Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: in memoriam

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died yesterday at the age of 91. I followed Maharishi for over thirty years. What I mean by that is that from September 14, 1968 until the summer of 2000, I used Maharishi's techniques twice a day. Courses at Maharishi International University were formative to me intellectually. I became a teacher of TM and later a Governor of the Age of Enlightenment to follow his paths to spiritual enlightenment and higher states of consciousness.

I diverted from following Maharishi when I realized that I was pursuing God and to find Him I needed a personal relationship. Maharishi had once told me that my religion needed to be that of my father, which was Roman Catholicism. But, I was married to an ardent Methodist. So from 1973 up until five years ago, I attended Methodist churches. My wife, now a retired Methodist pastor, and the church's spiritual formation through Walk to Emmaus and Disciple Bible Study taught me about Jesus Christ. Every year, there was less Maharishi and more Jesus in my mind and heart until the final break with Maharishi in 2000. From then until now, I have realized a continuous growth in the direction and toward the goal that Maharishi originally enabled, the pursuit of God.

TM was designed, I believe, to increase in practitioners a hunger for God. It certainly did in me. But the hunger could not be satisfied by Maharishi, and he never taught that it would. The hunger was for the Creator, not for a created guru. I would like to honor Maharishi here as an important teacher, used by God to bring me closer to Him. Thank you dear Maharishi. I will always be inspired by your teachings and will use your gifts to me, taught through your Vedic tradition in the development of my own spiritual consciousness to praise our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. You opened my eyes to who Jesus really was. In early recordings, you only taught your meditation in the context of Christianity. Your first organization, Spiritual Regeneration Movement was composed nearly entirely of Christian mystics, of which I am now one. Thanks for the boost in the right direction.