Keith

Consider by whom he was taught*
The procedure for transcending thought

You want well begun?
He’s second to none —

What a great and good fortune he caught —
At the start, he had found what he sought

In his quest for the most complete knowledge, he
Offered no one an apology

In physics he’d started
But then he departed

To immerse himself in physiology

Did he see the path lying ahead?
The glorious future outspread?

Whatever the case,
He set a fine pace

As he followed the path where it led

He’d learned Transcendental Meditation
It brought him such deep inspiration

And seeing the need
He made it, indeed,

The subject of his dissertation

This path to supreme liberation
To Self- and God-realization —

Keith chose to inspect it —
To test it, subject it

To empirical verification

Keith, with great gusto and gumption,
Dared challenge the dated assumption

Now he would seek
How this mental technique

Might influence oxygen consumption

He looked for what friends he could grab
And brought them down into his lab

He said, “Hey, let’s do it,
Let’s go — nothing to it.”

“Come on,” he said, “this will be fab!”

He strapped a large mask to their face
Glued EEG electrodes in place

A wire to each hand
Round the chest, a broad band —

And more hardware nearby — just in case

Keith, with his great, boyish charm
Assured them they’d come to no harm

His subjects felt eased
And thoroughly pleased —

Then the catheter went into the arm

Keith checked all the leads to the head
“You seem to be set now,” he said.

“Don’t mind a thing —
If you need me, just ring —

Take it easy — and have a great med.”

Keith took these normal adults,
Measured brain waves, and breathing, and pulse

And despite the machinery
The Orwellian scenery

They could meditate — and deliver results

The world would no longer wait —
His discovery was great among great:

We wake, and we sleep,
And we dream — but down deep,

Consciousness has a fourth state

His advisor expressed his deep pleasure
He said, “Keith, whatever you measure

Changes for the good —
You knew that it would —

You’ve hit a gold mine, a treasure.”

The fourth state — as the first to proclaim it,
It fell to Keith Wallace to name it

Samadhi was fine
But now, this new time

Needed new language to frame it

The name Keith aspired to create
Must have poetry, music, and weight

Finally, it came,
Samadhi’s lovely new name:

“A wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state”

Once published, for public inspection,
The news spread in every direction

Keith’s find was historic
His rise, meteoric —

He’d confirmed the mind-body connection

Scientists grew quite excited
A new program of research ignited —

More studies ensued
Until hundreds accrued —

And it was Keith whom each scientist cited

Thus Keith, with his landmark research
Left old paradigms in the lurch

He’d opened the gate
To a field so great —

To the goal of humanity’s search

§ § §

When MIU later began
Keith was right there to help plan

A president was needed
Somebody to lead it —

And Robert Keith Wallace was the man

The man? Yes — just barely. You see,
A mere 26 years was he.

How many frosh
Exclaimed, “Oh my gosh!

Our president’s younger than me!”

But he hadn’t left science behind
There was more he was destined to find

Donning once more
The lab coat on the door

He pursued new research he’d designed

He entered the field with a burst
Aging — and again scored a first

Folks learn TM
And what happens to them?

The process of aging’s reversed

His helpers all heard his “Make haste!” line
As they worked to establish the baseline

On three vital gauges
Of biological ages —

The hemline, the hairline, the waistline

What happens to hem, waist, and hair?
Keith’s findings were extraordinaire:

The data, when formalized
Show all three normalized!

Hem, waist, and hair return there!

