Biography of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. What does Mahesh's title "Maharishi Yogi" mean? Yoga and Transcendental Meditation

general information

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, better known as Maharishi, is the founder of Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi program. Maharishi means Great Rishi (Maha means great and Rishi is a seer). The Rishi sees the truth, the Maharishi brings the truth to life in everyone's life.

Biography

The year of birth of Mahesh Prasad Varma (this is his real name) is unknown. Presumably, he was born between 1911 and 1918 in the city of Jabalbur, the current state of Madhya Pradesh. Mahesh Prasad Varma graduated from the Physics Department of Allahabad University (Uttar Pradesh). In 1941 he became the disciple and secretary of Guru Dev (Brahmananda Saraswati), an influential spiritual leader (shankaracharya). Guru Dev gave a new name-title to his assistant - Bal Brahamacharya Mahesh. The concept of brahmacharya implies asceticism and the rejection of any means of obtaining physical pleasure. Subsequently, in the second half of the 1960s, it was the attempt at sexual contact that undermined the reputation of Mahesh Yogi.

After the death of Guru Dev in 1953, Mahesh Yogi went "on free bread": he could not become a shankaracharya and the direct heir of his teacher, because he was not a brahmin. He spent the next four years of his life developing the teachings of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Mahesh Yogi claimed that his technique comes from ancient Vedic practices, but he came up with a modern name for his project, and this played into his hands. Since 1957, Mahesh Yogi, the “giggling guru” (so-called for his incessant chuckles during television interviews), regularly traveled all over the world promoting his technique, and his adherents quickly turned out to be not so much compatriots as residents of the United States and Europeans who were infatuated with India. countries. It was for them that the recipe for improving the quality of life through meditation was designed. In the East, this utilitarian approach is not enough: meditation, first of all, should serve spiritual enlightenment. A person who has reached this state is concerned about the quality of life least of all in the world, more precisely, it does not care about it at all.

In the mid-1960s, Mahesh Yogi, who by that time had long called himself maharshi, that is, "the great sage", began to publish books about his practices, which quickly found many admirers: "The Science of Being and the Art of Living" and commented in accordance with ( TM) translation of the Bhagavad Gita. But real success hit him in 1968, when all four members of The Beatles, as well as Mick Jagger and other celebrities, visited his abode (inevitably accompanied by dozens of journalists). Among them was the actress Mia Farrow, who by that time had played her most famous role - in the film Rosemary's Baby. The incident with Farrow, who accused the guru of attempting sexual contact, almost cost him his reputation. So, except for George Harrison, who remained loyal to the teacher, all the other Beatles, not without relief, abandoned transcendental meditation. John Lennon famously wrote a White Album song about the Maharishi called "Sexy Sadie" to avoid possible lawsuits.

However, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has a lot of loyal fans - for example, Mike Love, one of the founders of the Beach Boys, and "Scottish Dylan" - singer Donovan. The latter, by the way, still remains a faithful supporter of the teachings about (TM) and is going to build a university of transcendental meditation either in Glasgow or in Edinburgh.

Among the adherents (TM) in different years were directors Clint Eastwood and David Lynch. The creator of "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks", as well as Donovan, still not only practices the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but also maintains his own fund for teaching transcendental meditation.

Collective Meditation at Maharishi University of Management (Iowa)
Maharishi recovered from the fiasco of the late 1960s quite quickly: already in 1972 he created the World Plan Executive Council, which coordinated the "solution of the world's main problems", but in practice was the headquarters of Mahesh Yogi's empire. From there, training centers were managed, new programs were developed there - Ayurvedic, astrological, architectural, and so on.

Despite a series of lawsuits in which the Maharishi was accused of fraud, the further fate of himself and his school remained quite prosperous. Now the number of adepts (TM) totals from five to six million people all over the world. The average cost of a course (TM) in the United States reaches $ 2,500. A mantra (usually one word) can cost around $400.

In 1990, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi moved to the Netherlands and settled near Amsterdam. Then he stopped appearing in public and led his wards via video link. On January 11, 2008, the Maharishi announced his retirement. Less than a month later, he died. As stated by the press officer of the headquarters (TM), the teacher of millions died of natural causes - that is, of old age.

Achievements

Founded the Transcendental Meditation program and created the worldwide Spiritual Revival Movement (1957).

He laid the foundation for research in the field of consciousness and outlined the theory of seven states of consciousness (1957-1967).

