Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1911? – 5 February 2008) was the creator of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and leader of the 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 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 that tens of thousands have 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 alternative medicine health clinics (Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health), mail-order ayurveda health supplement stores, and organic farms. The reported value of the Maharishi's organization has ranged from the millions to billions of U.S. dollars; 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 includes 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 world government organization, and appointed its leaders (crowned as rajas and majarajas, i.e. "kings" and "great kings"). In 2008, the Maharishi announced his retirement from all administrative activities and went into silence until his death three weeks later.Srinivasan, 2008. Hinduism For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
Life
Birth Maharishi Mahesh Yogi belonged to a family of the Kayastha caste. 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,Distinguished Alumni. Allahabad University 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 Rajim, Central Provinces, British India (Chhattisgarh, 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.Yogi's passport. paulmason.info 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,Coplin, p. 48: "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi . . . was most likely born into a family of Hindu Kayasthas, a well-known and high-status literary caste of Hindustan – with reference to varna, a kshatryia not a brahmin jati".
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,Coplin, Ch.2, footnote 74 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".'Thirty Years Around the World- Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment', MVU, 1986, pp185-6 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 a Brahmin.Williamson, p. 84: "Guru Dev represented the tradition well, for he did not allow anyone who was not of the Brahmin. 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."Coplin, p. 49: "Because he was not a brahmin, Mahesh could not become a member of the dandi sannyasi order and succeed his master as Shankaracharya; the honor passed to Swami Shantanand Saraswati in June, 1953." (This from an interview by the author with the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, Swami Vishnudevananda Saraswati on 12 June 1983.) 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.Mason (1994), pp. 23–24
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.Russell, p. 25 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"; 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.Bajpai, R.S. (2002) Atlantic Publishers, The Splendours And Dimensions of Yoga 2 Vols. Set, page 554, "received the title Maharishi, from some Indian Pundits"
He travelled around India for two yearsMason (1994) pp. 27–34 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, 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".