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The Beatles in India

January 01, 1970

In February 1968, the English rock band the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh in northern India to take part in a Transcendental Meditation (TM) training course at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The visit followed the group's denunciation of drugs in favour of TM[1] and received widespread media attention. The band's interest in the Maharishi's teachings was led by George Harrison's commitment,[2][3] and it changed Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and encouraged the study of Transcendental Meditation.[4] The visit was also the most productive period for the Beatles' songwriting.

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Location of the ashram (now known as Beatles Ashram) in Rishikesh, where the Beatles studied Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi between February and April 1968

The Beatles had intended to join the Maharishi in India soon after attending his seminar in Bangor, Wales in late August 1967. Their attendance at the seminar was cut short by the death of their manager Brian Epstein, after which they committed to making the television film Magical Mystery Tour. Harrison and John Lennon were convinced of the merits of TM and became spokesmen for the Maharishi's Spiritual Regeneration Movement, as he gained international prominence as the guru to the Beatles. The band members arrived in India in mid-February 1968, along with their wives, girlfriends, assistants, and numerous reporters. They joined a group of 60 training to be TM teachers; among the other celebrity meditators were musicians Donovan, Mike Love and Paul Horn, and actress Mia Farrow. While there, Lennon, Paul McCartney and Harrison wrote many songs, and Ringo Starr finished writing his first. Eighteen were recorded for The Beatles ("the White Album"), two others appeared on the Abbey Road album, and others were used for various solo projects.

The retreat and the discipline required for meditation were met with varying degrees of commitment from the individual Beatles. Starr left on 1 March, after ten days; McCartney left later in March to attend to business concerns. Harrison and Lennon departed abruptly on 12 April following rumours of the Maharishi's inappropriate behaviour towards Farrow and another of his female students. The divisive influence of the Beatles' Greek friend Alexis Mardas, financial disagreements, and suspicions that their teacher was taking advantage of the band's fame have also been cited by biographers and witnesses.

The Beatles' denunciation of the Maharishi was detrimental to his reputation in the West, while their return from Rishikesh exposed differences that anticipated the group's break-up in 1970. Harrison later apologised for the way that he and Lennon treated the Maharishi; like many of the students at the ashram, he acknowledged that allegations concerning the Maharishi's inappropriate behaviour were untrue. Harrison gave a benefit concert in 1992 for the Maharishi-associated Natural Law Party. In 2009, McCartney and Starr performed at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation, which raises funds for teaching TM to at-risk students. As a result of continued interest in the Beatles' 1968 retreat, the abandoned ashram was opened to the public in 2015 and has since been renamed Beatles Ashram.

Background edit

Main article: The Beatles in Bangor

The Beatles attended Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) seminar in Bangor in Wales, but their stay was cut short on 27 August 1967 after they learned that their manager, Brian Epstein, had been found dead in his London home. Eager to explore meditation further, the Beatles made plans to travel to the Maharishi's training centre in Rishikesh, India, in late October.[5][6] At Paul McCartney's urging, they postponed the trip until the new year to work on their Magical Mystery Tour film project, since he was concerned that, with the loss of Epstein, the band should first focus on their career.[7] George Harrison and John Lennon, the two most committed to the Maharishi's teachings,[8] appeared twice on David Frost's television program in autumn 1967 to espouse the benefits of TM.[9]

Now publicised as "the Beatles' Guru", the Maharishi went on his eighth world tour, giving lectures in Britain, Scandinavia, West Germany, Italy, Canada and California.[10] Harrison introduced Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys to the Maharishi[11] when he and Lennon joined their teacher at a UNICEF benefit in Paris in December.[12] Wilson's bandmate Mike Love described the private lecture the Maharishi gave beforehand as "awe-inspiring" and "the most profound experience I'd ever felt".[8][nb 1] Having long shared Harrison's interest in meditation and Indian religious texts, Scottish singer Donovan also recognised the Maharishi as the "guide" they had been searching for.[13]

The Maharishi received considerable media coverage in the West,[14] particularly the United States, where Life magazine devoted a cover article to the TM phenomenon[15] and declared 1968 the "Year of the Guru".[16][17] The mainstream press remained largely suspicious of the Maharishi's motives, however;[18] the British satirical magazine Private Eye nicknamed him "Veririchi Lotsamoney Yogi Bear".[19] Lennon defended the Maharishi's requirement that his students donate a week's wages to his organisation, the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, saying that it was "the fairest thing I've heard of".[20][21] Lennon added: "So what if he's commercial? We're the most commercial group in the world!"[22] The Beatles were nevertheless concerned that the Maharishi appeared to be using their name for self-promotion.[23][24] According to Peter Brown, who temporarily assumed Epstein's role following his death,[25] the Maharishi was negotiating with ABC in the US to make a television special featuring the band.[26] In an effort to stop him, Brown twice visited the Maharishi in Malmö, Sweden – on the second occasion with Harrison and McCartney – only for him to "giggle" in response.[23][26] In Brown's description, Harrison defended their teacher, saying: "He's not a modern man. He just doesn't understand these things."[26]

Harrison flew to Bombay in January 1968 to work on the Wonderwall Music soundtrack, expecting the rest of the group to follow shortly. When they were delayed he flew back to London.[27] The group spent a week in the studio, recording songs for a single that would be released while they were away on their spiritual retreat.[28] The B-side, Harrison's "The Inner Light", was mostly recorded in Bombay and featured Indian instrumentation[29] and lyrics espousing meditation as a means to genuine understanding of the world.[30] Although it remained unreleased until late 1969, Lennon's "Across the Universe" contained the refrain "Jai Guru Deva",[31] a standard greeting in the Spiritual Regeneration Movement.[32] Aside from the celebrity musicians who now endorsed TM, the Maharishi had gained the support of American film star Mia Farrow while in New York City. In late January, amid the publicity surrounding her separation from her husband, Frank Sinatra, Farrow accompanied the Maharishi to India in advance of the Beatles' departure from London.[15]

Arrivals edit

It hadn't seemed very long ago that John Lennon had declared, casually, but catastrophically, that religious disciples were "thick and ordinary". Now, in mid-February 1968, a stunned world looked on as pop's reluctant anti-Christs found themselves chasing a self-proclaimed guru halfway across the globe in search of spiritual guidance.[8]

– Author and journalist Mark Paytress, 2003

The Beatles and their entourage travelled to Rishikesh in two groups.[8] Lennon and his wife Cynthia, Harrison and his wife Pattie Boyd, and the latter's sister Jenny[33] arrived in Delhi on 15 February.[8] They were met by Mal Evans, their longtime assistant and former road manager,[34] who had arranged the 150-mile (240 km),[35] six-hour taxi drive to Rishikesh. Once there, the party walked across the Lakshman Jhula footbridge, over the River Ganges, and up the hill to the Maharishi's ashram.[36] McCartney and his girlfriend Jane Asher and Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen landed in Delhi on 19 February.[37] Since the press were expecting McCartney and Starr's party after the first group's arrival, they were subjected to constant attention.[35] As soon as Starr arrived, he asked Evans to take him to a doctor because of a reaction to an inoculation.[38] As a result, Starr, McCartney and their partners stayed overnight in Delhi and travelled to Rishikesh with Evans early on 20 February.[37]

 
The Lakshman Jhula suspension bridge over the River Ganges

The Beatles arrived at the ashram three weeks into the course,[35] which was due to end on 25 April.[39] They were followed by a retinue of reporters and photographers, who were mostly kept out of the fenced and gated compound.[40] Evans and Beatles aide Neil Aspinall were there for much of the time.[41] Alexis "Magic Alex" Mardas, the Greek electronics engineer who had been among the first to recommend the Maharishi to the band in 1967,[42] arrived four weeks later.[43] Denis O'Dell, the head of the Beatles' company Apple Films, also joined them for a brief time.[44] In his memoir The Love You Make, Brown says that he only learned of the Beatles' intention to leave for India that same month, even though he and the band were committed to launching their multimedia company Apple Corps. He adds: "The mastery of Transcendental Meditation, they hoped, would give them the wisdom to run Apple."[45]

Also there were Donovan, songwriter and sculptor Gyp "Gypsy Dave" Mills,[46] Mike Love,[24] jazz flautist Paul Horn, actors Tom Simcox and Jerry Stovin,[47][48] and dozens of others, all Europeans or Americans.[39][49] Farrow was joined by her sister, Prudence, and their brother John.[15][49] American socialite Nancy Cooke de Herrera was also present, in her role as the Maharishi's publicist and confidant.[50][nb 2] A lifelong devotee to TM and subsequently an instructor to many celebrities,[51][53] Cooke de Herrara later wrote that the Maharishi gave "special attention" to the celebrity meditators, which she feared would feed their egos and be detrimental to the experience.[54] Although members of the press were barred from the ashram,[55] journalist Lewis Lapham was granted access to write a feature article on the retreat for The Saturday Evening Post.[41][nb 3] Paul Saltzman, a young Canadian filmmaker travelling in India, camped outside the compound until he was invited in and welcomed into the Beatles' circle.[58][59] Despite speculation, Shirley MacLaine did not attend the retreat,[10][60] and Lennon decided against bringing his artist friend Yoko Ono.[61][62]

Facility edit

Main article: Beatles Ashram
 
View of Rishikesh from beach

Located in the "Valley of the Saints" in the foothills of the Himalayas, Rishikesh is a place of religious significance,[63] known as the "yoga capital of the world".[64] The Maharishi's International Academy of Meditation, also called the Chaurasi Kutia ashram,[65] was a 14-acre (57,000 m2) compound surrounded by jungle set across the Ganges from the town, 150 feet (46 m) above the river. The facility was designed to suit Western habits;[66][67] Starr later compared the ashram to "a kind of spiritual Butlins" (a low-cost British holiday camp).[68] The Beatles' bungalows were equipped with electric heaters, running water, toilets, and English-style furniture.[69] According to Cooke de Herrera, the Maharishi obtained many "special items" from a nearby village so that the Beatles' rooms would have mirrors, wall-to-wall carpeting, wall coverings, foam mattresses and bedspreads. She wrote that, compared to the other students' bungalows, the Beatles' cottages "looked like a palace".[70] In Cynthia Lennon's description, her and her husband's bedroom contained a four-poster bed, a dressing table, two chairs and an electric heater.[71]

 
Meditation domes at the International Academy of Meditation (pictured in 2006, long after the ashram's closure)

Evans recalled there were around 40 staff, including cooks, cleaners, a joiner, and a full printing department.[72] One of the Maharishi's aides, Ravindra Damodara, who later became a swami himself, kept a diary of this period at the ashram.[73][nb 4] For the Beatles' stay, according to Damodara, four small stone-covered buildings had been constructed along the path from the main centre down to the ashram gates. These dome-shaped rooms included a raised platform, accessed by ladder, on which each Beatle could engage in advanced meditation.[73] The Maharishi's accommodation was a long, modern-style bungalow located away from the other buildings.[69]

The ashram was surrounded by barbed wire and the gates were kept locked and guarded.[39][75] Although the Maharishi kept the media away from his famous students, he gave interviews to the press.[39] To the Beatles' gratitude, he asked the reporters to come back after the band had had "a little time with the course".[76]

Throughout the Beatles' time at the ashram, these reporters filed stories about the retreat. While the music journalists among them demonstrated a tolerant approach, those representing the mainstream press often ridiculed the idea of the retreat and meditation.[77] The press found McCartney the most willing to engage; according to author Howard Sounes, he was "the newspaperman's pet, the sensible Beatle" who gave them quotes and posed for photos on Lakshman Jhula bridge.[78]

Experience edit

The Maharishi had arranged a simple lifestyle for his guests.[79] The days were devoted to meditating and attending his lectures, which he gave from a flower-bedecked platform in an auditorium.[80] He also gave private lessons to the individual Beatles, ostensibly due to their late arrival. The tranquil environment and protection from the media throng helped the band relax. Harrison told Saltzman, regarding the Beatles' motivation for embracing TM: "We have all the money you could ever dream of. We have all the fame you could ever wish for. But, it isn't love. It isn't health. It isn't peace inside, is it?"[81][82] In Saltzman's description, Harrison had a genuine dedication to meditation whereas Lennon's approach was "more adolescent … He was looking for 'The Answer'. Well, there isn't The Answer."[83] According to Donovan, at the Beatles' first meeting with the Maharishi after arriving, an awkward silence filled the room until Lennon walked to the Maharishi and patted him on the head, saying, "There's a good little guru."[84][85] Everyone erupted with laughter.[79] Harrison's nickname for their teacher was "the Big M".[86][87]

 
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, pictured in Amsterdam in September 1967

In the Maharishi's teaching, there were seven levels of consciousness, and the course would provide students with experience in the fourth: "pure" or transcendental consciousness.[88][nb 5] While Transcendental Meditation had earned the sobriquet "the McDonald's of meditation" for its quick and simple application, and the Maharishi espoused its scientific basis over religious dogma,[89] strong Vedic and Hindu-aligned aspects remained.[90] His lectures included stories and parables, and comparisons between TM and Western practices, particularly Christianity. He advocated meditation before prayer, and said that Christianity's upholding of Jesus Christ's earthbound suffering as a divine attribute was a "humiliating teaching" and a distraction from self- and God-realisation.[91]

The Maharishi soon cancelled the formal lectures and told students to meditate for as long as possible. One student meditated for 42 straight hours,[92] and Boyd said she once meditated for seven hours.[49] Jenny Boyd also meditated for long periods, but suffered from dysentery (misdiagnosed as tonsilitis); she said Lennon also felt unwell, suffering from jet lag and insomnia.[93] The lengthy meditation left many students moody and oversensitive.[92] Several people on the course and the Maharishi were particularly concerned about Prudence Farrow's unwillingness to stop meditating.[94]

