Maharishi & Me

by Susan Shumsky

  She forcefully demanded a ride from an Indian guest leaving the following day and raised a glass of champagne: “To the last night in this holy place. Hah. That’s a laugh. Maharishi’s no saint. He made a pass at me when I was over at his house before dinner.”91

  Stunned, Nancy Cooke asked how she could say such a thing. Mia insisted, “Look, I’m no fucking dumbbell. I know a pass when I see one.”92

  Mia described to incredulous onlookers how Maharishi made her kneel on a small carpet before an altar. He performed puja to Guru Dev and placed a garland around her neck. Then he made the “pass.” When asked what he did, Mia replied, “He started to stroke my hair.”

  Observers tried to convince her this was an honor, Maharishi was blessing her, and she misconstrued his intentions. She insisted, “Listen, I know a pass from a puja.”93

  Next morning, Maharishi placed Mia front and center in a group photograph, wearing her silver crown. She feigned a happy face (she was an award-winning actress) and promised to return after visiting Kathmandu and Goa, where drugged-out European hippies (and her brother John) camped out.

  Was Maharishi oblivious to Mia’s feelings? My guess is he was keenly aware. Everything he did was with intention. I believe, as a mirror to her, he parodied the kind of adulation she expected. That pressed her buttons and pushed her to react.

  After Mia’s travels, Maharishi asked Prudence to ride to Delhi, pick up Mia, and bring her back to Rishikesh. Prudence resented breaking her long meditations for her privileged sister. Her plan was to meditate in the taxi and continue all night at their hotel. At 3:00 a.m. the phone rang. It was Maharishi for Prudence: “Stop meditating! It’s time to rest now.”94

  Next morning on February 16, John Lennon and George Harrison arrived in Delhi. At the airport Brahmachari Satyanand and Malcolm “Mal” Evans (Beatles road manager and Apple Records president) greeted John and Cynthia Lennon, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd, and Pattie’s younger sister Jenny Boyd.

  Mia Farrow greets John and Cynthia Lennon at Delhi Airport. STARSTOCK/Photoshot/Newscom

  When Mia discovered the Beatles were slated to arrive, she asked her driver to swing by the airport on the sisters’ way to Rishikesh—or so Prudence thought. Instead, at the airport Mia bolted from their taxi straight toward John Lennon, deserting Prudence. From afar, Prudence watched Mia ride off in the Beatles’ entourage without even a wave goodbye. Prudence rode back to Rishikesh alone, relieved to return. Three taxis, circa 1955 vintage, conveyed the Beatles’ entourage (including Mia) on the bumpy road to Rishikesh.

  The woman who’d spewed hideous expletives about Maharishi last week and fled in a rage, now (with worldwide press focused on Rishikesh) suddenly became an ardent devotee with rekindled enthusiasm about meditation, exclaiming, “Good to be back, believe me.”95

  Paul McCartney and fiancée Jane Asher, with Ringo Starr and wife Maureen, arrived three days later, February 19. Brahmachari Raghvendra garlanded them with red and yellow marigolds at the airport.

  Ringo and wife Maureen foreground, Paul and Jane Asher background, walk over Lakshman Jhula footbridge to ashram. Bettmann/Getty Images

  Though Maharishi offered the Beatles private dining, they elected to eat outdoors at cliff’s edge with other students, seated on benches at long tables covered with plastic tablecloths held down by jelly jars and fruit bowls. A creeper-covered wooden trellis provided scant shelter from rain and wind. Occasionally monkeys dropped by to snatch a piece of toast or two.

  Maharishi asked students to respect the Beatles’ privacy and treat them like everyone else. But he didn’t take his own advice. They received private lessons on his bungalow roof or inside his meeting room. The Beatles propped themselves on pillows. Mal Evans got a chair, since he found crossed legs difficult.

  John and George were more absorbed in Maharishi’s teachings than the other Beatles. “Whenever I meditate, there’s a big brass band in me head,” John told Maharishi.96 “When I’m deep in meditation, I start writing songs. What should I do?”

  Maharishi replied, “When you are deep in meditation, and you feel a song, come out of meditation, write down the song. After you have written the song, go back to the meditation.”

  John said, “You mean that simple?”

