The Maharishi Years – The Untold Story: Recollections of a Former Disciple by Deepak Chopra : IntentBlog

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The Maharishi Years – The Untold Story: Recollections of a Former Disciple by Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra - February 12, 2008

Maharishi and Deepak websize.jpg

August 1, 1991 saw the publication of my book, Perfect Health, a popular guide to Ayurveda that came at the height of my involvement with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Although I had been meditating less than a decade in comparison

with TM meditators who went back to the Sixties, my association with Maharishi quickly became personal. He felt comfortable around other Indians and had a special regard for trained scientists and physicians. In return I had a deep fascination with enlightenment and the almost supernatural status of gurus. A few days before the book’s publication, I was in Fairfield, Iowa to participate in a meditation course. Maharishi was supposed to address the assembly on speaker phone from India, but the phone call didn’t come through at the appointed time. We all dispersed.

A couple of hours later when I was in meditation I had a vision of Maharishi lying in a hospital bed with intravenous tubes in his body breathing on a respirator. I quickly got out of the meditation and phoned my parents in New Delhi. My mother picked up the phone and told me that Maharishi was very sick. “They think he’s been poisoned. Come quickly,” she said. I asked to speak to my father, who was a cardiologist. She said, “Your father isn’t here. He’s taking care of Maharishi.” This began a journey that took me to the very heart of who the guru is and who he is expected to be. The two can be in jarring opposition.

I immediately left Fairfield for Chicago, where a wealthy TM donor had been kind enough to charter a plane for me. When I arrived in Delhi, it was past midnight. I first went home. My father was not there, and my mother told me he was still with Maharishi in a house in Golflinks, a private reserve in the city. One room had been converted into an intensive care unit presided over by my father and other doctors. I arrived at the house at 2:00 am, and when I entered the makeshift ICU I saw Maharishi lying unconscious in a bed with IV tubes and a respirator just as I had foreseen. My father informed me darkly that after drinking a glass of orange juice given to him by “a foreign disciple,” Maharishi had suffered severe abdominal pain and inflammation of the pancreas, along with kidney failure followed by a heart attack. Poisoning was suspected. Over the next few days Maharishi’s condition worsened. The pancreas and kidney functions continued to deteriorate, and his heart didn’t improve. My father was of the opinion that Maharishi should be taken to England for a course of kidney dialysis. The Indian TM organization, centered around Maharishi’s nephews, Prakash and Anand Shrivastava, were adamant that no one in the movement should find out that Maharishi was grievously ill. The rationale was that his followers would panic and lose faith.

I found myself torn, because Maharishi had long presented himself as being far from the typical Hindu guru. He did not assert his own divinity. He credited his entire career to his own master, Guru Dev. He seemed indifferent to the cult of personality and the aura of superstition surrounding gurus, which includes the notion that they have perfect control over mind and body and hold the secret of immortality. But deeper than that, Maharishi wasn’t a religious figure. Although he had taken vows as a monk, he brought a technique to the West, Transcendental Meditation, that was entirely secular and even scientific. Indeed, his lasting memory will probably be that he convinced Westerners of the physical and mental benefits of a purely mechanical non-religious approach to consciousness. I was troubled that his falling ill had to be hidden essentially to preserve the image of a superhuman being who couldn’t get sick like mere mortals.

There was one person the Indian inner circle chose to trust, however. He was Neil Paterson, a Canadian who had been chosen by Maharishi as chief spokesman and de facto head of the movement. Neil and I flew to England and made arrangements for Maharishi to be admitted to a private hospital on Harley Street. My father and two other doctors chartered a plane and brought Maharishi to London. I remember standing outside the London Heart Hospital, watching an ambulance navigate the snarled traffic, sirens wailing. Just before it arrived on the hospital’s doorstep, one of the accompanying doctors ran up with the news that Maharishi had suddenly died. I rushed to the ambulance, picking Maharishi’s body up -– he was frail and light by this time – and carrying him in my arms through London traffic.

I laid him on the floor inside the hospital’s doors and called for a cardio assist. Within minutes he was revived and rushed to intensive care on a respirator and fitted with a pacemaker that took over his heartbeat. The attending physician felt that Maharishi was clinically dead. My father suggested that we keep him on life support, however, until the family gave permission to take him off. As fate would have it, after 24 to 36 hours the attending informed us that Maharishi was recovering miraculously. His kidney function was returning to normal, his heart was beating independent of the pacemaker, and he had started to breath on his own. Within a few days he was sitting up in bed, drinking milk with honey. The doctor could not explain this recovery; everyone in the hospital, including his nurses, were awestruck, not just by the turn-around but by his presence, which induced a sense of peace in anyone who came near.

Let me pause here to reflect on the strange juxtapositions at work. I genuinely felt in the midst of the crisis that I was fulfilling a purpose beyond myself. A series of circumstances had brought me to the very moment when someone had to intervene to save Maharishi’s life, and it was as if the universe had conspired to carry me to that moment. At the same time, he exhibited both the all-too-human qualities found in every holy man and other qualities one associates with the superhuman. I had the distinct sensation of standing on the border between two worlds, or should one say two versions of the human condition? It was easy to believe that other disciples in another time felt much the same in the presence of Jesus or Buddha.

Maharishi’s complete recovery happened slowly. There was a point where the doctor informed us that he had severe anemia and needed a blood transfusion. When they typed and cross-matched Maharishi’s blood, I turned out to be the only match – this, of course, only increased my sense of being a participant in a drama shaped by forces outside myself. When he was informed about the situation, however, Maharishi refused to accept my blood but would give no reason. Considering that much had been made of how he had studied physics in college and had insisted on the scientific validity of TM, this was a baffling decision. Then I had a sudden insight. He didn’t want my blood because he didn’t want my karma. After all, I had been a smoker, had indulged in alcohol and sex and had even experimented with LSD years before. I went to Maharishi and confronted him with my realization. I asked if he believed that karma could be transmitted in the blood. He responded reluctantly, “That’s true.” I told him that red blood cells do not have a nucleus and therefore contain no DNA. Without genetic information my blood would only be giving him the hemoglobin he needed without karmic infection. At first he was suspicious, but I had the hematologist explain to him that memory and information is not transferred through a red blood transfusion. Eventually he accepted my blood. As he regained strength, we removed him from the hospital, and he was brought to a London hotel to continue recuperating.