All the students wore native dress[95] and the ashram had a tailor on the premises to make clothes for them.[96] The women in the Beatles party shopped in local towns and bought saris for themselves[97] and material to be made into shirts and jackets for the men.[76] These towns included Dehradun and Mussoorie, where markets were held by Tibetans driven out of their homeland by Chinese encroachment into Tibet.[98] The Beatles' adoption of traditional Indian clothing affected Western fashion when they wore them after going home.[76][99] Much of the proceedings at the ashram was filmed by various students on a 16mm handheld camera. Segments of this footage appear in the 1995 television documentary The Beatles Anthology.[100][101]

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.[102]

– Cynthia Lennon

Vegetarian meals were eaten in a communal dining area,[103] where food was vulnerable to aggressive monkeys (Hanuman langurs)[104] and crows.[80] Lennon described the food as "lousy",[105] while Pattie Boyd said it was "delicious".[80] Menu items included chickpeas mixed with cumin seeds, whole wheat dough baked over a fire, spiced eggplant, potatoes that had been picked locally,[106] and, for breakfast, cornflakes, toast and coffee.[71] Evans stockpiled eggs for Starr,[35] who had problems with the diet because of his past illnesses.[38] Starr recalled: "The food was impossible for me because I'm allergic to so many different things. I took two suitcases with me, one of clothes and one full of Heinz beans."[107] After dinner, the musicians gathered on the roof of Harrison's bungalow to talk and listen to the Ganges river.[108] Sometimes they listened to records and played guitar or sitar.[109][110] Lapham recalled a conversation one evening between members of the Beatles and other students when Lennon described the band's records as "diaries of its developing consciousness" and said that this progression was also reflected in the photos and artwork used on their albums.[111][112] Although the weather was cool in February,[71] it grew hot over the ensuing weeks.[113] By mid April, the Maharishi was planning to move the whole retreat to Kashmir, at a higher and cooler altitude.[114]

The Beatles' approach to meditation was marked by a friendly competitiveness among the band members.[69] Lennon was complimentary about Harrison's progress,[115] saying: "The way George is going, he'll be flying a magic carpet by the time he's forty."[108] Boyd recalls that she and Harrison each achieved an "out-of-body experience" through meditation but that, because their individual practice disturbed the other, they decided to move into separate rooms.[80] While Lennon was "evangelical in his enthusiasm for the Maharishi", according to his wife Cynthia, she was "a little more skeptical". Cynthia later wrote that she "loved being in India" and had hoped she and Lennon would "rediscover our lost closeness"; to her disappointment, however, Lennon became "increasingly cold and aloof".[71][116][nb 6] After two weeks Lennon asked to sleep in a separate room, saying he could only meditate alone.[119] He walked to the local post office every morning to check for Ono's almost daily telegrams.[80] One read: "Look up at the sky and when you see a cloud think of me".[120]

Songwriting edit

 
Donovan taught the Beatles a guitar finger-picking technique that they later incorporated in some of the songs on their 1968 double album commonly known as "the White Album".

Saltzman recalls that the Beatles were "very close and tight" during his time at the ashram.[82] According to Damodara, however, at times McCartney "talk[ed] mean with George" and appeared to want to be the Beatles' "boss".[121] Donovan taught Lennon a guitar finger-picking technique that McCartney partly mastered also.[122] The technique was subsequently implemented by Lennon on the Beatles songs "Julia" and "Dear Prudence".[123] The latter was composed by Lennon to lure Prudence Farrow out of her intense meditation.[124] Lennon later said: "She'd been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else."[125]

The stay at the ashram turned out to be the group's most productive period for songwriting.[83] According to Lennon, he wrote some of the "most miserable"[126] and some of his "best" songs while he was in Rishikesh.[103] Starr completed his first solo composition, "Don't Pass Me By", which he had begun writing in 1963.[127] In his 2005 autobiography, Donovan recalls that while the other three Beatles played acoustic guitars, Starr sometimes played a set of tabla hand drums, which Harrison had bought for him in Delhi.[128] The retreat was also a productive one for Donovan as a songwriter.[129] He recalls having "many a great little jam" with McCartney and says that, with Harrison demonstrating on sitar the knowledge he had gained through his teacher, Ravi Shankar, he and Harrison were "soon chording a new song or two", including the Indian-styled "Hurdy Gurdy Man".[130][nb 7]

Plans were discussed for a possible concert in Delhi to feature the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Donovan, and Paul Horn.[132] While he also wrote several new songs in Rishikesh, Harrison complained that more time should be spent on meditating.[108] When McCartney discussed his vision for an album containing the songs they had amassed so far, Harrison replied: "We're not fucking here to do the next album. We're here to meditate!"[133] In Donovan's recollection, when not meditating, McCartney was rarely without his guitar and kept the Beatles party "entertained" with parody songs such as "Rocky Raccoon" and "Back in the U.S.S.R.", but he was not "totally convinced" about TM.[134] Many of the Beatles' new songs were inspired by nature and reflected the simplicity of their surroundings.[135] In this way, they contrasted markedly with the band's psychedelic work over the previous year, although few of them were overtly reflective of the TM experience.[136] An exception was "Sour Milk Sea", in which Harrison exhorts his listeners to embrace meditation and "illumination",[137] while Lennon's "Child of Nature" and McCartney's "Mother Nature's Son" were both inspired by one of the Maharishi's lectures.[138][139][nb 8]

Special events edit

Group photo edit

 
Group photo, February 1968. Seated in front of the Maharishi are (front row, from left to right): Ringo Starr, Maureen Starkey, Jane Asher, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pattie Boyd, Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon and Mal Evans.

In late February,[141] the Maharishi arranged for a group photo of all the students.[142][143] In Lapham's description, the Maharishi began preparing for the shot early one morning and approached the task as if "the director on a movie set".[144] Instructing his assistants, he oversaw the assembly of a platform of risers, the precise placement of flowers and potted plants in front of the raised stage, and the seating allocation for each of the students from his hand-drawn diagram.[144] The students were then called down to take their allocated seat.[144]

Surrounding the Maharishi, each member was dressed in traditional Indian attire and adorned with a marigold garland of orange.[145] Lapham commented that the Maharishi had the Beatles positioned "in the center of the set", surrounding him, with the other students "arranged according to the degrees of their celebrity".[144] The Maharishi had a large picture of Brahmananda Saraswati – the guru evoked by Lennon in "Across the Universe"[146][31] – placed behind him.[144] The Maharishi encouraged his students to present their best "cosmic smiles" to the camera.[147] The photo took half an hour to complete while the participants sat facing the bright morning sun.[145] In 2009, The Hindu described the result as "one of the most iconic photographs in the history of rock 'n' roll".[148][nb 9]

For the Beatles' public image, their attire contrasted with the modern, psychedelic clothing they had worn on arrival from London.[150][151] The photo and others from the shoot were used in Lapham's cover article for The Saturday Evening Post,[152][153] a magazine that, although in decline by 1968, was influential among America's suburban middle class.[154][nb 10] Saltzman was one of the photographers at the session. His shots from this time were compiled in his book The Beatles in Rishikesh, published in 2000.[156][157]

Birthday celebrations and river excursions edit

On 25 February, the Maharishi held a party to celebrate Harrison's 25th birthday. The event included communal chanting,[145] a sitar performance by Harrison,[103] and a firework display.[158][159] The Maharishi gave Harrison an upside-down plastic globe of the world and said: "George, the globe I am giving you symbolizes the world today. I hope you will help us all in the task of putting it right."[160] Harrison turned the globe over and said "I've done it!", and the other students applauded.[161] For Love's birthday, on 15 March, members of the Beatles and Donovan performed "Spiritual Regeneration/Happy Birthday Mike Love", a song based on the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun". Lennon presented Love with a round handmade card containing a self-portrait of him naked, and Harrison gave him a painting of Guru Dev.[162] A dual celebration was held on 17 March for the birthdays of Boyd and Horn.[158] On 8 April, the Maharishi gave an Indian prince's outfit to the Lennons for their son in England on his birthday.[163][164]

An aviation company owner and patron of the Maharishi's, Kershi Cambata, flew two helicopters to Rishikesh to take the Maharishi and his guests for rides.[165] Lapham wrote that Cooke de Herrera, a friend of Cambata, had arranged this event to provide what she called a "visitation of modernity".[166] McCartney recalled that he asked Lennon why he was so eager to be the one to go with the Maharishi on his helicopter ride, and that Lennon replied: "I thought he might slip me the Answer."[103]

In early March,[158] an Italian newsreel company filmed the Maharishi and many students, including the Beatles and other musicians, going down to the river while the musicians sang standards such as "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "You Are My Sunshine".[167][nb 11] One evening when the moon was full, the Maharishi arranged for everyone to cruise on the Ganges in two barges. The trip started with the chanting of Vedas by two pandits, after which the musicians brought out their instruments. The Beatles sang Donovan songs, while Love and Donovan sang Beatles songs, and Horn played flute.[168][169]

Early departures edit

McCartney and Starr told Lapham that they had each experienced the benefits of meditation but the band's trip to India was more out of support for "George's thing".[111] Starr's wife had a strong aversion to insects;[38] McCartney recalled that Maureen was once "trapped in her room because there was a fly over the door".[107] Spiders, mosquitoes and flies were present at the ashram,[170] and when Starr complained to the Maharishi he was told: "For people travelling in the realm of pure consciousness, flies no longer matter very much."[86] Starr said in reply, "Yes, but that doesn't zap the flies, does it"?[171] Starr disliked the food, and he and Maureen missed their children.[172][173] The couple left India on 1 March, and on their return to the UK, Starr was keen to avoid the impression that he was no longer interested in TM. He told reporters: "The Academy is a great place and I enjoyed it a lot. I still meditate every day for half an hour in the morning and half an hour every evening and I think I'm a better person for it … If everyone in the world started meditating, the world would be a much happier place."[174]

McCartney and Asher departed in mid to late March.[nb 12] According to Cooke de Herrera's account, McCartney had arranged to get back to London to supervise Apple Corps, and Asher had a theatrical commitment; as he left he told Cooke de Herrera, "I'm a new man."[145][179] According to what he told Lapham, however, McCartney was uncomfortable with the Maharishi's flattery,[180][171] particularly his calling the Beatles "the blessed leaders of the world's youth", and he found himself lost in the Maharishi's more elaborate discussions.[41] Damodara wrote that Asher had no interest in meditation, a view echoed by Saltzman, who said that she was eager to visit the Taj Mahal with McCartney.[181] McCartney later said that his intention had always been to stay for only a month, and that he knew he risked accusations from his bandmates that he was not sincere about meditation.[182]

Mia Farrow departed to begin work on a new film in London, where she arrived on 8 March.[183] Described by author Jonathan Gould as "restless", she had left the ashram before to visit Goa, and then returned.[184] In her 1997 autobiography, Farrow recalls that she felt overwhelmed by the Maharishi's attention to her, which included private sessions, gifts of mangoes, and a birthday party where he gave her a paper crown.[185] Love left the retreat on 15 March, having stayed just over two weeks,[186] due to his tour commitments with the Beach Boys, but would complete his TM instructor course in 1972.[187] Donovan departed because he recognised he had a "mission" in music and sought to convey the Maharishi's teachings in that way.[188][nb 13]

Tensions edit

Business arrangements and Mardas' arrival edit

According to Gould, Lennon and Harrison viewed their bandmates' departures as an example of McCartney and Starr "once again balking on the path to higher consciousness", just as the pair, particularly McCartney, had earlier held out before joining them in their LSD experimentation.[190] While Harrison and Lennon remained steadfast in their devotion to meditation, some members of the Beatles' circle continued to be distrustful of the Maharishi's hold on them.[191] Aspinall was surprised when he realised that the Maharishi was a sophisticated negotiator, knowing more than the average person about financial percentages.[191] According to Saltzman, Evans told him that the Maharishi wanted the band to deposit up to 25 per cent of their next album's profits into his Swiss bank account as a tithe, to which Lennon replied, "Over my dead body."[192][193] In Brown's account, Lennon was not opposed to paying the tithe until Alex Mardas, the Maharishi's "most powerful critic", intervened.[191]

Mardas arrived after McCartney had left.[194] He pointed to the luxury of the facility and the business acumen of the Maharishi[195] and asked Lennon why the Maharishi always had an accountant by his side.[40] Mardas also derided the characters of the non-celebrity meditators and was highly critical of the way the Beatles had been assembled for the "class photo" and the promotion of the Maharishi's movement.[191] In an attempt to silence his criticism, according to Mardas, the Maharishi offered him money to build a high-powered radio station.[191] Lennon later told his wife that he felt that the Maharishi had, in her words, "too much interest in public recognition, celebrities and money" for a spiritual man.[196] Cynthia Lennon, Cooke de Herrera, and author and Beatles associate Barry Miles have blamed Mardas for turning Lennon against the Maharishi.[197][198] Miles writes that Mardas feared for his status as Lennon's personal guru, and set about sabotaging the relationship between the Beatles and the Maharishi.[199] In a statement published in The New York Times in 2010, Mardas denied that this was the case.[194][200]

Competing documentary film proposals edit

Before leaving London in February, the Beatles had considered making a documentary film about the Maharishi through Apple Films.[26][44] The idea gained traction once they got to the ashram, which led to their summoning Denis O'Dell to Rishikesh.[44] Together with Aspinall, he flew to India intent on dissuading the Beatles from making the film.[44][201][nb 14] According to Cooke de Herrera, the Maharishi gave the Beatles and Apple the rights for a film about him, his movement and his teacher, Guru Dev.[203] Joe Massot, who had directed Wonderwall, said that Harrison phoned him from India inviting him to participate in the project.[204] However, Charles Lutes, the head of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the US, had already arranged with the Maharishi to produce a similar documentary, with Horn. In early April, Lutes arrived at the ashram to ensure that his venture was not jeopardised by the Beatles' interest.[205] He signed a contract with Four Star Films and John Farrow was scheduled to direct the film.[169] Horn expected that Donovan, the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Mia Farrow would appear in it.[206]

