Professional Meditators

"No Doubt We're In The Last Days" News

8-29-2004

www.stuff.co.nz (Stuff New Zealand)

NEW ZEALAND - The New Zealand Maharishi Foundation, which seeks to spread peace and harmony through transcendental meditation, wants Kiwi businessfolk to contribute $15 million for a "peace palace" in central Auckland.

The Auckland Peace Palace would be the first of eight planned for New Zealand's cities and one of 3000 sought globally by the five million devotees of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, made famous by The Beatles in 1968. Since 2000, three of the 3000 have been built - all in the US.

The palace's $15 million price tag includes about $5 miliion for buying the land and constructing the building, while the rest is earmarked to help pay for 100 to 200 professional meditators. Getting the necessary seed funding for the project should not be the problem, rather, finding the land, Lodge said. This should be finalised this year, so building can begin next year.

Internationally, those who have dabbled with transcendental meditation include, famously, The Beatles and actor Clint Eastwood; movie director David Lynch, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, physicist John Hagelin, comedic actor Andy Kaufman and former US vice president Al Gore.