Watch Twin Peaks Director David Lynch's Commencement Speech

June 27, 2016 4:22 PM EDT

David Lynch 2016 MUM Commencement Q and A

David Lynch:

[applause] I did an interview with the Des Moines Register and said that this would be a strange commencement speech and I meant just strange because it’s a questions and answers, not a speech. So here goes. First of all, congratulations to all of you graduating students [applause]. And I did not do all those things that they mentioned earlier [laughter] and those things I did do, I couldn’t have done without Maharishi Mahesh Yogi [applause].

David Lynch:

Hello.

Student 1/Meya Bekele:

Can everybody hear me? Yes, okay. My first question is: For many of us who are graduating today, we’ll be going out and getting jobs, how do we reconcile a job or a career with our dharma, or purpose in life?

David Lynch:

Wow. [laughter] Well, they say, if you are meditating regularly and transcending you get big, big support from Mother Nature. And we all have our likes and dislikes and things we really love, you have a way you want to go, and chances are, with your brilliant, shining face and consciousness glowing you will find work that you love and it will go easy and effortless. And I hope that’s true. [applause]

Student 2/Asaad Saad:

You have met Maharishi, long time ago, and I’m wondering if you can—how can you describe Maharishi and if you can tell us a story about him? And are you going to release a movie about him, and soon? [applause]

David Lynch:

So many people here today in this dome spent years with Maharishi and I wasn’t so fortunate. I was just a regular mediator out in the world meditating away, but I did get to know him through his tapes and did meet him a few times and talked to him via television and the phone many times. And you know, we all have our feelings about Maharishi. None could be greater. To me, the greatest master that ever walked the earth. Maybe some could be as great, but none could be greater. Maharishi brought out the total knowledge, Vedic knowledge, and the technologies that can lead a human being to enlightenment, and technologies that can bring this world to real peace. Real peace is not just the absence is war; real peace is the absence of all negativity.

Maharishi had the greatest sense of humor, he had the greatest way with his hands, he had the greatest laugh, he had the greatest voice, he could talk the—so beautifully and explain abstract concepts that just thrilled the people that heard him. And he gave out this knowledge, this profound knowledge, in the most beautiful, with the most beautiful personality; a personality built to talk to the people of today. As thrilling and thrilling and thrilling for me to watch Maharishi on Maharishi Channel, listen to his knowledge, and be inspired by him to keep meditating, keep on the path to supreme enlightenment, and to know that enlightenment is possible, is such a beautiful thing for the human being.

We all have the birthright to one day enjoy supreme enlightenment. This is great and hopeful news. And we have the probability very soon, thanks to Guru Dev and Maharishi, to have real peace on earth. So, Maharishi, in my mind, is the greatest and so, so, so thrilled to be, you know, part of what he brought out for this world [applause]. Oh yeah, the movie. You know, it would be impossible to do a movie, to really tell the whole story of Maharishi and what he brought out to the world, but I’ve started a film and once Twin Peaks is finished, I hope to get back to it and at least hit some of the highlights of what Maharishi brought out. Thank you [applause].

Student 3/Laura Muzzarelli:

Hi.

David Lynch:

Hi.

Student 3:

Today I’m graduating with a lot of my film family over there and my question is involving movies: what’s one thing that you learned on one of your film sets that then became a life lesson?

David Lynch:

Always have final cut [laughter/applause].

Student 4/Adam Delfiner:

First, thank you very much for being here; you’re a great inspiration to all of us. My question, it’s a bit of a big question, and that is: how do you see the world looking in ten years and what do you see as our role as graduates in fulfilling that vision?

David Lynch:

Such a beautiful question. If you watch CNN you would think in ten years we’re still going to be in a whole lot of trouble, and but here just on this one day back in Maharishi Vedic City and around this university, I’m hearing about so many fantastic things that are going around all—going on all around the world. We’re in the middle of a transition from a dark time to a beautiful, beautiful time; a time of peace and affluence for everyone. We’ve all heard about the one percenters and the ninety-nine percenters, and we’re heading to a world, we’ll be one hundred percenters being happy and living a life of peace. And I see these very great graduating students playing a big role in hastening this transition to its conclusion, peace on earth.

