Krishna Reddy

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is no more.
Yes, the enlightened man, who has made “meditation” a household name, has left His physical body on February 5, 2008 at Vlodrop, Netherlands. He died in a sitting position, which is considered to be to very sacred. Today his body will be brought to Allahabad, India for last rites.
Not only is he one of the greatest Gurus of our time, but is a great spiritual leader in the world history. He was my first spiritual Guru considering the first meditation technique I learnt was Transcendental Meditation before His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar (founder of Art of Living foundation). He is the one who has popularized meditation, Vedic culture and India’s great and vast spiritual wisdom worldwide.
Well, to digress a little, what is spirituality? Spirituality is knowing about one’s own self and realizing “I am the vast consciousness, everything else is part of which”.
In other words it is the study of the mind and consciousness. Well the founding pioneer of Modern Psychology came to India and studied Patanjali Yoga Sutras for four years.
Well thousands of years old Patanjali Yoga Sutras is known as the best ever scripture on mind/consciousness. And we can say that Patanjali Maharishi was one of the best ever psychologist in the mankind history! In Hindu literature/philosophy, you can find many other scriptures about consciousness and self realization. The ones like Bhagadgeeta of Krishna, Ashtavakra Geeta of Ashtavakra Maharishi (King Janaka’s (Sita’s father) Guru), Yoga Vasishta (Well, Matrix movie is based on this scripture) by Vasishta Maharishi (Rama’s Guru), Narada Maharishi’s Bhakti Sutras, Shiva Sutras etc. All these shastras(scriptures) can be classified into Vedanta. Vedanta literally means Anta (end) of Veda (knowledge) – the ultimate knowledge – knowledge of Self (It is also called with many names… Atma/Soul/Consciousness/Chetna).
Well reading all these great books is of no help unless you have had a glimpse of the highest potential of your life PRACTICALLY. Well, to experience/glimpse the highest state of your consciousness PRACTICALLY need the guidance of a Guru, who “has been there, done that.”
Why is this state so important/great? What is that state, how does it feel like? Well, you have to experience for yourself. It is a state devoid of thoughts and feelings, still you are conscious, aware, it is a state of no mind…. mother of all the minds, all the thoughts, feelings, identities(ego), and five senses, basically all the mental phenomenon. A still mind/no mind is mother of all minds and creativity, like the vast still ocean potentially contains all the waves. There can be an ocean without waves but for the wave to be there, there has to be ocean. Waves are part of the ocean, not the other way round. Similarly when the mind (wave) is calm (ceases) it merges with the vast Divine Consciousness (the Ocean). Basically YOU become the GOD.
Well, as mentioned in Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code’, all of us experience the spiritual experience of still mind for a tiny fraction of second (typically a few micro to milliseconds) during the orgasmic moment during sex. That is a tiny glimpse of Samadhi or still mind. Still mind is what makes us extremely happy. (What all the events and objects people that make us happy is… they just reduce the number of thoughts bombarding your mind for some time). That is the reason why every body likes and is obsessed with sex so much (people mistakenly think that it is the other person who is giving them the joy. But the joy springs up from within you, your deepest core. People/objects/events/actions/activities are only a vehicle to reach the destination… yourself)…. It is the only glimpse/source of highest joy for an otherwise ordinary man. If a few microseconds of still mind gives you so much joy imagine how joyful it will be if you experience that state of mind for a few seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months etc. Enlightenment is a state of being “that” perpetually. Through meditation it is possible to achieve still mind for a longer period of time practically. Though it is a little difficult to achieve, its not very difficult either. Well transcendental meditation that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi popularized worldwide is the most ancient meditation technique that has been used by great souls like right from Vyasa, Vasishta, Rama, Krishna, Adishankaracharya to enlightened people of our times like Sri Sri Ravishankar, Dr Deepak Chopra, Mahesh Yogi etc.
I personally feel extremely fortunate to have received the age old but evergreen meditation techniques and the Highest knowledge, the wisdom of the Self, passed on to this generation through lineage of Gurus. And I am grateful to my Guru Maharishi Mahesh yogi for bestowing me this precious knowledge.
Back to the topic, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was Guru of Sri Sri Himself, Dr Deepak Chopra, Rishi Prabhakar founder of Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY), and the rock band Beatles. He was the person who has made meditation and higher knowledge/understanding of life accessible to the common man, which otherwise used be a property of to few highly Hindu (Buddhist/Jain etc) scholarly people and “old” “monks”.
Now a days meditation is used for mundane purposes like beating stress, boosting health, rejuvenating body and mind, energizing young athletes, astronauts to higher purposes like exploring oneself, finding the truth, purpose of life etc. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s contributions towards this will be remembered forever, in mankind history, putting him alongside great saints like Vasishta, Lord Krishna, Buddha, Adishankaracharaya, Jesus Christ etc.
Will write more about this later….
Sleep time zzzzzzzzzz.