In 1968, members of the legendary band The Beatles were among the Maharishi's students.

Created a new science - the Science of the Creative Mind - and trained 2000 teachers of this science (1972); there are currently over 40,000 teachers of the Science of the Creative Mind in the world.

Opened the Constitution of the universe - the living potential of natural law - in the Rik Veda and the structuring dynamic processes of the Rik Veda in all Vedic literature (1975). Celebrated the Rise of the Age of Enlightenment based on the discovery of the Maharishi Effect (1975) Established a worldwide government of the Age of Enlightenment based on the consciousness and invincibility of Natural Law (1976)

Developed the TM-Sidhi program and the experience of the seething bliss of Yogic Flight to create maximum coherence of the mind and body of individual consciousness and coherence of world consciousness (1976).

Formulated his absolute theories of government, education, health and defense for the rise of every area of ​​life to perfection (1977).

Revealed Apaurusheya Bhashya - a commentary on the Rik Veda, describing it as a structure of consciousness that generates and perpetuates itself (1980).

He systematized the Vedic literature, which existed for many centuries in a fragmented form, as the literature of a perfect science - Maharishi Vedic Science and Technology (1981).

Unleashed the full potential of Ayurveda, Gandharva Veda, Dhanur Veda, Sthapatya Veda and Jyotish to create a family of peoples free from diseases and problems (1985). Formulated a Master Plan to create a Paradise on Earth for the reconstruction of the entire world both from within and without (1988).

Created the Higher Science of Politics, with the introduction of automatism in management and inspired the creation of the Natural Law Party in the countries of the world (1992) Solemnly proclaimed the Global Ram Raj - Global Management through Natural Law (1993)

Founded the Maharishi Vedic Universities and the Maharishi Ayurvedic Universities around the world to give every person the path to the mastery of natural law, forever establish the harmony of life with natural law - perfection in all areas of human activity - and establish in every country a government operating from the level of natural law , capable of preventing the occurrence of any problem (1993-1994).

Discovered that the Veda and Vedic literature are fully reflected in human physiology; this discovery finally established the complete unity of the entire physical diversity of the universe, all sciences and all religions. This is the Rising of the Vedic Civilization, a civilization based on pure knowledge and the infinite organizing power of Natural Law, in which no one will suffer, everyone will enjoy the Eternal Glory to the Gods - Paradise on earth.

sayings

"The inner sphere of life is the source of the outer sphere, it is the source of spring for the outer life. The inner life is absolute Consciousness-Bliss."

"Let happiness be the main motivation for all your actions."

"The direct experience of the Blissful nature of the Soul completely transforms the inner world of a person. The perception of great Bliss by the mind brings satisfaction to the senses, and the satisfied mind will have access to the correct understanding and effective action, kindness, love and compassion for everything."

"When coherence becomes blissful, then the whole power of coherence and bliss is realized. Happiness is the only force that can unite people."

"The philosophy of life is this: Life is not a struggle, not a strain. Life should not be suffering. Life is Bliss, it is eternal wisdom, eternal existence."

"Life is Bliss. Man is born to enjoy the grace of God. Be only in the flow of bliss and nature, and this flow will take care of everything else."

"Every perception, the sound of every word, the touch of every small particle, every smell is the ebb and flow of waves of bliss."

"The world is the activity of the Divine, it is the movement of waves in the eternal ocean of Bliss Consciousness."

"The kindness and delicacy of the heart grows, the heart begins to melt from the experience of bliss and great happiness of the Transcendental Being, the heart becomes softer, and then the person will naturally no longer be harsh, will not feel hostility towards anyone. His speech will flow naturally, in full harmony."

"The direct experience of Transcendental Bliss gives a person such great satisfaction that the joys of the relative world fail to leave a deep impression on him, and he rises above the shackling influence of action."

"Just as a mountain of snow is only water, so the whole universe is nothing but Bliss."

"The Golden Gate to peace in life is the experience of happiness, and this is available to everyone, everyone is able to find great glory and fullness of life in everything."

"In everyone there is an ocean of Bliss, an ocean of Love and Joy, an ocean of Pure Knowledge and Divine Glory."

"Do not oppose, because in opposition the vulnerability of the level of feelings is destroyed."

"All activities must support the subtle feelings developed in the practice of the TM and TM-Siddhi programs."

"That's why we say 'tell the truth' but be gentle."

"Don't lie and don't speak in a non-sweet way, speak in such a way that feelings are supported."

