A well-established local real estate developer will present his plans today for a “Tower of Invincibility” monument that he plans to build on a publicly chosen site in the D.C. area.
Jeffrey S. Abramson, a partner in the Bethesda-based Towers Cos., said he plans to build a 12-story, 20,000-square-foot marble monument that will house multimedia exhibits teaching visitors “technologies of consciousness” that include Transcendental Meditation, a mental technique that involves silently repeating a mantra for 20 minutes twice a day.
“It will be unlike any other monument ever built in Washington,” Abramson told The Examiner. “It will represent scientific principles and universal knowledge as to how to secure America’s freedom, peace and sovereignty.”
Transcendental Meditation derives from the Indian Vedic tradition and has been the subject of National Institutes of Health-funded studies examining the health effects of meditation.
“I want to build this enduring symbol [showing] that we can prevent war,” Abramson said.
Abramson is soliciting suggestions from the public for the site of the monument and said the two most popular suggestions e-mailed to his Web site so far are the National Mall and the Pentagon.
Building on either of those spots would require approval by the federal government.
“We’ll do whatever is going to be easy and fast,” Abramson said, adding that he expects to select a site within a few weeks.
The project will be funded by donations, he said, or by his own money if donations don’t meet expectations.
Others are proposing to build Towers of Invincibility in Germany, France and New Zealand, according to Abramson.
“Everywhere it’s coming up to be a fashionable political feature,” he said.
