maharishi in yoga sutra biography

“It was in 1967 however, that yoga truly burst into the collective Western consciousness, when the Beatles met and subsequently introduced Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his program of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to the world. The Maharishi made the cover of Time magazine in 1975, but in the same year, the movement stalled, with monthly teacher training enrollments dropping by 90 percent in the two years that followed. It was then, in 1977, that a new TM product called the TM-Sidhi program was introduced. Ostensibly based on the third chapter of the Yoga Sutra, this was nothing less than training in supernatural powers, with an emphasis on levitation, or “yogic flying.” This program, which the Maharishi University of Management website indicates “was brought to light by Maharishi from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,” involves mentally repeating the “flying sutra” or one of the other sutras on the supernatural powers (siddhis).⁸ In the case of yogic flying, practitioners begin by hopping on firm foam mattresses in the cross-legged posture. Eventually, they hover, and finally they fly. Neither this power, nor the many other benefits claimed by the program (increases in “brain wave coherence,” reduced rates of crime, sickness and accidents, world peace) have ever been substantiated. “

linked mentions for "maharishi in yoga sutra biography":

1. Clippings from “The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: a Biography” by David Gordon White

   A comprehensive guide into Hindu texts in the beginning of the Chapter 2 Ramachandra Chaudhari became Mahatma Ramchandraji Maharaj, cosharer of the