According to Mike Dolan, another of the TM students, when a film crew from Lutes' company Bliss Productions arrived later in April, Lennon and Harrison "were more than a little pissed" and made a point of staying out of sight.[207] Horn said that the arrival of the film crew was the catalyst for the discontent that resulted in the last two Beatles' premature departure from Rishikesh.[208] In Massot's recollection, the crew was led by producer Gene Corman, who subsequently pleaded with Massot to use his influence with Harrison and Lennon to ensure the Beatles' participation.[204] Cooke de Herrera also felt that the Four Star deal and the presence of the film crew was the reason for the sudden departure.[209]

Allegations of sexual impropriety edit

 
Mia Farrow, pictured in 1964

Before leaving the ashram, Mia Farrow told some of the other students that the Maharishi had made a pass at her.[210] In her 1993 autobiography, Cooke de Herrera says that Farrow confided to her, before the arrival of the Beatles, that the Maharishi had made a pass during a private puja ceremony by stroking her hair. Cooke de Herrera says she told Farrow that she had misinterpreted the Maharishi's actions.[198] Farrow's 1997 memoirs are ambiguous, describing an encounter in his private meditation "cave" when the Maharishi tried to put his arms around her.[211][nb 15] She also says that her sister Prudence assured her that it was "an honour" and "a tradition" for a "holy man" to touch someone after meditation.[185]

In Pattie Boyd's account, it was the allegations of the Maharishi's sexual impropriety that caused life at the retreat to go "horribly wrong".[213] Through Mardas' insistence, Lennon became convinced that the Maharishi, who said he was celibate,[214] had had a sexual encounter with one of the young female students.[215][nb 16] As reported by Brown, the woman was a "pretty blond nurse from California" who, Mardas said, had engaged in a sexual relationship with the Maharishi.[218] Dolan recalls that she was in fact a "feisty" schoolteacher from New York, named Rosalyn Bonas (or "RB"),[219] who was having an affair with Mardas.[220] She had become disillusioned at the extent to which Hindu tradition and the Vedas were part of the course,[72] and was prevented from leaving early for the US due to the conditions of her airline ticket.[221] Jenny Boyd wrote that she had seen Mardas and the woman deep in conversation, "obviously cooking something up".[222][nb 17]

On the Beatles' final night at the ashram,[221] Mardas arranged to entrap the Maharishi by spying on him and the woman when they were alone together. Mardas then reported to the others that he saw the two of them in a compromising position.[223][224] Many of the people at the ashram – including Harrison, Horn, Cooke de Herrera, Dolan, Cynthia Lennon and Jenny Boyd – did not believe that the Maharishi had made a pass at any woman.[225] According to Cynthia, however, Mardas' allegations "gathered momentum ... without a single shred of evidence or justification".[197][226][nb 18] In her autobiography, Pattie Boyd also expresses doubt regarding the truth behind Mardas' claims, but in this atmosphere of suspicion, she had a "horrid dream about Maharishi" and, the next day, told Harrison that they should leave.[213] According to Harrison, Lennon "had wanted to leave anyway", to see Ono, and the speculation surrounding Farrow and other female students "stirred up a situation" that Lennon was able to exploit.[230][nb 19]

Infringements of the Maharishi's ban on alcohol and recreational drugs edit

Deepak Chopra, who was not present but later became a disciple of the Maharishi and a friend of Harrison, said in 2006 that the Maharishi was displeased with the Beatles because they were taking drugs,[231] including LSD, at the ashram.[232][233] Members of the Beatles group also violated the Maharishi's "no alcohol rule" when they consumed "hooch" that Mardas, whom Cynthia thought was not an active meditator,[234] acquired from a nearby village and shared with the women.[218][221] Harrison and Lennon did not imbibe and were highly critical of those who did.[72]

Massot recalled that he himself arrived at the ashram with a small amount of hashish, which he shared with Lennon.[204] In his autobiography, Donovan writes that when John Farrow arrived, he presented him with a large block of hashish that "someone had brought into the ashram".[235] Donovan took the block from Farrow's hand and threw it out into the Ganges.[235][236] Dolan, who stayed in a bungalow next to the one occupied by Mardas and Bonas,[237] said that Bonas "openly" smoked hashish, and he became used to the "familiar smell of very happy herb" emanating from their room.[219] According to Chopra, the departure of Lennon and Harrison was not of their own volition but at the request of the Maharishi, due to his disapproval of their entourage taking drugs: "[The Maharishi] lost his temper with them. He asked them to leave, and they did in a huff."[232]

Lennon and Harrison's departure edit

On the night of 11–12 April, Lennon, Harrison and Mardas sat up late discussing the Maharishi and decided to leave the next morning.[176][238] In Brown's description, they argued, and Harrison was "furious" at Mardas' actions and did not believe "a word" of the allegations.[239] In the morning, the Beatles and their wives left hurriedly,[239][240] while Mardas went to Dehradun to find taxis.[195] Lennon was chosen to speak to the Maharishi.[239]

Lennon described the exchange in a highly emotional December 1970 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone, which was later published as the book Lennon Remembers.[241] When the Maharishi asked why they were leaving, Lennon replied, "If you're so cosmic, you'll know why."[242][243] Lennon recalled that his mind was made up when the Maharishi gave him a murderous look in response.[243][244] Lennon said he was "a bit rough to him" and the Maharishi responded by saying, "I don't know why, you must tell me."[245][246] According to Mardas' 2010 statement: "John Lennon and I went to the Maharishi about what had happened ... he asked the Maharishi to explain himself"; and the Maharishi answered Lennon's accusation by saying, "I am only human."[194] With regard to his own position, Harrison said that he had already told the Maharishi that he would be leaving before the course relocated to Kashmir, because he was due to participate in the filming of Raga, a documentary about Ravi Shankar, in the south of India.[245] According to Harrison's account of his and Lennon's final conversation with the Maharishi, in the 2000 book The Beatles Anthology, Harrison reminded him of the plan to join Shankar, but the Maharishi was unable to accept it. Harrison added: "That's when John said something like, 'Well, you're supposed to be the mystic, you should know.'"[230]

While waiting for their taxis,[247] Lennon wrote "Maharishi" (later retitled "Sexy Sadie"), in which he sang: "Maharishi – what have you done? / You made a fool of everyone."[248][249][nb 20] In a 1974 interview, Lennon said that they were convinced that the delay in the taxis' arrival was orchestrated by locals loyal to the Maharishi, and this paranoia was exacerbated by the presence of "the mad Greek".[201] According to Cynthia Lennon, when the group finally left the ashram, the Maharishi looked "very biblical and isolated in his faith".[244][251] Jenny Boyd later wrote: "Poor Maharishi. I remember him standing at the gate of the ashram, under an aide's umbrella, as the Beatles filed by, out of his life. 'Wait,' he cried. 'Talk to me.' But no one listened."[215][252]

After leaving Rishikesh, the taxis repeatedly broke down, leading the Beatles to wonder if the Maharishi had placed a curse on them.[253] The car that the Lennons were in suffered a flat tyre and the driver left them, apparently to find a replacement tyre, but did not return for hours. After it grew dark, the couple hitched a ride to Delhi.[248] They then took the first available flight back to London, during which Lennon drunkenly recounted a litany of his numerous infidelities to Cynthia.[254] Harrison was not ready to return to London and face running Apple and the band's other commitments. In her autobiography, Boyd writes: "Instead, we went to see Ravi Shankar and lost ourselves in his music."[213] Harrison said when he got dysentery in Madras that he thought it might have been due to a spell cast by the Maharishi, but he recovered after Shankar gave him some amulets.[252][nb 21]

Aftermath and impact on the Beatles edit

[The Beatles'] trip to Rishikesh occupies a place in their story analogous to that of their first overseas adventure, their inaugural visit to Hamburg in the fall of 1960. Separated by eight years of once-unimaginable success, these two journeys represented the Beatles' real-life magical mystery tours … Though the symbolism and symmetry seem almost too perfect, the mysterious bond that had first been sealed on the stage of a seedy Hamburg nightclub called the Indra would begin to unravel eight years later in the hills of India itself.[256]

– Author Jonathan Gould, 2007

The Beatles' departure and split with the Maharishi was well-publicised. In Delhi, Lennon and Harrison merely told reporters that they had urgent business in London and did not want to appear in the Maharishi's film.[257] Once reunited in the UK, the band announced that they were disillusioned by the Maharishi's desire for financial gain.[258][nb 22] On 14 May, when Lennon and McCartney, accompanied by Mardas and Derek Taylor, were in New York to launch Apple to the US media, Lennon used his appearance on The Tonight Show to denounce the Maharishi.[260] He told the host, Joe Garagiola,[260] "We believe in meditation, but not the Maharishi and his scene"[261] and: "We made a mistake. He's human like the rest of us."[201][238] On another occasion, McCartney said: "[The Maharishi]'s a nice fellow. We're just not going out with him any more."[155] By the time he returned to London, on 21 April,[242] Harrison felt that he and Lennon were wrong in the way they had treated the Maharishi.[113] In June, Harrison told reporters in Los Angeles that his dissatisfaction was centred on how the Spiritual Regeneration Movement was "too much of an organization".[262][nb 23]

Lennon's outspokenness was informed by the sense of personal betrayal he felt towards the Maharishi,[257] and his 1970 Rolling Stone interview represented a purging of his past, in line with the emotional effects of his recent primal therapy treatment under Arthur Janov.[265][nb 24] In the interview, Lennon referred to "a big hullaballo about [the Maharishi] trying to rape Mia Farrow or somebody and trying to get off with a few other women",[249] and, since 1968, the allegations concerning Farrow were rumoured to be the cause of the Beatles' split with the Maharishi.[211][269] Brown wrote in The Love You Make, first published in 1983, that his book told for the first time "what really happened in the ashram", challenging the "widely circulated" but incorrect story about Farrow.[270][nb 25] Reflecting in a 1980 interview, Lennon said he had been "bitter" after discovering that the Maharishi was "human", just as he was later about Janov for the same reason.[272] Lennon and Ono holidayed in India in late 1969.[273] According to author Susan Shumsky, a TM devotee, Lennon sent a telegram to the ashram, saying he was in Delhi and urgently wanted to see the Maharishi. As he and his secretary discussed the telegram, the Maharishi repeatedly claimed not to recognise the singer's name, and he shut down the conversation by stating, "I do not know a John Lennon."[274]

 
The cover of The Beatles

Writing for Mojo magazine in 2003, author and journalist Mark Paytress said that, for many observers, the Beatles' falling out with the Maharishi engendered a long-lasting suspicion that "they'd become faddists tipped into eccentric habits by unfathomable fame".[8] Having given up touring in 1966, the trip to India was the last time all four Beatles travelled together.[275] Their self-exploration through meditation and before that, LSD, led to each of them adopting a more individual focus, at the expense of band unity, through to the group's break-up in 1970.[8] The acrimony within the band was evident during the recording of their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as the "White Album"), when they recorded many of the songs written in Rishikesh.[276] Adding to the tense atmosphere, after Lennon had left his wife, Ono became a constant presence from the start of the sessions and was viewed by the other Beatles as an unwelcome intrusion into the group dynamic.[277][278]

Author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1978 that, following their return from Rishikesh, Lennon, Harrison and McCartney were "three very different personalities who seldom saw eye-to-eye any more". He also said that the trio served as an "almost archetypal cross-section" of the many young people who progressed from LSD to Indian spirituality during the late 1960s: Lennon "continued to drift from one unconventional self-awareness trip to another"; Harrison intensified his interest by embracing Krishna Consciousness, or the Hare Krishna movement, under A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada; and McCartney exchanged "consciousness expansion" for "more bourgeois preoccupations".[279]

Legacy edit

Further information: Yoga tourism and Postural yoga in India

Philip Goldberg, in his book American Veda, writes that the Beatles' trip to Rishikesh "may have been the most momentous spiritual retreat since Jesus spent those forty days in the wilderness".[4] Despite their rejection of the Maharishi, the Beatles generated wider interest in Transcendental Meditation, which encouraged the study of Eastern spirituality in Western popular culture.[280][281] Chopra credits Harrison with spreading TM and other Eastern spiritual practices to America almost single-handedly.[282] Spiritual biographer Gary Tillery also recognises the Beatles, or more specifically Harrison, as having "abruptly brought Indian spirituality to everyday awareness" through their association with the Maharishi. Tillery writes that, while the influence of Indian gurus such as Vivekananda, Yogananda, the Maharishi and Prabhupada was well established by the late 1960s, it was the Beatles' endorsement of their respective philosophies that most contributed to yoga and meditation centres becoming ubiquitous in Western cities and towns over subsequent decades.[283] According to author Andrew Grant Jackson:

The Beats had promoted Buddhism since the 1950s, but it was George Harrison's songs espousing Hindu philosophy and featuring Indian musicians, and the Beatles' study of Transcendental Meditation, that truly kick-started the human potential movement of the 1970s (rebranded New Age in the 1980s). In this way, the musicians helped expand the freedom of religion the United States was founded on to encompass options outside the Judeo-Christian tradition.[284]

 
The Maharishi in 1973

Mike Love arranged for the Beach Boys to tour the United States with the Maharishi in May 1968.[285] However, the tour was cancelled after several appearances and was called "one of the more bizarre entertainments of the era".[24][286][nb 26] After 1968 the Maharishi fell out of the public spotlight for a period and TM was described as a passing fad.[288] Interest grew again in the 1970s when scientific studies began showing concrete results.[289] The Maharishi appeared twice on American television's The Merv Griffin Show in the mid 1970s, leading to a surge of popularity called the "Merv wave" that lasted until the end of the decade.[290] In a 1975 interview, Harrison said of the Beatles' association with TM: "In retrospect, that was probably one of the greatest experiences I've ever had … Maharishi was always put down for propagating what was basically a spiritual thing but there's so much being propagated that's damaging to life that I'm glad there are good people around like him."[291] In 1978 Lennon wrote that he considered his meditation a "source of creative inspiration".[292] Despite Lennon's public denouncing of the Maharishi, according to Tillery, "for the rest of his life he often turned to meditation to restore himself and improve his creativity."[292]

