MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI

'Maharishi Mahesh Yogi' (born January 12, 1917) ^[1], the founder of the Transcendental Meditation program, has inspired numerous schools, colleges, universities, health-care facilities, Peace Palaces, and Invincibility centers that bear his name.[1] In approximately 1939 Maharishi became a disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati [2], who, from 1941 to 1953, was the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of Jyotir Math, which is located in the Indian Himalayas. Maharishi credits him with inspiring his teachings.
Since his first global tour in 1958, ^[2] Maharishi's techniques for human development have been taught to millions of people around the world, [3] and he continues to focus on systematically re-enlivening all aspects of the Vedic Literature for public use. ^[3] Since 1990 Maharishi has coordinated his global activities from his residence in the town of Vlodrop in the municipality of Roerdalen in the Netherlands.

Early life

Maharishi (Great Sage or Great Seer) was born to a Hindu family living in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. Born Mahesh Prasad Varma,^[4] he earned a degree in physics^[5] at Allahabad University. According to Jay Randolph Coplin, the name "Mahesh" indicated that Maharishi came from a Hindu family that worshipped Shiva. ^[6]
Describing his first meeting with his Master, Maharishi said: "As a thirsty man arrives at a well, so I arrived at the feet of my Master. The quest of a perfect Master was there. The first sight of his personality was enough to make me surrender at his feet."^[7]
In 1941, having completed his university studies, Maharishi became a secretary to the Hindu Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, who gave him the name Bal Brahmacharya Mahesh. Besides indicating his family faith, Coplin ^[8]
says the conferred title "identified him as a fully dedicated student of spiritual knowledge and life-long celibate ascetic." Maharishi remained with Brahmananda Saraswati until the latter passed away in 1953, and though he was perhaps his closest disciple, he could never be his spiritual successor since he was not of the brahmin caste. ^[9]
In 1953, Maharishi retired into silence for approximately two years in Uttarkashi, a valley in the Himalayas known as the Valley of the Saints, where his own Master had lived in previous decades with his Master, Swami Krishanand Saraswati. In 1955, Maharishi left Uttarkashi, possessed of the knowledge of life bestowed on him by his Master.^[10] Maharishi later recalled his deep concern about the two apparent divergent realities of life. He noted the exalted quality of Indian Vedic Literature that depicts all life as bliss, and compared that reality to the suffering humanity endures. He felt that “there was no reason why there should be a gap, because it's so simple for the individual to be on that level of universality and immortality…. This was the natural feeling that was deep in my mind, that something should be done so that people don't suffer."^[11]
In 1955, Maharishi began publicly teaching what he states is a traditional meditation technique that he later renamed Transcendental Meditation. The Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the first of many organizations he founded, began in 1957, in Madras, India, on the concluding day of the Seminar of Spiritiual Luminaries. According to J. Lynwood King, in his doctoral thesis, the positive feedback Maharishi received from the diverse population that learned his technique confirmed to him that anyone, anywhere could learn and benefit from his knowledge.^[12] Thus, by 1958, Maharishi had begun the first of many worldwide tours.

Transcendental Meditation technique

According to the official Transcendental Meditation website, Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation program has been taught worldwide to over 5 million people.^[13]Practising Transcendental Meditation involves the use of a mantra, or sound, and the proper technique of how to use it. Some TM practitioners report that during the practice their mind becomes very alert but their body receives deep rest, and these effects continue afterward. Maharishi calls this state "Transcendental Consciousness" or restful alertness. He says that mantras come from the age-old Vedic Tradition,^[14] and are sounds designed as vehicles for the mind to settle down to the quieter states of awareness at its finer levels. It is practised for 20 minutes, twice a day, while sitting in a relaxed but upright posture with eyes closed. Certain studies have shown that Transcendental Meditation and other meditation techniques can lower blood pressure, heart rate, and other physiological measures.(Psychosomatic Medicine 46: 267–276, 1984; American Psychologist 42: 879–881, 1987; Hypertension 26: 820–827, 1995; Journal of Human Stress 5: 24-27, 1979.)

World Tours and expansion of teachings

World tours begin

The first stop of the first world tour was in Rangoon, Burma, now Myanmar, on the Bodhipurnima day. The following day Maharishi was met by an aged Buddhist monk along with his disciples, who had all come to seek his blessings. For over a year the monk had been predicting the arrival of a great yogi from the Himalayas on the Bodhipurnima day. Maharishi remained for about six months in countries of the Far East, teaching Transcendental Meditation to all areas of society. ^[15]
On the last day of 1958, the ''Honolulu Star Bulletin'' published an article about Maharishi 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." ^[16]

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the front cover of Time Magazine on October 13, 1975.