"The whole result of the activity should be the enrichment of the feelings of other people."

"Be as delicate as possible."

"If communication achieves something on the gross (superficial, material) level, but damages something on the level of feelings, then this is a spiritual loss!"

"Feelings are more important for life."

"Feeding the level of the senses is the basis for the development of spiritual holistic values."

"Delicate conduct on the surface must be such as to nourish, sustain and increase the Transcendental Meaning where feelings merge into a single source."

"Don't oppose."

"Opposition is dangerous to immortality."

Contacts

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who taught the West about transcendental meditation and became famous in the 1960s as the spiritual guru of the Beatles, died on February 7, 2008 at his home in the Dutch town of Flodrop, where his organization is headquartered. According to reports, he was over 90 years old. Movement spokesman Stephen Yellin confirmed the death of the Maharishi, but did not name the cause of death.

On January 11, the Maharishi announced that his public activities were over and that he would devote the remaining time to publishing his longstanding series of commentaries on the Vedas, Hinduism's oldest sacred texts.

Maharishi was both an entrepreneur and a monk, a spiritual leader who sought to find a platform from which to preach the path to inner harmony. Critics called his organization a cult business. The press in the 1960s and 1970s often vilified him as a hippie mystic. The public knew the "laughing guru" well from photographs, in which he invariably appeared with a smile, sitting on a deerskin in a lotus position in a white silk loincloth, with a garland of flowers around his neck and with a greasy, unkempt beard.

In Hindi, "maha" means "great" and "rishi" means "prophet." "Maharishi" is the traditional title of the Brahmins. Critics accused Yogi of having arbitrarily appropriated this name for himself, since he came from a lower caste.

In 1957, the Maharishi founded the Transcendental Meditation movement, which reached the United States in 1959. The TM (Registered Trademark) movement uses a technique in which a person closes their eyes for 20 minutes twice a day and silently repeats mantras to completely relax, relieve stress, improve well-being, achieve mental clarity and inner satisfaction. A five-day course in this discipline costs $2,500 today.

The TM movement has had a profound effect on the billion-dollar "self-improvement course" industry. Many began to practice similar forms of meditation without connection to the Maharishi's teachings.

Over the years, the movement has gained popularity, many scientists have confirmed that meditation, including transcendental meditation, benefits the body and mind, especially in the fight against stress-induced diseases.

According to the organization, since the appearance of this technique in 1955, more than 40 thousand mentors have mastered it. Those, in turn, have trained more than 5 million people, opened thousands of training centers and created hundreds of schools, colleges and universities.

In the US, the organization's assets are estimated at about $300 million, and its center is located in Fairfield, Iowa, where the Maharishi University of Management also operates. In 2001, followers of the movement established their own settlement, the Maharishi Vedic City, a few miles north of Fairfield.

Last March, one of the organization's chapters, Global Financial Capital in New York, bought a new headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

The organization owes much of its popularity to the Beatles. In 1968, musicians began studying with the Maharishi at his ashram in Rishikesh, in the Himalayas of northern India, with much media attention. They traveled there with their wives, folk singer Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, actress Mia Farrow and her sister Prudence.

They left after rumors of a sex scandal involving the Maharishi, who officially preached celibacy. However, no sexual harassment claims were filed, and some training participants later denied that any inappropriate behavior had taken place.

Be that as it may, Western society took an interest in the movement, and this continued to grow in the 1970s, when the Maharishi began to spread it around the world, and his techniques earned the respect of physicians.

Maharishi later refused to talk about the Beatles. Among his other students was the Indian spiritualist Deepak Chopra - he was friends with ex-Beatle George Harrison and preached his own teaching based on traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine and meditation.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - spiritual guru of the Beatles

The Maharishi movement began to lose followers in the late 1970s - they were frightened off by the propaganda of the "advanced" form of TM - the so-called yogic flights, in which people tried to call on the energy that would allow them to get off the ground. No one has ever managed to overcome the first stage of flight, the so-called "frog jumps".

Mahesh Prasad Varma was born near the city of Jabalpur in central India, his family belonged to the scribe caste. He studied physics at the University of Allahabad, and then for 13 years was a student and assistant to the "holy man" Swami Brahmananda Saraswati - his young Mahesh called Guru Dev.

“From the very beginning, the goal was to breathe his breath,” writes Maharishi in his book Thirty Years Around the World: Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, published in 1986. “That was my ideal. The goal was to connect with Guru Dev.”

