Hello.
I really enjoy being at a press conference
of any description, but such a worthwhile
cause is particularly gratifying.
But firstly, I'm behind a podium now and that
gives me a certain degree of authority.
Plus, I'm part of a press conference with
esteemed veterans, laudable military men,
brilliant doctors, wonderful designers, and
one of the worlds greatest ever filmmakers.
In a way, this sort of validates me as a human
and my apparently formerly secret brilliance.
Let's get that message out there.
Can't keep my light under a bushel, there's
not a bushel big enough.
Yeah, I'm honored to be part of the David
Lynch TM Foundation.
My personal experiences, which are really
all I'm qualified to speak about and I'm enormously
qualified to speak about them, don't really
talk about anything else, to be honest.
Ah, The Resilient Warror.
Which, actually I was going to call Booky
Wook 3.
The Resilient Warrior.
Thank heavens you stepped in.
My personal experiences with Transcendental
Meditation began about 14 months ago.
I was making, and indeed am making, it's taking
ages, a documentary about the pursuit of happiness
in our contemporary culture saturated as we
are with consumerism and obsession with commercialism
and fame.
Transient pleasures, superficial pleasures
that provide little nutrition.
I used to be poor, now I'm not.
And I didn't used to be famous, now I am.
And I thought that both of these significant
transitions might bring a certain amount of
satisfaction.
They did, a bit initially.
I was a devoted drug addict for a long while.
I really, really committed to that drug addiction.
And in fact today, on the launch of this initiative,
and on the day of tonights event which I'm
honored to be part of, is serendipitously
eight years exactly to the day since I gave
up drugs and alcohol.
Thanks.
One never likes to assume there will be an
applause there, but I knew that I was in America
and it was likely.
In England, there would have been a roll of
the eyes.
You don't get applauded for giving up drugs,
just sort of... you might be offered tea.
So, I began...so I met Bob Roth, who's been
floating about the place, not literally, his
meditation practice isn't that good, just...
his transcendence is still, I don't know sort
of psychological as opposed to physical, but
some people think he might float in his private
time and what he does is up to him.
Who are we to judge?
So I met Bobby Roth, wanted to learn about
Transcendental Meditation due to to my dissatisfaction
with some of the pleasures that I talked about:
drugs, the fame, the celebrity, the consumerism,
the wealth, all of these things that pledge
happiness but deliver so little of substance.
And in learning about Transcendental Meditation
I found very quickly access to a deeper state
of happiness which is very profound and absolute.
See, like as I said I can only talk about
my personal experiences, what it felt to me
was like the dissolution of my idea of myself,
like I felt like separateness evaporated,
I felt this tremendous sense of oneness.
I find it hard, I'm quite an erratic thinker,
quite an adrenalized person, but through meditation
I felt this absolute sort of beautiful serenity
and selfless connection.
You know my sort of tendency towards selfishness
I felt like a...
I felt that kind of exposed as a superficial
and pointless perspective to have.
I felt a very relaxed sense of oneness.
I felt that...
I felt love.
You know sort of love for myself, but also
love for everybody else.
A constant sense of absolute love between
all of us.
This for me is a beautiful thing.
My recovery is contingent upon a spiritual
component and whilst I know the foundation
likes to necessarily focus on the practical
and pragmatic aspects of this wonderful process,
for me the spiritual element has been valuable.
I'm particularly happy to learn that it is
applicable to people that have endured such
phenomenal and extreme experience as some
of the military speakers that we've heard
today.
Because, for me, they exist on a promontory
of such phenomenal and terrifying experience
with such courage and bravery, it's difficult
I think to have legitimate empathy for people
that have gone through so much and if there's
anything we can do to assist people, if there
is any technique that can make their suffering
temporarily or permanently alleviate, than
this is something we have to research and
learn more about, because, for me, what I've
discovered is that Transcendental Meditation
is useful to me not because of a unique set
of circumstances, not because of my formerly
secret brilliance, no.
But, because I am a human being.
And it is applicable to all human beings.
And what's really good about that, is literally
everyone in this room is one.
And in fact I believe, David will have to
confirm this, that all human beings on our
planet are human.
And beings.
So, we're laughing.
We're in hysterics.
It's a good thing, because this technique
is applicable to all human beings in all situations
no matter how extreme, trivial or mundane,
someone, everyone, can draw from it.
It's been incredibly useful for me.
The other day, as I was just telling David
as a matter of fact, while I was still sitting
on the podium before I got seduced by the
Clint Eastwood video and then subsequent speakers,
it made me think of a brilliant idea.
I think it creates space in my mind for...
I had a really wonderful moment of creativity
during TM.
So, it's like you know, there are privileges
and luxuries that are accessible, but also
people that, as we've heard today, are in
extreme states of suffering can benefit from
it too.
So I'm very, very grateful to be involved,
I'm very grateful to you, David, and to you
Bob, and everyone who has spoken today, and
to all of you for attending.
Thank you very much.
Cheers.
