Talk:Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Transcendental Meditation

Thanks, Zephyrad, for creating this article. Some nice writing. It must be a special challenge to write in simple English. I tried to correct some things about Transcendental Meditation. I was looking at the policies and I see that the same rules apply here as in Wikipedia, so I guess we ought to put in some references. TimidGuy (talk) 20:26, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I am just doing some copy editing but came across a couple of passages that may be inaccurate. I took them out for now, but maybe if you have a source they could go back in, and yes thanks for doing this. (Littleolive oil (talk) 16:50, 12 April 2008 (UTC))

The source is his own book, The Science of Being and the Art of Living (republished as Transcendental Meditation)... which I have, but not handy, or yes, I would add direct references. (I think a quote from Aesop might well apply here.) I appreciate someone going over the text; "everyday" for "ordinary" was a good change. Zephyrad (talk) 16:55, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Ok, good I'll keep on then.(Littleolive oil (talk) 17:06, 12 April 2008 (UTC))

OK, but I don't think we need to keep giving his full name/title, "the Maharishi" is proper usage (since we're not addressing him personally)... and I don't think we need to say "the Beatles band"; it's sorta redundant. (Plus they're already described as "rock band The Beatles" in the article.) Zephyrad (talk) 17:26, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

I guess those edits were give for smooth reading. If its for kids I think its ok to do this. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is not addressed as the Maharishi and there have been multiple discussion in Wikipedia about that but hey no problem .... leave it if you want it there. Using Maharishi Mahesh yogi is just part of the writing style so as not to keep using the same words over and over .(Littleolive oil (talk) 17:35, 12 April 2008 (UTC))

You contradict yourself. Saying "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi" over and over is... using the same words over and over. And he was addressed as "Maharishi", but referred to as "the Maharishi"; it's a title. (BTW, it's "grammAr", not "grammEr".) I have not seen the Wikipedia discussion, and do not think too much of those discussions anyway; they tend to reflect mob mentality, instead of reasoned thought by educated people, from what I have seen. (Let's take any further discussion of this to our own talk pages, OK?) Zephyrad (talk) 18:21, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

TM teachers

Is there a source for the information that the Beatles went to India to become TM teachers? Seems like I remember reading in the Beatles anthology that they said they went there just to spend some time with Maharishi but didn't intend to become teachers. In fact, I do definitely recall that Paul says in the Beatles Anthology that he had only planned to stay for a month. And George says that he had gone only planned to stay while the course was in Rishikesh but hadn't planned to continue on after the course moved north. This alone seems to suggest that Paul and George didn't go with the intention of taking the whole course and becoming teachers. TimidGuy (talk) 15:54, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes. The Beatles Anthology is a primary source, but it is one source; many Beatles biographies (incl. Shout!) relate that they went for a teacher training course in meditation. An online Beatles chronology (let me find the URL) related a report from Rishikesh that none of them completed it. Maybe they didn't intend to graduate (moved north... to where? The ashram was in North India), but they did go... and remember, Anthology was done years after the fact, and memories can change over time. Zephyrad (talk) 18:10, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Followup

Got it. The URL is 1968 year in Beatles history: "Apr 21 (Sunday) In London it is reported that the Beatles did not receive the diplomas crediting them as 'gurus', since they didn't pass the 3 obligatory tests of the Maharishi's Academy of Transcendental Meditation."

My well-worn copy of Shout! says early in Chapter 16: "They had also undertaken to visit their guru's academy in Rishikesh, North India, to further their studies and ultimately to qualify as teachers of meditation." (Italics mine.) I am also browsing other books from my collection (those not buried in storage), for further references... which I really don't have time to do, but if it'll satisfy you. Zephyrad (talk) 01:07, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Zephyrad. Why wouldn't we give more credibility to what they themselves actually said about this? TimidGuy (talk) 18:58, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

"GEORGE: "Each year Maharishi had a course for Westerners who wanted to become Transcendental Meditation instructors. Although I wasn't going to become an instructor, I wanted to go and have a heavy dose of meditation." p. 281

"GEORGE: "The idea was that it lasted however many weeks in Rishikesh, and then at the end of that period they shifted the camp up north. This was something they did every year. But i'd planned to go just for the Rishikesh trip and then go down to the south of India to do some filming with Ravi Shankar. I kept telling Maharishi, 'No I'm not going to Kashmir. I went there last year.' And he was saying, 'No, no, you coming to Kashmir.' I told him I was going south, and that's when John and I left. It was really only John and I who were there from the beginning up until the end of the segment at Rishikesh, and i think John wanted to get back because -- you can see it historically now -- he had just started the relationship with Yoko before we went to India." p. 285

PAUL "Being fairly practical, I had a set period for staying in Rishikesh. To start with I thought, 'Whoa, this could be it, man. I could never come back if this works.' Then I thought, 'Wait a minute, I'll go for a month. Even if it's incredible I'll still come back after a month.' If it had turned out to be something we really had to go back for, I would have gone back." p . 284-85 TimidGuy (talk) 19:40, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Given that we have conflicting sources, and given that George says he hadn't gone with the intent of becoming a teacher, seems like the simplest thing would be to make this more general. TimidGuy (talk) 16:03, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Is there a source

I've never seen this anywhere in my reading. Do we have a source for this. I suspect its an opinion or an idea but not necessarily correct. If not sourced I'd like to remove it in a few days (Littleolive oil (talk) 23:35, 9 April 2009 (UTC))

His physics work made him interested in the sound vibrations made by spoken syllables, and how those vibrations could change a person's body or consciousness.

Yes. The Science of Being and the Art of Living is the source for the statement. Zephyrad (talk) 02:14, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

There is a whole "technology" based on this concept. See en:Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health#Maharishi Vedic Vibration Technology. Will Beback (talk) 12:37, 20 December 2009 (UTC)