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It cannot be more ironic. Just a few days after I posted the news about TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s retreat into complete silence, came the news of his death in Holland.
Maharishi Yogi, he founder and spiritual leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, died in his sleep at his Netherland home in Vlodrop. He was 91.
Maharishi, known for his flowing beard and long graying hair, is credited for Transcendental Meditation or TM, whose main characteristic is the chanting of the mantra “Om” in a lotus seated position.
He described TM as “the unified field of all the laws of nature”, and through the years the practice gained medical respectability.
He was “guru” to leading celebrities such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Shirley MacLaine, Mia Farrow, Clint Eastwood, Director David Lynch, and Deepak Chopra, another New Age icon.
The roots of Maharishi’s life remain unknown. He was born Mahesh Srivastava in central India sometime 1911 to 1918.
A son of a civil servant, he studied physics at Allahabad University before becoming the right hand of a well known Hindu holy man, Jagadguru Shankaracharya, who taught him TM. After Jagadguru’s death, he continued the TM tradition.
Maharishi went into a two-year retreat in the foothills of the Himalayas before introducing TM to the West in the 1950s. In January 2008, he announced his retirement from active life, and devoted his remaining days studying ancient Indian texts.
My tribute to this great man who made India proud.
Suggested reading : My views on Transcendental Meditation
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Paul Maurice Martin // Feb 17, 2008 at 4:02 am
Thanks for that information. Of course I’d heard his name, but hadn’t realized how important it sounds like he was to the greater popularization of meditation in the west.
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2 Psychologist Jerry Solfanelli // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:57 am
This site is an AWESOME video! In order to complement the positive effects of meditative hypnosis, I highly recommend this psychologist’s unique FREEWARE program (the “Virtual Light & Sound Machine” Meditation Software) that effortlessly induces DEEP MEDITATIVE states, via the phenomenon of audio-visual stimulation…FREE DOWWLOAD!
ThePsychologist.com/virtuallightandsound.htm
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3 seven rays meditation // Apr 22, 2008 at 7:40 am
He was a great spiritual teacher and leader. My tribute to him.
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4 Glory Dog // Aug 3, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Thanks for your comments about Maharishi, a great teacher and scientist of consciousness. I wanted to also say that your post on Transcendental Meditation contains many false assumptions and misunderstandings about meditation. It does not “defy logic,” for example, that people are told NOT to speak out or share their mantras after learning TM. The reason is NOT because the TM Movement wants to make money. It is actually the custom in the Vedic Tradition of Knowledge not to speak out your mantra or share it with others, and this has been a principle followed for thousands of years. It has to do with the proper use of the TM mantras, which are for going within, and speaking them out reverses the processes and weakens the overall affect. Another reason is that proper use of the mantra, and receiving a mantra that is correct for you, can only be learned by the trained teacher. Learning TM is a delicate process, but is failsafe when learned correctly. There is a complete course, many personal follow-up sessions, and a lifetime of knowledge meetings, all at no further charge after you have taken the TM course. All this support is necessary for maximum progress.
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