Earlier this month, Maharishi University of Management President John Hagelin received the Doshi Family Bridgebuilder Award as the culminating event at an Ayurveda conference at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on Oct. 6-7.
Named for its benefactors, Navin and Pratima Doshi, the annual award honors an individual or organization dedicated to fostering understanding between cultures, peoples, and disciplines.
MUM benefactor and donor Michael Busch and his wife Margaret were instrumental in advocating for Dr. Hagelin for the award, providing information about Dr. Hagelin’s research and work in connecting modern science and spirituality. (In addition, Michael initiated Dr. Doshi into his TM practice.) Dr. Doshi has made a substantial gift to the University to further its scientific research as well.
In presenting the award, Dr. Doshi said, “Your accomplishment includes the widely accepted theory of galactic super-symmetric particles produced during the Big Bang. You are among very few who applies this knowledge and the knowledge of the sciences of yoga and the Vedas for the benefit of humankind, accepting the primacy of mind and consciousness over matter, unlike scientists deeply submerged in materialism.”
Dr. Doshi is an engineer, attorney, and investor who has long been a leading proponent of the Vedic heritage of India and its role in the modern world. His goal is to build bridges between East and West.
Past recipients of the Doshi Award have included conductor Zubin Mehta; Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh; author Greg Mortenson, who has built schools and bridges in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan; world religions scholar Huston Smith; Rupert Sheldrake, scientist and naturalist; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to become a member of the U.S. Congress; and Karan Singh, a member of Indian parliament, former ambassador from India to the USA, a Vedic Scholar, who holds a PhD, and India’s UN representative to UNESCO.
After receiving the award, Dr. Hagelin gave a highly detailed keynote address on the correspondences between physics and the structure of the Veda and Vedic literature, as well as AyurVeda. It was met with a standing ovation from the audience of about 340 people, including many highly credentialed academics and chairs of departments.
The two-day conference brought together scholars, researchers and medical professionals in the fields of yoga, Ayurveda, and Western medicine to explore the future of holistic and integrative health and wellness. Also presenting at the conference were MUM faculty Robert Schneider, Keith Wallace, and Fred Travis, as well as Nancy Lonsdorf, a physician who practices Maharishi AyurVeda(SM).
The award ceremony is jointly sponsored by Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the Department of Theological Studies, and the Navin and Pratima Doshi Professorship of Indic and Comparative Theology.