This began a period of increased intimacy between us. We would go for long walks in Hyde Park, which felt strange given the complete blackout of news to the TM movement, which was told that Maharishi had decided to go into silence for the time being. On one occasion, a stranger ran up to us in the park and asked, “Aren’t you the guru of the Beatles?” My wife Rita, who had joined us that day, quickly interjected, “He’s my father-in-law. Please leave him alone.” In the end we felt that staying in London risked unnecessary publicity. So Maharishi was moved to a country home in the southwest of England where I spent hours personally nursing him. He took the occasion to give me deep insight and knowledge about Vedanta. He also gave me advanced meditation techniques. Those languid weeks and months alone with Maharishi, except for the servants who cooked and served his meals, were the most precious days of my life. I grew very fond of him and he evoked a love in me that I had never experienced before. In turn, I realized that he was also getting fond of me. We discussed just about every topic in the world from politics (on which he had very strong opinions) to human relationships (which he thought were full of melodrama) to the nature of consciousness (his favorite subject). Yet I still remained on the cusp of an uneasy truce between the physical frailty of an old man who at times could be fretful and worried and a guru whose mortality was like an admission of imperfection.

In all, Maharishi was out of circulation for almost a year; few in the TM movement knew where he was, and almost no one was willing to concede that he had been sick. After he was fully recovered we flew him via helicopter back to his chosen residence, which wasn’t in either India or the U.S. but the obscure village of Vlodrop in Holland. It would be impossible to calculate how many disciples and even casual TM meditators would have given anything for personal time with Maharishi. Because of his mass appeal and his undeniable presence, there were many who cherished a moment with him as the most precious in their lives. Yet I was growing increasingly disturbed by contradictions I couldn’t reconcile.

Maharishi had spent decades traveling the globe to promote TM; now he remained permanently in Vlodrop while I was sent, as one of his main emissaries, on a routine of almost constant jet travel. He aimed at ever-increasing expansion. Eastern Europe and the Soviet bloc were opened up to meditation. Gradually so was the Islamic world, which resisted TM in large part because the initiation ceremony included a picture of Maharishi’s teacher sitting on an altar, which went against the Muslim prohibition over depicting God or holy men. Everywhere I went I was given the respect accorded to my guru, bringing with it a level of pomp and ceremony that verged on veneration. Not only did this make me uncomfortable personally, but I wondered why Maharishi, the first “modern” guru, allowed and encouraged it. It seemed inconsistent with Vedanta’s central theme that the material world is illusion, not to mention the freedom from materialism that is expected of one who is enlightened.

Ironically, the respect shown to me in his name came to be my undoing. Maharishi started to give me the perception (perhaps that was my own projection) that he felt I was competing with him in a spiritual popularity contest. On more than one occasion, he casually mentioned that I was seeking adulation for myself. This was odd considering that he had been the one who thrust me forward in the first place, and who insisted on piling tributes on me that I had no choice but to accept whatever my embarrassment. The situation came to a head. In July, 1993, during the celebration of Guru Purnima, I went to see Maharishi in his private rooms to pay my respects. It was close to midnight after all the day’s public ceremonies had ended. Rita and I entered the room in near darkness. Besides Maharishi, the only person present was a TM higher up, Benny Feldman, who kept silent as Maharishi said, “People are telling me that you are competing with me.”

At that point I had only heard indirect reports about his displeasure; this was the first time, in fact, that Maharishi had shown anything but the highest trust in me. It was true that after his medical crisis he refused to discuss his health and took pains to indicate that where once I had been his physician, now I was to consider myself in the former position of disciple. Actually, I admired him for this. It would have been impertinent for me to take any other role. To be in the presence of someone like Maharishi is to realize an immense gulf in consciousness. His physical status continued to be amazingly strong considering what he had been through.

Here he was now, in my eyes, playing the part of an irascible, jealous old man whose pride had been hurt. For my part, I was dismayed that he might believe the rumors. Then he made a demand. “I want you to stop traveling and live here at the ashram with me.” He also wanted me to stop writing books. After delivering what amounted to an ultimatum, I was given twenty-four hours to make up my mind.

It was a critical moment. Then and there I had to consider the entirety of the guru-disciple relationship. To anyone outside India, much misunderstanding surrounds the whole issue of taking on an enlightened teacher. To begin with, there is a Western predisposition to doubt that enlightenment could be real except as personified in Buddha or a limited number of saints and sages who existed centuries ago. There is also a sense in the West that following a guru is tantamount to surrendering your personal identity, your bank account, and your dignity. None of these issues concerned me, however. In the role of guru Maharishi was authentic, dignified, respectful, and accepting. In addition, he was personally lovable and a joy to be around (even if one had to suffer patiently through discourses that lasted many hours and that circled around the same basic points.) The dilemma I faced was more fundamental: Can a real guru be unfair, jealous, biased, and ultimately manipulative?

For a devotee, the answer is unquestionably yes. The role of a disciple isn’t to question a guru, but the exact opposite: Whatever the guru says, however strange, capricious, or unfair, is taken to be truth. The disciple’s role is to accommodate to the truth, and if it takes struggle and “ego death” to do that, the spiritual fruits of obedience are well worth it. A guru speaks for God and pure consciousness; therefore, his words are a direct communication from Brahman, who knows us better than we know ourselves. In essence the guru is like a superhuman parent who guides our steps until we can walk on our own. Was Maharishi doing that to me?

I never found out, because practical considerations loomed large at that moment. I had a family with children in school, a wife who decidedly did not want to live an ashram life, and no visible means of support if I stopped producing books and giving lectures. I told Maharishi that I didn’t need twenty-four hours to make my decision. I would leave immediately and not return. With some surprise he asked me why. I told him that I had no ambitions to be a guru myself – the very idea appalled me. I was dismayed that he would believe such rumors. It was beyond my imagination for anyone to compare me to him or that I would have the gall to do the same.

It’s only after his death that I feel free to divulge this final parting of ways. To outsiders it will seem like a tempest in a teapot, but in my leaving the TM movement it was widely rumored that I wanted to be the guru of my own movement. While the media casually refers to any spokesperson from the East as a guru, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that Maharishi actually was a guru and great Rishi of the Vedic tradition, while I am a doctor who loved the philosophy of Vedanta and also loved articulating it for the man on the street. I said goodbye to Maharishi, took Rita’s hand, and walked away. We drove from Vlodrop to Amsterdam in the middle of the night and took a plane to Boston. When we arrived home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, the phone was ringing. A contrite and forgiving Maharishi was on the line. He said, “You are my son, you will inherit all that I have created. Come back and all will be yours.”

