Transcendental Meditation Movement - History

History

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi began teaching Transcendental Meditation in India in the late 1950s. He later trained thousands of teachers around the world to assist in disseminating his teachings. The Maharishi began a series of world tours in 1958 to promote and impart his meditation technique to as many people as possible. The resulting publicity generated by the Maharishi, the celebrities who learned the technique and the scientific research into its effect, helped popularize the technique in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s the Maharishi introduced advanced meditative techniques and his movement grew to encompass TM programs for schools, universities and prisons. In the 1980s additional programs aimed at improved health and well-being were developed based on the Maharishi's interpretation of the Vedic traditions. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals and the Maharishi oversaw a large multinational movement which has continued since his death in 2008. The Maharishi's obituary in the New York Times credited the TM movement as being "a founding influence on what has grown into a multibillion-dollar self-help industry".