World Peace News: Top Stories

Meditation and the art of capital-raising
by Lesley Springall

Sunday Star Times Translate This Article
28 August 2004

On 28 August 2004 Sunday Star Times reported: The New Zealand Maharishi Foundation plans to build Peace Palaces to spread peace and harmony through Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme. It is a joy for Global Good News service to feature this news, which indicates the success of the life-supporting programmes Maharishi has designed to bring fulfilment to the field of world peace.

Writer Springall describes the plans to raise $15 million for an Auckland Peace Palace, which would be the first of eight planned for New Zealand and one of 3000 proposed for the world.

The article talks of various famous people who are attaching their names to the project, including 'former New York marathon winner and healthcare product manufacturer Allison Roe, Auckland District Health Board mental health director Dr Nick Argyle, McKay Shipping chief executive Craig Harris, former Young & Rubicam boss Peter Scutts, Auckland property developer Greg Liggins and New Zealand Institute of Management Canterbury divisional head Reg Garters'.

According to the foundation's public relations advisor, Tony Edmunds, there are many top level business people who are involved in the project and are regular practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation Technique.

One supporter is described as: 'former PSM Holdings chief executive, North Harbour coach and All Black selector Peter Thorburn. He said he turned to Transcendental Meditation more than a decade ago following the death of his wife'.

After some time Thorburn discontinued his practice, he started again about six months ago after a stressful coaching tour. He says, 'It helps me to relax. It makes a real difference to your general sense of well-being.'

Not directly involved with the plans for the Peace Palace, although a proponent of the idea, is Michael Hill of jewellery retainer Michael Hill International who says that with meditation, the mind can 'unleash unbelievably powerful inner thoughts, particularly business decisions: where one wants to go and what one wants to do with one's life, all becomes clear.'

The aim of the Auckland Peace Palace is to draw regular twice-daily meditators numbering more than the square root of 1% of the city's population, or about 100 people. They say that the practice of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation can reduce violent crime, ethnic tensions and even terrorism when enough people are practising in the area.

Although some people are skeptical, the New Zealand Maharishi Foundation directors Graeme Lodge and Martin Jelley—son of Arch Jelley, coach of Kiwi runner John Walker—offer proof of their claims with the results of over 600 scientific studies.

The $15 million cost of the Peace Palace includes about $5 million for land purchase and building construction, the rest of the funds are slated to help support the 100 to 200 professional TM practitioners. Lodge feels that it shouldn't be difficult to raise the seed funding for the project, the problem could be finding the land. They expect to finalize finding the land this year so building can begin next year.

Every day Global Good News documents the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the world and highlights the need for introducing Natural Law based—Total Knowledge based—programmes to bring the support of Nature to every individual, raise the quality of life of every society, and create a lasting state of world peace.

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