I replied that I didn’t want what he was offering. I loved the knowledge of Vedanta and wanted to devote myself to it. By the end of the conversation, however, I relented and told him that I would think about it. In the ensuing months I was approached by medical institutions and universities to introduce Ayurveda and TM as part of their programs. However, when I contacted Maharishi and the movement with these promising prospects I was told that I shouldn’t pursue these offers. At the same time decisions were made to raise the cost of TM astronomically, putting it out of reach for ordinary people. On January 12, 1994 I went back to Vlodrop for the annual New Year’s celebration and told Maharishi that I was leaving permanently. I expressed my immeasurable gratitude to him and told him that I would love him forever. When we parted, he said, “Whatever you do will be the right decision for you. I will love you, but I will also be indifferent to you from now on.”

At first his being indifferent felt very hurtful, but then I realized that Maharishi was offering love with detachment, the mark of a great sage. I remembered one of his favorite remarks, which he once directed to me: “I love you, but it’s none of your business.” What followed for me was the arc of a public career that became more acceptable to the outside world once I was no longer aligned with a guru. In some people’s eyes I dropped Maharishi in order to launch myself. This perception has led to recriminations in the TM movement. One is faced with the sad spectacle of people striving to gain enlightenment while at the same vilifying anyone who dares to stray from the fold. Nothing I did after leaving Maharishi was premeditated. I later visited the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math and told him about my situation. His response was sympathetic: he told me that I remained an exponent of Vedanta for the West and was therefore true to the tradition.

I believe that Maharishi would have been the first to agree. It’s not possible to stray from the one reality, and if Maharishi the personality couldn’t give his blessing, at a deeper level Maharishi the guru was doing his job of coaxing consciousness to expand. There was no way for me to reconcile the two opposites back then, but I have come to realize that I never needed to. All opposites are reconciled in unity consciousness, the state that Maharishi was in and the state I aspire to every day.

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Posted by Deepak Chopra at February 12, 2008 06:36 PM

Comments

Dear Deepak

I have read what you have to say with significant interest. There is much to contemplate...

In the interim, when the Supra Universal Consciousness wills it, we will see each other.

Talk some more in due course... you have all the necessary information...

Love to you and family

DK with family

1. Posted by DK Matai on February 13, 2008 11:36 AM

The picture says it all!

2. Posted by Irvine Welsh on February 13, 2008 11:47 AM

Deepak,

Great story thanks for sharing.

Yes, sometimes just a man and sometimes God a man is simply God pretending not to be what he really is, I suppose.

"the universe had conspired" ~D

Yes, it is the greatest conspiracy of all.

Nobody can make a mistake. Every decision is the right decision.

I don't expect everyone to understand the concept because it results from a much evolved perspective. One that I often doubt in my own mind; yet somewhere within I know it to be logically true, from a divine perspective, and seeing the supporting evidence over time. This statement would also not be true from an egoic perspective. Yet the divine perspective is ultimately true.

Yet, this is not something to tell the egoic mind because it would take it out of context. Yet I couldn’t write this now if it was not supposed to be read.

That concept that every little event and problem happens for an intelligent reason in alignment with evolution and divine intention.

I walked around with a ruptured appendix for over a year after being misdiagnosed. They just gave me some pills to take. It would burst and then seal itself with scar tissue it probably did it about 5 times during the course of the year. The doctors had never seen anything like it a big mass of scar tissue.

I would mostly attribute it to the 10 – 30 grams of vitamin C powder I started taking every day when I would start to feel the pain and discomfort. This in conjunction with various advanced nutrient compounds and herbal extracts some Ayurvedic.

They said I was a miracle an impossibility, since medical texts say it is lethal within hours.

The truth is they don’t understand how the body really works and that it was designed perfectly for a natural environment and natural activity as well as the use of Orthomolecular Medicine to fix things and even enhance things.

3. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 13, 2008 11:47 AM

Deepak you look to handsome in that photo! The Maharishi is pretty cute too!
I dreamt of him, in my dream the echo of the flute followed the Maharishi every where he went.

Also in my dream he was a bit of a trickster at heart.

4. Posted by Tammy on February 13, 2008 11:52 AM

thank you!
thank you ...thank you..!

as you story is "our" story...too..
love, Carolyn

5. Posted by carolyn_wind on February 13, 2008 12:34 PM

Wow, what a wonderful and human account. Thank you so much for sharing that. The TM movement likes to deify Maharishi, but his human-ness is part of what makes people feel more connected to him. It really goes to show, Enlightenment does not make one a better person. People are still people and the personality is still the personality.

My appreciation for both you and Maharishi have increased tremendously. Again, thank you so much for sharing that finally.

6. Posted by Light Mystic on February 13, 2008 01:06 PM

Deepak,

Thank you for sharing this story. I've often wondered about the circumstances surrounding the falling out. I'm glad it was an easy decision for you. We all have to see the signs, and follow our hearts.

Airik

7. Posted by Airik on February 13, 2008 01:33 PM

Thank you, Deepak. Your life and work are a wonderful example to us.

8. Posted by yellowrose on February 13, 2008 01:45 PM

Deepak,
Thank you for sharing your story. We always heard rumors of these events in the TMO, but now we have it from the "horse's mouth" so to speak. Maharishi was amazing, wasn't he? I'm a longtime TM gov, sidha, etc. I could never understand Maharishi's wackiness, but his powerful darshan melted away everything. A quixotic saint for Kali yuga, yes? Take care my friend.

9. Posted by Lehmann on February 13, 2008 01:48 PM

Thank you Deepak for sharing your story of Maharishi. I so enjoyed it and the drama makes for a very good book and maybe a movie! If I were to read a book on Maharishi (in addition to the interesting and heartfelt story that you shared above) I would like to read more about the TM movement (as well as the really good insider stuff, if permitted, such as flying, transcending, etc.), since I really know nothing about it. Plus, some background information on Maharishi's guru, (i.e., what's his story? how did he die? what could he do? who got that staff of his, which I saw in some pictures?)

BTW: The picture above is very beautiful and the yellow reminds me .... What is interesting and coincidental, is that I bought 12 dozen yellow roses and had them delivered to my home on Sat. Feb. 2 and I brought one yellow rose from the 12 to work on Mon. Feb 4. The yellow roses had a slight tint of orange around the edges of the peddles - very beautiful! And I haven't purchased flowers in almost 2 years!

Love, Char

10. Posted by Char4 on February 13, 2008 01:51 PM

Dear Deepak,

I have rarely enjoyed such a personal peace of writing, more so as I know why what happened happened. Your karma may not have been transferred with blood transfusion but it definitely bound Maharshi to you in the mind while the goal of the spirit and especially of the spirit of the Maharshi at the time was to go beyond all bondages. Hence what followed. But it was for the best for you too. For, you too were spiritually advanced enough to eventually come to be your own person/guru.(I developed the same love with Ramana Maharshi in absentia - he was already dead - and eventually went beyond in the like manner). I must say I had some misgivings about you before reading this peace but now there is none.

