--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" LEnglish5@ wrote: <snip> > Lawson, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is > to find articles in any national magazine or on any national > TV station about Maharishi prior to August 24, 1967. That, > according to the BeatlesBible website quoted below, is when > they first met him and gave a press conference with him, thus > associating themselves with him in the press, and causing > other articles to be written. > > People have a weird "compressed" view of the timeline of > those days.
Yes, some people even think we've always had the Web, and that we can simply look up any article that was ever published in a magazine, even pre-1967, even from magazines that no longer exist; and find videotapes of TV broadcasts from a time when tape was so expensive that it was repeatedly reused, taping over whatever had been on it. In any case, nobody here is claiming he had national magazine and TV coverage in the U.S. before he met the Beatles. So the "mission" assigned to Lawson makes no sense on either count. On the other hand, we *can* determine that MMY had a significant following and local coverage from his world tours pre-Beatles from online sources such as Wikipedia, which references Paul Mason's book and other publications, including the book "Thirty Years Around the World." For example: "The Maharishi's 1986 book, Thirty Years Around the World, gives a detailed account of his world tours, as does a later biography, The Maharishi by Paul Mason.[41] The first world tour began in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) and included the countries of Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Hawaii.[42][43][44] The Honolulu Star Bulletin reported: 'He has no money, he asks for nothing. His worldly possessions can be carried in one hand. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is on a world odyssey. He carries a message that he says will rid the world of all unhappiness and discontent.'[45]... "In 1960, the Maharishi travelled to many cities in India, France, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.[50]...While in Manchester, England, the Maharishi gave a television interview and was featured in many English newspapers such as the Birmingham Post, the Oxford Mail and the Cambridge Daily News.[52]... "In 1961, the Maharishi visited Austria, Sweden, France, Italy, Greece, India, Kenya, England, USA and Canada.[37][55] While in England, the Maharishi appeared on BBC television and gave a lecture to 5,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[37][56]... "The Maharishi toured cities in Europe, Asia, North America and India in 1963, and also addressed ministers of the Indian Parliament.[65][66] According to his memoirs, twenty-one members of parliament then issued a public statement endorsing the Maharishi's goals and meditation technique.[67] His Canadian tour[68] generated news articles in the magazine Enjoy and in the Daily Colonist, Calgary Herald and The Albertan.[69]... "The Maharishi's fifth world tour, in 1964, consisted of visits to many cities in North America, Europe and India.[70][71] During his visit to England, he appeared with the Abbot of Downside, Abbot Butler, on a BBC television show called 'The Viewpoint'.[72][73]..." And then we have this from an October 1967 article in Time: "India, of course, has countless yogis, swamis, mystics and meditators....Though some of these holy men have managed to get a hearing outside their own country, none has done so well in modern times as the Maharishi (Great Sage), who had a considerable following even before he met and conquered the Beatles last August while on a lecture tour of England....Perhaps because of its comfortable teachings, the Maharishi's 'Spiritual Regeneration Movement' has spread quickly outside India. Transcendental meditation is now practiced by an estimated 100,000 followers in 35 countries from Denmark to New Zealand." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902143,00.html <snip> > I repeat my contention. If the Beatles had not attended that > talk, and associated themselves with Maharishi, he would > most likely never have been more than a blip on the world's > radar. And you would most likely be wrong--depending, of course, on your definition of "blip on the world's radar," which is conveniently flexible for your purposes. Given all the above, I repeat *my* contention that MMY would most likely, absent the Beatles, have been at least as well known as Muktananda or Yogananda. And the Beatles would most likely never have met up with him if he hadn't already had a significant following. And oh, by the way (moved from above): > > > Again, the Beatles already had some interest in that topic > > > -independently of Maharishi- although MMY certainly helped > > > make it fashionable > > > > Where do you get this stuff? Maharishi was speaking in > > their 'hood, that's all. As I remember it a friend of > > Patty Boyd's had heard of him and they went to see him > > speak. Maharishi had made nothing "fashionable" because > > at that point almost no one had heard of him. Of course, Lawson didn't say MMY had made anything "fashionable" at that point. But he's quite right that the Beatles were already interested in things Indian, as the "BeatlesBible" article you pasted in confirms. Pattie Boyd was already practicing TM when they all attended the lecture; she hadn't merely been told about MMY by a friend who had heard of him. And Harrison had been into Indian music and Hinduism since 1965. Then there's this from your previous post: > > > > People were interested in yoga back in the 1960s and the > > > > Beatles threw the spotlight on a teacher who was interested > > > > in teaching the world. Think if they'd gone down the > > > > Scientology road. :-D > > > > > > Back then, they didn't have any celebrities to shill > > > for them. Maharishi did. > > > > Dunno if the people gathered around Hubbard saw the benefits > > of celebrity endorsements the way MMY did, but I suspect > > there were quite a few celebs back in the day. > > Name one. Dave Brubeck and Gloria Swanson, among others. Elron established Scientology's "Celebrity Program" in 1958. Too bad you were so anxious to diss Lawson that you stupidly took the wrong side of this. I'm sure you could have made something of the notion that MMY went after celebrities in imitation of Hubbard.
