Difference between revisions 156726449 and 156726450 on dewiki

{{The Beatles history|above=[[File:The Beatles at Rishikesh.jpg|150px]]<br>The Beatles in Rishikesh with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi}}

'''[[The Beatles]] were in [[Rishikesh]]''', India, in 1968, to attend an advanced [[Transcendental Meditation]] (TM) training session at the [[ashram]] of [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]]. The trip came six months after The Beatles first met the Maharishi, in August, 1967. Their adoption of him as their guru attracted wide attention and is credited w(contracted; show full)

==Background==
[[File:MahareshiYogi2.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A 1973 photograph of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a middle-aged man of Indian heritage with long black hair and a partly grey beard, wearing a white robe and gesticulating.|link=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|[[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], in 1973]]
The Beatles were interested in Eastern influences for their music and had been using drugs in an effort to expand their consciousness.<ref name=NewYorkTimes>{{cite news |title=Meditation on the man who saved 
tThe Beatles |first=Allan |last=Kozinn |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 February 2008 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/arts/07iht-07yogi.9826732.html?_r=1}}</ref> At the suggestion of [[Pattie Boyd|Pattie Harrison]], [[George Harrison]]'s wife, they attended a lecture at the [[London Hilton on Park Lane|London Hilton]] on Park Lane, presented by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, on 24 August 1967.<ref name=BeatlesBible>{{cite web |url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/features/india/ |title=The(contracted; show full)

Curious to learn more, the Beatles made plans to attend an initiator training programme at the Maharishi's new ashram in India in October.<ref name=Felton>{{cite news|title=Beatles' Yogi Allows Shoes at Conference|first=DAVE|last=FELTON|work=Los Angeles Times|date=20 September 1967|page=A3}}</ref> However, 
tThe Beatles postponed the trip due to their commitment with the [[Magical Mystery Tour (film)|''Magical Mystery Tour'' film]] and [[Magical Mystery Tour|soundtrack]].<ref name=BeatlesBible/> In the meantime, they often visited with the Maharishi in London.<ref name=B&G/> Now publicised as "tThe Beatles' Guru", the Maharishi went on his eighth world tour, giving lectures in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Canada, and California.<ref name=Lefferts>{{cite news|title=Chief Guru of the World|first=Barney|last=Lefferts|date=17 December 1967|work=The New York Times}}</ref> He spoke to 3,600 people at [[The Theater at Madison Square Garden]] in New York City in January 1968, and tThe Beatles sent a large flower arrangement to his suite at the [[Plaza Hotel]].<ref>{{cite news|title=3,600 Hear Guru Urge Meditation|first=Paul|last=Hofman|date= 22 January 1968|work=New York Times}}</ref> After thousands of would-be meditators thronged the lobby, the Maharishi was not allowed to stay there again.<ref name=Haber>{{cite news|title=Meditating on a Tight Schedule|first=Joyce|last=Haber|authorlink=Joyce Haber|work=Los Angeles Times|date=7 May 1968|page=D19}}</ref>

The Beatles discovered that the Maharishi was negotiating with [[ABC Television]] in the US to create a TV special featuring them without their permission. Two trips by business manager [[Peter Brown (music industry)|Peter Brown]] to the Maharishi, who was lecturing in [[Malmö]], Sweden, including one with Harrison and McCartney, failed to get him to stop making promises that he could deliver the band for the show.<ref name=B&G/> Before leaving for India the band recorded the instrumental tracks for "[[Across the Universe]]", whose refrain, "Jai Guru Dev", was a standard greeting within the Maharishi's [[Spiritual Regeneration Movement]].<ref name=Gould/> Also, each of tThe Beatles and many of their entourage gave one week's salary to the Maharishi, the customary fee for TM initiation at the time.<ref name=Nossiter/>

