--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote: > > > > On 06/19/2011 12:32 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > > > > This is in my honest opinion pretty much the only reason > > > > Maharishi ever became popular. And still is, with some > > > > who aren't aware of why they believe the things they do. > > > > What about the Beatles? I think that was the reason MMY > > and TM became popular. > > Yes, in a PR sense, that is absolutely true. If he > hadn't run into the Beatles, almost no one would have > ever heard of him. >
Well, let's get technical here: HE didn't run into the Beatles. The Beatles sought HIM out. He was already famous enough that the Fab Four were hearing his name from their friends. > But the fact that he did, and co-opted their fame to > increase his own *also* springboarded off of the 60s > American hippie-love of anything Indian and the lack > of critical thought they brought to anything Indian. > Again, the Beatles already had some interest in that topic -independently of Maharishi- although MMY certainly helped make it fashionable > > Charlie Lutes once said that the movement wouldn't have been > > as big without them but it might have been more sophisticated. > > Charlie was a fool. If it hadn't been for the Beatles, > almost no one on this forum would ever have heard of > Maharishi but him and a few other Theosophist types. > Hard to say. The Beach Boys and many others (e.g. Donovan) who were also famous were interested in him, and independently of the Beatles. > > People were interested in yoga back in the 1960s and the > > Beatles threw the spotlight on a teacher who was interested > > in teaching the world. Think if they'd gone down the > > Scientology road. :-D > > Back then, they didn't have any celebrities to shill > for them. Maharishi did. > Dunno if the people gathered around Hubbard saw the benefits of celebrity endorsements the way MMY did, but I suspect there were quite a few celebs back in the day. Lawson
