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Yogi for the Masses or the Royal Road to Success

At the initiative of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement of New Zealand, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi spoke to a packed Memorial Theatre on Wednesday, March 7. Apparently about four hundred students were sufficiently interested in their spiritual well-being to hear what this Indian mystic had to say.

His entry on to the stage of the auditorium, accompanied by a red rose was sufficiently impressive to obtain the interest of the audience from the outset.

He introduced his theory to the listeners with the claim that his method was one whereby all aspects of life were brightened. It was possible to develop the latent faculties, he claimed. The same life energy is used for Strength, Intelligence, Creativity etc., just as the same electricity runs lamps, drills, etc. Life Energy was centred at the Source of Thought and hence if one could get to this source, one could increase the power of one's thought.

In proving this he used the analogy of a tree, in which if one can get at the roots of the tree and nourish them directly then the tree will be greatly benefited.

He claimed that his method was very simple. One takes a thought devoid of meaning so that the mind is not distracted by any outside influences i.e. by any associations that a word has. Then this thought is gradually reduced back to the origin until the mind is in a state of no thought. This state is different from that where no thought is experienced at the conscious level, as for instance in a dreamless sleep.

He said that this state of mind was beneficial in releasing one from tension, which is the chief cause of unhappiness. Hence if anyone underwent his course they would be in a perpetual state of happiness. His method taught how to look for the source of happiness within oneself and he stressed this point by quoting the passage from the Bible where Jesus states that the Kingdom of Heaven was within oneself.

After speaking for about an hour the Maharishi allowed the audience to ask him questions. A condensed version of the questions and answers follows.

Q.—You stated that children were too young to follow your system. At what age would you say that they should begin?

A.—At 14 or 15 or 17 about.

Q.—Should the pupil be free from mental illness before studying your system ?

A.—Yes.

Q.—What do you encounter when reducing the level of your meaningless thought back to the origin?

A.—You don't encounter any thoughts because these lead to unhappiness and we wish to avoid this.

Q.—What is the process whereby the thought is reduced back to its origin?

A.—The technique varies with the word.

Q.—Can you show us this technique?

A.—There is a danger in doing that.

Q.—Does this word stay constant?

A.—That depends.

Q.—How do you know when you have reached the bottom?

A.—When you can go no further.

Q.—How do you come back to the level of consciousness?

A.—This is automatic as the mind is used to concrete things as opposed to the abstract condition which one is in at the Origin of Thought, and hence it returns to the surface just as a diver returns from a dive.

Q.—Can you describe the state of mind at the Origin?

A.—You are left completely by yourself as if with a featureless sea on all sides of you.

Q.—Have you found anyone who has not responded to your treatment?

A.—Yes.

Q.—How much does it cost?

A.—Nothing to students but their parents must expect to share the cost.

Q.—Is your system a system of Yoga?

A.—Yes.

Q.—Then how is it related to other forms of Yoga?

A.—Yoga systems all aim at getting the Self into a state of abstraction, some do it by breathing, others by exercises, but my system is much easier to master for the same end result.

Q.—You say that you had undergone training in the various systems of Yoga before you discovered this system of yours. Would not this training have made it easier for you to attain this state of abstraction?

A.—No.

Q.—Can you justify that?

A.—It is like a man who tends a rose for months with great care then presents it to me. I say, could I not have enjoyed the rose without having had to wait six months.

Some student opinion about the Maharishi.

1st year Science student:—

My general attitude was one of considerable scepticism, due to his inability to explain his philosophy in terms prone to logical and scientific examination. By this I mean that his argument is too much like a philosophy of the evolution of man which can be partly proven but which is greatly interwoven with hypotheses.

Junior lecturer Mathematics:—

Too keen to explain but not keen enough to describe.

4th year Arts Student:—

It would be presumptuous on my part to write off the efficacy of meditation—still I don't reckon I can tap a great source of infinite bliss deep down inside me by means of a peculiar noise. It's just too simple. Ex nihil, nihil fecit.. I don't think that the Maharishi is a crook—he won't do any harm, he may do some good. Spiritual regeneration is a lovely idea, but I fear that I must remain a sceptic.

2nd year Arts:—

By a series of false analogies, the Maharishi attempted to convince his listeners that his system would remove all our anxieties. The means of attaining this bliss were all too dubious for my liking. Perhaps the whole system is just a figment (conscious) of the Maharishi's conscious imagination.

3rd year Law:—

I think that he is a fake. I cannot see how he got to this origin of thought.

4th year Commerce:—

I think that he had something to offer but he did not produce it. He certainly had quite an effective way of presenting his method. However, I think that it appears as if he had an ulterior motive.

4th year Arts:—

A charming personality, but his "message" was most disappointing. What he said could have been reduced to a few sentences. For all those students who were genuinely interested in Yoga, the lecture was most uninformative and only served to dampen any enthusiasm they may have originally had.

3rd year Arts:—

I think that the Maharishi under-estimated the intellectual capacity of his audience and he prejudiced his cause by an hour of introductory drivel. I can appreciate that his method depends on the individual and thus cannot be described in any detail. I would not presume to dismiss him as a fake but I remain unconvinced that his ideas are valid.

4th year Law student:—

The Maharishi is clearly a brilliant man who sincerely believes, and apparently has proved, that he has found a method which will reduce everyday tensions. This lecture gave no immediate answer. It merely opened the door for those who were interested to enter. His method was original and a little bewildering, and, for that reason alone, many students must have doubts as to its effectiveness. But it is clear that there are no grounds for criticism until the method has been tried individually.