You’ve all got the stuff and you’re all motivated to, you know, not only fulfill your own desires but help bring peace, Consciousness-BasedSM education, education for enlightenment, to many, many, many people and it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. And thank you for your choosing of this university, Maharishi University of Management, for, you know, learning so much here and taking that out into the world to help the world. [applause].

Student 1:

Okay. My second question is: can you tell us about a moment when you fell in love with an idea? What was that like?

David Lynch:

Falling in love with an idea? I always equate ideas sort of like fish—we don’t make the fish, we catch the fish. And so it’s hard to take credit for an idea when you didn’t really make it, you caught it. So, it’s very fortunate when one catches an idea that is thrilling to that person. You fall in love with an idea and for me it may just be a fragment of a whole thing like a script, or a whole film, but this little fragment is so thrilling and you fall in love. And it’s happened many, many, many, many times for me. And once you get one fragment, it’s like bait on a hook to catch more fragments. You drop it in the, in the, in the water or deeper into, you know, that beautiful ocean of consciousness, and lo and behold others will swim to it and a story will emerge, or a painting will emerge, or a chair will emerge.

Student 1:

Thank you.

David Lynch:

Thank you very much [applause].

Student 2:

So, in addition to Transcendental Meditation®—

David Lynch:

What a happy face you have.

Student 2:

Thank you. [laughter] I’m always happy, and—

David Lynch:
Yeah, I can see that.

Student 2:

And the translation of my name is: happier happy.

David Lynch:

Really?

Student 2:

Yeah.

David Lynch:

Fantastic.

Student 2:

Thank you.

David Lynch:

You came to the right school.

Student 2:

Exactly. So besides Transcendental Meditation, what is the most important thing you practice daily in order to achieve your goals, your daily goals, and get you to success?

David Lynch:

Transcendental Meditation, it’s obviously the most important thing to do day in and day out. Transcending is the key to a better and better life, and this idea is catching on more and more in the world. The receptivity to Transcendental Meditation is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to so many in this room and so many else, others around the world, it’s really happening. It’s built for the human being and transcending—our nervous system is built to transcend and experience that unbounded, eternal, infinite, immortal, immutable ocean of pure consciousness within. It’s money in the bank. Meditate regularly. And then the second thing I do is drink coffee [laughter/applause].

Student 2:

Your coffee?

David Lynch:
Yeah, my coffee.

Student 3:

I think in this day and age a lot of us can get distracted and rush through life, so I guess my question is: to you, what makes a meaningful life?

David Lynch:

Oh, that’s a really great question. I think, well, a meaningful life—they say that we, most all human beings, enjoy just waking, sleeping, and dreaming states of consciousness. This thing of consciousness is not taught in schools, most schools, it is here. And consciousness is an abstract thing to, you know, many people. It’s an abstract thing, really, to everyone. But consciousness is the “I am-ness” of life. We can only say, “I am,” because of consciousness. And without consciousness, we wouldn’t exist. And if we did exist, we wouldn’t know it [laughter]. Every human being has consciousness, but not every human being has the same amount.

In schools, I look at it sort of like this: in a classroom, all the students pretend are gasoline-powered engines and some have four cylinders, some have six cylinders, some have twelve cylinders. They’re all asked to go the same speed. And if you could give these students, these gasoline-engine students, a technique to dive within and experience the ocean of unbounded, infinite cylinders, they would transcend, experience that, and infuse some cylinders. And pretty soon Susie would have six, or eight, or sixteen, or sixteen hundred cylinders. Sammy would have four thousand cylinders. And it would go like that. The potential for each one of those students is an infinite number of cylinders. Enlightenment. Substitute the word consciousness for cylinders, and you see how it goes.