In 1959, Maharishi gave his first instructions in the Transcendental Meditation technique on U.S. soil on the islands of Hawaii. ⁵ Soon after, he left for California and became a guest at a private home that he would visit frequently for many years. His host, Mrs. Helena Olson, in her biography, ''Hermit in the House'', described Maharishi as he settled into the guest room: "He lifted neatly folded pieces of silk from the rug, a small metal box of toilet articles, a little clock and a fountain pen - and our Yogi was all unpacked." ^[17]
During the 1960s and early 1970s practitioners of the technique became seen as part of the then current "counter-culture" phenomenon, at which time a number of celebrities learned the technique. Celebrity students at that time included The Beatles,^[18] the Beach Boys, (including singer Mike Love,^[19] who became a TM teacher) and singer-songwriter Donovan, who befriended Maharishi and put his picture on the back cover of his ''A Gift from a Flower to a Garden'' album. Comedian Andy Kaufman and magician Doug Henning were also students of Maharishi, while Clint Eastwood^[20] and David Lynch are two notable directors who have practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique.

First teachers trained

After starting the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the United States of America, Maharishi travelled to Europe in early 1960, stopping first in London, as he continued his world tour. During the next two years, he returned to India and the Far East, before revisiting the U.S.A., Europe, and Africa. With each place that he visited, he not only lectured on and taught his technique of meditation, but also established administrative centers where practitioners could meet in his absence. Soon students of his technique were sufficiently experienced that he was able to start training them to become teachers themselves. In 1961, he conducted his first international Teacher Training Course near Rishikesh, India, with over 60 meditators from India, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Britain, Malaya, Norway, the United States, Australia, Greece, Italy, and the West Indies. ^[21] To the present (2007) he has continued to train teachers throughout the world, preparing them to teach the technique in exactly the same way, everywhere. [4]

Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita

These first teachers' increased experience with the technique made it possible for Maharishi to introduce further knowledge for the development of human potential, for it was during their course that he began writing his translation and commentary on the first six chapters of the ancient Vedic text, the Bhagavad Gita.^[22] Reflecting on this event, Maharishi later said: "So the credit of this knowledge goes to the source and the time - Guru Dev (his Master) and the present time of the world, the response of the people of this generation. We are just an innocent means for the spontaneous flow of that knowledge - that's all." ^[23]
In his commentary, Maharishi describes the Bhagavad-Gita as "the Scripture of Yoga." He further explains 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." He says that his commentary "is being brought out only after the technique [of Transcendental Meditation] has been verified in the lives of thousands of people of different nationalities throughout the world...It presents a truth that is timeless and universal, a truth of life equally suited to all men, irrespective of differences of faith, culture or nationality." ^[24] Coplin says Maharishi's attention to two verses in particular, "Be without the three gunas (mental and physical activity elements)" (II, 45) and "Established in Yoga, perform action" (II, 48) bring out the essence of yoga. ^[25]

In-residence courses

For the first thirty years of his travels, Maharishi continued to hold advanced, in-residence courses and world assemblies for practitioners of the Transcendental program every year in North America, India, and/or Europe. These courses provided long meditation sessions, lectures by Maharishi, discussions based on personal experiences and questions from course participants, and organizational meetings. Maharishi also explained that group practice of the technique benefited the environment. ^[26] Such courses continue to this day (2007) under his guidance and with the help of his teachers. [5]

First book

Still working on his translation and commentary of the Bhagavad Gita, Maharishi, too busy to write, audio taped the text of his first published book, ''The Science of Being and Art of Living''. The publication was in response to requests by early students who, fearful that he might not return from a visit to India, wanted to have "the essence of [his] teaching in a book." ^[27] "In this classic book first published in 1963 and which has reached millions of readers, Maharishi unfolds his vision for “a new humanity developed in all life’s values — physical, mental, material, spiritual.” [6]

Yoga

By 1964, having created over 100,000 practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique and 1000 centers of the Spritual Regeneration Movement worldwide, ^[28] Maharishi attended the All-India Yogic Conference held in Calcutta, India, where he stated that, because the teachings contained in the Bhagavad Gita were misunderstood, "the practice of yoga was misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied," resulting in "weakness in the fields of thought and action." This "created imbalance in nature and overshadowed the evolutionary aspect of natural law," and "lack of peace in the world." He further explained how the Transcendental Meditation technique could give the experience of yoga ^[29] and alleviate these problems. ^[30] This marked another step in his re-enlivenment of the Vedic Literature.
Coplin describes Patanjali's Yoga sutras as the classic "textbook" of yoga. ^[31] He states that Maharishi's interpretation of Patanjali's teaching is unique because he considers the so-called eight limbs of yoga as "not distinct stages to be consecutively controlled but rather interconnected parts of the whole yoga, or integrated functioning," and that Maharishi advocates "a direct path first to samadhi, the state of pure consciousness, rather than last, and recommends dhyana (meditation) as the most effective means."

