Maharishi Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918Yogi's passport
paulmason.info – 5 February 2008) was an Indian yoga guru known for developing and popularizing Transcendental Meditation (TM), and for being the leader and guru of a worldwide organization that has been characterized in multiple ways including as a new religious movement and as non-religious. He became known as ''Maharishi'' (meaning "great seer") and ''Yogi'' as an adult. Mason (1994), p. 28

After earning a degree in physics at Allahabad University in 1942, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi became an assistant and disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (also known as Guru Dev), the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of the Jyotir Math in the Indian Himalayas. The Maharishi credits Brahmananda Saraswati with inspiring his teachings. In 1955, the Maharishi began to introduce his Transcendental Deep Meditation (later renamed Transcendental Meditation) to India and the world. His first global tour began in 1958. His devotees referred to him as ''His Holiness'', and because he laughed more frequently in early TV interviews he was sometimes referred to as the "giggling guru."

The Maharishi trained more than 40,000 TM teachers, taught the Transcendental Meditation technique to "more than five million people" and founded thousands of teaching centres and hundreds of colleges, universities and schools, while TM websites report tens of thousands learned the TM-Sidhi programme. His initiatives include schools and universities with campuses in several countries including India, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The Maharishi, his family and close associates created charitable organisations and for-profit businesses including health clinics, mail-order health supplements and organic farms. The reported value of the Maharishi's organization has ranged from the millions to billions of U.S. dollars; and, in 2008, the organization placed the value of their United States assets at about $300 million.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Maharishi achieved fame as the guru to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and other celebrities. In the late 1970s, he started the TM-Sidhi programme, which proposed to improve the mind-body relationship of practitioners through techniques such as Yogic flying. The Maharishi's Natural Law Party was founded in 1992, and ran campaigns in dozens of countries. He moved to near Vlodrop, the Netherlands, in the same year. In 2000, he created the Global Country of World Peace, a non-profit organization, and appointed its leaders. In 2008, the Maharishi announced his retirement from all administrative activities and went into silence until his death three weeks later.

Life

Birth

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi belonged to the Kayastha caste, a caste of scribes and administrators, of the Hindu religion. The birth name and the birth dates of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are not known with certainty, in part because of the tradition of ascetics and monks to relinquish family connections.Coplin, Ch. 2, Socio-Historical Context for SRM's Emergence, Footnote #73: "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's caste background is a matter of some uncertainty because it is the tradition of yogis, ascetics, and renunciants to relinquish their family ties. His education and family status are known by many long-time movement members, however. Shrivastava is the family name of his cousins and nephews, and that name can be traced to the Hindu Kayasthas." Many accounts say he was born Mahesh Prasad Varma into a Kayastha family living in the Central Provinces of British India.Humes, p. 61 A different name appears in the Allahabad University list of distinguished alumni, where he is listed as M.C. Srivastava and an obituary says his name was "Mahesh Srivastava".

Various accounts give the year of his birth as 1911, 1917 or 1918. Authors Paul Mason and William Jefferson say that he was born 12 January 1917 in Jabalpur, Central Provinces, British India (now Madhya Pradesh, India).Kroll, Una (1974) ''The Healing Potential of Transcendental Meditation'', John Knox Press. Ch. 1: The Guru, pp 17–25. Jefferson, William (1976) ''The Story of The Maharishi'', Pocket Books. pp 7–21. The place of birth given in his passport is "Pounalulla", India, and his birth date 12 January 1918. Mahesh "most likely" came from an upper-caste family of the high-status Kayastha caste, whose traditional profession is writing.Lewis, James (2001) Prometheus Books, ''Odd Gods, New Religions and the Cult Controversy'', pp 230–233,

Early life

Mahesh studied physics at Allahabad University and earned a degree in 1942. While a few sources say that he worked at the Gun Carriage Factory in Jabalpur for some time, most report that in 1941, he became an administrative secretary to the Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (also known as Guru Dev, which means "divine teacher")Humes, pp. 59–60. Williamson, p. 81 and took a new name, Bal Brahmachari Mahesh. Mason (1994), p. 22 Coplin refers to ''bala brahmachari'' as both a title and a name, and considers that it "identified him as a fully dedicated student of spiritual knowledge and life-long celibate ascetic."Coplin, Ch. 3, SRM as Cultural Revitalization Text: "While his association with the illustrious Shankaracharya tradition served as vital letter of introduction throughout India, his title, "bala brahmachari" identified him as a fully dedicated student of spiritual knowledge and life-long celibate ascetic. Literally, the name means "childhood or boy" (bala) "student of sacred knowledge" (brahmachari), and it has signified from Vedic times one who has taken the vow of chastity." Brahmananda insisted that before accepting Mahesh as a pupil he must first complete his university degree and get permission from his parents. The Maharishi recalls how it took about two and a half years to attune himself to the thinking of Brahmananda Saraswati and to gain "a very genuine feeling of complete oneness". At first Brahmachari Mahesh performed common chores but gained trust and became Guru Dev's "personal secretary"Chryssides, George D. (1999)
Exploring new religions
London: Cassell. pp. 293–296. . Page 293 and "favored pupil". He was trusted to take care of the bulk of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati's correspondence without direction, and was also sent out to give public speeches on Vedic (scriptural) themes. The Maharishi said his life truly began in 1940, at the feet of his master, when he learned the secret of swift and deep meditation.