With all the love and respect at my command,

Harb

11. Posted by Harb on February 13, 2008 01:55 PM

Hello Deepak and Everyone,

Deepak this is an interesting story, and interesting history between you and the Maharishi...once I spent a short time in the presence of someone who exhibited a conscious state that was, to put it simply, very different from what one would normally experience. You changed in the presence of this person, you felt happier, lighter, your personality, whatever color it tended to project, became more colorful and you couldn't take your eyes of the person when he was speaking, his simple act of walking across the room was like experiencing movement for the very first time, his movements were so fluid, yet all he was doing was a presentation for something or other but everyone who took part in that presenation was struck by the integrity, the conciseness of his presentation, the attentiveness he exhibited toward each of us(about 20 people.) For a week we went each day and by the end of the week all of us had been touched deeply by this man who never laid a finger on us, never ventured from the material in the presentation, but we went away from the week like we had spent a week with someone we knew was very different from us, and who spoke to each of us at our individual conscious levels, intimately. We loved this man at the end of the week, we loved the simple ordinary presentation, we just loved our week!

For me I knew at the end of the week that this person was a "spiritual teacher," in every sense of the word, I knew that in his presence my whole being was attentive to what he said and did and I knew that it was going to take some time to digest all that had transpired during that week.

This person never mentioned consciousness, god, soul, spirit, unity, peace, oneness, but he exhibited all in "his way of being and acting."

I thought about him a lot since then and wished for much more contact but I knew that he was the teacher for the moment and that is when I understood completely the saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear," if only for the necessitity of the lesson.

I have always appreciated the fact that this person was the epitome of subtleness, that he did his job for me, that week, and detached immediately, because it took a long time for me to let go, even though, he was gone after the week, and after much contemplation I realized that what was happening was that this person showed up at that particular time to help me make the most important of introductions the introduction to mySELF, and, of course, the love, the gratitude you feel for the one who helps to make the introduction is easily something that you think is because of the person doing the introducing and it takes quite awhile to understand and digest that that love is just there, that the love is who he and you really are. It is a lovely introduction but it is also a confusing one too, and, of course the teacher understands the trouble you will have in sorting it all out...

also, this man so completely ordinary at the same time he was extraordinary and that was also so confusing and I could tell everyone of us was left scratching our heads at the end of the day by what we were individually experiencing with this person..

so the moral of my story is this....teachers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, here, there and everywhere.....and when you meet one it is always going to be a "very interesting story."

here's to the Maharishi....to great and wonderful teachers.....wherever they are!

have a wonderful evening Deepak, ruth

12. Posted by ruth on February 13, 2008 02:58 PM

That was lovely, Deepak!

Thank you for clearing up a few misconceptions.

I apologize for having assumed anything on the contrary.

I do believe in your pure intentions, kind sir,

and appreciate the good will shown in your acceptance of our shenanigans.

Originality is always in short supply, and

you only break the mold by becoming what you always were.

Good luck with all that, and I wish you continued success.

Sincerely,

13. Posted by Keith on February 13, 2008 05:22 PM

Dear Dr. Chopra,

Thank you very much for your in depth sharing, relative to your relationship with your Teacher, the Marharishi. It has given me a new insight into your character and the events which have led you to your current position of being an excellent writer, and also a Teacher in your own right.
I was reminded of the parting of the ways I had with my own Teacher, some 20+ years ago, and how it was a painful but necessary learning experience. I don’t think the role of disciple was ever meant to be permanent. At some point we must gain the maturity to become the Teacher. I would like to thank you now for all the things you have taught me in the books of yours that I have read and my years of reading you here on Intentblog.
May God bless you with understanding and wisdom to keep up the good work.

Kindest Regards,
Stan

14. Posted by stan on February 13, 2008 07:08 PM

Deepak,

Thank you for sharing this personal story. Stories are such wonderful windows to the soul. We all have lessons to learn from teachers that, as Ruth says, "come in all shapes, sizes..." And we all have lessons to give. We are both teacher and student. A circular flow creating balance.

Love,

Trish~~

15. Posted by Trish on February 13, 2008 08:06 PM

Thanks for sharing such a tender moment in your life with us, Deepak! Definately a Kodak moment between you both!

Love,
North

16. Posted by North on February 13, 2008 08:07 PM

Dear Deepak,
Once again, you took my breath away. Thank you for this marvelous and breathtaking account of your experience with the Maharishi. I have no doubt whatsoever of your purity, honesty, sincerity, and loyalty to the Maharishi. You are always my hero and I bow to you. I am forever grateful to you for all you do in expanding consciousness to all humanity. Thank you. (And you look so handsome in the picture.)
Love, M:)

17. Posted by MarthaD on February 13, 2008 08:40 PM

Aloha Deepak

Very interesting about the blood, and how you were the One. love patty

18. Posted by patty on February 14, 2008 01:03 AM

Thank you Deepak,

This is one of the most inspiring I have read about Maharishi. I have always thought he was also a human with its limitations and that he was also colored by his upbringing and culture.

Some take everything Maharishi says for Veda, and beleive it is the best according to natural law, but sometimes he is talking from his human side. For example, boy schools and girl schools may not be the best and most natural in every sense.

I would like to know if Deepak agrre with the coherence creating groups. He sounded critical in a documentary, but still they have done 50 experinetns that show that it do work.

Deepak, please share with us your thought about coherence creating groups. If it can be a way to world peace, and you writye about it, a lot of people will listen.

19. Posted by Stefan on February 14, 2008 01:10 AM

"Do not rely on nobles, nor a human being, for he holds no salvation. When his spirit departs he returns to his earth, on that day his plans all perish."

-Psalm 146

20. Posted by Ambasteve on February 14, 2008 08:11 AM

Dear Deepak,

With every sentence I read, I kept saying "wow!"... "WOW!"

You have gifted us by sharing your heart and soul on this Valentine's Day!

Namasté
Sharon

21. Posted by e14studio on February 14, 2008 08:44 AM

I remember you once communicating to me...
I do not consider myself to be a guru.
I just enjoy sharing a point of view to the world.
Yet you have been my guru/teacher!
I see something of your relationship with Maharishi in my connection to you.
My deepest personal feelings on the matter you have in my February 12 letter to you.
You must have posted this shortly thereafter.
Love,
Todd

22. Posted by level7 on February 14, 2008 08:50 AM

I enjoyed that very much. When I was younger and heard about TM on the news, I thought it just some fashionable thing the hippies were doing.

