David Lynch has unveiled his plans for a new multi-million dollar mental health program.
The Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director announced the initiative on Thursday (April 14) to fund Transcendental Meditation (TM) training for 30,000 international college students, hoping to inspire the next generation to “become advanced peace-creating meditation experts and build a legacy of lasting global peace,” according to a press release.
Launched in partnership with Global Union of Scientists for Peace, the program plans to invest approximately $500 million in its first year.
“We don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring if we don’t get peace on this planet,” Lynch said in an accompanying promotional video. “This war in Ukraine, people were saying it’s not going to happen, and now it’s happened. People are dying. Cities are being destroyed. Things are very, very precarious. Everybody knows it.”
The initiative will fund meditation training for 10,000 students at Maharishi International University in the US, 10,000 students at the sister school in India, and 10,000 students at partner universities in 10 “major hot spots” around the world.
“People do many things to help humanity, but this has been going on for a long time,” Lynch added. “Talking, marching, singing – it’s not brought peace.”
The 76-year-old also stated his belief that stress and negativity will “start lifting” once more people engage with the meditative practices outlined in his work.
“They’ll start getting more energy. They’ll start getting more creativity. They’ll start being nicer to one another. They won’t want to hurt anyone,” he said. “It’ll be a world at peace.”
The initiative aims to “not only reduce stress in” the students’ “own lives, but create a powerful force of coherence on a larger scale,” an official description noted.
Dr. Tony Nader, author and leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, praised the move.
“David Lynch is not only a brilliant filmmaker — he believes that world peace is attainable and can be achieved,” he said. “His plan will do what all the bombs cannot do: help us create actual peace in the world.”
Earlier this year (February 7), it was reported that Lynch had been cast in an undisclosed role in Steven Spielberg‘s new film The Fabelmans.
The semi-autobiographical film was first announced last year, and is loosely based on the E.T. director’s childhood. Spielberg has written the script alongside Tony Kushner.
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