Dr. William Zimmerman

Rare is the man — rarer than rare

Whose mind is alert, so awake and aware

That he sees the sun rising before dawn has broken

He recognizes truth when the words are first spoken

Rarer still he whose long life of success

Allows him to help the whole world be blessed

The essence of sweetness launched his career —

He applied this same principle year after year:

He bought sugar cane, cut the stalks into ten

Then took all the pieces and sold them again

And right here you’re holding his key to success —

You have to give happiness if you want to progress.

It didn’t really matter what he bought or he sold

Paint, clothing, towels were equal to gold

His governing principle is easy to tell:

By your customers you always have to do well.

Doing well by his customers he did with such force

That enormous success was a matter of course.

He offered good quality at a competitive price

The profit he made in the bargain was nice

But everyone profited — the maker, the buyer

Quality of life, through his genius, rose higher

Opportunities rose and he quickly embraced them

The challenges were many, but he easily faced them

He chose something great to do — and he achieved it

On a scale so large that few people believed it

One store became five, then ten, then eighty-two —

He showed that there’s nothing one person can’t do.

His personal vision gave thousands employment

His touch has reached millions and enhanced their enjoyment

We’d consider him great if all that he’d done

Were to raise such great children — so brilliant, each one.

Stuart, and Marc, and Susan — these three

Do him great honor, as is easy to see

And their children rise to be equally grand —

May the legacy he leaves us forever expand

Unassuming of mind, not a single pretension

Incredible focus and power of attention

He puts everything to a personal test —

Can it be better? Is it the best?

Highly creative, a powerful presence,

He sees past the surface and grasps the pure essence

He possesses what Maharishi calls simple awareness —

No complications, straightforward, pure fairness.

He exudes a self-confident, soft-spoken charm

He’s a one-person economic shot in the arm

A good judge of size and a good judge of worth

A good judge of the value of heaven on earth. . . .

He came to Maharishi at an opportune time

He was nearing his goal — and the goal was sublime:

Maharishi proposed to create nothing less

Than heaven on earth — the whole world to bless.

Most people would see it as incomprehensible —

Dr. Zimmerman regarded the goal as quite sensible.

He watched as Maharishi developed his plan

“Maharishi,” he said, “you’re my kind of man!”

Maharishi’s great status he fully discerned

He appreciates Maharishi — and the feeling’s returned.

In years to come, many will follow his lead

In supporting this goal, in word and in deed

But he was the first, the wise among wise,

Foreseeing the future with far-seeing eyes

Maharishi once told him, not long ago:

“You’ll create affluence wherever you go.”

And we’d like to honor him, for our own part,

This man of great wisdom, great mind, and great heart.

But the highest tribute he could ever be paid

Was the beautiful message Maharishi conveyed

As coherence and harmony in the world increased:

“In his silent presidency he’s created world peace.”

June 27, 1989