Maharishi Plans "World Capital of Peace" In Kansas

USA Today reports today on plans by representatives of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to build a "World Capital of Peace"on over 1000 acres of land the group owns just outside Smith Center, Kansas. The Maharishi is the founder of the transcendental meditation movement. The Kansas location was chosen because it is near the center of the United States. The $15 million project will include a retreat center, buildings for training and meditating, and a broadcast center. Eric Michner, a spokesman for the group, said that 300 "meditators" will use the retreat facility to "create waves of coherence that will benefit everybody in society." The site's central location will allow those waves to spread across the USA, he says. Also affiliated with the Maharishi is the Natural Law Party which was founded in 1992. Its leader, John Hagelin, has run for president three times. Hagelin also heads the U.S. Peace Government that will be headquartered in the proposed World Capital of Peace.