University of Virginia Library

Beatles And Starlets

Whenever he has gone, the Maharishi
has taken his movement
to the taste-makers. In London,
he found the Beatles; in San
Francisco, the Grateful Dead; in
Hollywood, a bevy of searching
starlets. When he brought his technique
to Germany, der guru approached
factory bosses; after they
approached factory bosses; after they
discovered that transcendental
meditation could increase production,
they embraced the movement
as a national asset.

In New York, the Maharishi
wanted to meet the media. A
large theatrical agency, which also
handles public relations for the
Ringling Brothers, Barnum and
Bailey Circus, arranged his press
conference, circulated in the
audience with flowers in their stiff
lapels, and surrounded their client
like steel-gray columns.

"Jesus didn't have any public
relations men around him," noted
one reporter. "That is why he took
so many hundreds of years to be
known," the Maharishi replied in
a small, tinkling voice. He cradled
a hyacinth bud in one hand and
gestured with the other. His eyes
shone under the klieg lights like
sunny water.

"Your Holiness, do you ever
suffer?"

"I don't remember the last time
I was depressed."

"Your Holiness, nine years ago
you left your hermit's cave in the
Himalayas. Why did you leave?"

"To come out."