Mahrishi mahesh Yogi passes

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi DiesBy Mike Corder, Associated Press WriterThe Associated PressTuesday, February 5, 2008(02-05) 15:37 PST The Hague, Netherlands (AP) -Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles whointroduced the West to transcendental meditation,died Tuesday at his home in the Dutch town ofVlodrop, a spokesman said. He was thought to be 91years old."He died peacefully at about 7 p.m.," said BobRoth, a spokesman for the TranscendentalMeditation movement that the Maharishi founded.
Hesaid his death appeared to be due to "naturalcauses, his age."Once dismissed as hippie mysticism, the Hindupractice of mind control that Maharishi taught,called transcendental meditation, gradually gainedmedical respectability.He began teaching TM in 1955 and brought thetechnique to the United States in 1959. But themovement really took off after the Beatles visitedhis ashram in India in 1968, although he had afamous falling out with the rock stars when hediscovered them using drugs at his Himalayanretreat.With the help of celebrity endorsements, Maharishi— a Hindi-language title for Great Seer — parlayedhis interpretations of ancient scripture into amulti-million- dollar global empire.After 50 years of teaching, Maharishi turned tolarger themes, with grand designs to harness thepower of group meditation to create world peaceand to mobilize his devotees to banish povertyfrom the earth.Maharishi's roster of famous meditators ran fromThe Rolling Stones to Clint Eastwood and new agepreacher Deepak Chopra.Director David Lynch, creator of dark and violentfilms, lectured at college campuses about the"ocean of tranquility" he found in more than 30years of practicing transcendental meditation.Some 5 million people devoted 20 minutes everymorning and evening reciting a simple sound, ormantra, and delving into their consciousness.

"Don't fight darkness. Bring the light, anddarkness will disappear," Maharishi said in a 2006interview, repeating one of his own mantras.Donations and the $2,500 fee to learn TM financedthe construction of Peace Palaces, or meditationcenters, in dozens of cities around the world.
Itpaid for hundreds of new schools in India.In 1971, Maharishi founded a university inFairfield, Iowa, that taught meditation alongsidethe arts and sciences to 700 students and servedorganic vegetarian food in its cafeterias.Supporters pointed to hundreds of scientificstudies showing that meditation reduces stress,lowers blood pressure, improves concentration andraises results for students and businessmen.Skeptics ridiculed his plan to raise $10 trillionto end poverty by sponsoring organic farming inthe world's poorest countries.

They scoffed at hisnotion that meditation groups, acting like psychicshock troops, can end conflict."To resolve problems through negotiation is a verychildish approach," he said.In 1986, two groups founded by his organizationwere sued in the U.S. by former disciples whoaccused it of fraud, negligence and intentionallyinflicting emotional damage. A jury, however,refused to award punitive damages.Over the years, Maharishi also was accused offraud by former pupils who claim he failed toteach them to fly. "Yogic flying," showcased asthe ultimate level of transcendence, was neverwitnessed as anything more than TM followerssitting in the cross-legged lotus position andbouncing across spongy mats.Maharishi was born Mahesh Srivastava in centralIndia, reportedly on Jan. 12, 1917 — though herefused to confirm the date or discuss his earlylife.

He studied physics at Allahabad University beforebecoming secretary to a well known Hindu holy man.After the death of his teacher, Maharishi wentinto a nomadic two-year retreat of silence in theHimalayan foothills of northern India.

With his background in physics, he brought hismessage to the West in a language that mixed theoccult and science that became the buzz of collegecampuses. He described TM as "the unified field ofall the laws of nature."Maharishi's trademark flowing beard and long,graying hair appeared on the cover of the leadingnews magazines of the day.

But aides say Maharishi became disillusioned thatTM had become identified with the counterculture,and he spent more time at his ashram in Rishikeshin the Himalayan foothills to run his globalaffairs.In 1990 he moved onto the wooded grounds of ahistoric Franciscan monastery in the southernDutch village of Vlodrop, about 125 milessoutheast of Amsterdam.Concerned about his fragile health, he secludedhimself in two rooms of the wooden pavilion hebuilt on the compound, speaking only by video toaides around the world and even to his closestadvisers in the same building.

John Hagelin, a theoretical physicist who ran forthe U.S. presidency three times on theMaharishi-backed Natural Law Party, said that fromthe Dutch location Maharishi had daylong access tofollowers in India, Europe and the Americas."He runs several shifts of us into the ground,"said Hagelin, Maharishi's closest aid, speaking inVlodrop about his then-89-year- old mentor. "He isa fountainhead of innovation and new ideas — fartoo many than you can ever follow up."- - - Amsterdam-based Associated Press writer Arthur Maxcontributed to this report.http://www.sfgate. com/flat/ archive/2008/ 02/05/news/ archive/2008/ 02/05/internatio nal/i152501S66. html?tsp= 1Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi Om Shanti