Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Indian scientist and guru, creator of transcendental meditation Date of Birth: 12.01.1917 Country: India

Biography of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, also known as Maharishi, was an Indian scholar and guru, and the creator of Transcendental Meditation. He was born on January 12, 1917, in Raipur, India. Initially, Maharishi studied physics and chemistry at Allahabad University. Alongside his studies, he had a keen interest in spiritual teachers and upon hearing that Brahmananda Saraswati was in Allahabad, he went to the house where the teacher was staying. Maharishi soon became his disciple and spent twenty years with Guru Dev Brahmananda Saraswati, becoming his top student.

Afterward, Maharishi decided to retreat to the Himalayas, but after two years of solitude, he felt called to return to the world. His first destination upon leaving the Himalayas was the state of Kerala in southern India. Within a few days, he was offered the opportunity to give a week-long lecture series. His lectures gained immense interest, and soon Maharishi Mahesh Yogi became famous throughout the state. He then traveled across India for two years, rapidly gaining recognition and followers.

In 1958, the guru traveled to the East, visiting Singapore and Hawaii, and in early 1959, he arrived in California. There, he spent several months establishing a permanent center for his philosophy before moving on to New York and then Europe. By the end of the year, Maharishi realized he needed support. He subsequently built a Vedic center, known as an "ashram," where he began training his followers. Future teachers learned the art of teaching there. The first group consisted of around thirty students, but by 1960, the number had grown to two hundred.

In response to the growing demand for teachers, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi opened training courses in Europe, enabling him to educate thousands of individuals. By 1965, he had trained approximately ten thousand meditation teachers and renamed his organization the International Meditation Society. In 1963, Maharishi established the International Student Society to cater to the significant interest in his teachings among students and young people.

Widely recognized as an eminent scholar in the field of consciousness and the greatest living guru in the modern world, Maharishi restored and systematized the Vedic literature, which had existed in fragmented form for thousands of years, turning it into a comprehensive science of consciousness in all its theoretical and practical significance.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi passed away on February 5, 2008, in Vlodrop, the Netherlands.