In her 2005 book Gurus in America, author Cynthia Ann Humes comments that although the split between the Beatles and Maharishi was widely reported, there has been "little mention" of "the continued positive relationship Maharishi maintained" with Harrison and McCartney.[293] During the 1990s, Harrison and McCartney were so convinced of the Maharishi's innocence on the issue of sexual impropriety that they each offered their apologies.[228] Harrison gave a benefit concert for the Maharishi-associated Natural Law Party in 1992,[294] and later apologised for the way the Maharishi had been treated by saying, "We were very young."[295] In The Beatles Anthology, he stated: "It's probably in the history books that Maharishi 'tried to attack Mia Farrow' – but it's bullshit, total bullshit."[230][296] Asked if he forgave the Beatles, following Harrison's public apology in 1991, the Maharishi replied, "I could never be upset with angels."[297][298] McCartney took his daughter Stella to visit the Maharishi in the Netherlands in 2007,[299] which renewed their friendship.[40]

 
Satsang Hall in the abandoned ashram, 2012

By the time of the Maharishi's death in 2008, more than 5 million people had learned Transcendental Meditation, and his worldwide movement was valued in the billions of dollars.[47] After the Maharishi died, McCartney said: "my memories of him will only be joyful ones. He was a great man who worked tirelessly for the people of the world and the cause of unity."[300] Starr said in 2008, "I feel so blessed I met the Maharishi – he gave me a mantra that no one can take away, and I still use it".[40] Representing her late husband, Yoko Ono said: "John would have been the first one now, if he had been here, to recognize and acknowledge what Maharishi has done for the world and appreciate it."[296] In 2009, McCartney, Starr, Donovan and Horn reunited at a concert held at New York's Radio City Music Hall to benefit the David Lynch Foundation, which funds the teaching of Transcendental Meditation in schools.[301] A 2011 article titled "Celebrities Who Meditate", in The Daily Telegraph, reported Harrison as having said: "Maharishi only ever did good for us, and although I have not been with him physically, I never left him."[302]

In 2007, Indian-born American film-maker Mira Nair said she had begun work on a documentary film about the Beatles' visit to India.[303] Paul Saltzman's photographs from the retreat have been displayed in galleries throughout North America[304] and in a permanent exhibition above the retail units in the departure lounge of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.[305][306] In February 2018, the 50th anniversary of Lennon and Harrison's arrival in Rishikesh was marked by the opening of a two-year exhibition titled The Beatles in India at the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool.[58][307] A similar celebration took place at the ashram site, now known as Beatles Ashram.[307][308] The exhibition in Liverpool was announced as featuring memorabilia, photographs by Saltzman, a sitar courtesy of the Ravi Shankar Foundation, and video contributions from Pattie and Jenny Boyd.[307]

The Beatles' 1968 retreat in Rishikesh is the subject of Saltzman's documentary film Meeting the Beatles in India (2020) and forms part of director Ajoy Bose's film study of the band's interaction with Indian culture, The Beatles and India (2021).[309][310] Reviewing the latter documentary for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw said that through the group's incorporation of Indian music in their work and their visit to Rishikesh, the Beatles "used their colossal influence, greater than any politician or movie star or religious leader, to direct the world's attention to India, a country which until then had been opaque for many in the west".[311][nb 27]

Songs written by the Beatles in Rishikesh edit

The Beatles wrote many songs during their visit to Rishikesh: 30 by one count,[313] 48 by another.[149][314] Lennon said: "We wrote about thirty new songs between us. Paul must have done about a dozen. George says he's got six, and I wrote fifteen. And look what meditation did for Ringo – after all this time he wrote his first song."[315] Many of the songs became a part of The Beatles double album, while others appeared on Abbey Road in 1969 or on solo records.[316]

Released on The Beatles:

Released on Abbey Road:

Released on solo albums, and others:

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Love added: "And the process of meditation was so simple, yet so powerful. It seemed obvious that if everyone did it, it would be an entirely different world out there – relaxed and peaceful."[8]
  2. ^ At the time, she was married to Morton "Tony" Jackson,[51] a news analyst, and was referred to as Nancy Jackson.[52]
  3. ^ Lapham was not permitted to probe the Beatles with personal questions, however.[56][57] Apart from his own observations, much of the information he gleaned about the proceedings came from the other students there.[57]
  4. ^ According to Beatles biographer Geoffrey Giuliano, Damodara gave him the notebook in 2000 when they met in Rishikesh.[73] The 70 pages were originally written in Hindi and Nepali.[74]
  5. ^ In full, the seven levels were: waking, dreaming, deep sleep, pure consciousness, cosmic consciousness, God consciousness, and Supreme Knowledge.[88]
  6. ^ According to an entry in Damodara's diary, the Maharishi thought that Harrison was experiencing his "last life", referring to advancing beyond the cycle of reincarnation, whereas Lennon had "many more to go" and should avoid "giv[ing] in to his weakness for women or it will ruin him".[117][118]
  7. ^ Harrison contributed a verse to "Hurdy Gurdy Man", although it was edited from the single release in May 1968. While in Rishikesh, Donovan also wrote "Happiness Runs", "The Sun Is a Very Magic Fellow" (with lyrical assistance from Evans) and "Lord of the Reedy River", which was later recorded by Kate Bush.[131]
  8. ^ In addition, Lennon's lyrics in "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" include quotes from the Maharishi regarding meditation, such as "Come on, it's such a joy"[140] and "The deeper you go, the higher you fly / The higher you fly, the deeper you go".[137]
  9. ^ In a 2010 report on the production of film-maker Martin Scorsese's documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, the Daily News & Analysis said: "The pictures of the Beatles, the fashion leaders of the time, sitting cross-legged with the Maharishi, sparked a huge interest in Indian mysticism and meditation."[149]
  10. ^ Writing in the late 1970s, author Nicholas Schaffner said that the Maharishi's most enduring success was in attracting people in "Middle America" to TM's benefits as a stress reliever. By promoting his cause through more conservative channels, the Maharishi won adherents in academia, politics, the military and NASA's Apollo space program.[155]
  11. ^ At the Maharishi's request, Donovan performed his composition "Happiness Runs", with Harrison, and then "Catch the Wind", accompanied at times by Lennon.[158] Excerpts from the Italian newsreel footage were used in the 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles.[158]
  12. ^ The couple arrived back in London on 26 March.[141] Among Beatles biographers, Bob Spitz says they left Rishikesh on 24 March,[119] Barry Miles gives a date of 26 March,[175] and Ian MacDonald and Philip Norman both date their departure to mid March.[176][177] According to Bob Woffinden, McCartney and Asher travelled in India before returning to the UK.[178]
  13. ^ In the 30 March issue of the NME, Keith Altham reported on Donovan's recent concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where he performed new songs such as "The Boy Who Fell in Love with a Swan" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man". Altham commented on the presence backstage of Farrow, dressed in an Indian shawl from Rishikesh.[189]
  14. ^ In O'Dell's recollection, the band lost interest after he mentioned a possible film adaptation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He had just been discussing this project with United Artists as a feature film starring the Beatles, to be directed by David Lean.[202]
  15. ^ In the 1970s, Farrow told Ned Wynn, one of her childhood friends, that the Maharishi had attempted to initiate sex with her.[212]
  16. ^ Lennon later called the Maharishi a "lecherous womanizer".[216][217]
  17. ^ According to Dolan, "RB" was most likely susceptible to the distraction. She "felt deceived" by the Spiritual Regeneration Movement[72] and had earned a reputation among the ashram staff as a troublemaker.[219]
  18. ^ McCartney similarly said: "it was Magic Alex who made the original accusation and I think that it was completely untrue."[227][228] In his autobiography, Love writes: "I'm not saying he's infallible but … the only time he was ever accused of misconduct was when the Beatles were right there with him? Please."[229]
  19. ^ Boyd also describes the allegations as Lennon's "excuse" to reunite with Ono, and says that they seemed to emanate from Mardas' desire "to get John away from Rishikesh".[213]
  20. ^ Also among the original lyrics were the lines "You little twat / Who the fuck do you think you are?"[221] Lennon renamed the song after Harrison told him that the message was "ridiculous"[248] and potentially libellous.[250]
  21. ^ As a result of falling ill in Madras, Harrison was unable to take part in filming for Raga. He instead filmed his scenes with Shankar in June at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur in California.[255]
  22. ^ Lennon dismissed the idea that the presence of the film crew had contributed to the timing of his and Harrison's exit.[259]
  23. ^ The following year, by which point he and, briefly, Lennon were exploring Krishna Consciousness under Swami Prabhupada,[263] Harrison told the International Times: "It's just that we physically left the Maharishi's camp but spiritually never moved an inch. We still meditate now. At least, I do."[264]
  24. ^ Although he soon rejected Janov's guidance also,[266] Lennon's 1970 Rolling Stone interview took place at a time when he believed primal therapy provided the solutions that he had been searching for with the Maharishi.[267] Author Tim Riley comments that, when describing his and Harrison's departure from the ashram in the 1970 interview, Lennon included a "whopper" of a revelation related to his childhood abandonment issues and the unrealistic expectations he formed in his adult life: "I'm always expecting my mother and I don't get her, that's what it is."[268]
  25. ^ According to author Philip Goldberg, writing in 2010: "For the rest of Maharishi's days, even in his obituaries, journalists could hardly mention his name without referring to the incident, more often than not assuming that the allegations were true. For the record, no evidence of hanky-panky has ever surfaced."[271]
  26. ^ Love attributes its failure to the Beatles' "repudiation of Maharishi", which led to poor ticket sales and hostility from some concert-goers.[287]
  27. ^ In his review for Uncut, Pete Paphides welcomes the "corrective to pernicious inaccuracies" surrounding Lennon and Harrison's departure from the ashram, as Bose's film includes Beatles historians Mark Lewisohn and Steve Turner highlighting the "Machiavellian machinations" of Mardas in spreading rumours about the Maharishi.[312]

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Sources edit

Further reading edit

  • Dragemark, Elsa (1972). The Way to Maharishi's Himalayas. Förf. ASIN B0007B4LQG.
  • Needleman, Jacob (1970). The New Religions. Doubleday. ISBN 978-1-101-14505-0.

External links edit

  • Paul Saltzman's Beatles in India interview on VVH-TV
  • Film of the Beatles with the Maharishi in Rishikesh

