in our interview, Alex asked, "Where is God in all of this?" There are two aspects to God, the personal and the impersonal. The impersonal permea
Encountering Buddha is a bit beyond me, Alex...
but, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to reminisce about Maharishi's life in the hope that the extraordinarily demanding routine he kept for 50+ years might result in a more sympathetic understanding of the man.
Maharishi spent 20 hours a day, every day, lecturing on topics ranging from Quantum Physics to human DNA to Rig Veda (always without notes) in addition to overseeing TM activities in some 50 countries while hosting ambassadors, Nobel Laureates, military commanders, industrialists, and even heads of state.
I was with Maharishi a fair amount over three decades in India, Switzerland, France, Holland, Germany, Philippines, and USA. In the 90's, Maharishi organized our corporate India project. My project partner and I often met with Maharishi around midnight and by 3:00 am one of the secretaries would suggest that it was time to retire. As we stumbled off to bed another group took our seats in Maharishi's suite.
Meetings went on around the clock seven days a week 51 weeks out of the year (Maharishi began the new year with a week of silence). Meetings typically adjourned as the sun came up, but not always because somewhere in the world someone wanted to speak to Maharishi about a prison project, an upcoming media interview, a proposed school or hospital, or a research paper about to be published. Maharishi loved celebrations, and regardless who was with him, he took time to celebrate everyone's birthday. Despite the grueling schedule, Maharishi was always gracious, energetic, in good humor, and effortlessly able to inspire his guests, whether in a talk or with a welcoming smile. His laughter infected everyone in his presence.
I remember Maharishi's conversation in Switzerland with Welsh physicist, Dr. Brian Josephson. The discussion was animated, often playful as Maharishi explained the parallels between consciousness and theoretical physics to the Nobel Laureate. On Thanksgiving, 1983, Deepak Chopra met Maharishi for the first time. Chopra was Chief of Staff at a large Boston hospital at the time. Over the course of the evening, Maharishi persuaded Chopra to join the TM movement. Chopra's assignment: make Ayur Veda a household name in America.
Maharishi visited Communist Europe many times where he organized meditation programs for government officials in several eastern block nations. One memory stands out from that era. In a monastery on the Rhein River near Bonn, our group of monks was settling into morning meditation when Maharishi sent word for the Americans to come to the hall. Earlier, a secretary had read him an article in the International Herald Tribune describing the dismissal of a couple hundred Romanian government officials who were doing TM. Maharishi was furious and wanted to know why the CIA was meddling with his peace programs. I have never seen or felt fury like that. For 40 minutes we were, as if, consumed by flames. But nothing deterred Maharishi. He launched dozens more initiatives in eastern Europe, including some in Siberia (I was spared that assignment).
In 1982, I recall Maharishi instructing his graphics people to create a huge map of a unified Germany. After the map was taped to the wall of the monastery chapel, Maharishi pointed to it and said 'one day this will be the reality.' I never saw Maharishi happier than the day the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. It was also a day of personal celebration for me as I had toured East Berlin in the summer of 1979 as guest of some publishers. Check Point Charlie, the endless rows of Plattenbauten (drab government block housing), rusting gray Trabants (Soviet manufactured cars), barren bakeries and shops, and German children who wanted to touch my thick down jacket left enduring impressions.
During the Sino-Indian border conflict of 1962, Maharishi spent several weeks in the war zone high in the Himalayas. Upon returning to Delhi, his driver reported that Maharishi had ridden a mule along the border day after day while meditating through the night in an effort to avert all out war.
Maharishi patiently answered questions. When asked about UFO's, he replied: "They're the truck drivers of the universe... don't get on the cigar shaped ones." Once he asked his monks if they would like to become 'galactic ambassadors.'
Maharishi didn't seem to sleep; nor did he meditate much. He simply worked round the clock year after year with a superhuman stamina that stayed with him past age 90. What he did in his private moments was known only to his personal secretaries. Apparently, his legendary stamina was even greater than we realized.
Maharishi wasn't perfect, but he lived his life for others and was dedicated to helping humanity during some difficult times. He absolutely forbade anyone from 'worshiping' him. When a group of Americans performed a puja ceremony in his honor when he arrived at our Interlaken hotel, his response was: "I hated that." In 2008, as thousands watched flames consume Maharishi's mortal remains on the banks of the Ganges, those present felt orphaned. It was an honor to have known the "giggling saint" who had come to the west from the Himalayas.