All you need is love and peace - but not in destructive Britain, so maharishi pulls out
Followers split as 95-year-old guru ends meditation teaching in 'scorpion nation'

Mark Honigsbaum, Monday August 15, 2005, The Guardian

You can do it in peace-loving nations such as Ireland and Holland. And, despite its record in Vietnam and Iraq, you can still do it in the United States. But try meditating for a more enlightened Britain and you could find yourself accused of feeding "the destroyer of the world."

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. In recent years, the maharishi, who broadcasts on a private satellite channel from a converted monastery in Vlodrop, in Holland, has proffered opinions on everything from crime to the Israel-Palestine conflict to how countries can best foster military defence.

More over at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1549244,00.html" target="new">The Guardian</a>