January 01, 1970
beatles, india, february, 1968, english, rock, band, beatles, travelled, rishikesh, northern, india, take, part, transcendental, meditation, training, course, ashram, maharishi, mahesh, yogi, visit, followed, group, denunciation, drugs, favour, received, wides. In February 1968 the English rock band the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh in northern India to take part in a Transcendental Meditation TM training course at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi The visit followed the group s denunciation of drugs in favour of TM 1 and received widespread media attention The band s interest in the Maharishi s teachings was led by George Harrison s commitment 2 3 and it changed Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and encouraged the study of Transcendental Meditation 4 The visit was also the most productive period for the Beatles songwriting Beatles Ashramclass notpageimage Location of the ashram now known as Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh where the Beatles studied Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi between February and April 1968 The Beatles had intended to join the Maharishi in India soon after attending his seminar in Bangor Wales in late August 1967 Their attendance at the seminar was cut short by the death of their manager Brian Epstein after which they committed to making the television film Magical Mystery Tour Harrison and John Lennon were convinced of the merits of TM and became spokesmen for the Maharishi s Spiritual Regeneration Movement as he gained international prominence as the guru to the Beatles The band members arrived in India in mid February 1968 along with their wives girlfriends assistants and numerous reporters They joined a group of 60 training to be TM teachers among the other celebrity meditators were musicians Donovan Mike Love and Paul Horn and actress Mia Farrow While there Lennon Paul McCartney and Harrison wrote many songs and Ringo Starr finished writing his first Eighteen were recorded for The Beatles the White Album two others appeared on the Abbey Road album and others were used for various solo projects The retreat and the discipline required for meditation were met with varying degrees of commitment from the individual Beatles Starr left on 1 March after ten days McCartney left later in March to attend to business concerns Harrison and Lennon departed abruptly on 12 April following rumours of the Maharishi s inappropriate behaviour towards Farrow and another of his female students The divisive influence of the Beatles Greek friend Alexis Mardas financial disagreements and suspicions that their teacher was taking advantage of the band s fame have also been cited by biographers and witnesses The Beatles denunciation of the Maharishi was detrimental to his reputation in the West while their return from Rishikesh exposed differences that anticipated the group s break up in 1970 Harrison later apologised for the way that he and Lennon treated the Maharishi like many of the students at the ashram he acknowledged that allegations concerning the Maharishi s inappropriate behaviour were untrue Harrison gave a benefit concert in 1992 for the Maharishi associated Natural Law Party In 2009 McCartney and Starr performed at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation which raises funds for teaching TM to at risk students As a result of continued interest in the Beatles 1968 retreat the abandoned ashram was opened to the public in 2015 and has since been renamed Beatles Ashram Contents 1 Background 2 Arrivals 3 Facility 4 Experience 4 1 Songwriting 4 2 Special events 4 2 1 Group photo 4 2 2 Birthday celebrations and river excursions 4 3 Early departures 5 Tensions 5 1 Business arrangements and Mardas arrival 5 2 Competing documentary film proposals 5 3 Allegations of sexual impropriety 5 4 Infringements of the Maharishi s ban on alcohol and recreational drugs 6 Lennon and Harrison s departure 7 Aftermath and impact on the Beatles 8 Legacy 9 Songs written by the Beatles in Rishikesh 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Sources 14 Further reading 15 External linksBackground editMain article The Beatles in Bangor The Beatles attended Maharishi Mahesh Yogi s Transcendental Meditation TM seminar in Bangor in Wales but their stay was cut short on 27 August 1967 after they learned that their manager Brian Epstein had been found dead in his London home Eager to explore meditation further the Beatles made plans to travel to the Maharishi s training centre in Rishikesh India in late October 5 6 At Paul McCartney s urging they postponed the trip until the new year to work on their Magical Mystery Tour film project since he was concerned that with the loss of Epstein the band should first focus on their career 7 George Harrison and John Lennon the two most committed to the Maharishi s teachings 8 appeared twice on David Frost s television program in autumn 1967 to espouse the benefits of TM 9 Now publicised as the Beatles Guru the Maharishi went on his eighth world tour giving lectures in Britain Scandinavia West Germany Italy Canada and California 10 Harrison introduced Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys to the Maharishi 11 when he and Lennon joined their teacher at a UNICEF benefit in Paris in December 12 Wilson s bandmate Mike Love described the private lecture the Maharishi gave beforehand as awe inspiring and the most profound experience I d ever felt 8 nb 1 Having long shared Harrison s interest in meditation and Indian religious texts Scottish singer Donovan also recognised the Maharishi as the guide they had been searching for 13 The Maharishi received considerable media coverage in the West 14 particularly the United States where Life magazine devoted a cover article to the TM phenomenon 15 and declared 1968 the Year of the Guru 16 17 The mainstream press remained largely suspicious of the Maharishi s motives however 18 the British satirical magazine Private Eye nicknamed him Veririchi Lotsamoney Yogi Bear 19 Lennon defended the Maharishi s requirement that his students donate a week s wages to his organisation the Spiritual Regeneration Movement saying that it was the fairest thing I ve heard of 20 21 Lennon added So what if he s commercial We re the most commercial group in the world 22 The Beatles were nevertheless concerned that the Maharishi appeared to be using their name for self promotion 23 24 According to Peter Brown who temporarily assumed Epstein s role following his death 25 the Maharishi was negotiating with ABC in the US to make a television special featuring the band 26 In an effort to stop him Brown twice visited the Maharishi in Malmo Sweden on the second occasion with Harrison and McCartney only for him to giggle in response 23 26 In Brown s description Harrison defended their teacher saying He s not a modern man He just doesn t understand these things 26 Harrison flew to Bombay in January 1968 to work on the Wonderwall Music soundtrack expecting the rest of the group to follow shortly When they were delayed he flew back to London 27 The group spent a week in the studio recording songs for a single that would be released while they were away on their spiritual retreat 28 The B side Harrison s The Inner Light was mostly recorded in Bombay and featured Indian instrumentation 29 and lyrics espousing meditation as a means to genuine understanding of the world 30 Although it remained unreleased until late 1969 Lennon s Across the Universe contained the refrain Jai Guru Deva 31 a standard greeting in the Spiritual Regeneration Movement 32 Aside from the celebrity musicians who now endorsed TM the Maharishi had gained the support of American film star Mia Farrow while in New York City In late January amid the publicity surrounding her separation from her husband Frank Sinatra Farrow accompanied the Maharishi to India in advance of the Beatles departure from London 15 Arrivals editIt hadn t seemed very long ago that John Lennon had declared casually but catastrophically that religious disciples were thick and ordinary Now in mid February 1968 a stunned world looked on as pop s reluctant anti Christs found themselves chasing a self proclaimed guru halfway across the globe in search of spiritual guidance 8 Author and journalist Mark Paytress 2003 The Beatles and their entourage travelled to Rishikesh in two groups 8 Lennon and his wife Cynthia Harrison and his wife Pattie Boyd and the latter s sister Jenny 33 arrived in Delhi on 15 February 8 They were met by Mal Evans their longtime assistant and former road manager 34 who had arranged the 150 mile 240 km 35 six hour taxi drive to Rishikesh Once there the party walked across the Lakshman Jhula footbridge over the River Ganges and up the hill to the Maharishi s ashram 36 McCartney and his girlfriend Jane Asher and Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen landed in Delhi on 19 February 37 Since the press were expecting McCartney and Starr s party after the first group s arrival they were subjected to constant attention 35 As soon as Starr arrived he asked Evans to take him to a doctor because of a reaction to an inoculation 38 As a result Starr McCartney and their partners stayed overnight in Delhi and travelled to Rishikesh with Evans early on 20 February 37 nbsp The Lakshman Jhula suspension bridge over the River GangesThe Beatles arrived at the ashram three weeks into the course 35 which was due to end on 25 April 39 They were followed by a retinue of reporters and photographers who were mostly kept out of the fenced and gated compound 40 Evans and Beatles aide Neil Aspinall were there for much of the time 41 Alexis Magic Alex Mardas the Greek electronics engineer who had been among the first to recommend the Maharishi to the band in 1967 42 arrived four weeks later 43 Denis O Dell the head of the Beatles company Apple Films also joined them for a brief time 44 In his memoir The Love You Make Brown says that he only learned of the Beatles intention to leave for India that same month even though he and the band were committed to launching their multimedia company Apple Corps He adds The mastery of Transcendental Meditation they hoped would give them the wisdom to run Apple 45 Also there were Donovan songwriter and sculptor Gyp Gypsy Dave Mills 46 Mike Love 24 jazz flautist Paul Horn actors Tom Simcox and Jerry Stovin 47 48 and dozens of others all Europeans or Americans 39 49 Farrow was joined by her sister Prudence and their brother John 15 49 American socialite Nancy Cooke de Herrera was also present in her role as the Maharishi s publicist and confidant 50 nb 2 A lifelong devotee to TM and subsequently an instructor to many celebrities 51 53 Cooke de Herrara later wrote that the Maharishi gave special attention to the celebrity meditators which she feared would feed their egos and be detrimental to the experience 54 Although members of the press were barred from the ashram 55 journalist Lewis Lapham was granted access to write a feature article on the retreat for The Saturday Evening Post 41 nb 3 Paul Saltzman a young Canadian filmmaker travelling in India camped outside the compound until he was invited in and welcomed into the Beatles circle 58 59 Despite speculation Shirley MacLaine did not attend the retreat 10 60 and Lennon decided against bringing his artist friend Yoko Ono 61 62 Facility editMain article Beatles Ashram nbsp View of Rishikesh from beachLocated in the Valley of the Saints in the foothills of the Himalayas Rishikesh is a place of religious significance 63 known as the yoga capital of the world 64 The Maharishi s International Academy of Meditation also called the Chaurasi Kutia ashram 65 was a 14 acre 57 000 m2 compound surrounded by jungle set across the Ganges from the town 150 feet 46 m above the river The facility was designed to suit Western habits 66 67 Starr later compared the ashram to a kind of spiritual Butlins a low cost British holiday camp 68 The Beatles bungalows were equipped with electric heaters running water toilets and English style furniture 69 According to Cooke de Herrera the Maharishi obtained many special items from a nearby village so that the Beatles rooms would have mirrors wall to wall carpeting wall coverings foam mattresses and bedspreads She wrote that compared to the other students bungalows the Beatles cottages looked like a palace 70 In Cynthia Lennon s description her and her husband s bedroom contained a four poster bed a dressing table two chairs and an electric heater 71 nbsp Meditation domes at the International Academy of Meditation pictured in 2006 long after the ashram s closure Evans recalled there were around 40 staff including cooks cleaners a joiner and a full printing department 72 One of the Maharishi s aides Ravindra Damodara who later became a swami himself kept a diary of this period at the ashram 73 nb 4 For the Beatles stay according to Damodara four small stone covered buildings had been constructed along the path from the main centre down to the ashram gates These dome shaped rooms included a raised platform accessed by ladder on which each Beatle could engage in advanced meditation 73 The Maharishi s accommodation was a long modern style bungalow located away from the other buildings 69 The ashram was surrounded by barbed wire and the gates were kept locked and guarded 39 75 Although the Maharishi kept the media away from his famous students he gave interviews to the press 39 To the Beatles gratitude he asked the reporters to come back after the band had had a little time with the course 76 Throughout the Beatles time at the ashram these reporters filed stories about the retreat While the music journalists among them demonstrated a tolerant approach those representing the mainstream press often ridiculed the idea of the retreat and meditation 77 The press found McCartney the most willing to engage according to author Howard Sounes he was the newspaperman s pet the sensible Beatle who gave them quotes and posed for photos on Lakshman Jhula bridge 78 Experience editThe Maharishi had arranged a simple lifestyle for his guests 79 The days were devoted to meditating and attending his lectures which he gave from a flower bedecked platform in an auditorium 80 He also gave private lessons to the individual Beatles ostensibly due to their late arrival The tranquil environment and protection from the media throng helped the band relax Harrison told Saltzman regarding the Beatles motivation for embracing TM We have all the money you could ever dream of We have all the fame you could ever wish for But it isn t love It isn t health It isn t peace inside is it 81 82 In Saltzman s description Harrison had a genuine dedication to meditation whereas Lennon s approach was more adolescent He was looking for The Answer Well there isn t The Answer 83 According to Donovan at the Beatles first meeting with the Maharishi after arriving an awkward silence filled the room until Lennon walked to the Maharishi and patted him on the head saying There s a good little guru 84 85 Everyone erupted with laughter 79 Harrison s nickname for their teacher was the Big M 86 87 nbsp Maharishi Mahesh Yogi pictured in Amsterdam in September 1967In the Maharishi s teaching there were seven levels of consciousness and the course would provide students with experience in the fourth pure or transcendental consciousness 88 nb 5 While Transcendental Meditation had earned the sobriquet the McDonald s of meditation for its quick and simple application and the Maharishi espoused its scientific basis over religious dogma 89 strong Vedic and Hindu aligned aspects remained 90 His lectures included stories and parables and comparisons between TM and Western practices particularly Christianity He advocated meditation before prayer and said that Christianity s upholding of Jesus Christ s earthbound suffering as a divine attribute was a humiliating teaching and a distraction from self and God realisation 91 The Maharishi soon cancelled the formal lectures and told students to meditate for as long as possible One student meditated for 42 straight hours 92 and Boyd said she once meditated for seven hours 49 Jenny Boyd also meditated for long periods but suffered from dysentery misdiagnosed as tonsilitis she said Lennon also felt unwell suffering from jet lag and insomnia 93 The lengthy meditation left many students moody and oversensitive 92 Several people on the course and the Maharishi were particularly concerned about Prudence Farrow s unwillingness to stop meditating 94 All the students wore native dress 95 and the ashram had a tailor on the premises to make clothes for them 96 The women in the Beatles party shopped in local towns and bought saris for themselves 97 and material to be made into shirts and jackets for the men 76 These towns included Dehradun and Mussoorie where markets were held by Tibetans driven out of their homeland by Chinese encroachment into Tibet 98 The Beatles adoption of traditional Indian clothing affected Western fashion when they wore them after going home 76 99 Much of the proceedings at the ashram was filmed by various students on a 16mm handheld camera Segments of this footage appear in the 1995 