Brahmachari Mahesh remained with Swami Brahmananda Saraswati until the latter died in 1953, when he moved to Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas where he undertook a reclusive life for two years. Although Brahmachari Mahesh was a close disciple, he could not be the Shankaracharya's spiritual successor because he was not of the Brahmin caste. Williamson, p. 84: "Guru Dev represented the tradition well, for he did not allow anyone who was not of the Brahmin varna, the caste of the priesthood, to teach. Since Mahesh was born into a scribe caste (kayastha), he was not allowed to join the order of monks. Thus when Saraswati died in Calcutta in 1953, Mahesh would not have been considered a candidate to replace him." The Shankaracharya, at the end of his life, charged him with the responsibility of travelling and teaching meditation to the masses, while he named Swami Shantananda Saraswati as his successor.

Tour in India (1955–1957)

In 1955, Brahmachari Mahesh left Uttarkashi and began publicly teaching what he stated was a traditional meditation technique learned from his master Brahmananda Saraswati, and that he called Transcendental Deep Meditation. Williamson, pp. 97–99 Later the technique was renamed Transcendental Meditation. It was also then that he was first publicly known with the name "Maharishi" an honorific title meaning "great sage" after the title was given to him according to some sources from "Indian Pundits" and according to another source the honorific was given along with Yogi by followers in India. Later in the west the title was retained as a name.

He traveled around India for two years interacting with his "Hindu audiences" in an "Indian context". 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. According to Coplin, in his visits to southern India, the Maharishi spoke English rather than the Hindi spoken in his home area to avoid provoking resistance among those seeking linguistic self-determination, and to appeal to the "learned classes".Coplin, Ch. 2, Socio-Historical Context for SRM's Emergence: "In South India Maharishi spoke in English because his Hindi would not only be little understood outside of the North, but it would provoke hostility among many who were fighting for linguistic self-determination in the period immediately following Independence. The use of English, however, had greater connotations, as it presumed an audience of Indians familiar with British administration and education. More significantly, it appealed to the 'learned classes', mostly brahmins, but also lower caste officials whose families had escaped their more humble backgrounds by means of acquiring an English education."

World tours (1958–1968)

According to William Jefferson, in 1958, the Maharishi went to Madras to address a large crowd of people who had gathered to celebrate the memory of Guru Dev. It was there that he spontaneously announced that he planned to spread the teaching of TM throughout the world. Hundreds of people immediately asked to learn TM. In 1959, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began his first world tour, writing: "I had one thing in mind, that I know something which is useful to every man".

The Maharishi's 1986 book, ''Thirty Years Around the World'', gives a detailed account of his world tours, as do two biographies, ''The Story of the Maharishi'', by William Jefferson, and ''The Maharishi'' by Paul Mason. The first world tour began in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) and included the countries of Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Hawaii. He arrived in Hawaii in the spring of 1959 and the ''Honolulu Star Bulletin'' reported: "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." In 1959, the Maharishi lectured and taught the Transcendental Meditation technique in Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and London. While in Los Angeles the Maharishi stayed at the home of author Helena Olson, and during this period he developed a three-year plan to propagate Transcendental Meditation to the whole world. Though most of his audience consisted of average middle class individuals, he also attracted a few celebrities, such as Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Nancy Cooke de Herrera and Doris Duke.

When the Maharishi came to the U.S. in 1959, his Spiritual Regeneration Movement was called Transcendental Meditation. That same year he began the International Meditation Society and other organizations to propagate his teachings, establishing centres in San Francisco and London. For years, the sole teacher of Transcendental Meditation in America was a San Diego woman named Beulah Smith.

In 1960, the Maharishi travelled to many cities in India, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

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''. This was also the year in which the Maharishi trained Henry Nyburg to be the first Transcendental Meditation teacher in Europe.

In 1961, the Maharishi visited the United States, Austria, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece, India, Kenya, England, and Canada. While in England, he appeared on BBC
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