The following review is just a sample the content that is in the June issue of the magazine which will be published in just a few weeks. Members get four issues a year. Join here.
Maharishi and Me: seeking
enlightenment with The Beatles’ guru
Susan Shumsky
Skyhorse Publishing, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5107-2268-2 (RRP $26.99)
Susan Shumsky is well-placed to write a
book about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – she was a pupil of his for over twenty
years and immersed herself in his teachings, his method of meditation
(Transcendental - TM) and in his Spiritual Regeneration Movement. In 1966 a
teenage Susan, like many of her peers, left home and headed to the hippy scene
in Oakland, California. There she began to indulge in the sex and drugs
lifestyle, trying LSD and similar mind-expanding drugs in search of something
deeper and more meaningful. During this time, she met someone who suggested
that there was another way and within days she chanced upon Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa
Yogananda just as George Harrison had during the filming of Help!. This book and encounter was to
change her life. Susan then was introduced to Transcendental Meditation and her
lifelong spiritual journey began.
“This memoir will raise the veil to
uncover how Maharishi captivated me, transformed me and then released me to
find self-empowerment in my own spiritual pathway.” Shumsky does not hold back.
This is a ‘warts and all’ account of her direct experience with Maharishi and
his methods of teaching, his manipulation of his students and staff and his
personal foibles. But all throughout she maintains a strong regard and respect for
Maharishi as a spiritual teacher (guru) and a man.
Shumsky makes a clear point that the
methods practiced by Maharishi may seem cruel and uncaring but were intended to
free his students from their egos. “Once we let go of ego attachment, we become
our own guru and miracle maker.”
A significant portion of the book and
accompanying images is devoted to the Beatles’ experience at the Maharishi’s
ashram in Rishikesh. It must be stressed that the author never met the Beatles
but her stories about them in India come from known sources and, more
interestingly, from people who were there, people other than the ones we have
already heard from. One can’t help but wonder that her publisher asked Shumsky
to add these stories to make the book more appealing to a wider audience. Well,
it works. Shumsky covers the episode with Alexis Mardas, aka ‘Magic Alex’, and
the now-identified woman he probably collaborated with to discredit Maharishi,
leading to John and George and their wives leaving the ashram abruptly. Without
giving too much away, Shumsky’s account of the Beatles’ time in Rishikesh is an
eye-opener and one that every Beatles fan should read and consider carefully in
light of the author’s experience of meditation and Maharishi’s methods.
As to the contemporary negative views of
Maharishi and his teachings, Shumsky rightfully points out that it had always
been the case that gurus came from the Brahmin caste in India. Maharishi did
not. Also, the teaching of meditation to achieve a higher spiritual status was
intended to be provided with no charge. Maharishi was heavily criticised for
his focus on Western pupils who were very willing to pay sometimes quite large
sums of money to learn from him. But…”Maharishi transformed the world by
introducing and popularising meditation into Western culture.”
Her recall is astonishing; the level of
detail in her descriptions of the events spanning from 1966 to the present
implies she kept a diary although nowhere in the text does she state this. The
reader must take it on trust that she recalls these events and those that she
was told about accurately. The chapters are presented chronologically which is
a big help in following the complicated machinations of her spiritual journey.
Most of the chapters start with one of Maharishi’s sayings which, for me, gives
so much more insight into his actual teachings then I have hitherto encountered
before. Some years ago, I underwent a weekend training course and subsequent
follow-up sessions in TM near Marylebone Station in London and although the
Maharishi was still alive at the time, I was never privy to any of his teachings.
In this book Susan Shumsky presents an
intense insight into TM and Maharishi in an easily understandable manner. This
book is a joy to read.
Terry Bloxham
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