television documentary The Beatles Anthology 100 101 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 102 Cynthia Lennon Vegetarian meals were eaten in a communal dining area 103 where food was vulnerable to aggressive monkeys Hanuman langurs 104 and crows 80 Lennon described the food as lousy 105 while Pattie Boyd said it was delicious 80 Menu items included chickpeas mixed with cumin seeds whole wheat dough baked over a fire spiced eggplant potatoes that had been picked locally 106 and for breakfast cornflakes toast and coffee 71 Evans stockpiled eggs for Starr 35 who had problems with the diet because of his past illnesses 38 Starr recalled The food was impossible for me because I m allergic to so many different things I took two suitcases with me one of clothes and one full of Heinz beans 107 After dinner the musicians gathered on the roof of Harrison s bungalow to talk and listen to the Ganges river 108 Sometimes they listened to records and played guitar or sitar 109 110 Lapham recalled a conversation one evening between members of the Beatles and other students when Lennon described the band s records as diaries of its developing consciousness and said that this progression was also reflected in the photos and artwork used on their albums 111 112 Although the weather was cool in February 71 it grew hot over the ensuing weeks 113 By mid April the Maharishi was planning to move the whole retreat to Kashmir at a higher and cooler altitude 114 The Beatles approach to meditation was marked by a friendly competitiveness among the band members 69 Lennon was complimentary about Harrison s progress 115 saying The way George is going he ll be flying a magic carpet by the time he s forty 108 Boyd recalls that she and Harrison each achieved an out of body experience through meditation but that because their individual practice disturbed the other they decided to move into separate rooms 80 While Lennon was evangelical in his enthusiasm for the Maharishi according to his wife Cynthia she was a little more skeptical Cynthia later wrote that she loved being in India and had hoped she and Lennon would rediscover our lost closeness to her disappointment however Lennon became increasingly cold and aloof 71 116 nb 6 After two weeks Lennon asked to sleep in a separate room saying he could only meditate alone 119 He walked to the local post office every morning to check for Ono s almost daily telegrams 80 One read Look up at the sky and when you see a cloud think of me 120 Songwriting edit nbsp Donovan taught the Beatles a guitar finger picking technique that they later incorporated in some of the songs on their 1968 double album commonly known as the White Album Saltzman recalls that the Beatles were very close and tight during his time at the ashram 82 According to Damodara however at times McCartney talk ed mean with George and appeared to want to be the Beatles boss 121 Donovan taught Lennon a guitar finger picking technique that McCartney partly mastered also 122 The technique was subsequently implemented by Lennon on the Beatles songs Julia and Dear Prudence 123 The latter was composed by Lennon to lure Prudence Farrow out of her intense meditation 124 Lennon later said She d been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else 125 The stay at the ashram turned out to be the group s most productive period for songwriting 83 According to Lennon he wrote some of the most miserable 126 and some of his best songs while he was in Rishikesh 103 Starr completed his first solo composition Don t Pass Me By which he had begun writing in 1963 127 In his 2005 autobiography Donovan recalls that while the other three Beatles played acoustic guitars Starr sometimes played a set of tabla hand drums which Harrison had bought for him in Delhi 128 The retreat was also a productive one for Donovan as a songwriter 129 He recalls having many a great little jam with McCartney and says that with Harrison demonstrating on sitar the knowledge he had gained through his teacher Ravi Shankar he and Harrison were soon chording a new song or two including the Indian styled Hurdy Gurdy Man 130 nb 7 Plans were discussed for a possible concert in Delhi to feature the Beatles the Beach Boys Donovan and Paul Horn 132 While he also wrote several new songs in Rishikesh Harrison complained that more time should be spent on meditating 108 When McCartney discussed his vision for an album containing the songs they had amassed so far Harrison replied We re not fucking here to do the next album We re here to meditate 133 In Donovan s recollection when not meditating McCartney was rarely without his guitar and kept the Beatles party entertained with parody songs such as Rocky Raccoon and Back in the U S S R but he was not totally convinced about TM 134 Many of the Beatles new songs were inspired by nature and reflected the simplicity of their surroundings 135 In this way they contrasted markedly with the band s psychedelic work over the previous year although few of them were overtly reflective of the TM experience 136 An exception was Sour Milk Sea in which Harrison exhorts his listeners to embrace meditation and illumination 137 while Lennon s Child of Nature and McCartney s Mother Nature s Son were both inspired by one of the Maharishi s lectures 138 139 nb 8 Special events edit Group photo edit nbsp Group photo February 1968 Seated in front of the Maharishi are front row from left to right Ringo Starr Maureen Starkey Jane Asher Paul McCartney George Harrison Pattie Boyd Cynthia Lennon John Lennon and Mal Evans In late February 141 the Maharishi arranged for a group photo of all the students 142 143 In Lapham s description the Maharishi began preparing for the shot early one morning and approached the task as if the director on a movie set 144 Instructing his assistants he oversaw the assembly of a platform of risers the precise placement of flowers and potted plants in front of the raised stage and the seating allocation for each of the students from his hand drawn diagram 144 The students were then called down to take their allocated seat 144 Surrounding the Maharishi each member was dressed in traditional Indian attire and adorned with a marigold garland of orange 145 Lapham commented that the Maharishi had the Beatles positioned in the center of the set surrounding him with the other students arranged according to the degrees of their celebrity 144 The Maharishi had a large picture of Brahmananda Saraswati the guru evoked by Lennon in Across the Universe 146 31 placed behind him 144 The Maharishi encouraged his students to present their best cosmic smiles to the camera 147 The photo took half an hour to complete while the participants sat facing the bright morning sun 145 In 2009 The Hindu described the result as one of the most iconic photographs in the history of rock n roll 148 nb 9 For the Beatles public image their attire contrasted with the modern psychedelic clothing they had worn on arrival from London 150 151 The photo and others from the shoot were used in Lapham s cover article for The Saturday Evening Post 152 153 a magazine that although in decline by 1968 was influential among America s suburban middle class 154 nb 10 Saltzman was one of the photographers at the session His shots from this time were compiled in his book The Beatles in Rishikesh published in 2000 156 157 Birthday celebrations and river excursions edit On 25 February the Maharishi held a party to celebrate Harrison s 25th birthday The event included communal chanting 145 a sitar performance by Harrison 103 and a firework display 158 159 The Maharishi gave Harrison an upside down plastic globe of the world and said George the globe I am giving you symbolizes the world today I hope you will help us all in the task of putting it right 160 Harrison turned the globe over and said I ve done it and the other students applauded 161 For Love s birthday on 15 March members of the Beatles and Donovan performed Spiritual Regeneration Happy Birthday Mike Love a song based on the Beach Boys Fun Fun Fun Lennon presented Love with a round handmade card containing a self portrait of him naked and Harrison gave him a painting of Guru Dev 162 A dual celebration was held on 17 March for the birthdays of Boyd and Horn 158 On 8 April the Maharishi gave an Indian prince s outfit to the Lennons for their son in England on his birthday 163 164 An aviation company owner and patron of the Maharishi s Kershi Cambata flew two helicopters to Rishikesh to take the Maharishi and his guests for rides 165 Lapham wrote that Cooke de Herrera a friend of Cambata had arranged this event to provide what she called a visitation of modernity 166 McCartney recalled that he asked Lennon why he was so eager to be the one to go with the Maharishi on his helicopter ride and that Lennon replied I thought he might slip me the Answer 103 In early March 158 an Italian newsreel company filmed the Maharishi and many students including the Beatles and other musicians going down to the river while the musicians sang standards such as When the Saints Go Marching In and You Are My Sunshine 167 nb 11 One evening when the moon was full the Maharishi arranged for everyone to cruise on the Ganges in two barges The trip started with the chanting of Vedas by two pandits after which the musicians brought out their instruments The Beatles sang Donovan songs while Love and Donovan sang Beatles songs and Horn played flute 168 169 Early departures edit McCartney and Starr told Lapham that they had each experienced the benefits of meditation but the band s trip to India was more out of support for George s thing 111 Starr s wife had a strong aversion to insects 38 McCartney recalled that Maureen was once trapped in her room because there was a fly over the door 107 Spiders mosquitoes and flies were present at the ashram 170 and when Starr complained to the Maharishi he was told For people travelling in the realm of pure consciousness flies no longer matter very much 86 Starr said in reply Yes but that doesn t zap the flies does it 171 Starr disliked the food and he and Maureen missed their children 172 173 The couple left India on 1 March and on their return to the UK Starr was keen to avoid the impression that he was no longer interested in TM He told reporters The Academy is a great place and I enjoyed it a lot I still meditate every day for half an hour in the morning and half an hour every evening and I think I m a better person for it If everyone in the world started meditating the world would be a much happier place 174 McCartney and Asher departed in mid to late March nb 12 According to Cooke de Herrera s account McCartney had arranged to get back to London to supervise Apple Corps and Asher had a theatrical commitment as he left he told Cooke de Herrera I m a new man 145 179 According to what he told Lapham however McCartney was uncomfortable with the Maharishi s flattery 180 171 particularly his calling the Beatles the blessed leaders of the world s youth and he found himself lost in the Maharishi s more elaborate discussions 41 Damodara wrote that Asher had no interest in meditation a view echoed by Saltzman who said that she was eager to visit the Taj Mahal with McCartney 181 McCartney later said that his intention had always been to stay for only a month and that he knew he risked accusations from his bandmates that he was not sincere about meditation 182 Mia Farrow departed to begin work on a new film in London where she arrived on 8 March 183 Described by author Jonathan Gould as restless she had left the ashram before to visit Goa and then returned 184 In her 1997 autobiography Farrow recalls that she felt overwhelmed by the Maharishi s attention to her which included private sessions gifts of mangoes and a birthday party where he gave her a paper crown 185 Love left the retreat on 15 March having stayed just over two weeks 186 due to his tour commitments with the Beach Boys but would complete his TM instructor course in 1972 187 Donovan departed because he recognised he had a mission in music and sought to convey the Maharishi s teachings in that way 188 nb 13 Tensions editBusiness arrangements and Mardas arrival edit According to Gould Lennon and Harrison viewed their bandmates departures as an example of McCartney and Starr once again balking on the path to higher consciousness just as the pair particularly McCartney had earlier held out before joining them in their LSD experimentation 190 While Harrison and Lennon remained steadfast in their devotion to meditation some members of the Beatles circle continued to be distrustful of the Maharishi s hold on them 191 Aspinall was surprised when he realised that the Maharishi was a sophisticated negotiator knowing more than the average person about financial percentages 191 According to Saltzman Evans told him that the Maharishi wanted the band to deposit up to 25 per cent of their next album s profits into his Swiss bank account as a tithe to which Lennon replied Over my dead body 192 193 In Brown s account Lennon was not opposed to paying the tithe until Alex Mardas the Maharishi s most powerful critic intervened 191 Mardas arrived after McCartney had left 194 He pointed to the luxury of the facility and the business acumen of the Maharishi 195 and asked Lennon why the Maharishi always had an accountant by his side 40 Mardas also derided the characters of the non celebrity meditators and was highly critical of the way the Beatles had been assembled for the class photo and the promotion of the Maharishi s movement 191 In an attempt to silence his criticism according to Mardas the Maharishi offered him money to build a high powered radio station 191 Lennon later told his wife that he felt that the Maharishi had in her words too much interest in public recognition celebrities and money for a spiritual man 196 Cynthia Lennon Cooke de Herrera and author and Beatles associate Barry Miles have blamed Mardas for turning Lennon against the Maharishi 197 198 Miles writes that Mardas feared for his status as Lennon s personal guru and set about sabotaging the relationship between the Beatles and the Maharishi 199 In a statement published in The New York Times in 2010 Mardas denied that this was the case 194 200 Competing documentary film proposals edit Before leaving London in February the Beatles had considered making a documentary film about the Maharishi through Apple Films 26 44 The idea gained traction once they got to the ashram which led to their summoning Denis O Dell to Rishikesh 44 Together with Aspinall he flew to India intent on dissuading the Beatles from making the film 44 201 nb 14 According to Cooke de Herrera the Maharishi gave the Beatles and Apple the rights for a film about him his movement and his teacher Guru Dev 203 Joe Massot who had directed Wonderwall said that Harrison phoned him from India inviting him to participate in the project 204 However Charles Lutes the head of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in the US had already arranged with the Maharishi to produce a similar documentary with Horn In early April Lutes arrived at the ashram to ensure that his venture was not jeopardised by the Beatles interest 205 He signed a contract with Four Star Films and John Farrow was scheduled to direct the film 169 Horn expected that Donovan the Beatles the Beach Boys and Mia Farrow would appear in it 206 According to Mike Dolan another of the TM students when a film crew from Lutes company Bliss Productions arrived later in April Lennon and Harrison were more than a little pissed and made a point of staying out of sight 207 Horn said that the arrival of the film crew was the catalyst for the discontent that resulted in the last two Beatles premature departure from Rishikesh 208 In Massot s recollection the crew was led by producer Gene Corman who subsequently pleaded with Massot to use his influence with Harrison and Lennon to ensure the Beatles participation 204 Cooke de Herrera also felt that the Four Star deal and the presence of the film crew was the reason for the sudden departure 209 Allegations of sexual impropriety edit nbsp Mia Farrow pictured in 1964Before leaving the ashram Mia Farrow told some of the other students that the Maharishi had made a pass at her 210 In her 1993 autobiography Cooke de Herrera says that Farrow confided to her before the arrival of the Beatles that the Maharishi had made a pass during a private puja ceremony by stroking her hair Cooke de Herrera says she told Farrow that she had misinterpreted the Maharishi s actions 198 Farrow s 1997 memoirs are ambiguous describing an encounter in his private meditation cave when the Maharishi tried to put his arms around her 211 nb 15 She also says that her sister Prudence assured her that it was an honour and a tradition for a holy man to touch someone after meditation 185 In Pattie Boyd s account it was the allegations of the Maharishi s sexual impropriety that caused life at the retreat to go horribly wrong 213 Through Mardas insistence Lennon became convinced that the Maharishi who said he was celibate 214 had had a sexual encounter with one of the young female students 215 nb 16 As reported by Brown the woman was a pretty blond nurse from California