§ § §

Now Arnie had armies galore**
Keith Wallace has quite a bit more

Keith Wallace has us —
A definite plus —

We’ve all come to join the Keith Corps

His lectures inspire and enthrall us
May he always feel open to call us

Wherever he is,
He’s ours and we’re his —

Our very own Robert Keith Wallace

Keith is the Campus Club Pro
The veteran, the man in the know

We lasses and laddies
Serve as his caddies

Wherever he goes, there we go

He’s certainly seasoned enough —
Keith Wallace has all the right stuff

Talk about shots
Just say he has lots —

Keith gets us out of the rough

To heaven he’s building the stairway
In his restfully alert and aware way

On the Comfortable Ride
Keith is our guide —

He’s leading us straight down the fairway

Now Samantha, she cares and she cooks
Supports him wherever one looks

She’s also a writer —
He sits down beside her

And she turns her fine skills to his books

She encircles his heart like a wreath
A support from within and beneath

Parcel and part,
A home for his heart —

Samantha’s the Keeper of the Keith

And Gareth, Ted — each a fine man
With a clear educational plan

These brothers, best buddies
Keep extending their studies

To play volleyball as long as they can

Keith’s one of this century’s champs
Among its most luminous lamps

Now two little boys —
Toddlers with toys —

Know this great hero as . . . gramps

§ § §

We must mention, in singing Keith’s hymns,
The oceans of great glories he swims

How he networked the nation
Brought thousands meditation

As the first president of dear SIMS

Keith, may we sit at your feet
May we hear all your stories, so sweet

Those tales that amaze
Of the earliest days —

Take us all back, we entreat

In all that Keith’s done, all he did
With absence of ego and id

Self-assured, self-reliant
Truly a giant —

At heart, this great man’s a pure kid

He’s reached the half-century mark
Not that he’s planning to park

He’s barely begun
His glorious run —

He’s far from the peak of his arc

Talk about reversal of aging —
Check the reversal Keith’s staging

Let us be truthful:
He’s growing more youthful

How young can he get? There’s no gauging

He works very hard, for his part
In fact, he pours out his whole heart

So focused, direct —
But you always suspect

He’s looking for recess to start

Everyone who knows him will say
That day after day after day

He’ll laugh and he’ll smile
In classic Keith style

And make every moment pure play

Enthusiasm runs over the top
Effervescence that simply can’t stop

It’s truly infectious
It inspires and connects us —

Whatever he asks, we all hop

His intellect’s highly refined
Ablaze in his deep and clear mind

But this great crusader
Has something still greater:

Innocence — of the very best kind

This innocence fuels his vitality
His freshness in daily reality

He’s open, he’s there
He’s simply aware —

His innocence secures immortality

§ § §

And now, sport’s supreme competition
The Cosmic Open — an honored tradition

The ultimate tourney
The end of the journey —

True masters alone gain admission

Jones, Hogan, Hagan are here
Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus appear

Watson and Kite
Step into the light

And Keith’s name is met with a cheer

Great players by any accounts
Interest is high — and it mounts

Keith sets the pace
But they’re giving him chase

It’s obvious — every shot counts

The final hole, scores are all tied
People are watching worldwide

With collective breath bated,
This moment long fated,

Keith closes his eyes, goes inside

He stands there alone on the hill
Time slows till it’s practically still

With the power, the mystery,
Of this moment in history,

All nature wakes up with the thrill

The light all around is pure gold
With the luster of kingdoms of old

The distant, high green,
With an emerald’s sheen,

Is like heaven on earth to behold

His backswing is a model of grace
Like an arrow pulled back through clear space

And there, all the while —
Look at his smile

And the sweet, serene light on his face

His downswing’s an exquisite sight
Skillful, beautiful, right

Two surfaces meet
The contact so sweet

All of nature can feel the delight

The ball’s soaring high in the sun
Hits the green! Takes a great run!

It’s straight for the pin!
Sweet Soma, it’s IN!

Keith is our wholeness in one.

§ § §

Keith Wallace is royal and regal
Each day he’s our birdie, our eagle

Our wholeness in one,
He soars in the sun

Keith’s the original seagull***

May he enjoy brilliant fame
May his books enjoy world acclaim

All those who hunger
To live longer, be younger

Will thank him and honor his name

Of all fortunes the Lord may bequeath
The blessings above and beneath

Of all riches and treasures
All boons and all pleasures —

At the top of the heap we find Keith

August 25, 1994

* Keith was instructed in the Transcendental Meditation technique by Maharishi.

** Arnie is Arnold Palmer, the great golfer. The fans who followed him in masses around golf courses during tournaments were called Arnie’s Army. Keith loves playing golf.

*** This refers to Maharishi’s famous “seagull story.” A mother seagull finds her next of eggs suddenly swept away by an enormous ocean wave. She entreats the ocean to return the next and eggs, but to no avail. So she sets about to recover the nest by moving the ocean. She flies over the ocean, picks up a drop in her beak, and then flies over the land and drops it. Over and over she does this, undaunted by the hugeness of the task. Other seagulls join her in this work.

Eventually word of this project reaches the king of the birds, who flies down from the heights of the skies and commands the sea to return the nest — or else he would absorb the ocean into his vast wings. At this the ocean yielded the nest and eggs and put them back in their place.

The moral of the story: When one has a life-supporting goal and works toward achieving it with purity of intention and purity of heart, one can harness the infinite power of nature itself to achieve the goal.