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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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(born 1917?, Jabalpur, India — died Feb. 5, 2008, Vlodrop, Neth.) Indian religious leader, founder of Transcendental Meditation (TM). He took a degree in physics before going to the Himalayas to study the Advaita school of Vedanta religious thought with the yogi Guru Dev for 13 years. He arrived in the U.S. in 1959, preaching the virtues of TM; in the 1960s the Beatles were perhaps his most celebrated followers. The Maharishi (the title means "Great Sage") returned to India in the late 1970s and moved to The Netherlands in 1990. His organization, which includes real estate holdings, schools, and clinics, was worth more than $3 billion in the late 1990s.

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Alternative Medicine Encyclopedia - People: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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(1911–)

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is one of the most recognized spiritual leaders of the world. Almost single-handedly, the Maharishi (meaning great sage) brought Eastern culture into Western consciousness. He emerged in the late 1950s in London and the United States as a missionary in the cause of Hinduism, the philosophy of which is called Vedanta—a belief that "holds that God is to be found in every creature and object, that the purpose of human life is to realize the godliness in oneself and that religious truths are universal."

By 1967, the Maharishi became a leader among flower-children and an anti-drug advocate. The Maharishi's sudden popularity was helped along by such early fans as the Beatles, Mia Farrow, and Shirley MacLaine. These people, and many others, practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM), a Hindu-influenced procedure that endures in America to this day.

When the 1960s drew to a close, the Maharishi began to fade from public view. The guru still had enough followers, though, to people the Maharishi International University, founded in 1971. One of the main draws of Maharishi International University was the study of TMSidha, an exotic form of Transcendental Meditation. Sidhas believe that group meditation can elicit the maharishi effect—a force strong enough to conjure world peace.

Biography: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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The Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born ca. 1911) came to the West as a missionary of traditional Indian thought in popular form and founded the Transcendental Meditation Movement, which reached its height of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s.

Indian sources say Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was born Mahad Prasad Varma on October 18, 1911, the son of a local income tax official in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. His official biography says he graduated from Allahabad University in 1942 with a degree in physics. After working in a factory, he turned to an Indian guru of the Jyotir Math, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya (1869-1953), whom he would call Guru Dev, "divine teacher." Brahmananda was of the Indian school of religious thought known as Advaita Vedanta, whose major exponent was the eighth century thinker Shankara. Maharishi received the Guru's training for 13 years and as a result of Brahmananda's encouragement dedicated his life to spreading his master's teachings.

After what is officially called a period of meditation in the Himalayas, he decided to develop a popular form of traditional Advaita Vedanta and yogic practices. His first mission to Madras in southern India met with little success, so he decided to bring it to Americans, "the people who are in a habit of adopting things quickly." He arrived in the United States in 1959, after settling first in London where he founded the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, whose goal was to change the world through the practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM).

At first the movement met with little success, but when the British rock group The Beatles announced in 1967 that they had spent some months at his International Academy of Meditation at Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills, a decade of growth followed. Other actors, actresses, athletes, and politicians began TM in the hope of benefiting from its claims for a life of "success without stress." The early scientific claims, later mostly discounted as based on poorly controlled experiments, were presented to high school and college students through the Students' International Meditation Society, founded in 1966, with phenomenal success.

In 1968 Maharishi announced that his ten-year period of public activity had ended, and the training of meditators was entrusted to a staff of advanced teachers. After tax problems with the Indian government the movement shifted its international headquarters from India, where it was never as popular as it was abroad. After locating in a number of countries, its international headquarters was firmly established in Seelisberg, Switzerland. In 1971 Maharishi International University opened in Los Angeles, and in 1974 it moved to the site of the former Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa.

In the mid 1970s interest among professionals replaced dwindling campus attraction. TM promised "increased creativity and flexibility, increased productivity, improved job satisfaction, improved relations with supervisors and coworkers." At the same time the movement was organized on multinational corporate lines, and Maharishi began to adopt the life of a corporate executive with conferences, foreign travel, and chauffeured limousines. The movement announced a "World Plan" to change the world through the propagation and practice of TM, and in 1975 Maharishi announced that the "Age of Science" had risen to "The Age of Enlightenment." Thus began the demonstration of the "full significance" of TM.

Though it often denied that it was yoga, "The Age of Enlightenment Course" promised that its students, through untapped abilities, could experience the "siddhis," supernormal powers traditionally identified with yogis in India. TM claimed that its meditators could have "the ability to perceive things which are beyond the reach of the senses, the development of profound intimacy and support from one's physical environment, and even such abilities as disappearing and rising up or levitating at will."

Accepting the movement's claims that TM was non-religious and beneficial for reducing crime and drug use, a number of government agencies began efforts to involve TM. The U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare awarded the World Plan Council of the United States a $40,000 grant. TM's theoretical foundation, called "The Science of Being" and later "The Science of Creative Intelligence" (SCI), was adopted in 1975-1976 as the basis for an elective course in five New Jersey public high schools taught by World Plan trained teachers. But in 1977 a U.S. District Court declared TM/SCI religious, and an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1978-1979 upheld that decision.

