He’s Enlightened, He’s Hairy, He’s HOT!

When I first started TM I, like many others, had heard the story of MMY’s supposed dalliance with Mia Farrow while in Rishikesh on the teacher training course the Beatles attended in 1968.

I was curious of course. I had heard that MMY presented himself as a celibate monk. Was it possible that he had succumbed to Ms. Farrow’s charms? As I was progressing quickly through the TM ranks (I was always a lousy dabbler…..it was all the way or nothing with me) in 1971 I wanted to know the truth about this incident since I felt that to use the master/disciple relationship to get laid was a fundamental no-no.

Eventually, learning more about fellow travelers from Apple Corp. who were also on the 1968 Rishikesh course, I became convinced that it was all a case of personal jealousy and manipulation by several members of the Apple Corp. staff. One Apple staff member in particular, known as “Magic Alex” apparently had tried to set a trap for MMY using his then girlfriend as bait. The plot failed. I was satisfied that my beloved saint MMY was a pure as the driven snow and lived far above such base human feelings as lust.

Several years later I was somewhat disturbed to read excerpts from Mia Farrow’s biography where she recalled MMY taking her into his dark meditation basement at Rishikesh for a special “puja”. She felt, as she recalled, two hairy arms embrace her around her waist in the dark and try to pull her down to the bed. She quickly left.

I was in the midst of taking the SCI course at the time, preparing to leave for my teacher training course, when I read about Ms. Farrow’s account of her time in MMY’s meditation chamber. I decided that this was nothing more than the faulty memory of an eccentric actress.

Several years later, on one of my many advanced courses in Switzerland, I recall hearing rumors about women following MMY into his room late at night in Seelisberg. This caught my attention since the source was none other than one of MMY’s personal secretaries, popularly known as “skin boys” since they carried the dear skin MMY sat on wherever he chose to park his blessed rump. There was talk about the state of MMY’s sheets on occasion when they were changed in the morning after these visits.

I took notice, but decided it was all too far fetched to be true. I mean, how could my enlightened master be concerned with sex? Hell, that would make him like me! And he was in Unity Consciousness, right? No, it was not possible. I had been spending a lot of time around MMY and had noted some odd behavior such as outbursts of temper and paranoia about the CIA, but the idea of him actually having sex with the granola girls was hard to figure.

1978- I left the TMO for many reasons, not looking back…..until 2006.

For some reason I became intensely curious about the time spent time in the TMO and around MMY. Those who know me well know that when I become curious I am INSATIABLY curious! I embarked on a quest to find out what had happened in the TMO during the time I was gone. I read as many books about TM as I could find, many pro, some con. One of the books I read was by a woman named Nancy Cooke de Herrera. She was a woman who had been with MMY in the early days of the TMO. She, in fact, had arranged with a friend, to fund the building of the Academy of meditation at Rishikesh.

In the mid-70s, about the same time I was attending one of my last courses, Nancy returned to attend one of the early siddhi courses. Her book, “All You Need Is Love’ is an excellent read. She takes an open, honest look at her many years serving MMY. Her story about the Gestapo like atmosphere in place on the mid 70s courses, and being accused by MMY of being in the “CIA” when she attempted to contact him several years later in India, brought back a flood of memories from those days.

About this same time in 2006 I began to contact people I had known back in the day, including several of the “skin boys” I had known from Switzerland. One thing led to another and soon I was in contact with a private chat group consisting of former secretaries and skin boys of MMY’s from the 60’s and 70’s as well as other members of the 1970’s era MMY inner circle. As information began to flow in, several pieces of the puzzle from those days fell into place.

I read long dialogs between former MMY skin boys discussing the comings and goings to MMY’s bedroom of several favored woman…usually in early morning hours. One woman in particular would be awakened, and clothed only in panties and top, be summoned to MMY’s room at 4am to “read mail”.

I read with interest two first hand accounts of an incident in Seelisberg, were two of MMY’s skin boys… who happened to be “on the door” that evening, entered MMY’s room to find him in the act, on top of a naked woman. MMY (or his female companion) inadvertently rolled over onto his contact button, the one used to summon an assistant. According to this account, MMY jumped up, and the two startled fellows quickly left the room.

There were also first hand reports from secretaries from the Rishikesh era, who were quite clearly aware of MMY’s sexual activity with two women in particular during the late 60s. A minimum amount of research on this topic will actually lead you to names and photos of these two women. One has indicated that she will publish her memoirs on these incidents after MMY has passed on. She has spoken privately to certain members of the inner circle from those days, giving graphic details of her dalliances with MMY.

It’s interesting to note, by the way, how many of the former secretaries and “skin boys” of MMY have now left the TMO and have reported on a very different side of 24/7 life with MMY than commonly presented to the true believers. It’s a large group, far outnumbering the few who remain committed to maheshism.

Another book, written by yet another personal secretary from the early days, in this case the early 60’s, is ‘Call No Man Master’ by Joyce Collins-Smith. Among many other interesting accounts of the ever changing nature of the TMO, based in London in those days, Ms. Collins-Smith recalls MMY inviting young female devotees into his room (one at a time) and locking the door. Prior to that time, Ms. Collins-Smith had been instructed by MMY to come in any time, the door would be open.

You might say, all this is hearsay, you have no concrete proof of any actual indiscretion. You would be correct. I am not trying to “prove” anything. I am only recounting my own personal investigation into this area of MMY’s life and reporting on the conclusions I have drawn.

As I mentioned in the beginning, MMY presented himself as a celibate monk. He clearly encouraged celibacy in others. In fact, he personally encouraged me to be celibate when I spoke with him on a course in the 70s in Switzerland, and I was married. For the record, I maintained the celibate state for a grand total of 19 minutes after I spoke with MMY! Clearly, I was not cut out for the life of a monk. Neither is MMY, at least not in my view.

The truest of the true believers, don’t care if MMY had sex with his followers, believing that the actions of an enlightened being are inherently correct. If you feel this way, so be it. But recognize that this is the same kind of totalitarian thinking that allowed a group to follow Jim Jones or masses to follow Adolph Hitler.

During the fall of 2006 I became aware of another person who MMY had attempted to seduce. This time, it didn’t involve names from the distant past, reported by one of the many disillusioned personal assistants to MMY. This time it was someone I am personally acquainted with, a woman who still retains stature within the TMO. She has absolutely nothing to gain by reporting an incident where MMY exposed himself and asked to be “attended to” and everything to lose. This woman has been wrestling with conflicting feeling about this incident for years. I respect her privacy and can only offer my best hopes for her recovery and understanding. But even the slightest remaining personal doubt about MMY’s sexual activities with his female followers during the 60’s and 70’s was now erased.

There are many reasons why I chose not to follow maheshism. MMY’s sexual activities in the 60s and 70s with female devotees only represent a small piece of a very large, tainted pie.