The Science of Creative Intelligence

In 1972, Maharishi delivered a 33-lesson videotaped course in Fuiggi, Italy, that is described in the Maharishi University of Management catalog, which states, "In this course, Maharishi integrates the understanding of nature's intelligence provided by modern science (through its objective approach) and by ancient Vedic Science (which untilizes both objective and subjective approaches to gaining knowledge.)" [7] It is a required course for all students at this university. [8]

The Beatles

In 1967 the popular British rock group The Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation, and in early 1968 for varying lengths of time attended a Transcendental Meditation teacher training course in Rishikesh, India, under Maharishi’s supervision.
The Beatles left the course before the end for various reasons, with much media attention given to John Lennon’s statement that he left because he came to believe rumors that Maharishi had made sexual advances toward a young woman.^[32]^[33]^[34] According to several John Lennon biographies, the singer/songwriter felt "disappointed and betrayed" by Maharishi, to the extent that when Maharishi asked him why he was leaving the Rishikesh camp, Lennon reportedly snapped, "if you're so bloody enlightened, you should already know why." Lennon: Definitive Biography, The, , John, Lennon, Harper, 1992, Paul McCartney and George Harrison disputed the rumors in subsequent interviews.^[35] Also rumored was an incident related to actress Mia Farrow, who was on the course, but her account in her autobiography is ambiguous. She states: "Furthermore, at my level of consciousness, if Jesus Christ Himself had embraced me, I would have misinterpreted it." What Falls Away, , Mia, Farrow, Doubleday, 1997,
According to several authors (Brown and Gaines, 1983^[36]; Miles, 1998^[37]; Spitz, 2005^[38]; Cynthia Lennon, 1978 ^[39]), Alexis Mardas deliberately engineered these rumors in a devious way, because he was bent on undermining the Maharishi's influence on the Beatles. The following statement made by George Harrison is supported by comments made by Sir Paul McCartney in his approved biography.^[40]

Organizations and web sites

The TM movement maintains a number of websites. Their Maharishi Open University website provides basic information for the general public and broadcasts Maharishi's weekly webcast press-conferences via satellite.^[41] Information is also available on what he has named "Consciousness Based Education",^[42] the Maharishi University of Management, the American K-12 school, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment,^[43] and what is claimed to be the largest chain of privately owned schools in India, Maharishi Vidya Mandir.^[44]

Maharishi's goals

In the introduction to the 1955 book the ''Beacon Light of the Himalayas'', Maharishi makes the following offer to humanity: "Oh ye of the peaceless and suffering humanity! My happiness desires to root out your suffering. Will you extend your arm and allow me to lift you up from the mire of misery and peacelessness?"^[45]
TM literature states "Maharishi in the world today is a Cosmic figure, caring for the well-being of all mankind.... a quiet guardian of all nations." (Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Government 555-556). Another TM publication says that his achievements are "unequaled today or at any time in recorded history." (Maharishi Vedic University 255).
In 1959 Maharishi stated that he would "Fill the Earth with love and create Heaven on Earth."^[46]

Today

After the September 11, 2001 attacks Maharishi started issuing cautions, in weekly satellite press-conference and webcasts, about the prevailing directions of societal change in the world. As a solution to current world problems he proposed creating large permanent groups of sidhas, practitioners performing their meditation programs to create the claimed Maharishi Effect.
In 2007 Maharishi initiated what he describes as a seven-point, invincible defense program for every nation. He explains invincible defense as that which will bring peace, prosperity, and the real pursuit of evolutionary tendencies.[9] The seven point program includes:
# Vedic Defence - creating an influence of positivity and coherence in collective consciousness through practice of Yogic Flying in large groups^[47]
# Creating Problem-Free Government
# City and country planning in accord with the principles of Vedic Architecture
# Establishment of Vedic Medical Colleges to produce healthy medicines
# Establishment of Consciousness-based education
# Production of Vedic Organic Agriculture
# Elmination of poverty through the support of adequate wages, housing, and education for those living in scarcity and suffering^[48]

