LONDON, UK, August 15, 2005: Nearly 40 years after he first turned the Beatles on to transcendental meditation at his Indian ashram – sparking an upsurge of interest in his philosophy across the world – the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has ordered his followers to stop teaching his advanced meditation and levitation techniques in Britain. Disgusted at Tony Blair’s support for the US in the Iraq war and the British electorate’s failure to unseat the prime minister at the general election, the 95-year-old guru says there is no point continuing to waste the “beautiful nectar” of TM on a “scorpion” nation. “The good effects of transcendental meditation – increased creativity and long life – should not be given to a dangerous country that is constantly busy destroying the world,” said the Maharishi, speaking at one his regular press conferences in the Netherlands. “TM is a gift from me to those who want to create peace and harmony in the world.” Although the Maharishi’s comments came before the July terror attacks on London, his declaration has divided followers in Britain and abroad concerned about his increasingly eccentric political views, according to this report in The Guardian.
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