:: March 2008: Volume 7/Number 2

In Memorium

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Enters Mahasamadhi

by Felicia Tomasko, RN
Photo courtesy of: Maharishi University of Management
This photo of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was taken in 2002

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi entered Mahasamadhi (final enlightenment), on February 5, 2008, at the approximate age of 91. He transitioned only weeks after retiring, on January 11 of this year, after more than fifty years of serving as a gifted teacher and as the head of the worldwide organization he founded. When his Mahasamadhi (final enlightenment) was announced, centers and Peace Palaces worldwide began pujas (worship services) to celebrate and acknowledge his life.

Maharishi is a figure whose influence on a number of fields, from meditation and Ayurveda to education and politics, is undeniable, even by those who see him as controversial. He began introducing meditation to the West in the 1950s and became famous worldwide in the 1960s, appearing in photos and newsreels in long hair and flowing robes with the Beatles who spent time at his Ashram in India in 1968. They may have been some of his most famous students, but they were certainly not his only famous devotees. His teachings have influenced millions worldwide, directly and indirectly.

While he was not the first to introduce meditation and Vedic sciences to the West, his emphasis on the scientific investigation of meditation elevated the practice of meditation to a scientific inquiry. Thousands of research studies, published in hundreds of peer-reviewed journals, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and performed by universities, document the benefits of Transcendental Meditation. The Transcendental Meditation program is a mantra-based meditation, in which a word, syllable or phrase is given to the meditator to use in meditation in a specific training and initiation process.

Maharishi’s teachings stimulated research that was completed by scientists including Drs. Robert K. Wallace and Herbert Benson which confirmed that the experience of the brain during meditation is a fourth state of consciousness. It is distinct from waking, sleeping and dreaming. Entering this state is shown to reduce the effects of stress on the mind and body, which is where the benefits of the practice originate. According to physicist Dr. John Hagelin, director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy at Maharishi University of Management, and Minister of Science of Technology of the Global Country of World Peace, meditation provides a “direct experience of the Universal Field, at the foundation of mind and matter.”

Maharishi’s efforts went beyond the popular dispersal of simple meditation techniques. His focus was the modern revival of the ancient Vedic sciences, as noted by Dr. Hagelin at Maharishi’s memorial service. Architecture, farming, health, education and even politics are some of the other focal points of his work. The continued growth and popular knowledge of Ayurveda in the U.S. is due in part to Maharishi’s efforts. Maharishi also spearheaded efforts to revitalize Vedic education, seen in the Maharishi University of Management in Iowa and in projects to teach meditation to school children. Filmmaker David Lynch is an active proponent of this effort through speaking tours, a foundation and written work. Through the Natural Law Party, Dr. Hagelin was a three-time U.S. Presidential candidate and continues to be active in peace activism and the development of a Department of Peace.

Maharishi’s core teaching that meditation has an impact that goes beyond benefiting the individual to positively transforming society. He emphasized this often, encouraging the positive effects of group meditations and inspiring scientific studies into this phenomenon. To further this goal, he instituted the creation of Peace Palaces worldwide, alongside his other projects, too numerous to mention here.

At a 2006 press conference, the Associated Press reporter Arthur Max asked Maharishi what would happen to his ideas when he is no longer here to share his own personal thoughts. Maharishi answered:

“Doesn’t matter. There is a phrase; ‘Man is the master of his own destiny.’ So the destiny of every man doesn’t depend on the existence of Maharishi or his absence. Man is the master of his own destiny. Maharishi is showing a way. Who comes on the lighted way, he’ll get to the target, he’ll get to the goal of the way, those who don’t, they don’t, that’s all. Man has a choice. Education is so very limited today...Maharishi’s message does not remain limited to his physical body. This is the message that was there before the body of Maharishi, and it will remain there when the body of Maharishi will not come up. So these are waste of thoughts, no?”

Jai Guru Dev

To view webcasts of Maharishi’s programs or watch the internationally-broadcast memo<rial service, visit maharishichannel.org. For more information about worldwide projects founded by Maharishi worldwide as part of the Global Country of World Peace, visit globalcountry.org.

 

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