Lyle Wallace interview, Humboldt, CA 1972
Why Maharishi left the Himalayas to teach Transcendental Meditation
During the 1970’s Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique, held many advanced courses around the United States and world. Below is an interview from the reporter Lyle Wallace where he asks Maharishi why he left the Himalayas to teach Transcendental Meditation.
From hearing you speak, you’ve pretty much answered this next question, but I would like to ask it just the same. Why did you come out of the Himalayas, Maharishi, to teach transcendental meditation to people everywhere in the world?
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: I think it’s the nature of a bulb to emit light. Once it is lit, it can’t keep light within itself. It’s the nature of life to progress, and the knowledge, to give out knowledge is such a natural thing in man. It belongs to the value of life which always grows and grows. Life is progressive. It evolves, it grows spontaneously, hm? A small young child sees the yellow car going on the road and then he runs to the mummy. “Mummy, mummy, yellow car!” He sees something and he wants to deliver that message to others. It’s natural to life. Teaching is a natural profession. Everyone who has any knowledge, he just can’t feel rested til he has given out. (laughter, applause)
So, motivated by this natural tendency of life to give out knowledge, I came out of the Himalayas. I couldn’t rest there. (laughter) This science of creative intelligence, this knowledge of effortlessly making ourselves acquainted with the deepest value of life which is so marvelous, unbounded awareness, bliss consciousness, such great harmony, happiness, peace, freedom from stress, all these wonderful results through one simple, comfortable, sitting with closed eyes. It’s such a beautiful technique.
Having got this from my master, it was not possible to sit quiet in the Himalayas. Hm?
Lyle: Did you, Maharishi, at the time you decided to go out and to teach, teachers as they were, did you envisage it growing as rapidly and becoming as big as it has?
Maharishi: I expected this growth about 6 years ago. (laughter, applause) I thought that in the west all the people are scientifically advanced, and technologically grown up, very widely intelligent (laughter)and I thought it will not take much time for this message to grow, because it’s so simple, so useful. But it has taken that much time (laughter).
Actually I started with the world plan, but I couldn’t speak of the world plan, just because there were not enough teachers. And when this year I found there are about 4000 teachers, and I said, with this strength we can establish at least 3600 teacher training centres. The world plan. But the whole movement was started with the whole population in view. Because the technique is so simple, so natural, anyone who can think, can meditate. With the simplicity and naturalness of practice of transcendental meditation, it was easy to whisper in all parts of the world and everyone would start to take advantage of it.
But even in this jet age it has taken these many years, 12, 13, 14 years. But, doesn’t matter, better late than never. (laughter) So this 1972 is the year of the world plan and very soon we hope to reach the whole population of the world with this wonderful message of science of creative intelligence.
Wonderful website! Thank you!