Many years after the doors of Black Mountain College closed forever, the school’s cofounder Theodore Dreier became founding trustee of another cutting-edge educational institution, where I had the pleasure of serving with him on faculty. Dr. Dreier pursued his dream of a holistic approach to higher education by joining with the founder of [the] Transcendental Meditation [program], Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to create Maharishi International University.
As with BMC, there was little publicity surrounding this new university when it began in 1973 in Santa Barbara, Calif.; however, MIU—renamed Maharishi University of Management, now an accredited, liberal-arts university in Fairfield, Iowa—became recognized as one of the most progressive universities in the world. Once again, Dr. Dreier was at the center of experimental education. He believed that the aspiration of Black Mountain College to “develop the whole student” found fulfillment in the “consciousness-based” approach of MUM, where students and faculty practice transcendental meditation and learn, not only through class work and book study, but also by fathoming the unlimited creativity and intelligence of their consciousness. During his years at MUM, Dr. Dreier could be found participating in group TM practice and “yogic flying” in MUM’s golden dome—similar to Buckminster Fuller’s prototype of the geodesic dome built at Black Mountain.
Today, the Dreier Building on MUM campus is the first college building in the world designed in the architectural style of sthapatya veda, which harmonizes the influences of sun, moon and stars using mathematically derived proportions, orientation and dimensions. Due in part to Dr. Dreier’s influence, MUM is a current-day incarnation of Black Mountain College, offering workshops on green building and organic farming; hosting avant-garde events such as filmmaker David Lynch’s upcoming conference on “Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain”; and showcasing the work of physicist Dr. John Hagelin, whose unified-field theory of consciousness is transforming our understanding of the unified field and its source in human consciousness.
Dr. Dreier’s vision lives on as schools across the nation introduce consciousness-based education in their curriculum. To bring the dream of Black Mountain College full circle, the land adjacent to the very mountain where Theodore Dreier and John Andrew Rice founded the college is now set to become the new home for Maharishi’s consciousness-based education, a new research facility affiliated with MUM. If the gentle, humble and brilliant Dr. Dreier were around today, he would be proud that the spirit of Black Mountain College thrives in Western North Carolina.
— Tom Ball
Marshall
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