Meditators aim to build Peace Palace in Swindon
Evening Advertiser, Swindon
4 September 2002
Forget more bobbies on the beat - crime in Swindon will be cut by yogic flyers spreading positive energy through meditation in a purpose-built Peace Palace.
That is the message of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
The movement was founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru who influenced the Beatles and thousands of others during the late 1960s.
The Maharishi has launched a campaign to set up 3,000 Peace Palaces in the world's largest communities - of which Swindon is one.
He and his followers say that Transcendental Meditation wipes out disorder, unhappiness and even world terrorism.
They think people enliven their consciousness through meditation, which in turn radiates an invincible force promoting peace in the surrounding environment.
Yogic flyers are more experienced practitioners who try to eliminate social stress by meditating while bouncing cross-legged on a mattress.
Transcendental Meditation followers want to install between 100 and 200 yogic flyers in Swindon.
Gerard Lambert, 47, has been teaching Transcendental Meditation in Swindon since 1989 and first learnt the technique to help him combat insomnia. He insists the benefits extend beyond the individual.
He said: "We live in a global village and if there is a stressful consciousness around the world then people are likely to have stressful reactions. If you bring coherence in the consciousness of the area and remove the tensions, you are not going to produce that kind of reaction."
The technique was introduced 50 years ago and is based on the Vedas - spiritual texts from ancient India.
Famous people who are said to practise the technique include former Tory party leader William Hague, businessman and broadcaster Sir John Harvey-Jones and former Cosmopolitan editor Marcelle D'Argy Smith.
Apart from the potential to create a new world order, followers of TM testify to its health benefits.
Louigi Thompson, 48, of Sevenhampton, said: "I had a very restless mind and I found it difficult to sleep. For a time I also suffered a period of depression and then I read an article about Transcendental Meditation in The Times.
"I was staggered by the effects. It clears your mind of all the cotton wool and you get on with everyday life with a sense of well-being."
It costs £1,280 to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique, a process involving three to four months' individual tuition.
Followers are approaching sponsors in Swindon to help them fund the Peace Palace project.
Picture: Caption reads:
"Mind over matter ... from left, Swindon meditators Suresh Panvalkr, Mike Dunn, Louigi Thompson, Trevor Morton-Holmes."
"Shhh, we're wiping out world terrorism"
Copyright 2002, Swindon Evening Advertiser.