Maharishi gives advice on
Success and Happiness:
Keep your desire turning back within
and be patient. Allow the fulfilment
to come to you. Gently resist the
temptation to chase your dreams into
the world; pursue them in your heart
until they disappear into the Self,
and leave them there. It may take a
little self-discipline, be simple, be
kind, stay rested. Attend to your own
inner-health and happiness. Happiness
radiates like the fragrance from a
flower and draws all good things
towards you. Allow your love to
nourish yourself as well as others. Do
not strain after your needs of life - it
is sufficient to be quietly alert and
aware of them. In this way life
proceeds more naturally, effortlessly.
Life is here to enjoy.
~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
About Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Born in 1918, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi graduated with a physics degree from the
University of Allahabad. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi became a disciple and assistant
of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya (spiritual leader) of
Jyotirmath in the Indian Himalayas. Soon thereafter, he received the system of
Transcendental Meditation® from his “Guru Dev.” He practiced yoga for thirteen
years under Guru Dev, until the latter’s death in 1953. The Maharishi then
traveled to London in 1959 to set up what was to become a branch of the
International Meditation Society there, with the mission of spreading the
teachings of TM.
Transcendental Meditation itself is an instance of mantra yoga. The student
mentally repeats a series of Sanskrit words for a minimum of twenty minutes
every morning and evening. (Such mantras are reportedly selected on the basis
of the student’s age. And they don’t come cheaply.)
The TM movement taught that the enlightened man does not have to use critical
thought, he lives in tune with the “unbounded universal consciousness.” He makes
no mistakes, his life is error free. The Maharishi held high hopes, not merely for
the spread of TM, but for its effects on the world in general:
He told the New York audience, as he had told innumerable others before in
several around-the-world tours, that adoption of his teachings by 10% or even
1% of the world’s population would “be enough to neutralize the power of war
for thousands of years.”
In the autumn of 1967, His Holiness gave a lecture in London, which was
attended by the Beatles. Following that talk, the Fab Four-along with Mick
Jagger and Marianne Faithfull-accompanied the yogi on a train up to Bangor,
North Wales, at his invitation. Reaching the train platform in Bangor, they were
mobbed by hundreds of screaming fans, whom the Maharishi charmingly assumed
were there to see him.
Like Ravi Shankar before him, the Maharishi had been unaware of the group’s
stature, but, armed with the relevant records, he underwent a crash-course in
their music and began to illustrate his talks with quotes from their lyrics.
More contemporary followers of the Maharishi have included actress Heather
Graham and the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Brian Josephson. Plus Deepak
Chopra, whose best-selling book Quantum Healing was dedicated to the
Maharishi. Also, at one time, Clint Eastwood and quarterback Joe Namath.
Maharishi's Rules for Living:
Do what you know is right.
Don't do what you know is wrong.
Don't get tired.