M.U.M. asks county to help secure funding

The Fairfield Daily Ledger/March 10, 2003
By Matt Mullenneaux

Jefferson County would sponsor loan for dorms; officials say there would be no cost to taxpayers.

Maharishi University of Management is seeking assistance from the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors in order to import 1,600 Vedic pandits from India.

M.U.M. is planning to begin building an additional portion of campus which will include six dormitories on the outskirts of Vedic City this year.

The dorms will be specifically designed to accommodate Vedic pandits, or peace-creating students specifically trained in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhis programs. A total of 40,000 pandits are expected to be permanently established in India in the next few months, according to the university.

The 1,600 group is a part of a larger group of 8,000 planned for the United States. These groups are part of a plan created by university founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to create permanent world peace using large groups of pandits practicing meditation.

Research has shown this reduces negativity in the environment, Vedic City Mayor Bob Wynne said. These are troubling times, and anything we can do to accomplish peace, in our opinion, is a good thing.

The plan has increased urgency because of the impending U.S. war against Iraq, Wynne said.