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

★ 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

Notes

1. various years are given for his birth: most frequently 1911, 1917, and 1918
2. Oates, Robert M. ''Celebrating the Dawn'', page 40. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN: 0-399-11815-2.
3. Freund, P. F. ''Vedic Literature Reading Curriculum, Volume I'', page 2. Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan Dissertation Services. UMI Number: 3222115
4. Biographies by Paul Mason, William Jefferson, and Elsa Dragemark say that Maharishi's real name is Mahesh Prasad Varma and he was born January 12, 1917, in Jabalpur. 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).
5. A Little Meditation on the Bottom Line
6. 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''. University of California, San Diego, p. 48
7. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 184, ISBN 9071750027
8. 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''. University of California, San Diego, p. 64
9. 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''. University of California, San Diego, p. 49
10. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 189, ISBN 9071750027
11. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 190, ISBN 9071750027
12. King, J.L. (2007). Fundamentals of Maharishi Vedic Science, p.13.
13. Maharishi's Message to America — Life is Bliss through Transcendental Meditation
14. Human Physiology - Expression of Veda and the Vedic Literature, p. 472
15. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 213-37, ISBN 9071750027
16. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 236, ISBN 9071750027
17. Hermit in the House, p.44, Los Angeles, 1967
18. Maharishi meets the Bible Belt
19. The Beach Boys’ Mike Love: From ‘Good Vibrations’ to transcendental meditation Michael Lovett
20. TLGolf.com: Clint Eastwood Profile
21. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, pp. 318-344, ISBN 9071750027
22. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 400, ISBN 9071750027
23. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 348, ISBN 9071750027
24. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (1969) On the Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary. New York: Penguin Books, pp. 20-21.
25. 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''. University of California, San Diego, p. 71
26. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 450, ISBN 9071750027
27. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 459, ISBN 9071750027
28. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 548, ISBN 9071750027
29. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 587, ISBN 9071750027
30. Thirty Years Around the World, Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, p. 549, ISBN 9071750027
31. 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''. University of California, San Diego, p. 70
32. Miles, Barry (1998) ''Many Years From Now'' pp.397, Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
33. Beatles in Rishikesh - Additional Stories, The Beatles, The Maharishi, Sex & Money
34. Kent, Stephen A. ''From slogans to mantras: social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam war era'', Syracuse University press, 2001, ISBN 0-8156-2948-6 page 19-20
35. The Beatles Anthology, Chronicle Books, 2000, pp. 285-86
36. Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, ''The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles'', New American Library: 2002, p.264, "By the end of the tenth week, Alex was bent on undermining the Maharishi's influence. . . . Cynthia, for one, didn't believe a word of [the accusations]. She had long ago become acquainted with Alex's jealousy over anyone who had John's attention, and she didn't doubt that Alex would lie to destroy the Maharishi's hold."
37. Miles, Barry, ''Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now'' (Holt: 1998), p. 429
38. Spitz, Bob, ''The Beatles: The Biography'', Little, Borwn: 2005, pp. 755-757
39. Cynthia Lennon, ''A Twist of Lennon'', Avon: 1978, pp. 174-176
40. Miles, Barry, ''Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now'' (Holt: 1998), p. 429, "it was Magic Alex who made the original accusation and I think it was completely untrue."
41. Maharishi Open University
42. Consciousness-Based Education Association
43. Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment
44. Maharishi Vidya Mandir
45. 'Beacon Light of the Himalayas' Kerala, October 1955- www.paulmason.info
46. Creating Heaven on Earth: A Transcendental Meditation (TM) portal for teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
47. Invincible Defence
48. Global Financial Capital of New York

References

★ http://www.tm.org/learn/where/index.html

★ http://www.srigurudev.net/srigurudev/gurudev/biography.html

★ http://www.tm.org/book/intro.html

★ Deans, Ashley, PhD (2005) A Record of Excellence: The Remarkable Success of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment

★ Miles, Barry (1998) Paul McCartney : Many Years from Now, ISBN 0-7493-8658-4

★ Spitz, Bob (2006) The Beatles -- The Biography, Aurum Press, ISBN 1-84513-160-6

★ Lennon, Cynthia (1978) A Twist of Lennon, W. H. Allen, ISBN 0-352-30196-1

★ Mason, Paul (1994, revised 2005), ''The Maharishi -- The Biography of the Man Who Gave Transcendental Meditation to the World''

★ Wynn, Ned (1993), We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills; Random House Value Publishing, ISBN 0-517-10885-2

★ THE TM CRAZE: 40 Minutes to Bliss

★ Om on the Grange

★ Iowa Town Booms On Eastern Ways

External links

Official TM sites

★ Transcendental Meditation

★ Global Country of World Peace

★ Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy

★ Maharishi Open University - weekly satellite press conferences (also webcasted)

★ Maharishi University of Management

★ Maharishi's Achievements, Forty Years Around the World

★ Stress Free Schools

Miscellaneous external links

★ [10] Information on Lawrence Domash, Ph.D.

★ Early photos of Maharishi

★ Brief bio of Maharishi Maheshi Yogi

★ 'The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man who gave Transcendental Meditation to the World'

★ Larry King interview with Maharishi on 5/12/02

★ ''Falling Down the TM Rabbit Hole'' Criticism of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and TM by a former TM teacher

★ Truth about TM

★ 'Swami Lakshmanju, Tat Wala Baba, Devraha Baba and others speak on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi'

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