Videoconference with David Lynch

Written and photographed by Tracy Chan

Filmmaker speaks on meditation and the creative process.
Lynch, who developed a nightmarish and surreal film style now know as Lynchian, is also a coffee fanatic.

At times stern, at others jovial and animated, award-winning filmmaker David Lynch held a question-and-answer videoconference via iChat at the Center for Korean Studies on Wednesday, April 23rd. He was hosted by the Hawaii Center for Consciousness-Based Education. Lynch is best known for writing and directing films like Eraserhead (1977), Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001). What most people don’t know about Lynch is that he is a practitioner of Trancendental Meditation, a  Consciousness-based form of meditation introduced in the West about 50 years ago by  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

So how did Lynch, known for his nightmarish, surreal images and mastery of sound in his films, get into meditation?
“Suddenly in my life I got interested in meditation, whereas before I couldn’t have cared less,” said Lynch. “Because it suddenly dawned on me that meditation was a way to go within. And I heard a phrase, ‘true happiness is not out there, true happiness lies within.’ But they don’t say where the within is, and they don’t say how to get there.” For him, he said, meditation is a way to dive within and find true happiness and ideas.

Lynch also spoke with audience members about his beginnings in the film industry and the process of ideas that inspire him.  “I get ideas sometimes, and sometimes I fall in love with them” he said. “As I always say, I don’t often get the whole film at one time. I get fragments of it…when you catch an idea, you see it, you hear it you feel it, and it tells you exactly the way it wants to be. Then, stay true to those ideas as you translate them to cinema.”

When asked about his diet or whether he uses any stimulants or drugs to drive his creativity, Lynch held up his coffee mug, to the delight of the audience.  “Caffeine is very good, but meditation is even better,” he said. No surprise for the man who has his own signature coffee blend, available in espresso, decaf, and house roast.

No matter where the questions were directed, Lynch kept returning to the topic of meditation with an unmistakable enthusiasm. Despite his affirmation that we live in a dark and troubled world, Lynch said that meditation births understanding and affects the collective consciousness in a positive way. “It’s the secret to world peace,” he said.

Dr. John Hagelin, a world-renowned quantum physicist, professor and peace advocate, joined the videoconference later to speak on the link between transcendental meditation and quantum concepts.

For more on David Lynch and his efforts to promote meditation in the educational system, please visit www.davidlynchfoundation.org.