Three Introductions to Maharishi's Messages

George Hammond's Introduction to Maharishi's Messages

February 14, 2016

Dear Fellow TM Teachers,

Maharishi asked me, and several other TM teachers, to share with you these four messages. The first two were created in December 2014 to emphasize ideas from the 30th November presentation which Maharishi and Guru Dev thought were particularly relevant to the TM movement. The two recent messages provide much more personal detail, including Maharishi’s analysis of his life’s work.

Their explanations reflect a major shift in their thinking about how the Holy Tradition can best accomplish its goals for humanity, a shift which occurred during the two-year meeting of The Movement instigated by Maharishi in 2010, two years after he had died. Because The Movement’s new consensus emphasizes the eternal nature of individuality, the pursuit of personal happiness has regained its priority as the natural goal of individual life. The traditional goal of the Vedic wing of The Movement — living an enlightened life — and the traditional goal of the Western wing of The Movement — developing virtuous personalities — both become effective means to serve that natural goal.

Maharishi also asked me to describe the process of how all these messages were conveyed to me. The conversations I have been having with Maharishi and other members of The Movement began on January 2, 2014, in the wake of my sister Mary Iber’s death (as I explain at the beginning of the 30th November presentation). The Movement’s new consensus was conveyed to me in many ways, on dozens of different occasions, but mostly through what would be considered normal conversations except for the fact that each of the others involved in the conversations no longer have a human body. Most often the complex ideas, and stories connected to those ideas, were conveyed telepathically in words, although sometimes they were conveyed in visual images, with the expectation that I would give them form for more normal verbal and written communication. There were times, though, when the five members of The Movement, who individually conveyed aspects of their consensus to me, used specific English words, phrases and sentences. In those cases I was asked to use those exact words in conveying the information, which I have done.

The follow-up conversations with Maharishi and Guru Dev in December 2014 and throughout 2015 were similar. But since the final versions of these four messages were to be written down rather than spoken, I would write a first draft after each conversation, and then Maharishi, and sometimes Guru Dev, would suggest edits. Once they rather humorously disagreed about the editing of one phrase, and it bounced back and forth. Just in time for the final version, Guru Dev acquiesced to Maharishi’s compromise suggestion. In addition, several other TM teachers were asked to review the information for completeness and clarity and many of their suggestions were incorporated in the final versions as well.

There have, of course, been a wide variety of reactions both to Maharishi’s decision to intervene after his death and to his new explanations. Some feel these messages don’t sound exactly like Maharishi, and we certainly all agree that some of his explanations are clearly not the same as he would have given when he was alive. However, others who worked with Maharishi prior to 1975 have commented that he feels more like he did back then. If you have any comments you would like to share, they can be emailed to: [email protected].

Maharishi understands all such reactions because he never expected, and never led anyone else to expect, that his communications with his TM family would continue after his death, and also because he too resisted these new ideas until Shankara’s arguments broke through his barriers. As Maharishi explains, quite emotionally but in his usual restrained and elegant way, elements of his own personal history — that he wanted to avoid facing ― inspired his resistance. Since he himself felt that way, he fully understands why others may feel a similar initial resistance to both his means of communication and The Movement’s new consensus.

That is why Maharishi has chosen to be so personal and candid in his explanations. And they are just that: explanations. Maharishi has been trying his best to avoid “giving orders” ever since The Movement reached its new consensus on the eternal nature of each individual’s free will.

Maharishi has hope that these explanations will help you, in turn, to resolve any personal issues you might still have about your experiences with him or with the TM movement, just as he has recently resolved, with the help of Guru Dev and Shankara, many of his own issues caused by believing misleading ideas which distorted the decisions he made during his life as Maharishi.

Maharishi also hopes these insights will make it clear how the enthusiasm, dynamism, effectiveness and friendly atmosphere of the early years of the TM movement dissipated, so that you may recapture that atmosphere in your own life and in the TM movement’s life again.

George Hammond


John Moore's Introduction to Maharishi's Messages

“If Maharishi, Guru Dev, and other members of the Holy Tradition appeared before you to ask for your help to deliver new messages to all their teachers and to the whole world in order to improve the quality of life and living, what would you do?”

February 14, 2016

Dear Friends,

On October 22nd, 2014, Maharishi, Guru Dev, and other members of the Holy Tradition appeared before me to ask a favor, to spread the word about their new messages that George Hammond would be sharing on the 30th of November, 2014. At that time, I had never met George Hammond, did not know what his experiences were, nor had any idea what these messages might be.