You know I remember reading that Yogananda asked his first disciples to plant some trees on the grounds. And then he came back and said he didn't like them there and would they plant them elsewhere. A big frustration and baffling to the devotees.
It seems your dilema was majorly baffling. However I'm glad you here, doing what you do.

23. Posted by li'l Dakini on February 14, 2008 12:37 PM

Many Thanks for sharing these accounts. I learned PSM shortly after 9/11 and a few years ago I learned TM for I was curious. Last year I returned to PSM and am very glad to do so and now on the Teacher's Path.

I spent a week in Fairfield in 2007 and I found the science and research fascinating. While there I was compelled to learn TM.

I enjoy the accessibility of PSM and look forward to the summer when I am a certified instructor.

Your account of conflict brings resolve to me. I appreciate the history of your relationship. While the concept of guru is new to me, it does not stop me from meditating and making a contribution to our universe. I feel the co-existence vs the competition. I also sense my preference for PSM and feel more comfortable with that choice.

24. Posted by jane22 on February 14, 2008 06:02 PM

Dear Deepak!

This explenation made tears flow. I´ve never understood why you left, and nobody could tell us. So silly! This helped me understand so much more! To keep this important information away from us who felt so close to him, and loved him so much seems wrong to me. The organization would have been so much better with open, human interaction. This "hush-hush" policy has done nothing good in my opinion.

I´m still teaching TM, but have struggled deeply with the same issues that you are shedding light on. Therefor it helps me to know all the circumstances around this most difficult decision you had to make. I admire you for what you did in a way!

At the time when Maharishi was sick, I felt "left" by him. When I asked around I was told that he had had a heart surgery. It surprised me, but I quickly accepted it! Of course Maharishi could get sick. After all he IS a human being.

For me it was also so evident that there was no energy on the personal level coming from him any more. I realized at the time how much energy I HAD received on a deep level from Maharishi. It felt somewhat empty without it. Being full time and always initiating, I guess somehow I had been "protected". After his heart operation nothing was ever the same again. The "contact" was aloof, more withdrawn. But in our hearts we had him.

I have never been the type of teacher who needed personal contact with Maharishi, but have taught very many, and I´m always active in that field. I feel it´s dharmic for me.

I asked you in my last comment why you had to leave. You answered it. Thank you! I am for ever grateful that you wrote this. Thank you - thank you!!!

I have not read all the comments yet, but am sure that they will all be very enlightened and supportive to you about what you have done.

Thank you DEEPAK! WELL DONE! The world is always richer with openness and honesty! It makes things flow naturally!

25. Posted by WedaMa on February 15, 2008 05:58 AM

Dear Deepak!

I have never been the type of teacher who needed personal contact with Maharishi, but have taught very many, and I´m always active in that field. I feel it´s dharmic for me.

I asked you in my last comment why you had to leave. You answered it. Thank you! I am for ever grateful that you wrote this. Thank you - thank you!!!

I have not read all the comments yet, but am sure that they will all be very enlightened and supportive to you about what you have done.

Thank you DEEPAK! WELL DONE! The world is always richer with openness and honesty! It makes things flow naturally!

26. Posted by WedaMa on February 15, 2008 05:58 AM

You withstood the test of following blind faith, or following your heart... that is true FAITH...

the Universe conspires in strange ways to get us to go where we need to go!

Thank you for sharing such a personal story..

27. Posted by devinadeva on February 15, 2008 06:27 AM

The story is reminiscent of my own confusion with Deepak during the initial years of knowing him through his books. I always wondered how the Chopra center can charge hundreds of dollars for courses that should be a birth right of spiritual expansion. The conflict between a guru and disciple has been sensitively painted in Deepak’s own words, and is rewarding to read. I personally owe a lot of my own peace and happiness to Deepak and will be forever grateful for him (and recursively for Maharishi). Thank you.

Love,

Sameer

28. Posted by Sameer R on February 15, 2008 08:02 AM

Thank you Deepak Chopra for this story and congratulations you left your guru thus proving and improving your own evolution.
With respect to gurus and their function towards their pupils I am convinced that a human being must (learn to) think on his or her own. Once you discover your own nature and intimate connection with God or whatever you believe is your source of being, you are enlightened.
Personally I do find this inside travel very exciting and I wish to think and experience on my own efforts without the spellings of a guru.
Remember yourself perhaps as a child learning common things and your parents trying to make you do it as they want - meanwhile they neglect your own unique being - can you remember the feeling? In stead trying on your own efforts, trying many times and finally succeeding, can you remember that feeling? It may take more time to learn but you have eternity at your side!
Being a guru as Maharishi shows, doesn't guarantee purity of the heart. Yes, they can elaborate tremendous power over themselves and over other people (social learning through unification) but the same time they need to prove their integrity and responsibility towards others (and themselves) to be authentic otherwise the status of guru is artificial.
Every human being is as he or she was meant to be and knowing who you are meant to be and excelling this being to the best makes so wise and happy.
I wonder, Deepak Chopra, do you have any idea the impact of your decision, to leave your guru, on him? I think he got a beautiful lesson as well. So, after all, who has been the real guru?
"L'élève dépasse souvent le maître".
Thank you for all the wise lessons and genuine inspirations and what I do with it is, yes, my business... but neverheless the thanks come from my heart.

29. Posted by Chanem on February 15, 2008 11:21 AM

I don't know how it came about that a guru is thought to be the same as a teacher, a professor, a rabbi, or a priest. Western scholars, starting in the 1800's, never did get Eastern Philosophy right.
"To sell like so much merchandise the sublime doctrine of the sages" might not be honorable, but in America, you can't give it away. And you do want to share it. Another dilema. It's like the jewelry business, the higher the price the more valuable it appears. I know. I sold silver handcrafted jewelry. The same necklace at $10 sells better at $15.

30. Posted by li'l Dakini on February 15, 2008 04:25 PM

I have a story, to share. Actually I was going to say one last thing about Gurus, I think I told the first part here before. But now there is a second part yesterday and a third part today even more bizarre.

An author had reflected once on an experience with a Saint in India.

I thought, I would like to check that experience. Well no more than two weeks later it happens, and I am in Detroit not India which makes the odds against much higher.

So there is this speaker friend of mine is set to speak, and I was there to do the video, she suddenly get’s really sick in Denver or somewhere like that, and doesn’t make it. So this woman from India that happened to be in the audience, and somebody knew was in the audience, fills in for a while so that it wasn’t a wasted trip for everyone. She is some saint from India,

I later found out Deepak met her once.

So I am standing in the lobby, and she is standing there, we smile and say hi. I think I said I liked your singing. She said “you want to come over to my house”. It was actually the house she was a guest at, they had one of those shrines in it. At first I hesitated, that was rather abrupt, and then I thought well this could be an interesting experience. Later I remembered I had actually intended this.

