The bliss of it all Excerpted from an article by Simon Hattenstone Guardian, Saturday 24 February 2007 DAVID LYNCH has always been a byword for weird; this [Inland Empire] is double weird with cream on top. In an age of multiplexes and movies by numbers, thank the lord of art-house loopiness for David Lynch. … Lynch has meditated for 30 years. He says it transformed his life, saved him from himself. "You naturally, effortlessly, beautifully dive within, and each deeper level has more happiness - the mind wants to transcend meaning, to go beyond into the unbounded ocean of pure consciousness..." As he talks, his hands flutter up and down like a fledgling trying to fly. "You grooow in consciousness, you grooow in bliss, you groooow in intelligence, you groooow in dynamic peace, and the side-effect of this is: negativity starts to recede." … By the time Lynch was a young man, he felt a gnawing discontent. On the surface, everything was just dandy. … but inside he was in pieces. "I had anxieties, fears, so much inner turmoil, anger - about my situation in life, and not being able to control it." … He began to meditate out of desperation rather than conviction. "In two weeks the anger started lifting." … When Lynch began meditating, he was terrified he would lose his fire. "I thought that maybe it will make me so calm, so peaceful, that I won't want to do work. It's the opposite. You've got this energy. It's so much more exciting. Intuition flows." … As a young man, he was convinced one had to suffer to portray suffering. That's what all the art students believed back then, he says, his lips creasing into a Jimmy Stewart smile. "But you don't have to die to do a death scene. You just have to understand it in your own way. It's like the law of diminishing returns - the more you suffer, the less you can do."  … Lynch says it's all about finding the light, the positives. It's always there, and any of us can embrace it if we make a concerted effort … Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007