Dream Of A Phone Number

Next month we start our work at San Francisco State University where over the next five years students will be offered a three day workshop to help them recognize their inner resources and use them more effectively. This is a preventive approach to address the problems we face regarding violence and suicide at our nations schools. The workshop is both a study as well as a gift to the students in hopes to make a difference, even while the workshop is still being evaluated as a useful tool. We have already done a pilot study before this one, that has shown extremely promising results.

The workshops were developed at the Wise Wishes Institute which was founded by Dr, Cherie Safapou who has made it her mission in life to reverse the current trends of meaningless suffering. It is said by the wise ones, that suffering because we love is worthwhile, but suffering because we hate is a total waste of our lives. We need to learn to bear and transcend the suffering that is a by-product of growth in love, and we need to learn how to avoid the useless suffering we inflict on ourselves and others because of hate and fear - and we need to learn how to know which one is which.

Dr Safapou invited me to develop the meditation and art section of the study, as well as the workshop that we will be conducting in collaboration with SFSU. This all came about because one night, Dr Safapou had a dream with a phone number in it she didn't know who it belonged to. The next day she dialed the number - frightened enough to hang up the first time I answered. The second time we talked and agreed to meet to see why she might have dreamed my number. I told her all I had to offer was mediation and a children's book to help people find their inner treasure.

Life is very mysterious, and I have very mysterious friends.

SFSU Study

Last year a clinical psychologist asked me to be a presenter at one of her workshops in order to educate participants about meditation, and introduce simple, but effective ways to slow down the mind long enough for body, mind and spirit integration to take place. The meditation segment had a large, measurable impact and we agreed to make it a permanent part of the workshop. A few weeks later I was invited to join the board of her organization as she was getting ready to launch a pilot study researching the benefits of the various elements of the workshops.

The workshops are residential three day seminars where the participants learn about the latest scientific research in healthy nutrition, exercise, self-expression, creativity, community, friendship, and finally - meditation. Participants are from all walks of life, cultures, age groups and social backgrounds. Police officers learn alongside Hurricane Katrina survivors, Methamphetamine addicted high-school super achievers, women going through tough divorces or menopause, and Muslim medical students who would like to date.

The pilot study showed such encouraging results, that starting this month, we are conducting a much larger study over the next five years. In collaboration with San Francisco State University we are offering our preventive, educational approach to their students in order to address the many pressures faced by today's young people who find themselves in campus environments where violence and suicide are unfortunately far too common.

This education is offered at a time in life in which we all make some of our most important life choices. As such, it often intervenes at just the right time, before unwise decisions would otherwise be made. Tools like meditation, that give inner strength and sound judgement abilities are often new to the students and easy to incorporate into their lives. It is very exciting to be working together with a large University in this endeavor.