JMVRI Issue No. 19 contains two scholarly articles about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: “A Close Reading of the Definition of Maharishi Vedic University” by Dr Geoffrey Wells (pp. 13–67), and “A Life Profile of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Master of Āyur-Veda and Global Health” by Drs Lee Fergusson, Manohar Palakurthi, Sathya Dornala, and Anna Bonshek (pp. 69–102).
JMVRI Issue Number 19
JMVRI Paper 19.2
A Life Profile of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Master of Āyur-Veda and Global Health
Authors: Lee Fergusson, Manohar Palakurthi, Sathya Dornala, and Anna Bonshek
This paper can be downloaded via the following link:
Citation: Fergusson, L., Palakurthi, M., Dornala, S. N., & Bonshek, A. (2022). A life profile of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Master of Āyur-Veda and global peace. Journal of Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, 19, 69–102.
Summary (excerpt):
The authors note the difficulty associated with attempts to capture the vast scope and depth of Maharishi’s contributions to health and world peace, and caution against focusing on his personal life rather than on his accomplishments. Indeed, Maharishi did not generally speak about his past or chronicle his life beyond the immediate work he engaged in, work which was focused on human, social and environmental development and improvement; as Maharishi said: “I was simply working, I was simply working, I was simply working”. His exhortation: “Do not waste life; do not waste life in trivialities” may also apply in this context.
Maharishi’s view of life can perhaps therefore best be summarised in his own words when he said in 2007: “All life long I have had the experience that those who heard and followed my words are better off today. They will be better off for the whole of their life. We have no other interest except that we want to see the people healthy, happy, and prosperous. I want to see every nation invincible”. This article therefore rightly focuses on Maharishi’s remarkable output and accomplishments over a 50-year period, not on his personal details: he has “no other interest”.