TM claimed that one does not have to understand the theories behind the practice in order to benefit from it, but as one progresses beyond the introductory level, the metaphysical basis becomes more important. Central to this theory is the traditional Advaita Vedanta (from Shankara) doctrine that the true self is the highest and ultimately the only Reality. Sometimes this Reality is called "God," though it is not a personal being but an unchanging Absolute, an impersonal state of consciousness. The meditational technique is meant to put one in touch with the essential Self, the eternal Being within, by moving one's attention away from the surface consciousness of change, suffering, and stress. One then becomes one with the Absolute Being, an experience which Maharishi calls "God-consciousness."

Introductory sessions which present the "benefits" of TM are followed for the inquirer by a mandated puja or service of offering. The student brings a small offering to a room prepared with a table with candles; dishes for water, rice, and sandalpaste; incense; and camphor. On the table is a picture of Guru Dev. The offerings are placed on the table while the student stands before it and the teacher sings a chant in Sanskrit which expresses thanks to the authorized line of teachers and to some of the gods of Hinduism. At the conclusion of the chant, the student is given a secret mantra or syllable for the mind and instructed in the technique for using it. Meditators are instructed to meditate for 20 minutes twice a day. Further education may follow and is encouraged, for changing the world requires the spiritual influence of a large number of meditators.

The Maharishi's followers established the Maharishi International University in 1974 in Fairfield, Iowa, where they mixed courses in TM and academic curriculum. The next several years resulted in difficulties for Maharishi and the TM movement. In 1986 the University was sued for $9 million by a former student, Robert Kropinski, and six other people on the grounds of "fraud, neglect, and intentionally inflicting emotional damage." Kropinski charged that although he had taken the course, none of the promised benefits had resulted, and that when he tried to discontinue the university, Maharishi had used "fear and intimidation" to prevent him from leaving. Maharishi was not a defendant because he could not be found to be served with the papers. Kropinski was eventually awarded $138,000 by a Washington D.C. jury.

In 1992 Maharishi and magician Doug Henning (a follower of TM) announced plans for establishing Maharishi Veda Land, by Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. This would have been a $1.5 billion theme park which would combine recreation with "spiritual enlightenment," including a thousand residential units in a "Heaven on Earth" housing development, a Tower of World Peace, and an International Summit Conferance Center in addition to 33 rides and attractions and an indoor water park. However, the park never materialized. In 1995 another college, the former Nathaniel Hawthorne College in Antrim, New Hampshire, was purchased by the Maharishi's followers, who said they intended to make it the eastern headquarters for the TM movement. In the 1990s the TM movement turned to politics, forming a new political party, the Natural Law Party. Sponsoring candidates in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, the party sought to combine practical politics with Transcendental Meditiation. However, they experienced little success electorally.

Further Reading

The TM movement has produced a large body of literature, but Maharishi's writings are found in only three books: an introductory text called Transcendental Meditation: Serenity Without Drugs (1968), which was previously published as The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963); a commentary on a popular Indian scripture, On the Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary: Chapters 1-6 (1967); and a collection of the Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968).

Most introductions to the TM movement are either the uncritical approach of believers or the critical and often inaccurate approaches of other religious perspectives. For a scientific perspective on these movements see David G. Bromley and Anson D. Schupe, Strange Gods (1981); on TM in particular, see William S. Bainbridge and Daniel H. Jackson, "The Rise and Decline of Transcendental Meditation" in Bryan Wilson, editor, The Social Impact of New Religious Movements (1981); an example of a highly critical look at TM is a chapter in James Randi's Flim-Flam: The Truth About Unicorns, Parapsychology and Other Delusions (New York, Lippincott & Crowell, 1980); Celebrating the Dawn-Maharishi Yogi and the TM Movement by Robert Oates Jr. (Putnam, 1976) is a sympathetic look at the Maharishi and his Activities; articles dealing with the TM movement and its activities in recent years are "University'd Degree Comes with Heavy Dose of Meditation" by Anthony DePalma, New York Times (April 26th, 1983); "Trial Under Way for Lawsuit Brought by Maharashi Follower," New York Times (December 14th, 1986); "Veda Land-Theme Park for Ontario," New York Times (March 22nd, 1992); "Antrim Resets Its Sights for Future from Prison Cells to Free Spirits," by Ralph Jimenez, Boston Globe (February 12th, 1995); "Perot's Party Is Not Alone," New York Times (June 2nd, 1996).

Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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(ca. 1911-)

A modern Hindu guru who began a worldwide Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the late 1950s. The movement, now led by the World Plan Executive Council, is best known for promoting the technique of Transcendental Meditation (TM).

Maharishi was born Mahesh Brasad Warma, around the year 1911. Originally a physics graduate of Allahabad University, India, he worked for a time in a factory, then studied spiritual science for some years under Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, a teacher of traditional Hindu transcendentalism. After the death of his teacher in 1953, the Maharishi spent some time trying to develop his own simplified version of traditional Hindu meditation.