So to make a long story short we hung out for two days talked about a lot of stuff.

Sometime during that time she asked me “Who is your Guru”? I said I don’t have one, but then I thought and said in truth, “everyone I meet”. That is my take on Guru’s you are creating them because one is afraid to be what you really are.

I was helping her with some technical and worldly issues as well during those two days trying to get her visa to Japan, and I gave her some new technical material to take back help with the Leprosy and Poverty she was working with.

That last area we talked about was Maya, I suggested that One could destroy it, she thought not. So I conceded that perhaps all but 2% of it could be destroyed leaving that last little necessary bit. That will be my intention…. To destroy the worlds illusions.

So we parted and during the next few weeks I didn’t sleep but a few hours a night, I was taken over by a compulsion and did the Infinite Play web site and wrote profusely. There was a lot of weird stuff going on my dog kept barking at nothing and there were these thundering noises as if giants were walking on the earth outside my house.

During that time one night I was awakened by that that billions year old intelligences the burning bush (patchwork of indigo colors energy) that made a sound like many waters you have to be there. The patchwork of indigo colors is also what in my minds eye turns into form in my mind.

But that is not the end of the story..

it gets sad, then an amazing sign...

31. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 16, 2008 08:29 AM

I dont want to be rude but...
you want to say that you sensed in your meditation that he is sick and we was not able to sense that there was some poison in that drink

32. Posted by KPS Dandiwal on February 16, 2008 08:44 AM

So yesterday, Feb 15th in thinking about my take on Guru's I wondered what she was up to, I had not had an email for a very long time, so I Googled her to find out what she was up to. I was sad to find she had passed at age 36.
My name links to the information.

IN LOVING MEMORY TO HER HOLINESS ACHARYA MEENAKSHI DEVI

"Singing Divine Song, Teaching Meditation & Giving Spiritual discourses...
Acharya Meenakshi Devi of India... Brings Peace & Harmony to All..."
Her Holiness Acharya Meenakshi Devi passed away on July 23rd in India. She was on pilgrimage to Kailash-Mansarover in the Himalayan mountains
when she collapsed, possibly due to lack of oxygen. She was immediately airlifted to Kathmandu, Nepal. She suffered massive swelling caused by brain hemorrhage and was in coma for a week. Acharya Meenakshi Devi has established Vishva Shanti Sadhana Pratishthanam, at Manohar Dham, Dattapur, Wardha, India, a place famous for leprosy service and rehabilitation. Service and devotion are central to its ethos. Homeless girls and girls from poor families are given proper education and spiritual guidance.
Further, Acharya Meenakshi Devi had been actively involved in peace work at both a grassroots and at a global level, drawing deeply on her spiritual practice to nourish her vision of peace. A highly accomplished singer of devotional songs, her last visit to Kalamazoo included two engagements in August 2005 and a celebration of her 36th birthday. Many of the Kalamazoo community members attended her pravachans filled with devotional songs during her visit at IACCT.
Acharyaji felt fulfilled in her life as it was her long desired dream to have a glimpse of Kailash-Mansarover, the abode of Lord Shiva. During the second stage and descent in her pilgrimage she refused medications that were required for ailments at high altitudes. She was engrossed in deep meditation with God in her heart and mind when she became unconscious. Acharyaji found freedom from the physical world and salvation at Kailash which every saint aspires and which she fully exemplified in her lifetime.

33. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 16, 2008 08:56 AM

Wow, what an incredible story. Now I feel I have a much deeper understanding of you and many questions cleared up about your exact involvement with TM and Maharishi.

You are carrying on important work in bringing meditative awareness and wisdom to the west, and that transcends any squabbling between devotees or any distortions of a media looking to sensationalize everything for profit.

Also the form of the teachings has to change. I think if you had continued to sit by Maharishi's side and just unquestioningly obey everything, it would have killed your life's true purpose.

It is good that Maharishi had the wisdom to bring it to the point of choice - you could have languished in indecisiveness for years if he had not demanded a choice from you.

Philosophically, the paradoxes you struggled with contain the greatest teaching: that as you learn that the Guru is simultaneously mortal and divine, slowly, through our own growth we can start to realize the actual teaching - that this is true for EVERY human being, if they have the focus and desire to realize it.

The Guru is supposed to be a doorway. Ultimately the teaching is not about admiring the beauty of the door. At some point it has to be to step into the realm the doorway opens you to.

Similarly, an authentic teacher like Maharishi knows that the true disciple that "gets it" will not remain content standing around worshipping the Guru.

And that is as it should be.

34. Posted by yogi-one on February 16, 2008 09:21 AM

So that's not the end of the story.

Yesterday I went to her web site to see if it was still up. It was and it was amazing and beautiful all these bubbles flowing down the page and magical things following the cursor around and a picture of a young child like character with blue skin I guess a young Vishnu or maybe all those deities have this color skin I read her message again.

Her site was www.myacharyaji.org and was redirecting to www.vishvashanti.org which had all her content.

I went back to the web site today and it was gone it redirected to some add page that said the domain had expired.

So that was it I went there got reminded, and the domain expires ON FEB 15th the day I checked it,

Which was my last chance to see it, which if not for the Deepak's Maharishi post I would have missed it.

and now it was gone from the web on the 16th, but not from mind. Not exactly from the web either.

I checked on the Way Back Machine the Internet Archive. And if you click my name you can see some of her old pages but nothing like what I saw when I went there on the 15th.

On the 14th I had asked for a sign, a good one.

35. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 16, 2008 09:34 AM

The Guru is really you in disguise.

36. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 16, 2008 09:56 AM

What in science is called a catalyst morphed into a guru in and for human conditions as things evolved to human levels.

37. Posted by Harb on February 16, 2008 09:31 PM

Dear Deepak,

It is moving to see your response to Maharishiji departure in the last few days. Yet forgive me for this frankness, I don't think you are in need to hyperbolize your relation to the Guru, by slightly twisting the facts and followers sensitivity along with it.

Your share of success on the wake of Maharishiji's blessing to you is well-known. Your status is well earned and we respect you for your dedication. Still, some of the facts presented by you aren't true, and I wouldn't have bothered if not for a forwarded email from the physician who attended Maharishiji during that incident you've written about.

Please consider it yourself, beside we are both practitioners of yoga and truth is more important. Bellow is the context of the email I've received yesterday morning, pasted directly from my email-box.

Jai Guru Dev

igor

-----------------------

Please note that Dr G M is an outstanding Indian Governor responsible for single-handedly creating the first group of 8,000 pundits in India. He is a Maharishi-trained TM-Sidhi instructor and teacher of Advanced Techniques.