Like many of us who worked for Maharishi (over 3 decades on Purusha), our relationship included meetings and phone calls, and in my case, making Maharishi laugh often. So, naturally, this new conversation with Maharishi and friends was much like all the ones that came before: it was personal, filled with lots of laughter, and included discussions of many past conversations and instructions that I had with him in his home in Holland until he passed in February of 2008.

When they appeared, I could clearly see and hear Maharishi, Guru Dev, and other members of the Holy Tradition. Since then, I’ve had many additional conversations with Maharishi about these messages they want to share which they believe will fundamentally improve human civilization at its cultural core.

I respect, understand, and actually expect you to question me, to doubt my experiences, and to look skeptically at anything coming from me and others who are saying that we are delivering new messages from Maharishi since this is neither a ‘common’ experience, nor is there any way to objectively verify our experiences. Having said that, I am completely convinced that my recent conversations with Maharishi are with the same Maharishi I’ve always known, loved, and served. You should also know that more than 20 people have come forward to tell us that they also have had similar experiences in the past 2 years with Maharishi.

Some of you have questioned the tone of the messages, saying that they may not sound like Maharishi. I would completely agree with you since these written messages were not transcriptions of Maharishi’s talks. These messages were very similar to the experience many of us have had with Maharishi while working together on a new message or new project. For example, in my experience on Purusha, Maharishi might have told someone that he wanted a new ad or brochure on a certain topic that included many points that he wanted mentioned and discussed. That person would prepare a draft as he thought Maharishi would want it, then we’d gather as a group to read it back to Maharishi, while Maharishi and many of us would suggest changes to the wording or to the ideas themselves. Then, eventually, Maharishi would sign off on a final version for publication in which he approved every word.

For these recent messages, it was George Hammond who first listened to what Maharishi wanted, wrote an initial version, and then shared it with several teachers whom Maharishi asked for feedback. We would make our suggestions, and sometimes have conversations with Maharishi about the content of the messages. Then, like always, Maharishi would listen to each suggestion and make changes where he thought to, and eventually, sign off on the final version in which he approved every word.

In conclusion, let me ask you: If Maharishi, Guru Dev, and other members of the Holy Tradition appeared before you to ask for your help to deliver new messages to all their teachers and to the whole world in order to improve the quality of life and living, what would you do?

Would you help them even if you knew that your participation in the TM organizations would be threatened, that many of your fellow teachers would flat out not believe you, that many of your friends would be afraid to be caught talking to you for fear of repercussions, and that many of the TM movement’s leaders would try hard to discredit you and undermine the whole glorious project?

If my devotion is to Maharishi and the Holy Tradition and the spiritual wisdom they lovingly share, then isn’t my choice obvious?

I hope you’ll find these new messages to be useful and liberating for living an excellent life of ever increasing self-sufficiency and happiness!

Your friend,

John Moore


Kelvin Chin's Introduction to Maharishi's Messages

February 14, 2016

Dear TM friends and other friends whom these letters may touch through the years,

I was asked to share my experiences regarding the messages from Maharishi and The Movement to give another perspective for people to consider.

First, a quick summary of my history with Maharishi. I was active in his TM movement in the early to mid-1970s, as the national leader of the TM organization in Hong Kong, and later as chairman of the Cambridge TM center, among other roles. The last project he asked me to lead was the organization of a teacher training program at MIU for Chinese Americans to take them to China in 1978. I stopped working for the TM movement shortly after that project was canceled, but always felt my close friendship and connection with Maharishi.

My first experience having Maharishi communicate with me telepathically occurred in the late 1980s. I know a number of you told me, when we spoke during the numerous phone calls I had with you when I was organizing the 30th November event, of similar communications you each have had with him — in your meditations, dreams, or other quiet times. He first spoke with me this way in a lucid dream, a few years after I had spontaneously begun having regular conversations with other minds from ‘the other side.’

Later, in early 2014, I began to have more regular communications with Maharishi and The Movement. Interestingly, how they appeared to me visually at first was exactly the same way George Hammond and later John Moore described to me how they appeared to them. We had not yet compared notes. Now, is that proof of the validity of our respective experiences? No. But I think it’s an interesting ‘data point.’