In 1958 he designed the Science of Creative Intelligence for "the regeneration of the whole world through meditation," known widely as Transcendental Meditation. In a simple initiation ceremony, the guru bestowed a mantra (or word of power), which the pupil repeated during a meditation period each day. In this easy technique, the pupil could, it has been claimed, bypass normal intellectual activity and tap a limitless reservoir of energy and creative intelligence.

The system spread around the world through the 1960s but was given a boost in 1967, when the rock music group the Beatles showed interest in the movement. Publicity concerning their relation to the Maharishi made TM seem a viable alternative to psychedelic drugs. The Beatles defected some months later, but by then other celebrities were traveling to the Maharishi's ashram at Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas. The Students' International Meditation Society, which was founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1966, received many of the young adults attracted to TM by its celebrity followers. Since the 1970s, the movement has been boosted by the well-publicized scientific findings that TM produces beneficial results. Various studies, most flawed by the lack of investigation of similar mediative techniques, suggest that TM aids individuals in various manners. The sociological studies, suggesting that a representative number of TM meditators in an area can change its social climate (lower the crime rate, promote peace, etc.), are less conclusive.

The movement adopted a "world plan" to develop the full potential of the individual, to improve governmental achievements, to realize the highest ideal of education, to solve the problems of crime and all behavior that brings unhappiness to the human family, to maximize the intelligent use of the environment, to bring fulfillment to the economic aspirations of individuals and society, and to achieve the spiritual goals of the human race in this generation. The World Plan Executive Council has founded in many countries its own political party, the Natural Law Party, and it runs candidates for public office in order to achieve the goals of the world plan.

In the 1970s, as the number of new people coming into TM dropped, the movement unveiled a "Siddhi" program (siddhis are special paranormal powers) based on the claims of the ancient yoga treatise The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The program claimed that students of this special course have successfully achieved the paranormal feat of levitation. Photographs of students show them hovering a few feet in the air, but critics (and former students) have stated that the "levitators" merely bounce in the air cross-legged and do not float. To date, no irrefutable evidence of levitation by the Maharishi's students has yet been produced, and several ex-students of the Siddhi program have successfully sued the organization.

In 1968, the council moved its headquarters to Seelisberg, Switzerland, and in 1979 established Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, where they mix courses in TM and academic curriculum. They plan to open an eastern campus in Antrim, New Hampshire. The Maharish was worth $3.5 billion in 1998 and oversaw nearly 1,000 TM centers around the world.

Sources:

Bainbridge, William Sims, and Daniel H. Jackson. "The Rise and Fall of Transcendental Meditation." In The Future of Religion. Edited by Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

Jefferson, William. The Story of Maharishi. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi. The Science of Being and Art of Living. London: International SRM Publications, 1966.

Mason, Paul. The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man Who Gave Transendental Meditation to the West. Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books, 1994.

Orme-Johnson, David W., and John T. Farrows, eds. Scientific Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program: Collected Papers, I. Seelisberg, Switzerland: Maharishi European Research University Press, 1977.

White, John. Everything You Want to Know about TM, Including How to Do It. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

Quotes By: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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Quotes:

"Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower, and draws all good things toward you. Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. Do not strain after the needs of life. It is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them. In this way life proceeds more naturally and effortlessly. Life is here to Enjoy!"

"The purpose of life is the expansion of happiness."

Wikipedia: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Born January 12, 1918
Raipur
Died February 5, 2008 (aged 90)
Vlodrop, Netherlands
Parents Father: Sri Ram Prasad

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (January 12, 1918 – February 5, 2008) introduced the Transcendental Meditation technique (also known as TM) and related programs and initiatives, including schools and universities with campuses in several countries including India,[1] the United States,[1] Mexico,[2] the United Kingdom[3] and China.[4]

In approximately 1939, the Maharishi became an assistant of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati,[5] who was the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of Jyotir Math, located in the Indian Himalayas from 1941 to 1953. The Maharishi credits the Shankaracharya (Guru Dev) with inspiring his teachings.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's first global tour began in 1958, from which time[6] his techniques and programs have been taught worldwide.[7] He became known in the Western world in part due to his interactions with The Beatles and other celebrities.

By 1990, the Maharishi had begun to coordinate his global activities from his new residence in Vlodrop, the Netherlands.[8] On January 11, 2008, he announced his retirement from all administrative activities and went into Mauna (spiritual silence). He declared: "It has been my pleasure at the feet of Guru Dev, to take the light of Guru Dev and pass it on in my environment. Now today, I am closing my designed duty to Guru Dev. And I can only say, 'Live long the world in peace, happiness, prosperity, and freedom from suffering.'”[9][10][11]

Contents

Early life

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was born Mahesh Prasad Varma, in the Panduka area of Raipur, India,[12] into a Kayastha caste family living in the Central Provinces of British India[13] (although the Allahabad University list of distinguished alumni calls him "M.C. Shrivastava").[14] He earned a degree in physics at Allahabad University.[15][16] The place of birth given in his passport is "Pounalulla", India.[17] The name of his father is given as Sri Ram Prasad.[18]