It’s, they say consciousness alone is; that ocean of pure consciousness within is modern science’s Unified Field, it’s the Kingdom of Heaven, it’s Atma, meaning the Self. There’s a line, “Know Thy Self.” This is the Self they’re talking about. The Self with capital S. It’s the home of Total Knowledge, it’s, it is totality, it’s the reality, it’s the source, course, and goal of life. It’s something every human being should experience and when you do experience it, life gets better, and better, and better. Transcending, they say, is a holistic experience, meaning all avenues of life improve. It’s for the human being. The meaning of life, real meaning, why we’re here, is to unfold higher states of consciousness, four of which above waking, sleeping, and dreaming, culminating in Unity Consciousness.

And this, they say, is supreme enlightenment, total fulfillment, no more suffering, no more negativity, immortality, no more having to die. It’s something that’s every human being’s birthright to one day enjoy, it just needs unfolding [applause].

Student 3:

Thank you.

You bet.

Student 4:

Everything you do in this world is about helping to unfold the full potential of human beings, as you’ve just so beautifully expressed, and from there, helping then those human beings help others and help others to create a more peaceful, happy, fulfilled world. So my question is: how do you define leadership and what makes a good leader?

David Lynch:

I think Maharishi is the best leader. And I think Maharishi, number one, brought out such profound knowledge, wisdom, and was able to answer all the difficult questions that came his way to keep on keeping on. All—every single day, they say twenty-two hours a day; Maharishi-Maharishi was out giving out this knowledge and getting it to the people all around the world. And he inspired people: He inspired people to go out and help. And I think this is a great definition of a leader: someone who inspires others to start the Transcendental Meditation, become a light unto themselves, start enjoying life, walking away from suffering, and then helping out getting it to other people so that we can get that fantastic peace on earth, help people support and start those peace-creating groups that will bring the real peace to our world. Thank you [applause]. There’s more?

Student 1:

Yeah, I have one more.

David Lynch:

One more? Okay.

Student 1:

Alright. Can you talk to us about intuition and how do we know when to trust it?

David Lynch:

Intuition? They say intuition is sort of feeling and intellect going at the same time. It’s a knowingness. As I always say, it’s knowing when something isn’t quite correct and then knowing a way to make it correct. And intuition is, I always say, the number one tool for the artist, I think the number one tool for people in business, perhaps the number one tool for human beings. Knowing how to do something, how to make it feel correct for you. And they say this ocean of consciousness within is an ocean of solutions. So as Maharishi says, “There are no problems, there’s only solutions.”

Student 1:

Thank you.

David Lynch:

You bet.

Student 2:

Let’s go back in the days to the Pennsylvania Academy-Academy of Fine Arts. Three questions—

David Lynch:

Whoa.

Student 2:

Will you make the same choices you made thirty years ago? Will you see yourself different than who you are today? And then maybe an advice for graduates for things to avoid, maybe?

David Lynch:

Oh. I was very lucky. I was going to the academy in the late ‘60s when drugs were really, really, really becoming popular. And for some reason my friends said, “David, don’t you take these things.” They were all taking them, but for some reason they warned me against it. So I guess I-I dodged a bullet. I’d say, you know, there’s many, many different kinds of drugs in the world and there are pharmaceutical drugs that save lives, but if you watch TV, you see there’s many, many drugs that have tremendous side effects and some of the side effects are worse than the illness you took the drug to get rid of. So it’s—what Maharishi says is, “Water the root and enjoy the fruit.” Get it from the deepest level.

The experienced gardener waters the root, enlivens that sap, and the whole tree comes up to perfection. If people can hear that at a young age and get with the program, start their meditation; it’s going to save them a lot of trouble. They’re going to be a lot happier, they’re going to be more self-sufficient, self-assured, filled with energy instead of fatigue, relationships will improve. Schools that have this, the fighting stops, the teacher burnout stops, people get along with one another, grades go up. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing. I hated school. I hated almost every minute in school. I loved everything outside of school, but it was a nightmare to me. So boring. I don’t think I learned anything I took with me. But I think if I had been to a consciousness-based school, it would have been completely different. I don’t know if I answered your question [applause].

David Lynch to Trustee:

Is it good?

Trustee:

Yeah.

David Lynch to audience:

Jai Guru Dev. Thank you so much. Congratulations again students. All the very best to you.

[applause]

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Cory Booker to Grads: ‘Tell Your Truth’