  Maharishi said, “That simple.”97

  George said, “It’s the only place to be. It’s a quest to find the answer to ‘Why are we here? Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?’ That became the only important thing in my life.”98

  During meditation Paul experienced this: “It appeared to me that I was like a feather over a hot-air pipe. I was just suspended by this hot air. And I thought, Well, hell, that’s great, I couldn’t buy that anywhere. That was the most pleasant, the most relaxed I ever got, for a few minutes I really felt so light, so floating, so complete.”99

  Jenny Boyd said, “I’d been in San Francisco taking acid and all that stuff and it had made me question a lot of things. I was very confused, so going to India was absolutely right for me at the time. George knew I’d had some kind of spiritual awakening and invited me. It was wonderful because there was nothing, just meditation and it was so beautiful. I loved it there.”100

  Cynthia Lennon said Maharishi’s talks were humorous and enlightening: “John and George were in their element. They threw themselves totally into the Maharishi’s teachings, were relaxed and above all had found peace of mind that had been denied them for so long.”101

  On George’s twenty-fifth birthday, February 25, a turbaned musician decked in neon crimson satin performed with his band. George played the sitar. Everyone enjoyed a seven-pound cake and fireworks. The Beatles’ foreheads were smeared with red kumkum powder and yellow sandalwood paste.

  Students buried George in garlands. Maharishi presented a book and plastic globe with the Southern Hemisphere on top, saying, “This is what the world is like today—upside down. It is rotating in tension and agony. The world waits for its release and to be put right. Transcendental Meditation can do this. George, this globe I am giving you symbolizes the world today. I hope you will help us all in the task of putting it right.”102

  On his birthday, George Harrison places a marigold garland over Maharishi’s head. Cummings Archives/Redferns/Getty Images

  George turned the globe over, saying, “I’ve done it!” The crowd cheered.

  Maharishi presenting a globe to George Harrison. Cummings Archives/Redferns/Getty Images

  Mia Farrow spent most afternoons on the puri roof watching George Harrison practice sitar. But once Donovan arrived on February 26, she followed him like a shadow. Mia’s and Donovan’s next-door huts overlooked the Ganges. He found her “an innocent and charming girl.” His obsession with Jenny Boyd (“Jennifer Juniper”) quickly vanished.103

  Upon arriving, Donovan met Maharishi in his bungalow with Mia and the Beatles. Seemingly dumbstruck, everyone remained mute. To break the awkward silence, John patted Maharishi on the head, and said, “There’s a good little guru.” That cut the ice. Laughter erupted all around.104

  Donovan said, “Before each concert I’d meditate for half an hour and go out on stage relaxed and totally refreshed.”105 Donovan composed the song “Maharishi” while in Rishikesh, which he performed for a handful of students in the guru’s garden.

  When Mia’s brother John Farrow handed Donovan a lump of hashish, he was shocked and concerned about the press getting wind of it, since no drugs or alcohol were allowed in the ashram. Donovan promptly flung it into the Ganges.

  But when Wonderwall film director Joe Massot showed up with hashish he’d smuggled in, John Lennon didn’t hesitate to imbibe as they played Otis Redding’s “The Dock of the Bay” twenty times. John asked Joe to keep it secret from George. John Lennon also demonstrated to Joe his awe-inspiring, spine-tingling trick of lighting a cigarette during meditation.

  Ringo Starr and wife Maureen didn’t fare well in Rishikesh. His allergies and peritonitis caused problems with ashram food. One suit
case was filled with clothes, the other, Heinz beans. Terrified of insects, Maureen demanded “Ritchie” kill them all and dispose of the carcasses. A single fly held Maureen hostage until Ringo returned hours later.

  “You’d have to fight off the scorpions and tarantulas to try to get in a bath so there was amazing noise in the bathroom,” Ringo said. “To have a bath you’d start shouting, ‘Oh yes, well, I think I’ll be having a bath now’ and banging your feet. Then you’d get out of the bath, get dry, and get out of the room before all the insects came back in.”106

  Eggs and meat were banned in Rishikesh, but Mal smuggled in contraband eggs for Ringo’s breakfast. When the staff was caught burying eggshells, Ringo said, “What do you mean, you’re burying the shells? Can’t God see that too?”107

  Ringo recalled, “I wasn’t getting what I thought I would out of it … We came home because we missed the children [three-year-old Zak and six-month old Jason]. It was a good experience. It just didn’t last as long for me as it did for them.”108

  After ten days, on March 1, 1968, Ringo and Maureen left in a taxi with Donovan’s companion Gypsy Dave and wife Yvonne Mills (whose temporary visa expired). Mal Evans left one week later, March 8.

