It was followed by a series of articles based
on Joyce Collin-Smith’s account of her dealings with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
and his organisation.
This final article contains some miscellaneous material of interest, starting with some of the attributes that Maharishi Yogi had in common with other cult leaders of various kinds.
There is a lot of repetition here, but it is
a good way to get ideas across. Despite the huge amount of information
available, people are still becoming enthralled by cult leaders and falling for
their propaganda and manipulative techniques. People are still joining sinister
organisations.
Cult leader characteristics
The Maharishi Yogi had some messianic - and
to anyone with any common sense completely unrealistic - ambitions, both
worldly and spiritual. His modest plan was to regenerate the entire world in
three years via his Transcendental Meditation techniques. He wanted world
peace; he wanted to create heaven on earth.
Unlimited ambition and a global mission are often found in cult leader types.
He also displayed the Sole Supplier Syndrome. His was the only way; only he had the answer to the world’s problems:
“It was clear that at this time he had not considered that it might not only be the absence of ‘methods’, ‘practices’ and ‘ways’ to higher consciousness that kept the world in its present unhappy state…entirely sure of his success no matter what had been the fate of other teachings.”
As has been mentioned elsewhere, cult leaders all think that theirs is the true and only solution.
He wanted to control his followers’ lives; he led some of them to disaster and destruction; he banished or abandoned some of them when they offended him in some way or their money ran out.
This is all very familiar indeed. Cult leaders are usually ruthless predators who ruin many people’s lives.
Power and money, publicity and big names
The Maharishi Yogi wanted things that a spiritually
developed person would surely not be interested in. They are the same worldly
things that Satan is reported to offer to anyone who will worship him!
Joyce Collin-Smith tells us that he had a lust for power.
He raised huge sums of money from his pupils and supporters.
He was publicity hungry; he wanted everyone in the world to know who he was. He said hundreds of times how important it was to get publicity, and that there was no such thing as bad publicity.
He wanted to attract people who were very well known. He said, “Get the big names and the others will follow.” and, “Catch them in the net.”
It could be said that all this was necessary
to promote the cause effectively to large numbers of people, but the feeling I
get is that he was doing it for himself.
The Sufi master I mentioned in the first article certainly gave public talks and had followers, but on a much smaller scale. He did it not for his own sake but to pass on the teachings.
There are no allegations about him the way there are about Maharishi.
It seems that my instincts were correct in both these cases.
So who is a real master then?
As mentioned in the first article, a genuine
master is almost impossible to find. They are very rare indeed and often live
in obscurity. Perhaps the best we can do is to understand that someone who has
the cult leader attributes mentioned above is unlikely to be one.
As a slight diversion, here are two anecdotes about people who sound promising:
I remember reading somewhere about an Indian holy man, a spiritual teacher, who moved to the US many years ago. People gathered round and started worshipping him. He disappeared as he didn’t want to be idolised. I can’t remember his name - it was one of those very long Hindu ones. He sounds to me like the real deal.
Another vague memory is of a story about a wise Muslim man who was revered in his community. He always had a place of honour at the front in the mosque.
One day he arrived late, so he slipped into a place at the back. He felt very uncomfortable all the way through the proceedings.
Something was wrong; something was missing.
He later traced the feeling to its source.
He realised that his position at the front meant that many people would focus on and have positive thoughts about him. His lower self was uncomfortable because it missed basking in the warm feelings of respect, approval and admiration that the other worshippers would beam his way.
He showed his true colours by always sitting at the back from then on; he thought that the worshippers should be concentrating on Allah not on him.
No bad end for the Maharishi
The backfiring of his meditation methods and
the attraction of the wrong sorts of people in the early days may have delayed
the Maharishi Yogi’s plans, but he did eventually become world famous and make huge
amounts of money.
The allegations and criticism made no difference in the long run. He seemed much the same on the outside over the years, and there is no sign that he had to pay any price for his misdeeds in the form of inner torment. Maybe he did a deal with the devil in which other people paid for his crimes.
Unlike many other cult leaders, he did not come to a bad end. He died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes at the approximate age of 90.
There’s no justice in the world!
