comparative religion: the religions of the world

MAIN SITE

COMPARATIVE RELIGION

INTERFAITH DIALOGUE FORUM

WORLD RELIGIONS

MAIN SECTIONS

ALTERNATIVE SPIRITUALITY

ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY

GENERAL ARTICLES

SPECIAL FEATURE:

APOCRYPHA

COMMUNITY FORUMS

BELIEF & SPIRITUALITY

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS

EASTERN THOUGHT

ALTERNATIVE SPIRITUALITY

ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY

COMPARATIVE STUDIES

Interfaith: Home / Blog article: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Died Tuesday 5th February

February 7, 2008

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Died Tuesday 5th February

by Rachael Grant

The founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, died on Tuesday aged 91. The Maharishi was believed to have taught the Beatles how to meditate, and he built a multi-million dollar empire on the promise of inner peace and harmony.

The director of the TM organisation in the US, told the Times newspaper that the Maharishi had a transformative effect on Western society, including making ‘mantra’ a household name. By the end of the 60s he had a cult-like following.

John Hegelin, who is among 300 world leaders of the movement who have been meeting in Vlodrop since last month stated that Maharishi “brought meditation to the West. He encouraged scientific research on it and made meditation mainstream”.

Vlodrop is a village about 120 miles south of Amsterdam, and it is where Maharishi moved his headquarters to in 1990. He was reported as having died peacefully there in his private home.

Ed Malloy, the Mayor of Fairfield, Iowa, where the Maharishi University of Management is located, said that the Maharishi changed the perception of meditation, revealing that it could enhance all elements of an active lifestyle.

Maharishi, also known as ‘the giggling guru’ on account of his high-pitched laugh, headed the TM organisation for over 50 years. On January 11th he issued his farewell speech, causing devotees from around the world to come to believe he was preparing for his death.

TM had an estimated 600,000 practitioners by the 1970s, which included pop singer Donovan and actress Mia Farrow. A political party was then established, along with a gold-domed university in Fairfield, and a network of several hundred TM centres around the country.

It is now rumoured that the movement has more than five million practitioners in more than 130 countries. The simple message that a person could reduce stress by meditating twenty minutes twice a day, on a mantra or Sanskrit word, was appealing, and it was said that if enough people were able to achieve inner peace in this way then wars would end and crime would be reduced.

However in later years, Maharishi was dubbed by some as the P.T Barnum of the New Age when he claimed that advanced practitioners could defy physics and fly – assuming they dedicated themselves to spending $275 a week for a course lasting between four and eight weeks.

Born Mahesh Prasad Varma, the Maharishi was the son of a local tax official in the Northern Indian State of Uttar Pradesh.

Discuss this in the Interfaith forums

Story link: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Died Tuesday 5th February

Add to Bookmarks: