Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the “giggling guru” who founded the Transcendental Meditation movement, proclaimed throughout his 50-year career that he knew the secret to worldwide peace. And now, a Cleveland suburb is poised to play a role.
Followers gathered at the Dutch home of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on Thursday to remember the late guru to the Beatles who brought transcendental meditation to the West.
The Maharishi was both an entrepreneur and a monk, a spiritual man who sought a world stage from which to espouse the joys of inner happiness. His critics called his organization a cult business enterprise.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who became a guru to the Beatles, stepped down this month as the head of the organization that brought transcendental meditation to the West, an aide said on Monday.
Officials in the municipalities where the group wants to build have received site planning proposals. Murach said the group hopes to break ground in the spring or early summer.
When the Beatles sought guidance from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968, they traveled to India. Now that the “giggling guru,” as he has been called, is seeking investors, a branch of his organization has come to the New York financial district.
The Global Country of World Peace wants to build a peace palace and a private high school Mayfield Heights. Owned by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the palace would teach transcendental meditation and peaceful enlightenment. But the pacifists say their Mayfield Heights reception has been anything but peaceful.
Global Country of World Peace, which has its U.S. headquarters in Iowa, eventually plans to build what it calls a Peace Palace, which focuses on teaching transcendental meditation.
These Indian pandits – scholars of Transcendental Meditation with three-year visas – are among 600 advanced-level meditators who began to arrive in late summer. Another 200 are expected to arrive in the next month.
Transcendental Mediation Peace palaces promoting holistic health programs will be built in Colorado Springs and 20 other cities across the nation if the Colorado Health Facilities Authority approves a request for $51 million in revenue bonds Monday.