David Lynch fans hold “worldwide group meditation” to honour late director’s legacy
David Lynch fans held a “worldwide group meditation” tonight (January 20) in honour of the late director’s legacy.
The Twin Peaks creator’s death was announced Thursday (January 16) by his family, which followed claims he was “forced to relocate from his house” due to the Los Angeles wildfires. He was aged 78.
Today would have been his 79th birthday and many fans marked the occasion on social media.
Just after 8pm GMT, fans around the world were invited by the late director’s children to a group meditation on Zoom in his honour.
Hosted by American Transcendental Meditation teacher and author Bob Roth, those on the call were asked to close their eyes for 10 minutes.
At the end of the call, Roth also played an audio clip of Lynch from September 12, 2024 at the launch of Meditate America which “is a project to bring meditation instructors from around the world to the United States and Canada, to share the benefits of meditation as a freely given community service”. It was Lynch’s last public message.
In the short statement, which Lynch, would often end his global talks on Transcendental Meditation with, he said: “May everyone be happy, may everyone be free of disease, may auspiciousness be seen everywhere, may suffering belong to no one. Peace. Jai Gurudev.”
Jai Gurudev was a former religious leader in northern India who was imprisoned for 20 months during a period of political unrest in 1975 and led the Doordarshi political party in the 1980s and 1990s, unsuccessfully campaigning for election to the Indian national parliament. He died in 2012 at an unconfirmed age of 116.
Roth also paid tribute to Lynch adding: “God bless you David Lynch. The whole world loves you, loves you. Fly high. Bye.”
He then invited fans to join the David Lynch Foundation for free group meditation sessions twice a day. Fans can join here.
Lynch began Transcendental Meditation in 1973, and wrote on his website that it enabled him to access to “pure consciousness” and gave him “effortless access to unlimited reserves of energy, creativity and happiness deep within”.
In 2022, Lynch unveiled his plans for a new multi-million dollar mental health program, with the Mulholland Drive director announcing initiative fund Transcendental Meditation training for 30,000 international college students, hoping to inspire the next generation to “become advanced peace-creating meditation experts and build a legacy of lasting global peace”.
In her recent tribute to the late director, Chaka Khan nodded to Lynch’s use of Transcendental Meditation and how it had inspired changes in her life.
“A visionary who introduced me to Transcendental Meditation through his Foundation, transforming my life and the lives of millions,” she wrote. “I’ll forever be grateful for his vision, leadership, and kindness, and will continue to find solace in the peace and unity of TM.”
Many celebrities have paid homage to Lynch since his death including Steven Spielberg, Edgar Wright, James Gunn, Hugh Jackman, Billy Corgan, Questlove and more – see more tributes here.
Yesterday (January 19), a famous landmark in Belgium, The Belfry of Bruges honoured the film-maker by playing the theme to TV series Twin Peaks in its bell tower.
The Belfry of Bruges is a medieval bell tower dating back to around 1240, and is one of the most famous landmarks in the city. The building has provided musical tributes to celebrities in the past, playing the Friends theme tune for the passing of Matthew Perry in 2023, and last year One Direction’s ‘You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful’ in honour of Liam Payne.
The post David Lynch fans hold “worldwide group meditation” to honour late director’s legacy appeared first on NME.
Damian Jones
NME
