"Change Begins Within"

There will be a benefit concert tonight at Radio City Music Hall in support of the David Lynch Foundation. Titled "Paul McCartney's Change Begins Within," the benefit's goal is to raise money to teach disadvantaged children how to meditate and accordingly "change their world from within." Headlined by Paul McCartney, the concert will also include performances by Ringo Starr, Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Donovan, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Moby, Bettye LaVette, Paul Horn, and Jim James (My Morning Jacket). Ticket prices range from $79.50 to $504.50.

Blogging in The Huffington Post, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons said, "Young people are our most precious natural resource, and we must do all we can to give them tools that will help them stay focused and positive. Stress is everywhere, in the streets and the classroom. There's a mountain of scientific data that supports the fact that consciousness-based education and having quiet time at the beginning and end of the school day improves academic performance and spills over to happier and healthier young people at home."

Expounding on the powers of meditation, Simmons went on to say, "The daily practice of meditation is precious to me. It's in the stillness and the silence that I am able to make sense of the world and the creative possibilities that help me do better in all aspects of my life."

"Today, I had the absolute pleasure to join David Lynch, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Donovan, Mike Love and many others in joining in the visionary work of the David Lynch Foundation who are hard at work chasing the dream of bringing meditation to a million students worldwide. I wish I could be at the concert tomorrow night at Radio City Music Hall, but I will be at the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, where Run DMC will inducted. However, my thoughts and meditations will be with the David Lynch Foundation as they continue their incredible work."

Of course, the Beatles were early adherents to transcendental meditation, as were the Beach Boys, particularly Mike Love, and Leonard Cohen has formally studied Zen, but I did not know that Russell Simmons also meditated (although it does not surprise me). The names that I had not expected to see on the list included Sheryl Crow and Eddie Vedder.

Based on my limited experience, though, it is very hard to get children to sit still long enough to meditate. Good luck with that.