Joanne Jacobs admits she's a bad person for laughing at this story and Matt Rosenberg also sees the humor. Ok, Ok, I laughed a little too. But someone is dead in truly odd circumstances at a university I had no idea existed.

Even more unlikely are the scenes that take place beneath them as students from across the globe gather twice a day to meditate and send out cosmic vibes of spiritual energy that they believe can heal a stress-stricken world.

But now a murder and allegations of a cover-up have shattered the tranquillity of the college and of the town of Fairfield, Iowa.

The killing of one student by another has threatened the future of not only what Maharishi disciples call 'a safe, harmonious campus', but also undermines the credibility of the one-time guru of the Beatles and spiritual leader to Hollywood celebrities including film-maker David Lynch and actress Heather Graham

THAT Maharishi guy is still around? I remember seeing pictures of him with the Beatles, but that had to be forty years ago. What the hell is he doing running a university in Iowa?

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the bearded purveyor of world peace, heads a movement of tens of thousands of people who believe their brew of transcendental meditation and yogic flying - a kind of bouncing which devotees claim is akin to levitation - sends out powerful vibes of harmony that can end conflict across the planet

Well, its working great so far.

In the east-facing buildings of the 272-acre Maharishi University, some 800 students mix a traditional undergraduate education with a heavy dose of meditation and yogic flying.

Sounds like a well-rounded curriculum. I've wanted to fly away after a few exams too.

At 7pm Shuvender Sem, a 24-year-old from Pennsylvania, sat down in the university dining hall with fellow students to eat his organic vegetarian dinner. Suddenly Sem stood up, took a knife from his pocket and plunged it into the heart of 19-year-old Levi Butler.

I don't care how bad an organic vegetarian dinner must be, there is no excuse for this. Seriously, this is tragic. What in the world could he have been thinking?

The knife Sem used belonged to the dean, Joel Wysong. Earlier that day, in a class called Teaching for Enlightenment, Sem attacked another student, John Killian, stabbing him in the face with a pen. Killian needed seven stitches. Sem was taken to the dean's apartment where he was supposed to be under supervision. But it was there that he stole the knife before going to the dining hall.

Just a little stabbing in the face..no reason to upset the harmonic convergence of the university. Its understandable that the victim's family is upset with the university. They took this crazy guy who attacked a student and turned him loose again.

The Maharishi himself is reported to have blamed the violence on US foreign policy. Dr Craig Pearson, executive vice-president of Maharishi University, said: 'Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has made one comment regarding this event. He said that this is an aspect of the violence we see throughout society, including the violence that our country is perpetrating in other countries.'

If Bush had just worked more with our allies and given inspections more time, this kid would be alive. Makes all the sense in the world to me.

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