During one of those “meetings” the group came and discussed some requests about logistical issues for the 30th November event. And, oddly and totally out of place in the discussion, I was told that Maharishi wanted them to tell me that he had been my father in another life. My immediate thought was, “That’s impossible. I thought he’s been a monk all these lives.” Then, over the next several weeks I began to recall more and more his being a tough father, that I had had a difficult time as his son. That he was loving, but difficult.

Several months later, on December 1, 2014, the day after the 30th November event, at a follow-up meeting in our hotel that I had organized for people who wanted to discuss the lecture further, Maharishi came to me again.

This time was different. He ‘filled up’ my body inside with his energy. I didn’t need to see him. By then, I “knew” the feeling of his energy. It was unmistakable. And he telepathically requested that I tell John Moore (whom I had just met the day before the event) my experience of several months earlier. This was the first time I had revealed that experience publicly. And when I started to speak, I ‘welled up’ emotionally inside, found it difficult to speak, and reached over to a close buddy of mine sitting next to me in the conference room and grabbed his leg for support. Then I began telling everyone in the room how Maharishi had been my father and how difficult it had been.

Keep in mind, I was not channeling Maharishi. I was just recounting my experience and memories of several months earlier.

The interesting thing is that, as far as I know, the only people who heard the content of what I said were John Moore and George Hammond, even though there were about a dozen people in that small conference room with us. I asked my buddy later if he recalled what I had said, and he told me that all he remembered was that “…you got upset about something while you were talking, and I remember you grabbing my leg, though I didn’t know why.”

I tell you this because I’m sure many of you who spent time with Maharishi, or perhaps some other strong personality, have probably experienced similar situations like this, where some people in the room hear what is said, while others in the room don’t. I think this is actually quite common and understandable. And, it is no different with any of these Movement Messages. Those who have ears to hear, will.

Maharishi, Jesus, and others in The Movement have continued to discuss other issues with me in the subsequent months since the 30th November event. The main takeaway is that we each need to listen to what resonates with us, and not worry about the rest. There is no fear being promoted here. Given that we are all probably eternal minds, we have plenty of time to choose, to digest, to synthesize the information they shared, and to live our lives in whatever way we decide.

The Movement simply is offering a possible explanation for how to go about enjoying life better, sooner.

But the choice is ours. It is always ours to decide — the If, the How and the When.

The other main takeaway concerns the traditional “guru-disciple” relationship that has existed for millennia in many cultures throughout the world.

Some of you may be pursuing and growing your self-knowledge on your own path. Others of you may still be followers of Maharishi or some other guru or teacher in a disciple relationship. That is all fine. As I said, these are all personal choices we all make as we each decide what fits us best at any given moment in our lives.

However, what is new is that The Movement has essentially put us all “on notice” that all its members, which includes everyone in the Holy Tradition, have decided that going forward they will no longer use the guru-disciple mode of teaching, and especially find its “blind faith follower” model irredeemably flawed. This does not, however, mean that we will no longer be able to find teachers to guide us — teachers and mentors are always helpful. But when a teacher is “telling others what to do” — whether they are implicitly or explicitly imposing their will on their students’ Free Wills — that is problematic. Because it is clear that that guru does not understand something fundamental about eternal individual life and something fundamental about the effective sharing of spiritual wisdom.

Many of you know the story of how Guru Dev, as a young boy, left home in search of a guru. But even though he was just a boy, Guru Dev had already decided that he would never accept a guru with “fire” — that is, anger.

The Movement is suggesting now that you add another qualification to any such future search: Never accept a guru who does not fully respect your Free Will, who wants you to be his or her disciple instead of his or her friend.

The Movement expects that the vast majority of the most effective gurus they know will come to that same conclusion within a century or two — as some (including Paramahansa Yogananda and several famous Buddhist teachers) already have done after conversations with members of The Movement. And so there will soon be a talent vacuum at the top, a vacuum that is bound to be filled by amateurs.

So if, in a future life, you are still emotionally inclined out of habit to pursue a guru-disciple relationship, be mindful that the personalities who will likely be stepping up to be your guru will not be the same as a Maharishi, a Guru Dev, or a Shankara.

And it is not out of abandonment that the members of The Movement have decided this, but instead, out of their love for us and recognition of our power as individual minds — fully fit to pursue the dream of happiness on heaven and earth.

I hope this helps you on your journey.

Warmly,
(and as the French say)…à jamais,

Kelvin Chin

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