THE BEATLES AND THE GURU.

• Author: Shumsky, Susan
• Position: OUT OF THE PAST - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

MAHARISHI Mahesh Yogi (1918-2008) was the mentor of megastars like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Deepak Chopra, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, George Lucas, Tom Hanks, Howard Stern, Jerry Seinfeld, and more. This extraordinary spiritual master first stepped onto America's shores in 1959. Dubbed by the press "The Giggling Guru," within 10 years Maharishi made "meditation" a household word. His brush with celebrities put him into the spotlight, but his true legacy is his gift of Transcendental Meditation (TM).

George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd began practicing TM in February 1967. Feeling more alert and energetic, she believed it changed her life. So, the Beatles, with their significant others, attended an Aug. 24 Maharishi lecture at the London Hilton on Park Lane. Ringo Starr missed the lecture to be at hospital with his wife Maureen, who recently had given birth.

Afterwards, the Beatles met Maharishi backstage. They expressed that they had been seeking a highly spiritual experience, which the recreational drugs they took failed to deliver. The guru invited them to a retreat in North Wales, starting the next day. Attendees included the Beatles, Boyd, Cynthia Lennon, Jane Asher, so-called inventor Alexis Mardas, and the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and his girlfriend, singer Marianne Faithfull.

Three-hundred course participants shared bunk beds in dorms at University College in Bangor and ate canteen food. There the Beatles learned TM. Since drug abstinence was a prerequisite to starting the practice, the musicians stopped using drugs--for the first five minutes, anyway.

The Beatles expressed enthusiasm about TM--and defended it to skeptics--in multiple interviews, including on "The Frost Report." In fact, the band indicated they would set up a London meditation academy. John Lennon suggested to his co-Beatles a world tour to turn on millions of people to the practice. His song, "Across the Universe," cowritten with Paul McCartney, is an anthem to TM, and included the appellation "jai guru deva" ("hail to the divine guru").

Once the Beatles became public advocates, Maharishi found himself all over the press, on magazine covers, and a recurring guest on "The Tonight Show." Despite host Johnny Carson's derisive treatment of Maharishi, the shows resulted in thousands of eager students queuing around blocks to learn TM.

In February 1968, the shock waves hitting Rishikesh, India, reverberated around the world. When the Beatles, Donovan, Mia Farrow, and other celebrities attended a meditation course with Maharishi, the...