Argiro Student Center, America’s first student center constructed according to the ancient principles of Vedic architecture for harmony with natural law.

My challenge is that when I write, I love to keep writing, which means I take forever to get an article just right.  It takes HOURS to write one and I think the fact that I tend to be a perfectionist sometimes takes away the joy of writing - I find it harder to get motivated because of this tendency.  That’s partially why you haven’t heard from me in a while.

Corinne Edwards, a long time subscriber and dear friend, once wrote a comment not long ago that maybe I ought to just write short snippets and write more often - that way it’s isn’t as overwhelming.

Good idea but the problem is once I start writing, I’m simply incapable of giving you short snippets.  The moment my fingers start tapping on the keyboard, ideas pop up and I end up spending virtually the whole morning or afternoon writing and rewriting this one article that was supposed to be “short, sweet and simple.”

Nada.

Partial View of Maharishi University Campus

Today I am inspired to give you an update about my experience during  Visitor’s Weekend at Maharishi University of Management two weeks ago.  But before we go into that, let me just give you a quick update if you’re new here.

For years I’ve wanted to go back to school.  In the late 80’s I had gone to Fordham University part-time for an MBA but when Merrill Lynch recruited me away, I ended up dropping out.   I became enmeshed with the demands of being a stockbroker - I no longer had time for anything else but I remembered very much enjoying the academic environment.  It was a lot of fun, not to mention simulating.

About a decade later, I contracted the school bug again and applied to Arizona State University (ASU) for admittance into their aviation management program.  I got accepted but after looking at the numbers, I felt it wasn’t worth taking on huge loans for a degree in aviation.    It just didn’t feel right so I turned them down.  I was hoping for more scholarships and grants but when they didn’t offer me any, I decided not to go there.

New Friends During Visitor's Weekend (Left to Right: Amar, Jeremiah and Me. Shahn is the guy in the back.)

Interestingly enough, this decision turned out to be prophetic because  I was eventually offered the opportunity to undergo special flight training to make aviation history.  For those of you who don’t know me, I became the world’s first deaf instrument rated pilot in 2006. Had I gone to ASU, I might not have made it into the history books.

Isn’t it interesting what happens when we make fateful decisions like that?  Amazing.

Fast forward to 2009.  After coming off a fantastic year as a professional speaker in 2008, I suddenly hit a brick wall in January 2009.  Life as I knew it began to take me on a strange twisted road of sorts where I felt totally out of kilter.  While I am not prone to depression, it sure felt like it!   I knew there was something shifting inside me and it was utterly confusing.  I found myself wondering where I was going to go next.

Meditation Dome (one of them which can fit THOUSANDS of people)

I began to look for something to simulate me intellectually.   Eventually it dawned on me that maybe this was a sign for me to look at going back to school again.

But this time instead of looking into “regular” university programs like the MBA, Psychology or something like that, I wanted to find a curriculum that incorporated some aspect of spirituality.

Unfortunately, not many universities offer this but after doing a Google search using “spiritual psychology,” I was led to University of Santa Monica and Maharishi University.  If you go back and read Miracles Do Happen When Spirit Puts Strong Desire In Your Heart, you’ll get an idea of what happened after that search.

That was two weeks ago.

Lobby of Argiro Student Center

On the 2 hour drive to the university from Moline airport, I shocked to see cornfield after cornfield.  I could have sworn seeing scary images of “Children of the Cornfield” dancing in my head as we sped by.  Luckily, it was too early in the day.   LOL.

If I had been Christopher Columbus that day, I might have thought the whole world was flat!  I found myself thinking, “What a great place for pilots because there are plenty of places to land in an emergency.”

Let me tell you, I made more friends in 4 days then I’ve made in 4 years in my current hometown.   The students and faculty alike had this sense of incredible peace about them.  Their eyes were bright and shiny.   Words that flowed forth were eloquent, clean and extremely articulate.    I had no trouble lip-reading most of them, a huge bonanza.  I was very excited to be among such well spoken people for obvious reasons.

True Wisdom

Throughout the weekend, I must have shed tears of joy not once, but at least two or three times.  I felt this rare sense of cohesiveness while I was there - something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.  Something was definitely up.

By the time the weekend was over, we were all hugging each other.  A couple of guys picked me off the floor and gave me a squeeze!  I was like, “Wow, this is totally amazing!”   On the flight back home, every time I reminisced about the weekend, my eyes got moist again.

We were all given an opportunity to sample a class in progress on the last day.  I picked the Sanskrit class because that’s one of the courses I’d be taking.    I went with my new friend Amar Sastry who will be a classmate of mine since he’s applying to the same program (see photo immediately below- he’s on the right right in a black top).  Update:  I’m totally stoked to announce Amar was accepted.  Congrats Amar!

The first thing I did was to see if I could understand the professor (Dr. David Pohlman) without having to rely on the interpreter who was with me throughout the weekend.  To my relief, this professor was articulate.  But then he did something that made my heart grow heavy.

He played an audio recording for the class.

