3-11-98 MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI

Maharishi is a disciple of the now deceased, former Shankaracharya of North India, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. This great swami was a Surya Yogin, and one of the characteristics of a Surya Yogin is that he teaches in a manner which causes different disciples to draw different conclusions about the nature of his teaching. A good example of this is the disparity in the teachings of Maharishi and those of Swami Prakashananda, both disciples of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. The former claims that "TM" (a form of Raja Yoga) is the fastest way to enlightenment and the latter claims that his version of Bhakti Yoga is not only the fastest way, but also the only way to reach "the highest dimensions of spiritual awareness". Forgetting for the moment that both of these attitudes are not in harmony with key principles of The Art of Multi-dimensional Living, let us stay focused on Maharishi's contributions to the transformation of world consciousness and how he interpreted and developed Swami Brahmananda Saraswati's basic teaching.

Maharishi came to the west during the sixties and immediately gained public attention largely because the Beatles started attending his meditation courses. His immediate challenge was to address the need of the people living a fast paced existence but with little knowledge of how to cope with the stress of this life-style -- people that were more interested in a good night's sleep rather than enlightenment. He also had to face misunderstandings about the nature of meditation, its practice and its relationship to daily existence.

He sought to meet these challenges by teaching a simple, natural, effortless form of meditation suitable for busy householders. He called it Transcendental Meditation (TM) and its practice quickly spread throughout the U.S. and the world. He called the theoretical aspect of his teaching "The Science of Creative Intelligence" and founded two universities, one in Fairfield, Iowa and one in Lucerne, Switzerland, to promote this knowledge as well as its applied, meditative aspect.

His first setback occurred when he instituted an advanced meditation program which included the practice and performance of "siddhis", techniques which he claimed would bring supernormal abilities including physical levitation. In fact, for a period of four or five years, the erroneous impression was left with the public that his students were actually levitating. This bizarre publicity and the strange ideas which accompanied it turned off many people. The credibility of Maharishi's movement, which had been established through its emphasis on scientific research and educational reform, was largely lost; the popularity of "TM" began to wane.

There was also the factor of the high costs of learning "TM" and all the advanced techniques which followed it. Many complained that such a policy violated the age-old idea that spiritual techniques should be given out at no or, at least, a low cost. The movement representatives countered by saying that all the money was being used to subsidize individuals throughout the world who could not otherwise afford to learn "TM".

In the late seventies, Maharishi began to speak of a one percent phenomena: getting one percent of the world's population to practice "TM" as a means of solving world problems. He then decided that this was not feasible and instead, asked the growing number of " TM Siddhas" throughout the world to do their "program" ("TM" plus the "Siddhis") together in large groups as a means of accomplishing the same effect. This was carried out in a number of places throughout the world including Washington, D.C. Scientific research was conducted on these gatherings to determine their effects on local, national and global problems. The results seemed to indicate that such group processes did, in fact,, bring positive changes, although some challenged these results arguing that the researchers were hardly free from bias. However, most deep thinking individuals had no reason to doubt the creative genius of the Yogi who had thought of and promoted this strategy in the first place.

Based upon the empirically verified results of these group programs, Maharishi announced the end of all wars and the full sunshine of the Age of Enlightenment. Shortly thereafter the Gulf War broke out! After apologizing to his disciples for this false or premature prediction, Maharishi suggested that his programs had not fully achieved what he had hoped for and that what was also needed was a radical physical transformation of the planet through Sthapatya Veda, the ancient science of geomancy.

By this time Maharishi had already begun to bring out his particular version of Vedic Science and had sought to integrate it with western knowledge, both spiritual and mundane. Initially "Maharishi Ayurveda" was introduced, then "Maharishi Jyotish", Maharishi Gandarva Veda and finally, Maharishi Sthapatya Veda." In my judgment, Maharishi's efforts in this arena have been a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I am happy with his attempts to restore, on a massive scale, the various aspects of the Veda and tailor them for modern society; on the other hand, he has allowed his prestigious name to be attached to Vedic disciplines, many of which have become so eroded over time as to no longer have real efficacy. By allowing his name to be placed in association with these various disciplines, Maharishi leaves the impression that he has restored these disciplines to their pristine form. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, you will have to read some of my books, courses and introductory materials to understand which disciplines are no longer effective and why.

Despite these drawbacks in his recent teaching and his failure to fully honor The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living®, by promoting only one generic form of meditation, Maharishi still deserves our praise and thanks. No one has done more to enhance human evolution in the twentieth century than Maharishi. He has been a virtual dynamo from the moment he came out of the Himalayas, and has offered a seemingly never ending series of innovative programs to help mankind solve its pressing problems. I, myself, have gained much from Maharishi and hold him in high esteem, even though I am also, at times, his harshest critic.

One of my criticisms has been Maharishi's tendency to promote a dangerous form of elitism among his followers. There is a difference between one-pointed attention to the task at hand and an elitism which tends to dismiss the contributions of others as insignificant. The streak of eastern fundamentalism which is so predominant in Swami Brahmananda Saraswati's other disciple, Swami Prakashananda, also exists in Maharishi's teaching and organization, although to a lesser degree. These authoritarian tendencies exist in most eastern teachings and are one of the reasons why they are no longer the most suitable for modern western people. However, none of what I have just said should keep us from admiring the accomplishments of these group, nor from supporting them where appropriate.

In Maharishi's defense, we must realize that the urgency of his task (helping prevent the world from self-destructing) required unusual methods and sacrifices, which sometimes appear to ignore or violate the principles of The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living® He has always suggested that a time would come when the spiritual needs of each individual would become a rightly restored priority. It is apparent that in saying this, he was referring to the advent of The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living®.