Absolute king David Lynch is as committed to saving the planet as he is to publishing a daily weather report. The legendary director has a plan for world peace: a transcendental meditation program for college students worldwide. The $500 million initiative, announced April 14, aims to “establish large groups of peace-creating experts worldwide to diffuse the buildup of political tensions that fuel conflict and warfare,” per a press release. According to the release, transcendental meditation has proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression as well as heal trauma.
“We don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring if we don’t get peace on this planet,” Lynch said in a promotional video shared on his adorably dated website, filming over Zoom in what appears to be his woodworking shop. “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. Talking, marching, singing. It’s not brought peace.”
The press release explains the plan in more detail:
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.
Lynch has sadly not directed a film in 15 years, but at least he’s doing something good while depriving us of his cinematic glory.