According to Jay Randolph Coplin, who did a sociological study of Transcendental Meditation for his dissertation at the University of California (San Diego), the name "Mahesh" indicated that the Maharishi came from a Hindu family that worshipped Shiva.[19] Cynthia Ann Humes writes that his family was of the Kayastha (scribal) caste. Contrary to some reports, caste rules allow the honorific terms "yogi" or "maharishi" to be applied to those of the Kayastha caste.[20][21]

In 1941, he became a secretary to the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who gave him the name Bal Brahmachari Mahesh. Besides indicating his family faith, Coplin says the conferred title "identified him as a dedicated student of spiritual knowledge and life-long celibate ascetic".[22] Maharishi remained with Swami Brahmananda Saraswati until the latter died in 1953. Although the Maharishi was a close disciple, he could not be the Shankaracharya's spiritual successor because he was not of the Brahmin caste.[23]

In 1953, the Maharishi moved to Uttarkashi in the Valley of the Saints in the Himalayas, where Swami Brahmananda Saraswati had lived in previous decades with his spiritual master, Swami Krishanand Saraswati. In 1955,[24][25][26][27] the Maharishi left Uttarkashi[28] and began publicly teaching what he stated was a traditional meditation technique[29] that he learned from his master, which he called Transcendental Deep Meditation and later renamed Transcendental Meditation.[30] The Maharishi traveled around India for two years.[31] At that time he called his movement the "Spiritual Development Movement", but renamed it The Spiritual Regeneration Movement in 1957, in Madras, India, on the concluding day of the Seminar of Spiritual Luminaries.[26] According to J. Lynwood King in his book Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, the feedback Maharishi received from the diverse population that learned his technique suggested to him that it could be of wide benefit.[32]

Career

World tours

In 1958, the Maharishi began the first of a number of worldwide tours. His first world tour began in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) and included the countries of Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Hawaii.[33] The Maharishi remained in the Far East for about six months teaching Transcendental Meditation.[34] On December 31, 1958, the Honolulu Star Bulletin published an article about him saying: "He has no money, he asks for nothing. His worldly possessions can be carried in one hand. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is on a world odyssey. He carries a message that he says will rid the world of all unhappiness and discontent."[35][36]

In 1959, the Maharishi lectured and taught the Transcendental Meditation technique in Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and London.[15][37] While in Los Angeles, Maharishi became a guest at the home of Roland and Helena Olson and their daughter Theresa, who wrote several books about their experiences. He continued to visit the Olsons' home over the next few years.[38]

In 1960, the Maharishi traveled to many cities in the countries of India, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.[39] He lectured, taught the Transcendental Meditation technique, and established administrative centers where practitioners could gather for meetings in his absence. During his visit to England, the Maharishi gave a lecture at Caxton Hall in London and met Leon MacLaren, who later became the leader of the School of Economic Science (SES).[40] While in Manchester, England, the Maharishi gave a television interview and was featured in many English newspapers such as the Birmingham Post, the Oxford Mail and the Cambridge Daily News.[41] This was also the year in which the Maharishi trained his first Transcendental Meditation teacher, Henry Nyburg.[42]

In 1961, the Maharishi continued his travels by visiting the countries of Austria, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece, India, Kenya, England, USA and Canada.[31] While in England, the Maharishi appeared on BBC television and gave a lecture to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[31] In April 1961, the Maharishi conducted his first Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course in Rishikesh, India with 60 participants. Over 60 meditators from India, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Britain, Malaya, Norway, the United States, Australia, Greece, Italy and the West Indies attended.[43] Teachers continued to be trained as time progressed.[44] In this same year, the Maharishi began to introduce additional knowledge regarding the development of human potential, and began writing his translation and commentary on the first six chapters of the ancient Vedic text, the Bhagavad Gita.[45] His 1962 world tour included visits to Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand. The year concluded in California where the Maharishi dictated his book The Science of Being and Art of Living.[46]

In 1963, the Maharishi addressed ministers of the Indian Parliament during his tour of cities in Europe, Asia, North America and India.[47] Twenty one members of the Indian Parliament then issued a public statement endorsing the Maharishi's goals and meditation technique.[48] His Canadian tour generated news articles in the magazine Enjoy and in the Daily Colonist, Calgary Herald and The Albertan.[49]

The Maharishi's fifth world tour in 1964 consisted of visits to many cities in North America, Europe and India.[50] During his visit to England he appeared with the Abbot of Downside, Abbot Butler, on a BBC television show called "The Viewpoint".[51] In October of this year, in California, the Maharishi began teaching the first Advanced Technique of Transcendental Meditation to some experienced meditators.[52] While traveling in America, the Maharishi met with Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins, the head of the Centre for Democratic Studies and Mr. U. Thant, the Secretary General of the United Nations.[53]

Reception

During the 60's and 70's a number of celebrities such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Deepak Chopra, Jane Fonda, Mia Farrow, Shirley MacLaine, Joe Namath, Stevie Wonder, and Howard Stern, as well as author Kurt Vonnegut and Major-General Franklin M. Davis, Jr reported using the technique.[54][55][56] [57][58][59] [60][61][62]Singer-songwriter Donovan (who befriended the Maharishi and put his picture on the back cover of his A Gift from a Flower to a Garden album) also learned the technique. Comedian Andy Kaufman and magician Doug Henning were also students of the Maharishi. Howard Stern interviewed the Maharishi twice and credits Transcendental Meditation with saving his mother from depression.[63][64] Clint Eastwood[65] and David Lynch[66] are two notable film directors who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique. Republican Party politician William Scranton, another student of the Maharishi, lost his 1986 bid for the Pennsylvania governorship when political consultant James Carville ran a television spot about Mr. Scranton's affiliation with the "guru".[67] In October 1975, the Maharishi was pictured on the front cover of the Time magazine.

