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Japan: Maharishi University of Management hosts large delegation from Tokyo
by Global Good News staff writer

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2 June 2014

The two teachers of Transcendental Meditation—Maharishi University of Management (MUM) graduates Naoki Mizutani and his wife Yoko—who are directors of the Akasaka Transcendental Meditation Centre near Tokyo, wanted to give other Japanese people an opportunity to experience the special environment of their alma mater in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.

They knew Maharishi University of Management well as a place where Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's technologies of consciousness are widely practised, where Consciousness-Based Education is central to the curriculum, and Maharishi Vedic Science, Maharishi Vedic architecture, Vedic organic food, and Maharishi Ayur-Veda health care are part of daily life. The couple wanted their countrymen to see the whole picture so they could consider how to implement the various technologies in Japan.

When the tour was announced, almost immediately 30 people signed up. The group arrived in Fairfield in April, just at the time many flowering trees around the campus were in bloom. As this was just when cherry trees in Japan were also blossoming, the group felt right at home.

The tour included visits to almost all university departments, including the Sustainable Living Center with its many green building innovations including extensive use of solar. One visitor said the Sustainable Living Center has a wonderful, welcoming feeling and when you go inside you 'feel like you are in the arms of mother earth'.

At Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment the group observed younger students in the classrooms, and later some of the older students held a panel discussion with them. One student, who had just spent two years in Japan where she became fluent in Japanese, was able to immediately translate everything.

At the Maharishi Vedic Science department they met the faculty. They toured the campus and visited, among other areas, the student center and the education department. They also interacted with the community in a variety of ways. For example, one evening the guests gave a demonstration of Japanese calligraphy and Japanese art in the Argiro Student Center. Over a hundred local people came and were happily engaged in learning about Japanese painting and calligraphy. The Japanese visitors in turn were inspired by the reception of the public.

The Mizutanis hoped that enabling a group of Japanese practitioners of Transcendental Meditation to experience the richness of the MUM campus would inspire some to enrol in the university. By the end of the week, members of the Japanese delegation were transformed. 'Everyone is still talking about what a great time they had in Fairfield and how inspired they all felt to see so many bright and blissful children, students, staff, and faculty, and the whole creative community,' said Mr Mizutani.

A student in the David Lynch MA in Film programme produced a video of the weeklong trip, which has been shown to many people in Japan. Everyone who has seen the film is very moved by it. Within a few days of the video being posted on Facebook^® there were over 7,000 viewings. An administrator of Maharishi's programmes in Japan observed that the film represents the beginning of a new and transformed relationship between that country and America.

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Copyright © 2014 Global Good News Service

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