress in collective consciousness that fuels conflict and warfare,” Lynch said.

“The only solution is to reduce the stress in collective consciousness—in society as a whole,” Lynch said. “Truly, there is no other way.”

Lynch said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that the solution to violence is not through a reliance on conventional weapons, nuclear weapons, economic sanctions, or diplomatic negotiations. “To continue to trust in these failed methods is, at this point, clearly insane,” Lynch said.

More than 400 published studies have documented the benefits of Transcendental Meditation for reducing stress in the individual—for healing trauma, reducing anxiety and depression, and promoting health and resilience. Many of the studies have been funded by more than $35 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Defense.

At the same time, over 50 demonstrations and 23 scientific studies have documented the benefits of large group practice of TM and its related advanced techniques on society as a whole.

“The research has been carefully scrutinized by independent scholars and accepted for publication in leading, peer-reviewed academic journals,” said John Hagelin, Ph.D., International President of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace and President of Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. “In every case, this approach produced marked reductions in crime, social violence, terrorism, and war, and increased peace and positivity in society.”

“There has never been a more effective, more extensively validated approach to defusing acute societal stress and preventing social conflict—or stopping war in war-torn areas,” said Tony Nader, M.D., Ph.D., a Harvard- and MIT-trained neuroscientist and medical doctor who is the international director of Transcendental Meditation organizations in 100 countries.

“Consciousness is the core essence and primary driver of individual life. And now we understand that collective consciousness is the primary driver—and the key determinant—of life of society,” said Dr. Nader, who also serves as the Chair of the Global Union of Scientists for Peace.

The peace plan calls for establishing a peace-creating group of 1,000 meditation experts in a college or university in 10 countries. Through their twice daily meditation practice, these groups of students will reduce stress and develop brain potential in their own lives and, at the same time, produce a powerful influence of coherence and harmony in the collective consciousness of the entire nation. “Reducing societal stress is the basis of preventing violence and conflict in the nation,” Dr. Hagelin said.

Anchoring the peace plan will be the establishment of two flagship Universities of World Peace, each with 10,000 students, at Maharishi International University in Iowa, and on the other side of the globe, in central India.

“These large groups of 10,000 experts will help ensure that no force of negativity ever rises to disrupt peace and harmony in the family of nations,” said Dr. Hagelin.

Two-Pronged Approach to Peace

1. Establish a Flagship University of World Peace in Two Countries
   Each University with 10,000 students engaged in these peace-creating programs
   At Maharishi International University in Iowa, and in central India.
2. Establish a University of Peace Affiliate in Ten Countries
   Each University with 1,000 students engaged in these peace-creating programs
   Located in critical hotspots throughout the world: Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, China, Israel, Lebanon, Armenia, Pakistan (or Punjab), Yemen, and Venezuela.

About the David Lynch Foundation: The David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace was launched in 2005 to bring Transcendental Meditation to vulnerable adults and children in need, including veterans with PTSD, under-resourced youth, frontline healthcare workers, women survivors of domestic violence, and police and other first responders.

About the Global Union of Scientists for Peace: The Global Union of Scientists for Peace is an emerging force in the prevention of terrorism, war, and social violence through the application of cutting-edge, field-tested solutions in the areas of conflict resolution, national security, and global peace.

About Maharishi International University: Maharishi International University (MIU) is the world’s foremost university featuring Consciousness-Based Education®—which incorporates developmental technologies, like TM, to systematically unfold the full potential of the brain. MIU was founded in 1971 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is accredited through the doctoral level, and offers a full spectrum of academic programs.