Maharishi Yogi
TM's Founder And Teacher

Maharishi Yogi (full name: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) was born in Raipur, India, on January 12, 1918. He earned a degree in Physics at Allahabad University.

In 1941 he became a secretary to Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who he remained with until Saraswati died in 1953.

Unfortunately, due to not being of the Brahmin caste, Maharish Yogi could not succeed Swami Saraswati as spiritual leader. He moved to the Valley of the Saints in the Himalayas.

He stayed there for two years.

In 1955, Maharishi began publicly teaching a traditional meditation technique which he called Deep Meditation. Later he renamed this technique to Transcendental Meditation.

TM is most closely related to pure mantra meditation. The practitioner repeats a word, phrase, or sound in order to concentrate his attention to the point of transcending all extraneous events - cutting through the noise, so to speak - and relax.

Touring The World With TM

Maharishi Yogi started in Burma, remained for months in Asia before he went to Hawaii and then to California. He also went to Europe in 1960, and over the next two years he literally went all over the place: Asia, U.S., Europe, Africa. He lectured, trained instructors, and established administrative centers.

In 1961 he established an international center in Rishikesh, India, near the Ganges.

During 1961 Mr. Yogi also translated and interpreted the first six chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, which became the foundation of his teachings. Or as he put it: We are just an innocent means for the spontaneous flow of that knowledge.

Throughout the 1960s Maharishi Yogi became a symbol for the counter-cultural movement. By now he had started the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the United States.

The media interest skyrocketed when he started teaching Transcendental Meditation to celebrities who were drawn to India's philosophy.

The most notable celebrities included The Beach Boys and The Beatles.

The Beatles attended a TM-teacher training-course in Rishikesh in 1968. During this stay Mr. Yogi was abandoned by McCartney and Lennon after accusations of raping Mia Farrow.

In Maharishi's dishonor, Paul McCartney wrote The Fool On The Hill, and John Lennon wrote the song Sexy Sadie (What have you done, you made a fool of everyone). The rape accusations later proved to be false. It was a venomous rumour started by Alex Mardis, a former Beatles guru who felt betrayed by Maharishi.

Throughout more than 30 years, Maharishi Yogi worked to promote and develop Transcendental Meditation, designed the TM-sidhi program, founded the International Maharishi University, and built several peace palaces (training centers) around the world.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died of natural causes in Vlodrop, The Netherlands, on February 5th, 2008.





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