After the death of his teacher in 1953, Mahesh went to live as a hermit at the foot of the Himalayas. Two years later, he returned and began to preach his teaching, which grew into a worldwide TM movement.

“Apparently, the Maharishi developed his teachings after the death of his mentor, when he became unemployed and became a recluse,” says Paul Mason, critic of the Maharishi and author of a book about him entitled Maharishi: A Biography of the Man Who Gave the World Transcendental Meditation. reinvented himself, became a 'Maharishi' and wanted to be seen as a messiah," adds Mason.

Since 1990, the Maharishi has lived in Flodrop surrounded by about 50 followers, one of whom was "Minister for Science and Technology" John Hagelin, a Harvard physicist. As expected, he will now lead the work of the organization in the United States.

At some point, Maharishi tried to breathe new life into TM, in 2000 he created the "Universal State of World Peace", which aimed to prevent wars, eradicate poverty and support the environment. In particular, the guru tried to reach the attention of American youth with the help of stars like Donovan and director David Lynch, who gave a series of lectures in colleges in support of the Maharishi's initiative.

Maharishi sought to reorder the world on the basis of Vedic principles. He called for the destruction of all poisonous buildings and unhealthy cities, even demanded the destruction of historical monuments that did not meet the requirements of "Vedic architecture in harmony with the law of nature." Maharishi argued that the White House was not located correctly. According to him, the small town of Smith Center in Kansas would be a more suitable place for the capital of the United States.

In the last years of his life, he rarely met with people, even with his "ministers", preferring to communicate with followers exclusively through television broadcasts.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is widely recognized as the foremost scientist in the field of consciousness and the greatest teacher in the world today. Maharishi restored the Vedic literature, which had existed in a fragmented form for many thousands of years, and systematized it in the form of a complete science of consciousness in all its theoretical and practical significance. Maharishi's Vedic science and technology unleashes the full potential of natural law in the mind of man as the basis for improvement in all areas of life.
Transcendental Meditation, a subjective technique of Maharishi Vedic science and technology, is the most widespread and widely researched personal development program in the world.

Early in life, Maharishi studied physics and chemistry at the University of Allahabad. In addition to studying, he was very interested in spiritual teachers and, having heard that Brahamanda Saraswati was in Allahabad, he came to the house where the teacher, Guru Dev Brahamanda Saraswati, was staying. After visiting him several times, Maharishi decided to become his follower. Guru Dev agreed on one condition that he first complete his studies.

Maharishi graduated from university and then spent twenty years studying and working with Guru Dev Brahamanda Saraswati. During this time Maharishi became a close disciple and inherited the wisdom and knowledge of his teachings. In 1953, after twelve years of service to Guru Dev, the Maharishi retired to the caves of the "Valley of the Saints" in Uttarkashi, the Himalayas. At that time, he did not have any special plans. He just wanted to be alone and quiet. But after two years of solitude, in 1955, he felt the call to return to the world.

The recluses tried to convince him. In their opinion, the surrounding world was something dirty, and it did not make sense for an enlightened person to come into contact with it. But Maharishi's desire grew, and he finally left the peace and loneliness of his mountain cave and headed to the south of India. The first place the Maharishi arrived when he left the Himalayas was the state of Kerala in southern India.

He did not specifically prepare to perform there, he was simply called to visit this place. A few days after his arrival, he was approached by a man who recognized him as a monk from the North and offered to read a weekly cycle of lectures - he agreed. Interest in his first lectures was already so great that by the seventh lecture the hall was full. He was promptly invited to lecture in other cities and ended up spending six months lecturing and teaching TM throughout the state.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation

As a result, his first book, Light of the Himalaya Beacon, was published. The book attempts to show in a concise manner how, through Transcendental Meditation, the Maharishi revives the true meaning of the Vedic scriptures. After leaving Kerala, he traveled all over India for 2 years introducing people to TM.

He and his technique quickly gained recognition among the people, which inspired them to approach the Maharishi with a request to create a worldwide movement of spiritual revival. And in 1958 this Movement was organized, laying a solid foundation for the further dissemination of Vedic knowledge.

In 1958 he went East, visited Singapore and Hawaii, and in early 1959 he arrived in California. There he spent several months teaching TM and set up a permanent center for the Movement, then sent to New York, and from there to Europe. By the end of the year, it turned out that many people were interested in TM. Maharishi realized that in the future he would not be able to teach TM to everyone and he decided to organize the training of TM teachers.

Initially, the training took place in India, in the small town of Rishikesh, in the place where the Ganges descends from the Himalayas. This is the place from which the pilgrimage of many Hindus begins. Just outside the city, on a steep hill overgrown with forest, Maharishi built a Vedic center (“ashram”). There, future TM teachers mastered the art of teaching. The first intake was about thirty listeners, but by 1960 their number had increased to two hundred. Faced with a growing need for teachers, he set up training courses in Europe, where he was able to train thousands or more.

Thematic material on the site:

Books:

Quotes:

Let happiness be the main motivation for all your actions.

The world is the activity of the Divine, it is the movement of waves in the eternal ocean of Bliss Consciousness

Reaction is dangerous for immortality

Question to the visiting yogi(s):

What got you interested in this artist? What do you think of TM?

Founder of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the TM-Sidhi program.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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  Information about the early period of the Maharishi's life is scarce. In his youth, he studied physics at the University of Allahabad and worked in factories for a while. He was interested in the activities of spiritual teachers and when Guru Dev Brahamanda Saraswati visited Allahabad, he became his follower. Mahesh spent thirteen years with Guru Dev Brahamand Saraswati in the Himalayas, becoming his closest disciple.

  In 1953, the Maharishi retired to the "Valley of the Saints" caves in Uttarkashi. After two years of seclusion, in 1955 he returned to the world and settled in the state of Kerala in southern India. Here, a monk from the north was offered to give a weekly series of lectures on the knowledge gained in the Himalayas. In his first book Light of the Beacon of the Himalayas, Maharishi argued that through TM "the true meaning of the Vedic scriptures" could be reborn.

  In 1957, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi presented his theory of TM at the "Festival of Spiritual Luminaries", and then spread it through the organization "Spiritual Revival Movement" (Eng. "Spiritual Regeneration Movement").

  Maharishi decided to take up the training of TM teachers. In the early 1970s, the Maharishi launched the "World Plan" for the spread of TM, which called for the creation of one TM training center for every million of the world's population. In Russia, the mass enthusiasm for meditation and, in particular, TM, took place in the late 1980s - early 1990s.

  Spreading the teaching

  Initially, teacher training took place in India, in the small town of Rishikesh. Outside the city, on a steep hill overgrown with forests, the Maharishi built the Ashram Center, where future TM teachers were trained. The first intake was about thirty listeners, and by 1960 their number had increased to two hundred. Faced with a growing need for teachers, the Maharishi opened teacher training courses in Europe, with over a thousand students.

  In 1960, the Maharishi changed the name of his organization to the International Meditation Society. And in 1963, the "International Student Society of Meditation" was created, since the activities of the Maharishi aroused great interest in student and youth circles.

  Maharishi International University was established ( MIU), in which education was based on the "Science of the Creative Mind ( SCI), a teaching that synthesizes the study of TM with traditional academic disciplines. The declared goal of this "new science" was the application of the benefits and benefits of TM for the prosperity of people. In 1977 SCI and TM have been recognized by a New Jersey state court as a religious teaching and banned from teaching in public schools.

  By 1965, the Maharishi had trained a total of about ten thousand TM teachers through his centers. The number of TM learners in America was 550,000 and more than a million worldwide, with the movement growing by 35,000 per month. As of 2014, the number of TM practitioners in the world was several million people.

  Meaning

  In 1968, members of the legendary group The Beatles became Maharishi's students, who quickly became disillusioned with the guru after traveling to India. After John Lennon returned, he wrote the sarcastic song Sexy Sadie. It is believed that the break with The Beatles subsequently led to the closure of the ashram in Rishikesh. Despite the break with the Maharishi, the Beatles remained true to the teachings of meditation. In 1978, Lennon wrote that he considered meditation "a source of creative inspiration" and Starr stated, "he gave me a mantra that no one can take away and I still use it." In the 1990s, McCartney and Harrison apologized to the gurus. Maharishi replied that he considered the Beatles to be angels, and he could not be offended by angels.

  Notes

  1. Dutta Promeet, Amy Tikkanen. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi // Britannica.
  2. Peter Russell. Higher Consciousness (indefinite) .
  3. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Sect "Transcendental Meditation"(neopr.) . Missionary-apologetic project "To Truth". Retrieved December 19, 2014. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  4. The Beatles in Rishikesh. Ashram Maharishi Mahesh Yogi | Pilgrim's(Russian) (indefinite). pilgrims-trip.ru. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

  The aim of Yoga is to gain knowledge through direct perception. Yoga is the practical science of life, which opens up to direct experience not only the field of absolute Being, but also all the different levels of the relative universe.