==Arrival==
[[John Lennon]], his wife [[Cynthia Lennon|Cynthia]], George and Pattie Harrison, and Pattie's sister, [[Jenny Boyd]],<ref name=Boyd/> arrived in [[Delhi]] on 16 February, then took a {{convert|150|mi|km|adj=on}} taxi drive to Rishikesh. [[Paul McCartney]], his girlfriend [[Jane Asher]], [[Ringo Starr]] and his wife [[Maureen Starkey|Maureen]] arrived four days later.<ref name=BeatlesBible/> The group arrived three weeks after the session, due to end 25 April, had already begun.<ref name=Lelyveld>{{cite news|title=Beatles' Guru is Turning Them Into Gurus With Cram Course|first=Joseph|last=Lelyveld|date=23 February 1968|work=The New York Times}}</ref> They were accompanied by a small retinue of reporters and photographers who were mostly kept out of the fenced and gated compound.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Spiritual leader who introduced millions, including tThe Beatles, to transcendental meditation |first=Spencer |last=Leigh |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maharishi-mahesh-yogi-spiritual-leader-who-introduced-millions-including-the-beatles-to-transcendental-meditation-779109.html |date=7 February 2008 |accessdate=15 March 2010}}</ref><ref name=Cynthia>{{cite news |title=The Beatles, the Maharishi and me |first=Cynthia |last=Lennon |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |work=The Times |location=London |date=10 February 2008 |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3340963.ece}}</ref> [[Magic Alex|Alexis "Magic Alex" Mardas]], a friend of tThe Beatles, arrived four weeks later.<ref name=Boyd/> Road manager [[Mal Evans]] and business managers Peter Brown and [[Neil Aspinall]] were there for all or part of the time.<ref name=B&G/><ref name=Gould/> Also there at the same time were [[Mia Farrow]] (who had recently divorced [[Frank Sinatra]]), her sister [[Prudence Farrow|Prudence]] and brother John, [[Donovan]], [[Gyp Mills|Gyp "Gypsy Dave" Mills]], [[The Beach Boys|Beach Boy]] [[Mike Love]], [[jazz]] [[Flute|flutis(contracted; show full)iter>{{cite news|title=IN YOGI LAND|first=BERNARD|last=NOSSITER|work=Los Angeles Times|date=18 February 1968|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Preacher of Peace|date=22 January 1968|work=The New York Times}}</ref> It had been built in 1963 with a $100,000 gift from American heiress [[Doris Duke]].<ref name=NCH>{{cite book|title=Beyond Gurus: A Woman of Many Worlds|first=Nancy Cooke|last= de Herrera|publisher=Blue Dolphin Publishing|year=1993|isbn=093189249}}</ref> While 
tThe Beatles were there the Maharishi was negotiating with the Indian government to use some nearby park land for an airstrip for a jet plane which he had been given,<ref name=Nossiter/> a deal which was protested by several thousand landless peasants who had been denied the use of the land for farming.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yogi Undisturbed by Resistance to Airfield|first=ARTHUR J|lasat=DOMMEN|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1 April 1968|page=29}}</ref> The stone bungalows were equipped with electric heaters, running water, toilets, and English-style furniture.<ref name=B&G/> The ashram was surrounded by barbed wire and the gates were kept locked and guarded.<ref name=Lelyveld/>

==Experience==
The routine at the ashram was relaxed. Meals were eaten in an open dining area, where the vegetarian meals, prepared by an English cook, were unwillingly shared with aggressive monkeys. The days were devoted to meditating and attending lectures by the Maharishi, who spoke from a flower-bedecked platform.<ref name=Boyd/> The Maharishi also gave private lessons to tThe Beatles, nominally due to their late arrival. The tranquil environment provided by the Maharishi – complete with meditation and relaxation, and away from the media throng – helped the band. While he kept the media away from his students, the Maharishi gave them frequent interviews.<ref name=Lelyveld/>
[[File:The Beatles at Rishikesh.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], [[The Beatles]] and their companions posed on a dais.  Behind the Maharishi is a painting of his guru, [[Brahmananda Saraswati]]. The rest of the 60 students are seated on either side. This formal class portrait was planned by the Maharishi and photographed by several photographers, including this image by [[Paul Saltzman]].]]
Though access to the individual Beatles was limited, the Maharishi did have all of his students line up for a class portrait. Nancy Cooke de Herrera, a longtime follower, says that she complained to the Maharishi for giving his celebrity students unusual attention, including placing them at the center of the portrait.<ref name=NCH/> One of the photographers who took a picture of the assembled group was Paul Saltzman, a Canadian filmmaker who visited the ashram after completing film work elsewhere in India. While there he took some s(contracted; show full)ed on "[[Dear Prudence]]" and "[[Julia (The Beatles song)|Julia]]".<ref name=BeatlesBible/> The stay at the ashram turned out to be one of the group's most creative periods. Lennon later said of the experience, "I was going humity-humity in my head and the songs were coming out. For creating it was great. It was just pouring out!"<ref name=Goldman/> Both Lennon and McCartney spent time composing rather than meditating.<ref>{{cite news|title=The sound of 
tThe Beatles breaking up; The band's white album turns 40 this year. Randy Shore takes us back|first=Randy|last=Shore|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=13 December 2008|page=F.1}}</ref> In addition to the many songs composed by tThe Beatles, Donovan composed "[[Jennifer Juniper]]" for his new girlfriend, Jenny Boyd.<ref name=B&G/>  

