The Three Maharishis

Even though I last sat with Maharishi more than 10 years ago, he left an indelible impression, as he did on everyone. His extraordinary qualities are known to the world. Without him, it's fair to say, the West would not have learned to meditate. During the Cold War era a reporter once challenged him by saying, "If anything is possible, as you claim, can you go to the Soviet Union tomorrow with your message?" Without hesitation, Maharishi calmly replied, "I could if I wanted to." Eventually he did want to, and meditation arrived in Moscow several years before the Berlin Wall fell. In his belief that world peace depended entirely on rising consciousness, Maharishi was unshakable.

The Bhagavad-Gita declares that there are no outward signs of enlightenment. The point is underscored in many Indian fables and scriptures, which often take the form of a high-caste worthy snubbing an untouchable, only to find that the untouchable was actually a god in disguise. For his part, Maharishi had three guises, and perhaps in the end they were also disguises.

He was an Indian, a guru, and a personality. The personality was highly quixotic. Over the 50 years of his public life, Maharishi never lost his charm and lovability. He had these qualities to such an extent that Westerners took him to be a perfect example of how enlightenment looks -- kind, sociable, all-accepting, and light-hearted -- when that is far from the case. His presence was more mysterious than good humor can account for: you could feel it before entering a room. You could be walking down the hallway to his private apartments with the weight of the world on your shoulders and feel your worries drop away with every step, until by the time your hand touched the doorknob, by some magic you felt completely carefree. But if you were around him long enough, the older Maharishi in particular could be nettlesome and self-centered; he could get angry and dismissive. He was quick to assert his authority and yet could turn disarmingly child-like in the blink of an eye.

The Maharishi who was an Indian felt most comfortable around other Indians, with whom he chatted about familiar things in Hindi. He adhered to the vows of poverty and celibacy that belonged to his order of monks, despite the fact that he lived in luxury and amassed considerable wealth for the TM movement. What gets overlooked is that he viewed wealth as a means to raise the prestige of India in the materialistic West, which was both canny and realistic of him. In the end the movement's money went to preserve the spiritual heritage of India by opening pundit schools and building temples. Maharishi was deeply concerned that he might be the last embodiment of a sacred tradition that was quickly being overwhelmed by modernization.

In one way or another, for good or ill, these two Maharishis are the only ones that the outside world knew. If you came under the power of his consciousness, however, Maharishi the guru completely overshadowed every other aspect.

It's shameful to say, but gurus are a dime a dozen in India and are often treated like retainers by the rich and powerful. Nothing could be farther from the truth in Maharishi's case. He was venerated by the venerable and considered holy by the holy. His capacity to explain Vedanta was unrivaled, and if he accomplished nothing else in his long life, his commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita insures his lasting name, because with acute analysis he cuts through to the heart of every verse. Imagine that someone arose in the West who definitively settled all the disputes over the New Testament and went on to exemplify the nature of Jesus. Then you might get some idea of Maharishi's impact as a guru.

Around 1990 I was commissioned to write a book about him; it turned out to be the only assignment I could never complete. Even after spending hundreds of days in his presence, one could not capture him, either on paper or in one's mind. The Gita is right to say that there are no visible signs of enlightenment, but I would go further. The enlightened person ceases to be a person and attains a connection to pure consciousness that erases all boundaries. My deepest gratitude goes to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for showing me that this state of unity exists outside folk tales, temples, organized religion, and scripture itself. To live and breathe in unity consciousness is unfathomable, but in at least one case, I am sure it is real.

Comments

[fulano]

Deepak here's a "soulful" eulogy for your "soulful" teacher.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l49N8U3d0Bw

[pdsimdars]

I started in 1968 and have been doing TM ever since. What a great message -- don't change your religion, politics, clothes, diet or philosophy of life. Just contact the inner source of life and see how your life changes -- spontaneously. And that is exactly what it does.

[pdsimdars]

Deepak, you always have had a gift with language, finding just the right words to express something perfectly. This is the best I have read on Maharishi. Thank you for opening your heart and letting this bird out to soothe all the good people in the world who were fortunate enough to have been influenced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Jai Guru Dev

[davequ]

Thanks much for this excellent tribute, Mr. Chopra.