who Mardas said had engaged in a sexual relationship with the Maharishi 218 Dolan recalls that she was in fact a feisty schoolteacher from New York named Rosalyn Bonas or RB 219 who was having an affair with Mardas 220 She had become disillusioned at the extent to which Hindu tradition and the Vedas were part of the course 72 and was prevented from leaving early for the US due to the conditions of her airline ticket 221 Jenny Boyd wrote that she had seen Mardas and the woman deep in conversation obviously cooking something up 222 nb 17 On the Beatles final night at the ashram 221 Mardas arranged to entrap the Maharishi by spying on him and the woman when they were alone together Mardas then reported to the others that he saw the two of them in a compromising position 223 224 Many of the people at the ashram including Harrison Horn Cooke de Herrera Dolan Cynthia Lennon and Jenny Boyd did not believe that the Maharishi had made a pass at any woman 225 According to Cynthia however Mardas allegations gathered momentum without a single shred of evidence or justification 197 226 nb 18 In her autobiography Pattie Boyd also expresses doubt regarding the truth behind Mardas claims but in this atmosphere of suspicion she had a horrid dream about Maharishi and the next day told Harrison that they should leave 213 According to Harrison Lennon had wanted to leave anyway to see Ono and the speculation surrounding Farrow and other female students stirred up a situation that Lennon was able to exploit 230 nb 19 Infringements of the Maharishi s ban on alcohol and recreational drugs edit Deepak Chopra who was not present but later became a disciple of the Maharishi and a friend of Harrison said in 2006 that the Maharishi was displeased with the Beatles because they were taking drugs 231 including LSD at the ashram 232 233 Members of the Beatles group also violated the Maharishi s no alcohol rule when they consumed hooch that Mardas whom Cynthia thought was not an active meditator 234 acquired from a nearby village and shared with the women 218 221 Harrison and Lennon did not imbibe and were highly critical of those who did 72 Massot recalled that he himself arrived at the ashram with a small amount of hashish which he shared with Lennon 204 In his autobiography Donovan writes that when John Farrow arrived he presented him with a large block of hashish that someone had brought into the ashram 235 Donovan took the block from Farrow s hand and threw it out into the Ganges 235 236 Dolan who stayed in a bungalow next to the one occupied by Mardas and Bonas 237 said that Bonas openly smoked hashish and he became used to the familiar smell of very happy herb emanating from their room 219 According to Chopra the departure of Lennon and Harrison was not of their own volition but at the request of the Maharishi due to his disapproval of their entourage taking drugs The Maharishi lost his temper with them He asked them to leave and they did in a huff 232 Lennon and Harrison s departure editOn the night of 11 12 April Lennon Harrison and Mardas sat up late discussing the Maharishi and decided to leave the next morning 176 238 In Brown s description they argued and Harrison was furious at Mardas actions and did not believe a word of the allegations 239 In the morning the Beatles and their wives left hurriedly 239 240 while Mardas went to Dehradun to find taxis 195 Lennon was chosen to speak to the Maharishi 239 Lennon described the exchange in a highly emotional December 1970 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone which was later published as the book Lennon Remembers 241 When the Maharishi asked why they were leaving Lennon replied If you re so cosmic you ll know why 242 243 Lennon recalled that his mind was made up when the Maharishi gave him a murderous look in response 243 244 Lennon said he was a bit rough to him and the Maharishi responded by saying I don t know why you must tell me 245 246 According to Mardas 2010 statement John Lennon and I went to the Maharishi about what had happened he asked the Maharishi to explain himself and the Maharishi answered Lennon s accusation by saying I am only human 194 With regard to his own position Harrison said that he had already told the Maharishi that he would be leaving before the course relocated to Kashmir because he was due to participate in the filming of Raga a documentary about Ravi Shankar in the south of India 245 According to Harrison s account of his and Lennon s final conversation with the Maharishi in the 2000 book The Beatles Anthology Harrison reminded him of the plan to join Shankar but the Maharishi was unable to accept it Harrison added That s when John said something like Well you re supposed to be the mystic you should know 230 While waiting for their taxis 247 Lennon wrote Maharishi later retitled Sexy Sadie in which he sang Maharishi what have you done You made a fool of everyone 248 249 nb 20 In a 1974 interview Lennon said that they were convinced that the delay in the taxis arrival was orchestrated by locals loyal to the Maharishi and this paranoia was exacerbated by the presence of the mad Greek 201 According to Cynthia Lennon when the group finally left the ashram the Maharishi looked very biblical and isolated in his faith 244 251 Jenny Boyd later wrote Poor Maharishi I remember him standing at the gate of the ashram under an aide s umbrella as the Beatles filed by out of his life Wait he cried Talk to me But no one listened 215 252 After leaving Rishikesh the taxis repeatedly broke down leading the Beatles to wonder if the Maharishi had placed a curse on them 253 The car that the Lennons were in suffered a flat tyre and the driver left them apparently to find a replacement tyre but did not return for hours After it grew dark the couple hitched a ride to Delhi 248 They then took the first available flight back to London during which Lennon drunkenly recounted a litany of his numerous infidelities to Cynthia 254 Harrison was not ready to return to London and face running Apple and the band s other commitments In her autobiography Boyd writes Instead we went to see Ravi Shankar and lost ourselves in his music 213 Harrison said when he got dysentery in Madras that he thought it might have been due to a spell cast by the Maharishi but he recovered after Shankar gave him some amulets 252 nb 21 Aftermath and impact on the Beatles edit The Beatles trip to Rishikesh occupies a place in their story analogous to that of their first overseas adventure their inaugural visit to Hamburg in the fall of 1960 Separated by eight years of once unimaginable success these two journeys represented the Beatles real life magical mystery tours Though the symbolism and symmetry seem almost too perfect the mysterious bond that had first been sealed on the stage of a seedy Hamburg nightclub called the Indra would begin to unravel eight years later in the hills of India itself 256 Author Jonathan Gould 2007 The Beatles departure and split with the Maharishi was well publicised In Delhi Lennon and Harrison merely told reporters that they had urgent business in London and did not want to appear in the Maharishi s film 257 Once reunited in the UK the band announced that they were disillusioned by the Maharishi s desire for financial gain 258 nb 22 On 14 May when Lennon and McCartney accompanied by Mardas and Derek Taylor were in New York to launch Apple to the US media Lennon used his appearance on The Tonight Show to denounce the Maharishi 260 He told the host Joe Garagiola 260 We believe in meditation but not the Maharishi and his scene 261 and We made a mistake He s human like the rest of us 201 238 On another occasion McCartney said The Maharishi s a nice fellow We re just not going out with him any more 155 By the time he returned to London on 21 April 242 Harrison felt that he and Lennon were wrong in the way they had treated the Maharishi 113 In June Harrison told reporters in Los Angeles that his dissatisfaction was centred on how the Spiritual Regeneration Movement was too much of an organization 262 nb 23 Lennon s outspokenness was informed by the sense of personal betrayal he felt towards the Maharishi 257 and his 1970 Rolling Stone interview represented a purging of his past in line with the emotional effects of his recent primal therapy treatment under Arthur Janov 265 nb 24 In the interview Lennon referred to a big hullaballo about the Maharishi trying to rape Mia Farrow or somebody and trying to get off with a few other women 249 and since 1968 the allegations concerning Farrow were rumoured to be the cause of the Beatles split with the Maharishi 211 269 Brown wrote in The Love You Make first published in 1983 that his book told for the first time what really happened in the ashram challenging the widely circulated but incorrect story about Farrow 270 nb 25 Reflecting in a 1980 interview Lennon said he had been bitter after discovering that the Maharishi was human just as he was later about Janov for the same reason 272 Lennon and Ono holidayed in India in late 1969 273 According to author Susan Shumsky a TM devotee Lennon sent a telegram to the ashram saying he was in Delhi and urgently wanted to see the Maharishi As he and his secretary discussed the telegram the Maharishi repeatedly claimed not to recognise the singer s name and he shut down the conversation by stating I do not know a John Lennon 274 nbsp The cover of The BeatlesWriting for Mojo magazine in 2003 author and journalist Mark Paytress said that for many observers the Beatles falling out with the Maharishi engendered a long lasting suspicion that they d become faddists tipped into eccentric habits by unfathomable fame 8 Having given up touring in 1966 the trip to India was the last time all four Beatles travelled together 275 Their self exploration through meditation and before that LSD led to each of them adopting a more individual focus at the expense of band unity through to the group s break up in 1970 8 The acrimony within the band was evident during the recording of their 1968 double album The Beatles also known as the White Album when they recorded many of the songs written in Rishikesh 276 Adding to the tense atmosphere after Lennon had left his wife Ono became a constant presence from the start of the sessions and was viewed by the other Beatles as an unwelcome intrusion into the group dynamic 277 278 Author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1978 that following their return from Rishikesh Lennon Harrison and McCartney were three very different personalities who seldom saw eye to eye any more He also said that the trio served as an almost archetypal cross section of the many young people who progressed from LSD to Indian spirituality during the late 1960s Lennon continued to drift from one unconventional self awareness trip to another Harrison intensified his interest by embracing Krishna Consciousness or the Hare Krishna movement under A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and McCartney exchanged consciousness expansion for more bourgeois preoccupations 279 Legacy editFurther information Yoga tourism and Postural yoga in India Philip Goldberg in his book American Veda writes that the Beatles trip to Rishikesh may have been the most momentous spiritual retreat since Jesus spent those forty days in the wilderness 4 Despite their rejection of the Maharishi the Beatles generated wider interest in Transcendental Meditation which encouraged the study of Eastern spirituality in Western popular culture 280 281 Chopra credits Harrison with spreading TM and other Eastern spiritual practices to America almost single handedly 282 Spiritual biographer Gary Tillery also recognises the Beatles or more specifically Harrison as having abruptly brought Indian spirituality to everyday awareness through their association with the Maharishi Tillery writes that while the influence of Indian gurus such as Vivekananda Yogananda the Maharishi and Prabhupada was well established by the late 1960s it was the Beatles endorsement of their respective philosophies that most contributed to yoga and meditation centres becoming ubiquitous in Western cities and towns over subsequent decades 283 According to author Andrew Grant Jackson The Beats had promoted Buddhism since the 1950s but it was George Harrison s songs espousing Hindu philosophy and featuring Indian musicians and the Beatles study of Transcendental Meditation that truly kick started the human potential movement of the 1970s rebranded New Age in the 1980s In this way the musicians helped expand the freedom of religion the United States was founded on to encompass options outside the Judeo Christian tradition 284 nbsp The Maharishi in 1973Mike Love arranged for the Beach Boys to tour the United States with the Maharishi in May 1968 285 However the tour was cancelled after several appearances and was called one of the more bizarre entertainments of the era 24 286 nb 26 After 1968 the Maharishi fell out of the public spotlight for a period and TM was described as a passing fad 288 Interest grew again in the 1970s when scientific studies began showing concrete results 289 The Maharishi appeared twice on American television s The Merv Griffin Show in the mid 1970s leading to a surge of popularity called the Merv wave that lasted until the end of the decade 290 In a 1975 interview Harrison said of the Beatles association with TM In retrospect that was probably one of the greatest experiences I ve ever had Maharishi was always put down for propagating what was basically a spiritual thing but there s so much being propagated that s damaging to life that I m glad there are good people around like him 291 In 1978 Lennon wrote that he considered his meditation a source of creative inspiration 292 Despite Lennon s public denouncing of the Maharishi according to Tillery for the rest of his life he often turned to meditation to restore himself and improve his creativity 292 In her 2005 book Gurus in America author Cynthia Ann Humes comments that although the split between the Beatles and Maharishi was widely reported there has been little mention of the continued positive relationship Maharishi maintained with Harrison and McCartney 293 During the 1990s Harrison and McCartney were so convinced of the Maharishi s innocence on the issue of sexual impropriety that they each offered their apologies 228 Harrison gave a benefit concert for the Maharishi associated Natural Law Party in 1992 294 and later apologised for the way the Maharishi had been treated by saying We were very young 295 In The Beatles Anthology he stated It s probably in the history books that Maharishi tried to attack Mia Farrow but it s bullshit total bullshit 230 296 Asked if he forgave the Beatles following Harrison s public apology in 1991 the Maharishi replied I could never be upset with angels 297 298 McCartney took his daughter Stella to visit the Maharishi in the Netherlands in 2007 299 which renewed their friendship 40 nbsp Satsang Hall in the abandoned ashram 2012By the time of the Maharishi s death in 2008 more than 5 million people had learned Transcendental Meditation and his worldwide movement was valued in the billions of dollars 47 After the Maharishi died McCartney said my memories of him will only be joyful ones He was a great man who worked tirelessly for the people of the world and the cause of unity 300 Starr said in 2008 I feel so blessed I met the Maharishi he gave me a mantra that no one can take away and I still use it 40 Representing her late husband Yoko Ono said John would have been the first one now if he had been here to recognize and acknowledge what Maharishi has done for the world and appreciate it 296 In 2009 McCartney Starr Donovan and Horn reunited at a concert held at New York s Radio City Music Hall to benefit the David Lynch Foundation which funds the teaching of Transcendental Meditation in schools 301 A 2011 article titled Celebrities Who Meditate in The Daily Telegraph reported Harrison as having said Maharishi only ever did good for us and although I have not been with him physically I never left him 302 In 2007 Indian born American film maker Mira Nair said she had begun work on a documentary film about the Beatles visit to India 303 Paul Saltzman s photographs from the retreat have been displayed in galleries throughout North America 304 and in a permanent exhibition above the retail units in the departure lounge of Liverpool John Lennon Airport 305 306 In February 2018 the 50th anniversary of Lennon and Harrison s arrival in Rishikesh was marked by the opening of a two year exhibition titled The Beatles in India at the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool 58 307 A similar celebration took place at the ashram site now known as Beatles Ashram 307 308 The exhibition in Liverpool was announced as featuring memorabilia photographs by Saltzman a sitar courtesy of the Ravi Shankar Foundation and video contributions from Pattie and Jenny Boyd 307 The Beatles 1968 retreat in Rishikesh is the subject of Saltzman s documentary film Meeting the Beatles in India 2020 and forms part of director Ajoy Bose s film study of the band s interaction with Indian culture The Beatles and India 2021 309 310 Reviewing the latter