A new era for MERU begins

We have two important updates to share with our community – updates that we know you will be interested to hear.

The first piece of news is that as of mid-October, we are no longer using our St. Odiliënberg facility. Now if you’ve been to MERU for a course or event in the past ten years, you know this is a big change for us and everyone visiting MERU. After all, the St. Odiliënberg building provided housing for course participants, staff, and visitors of the Maharishi AyurVeda Health Centre – and allowed us to hold a wide variety of events in-residence.

But alongside this news about St. Odiliënberg – which will no doubt require some flexibility from our guests as we adjust our course logistics – we have some very wonderful news to share as well.

This delightful announcement is that we are moving forward with construction on MERU’s campus – and are planning to begin construction in 2020.

Read on to find out more about both of these updates, and what they mean for you and the future of this beautiful campus.

Why are we no longer using the St. Odiliënberg building?

We should start by saying a few words about why we’re no longer using the St. Odiliënberg facility. Firstly, MERU did not own the property in St. Odiliënberg – we’ve been renting it for a number of years, and have been grateful for how the space has allowed us to enjoy the growth of our courses, trainings, and Health Centre activities in recent years.

But as we know, change is the nature of relative life. And a year ago, the owners of the building gave us a decision to make: either we purchase the property, or they sell the building.

The executive directors and board of MERU considered this question very carefully in the context of our end goal, which has always been to develop the Vlodrop campus into the fully blossomed capital of the Global Country of World Peace that Maharishi envisioned – complete with Vastu accommodation, offices, dining services, and more right on campus.

Ultimately, the leadership decided that purchasing the building and implementing the costly renovations required by the government would not be a wise decision for the long-term future of MERU.

A renewed focus on building on campus – with construction starting in 2020

While this news about St. Odiliënberg does have a temporary impact on our activities, there’s a wonderful outcome as well.

With an even greater need for housing for guests, staff, course facilities, and beyond, the leadership has renewed their focus on building on campus to fulfil Maharishi’s vision for the international capital. And now we are very happy to say that the obstacles preventing us from moving forward in the past are now removed, clearing the path for progress.

There are many plans to be made and details to be determined. New Raja and Mother of the Domain for architecture and building at MERU, Raja Alberto Castaño Gonzales and Margherita Ruelle are overseeing these plans. They have created a group of experts to serve as the MERU Building Committee, who will provide support on the planning, design, and funding needs as we prepare for construction.

We will be happy to update you as have more relevant updates, but for now know that we plan to proceed with construction in multiple phases, with planning and construction on phase one beginning in mid-2020. This means that very soon, we will have more beautiful Maharishi Vastu buildings, facilities that both guests and staff will be able to enjoy.

What happens in the meantime?

Of course, even with these developments happening as swiftly as possible, there will still be a period of time without Vastu course facilities or MERU-managed lodging for our guests.

Still, we will be continuing as many of our activities as possible at MERU, so that the global Transcendental Meditation community can enjoy Maharishi’s programmes at MERU not only in the future, but now as well.

Below you can read about the activities we will be continuing at MERU, and which activities on a (short) break.

Continuing currently

Advanced Techniques and the TM-Sidhi Programme

At MERU we’re very fortunate to house a number of TM-Sidhi administrators, and so we’ll be continuing to offer the Advanced Techniques and TM-Sidhi Programme on a regular basis, with participant housing arranged near campus. As you may know, the Advanced Techniques and TM-Sidhi Programme are Maharishi’s core programmes for personal development after learning TM – profound tools to expand one’s awareness. You can read more about the upcoming Advanced Techniques here.  (Note the dates of the next TM-Sidhi Course will be announced soon.)

Vedic Celebrations

We’ll be hosting the Vedic celebrations as usual, warmly welcoming everyone to join the recitations on Vlodrop campus for the day for a modest contribution. For large celebrations like Winter Assembly and Guru Purnima, we’ll be able to arrange housing in nearby bungalow parks and/or hotels. The main change will be that for the smaller multi-day celebrations, like Navaratri and Deepavali, we won’t be able to provide housing, although we will be happy to give you recommendations on where to stay. To see the 2020 schedule for Vedic celebrations and to apply for upcoming events, please go here.

Volunteer Programme

The volunteer programme at MERU has been a fantastic way for new and experienced meditators alike to focus on their personal growth, and have special access to deep knowledge through staff meetings, courses, and the Advanced Techniques and TM-Sidhi Programme – all while serving in a unique environment. We’ll continue bringing on new volunteers to maintain all the necessary functions of MERU, so this is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to experience life at MERU over a longer period of time. For more information about the volunteer programme, visit this page.

On hiatus, but resuming soon

Courses and trainings

For the rest of 2019 and beginning of 2020 we won’t be offering knowledge courses or professional trainings, but we plan to resume these activities in the second quarter of 2020. These courses offer in-residence knowledge, so you grow in both intellectual understanding and experience of consciousness. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter if you haven’t yet, to ensure you receive updates on the 2020 calendar as soon as they are available.

The Health Centre

The MERU Health Centre is on pause for now. These timeless and preventative treatments from the Health Centre are one of the most effective ways to purify the mind, body, and consciousness – so we’re looking forward to seeing the Centre develop and treat even more guests with increasingly professional services. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the opening of the new Health Centre.

A bright future for MERU – and our whole global community

We are very aware of, and grateful for, the growing interest in wellness, and Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi’s programmes specifically.

And we know the desire for Vedic knowledge will only increase in the coming years – which is why we’re resolved to provide increasingly professional and effective services to meet the growing demand. Finishing the MERU campus will play a large role in meeting that demand, probably in more ways than we realise at the moment.

With these developments in mind, we’re overjoyed and deeply grateful that MERU will continue to be a lighthouse of Maharishi’s knowledge of consciousness, a central meeting point for the global TM community, and a supportive, inspiring place to grow in knowledge and experience.

It’s our great joy to continue our mission of bringing the timeless Vedic knowledge of consciousness and its applications to everyone – so the tides can be turned at last, and our whole world can enjoy a peaceful, vibrant, and creative society.

We’re heartened by this opportunity to be even more focused on the goal of completing the MERU campus, and sincerely look forward to all the wonderful developments that will come in the coming months and years.

Stay in touch

We hope you’ll continue to follow the developments at MERU, to join us for events, and to participate in enjoying and bringing Maharishi’s knowledge to our whole world.

To stay up-to-date on all these opportunities, subscribe to our newsletter here.

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