I took my TM course / "initiation" in early 1969. Since then, for me TM has been an excellent, low-maintenance, natural & healthy relaxation technique.

It is not (for me) a religion, philosophy, cult, explanation for the "meaning of life" etc.

Most of my friends, like myself, paid little attention to opinions, philosophies, etc. that were sometimes offered by TM instructors. But the short & simple TM meditation exercise twice a day proved very enjoyable, healthy, healing and relaxing for everyone, as it still does for me to this day.

In that respect, I am grateful that someone like Maharishi was kind and generous enough to share what is (at the very least) a simple efficient exercise in relaxation that I personally find vastly superior to drugs / medicine, alcohol, etc. when it comes to dealing with and healing stress from this everyday world.

With much gratitude, Maharishi. Peace and good luck to you.

[starboymikey]

I was a practitioner of TM for over six years, and deeply involved with the movement back in the 60's and 70's. Leaving the movement was a wrenching decision that was not due to its failures or Maharishi's. My own spiritual development simply took a different path.

Nevetheless, the TM movement and Maharishi himself had a very beneficial effect on my life, though like every really meaningful gift, this one too came with a price.

As to Maharishi himself, Dr. Chopra got it exactly right. He was incredibly charismatic and enigmatic. His eyes were absolutely penetrating, sometimes to the point of being positively frightening. His mood could change directions in flash, from childlike and playful, to blazing anger. He really brooked little argument or dissent. He was the master and you either played the role of disciple or you were out of there. I saw him reduce more than one person to tears with just a couple of words.

But that was really just one side of him because, on the other hand, his smile and a few words of encouragement could make you float right up through the ceiling.

I suspect most really charismatic figures have a similar power. Charles Manson seemed to have it and probably Jim Jones had it too.

The difference is in whether one wields that power for good or ill. In my view, Maharishi used it mostly to do great good. He helped get a lot of people off drugs and changed many lives for the better. This world could use a lot more like him.

[MagisterLudi]

Having heard some lectures by Maharishi, I was utterly surprised by his well-developed sense of humor. I would only wish more TM adherents would share this trait.

[RoryTurner]

Perhaps a future history will record and assign significance to this moment in time for the Maharishi's passing, more than for the other more fervid engagements of our days.

[LoveOverGold]

On an interesting note: The Beatles' song 'Across the Universe' was beamed into space by NASA on February 5, 2008 GMT, the same day Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, died.

[nerakami]

interesting indeed... ah, the interconnectivity of energy...

[rektruax]

... or coincidence?

[nerakami]

We subconsciously fall into the mindset, a no-body in a world of no-bodies (the average person) is able to transcend conditioned beliefs & experience the state of enlightenment. I was raised in the Christian faith and exposed to the "hell fire & brimstone" teaching. What I walked away with were these words, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do."
My 7 year old mind was able to understand that I am like Christ. Many have put Jesus on this untouchable pedestal that to say the words, I AM the same energy and potential as Jesus, is blasphemous! Since one's reality is a direct manifestation of one's innermost beliefs, how then will we expect to see/BE God?
Similarly, many view Gurus as essential to finding their "truths" and embark on the mental process of waiting for their own revelations through a Guru rather than practicing to hear the still small Voice within their own hearts and minds.

I say these things because I fear many wait for an external stimulus to take us to the next level of awareness as opposed to understanding that I am what I need to fundamentally cause a shift of consciousness within.

I am only one of the many "no-bodies", who for many years suffered from intense depression, never sought therapy or medication, but by absorbing & assimilating information from countless books, a diligence to practice meditation and yoga, years of self-counseling guided by Universal principles, have been able to transform a diseased mind, hell-bent on suicide to where each day is now more special and meaningful than the day before.

No matter where we are mentally on the path, I am the power to think "anew". The master, the guru is within and each day, my conscious mind tunes in ......
namaste...

[HeevenSteven]

Deepak, that is a fine tribute.

[Pandu]

Oh, Deepak mentioned Bhagavad-gita. What fun!

"The Bhagavad-Gita declares that there are no outward signs of enlightenment," Deepak says.