Farrokh & Ruffina
--------------------
Dear Friends:
I am an Indian physician who was Maharishiji's personal physician at the time that Dr Deepak Chopra was assisting Maharishiji in England, as per his article entitled "The Maharishi Years - the Untold Story". I must inform you that his article is replete with untruths and inaccuracies. I was at Maharishiji's side during the entire incident. Some of the details of the article that I know to be untrue are as follows:

*there was no blood transfusion from Dr Chopra;
*Maharishi was not on a ventilator and was not pronounced dead as claimed;
*he did not have kidney failure at all at that time;
*Dr Chopra's father attended Maharishi in India, but not in London;
*there was no helicopter involved;
*Dr Chopra did not carry Maharishiji in his arms into the hospital.

Dr Chopra was handsomely paid for his services by the movement. These facts can be corroborated by Prakash and Kirti from the Indian TM movement and Maharishiji's medical records would bear this out as well. There were two other Indian physicians involved, both of whom were instructed in TM by Farrokh. They can confirm the facts as well.

38. Posted by Igor Kufayev on February 17, 2008 12:23 AM

Dear Deepak,

Thanks for sharing memories of your years of closeness with Maharishi, his serious illness and recovery, and of the circumstances surrounding your departure from the TM Movement.

Many of us who deeply appreciated you and your contributions to Maharishi's work, and to the growing knowledge of Ayervedic Medicine in the West, were dumbfounded by the mute silence offered as to the reasons for your departure.

This accounting of things previously 'hushed', heals much in me, and I am sure in many others who love both Maharishi and you. Thanks for helping to save Maharishi's life; and for being true to yourself and your family when presented with such difficult decisions.

When we expect our teachers and loved ones to be perfect, we often miss the most important moments and lessons they have to share with us.

Blessings to you and your family, and thanks again for this gift. Though we will all miss Maharishi deeply, he lives on in our hearts.

Most Sincerely,
Seymore

39. Posted by Seymore on February 17, 2008 12:40 AM

Hello...Igor? I wonder is this just one of many names that you use to post at IB...your voice appears very familiar...anywho..

Like Deepak REALLY needs to lie about HIS experiences.

your comment really is accusing Deepak of outright lying about these events and really I was just going to ignore the comment, obviously, you are a man/woman with a stick up your you know what...when it comes to Deepak(as I said, your accusing tone rings very familiar) But I am sure Deepak has his share of jealous, envious, admirers, anyone, in the public eye obviously deals with both sides of the coin of popularity.

I am sure Deepak, like any man/woman, has is his share of faults, weaknesses but I am also sure LYING isn't one of them.

I found your comment to be a tad annoying, at first, but then the more it kind of stuck in my mind I realized I wanted to tell you that if you were to just take that stick out of your you know what...you would feel so much better, you could even sit that you know what down and give it a well deserved rest.

have a great day....from guru ruth

anyway your comment today was a "find" for me..you see, I am in a "mood" and I ventured on to your comment and it fit my mood perfectly...so I get to grumble, grumble, grumble....just like you!

40. Posted by ruth on February 17, 2008 05:17 AM

Note to the IB Admin:

Please remove the comment posted by ruth:

39. Posted by ruth on February 17, 2008 05:17 AM

Thank you

41. Posted by Chris on February 17, 2008 05:28 AM

Did the Maharishi have children?

42. Posted by Tammy on February 17, 2008 06:02 AM

Ref. 38 Igor Kufayev

There could be two likely explanations:

1) The events recollected were so many years from teh past that Deepak's memory was low on the exact details on the surrounding events and could have made some blunders as suggested in the email.

2) Deepak is taking liberty with facts to tell a good short STORY (as the title suggests) -- literary license, so to speak.

But there is catch here, I can understand the importance of sticking to facts when you are telling a story about an important person in the spiritual movement in West. The story might work well to convey what Deepak wants to instill in his readers(the typical audience) by way of his Guru-Student relationship, it doesn't work well with those who are followers and students of the Maharishi -- those who are more likely to be attuned to the reality of events and the life story of the great man -- like Igor and those mentioned in the email.

43. Posted by Irvine Welsh on February 17, 2008 06:03 AM

Biological children...?

44. Posted by Tammy on February 17, 2008 06:05 AM

Ref. 38 Ruth

Lo! there you go again! This person seems to be in a constant look-out for a hint of an excuse to vent out emotions. Sometimes forgetting that there is a word called "civility" with its meaning defined in the English dictionary.

I agree with Chris' suggestion; #40

I would also encourage the IB Admin to banish the said poster for 2 Weeks from posting at Intentblog. This helps give a chance to self-reflect and to come to terms with possible issues which are leading to a pattern of patent outbursts.

45. Posted by Irvine Welsh on February 17, 2008 06:20 AM

After you finish scolding everyone your up set with could you please answer my question? Did he have children?

46. Posted by Tammy on February 17, 2008 06:44 AM

Tammy, I think Maharishi is a Brahmachari (A hindu person who takes a vow of celibacy), as far as I know he has no biological children.

47. Posted by Irvine Welsh on February 17, 2008 06:59 AM

I just saw Igor Kufayev's website and his Wikipedia page. Loved his art work!

48. Posted by Vanessa on February 17, 2008 07:08 AM

Igor,
I guess you didn't notice Deepak's rebuttal to Mahapatra's letter over at Huffington post where it appeared a few days ago. Needless to say, Deepak stands by his account. Here is another link that speaks to Dr. G.Mahapatra's lack of credibility. http://www.mail-archive.com/fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com/msg115607.html
This is what I wrote on Huffington yesterday:
This letter by Dr. Mahapatra that the TM movement is circulating is most peculiar. I heard a full account of this episode in Maharishi's life over a decade ago. Because of the extraordinary circumstances, I paid close attention to details.
One of the themes of that time was extreme secrecy, not only between Maharishi and the outside world, but even between Maharishi's various caregivers and family members. Maharishi was listed under a false name , and payments were in cash. Kirti and family weren't allowed into the room. Deepak reported to them daily. This was per Maharishi's instructions.
The only constant companion to Maharishi throughout the time was Deepak. Mahapatra was there for much of the time, but not all. His primary function was to buy groceries.
Deepak did speak with Mahapatra regarding many medical details as the BUN and creatinine levels, so it's odd that he would deny the kidney failure, or quibble about the timing. The whole rationale for moving Maharishi to England was for dialysis.
Other events such as carrying Maharishi into the hospital and the blood transfusion, Mahapatra presumably did not know happened. From my perspective, as a health professional, if I carried a saint with no vital signs through London traffic into a hospital, I'd remember that. Likewise, long discussions prior to giving my blood for transfusion to an anemic patient, is an event I wouldn't forget.
What really surprised me is that Mahapatra brought up the issue of money. The money was offered to Deepak's father who was still an occasional visitor.
Maharishi asked one of his close assistants to give the elder Dr. Chopra a couple of sealed suitcases of US and European currency.
Deepak's father saw it as an under the table payoff and refused it out of principle. The money incident deeply insulted Deepak's mother causing her to cry for days. I have heard other unsavory financial details that Deepak's account charitably ommitted.
Regarding the helicopter ride to Vlodrop, who knows? Regardless, I would trust the account of the person who was there with Maharishi the whole time.