Like other students at the ashram, tThe Beatles adopted native dress, though they made it their own. The ashram had a tailor on the premises to make clothes for the students. The group started wearing loose Indian clothes. They shopped in Rishikesh and bought saris to be made into shirts and jackets in the loudest colours, which went on to affect Western fashions when they wore them back home.<ref name=NCH/>

===Starr===
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===McCartney===
McCartney and Asher departed in mid-March.<ref name=MacDonald/> He needed to get back to London to supervise [[Apple Corps]] and she had a theatrical commitment.<ref name=NCH/> As he left he told another student, "I'm a new man".<ref name=NCH/>

===Harrison===
The visit was an especially reflective opportunity, as Harrison shared with Canadian visitor, Paul Saltzman
.: "Like, we're tThe Beatles after all, aren't we?" said Harrison, "We have all the money you could ever dream of. We have all the fame you could ever wish for. But, it isn't love. It isn't health. It isn't peace inside, is it?"<ref>{{cite news |title='Their humour was one way they kept their feet on the ground' |first= Tara |last=Kilachand |date=17 May 2008 |newspaper=[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]] |publisher=livemint.com |url=http://www.livemint.com/2008/05/16235821/8216Their-h(contracted; show full)d, too, that time out of the spotlight would be good for John and me."<ref name=Cynthia/> They initially shared a four-poster bed, but after a week John requested separate quarters and began to ignore Cynthia. He received daily letters from [[Yoko Ono]].<ref name=Boyd/> One of her notes said "Look up at the sky and when you see a cloud think of me."<ref name=B&G/>

===Others===
Aspinall, head of Apple Corps, was kept busy negotiating an agreement for a movie to include 
tThe Beatles in a movie about the Maharishi. Aspinall was surprised to find that the holy man had an accountant and was a sophisticated negotiator.<ref name=B&G/> Another conflict concerned the Maharishi's wish that tThe Beatles pay him 10 to 25 percent of their income.<ref name=B&G/> However he did not charge them for staying at the ashram (other students were charged $400 for the full three-month session),<ref name=Nossiter/><ref name=Lelyveld/> or for many expenses they incurred.<ref name=NCH/>

Some of the negotiations concerned a movie that was to be about either the Maharishi or his own guru. Paul Horn put the deal together with [[Four Star Films]].<ref name=Feather/> John Farrow was to direct. They were planning to film at the ashram, and at [[Kashmir]], where the Maharishi planned to go when Rishikesh got too hot in the summer.

==Lennon and Harrison's departure==
Lennon and Harrison left abruptly in April, a few weeks after McCartney.<ref name=MacDonald/> The cause for their sudden departure has various explanations. The immediate statements by tThe Beatles said that they were disillusioned by the Maharishi's desire for financial gain.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maharishi Yogi Turns Other Cheek to tThe Beatles' Slur|first=WAYNE|last=WARGA|work=Los Angeles Times|date=17 May 1968|page=D14}}</ref>