I’ve noticed that impersonalists almost always phrase this kind of statement "Bhagavad-gita declares." Actually Bhagavad-gita doesn’t declare; Krishna declares. Except that actually He doesn’t say this at all.

It may be that Deepak got confused because Arjuna asks "What are the symptoms...?" in Chapter 2, but Krishna doesn't say much about the "enlightened" person's activities (engaging in His loving service) until later chapters, after Krishna reveals His own unique position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Does Deepak really think the following statement (verse 9.14) by Krishna, as just one example of many, does not describe outward signs of enlightenment?

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

From Deepak's interpretation, we might think one can find "enlightened" people attending strip clubs and cainos. Such nonsense.

Since this article is basically a eulogy, I’m going to refrain from criticising too heavily. However one other point is quite important, which is that in Bhagavad-gita, Krishna recommends against the kind of practice that MMY apparently taught. (I haven’t paid the big bucks to for a TM class, and I’ve heard enough to know there are much better ways to spend my time and money.)

As Krishna says in Bg 12.5, "For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progrese in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied."

I wonder how MMY translated that verse from Bhagavad-gita. Not that it’s important, since Krishna explains in verse 4.3 that Bhagavad-gita can only be understood by His devotees: "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science."

http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com

[frank3373]

There are no outward signs of enlightenment as Chopra and many others claim. I might offer as rebuttal, the above reply to Chopra's excellent eulogy. It's an example of when we certainly can tell when someone ISN'T enlightened.
We might also observe great hubris to be one of enlightenment's many obstacles.

[nerakami]

Ah, however there are outward signs of enlightenment:

an inexplicable sense of peace that permeates the individual entire countenance and being..."the peace that passeth all understanding". A vibration of contentment and joy exuding from every pore... subtle qualities that manifest as living, breathing outward signs...

[Pandu]

What's your problem, man? Deepak said Bhagavad-gita gives no outward signs of enlightenment. In response, I quoted a verse from Bhagavad-gita that lists a few important outward signs that Deepak must've missed. Then I provided another verse showing how Deepak and MMY have misunderstood Bhagavad-gita, and a third verse explaining why they've misunderstood.

If Deepak had simply said there are no outward signs of enlightenment, he would've been mistaken, but not in such an offensive way. However, the fact that he invoked Bhagavad-gita to support his view, which is not supported by Bhagavad-gita, is an offense against Krishna, and as His aspiring devotee, I'm obligated to respond.

You accuse me of hubris, but I have accepted Bhagavad-gita as taught by my spiritual master in a bona fide disciplic succession, according to Bhagavad-gita's instructions; and I continue to spread Bhagavad-gita's message on my spiritual master's order.

Accepting a spiritual master, as Krishna recommends, and boldly spreading Krishna's message of Bhagavad-gita as it is, is real humility.

Hubris is to claim one knows the subject matter of Bhagavad-gita independently, neglecting Krishna's instructions on how one must receive Bhagavad-gita.

[StealthisBlog]

Namaste.

Om Mani Padme Om.

Repeat.

[Pandu]

Isn't that mantra supposed to be:

"om mani padme hum"

[MagisterLudi]

Pandu, since this is all phonetics, it doesn't really matter.

In Tibet it's: "Om Mani Peme Hung."

But rest assured no harm is done by this mis- pronouncement.:-)

[jimimosey]

Dr. Chopra, I was delighted to read your account of the vibratory presence of the Master. I was delivered my mantra as a college student in 1969 in a hotel room in Fairbanks, Alaska. I have over the years experienced the peace and balance that accompanies the practice. Maharishi was confident that the practice of TM was responsible for providing the great ripple effect that brought down the Berlin Wall and opened the eastern bloc to the promise of peace. I was fortunate to view Iconoclast's broadcast featuring Mike Meyers and you in a fascinating look at the inner workings regarding the connection between comedy and aesthetics. You rock the world and it is comforting to know you walk the planet! Keep on keeping on. Peace -Bro Jimi

[Ravenlea]

What a beautiful testament to a great man who clearly touched your life - and so many others - in profound ways.

[Metacortex]

He who controls the word (logos) controls the law, and he who controls the language controls the mind.

Gnoti Seaton

Namaste