  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad Gita

  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi- Indian spiritual teacher, disciple of Guru Dev Swami Brahamanda Saraswati, founder of the Transcendental Meditation program. The Maharishi Movement has been gaining followers all over the world for over 50 years.
  After a long ascetic life in the Himalayas, the guru begins to preach the Vedic knowledge in India, and then all over the world. The interest in transcendental meditation in the West was revolutionary. Europeans were drawn to Eastern wisdom and Vedic knowledge. Maharishi decided to take up the training of TM teachers. For these purposes, in 1963, it was built Ashram in Rishikesh.

  Maharishi Ashram located on the picturesque eastern bank of the Ganges, surrounded by green hills. An amazing architectural ensemble arose on a vast territory. For meditators, study halls and egg-shaped cells were built. The eggs are two-story, with a spiral staircase inside: the students slept below, and meditated above. Since the teachings of TM are based on the recitation of mantras, acoustics played an important role. And the acoustics in the eggs are really amazing.

  

  Abandoned for more than 10 years, the ashram has taken on an overgrown and derelict look, no less appealing to adventurers and Beatles fans. Abandonment even creates a special surreal atmosphere.

  
  

  The ashram was closed, according to one version, due to the expiration of the lease. Maharishi, on the other hand, had problems with the authorities, and he left for America. Incredible money for India was required to build such a complex. The ashram was built with $100,000 received by the guru as a gift from the American heiress Doris Duke. The land was leased from the Department of Forestry.

  Officially, the ashram is closed, but a watchman sits there with keys and lets tourists in for baksheesh. You can also climb through the hole in the wall.

  

  In 1968, the Beatles retreated to the Maharishi's ashram to practice meditation, making the place so popular among Europeans.

  

  The time spent in Rishikesh had a fruitful effect on their work: the Beatles recorded about 40 songs, half of which were the White Album. Some of the songs are a direct response to life in the ashram.

  For example, in the song "Dear Prudence", John Lennon refers to Prudence Farrow, who practiced meditation in the ashram with the guys. She meditated so hard that she hardly left the house, so John asks her to "come out and play".

  The prototype of the composition "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" was a guy whom the Beatles met in Rishikesh. Lennon ridiculed him for his tiger hunting incident.

  Even the Rishikesh monkeys inspired the Beatles. Paul McCartney, watching them, wrote the song "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"

  Rish is really famous for his monkeys. In front of the entrance to the ashram, a flock will instantly gather if tourists call for little friends with cookies. Watch the video "Pilgrim's & monkey friends".

  

  Breakup of the Beatles and the Maharishi

  Obviously, accustomed to a different lifestyle and diet, drugs, alcohol, the Beatles were simply not ready for serious and long practice. Creativity was more important for them, which is understandable.
  After several weeks of seclusion, the band members were drawn home. Ringo and his wife left first, fed up with insects and vegetarian food and didn't want to leave the kids for long. Paul then left the ashram.
  John suffered from insomnia and was also exhausted. This was also seen in art. Compositions such as “I'm So Tired” and “YerBlues” appeared. According to Lennon: “The funny thing is that although it was very beautiful in the Maharashi camp, and I meditated for eight hours a day, I wrote the saddest songs on earth In the song "YerBlues" there are lines: "I'm so lonely that I want to die" - I was not joking. I really felt miserable. "

  Lennon and Harrison seized on a rumor that the Maharishi was harassing actress Mia Farrow. They left in a hurry, believing themselves deceived and fooled.
  The last song Lennon wrote in India, "Sexy Sadie", was a sarcastic mockery of the guru. The group said they became disillusioned with his teachings.

  18 years later, a version appeared according to which the group abused drugs during practice, which caused the Maharishi's displeasure and discord.

  In any case, there was an inevitable rift between the group and the Maharishi. At the same time, the time spent in Rishikesh was one of the most fruitful periods in the life of the group.

  

  All participants subsequently spoke fondly of this time and of the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1978, Lennon wrote that he considered his meditation "a source of creative inspiration". Starr: "He gave me a mantra that no one can take away and I still use it." In the 1990s, McCartney and Harrison apologized to the guru. Maharishi replied that he considers The Beatles to be angels, and he simply cannot be offended by angels.