Transcendental Celebrity Shtick

Since Maharishi’s late 1960’s with the Beatles, Beach Boys, Mia Farrow and Donovan, Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation Movement cultivated celebrity appeal for enhanced recruitment and donations.




Glitz of the rich and famous appeals to many. When I was with the TM Movement, many TMers bragged about their association with various celebrities coming through town or on advanced TM courses. While I met my share the rich and famous, and was friendly with a few, the starstruck twinkle unto itself did not draw me. Many others were magnetically attracted to associate with the stars, much like associating with the popular crowd in high school. Name dropping is a common phenomenon within TM circles.

Many talented individuals gain celebrity status through talent and hard work. But celebrities are fallible human beings, like the rest of us, who can be misled and recruited in vulnerable moments - just like anyone else! Celebrity endorsement unto itself does not mean something is valuable. All that sparkles is not gold, folks!

More Info On McCartney's TM Academy

Received this recently in my email regarding the English Transcendental Meditation academy seeking funding from ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. (Edited for anonymity.)

As the article attached states it is situated in Ormskirk, Lancashire 15 miles away from Liverpool which happens to be where Paul McCartney was born and raised. The school happens to be part of the siddhaland situated in Skelmersedale, Lancashire which is next to Ormskirk. All the children from the siddhaland, known as the Ideal Village attend the Maharishi school in Ormskirk. It is rather like the set up in Fairfield - I heard there was a school there to.

"In this same siddhaland, some one became a drug addict and was immediately shunned by the Village. There were many broken marriages and Geoffrey Clements told his divorced wife (the 2nd and 3rd wife, I could never keep up) to leave the Village, and put all sorts of intimidating pressure on her to do so."

Magazine Says Beatles Concert Raised $3M to Teach Transcendental Meditation

Here's the scoop.

Press Conference on TM in Schools

One can certainly NOT fault the publicity arm of the Transcendental Movement. I received these two notices about a press conference to be held Friday, April 3, in New York. The first is a form letter "certified governors" are supposed to use to gin up local support. The second appears to be a press release announcing the press conference.

As readers may know, there will be a free Web Event Thursday, April 2, 8:30 pm EDT to discuss and protest what appears to be a clear-cut violation of the separation of Church and State: Teaching the religiously-based Transcendental Meditation technique in public schools. For more information and to register for the free event, click here.

Here are the two announcements:

Dear Certified Governors,

The letter below is for discussion during today's conference call with Bob Roth.

It is not for distribution.

JAI GURU DEV

Communication Office
Raja Hagelin's Administration
for an Invincible America


"Beatle Concert” in New York to raise funds
for 1000 at-risk youth in to meditate

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr news conference
to be webcast live on April 3, 12 noon (EDT)

Dear ___________________,

So much has happened since the Beatles, Donovan, Mike Love, and Paul Horn traveled to India in 1968 to study the Transcendental Meditation® technique with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Since then millions of people have learned to meditate, the National Institutes of Health has awarded $24 million to investigate the benefits of the TM® technique for cardiovascular disease, business leaders provide it to their employees as a company-sponsored wellness program, and perhaps most interestingly, a growing number of principals are offering it to their students and teachers to help quell the stress and violence that pervade so many of America’s schools.

On Friday, April 3, at 12 noon (EDT) Paul McCartney, Ringo, Starr, David Lynch, Russell Simmons, and others will hold a news conference (DavidLynchFoundation.org) to launch a global initiative teach one million at-risk kids to meditate, including 1000 kids in the area. Then, the next evening, April 4, they will hold the “Change Begins Within” benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York to raise the funds to teach the million young people.

I would like to invite you to cover this news, including how these scholarship funds will be used in to help young people overcome stress and improve their academic achievement. If time allows, you could come to our Transcendental Meditation Program Center at

to watch the live global webcast—and meet some of the meditating school teachers, business professionals, and other members of the community who practice the TM technique—and who enthusiastically support the effort of Paul and Ringo to bring meditation to at-risk youth in our city.

I will give you a call to discuss the idea further.

With best wishes,




®Transcendental Meditation and TM are registered trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.