According to a November 2009 article in the Daily News and Analysis, the Oscar nominated director David Lynch is planning a film about the Maharishi. The film will be a documentary consisting of interviews with people who knew him.[68]

Books

The Maharishi has written more than twenty books on the Transcendental Meditation technique and Maharishi Vedic Science.[69]

In 1955, the organizers of The Great Spiritual Development Conference of Kerala, published The Beacon Light of the Himalayas, a transcribed, 170 page, "souvenir" of the conference. Authors Chryssides, Humes and Forsthoefel, Miller, and Russel cite this as the Maharishi's first published book on Transcendental Meditation. Transcendental Meditation is not mentioned in the text of the book.[70][71][72][73][74] The book is dedicated to Maharshi Bala Brahmanchari Mahesh Yogi Rajaram by his devotees of Kerala and contains photos, letters and lectures by numerous authors which appear in various languages such as English, Hindi and Sanskrit.[70]

In his 1963 publication Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary, the Maharishi describes the Bhagavad Gita as "the Scripture of Yoga." He says that "its purpose is to explain in theory and practice all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level."[75] In 1964, the Maharishi attended the All-India Yogic Conference held in Calcutta, India, where he said that the teachings contained in the Bhagavad Gita was misunderstood in the current age, "the practice of yoga was misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied," resulting in "weakness in the fields of thought and action".[76] The Maharishi said that the source of his commentary was his master: "We are just an innocent means for the spontaneous flow of that knowledge – that's all."[77]

While working on his translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita, the Maharishi began audio taping the text of Science of Being and Art of Living, which was later transcribed and published in 1963.[78][79]

Advanced programs

Over a 30-year period the Maharishi held many advanced, in-residence courses and assemblies in North America, India and Europe for practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique. These courses consisted of long meditation sessions, lectures by Maharishi, discussions based on personal experiences of meditation, questions from course participants, and organizational meetings. This type of in-residence course style continues to this day.[80]

In the mid 1970s, the Maharishi began the TM-Sidhi program, including Yogic Flying, as an additional option for those who had been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique for some time. According to Coplin, this new aspect of knowledge emphasized not only the individual, but also the collective benefits created by group practice of this advanced program.[81] This new program gave rise to a new principle called the Maharishi Effect. The Maharishi believed that this group practice of the technique benefited the environment.[82]

Ideas

Maharishi Vedic Science, or MVS, is based on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's interpretation of the ancient Vedic texts. MVS includes two aspects, the practical aspect of the Transcendental Meditation technique and the TM-Sidhi Program, as well as the theoretical aspect of how MVS is applied to day to day living.[83][84]

These applications include programs in: Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH);[85][86] Maharishi Sthapatya Veda,[5] a mathematical system for the design and construction of buildings; Maharishi Gandharva Veda,[87][88] a form of classical Indian music; Maharishi Jyotish (also known as Maharishi Vedic Astrology),[89][90] a system claiming the evaluation of life tendencies of an individual; Maharishi Vedic Agriculture, a trademarked process for producing fresh, organic food; and, Consciousness-Based Education.[91]

According to educator, James Grant, a former Maharishi University of Management Associate Professor of Education and the former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Maharishi brought out a "full revival of the Vedic tradition of knowledge from India" and demonstrated its relevance in many areas including education, business, medicine and government. [92]

Other initiatives, projects and programs

Maharishi International University (renamed Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in 1995), the first university Maharishi founded, began classes in Santa Barbara, California, in 1973. Then in 1974, the university moved to Fairfield, Iowa, where it remains today. The university houses a library of the Maharishi's taped lectures and writings including the 33-lesson, Science of Creative Intelligence course, originally a series of lectures given by the Maharishi in Fiuggi, Italy, in 1972. Described in the MUM university catalogue as combining modern science, and Vedic science,[93] the course also describes certain higher states of consciousness, and guidance on how to attain these states.[94]

The Maharishi also introduced theories of management, defense, and government,[95] programs said to alleviate poverty, and introduced a new economic development currency called the Raam.[96] In 2000, the Maharishi began building administrative and teaching centers called "Peace Palaces" around the world, and by 2008 at least eight had been constructed in the US alone.[97]

The Beatles

The Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in August 1967, studying with him in Bangor, Wales, and in early 1968, attended a TM teacher-training course in Rishikesh, India. While Starr and McCartney left the Maharishi's camp for personal reasons, Lennon’s and Harrison’s departure was marred by controversy. "Magic" Alex Mardas had relayed a story to John and George that Maharishi had made sexual advances on Mia Farrow or other course participants.[98]

