New York, NY (Top40 Charts / Susan Shumsky) Maharishi & Me: Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles' Guru to be released in February: www.susanshumsky.com, www.drsusan.org
Feb. to Apr.: 50th anniversary of the
Beatles in India
Feb. 5: 10th anniversary of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's death
Feb. 25:
George Harrison's 75th birthday
Before Maharishi arrived in
America in 1959, there was no "meditation," "mantra," or "yoga." Within 10 years, he singlehandedly made these into household words. His brush with celebrities put him into the spotlight. But his true legacy is his gift of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Those who followed the most renowned guru of the 20th century were yoga pioneers, and their story is the story of an entire generation that changed the world. Even if boomers didn't participate directly in the Summer of Love, they were swept up in a spiritual revolution.
Maharishi & Me: Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles' Guru is a memoir written by Susan Shumsky, a rare TM insider who lived and studied with Maharishi for 22 years in India, the
Swiss Alps, Fairfield, IA, and elsewhere. Shumsky served on his personal staff for six of those years. Only a handful of the six million people who learned TM had firsthand experience of Maharishi. Shumsky was one of them, and she spills the behind-the-scenes story about this enigmatic guru and celebrities who followed him.
In her memoir, Shumsky reveals fascinating details about the ashram, the true meaning of songs the
Beatles wrote in
India (including "Sexy Sadie," "Dear Prudence," "
Get Back" and more), why Maharishi believed Ringo was the best meditator of the Beatles, the reason the
Beatles left
India and why it wasn't about Mia Farrow, why the
Beatles made a pact to never disclose the real reason they left, Maharishi's shocking prediction for the
Beatles that came true, Maharishi's devastating comment when
John Lennon tried to return two years later, why
George Harrison apologized to Maharishi, and true stories of the intense emotional roller coaster of being a disciple of a guru from India.
Shumsky, award-winning author of 14 books, and pioneer in the consciousness field, has been featured on Fox News TV, L.A. Times, Cosmopolitan, GQ — over 1400 media and speaking engagements. See this Salon.com article for book excerpts.
