Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation dies
A celebrated guru of the 20th century, guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra
by Dr. Susan Shumsky
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of
Transcendental Meditation and most celebrated guru of the 20th
century, guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra, died in
Vlodrop, Holland on February 5,2007. He had been in the hospital for
8 days, during which time liquids were drained off his lungs on a
regular basis.
After 8 days, he said, "I want to go back to my vastu." Vastu is Indian Feng Shui. He was referring to returning to his residence, where he died at 6:30 pm.
On January 8, when Maharishi came out of his yearly 7 days of silence, he announced that he was "retiring," and he named his successor: "His Majesty Maharaja Nader Raam," who was titled by Maharishi as "President of the Global Country of World Peace." Nader Raam, born in Lebanon, used to be called Tony Nader, M.D., when he was a physiology professor at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. Maharishi said that Nader Raam would administer his organization "from the level of silence." Presumably other people will do the day to day work.
In the 1960's Maharishi singlehandedly made
"meditation" a household word worldwide. Recently Maharishi had been
teaching courses in Vlodrop at $1,000,000 (one million dollars) per
person to come and spend a few weeks with him (via video
conferencing). Graduates of those courses (a few hundred men) were
named "Rajas." Before his death Maharishi turned his organization
over to them to administer. John Hagelin, former Natural Law Party
candidate for US President, was named "Raja of America." Bevan
Morris is the President of the Fairfield, Iowa-based Maharishi
University of Management, formerly Maharishi International
University.
I was on Maharishi's personal staff for 7 years (1970 to 1976) and lived in his ashrams for nearly 20 years until 1989, when I was banned from the "golden dome," in Fairfied, Iowa, where people meditated and levitated together in large groups. I was asked to leave the TM organization because I taught another form of meditation without the TM sanction. I am a wealth of information about Maharishi's daily life and his organization for a story on Maharishi, the Beatles, Deepak Chopra, John Gray, Mike Love, Doug Henning, and many other celebrities associated with him.