documentary for The Guardian Peter Bradshaw said that through the group s incorporation of Indian music in their work and their visit to Rishikesh the Beatles used their colossal influence greater than any politician or movie star or religious leader to direct the world s attention to India a country which until then had been opaque for many in the west 311 nb 27 Songs written by the Beatles in Rishikesh editThe Beatles wrote many songs during their visit to Rishikesh 30 by one count 313 48 by another 149 314 Lennon said We wrote about thirty new songs between us Paul must have done about a dozen George says he s got six and I wrote fifteen And look what meditation did for Ringo after all this time he wrote his first song 315 Many of the songs became a part of The Beatles double album while others appeared on Abbey Road in 1969 or on solo records 316 Released on The Beatles Back in the U S S R 317 Blackbird 318 The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill 319 Cry Baby Cry 320 Dear Prudence 123 Don t Pass Me By 68 Everybody s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey 321 I Will 322 I m So Tired 323 Julia 324 Long Long Long 325 Mother Nature s Son 139 Ob La Di Ob La Da 326 Revolution citation needed Rocky Raccoon 327 Sexy Sadie originally titled Maharishi 250 Why Don t We Do It in the Road 328 Wild Honey Pie 329 Yer Blues 330 Released on Abbey Road Mean Mr Mustard 324 Polythene Pam 324 Released on solo albums and others Child of Nature reworked as Jealous Guy for Lennon s Imagine 138 Circles on Harrison s Gone Troppo in 1982 331 Cosmically Conscious on McCartney s Off the Ground The Complete Works in 1993 332 Dehradun Harrison s song but never released 333 Junk on McCartney in 1970 334 Look at Me on John Lennon Plastic Ono Band in 1970 335 Sour Milk Sea recorded by Apple Records artist Jackie Lomax and released on a single in 1968 325 Spiritual Regeneration Happy Birthday Mike Love recorded at Rishikesh but never released 167 Teddy Boy on McCartney in 1970 335 What s the New Mary Jane recorded for The Beatles double album but released on the 1996 compilation Anthology 3 336 See also editOutline of the Beatles The Beatles timelineNotes edit Love added And the process of meditation was so simple yet so powerful It seemed obvious that if everyone did it it would be an entirely different world out there relaxed and peaceful 8 At the time she was married to Morton Tony Jackson 51 a news analyst and was referred to as Nancy Jackson 52 Lapham was not permitted to probe the Beatles with personal questions however 56 57 Apart from his own observations much of the information he gleaned about the proceedings came from the other students there 57 According to Beatles biographer Geoffrey Giuliano Damodara gave him the notebook in 2000 when they met in Rishikesh 73 The 70 pages were originally written in Hindi and Nepali 74 In full the seven levels were waking dreaming deep sleep pure consciousness cosmic consciousness God consciousness and Supreme Knowledge 88 According to an entry in Damodara s diary the Maharishi thought that Harrison was experiencing his last life referring to advancing beyond the cycle of reincarnation whereas Lennon had many more to go and should avoid giv ing in to his weakness for women or it will ruin him 117 118 Harrison contributed a verse to Hurdy Gurdy Man although it was edited from the single release in May 1968 While in Rishikesh Donovan also wrote Happiness Runs The Sun Is a Very Magic Fellow with lyrical assistance from Evans and Lord of the Reedy River which was later recorded by Kate Bush 131 In addition Lennon s lyrics in Everybody s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey include quotes from the Maharishi regarding meditation such as Come on it s such a joy 140 and The deeper you go the higher you fly The higher you fly the deeper you go 137 In a 2010 report on the production of film maker Martin Scorsese s documentary George Harrison Living in the Material World the Daily News amp Analysis said The pictures of the Beatles the fashion leaders of the time sitting cross legged with the Maharishi sparked a huge interest in Indian mysticism and meditation 149 Writing in the late 1970s author Nicholas Schaffner said that the Maharishi s most enduring success was in attracting people in Middle America to TM s benefits as a stress reliever By promoting his cause through more conservative channels the Maharishi won adherents in academia politics the military and NASA s Apollo space program 155 At the Maharishi s request Donovan performed his composition Happiness Runs with Harrison and then Catch the Wind accompanied at times by Lennon 158 Excerpts from the Italian newsreel footage were used in the 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles 158 The couple arrived back in London on 26 March 141 Among Beatles biographers Bob Spitz says they left Rishikesh on 24 March 119 Barry Miles gives a date of 26 March 175 and Ian MacDonald and Philip Norman both date their departure to mid March 176 177 According to Bob Woffinden McCartney and Asher travelled in India before returning to the UK 178 In the 30 March issue of the NME Keith Altham reported on Donovan s recent concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London where he performed new songs such as The Boy Who Fell in Love with a Swan and Hurdy Gurdy Man Altham commented on the presence backstage of Farrow dressed in an Indian shawl from Rishikesh 189 In O Dell s recollection the band lost interest after he mentioned a possible film adaptation of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings He had just been discussing this project with United Artists as a feature film starring the Beatles to be directed by David Lean 202 In the 1970s Farrow told Ned Wynn one of her childhood friends that the Maharishi had attempted to initiate sex with her 212 Lennon later called the Maharishi a lecherous womanizer 216 217 According to Dolan RB was most likely susceptible to the distraction She felt deceived by the Spiritual Regeneration Movement 72 and had earned a reputation among the ashram staff as a troublemaker 219 McCartney similarly said it was Magic Alex who made the original accusation and I think that it was completely untrue 227 228 In his autobiography Love writes I m not saying he s infallible but the only time he was ever accused of misconduct was when the Beatles were right there with him Please 229 Boyd also describes the allegations as Lennon s excuse to reunite with Ono and says that they seemed to emanate from Mardas desire to get John away from Rishikesh 213 Also among the original lyrics were the lines You little twat Who the fuck do you think you are 221 Lennon renamed the song after Harrison told him that the message was ridiculous 248 and potentially libellous 250 As a result of falling ill in Madras Harrison was unable to take part in filming for Raga He instead filmed his scenes with Shankar in June at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur in California 255 Lennon dismissed the idea that the presence of the film crew had contributed to the timing of his and Harrison s exit 259 The following year by which point he and briefly Lennon were exploring Krishna Consciousness under Swami Prabhupada 263 Harrison told the International Times It s just that we physically left the Maharishi s camp but spiritually never moved an inch We still meditate now At least I do 264 Although he soon rejected Janov s guidance also 266 Lennon s 1970 Rolling Stone interview took place at a time when he believed primal therapy provided the solutions that he had been searching for with the Maharishi 267 Author Tim Riley comments that when describing his and Harrison s departure from the ashram in the 1970 interview Lennon included a whopper of a revelation related to his childhood abandonment issues and the unrealistic expectations he formed in his adult life I m always expecting my mother and I don t get her that s what it is 268 According to author Philip Goldberg writing in 2010 For the rest of Maharishi s days even in his obituaries journalists could hardly mention his name without referring to the incident more often than not assuming that the allegations were true For the record no evidence of hanky panky has ever surfaced 271 Love attributes its failure to the Beatles repudiation of Maharishi which led to poor ticket sales and hostility from some concert goers 287 In his review for Uncut Pete Paphides welcomes the corrective to pernicious inaccuracies surrounding Lennon and Harrison s departure from the ashram as Bose s film includes Beatles historians Mark Lewisohn and Steve Turner highlighting the Machiavellian machinations of Mardas in spreading rumours about the Maharishi 312 References edit Goldberg 2010 p 152 The Editors of Rolling Stone 2002 p 139 Shouler amp Anthony 2009 p 223 Frontani 2007 pp 196 98 Hermes Will February 2002 George Harrison 1943 2001 Spin p 22 Retrieved 8 June 2015 a b Goldberg 2010 p 7 Lennon 2005 p 206 Felton Dave 20 September 1967 Beatles Yogi Allows Shoes at Conference Los Angeles Times p A3 Gould 2007 pp 439 40 461 a b c d e f g h Paytress 2003 p 12 MacDonald 2007 p 274 a b Lefferts Barney 17 December 1967 Chief Guru of the Western World The New York Times Magazine p 235 Clayson 2003 p 231 Miles 2001 p 287 Goldberg 2010 p 151 Oldmeadow 2004 p 273 a b c Gould 2007 p 465 Greene 2006 p 98 Syman 2010 p 198 Norman 2008 p 519 Clayson Alan 2002 Express Yourself Mojo Special Limited Edition 1000 Days That Shook the World The Psychedelic Beatles April 1 1965 to December 26 1967 London Emap p 113 Miles 2001 p 275 Norman 2008 p 518 Paytress 2003 p 16 a b Miles 1997 p 408 a b c Gaines 1995 p 195 Sounes 2010 p 194 a b c d Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 259 Gould 2007 p 461 Gould 2007 pp 461 62 Lavezzoli 2006 pp 183 84 Greene 2006 pp 91 92 a b Tillery 2010 p 65 Gould 2007 p 462 Boyd 2007 pp 111 12 Winn 2009 p 158 a b c d Miles 2001 p 293 Paytress 2003 pp 12 13 a b Winn 2009 p 159 a b c Edmonds Mark 20 March 2005 Here there and everywhere The Sunday Times Retrieved 20 January 2018 a b c d Lelyveld Joseph 23 February 1968 Beatles Guru Is Turning Them into Gurus with a Cram Course The New York Times p 13 a b c d Leigh Spencer 7 February 2008 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Spiritual leader who introduced millions including the Beatles to transcendental meditation The Independent Archived from the original on 29 January 2016 Retrieved 30 April 2018 a b c Gould 2007 p 466 Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 242 Boyd 2007 p 111 a b c d Paytress 2003 p 15 Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 258 Saltzman 2000 p 87 a b Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 p 131 Chaput John 2 November 2005 Jerry Stovin Actor 1922 2005 The Globe and Mail p S 9 a b c Boyd 2007 p 115 All You Need Is Love by Nancy Cooke de Herrera a Review of the Book All Spirit Fitness Archived from the original on 6 April 2011 Retrieved 15 January 2018 a b Los Angeles Times staff 8 March 2013 Nancy de Herrera Obituary Legacy com Retrieved 14 January 2018 Lapham 2005 pp 60 61 Associated Press 4 March 2013 Meditation teacher Nancy Cooke de Herrera dies Newsday Retrieved 14 January 2018 Cooke de Herrera 1992 pp 212 219 252 53 Lapham 2005 p 36 Lapham 2005 pp 33 34 a b Syman 2010 p 199 a b Thrope Vanessa 21 January 2018 Revealed Lucky break that led lovelorn traveller to a fling in India with the Beatles The Observer theguardian com Retrieved 9 April 2018 Kane 2005 pp 59 60 61 Leitch 2005 p 204 Mason 1994 p 136 Spitz 2005 p 750 Oldmeadow 2004 p 136 Tribune News Service 2 March 2015 Rishikesh s identity as yoga capital to be maintained The Tribune Retrieved 3 April 2018 Kimothi Paritosh 26 January 2011 Ayush Gram to come up on Mahesh Yogi ashram site The Pioneer Archived from the original on 6 April 2014 Retrieved 8 March 2018 Nossiter Bernard 18 February 1968 In Yogi Land Los Angeles Times p 2 Preacher of Peace The New York Times 22 January 1968 a b Miles 1997 p 397 a b c Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 260 Cooke de Herrera 1992 p 219 a b c d Lennon 2005 p 208 a b c d Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 p 115 a b c Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 p xiv Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 pp xiv 118 Coghlan Tom Pitel Laura Gray Sadie 20 March 2005 Mal Evans diary extracts The Sunday Times Retrieved 8 May 2011 a b c Cooke de Herrera 1992 p 222 Goldman 2001 pp 294 95 Sounes 2010 p 202 a b Tillery 2010 p 66 a b c d e Boyd 2007 p 114 Greene 2006 p 93 a b Kilachand Tara 17 May 2008 Their humour was one way they kept their feet on the ground Live Mint Retrieved 20 January 2018 a b Paytress 2003 p 14 Tillery 2010 pp 65 66 Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 p 114 a b Shouler amp Anthony 2009 p 223 Lapham 2005 p 56 a b Tillery 2011 p 63 Shouler amp Anthony 2009 p 214 Turner 2006 pp 145 46 Turner 2006 p 146 a b Mason 1994 p 134 Fleetwood amp Davis 1991 p 62 Boyd 2007 pp 116 17 Goldman 2001 p 294 Boyd 2007 pp 115 16 Lennon 2005 p 209 Boyd 2007 p 117 Paglia 2003 p 80 Winn 2009 pp 161 62 Ingham 2006 p 170 Shumsky 2018 p 157 a b c d The Beatles 2000 p 283 Lapham 2005 p 55 Sheff 2000 p 190 Greene 2006 pp 94 95 a b The Beatles 2000 p 284 a b c Greene 2006 p 95 MacDonald 2007 p 278 Cooke de Herrera 1992 p 246 a b Lapham 2005 p 57 Brownfield Troy 24 August 2018 50 Years Ago The Beatles Release Two Classics on One Single The Saturday Evening Post Retrieved 14 June 2019 a b Gould 2007 p 468 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2008 Meditation on the man who saved the Beatles The New York Times Retrieved 17 January 2013 Love 2017 p 191 a b c The Beatles 2000 pp 285 86 Associated Press 6 February 2008 Beatles Meditation Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies Fox News Archived from the original on 8 February 2008 Retrieved 23 January 2018 a b Times News Network 15 February 2006 When Maharishi threw Beatles out The Times of India Archived from the original on 11 May 2013 Retrieved 19 January 2018 Chopra I m sure there was never any truth to Lennon s allegations Rooney Ben 6 February 2008 Maharish Mahesh Yogi guru to The Beatles dies The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 15 March 2010 Lennon 2005 pp 209 210 a b Leitch 2005 p 213 Shumsky 2018 p 159 Giuliano amp Giuliano 2005 pp 115 16 a b Greene 2006 p 97 a b c Brown amp Gaines 2002 p 265 Goldman 2001 p 296 Tillery 2010 pp 68 69 178 a b Miles 2001 p 296 a b Tillery 2010 p 68 a b Mason 1994 p 140 a b The Beatles 2000 p 285 Tillery 2010 pp 68 69 Sheff 2000 p 191 a b c Giuliano amp 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David 2002 Revolution The Making of The Beatles White Album Chicago IL A Cappella Books ISBN 978 1 55652 470 7 Riley Tim 2011 Lennon The Man the Myth the Music The Definitive Life London Random House ISBN 978 0 7535 4020 6 Ryan David Stuart 1982 John Lennon s Secret A Biography London Kozmik Press ISBN 978 0 905116 08 2 Saltzman Paul 2000 The Beatles in Rishikesh New York NY Viking Press ISBN 978 0 670 89261 7 Schaffner Nicholas 1978 The Beatles Forever New York NY McGraw Hill ISBN 0 07 055087 5 Sheff David 2000 1981 All We Are Saying The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono New York NY St Martin s Press ISBN 0 312 25464 4 Shouler Kenneth Anthony Susai 2009 The Everything Hinduism Book Learn the Traditions and Rituals of the Religion of Peace Avon MA Adams Media ISBN 978 1 59869 862 6 Shumsky Susan 2018 Maharishi amp Me Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles Guru New York NY Skyhorse Publishing ISBN 978 1 5107 2268 2 Smith Adam 1975 Powers of Mind Random House ISBN 0 394 49832 1 Sounes Howard 2010 Fab An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney London HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 00 723705 0 Spitz Bob 2005 The Beatles The Biography New York NY Little Brown and Company ISBN 978 0 316 80352 6 Syman Stefanie 2010 The Subtle Body The Story of Yoga in America New York NY Farrar Straus and Giroux ISBN 978 0 374 23676 2 Retrieved 17 June 2011 Tillery Gary 2010 The Cynical Idealist A Spiritual Biography of John Lennon Wheaton IL Quest Books ISBN 978 0 8356 0875 6 Tillery Gary 2011 Working Class Mystic A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison Wheaton IL Quest Books ISBN 978 0 8356 0900 5 Turner Steve 2006 The Gospel According to the Beatles Louisville KY Westminster John Knox Press ISBN 978 0 664 22983 2 Winn John C 2009 That Magic Feeling The Beatles Recorded Legacy Volume Two 1966 1970 New York NY Three Rivers Press ISBN 978 0 3074 5239 9 Woffinden Bob 1981 The Beatles Apart London Proteus ISBN 0 906071 89 5 Further reading editDragemark Elsa 1972 The Way to Maharishi s Himalayas Forf ASIN B0007B4LQG Needleman Jacob 1970 The New Religions Doubleday ISBN 978 1 101 14505 0 nbsp 1960s portalExternal links editPaul Saltzman s Beatles in India interview on VVH TV Film of the Beatles with the Maharishi in Rishikesh Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Beatles in India amp oldid 1188396025, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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