Years later Lennon and Harrison both acknowledged that a mistake have been made. Lennon classified the incident as "an error in judgment".[99] Harrison commented, "Now, historically, there's the story that something went on that shouldn't have done—but nothing did."[100]

Farrow's autobiography is ambiguous about the incident: she describes "panicking" and fleeing after the Maharishi put his arms around her in a dark cave, immediately after a private meditation session, and that "at my level of consciousness, if Jesus Christ Himself had embraced me, I would have misinterpreted it."[101]

After the Maharishi's death on February 5, 2008, Sir Paul McCartney released a statement saying, "Whilst I am deeply saddened by his passing, my memories of him will only be joyful ones. He was a great man who worked tirelessly for the people of the world...." Ringo Starr released a statement saying, "One of the wise men I met in my life was the Maharishi. I always was impressed by his joy and I truly believe he knows where he is going."[102]

Paul McCartney commented on April 3, 2009, in a press conference prior to his performance at the David Lynch Foundation benefit concert ”Change Begins Within”, that Transcendental Meditation was a gift the Beatles had received from Maharishi at a time when they were looking for something to stabilize them. The concert, headlined by McCartney on April 4, 2009, was created to raise funds to support teaching TM to one million children around the world.[103] During part of the concert McCartney was accompanied on stage by Ringo Starr for only the second time since the breakup of The Beatles many years earlier.

Death

On 5 February 2008 at Vlodrop, Netherlands,[104] Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes.[105] The Agni Samadhi Vedic rites were conducted on a high plateau on the grounds of a temple the Maharishi had been in the process of building in homage to his Master, overlooking the confluence of the Ganges in Allahabad, India. The funeral was carried by Sadhana TV station and was presided over by one of the claimants to the seat of Shankaracharya of the North, Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati Maharaj. During the military salute, the soldiers reversed arms but did not fire a salute, in honor of the Maharishi's life-long dedication to the creation of world peace.[106] (As reported by Sadhana TV station, 11 February 2008.)

Awards and citations

According to a publication by Maharishi European Research University, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was the recipient of awards and citations during his lifetime. Some of these are: Man of Hope award, 1970, City of Hope, California;[107] Golden Medal of the City of Delphi, Greece;[108] Key to the City of Houston, Texas, USA;[109] Key to the City of Los Angeles, California, USA;[109] and, honorary citizenship to the City of Winnipeg, Canada.[110] Proclamations given by governing bodies include ones given by Governor Dan Walker of Illinois,[111] and by Members of the Parliament of India.[112]

Books

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is credited as the author of more than 16 books.

  • ISBN 8175230150 Celebrating Perfection in Administration
  • ISBN 8175230134 Celebrating Perfection in Education – Dawn of Total Knowledge
  • ISBN 8175230045 Constitution of India Fulfilled through Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation
  • ISBN 9991160892 Enlightenment and Invincibility
  • ISBN 9080600512 Ideal India – The Lighthouse of Peace on Earth
  • ISBN 8175230061 Inaugurating Maharishi Vedic University
  • Love and God (SRM: 1965; Age of Enlightenment Press: 1978) - currently out-of-print
  • ISBN 8175230037 Maharishi Forum of Natural Law and National Law for Doctors – Perfect Health for Everyone
  • ISBN 0140192476 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita – A New Translation and Commentary, Chapters 1-6
  • ISBN 8175230088 Maharishi Speaks to Educators – Mastery Over Natural Law
  • ISBN 8175230126 Maharishi Speaks to Students – Mastery Over Natural Law
  • ISBN 8175230010 Maharishi University of Management – Wholeness on the Move
  • ISBN 9071750175 Maharishi Vedic University – Introduction
  • ISBN 8175230002 Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Defence – Sovereignty in Invincibility
  • ISBN 8175230029 Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Government – Automation in Administration
  • ISBN 0452282667 Science of Being and Art of Living – Transcendental Meditation