49. Posted by vivek on February 17, 2008 09:03 AM

Here's the comment posted by Deepak Chopra at HuffPost in reply to the email by Dr G M in #38:

"A word to my rebutter: I feel that the probity of my account speaks for itself. I have not embellished any details of my past with Maharishi. Once he regained consciousness after his health crisis in London, he controlled whatever version of events he wanted the world and the TM movement to hear. For the past seventeen years the main version was outright denial.

The person who has tried to refute my account at Huffington was marginally present on the scene, but even that was intermittent. He wasn't privy to the critical events I recount. Perhaps he wants to imagine a nicer reality for the sake of the departed. The truth will be more healing. Maharishi was as enigmatic as anyone can possibly be, and it serves no good purpose to weave more mystery around him when the facts are clear to those who witnessed them.

Love,
Deepak"

50. Posted by Irvine Welsh on February 17, 2008 09:23 AM

Wonderful essay. My own experience with two gurus has led me to ponder similar issues, and my recent experience with one I consider to a great teacher and sage named Adyashanti, has led me to conclude that one can awaken, yet retain an attachment to oneself as the enlightened being, i.e., to build an identity around that rather than allowing full surrender. The difference might be illustrated by comparing Ramana Maharshi to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Perhaps a new chapter has been written in the book of enlightenment, and reading it extinguishes one's personal will, whereupon he becomes a servant of the eternal.

51. Posted by rubenken on February 17, 2008 11:54 AM

God, doesn't need these kind of guru's anymore it has the Internet. Doesn't need to deal with disciples anymore, they can be kept at a safe distance it helps to avoid that annoying ego out of the picture.

He can just lead people to the pages, and the like minded can get together and support each other.

52. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 17, 2008 05:07 PM

God + Ego = Man the two are inseparable buddies. Best to keep the ego minimized with wisdom to guarantee a good experience. The ego can get one in a lot of trouble yet it serves a divine purpose. Often it provides the puppet strings. As much as one would like to keep it under raps it can flare up and is always lurking in the background. Dealing with ego from another point of view is an even greater challenge; however there is an art to it. Ego from another point of view is intelligence impaired and usually without a conscious source connection.

As one covered before it is the awareness that comes from self realization that dissolves the ego yet one doesn’t keep their attention on this awareness for any length of time it gets boring. In other words ego deflation comes from a knowing of what you really are. I didn’t say “who” because this implies character traits and fiction. Yet one doesn’t want to be who they really are, they want to be man, for the experience of knowing many.

The goal is to achieve this sweet spot, where one sees their own being, in the self, of all of creation, a truth, maintaining the highest resonance of all love, and one knows compassion for all of creation. In this scenario the ego is somewhat trivial, it exists in harmony with spirit and becomes an essential agent of the divine for the obtainment of certain types of experience that give depth to the soul.

Harmony and a good experience are all about wisdom and compassion.

So the goal is not to entirely destroy ego, so much as to tame it. This is when the lion lays down with the lamb. What one would seek to destroy is the ego’s grip on the world and the establishment of it’s fictions that lead one from the truth to disharmony. The intention is to destroy the popular fictions, and free all of your self from the illusions. That is the great challenge that a God faces, to enter a world deep in the illusion, dense with the lower vibration energy, a literal hell, speeding it up, to create a heaven. That is the game that God plays. One loses one’s self, finds ones self, and then wakes up all of ones self. You should see the celebration.

The human brain is the greatest of all measurement devices and one of the most advanced instruments in the universe. The issue with it is that only one scientist can look through the eye piece and wear the headphones at a time, so to speak. That is why they call it subjective.

53. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 17, 2008 05:58 PM

Yes, there is a state being where one does not see any boundaries and the world is not divided into parts in the mind. This could be called egoless, yet one still does have a unique point of view from which the universe is observed creating an individual identity.

So I suppose it is all about how one defines ego.

54. Posted by Richard Thomas ∞Φ on February 18, 2008 10:44 AM

Dear Deepak,

It appeared my comment to the story you've shared was taken as an offense by some of your supporters. That was the least of my intention. I apologize to you and your readers for any emotional discomfort my comment may caused.

The impetus for my entry was that I didn't find the story appropriately timed and somewhat oblivious to those who still are in mourning.

What surprises me is how little understanding most comments showed on the subject of guru-disciple connection. I found that your story, profoundly moving as it is, nevertheless does little to shed light on that most important aspect of spiritual relationship. I mean the guru-chela one.

With gu - being the the alfa; and ru - an omega... With gu - what conceals reality and ru - what reveals it again.

Speaking here from the experience I've lived from the moment of doubts and fears of loosing one's self-identity to the moment of when there was nothing left to hold on to. I must admit I was holding my breath, while reading your story awaiting for that moment of self-confession, what followed was a rational explanation.

I am not doubting your Devotion and Love for your Guru. On the contrary, I feel you could have taken it to the hight of a true catharsis, by relating what it really meant from the perspective of the Land of Bharata, even if the price be the loss of yourself.

With Love

Jai Guru Dev

igor

55. Posted by Igor Kufayev on February 18, 2008 11:30 AM

Dear Deepak,

"All opposites are reconciled in unity consciousness, the state that Maharishi was in and the state I aspire to every day."

This last sentence of your article says it all to me :)

Jai Guru Deva, om, nothing’s gonna change my world :)
This song, His song, enlightening our Universe forever!

Glory to the Divine Spirit! which resides in ALL of US.

Much love to you,

Mieke

56. Posted by , on February 21, 2008 02:09 PM

Bravo Deepak, You followed your own truth. A very difficult decision, but one we must all make when we become Spiritually mature. Lama Dorje

57. Posted by Lama Dorje on November 8, 2008 10:24 AM

Deepak

You were awakened to your own sadhguru....the guru resides inside all of us....

58. Posted by SHAKTI on December 12, 2008 02:13 PM

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