The joy vanished in an instant, replaced by concern and fear.   i thought, “How will I participate in this class since I can’t hear the recordings?”

Cool Peeps From Visitor's Weekend

The interpreter (Christine Boxerman - see photo below) suggested I introduce myself to the professor at break-time and share my concerns.

Dr. Pohlman’s first question was whether or not I could hear at all (since I speak so well, it’s a common misconception by most people to think I can hear too).   I told him that despite my ability to speak, I still rely on lip-reading and/or the written word to get the same information others are getting.

Not once did this wonderful young professor’s demeanor crumble with fear or concern (which is how most people tend to respond when they are first presented with an unfamiliar challenge where there are no obvious solutions).  Instead, he smiled and very peacefully said, “I’m confident you can do this.  We will find a way to make this work.”   I could have hugged him right then and there!

Christine Boxerman, "Visitor's Weekend Interpreter"

At the end of that class, the Sanskrit professor asked those of us who were visitors if we had any questions or comments.   Wiping away new found tears (I’m such a wuss, aren’t I?), I raised my hand and proceeded to tell everyone how this weekend felt as if I had “just come home.”   Everyone immediately clapped with joy.

While all of the students I met were quite impressive, one stood out in particular.  His name was Joey.  One evening he sat at our table for dinner and proceeded to tell us about the Vedic Science program, the same one I’m applying to.

The moment he opened his mouth, I was instantly transfixed.  Not only was he incredibly articulate but he displayed none of the normal “young people talk” that often dominate their way of speaking (i.e. “like,” “um,” “yeah,” “dang,” “cool,” etc).   He was so eloquent that I could have easily thought he was some kind of scholar.

And get this - he wasn’t the only student who spoke in this way.   Never in my life have I set foot on a college campus where so many students expressed themselves so well.   I found myself thinking, “That’s what’s been missing!  I want this sense of eloquence.  YES, YES, YES!”

Food for thought.....Isn't that what we all want?

For those of you not familiar with Maharishi University, students and faculty alike meditate twice a day using the Transcendental Meditation technique.

I can’t wait to take the TM course with a certified TM teacher from my hometown before starting school.   Because of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program, practitioners are afforded the opportunity to go deep within their consciousness, putting them in touch with the source of all thoughts.  TM is known to help with many things including, but not limited to, greater clarity, eloquence, inner peace and other health-related benefits.   WOOT!

In the essay portion of my admissions application, I wrote that after visiting the university and meeting with the students and faculty, my new vision was to improve my ability to speak articulately both professionally (i.e. motivational speaker) and personally.   The university is one very powerful place, let me tell you!

End of Visitor's Weekend

As the weekend progressed, I began to notice a curious pattern in the way everyone from MUM carried themselves.    One young guy came up and introduced himself to me at a town function where they were raising money for a student who was recently injured in an accident without any medical coverage.  There were all kinds of people from the university there - - young, old, etc.    Everyone seemed to fit right in.  I was totally impressed.   What’s more, they ended up raising a $1,000 - no small feat in this rural town!

I asked him what it was like to be a student at Maharishi and he said, “The last university I attended had at least one violent fight a week, sometimes two or three but when I came here, I was shocked not to see any.”    He continued, “The experience  totally changed my life.  I knew I had to come here for my education.”   This young man was also super easy to lip-read - I was in communication heaven!   How many of you can say you’ve met more than one articulate college student in the same location lately?

Gourmet Pizza Party at Dr. Hirshberg's gorgeous Vedic Style home

We toured the campus, visited the dorms, went inside the domes where thousands come together to meditate, browsed through the bookstore (I bought a cool hooded sweatshirt with the university’s name and logo on the front), went to the recreational center and toured other buildings. Our daily meals were at the school’s award-winning cafeteria where they served delicious ORGANIC food - that’s no problem for this aspiring raw foodist!

And get this  - apparently there’s a raw food movement just getting started on campus (and I think in town) - talk about perfect timing!

I loved every minute of my time there and as soon as I got back home, I pushed to get all the application materials in.   As of right now, I am still waiting for their admissions decision.  Update:  I’ve been accepted!  Click to see Newsflash!

My next article is going to be about the value of setting a vision for yourself instead of writing goals.  It’s a contrarian view on the over-hyped notion of goal-setting and why I think it doesn’t work.

Stay tuned.

Commentary Update:   Shortly after this article went public, I received a comment from a person who tried to dissuade me from attending MUM and taking TM citing various reasons, saying I should “do more research before making a decision.”  It was a valid, polite and respectful commentary but because the purpose of today’s article was to share my experience during Visitor’s Weekend and my excitement at being accepted, I’ve decided to hold off on publishing this person’s comment and waiting until after I complete my first year.   By then I’ll have solid experiential knowledge about MUM and the TM movement at which point I can assess the reviewer’s comments without bias.    In other words, if the purpose of today’s article was analytical in nature and I was trying to solicit feedback to help me decide whether MUM was right for me, I would have definitely published the comment immediately.

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