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Gifts of the Global Country of World Peace
  2. ^ Rundschau
  3. ^ Maharishi School UK
  4. ^ 1-888-LEARN TM (888-532-7686)
  5. ^ http://www.srigurudev.net/srigurudev/gurudev/biography.html
  6. ^ Oates, Robert M. Celebrating the Dawn, page 40. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-11815-2.
  7. ^ Transcendental Meditation book: Introduction
  8. ^ The New York Times
  9. ^ "12 January 2008: Rejoicing in the supreme fulfilment of Invincibility for the world - Global Country of World Peace celebrates the dawn of administration of eternal silence" Press release, January 12, 2008
  10. ^ „Historic address of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on 11 January 2008“ Press release, January 11th, 2008
  11. ^ „Dear Fellow Governors, Sidhas and Meditators of America.“ Mailing from John Hagelin, „Raja of Invincible America“, 8. Januar 2008
  12. ^ Per pamphlet at the Vedic Agni Samadhi rites in Allahabad
  13. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/06/india.obituaries
  14. ^ Biographies by Paul Mason, William Jefferson, and Elsa Dragemark (quoting his uncle Raj Varma) say that the Maharishi's real name was Mahesh Prasad Varma and he was born January 12, 1917 in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Yet a different form of his name appears in the Allahabad University list of distinguished alumni, where he is listed as M.C. Srivastava (see http://www.allduniv.edu/hostels/gnjha/gnjha_alumni.htm).
  15. ^ a b Blume, Mary (July 8, 1995). "A Little Meditation on the Bottom Line". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/1995/07/08/yoga.t.php. Retrieved 2004-04-25. 
  16. ^ Encyclopedia of Religion, p.2, ISBN 0-02-865981-3
  17. ^ Maybe "Poonalulla". These places, so far, have not been located.
  18. ^ Per his passport
  19. ^ Coplin, J.R. (1990)Text and Context in the Communication of a Social Movement's Charisma, Ideology, and Consciousness: TM for India and the West. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego, p. 48
  20. ^ Humes, C.A. (2005)Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Beyond the T.M. Technique, in Gurus in America, ed. Thomas A. Forsthoefel and Cynthia Ann Humes, SUNY Press, p. 61, ISBN 079146573X
  21. ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Spiritual Leader, Dies. Lily Koppel, New York Times, February 6, 2008
  22. ^ Coplin, J.R. (1990)Text and Context in the Communication of a Social Movement's Charisma, Ideology, and Consciousness: TM for India and the West. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego, p. 64
  23. ^ Coplin, J.R. (1990)Text and Context in the Communication of a Social Movement's Charisma, Ideology, and Consciousness: TM for India and the West. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego, p. 49
  24. ^ "Beatles guru dies in Netherlands" USA Today (AP) (February 5, 2008)
  25. ^ Epstein, Edward, "Politics and Transcendental Meditation", San Francisco Chronicle (December 29, 1995)
  26. ^ a b Woo, Elaine, "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", LA Times (February 6, 2006)
  27. ^ Morris, Bevan "Maharishi’s Vedic Science and Technology: The Only Means to Create World Peace", Journal of Modern Science and Vedic Science Volume 5, Numbers 1–2, 1992 p 200
  28. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 189, ISBN 9071750027
  29. ^ Rooney, Ben "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, guru to Beatles, dies" The Telegraph (February 6, 2008)
  30. ^ Russell, Peter, The T.M. Technique: An Introduction to Transcendental Meditation and the Teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Routledge (1977)ISBN 0710085397, 9780710085399 p. 25
  31. ^ a b c Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 199
  32. ^ King, J.L. (2007) Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, p.13.
  33. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 238
  34. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 213-37, ISBN 9071750027
  35. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 236, ISBN 9071750027
  36. ^ Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, J. Gordon Melton, Garland Publishing, 1986 [1]
  37. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 276
  38. ^ Hermit in the House, p.44, Los Angeles, 1967
  39. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, pp. 318-320
  40. ^ Dorine Tolley (2009). The Power Within: Leon MacLaren, A Memoir of His Life and Work. BookSurge Publishing. ISBN 1-4392-1030-6.
  41. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 305
  42. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 302
  43. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, pp. 318-344, ISBN 9071750027
  44. ^ Seven-step course in How to Learn the Transcendental Meditation program
  45. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 400, ISBN 9071750027
  46. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 490-491 and p.503
  47. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, pp. 544-545
  48. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 504-507
  49. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 530-536
  50. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, pp 587-588
  51. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 553
  52. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, p. 572
  53. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, MVU Press, 1986, pp 5776-577
  54. ^ "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi" The Telegraph (February 7, 2008)
  55. ^ http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner~y2009m3d25-Beatle-news-briefs-for-326
  56. ^ http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/howard-stern-joins-david-lynch.html
  57. ^ "The mystic who inspired The Beatles: The town that lost its guru" The Independent (February 7, 2008)
  58. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-maharishi6feb06,1,4208394.story
  59. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=6TMFoMFe-D8C&pg=PA525&dq=transcendental+meditation&lr=#v=onepage&q=transcendental%20meditation&f=false
  60. ^ Time Magazine, The TM Craze, 1975
  61. ^ Keen, Judy (May 23, 2006). "Maharishi meets the Bible Belt". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-22-smith-center_x.htm. Retrieved 2004-04-25. 
