Maharaishi R.I.P.

But whatever other powers transcendental meditation had, under its influence they wrote like demons. The main body of evidence is the White Album, a two-disc collection of 30 songs, more than twice the number on any previous Beatles album. from: New York Times article

Dozens of Eastern cultural and spiritual influences infiltrated North American popular culture in the last century but probably none as famous or wide spread as Maharishi. Although I have been meditating since I was a little kid...and later learned various formal meditation techniques from Dalai Lama and others...I didn't study TM. I have had a lot of friends who learned meditation through Transcendental Meditation, and the magnificent David Lynch believes meditating gives energy to ones life and to ones art work. I agree. I can't imagine life without meditation. The first time I read the Bhagavad Gita was a translation done by Maharaishi.

Maharishi was born to a Hindu family living in Jabalpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in India - Panduka Dist.(date unknown) Maharishi earned a degree in physics at Allahabad Univsity. In 1953, Maharishi moved to Uttarkashi, in the Valley of the Saints, in the Himalayas, where his own Master had lived in previous decades with his Master, Swami Krishanand Saraswati. In 1955, Maharishi left Uttarkashi,and began publicly teaching what he states is a traditional meditation technique that he later renamed Transcendental Meditation. He began The Spiritual Regeneration Movement in 1957, in Madras, India. The feedback Maharishi received from the diverse population that learned his technique suggested to him that it could be of wide benefit. By 1958 Maharishi had begun the first of a number of worldwide tours.

Maharashi University
Transcendental Medititation
Gurus in Netherlands
Wikipedia bio
Bhagavad Gita