Several writers have said that Lennon became convinced that the Maharishi, who said he was celibate,<ref name=Gould/> had made a pass at Mia Farrow or was having relations with other young female students. Lennon later called the Maharishi a "lecherous womaniser".<ref>{{cite news|title=TM disciples remain loyal despite controversies|first=Steve|last=Rabey|work=Colorado Springs G(contracted; show full)shi had over Lennon, and during one of their frequent walks through the woods he asked Lennon why the Maharishi always had an accountant by his side.<ref name="MaharishiMaheshYogiSpiritualLeaderTheIndependent">{{cite web |first= |last= |url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maharishi-mahesh-yogi-spiritual-leader-who-introduced-millions-including-the-beatles-to-transcendental-meditation-779109.html |title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Spiritual leader who introduced millions, including 
tThe Beatles, to transcendental meditation |publisher=[[The Independent]] |date=2008-02-07 |accessdate=2008-08-08}}</ref> Lennon replied that The Beatles (or Lennon and Harrison) were considering donating a large part of their income to the Maharishi's bank accounts in Switzerland.<ref name="Spitzp755-756">Spitz (2005) pp. 755–756</ref> When Mardas questioned the Maharishi about this, he offered money to Mardas to build a high-powered radio station, so he could broadcast his t(contracted; show full)
One of Mia Farrow's childhood friends, Ned Wynn, writes in his 1990 memoir that she had told him a few years later that the Maharishi had definitely made sexual passes at her.<ref>{{cite book|title=We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills|first=Ned|last=Wynn|publisher=William Morrow and Company|year=1990|page=259}}</ref> In her 1993 autobiography, Nancy Cooke de Herrera says that Farrow had confided to her, long before the arrival of 
tThe Beatles, that the Maharishi had made a pass during a private [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] ceremony. De Herrera gives her opinion that Farrow was probably mistaken about the encounter, and also that Mardas was to blame for the trouble with Lennon.<ref name=NCH/> Farrow's own memoirs, published in 1997, are ambiguous, simply reporting that her sister, Prudence, says she was confused about the matter.<ref>{{cite book|title=What Falls Away|location=New York|publisher=Doubleday|year=1997|first=Mia|last=Farrow}}</ref> [[Deepak Chopra]], who was not present but who later became a disciple of the Maharishi and a friend of George Harrison, says that the Maharishi was upset that tThe Beatles were using drugs at the ashram.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maharish Mahesh Yogi, guru to Beatles, dies |first=Ben |last=Rooney |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=6 February 2008 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1577866/Maharishi-Mahesh-Yogi-guru-to-Beatles-dies.html |accessdate=15 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="foxnews.com">[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328965,00.html] Beatles Meditation Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies, AP, 6 Feb 2005</ref><ref>Toronto Star, Beatles Guru Lived Life in Bliss, Mike Corder, 6 Feb 2008 [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/1424465091.html?dids=1424465091:1424465091&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+06%2C+2008&author=Mike+Corder&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Beatles%27+guru+lived+life+%27in+bliss%27%3B+Maharishi+popularized+Transcendental+Meditation%2C+shot+to+fame+after+Fab+Four+visited+ashram+in+%2768&pqatl=google]</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Meditation chambers at the old Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram, now in ruins, Muni Ki Reti.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of meditation chambers, which are small domes built of small stones, with plants growing out of the cracks and surrounded by thick jungle.|link=|Meditation caves at the abandoned Academy of Meditation in Rishikesh, 2006]]
Saltzman photographed tThe Beatles at the ashram, and his photos have subsequently been displayed in galleries worldwide and been published in two books.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thebeatlesinindia.com/ |title=The Beatles in India |work=TheBealtesInIndia.com}}</ref> In 2003, former model [[Jerry Hall]] produced a series for the [[BBC]] titled "Gurus", which included interviews with her ex-boyfriend and TM initiate [[Mick Jagger]] and Nancy Cooke de Herrera, and a visit to the ashram in Rishikesh.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/08_august/21/bbcthree_art.pdf|title=Jerry Hall’s Gurus|date=8 August 2003|publisher=BBC|accessdate=24 April 2010}}</ref> Film director [[Mira Nair]] began work on a documentary film about tThe Beatles' visit to India;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/film/news/1788/mira-nair-q-a.html |title=Mira Nair Q&A |first=Ben |last=Walters |date=27 March 2007 |work=Time Out London |publisher=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]] |accessdate=15 March 2010}}</ref> however, no date for the film release has been announced. 

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==Songs==
The Beatles wrote many songs during their visit to Rishikesh: 30 by one count;<ref name=Goldman/> and "48 songs in seven weeks" by others.<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_martin-scorsese-films-harrison-s-tryst-with-indian-spirituality_1384278] DNA the world, Choudray, Martin Scocesse Films Harrison's Tryst with Indian Spirituality, 17 May 2010</ref><ref>50 Years of 
tThe Beatles, When the Beatles turned to India, Bikas Bhagat, Aug 9 2010 [http://spicezee.zeenews.com/beatles/story.aspx?id=67696]</ref> Some of the songs became part of the album ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'' (aka the ''White Album''), while other songs appeared on the albums ''[[Abbey Road]]'' and ''[[Let It Be]]''. Several of the songs contained Eastern musical influences.<ref name=Miles>{{cite book |title=[[Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now]] |first=Barry |last=Miles |authorlink=Barry Miles |year=1997 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=0805052496}}</ref>

The songs known to be composed – either partially or completely – by tThe Beatles in India are:
*"[[Back in the U.S.S.R.]]"<ref name="Miles">[[Barry Miles]], as quoted by [[Richie Unterberger]] in the [http://www.richieunterberger.com/brautigan.html sleevenotes] to the eventual non-Apple release of ''Listening To Richard Brautigan''.</ref>
*"[[Blackbird (song)|Blackbird]]"<ref name=MacDonald/>
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*{{cite book | author=Spitz, Bob | title=The Beatles: The Biography | publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] ([[New York]])| year=2005 | isbn=1-84513-160-6}}

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiAhzpGO1Qk&feature=related Paul Saltzman's Beatles in India Interview on VVH-TV] 
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=45158 Film of 
tThe Beatles with Maharishi in Rishikesh] 

{{The Beatles}}
{{Transcendental Meditation movement}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatles At Rishikesh, The}}
[[Category:History of The Beatles|Rishikesh]]
[[Category:Transcendental Meditation movement]]
[[Category:1968 in India]]

[[fr:Séjour des Beatles en Inde]]
[[it:Soggiorno dei Beatles in India]]