  62. ^ Lovett, Michael (May 25, 2006). "The Beach Boys’ Mike Love: From ‘Good Vibrations’ to transcendental meditation". http://www.religionnewsblog.com/14824/the-beach-boys-mike-love-from-good-vibrations-to-transcendental-meditation. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 
  63. ^ http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner~y2009m3d25-Beatle-news-briefs-for-326
  64. ^ http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/howard-stern-joins-david-lynch.html
  65. ^ Sullivan, Robert. "TLGolf.com: Clint Eastwood Profile". TLGolf. http://www.tlgolf.com/features/9901clint.html. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 
  66. ^ [2]
  67. ^ Ferrick, Tom (February 10, 2008). "Recalling the Maharishi and Carville’s Killer Ad". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/weekinreview/10ferrick.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  68. ^ DNA India, David Lynch to shoot film about TM Guru Maharishi[3]
  69. ^ [Official Maharishi Book web site http://maharishi-programmes.globalgoodnews.com/publications/books.html]
  70. ^ a b Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Beacon Light of the Himalayas (1955)
  71. ^ [http://books.google.com/books?id=jxIxPBpGMwgC&pg=PA293&dq=#v=onepage&q=&f=false Chryssides, George D., Exploring New ReligionsContinuum International Publishing Group (1999)ISBN 0826459595, 9780826459596 p 293]
  72. ^ Forsthoefel, Thomas A. and Humes, Cynthia Ann, "Gurus in America" SUNY Press (2005)ISBN 079146573X, 9780791465738 p.77
  73. ^ Miller, Timothy, "America's Alternative ReligionsSUNY Press (1995)ISBN 0791423972, 9780791423974 p.193
  74. ^ Russell, Peter, The T.M. Technique: An Introduction Routledge (1977)ISBN 0710085397, 9780710085399 p.75
  75. ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (1969) On the Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary. New York: Penguin Books, pp. 20-21.
  76. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 587, ISBN 9071750027
  77. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 348, ISBN 9071750027
  78. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 459, ISBN 9071750027
  79. ^ Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 3, ISBN 0-02-865981-3
  80. ^ Meditators Fly For Peace
  81. ^ Coplin, J.R. (1990)Text and Context in the Communication of a Social Movement's Charisma, Ideology, and Consciousness: TM for India and the West. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego, p. 71
  82. ^ Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 450, ISBN 9071750027
  83. ^ Anna Bonshek, Corrina Bonshek, and Lee Fergusson.The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space. Rodopi, 2007.
  84. ^ The Big Fish, Anna Bonshek, p. 6-9
  85. ^ Contemporary Ayurveda, Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayur-Veda, H. Sharma MD and Christopher Clark MD, 1998, Title Chapter 13
  86. ^ Schneider, R and Fields, J: Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health, Basic Health Publications, Inc. 2006
  87. ^ The Physiology of Consciousness, Robert Keith Wallace, Ph.D.pp 99-102, Institue of Science and Public Policy 1986
  88. ^ Contemporary Ayurveda; Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayurveda, H. Sharma MD, C. Clark MD, p. 143
  89. ^ The Physiology of Consciousness, Robert Keith Wallace, Ph.D.pp 107-109, Institute of Science and Public Policy 1986
  90. ^ Contemporary Ayurveda; Medicine and Research in Maharishi Ayurveda, H. Sharma MD, C. Clark MD, pp. 144-145 Churchill Livingstone 1998.
  91. ^ CBE web site
  92. ^ Grant James,The University in Transition, Jennifer Gidley, p.209, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, [4]
  93. ^ MUM Catalogue of coursesCatalog 07-08-b
  94. ^ King, J.L. (2007). Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, p.14
  95. ^ King, J.L. (2007). Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, p.15.
  96. ^ Forbes, "Queer as a three-raam bill"
  97. ^ New York Times, "Sites for ‘Maharishi Effect’ (Welcome to Parma) Spread Across U.S."
  98. ^ Wenner, Jann (2000) [1971]. Lennon Remembers. Verso, W.W. Norton & Co.. p. 27. ISBN 185984376X. http://books.google.com/books?id=ymjy06WZnd4C&pg=RA1-PA27&dq=%22lennon+remembers%22+maharishi&sig=Z-ZRmuOd3HN0av5kTK6IuemPGTY. "Yeah, there was a big hullabaloo about him trying to rape Mia Farrow or trying to get off with Mia Farrow and a few other women, things like that." 
  99. ^ New York Times, "Meditation on the Man Who Saved the Beatles"
  100. ^ The Beatles Anthology, Chronicle Books, 2000, pp. 285-86
  101. ^ "What Falls Away". Bantam. p. 128. ISBN 0553763342. "...I was blinking at his beard when suddenly I became aware of two surprisingly male, hairy arms going around me. I panicked, and shot up the stairs, apologizing all the way. I flew out into the open air, and ran as fast as I could to Prudy’s room... I blurted out something about Maharishi’s cave, and arms, and beard, and she said, It’s an honor to be touched by a holy many after meditation, a tradition. Furthermore, at my level of consciousness, if Jesus Christ Himself had embraced me, I would have misinterpreted it." 
  102. ^ "Beatles pay tribute to late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi", AFP (February 7, 2008)
  103. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090403/people_nm/us_beatles.
  104. ^ Corder, Mike (February 5, 2008). "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies". Associated Press. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Feb05/0,4670,ObitMaharishiMaheshYogi,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  105. ^ BBC News FEb 6 2008
  106. ^ "House mourns death of Mahesh Yogi, Goud."[dead link] Central Chronicle, February 27th, 2008
  107. ^ Proclamations, p.8, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,
  108. ^ Proclamations, p.11, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,
  109. ^ a b Proclamations, p.104, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,
  110. ^ Proclamations, p.101, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,
  111. ^ Proclamations, p.19, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,
  112. ^ Proclamations, p.12-13, MERU Press publication, Germany, G875, 1976,

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