  Ringo said, “We were in this really spiritual place, and we were meditating a lot, having seminars by Maharishi. It was pretty far out.”109 “The Maharishi shows you that, through meditation, you achieve a sort of inner peace. I’ve found it works, anyway. So have the others. We all feel so much better for it.”110

  His Holiness Ravindra Damodara Swami, one of the brahmacharyas, noted in his diary Maharishi’s impressions of the Beatles: “Ringo is always in meditation and goes by feeling and heart, but as for the other Beatles, too much brain is in the way. Of all the Beatles, George is the most advanced, and this is his last life. John has many more to go and must not give in to his weakness for women or it will ruin him.”111

  George Harrison, Mike Love, and John Lennon strolling on ashram grounds. Bettmann/Getty Images

  Beach Boy Mike Love, initiated into TM by Maharishi in Paris in 1967, arrived in late February with TM Teacher Paul Horn, jazz flutist, who learned TM in 1966. Mike was delayed because his tailor at Profils du Monde in Beverly Hills hadn’t finished his wild-looking course wardrobe. (Must dress en vogue in “Maharishiville”—Mike’s pet name for the ashram.) Rumor had it, Mike smuggled hashish into the compound. But his only real contraband was beef jerky.

  Mike’s scheme was to build a “fan-fucking-tastic” World Capital of Transcendental Meditation across the river in Rishikesh, complete with stadium, airport, train station, skyscrapers, parks, and freeways.112

  While at the ashram, Mike overcame his irrational phobia of knives: “Death by stabbing, I thought, was the absolute worst way to go. One day when I was meditating, I felt this intense pain in my thigh, as if I were being stabbed. I kept meditating, kept going deeper into myself until finally, slowly, the root of the problem was resolved, the pain left my body, and the fear of blades was gone forever.”113

  On Mike’s twenty-seventh birthday, March 15, the Beatles and Donovan composed and sang a birthday song that referred to Maharishi’s Spiritual Regeneration Movement (SRM). It was patterned after the Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun.” George Harrison gifted a painting of Guru Dev to Mike. John presented a handmade circular card scrawled with a nude self-portrait and farewell message, since Mike left for the USA shortly afterward, in time to begin his concert tour April 7.114

  March 15, 1968: Mike Love’s birthday celebration: l. to r.: Mike Love, Maharishi, Brahmachari Shankar Lal (direct disciple of Guru Dev.) © Colin Harrison-Avico Ltd.

  Later that night in his basement cave, Maharishi performed private puja for Mike, who expressed devotional feelings: “At the end of the puja, Maharishi bowed toward Guru Dev. I bowed as well. After about a minute, I sensed Maharishi rising, so I lifted myself, except I couldn’t. I fell back down, dazed. My heart was overwhelming me. Maharishi reached over and patted me on my neck three times, and I’ll never forget what he said. ‘You will always be with me.’”115

  Mike planned a television show and tour featuring Maharishi and the Beach Boys. Paul McCartney, sniffing disaster, attempted to dissuade Maharishi from the hapless tour, albeit unsuccessfully.

  Mike continued practicing TM throughout his life. He attended Maharishi’s Humboldt course in August 1971, and in January 1972 took TM Teacher Training in Mallorca and Fiuggi. He and Al Jardine became initiators in 1972. Maharishi advised Mike would do more good spreading positive messages through music rather than teaching TM full-time. He said, “Live your own life, but stay in the group.”116 Later Mike attended more advanced courses, including the TM-Sidhi Course in 1977 in Vittel and Leysin, Switzerland.

  During a tedious lecture by Maharishi, George Harrison stood up and said it was unbearably boring. All laughed uproariously, including Maharishi. Occasional diversions included visits by holy men, torchlight processions and full moon boat rides, sing-alongs on the riverbank, traveling cinema-in-a-truck, and trips to Dehra Dun—the closest large town. Secret indulgences included smokes, card playing, and dreadful hooch smuggled into the ashram.

