John Hagelin: India and Beyond

The ceremonial events associated with Maharishi’s physical remains have transpired with the utmost sanctity and dignity, in strict accordance with the Vedic prescriptions laid out for a Jagad-Guru (world teacher) of Maharishi’s extraordinary stature. As I hope many of you were able to witness over the Maharishi Channel, the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math, Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati Maharaj, presided at the Vedic cremation ceremony, and orchestrated every detail of the Vedic rites, in consultation with the leaders of Maharishi’s Indian Movement and Raja-Raam, First Ruler of the Global Country of World Peace.

The Vedic ceremony of cremation was performed on the foundation of the Rig Veda temple on the grounds of Maharishi’s ashram, overlooking the Sangam — the point of convergence of the holy rivers Ganges, Jumna and the Saraswati.

Maharishi was granted a State Honor by the government of India, befitting a great national hero, with an honor guard of soldiers and a helicopter showering flower petals from above. Spiritual and political dignitaries of India and tens of thousands of others from around the world, including many hundreds from the United States, gathered to pay their respects to our incomparable and beloved Maharishi.

Every day, the national press featured major stories as the events unfolded, highlighting Maharishi’s global achievements and carrying the news that Maharishi’s vision and legacy of enlightenment and world peace would be fully realized — both through the global leadership structure that Maharishi has put in place and through the dedicated efforts of all the enlightened editators throughout the world.

After the ceremony, on successive days, the ashes of Maharishi’s mortal remains were scattered — first in the Sangam, in the presence of hundreds of boats filled with thousands of people, and then in Varanasi.

We now await the final phase of the Vedic ceremony, to be held on February 20 in the presence of the Shankaracharya, commemorating Maharishi’s ascent to the Supreme abode, the field of Universal Being.

I am sure many of you have heard reports of the deeply moving experiences of those who have been here. I’d like to share two of my experiences that I found especially transforming. First, on the day before the cremation, we held a huge press conference, for which I prepared a press release with our new National Director of Expansion, Bob Roth. It was an intensive day of organization and interviews, and when I was finally afforded a moment to rest, upon closing my eyes, I felt the overwhelming presence of Maharishi — more powerfully and palpably present than at any time I had ever served him over these past 30 years. Liberated from the constricting influence of his mortal physiology, Maharishi’s awareness seemed more universal and powerful than ever before. It became so clear to me: Maharishi is with us!

On the following day, it was intensely poignant and, frankly, painful to witness Maharishi’s tender and divine physiology placed upon the funeral pyre to be consumed by flame with the Vedic rites and recitations. But in the end, when all that remained were pure, white ashes, I witnessed the most surprising transformation of all.

At first, it felt like Maharishi was completely liberated from any restriction from the confines of the human physiology — with its finite dimensions and frailties of age. It felt like Maharishi was suddenly completely unbounded, immortal, eternally youthful.

But then I realized that Maharishi, in truth, was never bound by his mortal physiology. It was only my perception of him that was bound. But now that misperception was shattered — destroyed before my very eyes. I realized that it was I who was liberated from any remaining misperception that Maharishi was localized.
Maharishi is Totality — Brahm. He was always Brahm. He resides within our most quiet, most tender, most abstract, blissful inner core. He is our very Self. And he is guiding each of us to the extent that we are
awake to our inner Being — that we are in tune with our inner Self.

We are designing a national expansion and outreach program to bring Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation to hundreds of schools, businesses and other organizations — a program that will keep all our precious Governors fully engaged teaching in the field. We are also focusing on building up MUM and our Fairfield / MVC super-radiance community, starting with a huge “David Lynch Weekend” at MUM on April 25–27, and we hope to recruit as many as 300 new students by September.

During the next few weeks, I will introduce to you our national leadership team via the Maharishi Channel and Internet webcast, at which time we will lay out some of our exciting plans for expansion.

For now, the most important thing to realize is that each and every one of us has a vital role to play in completing Maharishi’s legacy for the world. Maharishi has truly done it all — the momentum of peace is irreversible. Together, we will effortlessly and blissfully fulfill Maharishi’s vision, which is now our proud and fortunate destiny to fulfill.