  Students gradually increased their meditation time and discussed experiences daily with Maharishi. After a few weeks he announced, “Now go to your rooms and meditate as long as you can. For the time being we will cancel all lessons, but remember one thing is important—if you want to talk to me about anything, come to me, even in the middle of the night.”117

  Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison meet Maharishi on his bungalow rooftop. Kobal-REX-Shutterstock

  The Beatles and wives competed over length of meditation. Debates raged about who was “getting it,” who wasn’t, and “who was going to get cosmic first.” John and George meditated eight hours daily. Pattie Boyd reached seven hours. George disapproved when she escaped to Dehra Dun or Mussoorie to shop at Tibetan trading posts, or to swim in the Ganges. While swimming, she dropped her wedding ring into the rapids. But luckily John Farrow (Mia’s brother) retrieved it.

  George said, “The goal is to plug into the divine energy and raise your state of consciousness. All those things, like walking on water and dematerializing your body at will, are just the sort of things that happen along the way.”118 John said, “The way George is going, he will be flying on a magic carpet by the time he is 40.”119

  Many students, including George and John, stayed inside their rooms for two or three weeks. Order forms were distributed for food deliveries. Long meditations brought dramatic improvements in health, well-being, and physical appearance. Chronic aches and pains disappeared. Long-term psychological hang-ups vanished.

  But the road to well-being was rocky for some who experienced psychological distress, oversensitivity, frightening past-life flashbacks, astral travel, and other challenging phenomena.

  Big surprise? … Not so much.

  To resolve the crisis, Maharishi convened an emergency meeting where he explained “unwinding” (a.k.a. “unstressing”): Deep stresses from past traumas are like icebergs, appearing small on the surface but massive underneath. As stresses release, students might feel discomfort. Whenever such distress arose, Maharishi would say, “Something good is happening, hmm?”

  February 1968, Rishikesh: Maharishi meets Beatles at ashram: l. to r. Pattie Boyd, George Harrison, John Lennon, Cynthia Lennon, Maureen Starkey, Maharishi.

  Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

  Michael, an Australian, stricken with childhood polio, walked with a cane and wore leg braces. During meditation in the lecture hall, he let out several screams. With eyes wide open, he stared at something and sobbed about a snake wrapped around his leg. He pointed his cane at arm’s length to keep the monster at bay, and yelled again. Maharishi said loudly, “Don’t anyone touch him.”

  Michael jerked and convulsed like a marionette, arching and twisting his back, grabbing his throat, flailing and dropping his cane. He yelled, “No, no, don’t!” Mah
arishi asked where the pain was in the body, and Michael shouted, “When I close my eyes, I feel it crushing me!” It was in his feet, legs, and thighs. Maharishi told Michael to close his eyes and feel the pain. He assured Michael everything was all right and “it was going to come out.”

  Within a few minutes, Michael was okay but had no memory of the experience. Maharishi called it “a severe case of unstressing.”120 After one week, Michael’s leg braces disappeared. He emerged renewed and restored.121

  Paul McCartney told Donovan that in India the Beatles hoped to get answers for personal and world peace. However, their towering expectations included the secret of life, astral magic, supernormal powers, and global peace—all in one month.

  George Harrison said, “I believe that I have already extended my life by twenty years. I believe there are bods up here in the Himalayas who have lived for centuries. There is one somewhere around who was born before Jesus Christ and is still living now.”122

  Paul asked Maharishi about the Indian rope trick, “Did they do that? Was that just a magic trick? Do they really levitate, Maharishi?”

  Maharishi replied, “Yes it is. There are people who do it.”

  Assuming some local fakir could pop over and demonstrate, Paul answered, “Great. Give me one photograph and I’ll have you on the News at Ten tonight, and you’ll be a major source of interest to the world and your organization will swell its ranks.”123

  John Lennon believed there was some secret to get—then he could just go home. He suspected Maharishi’s disciples knew the secret but were holding out. When industrialist K. S. Cambata loaned Maharishi a helicopter, John volunteered for a ride. He figured, “Maybe if I go up with him in the helicopter, he may slip me the answer on me own.”124