At the Beatles Ashram

2016-06-06:

We just arrived in Rishikesh!! A quick stop of only a few days before going back deeper into the Himalayas, but this time in the direction of the source of the Ganges. It is raining and it is a little bit chilly here. We are staying at the Omkarananda Ashram; a lovely place on the banks of the Ganga River. Walking around, you realise that the word YOGA is everywhere! There are lots of schools that offer a fast teacher training of one month in various different styles; hatha, kundalini, vinyasa etc… Yoga Bazaar Anyone?

“Who wants yoga? Who wants meditation? Who wants relaxation? Where’s the best place in this town filled with schools on the latest greatest ancient practice?”

Luckily for us and our short stop over we aren’t here to choose a yoga course, but to just absorb the energy of this pilgrimage site and the holy river. We visited one of the oldest ashrams in Rishikesh, the Sivananda Ashram, and met with two amazing swamis who are originally from Canada. They welcomed us in their homely room and Andrew offered them some raga music on his saxophone. We had a very inspiring discussion, and despite the short time available to us, they left us a precious pearl of wisdom that can be summarised in these words:

“The good is the enemy of the best”

This sentence arrived as an enlightenment. Sometimes we are so focused and attached to what we have, that we don’t want to change anything under the fear to lose it. We may feel that we are in a good situation, but holding on to it, also removes our ability to envision and experience the best. It is so hard to change, to let go, and to try something new, so tend to miss out on the best …. definitely something to think about!

One of the most famous attractions to this spiritual haven is the story of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his rise to fame throughout the world for his associations with popular celebrities and artists like the Beach Boys, Mia Farrow, Paul Horn, and of course The Beatles!! Everything that rises must fall, and the story goes that the attention that the Maharishi attracted to his Ashram on the lower eastern bank of south Rishikesh was not appreciated by all the other ashrams, and soon he was forced to leave the ashram, which basically became abandoned and left for the jungle to grow through. In previous trips to Rishikesh, Andrew has visited the ashram to find it ‘guarded’ by sadhus, or homeless and wandering holy men, who would let you ‘visit’ the premises for a small tip of say 50 Rs.

When we arrived this year, we found the same government signage, warning us not to enter, except instead of friendly sadhus who would let you wander the ashram and soak up the vibes, we were confronted by a group of young people ‘guarding’ the gate and enforcing the new government timings and tourist rates to enter the attraction; 60 Rs. for Indians and 600 Rs. for Foreigners!  How sad it was to see the corruption of the state take advantage of such an important and special place in the history of pop culture, only to make money on nostalgic tourists and not invest any of it in restoring the ashram or preserving it’s unique history. So we found a holy tree nearby and sat for meditation beside the ganges, in our attempt to transcend our current present for a trip to the past, not far from the place where the Beatles were almost 50 years ago.

In 1967 George Harrison dragged his bandmates to the Hilton Hotel in London to listen to a wise man from the East, a spiritual teacher, a ‘sadhu’ named the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. For the Beatles this experience was of tremendous importance, especially as it occurred at the same time as the sudden and sad death of their manager, the ‘5th Beatle’, Brian Epstein. His passing surely shocked the young pop stars and left them searching for meaning and answers in their unique and exposed lives. In February 1968, the Beatles and their wives decided to travel to India and visit the Maharishi’s Ashram in Rishikesh.

The Maharishi taught a simple technique called Transcendental Meditation (TM), an easy to practice method that could better your life and wouldn’t conflict with the fast paced materialistic world. Paul explained that the Maharishi “basically said, with a simple system of meditation, twenty minutes in the morning, twenty minutes in the evening, no big sort of crazy thing, you can improve the quality of your life and sort of find some sort of meaning in doing so.”  For the Beatles their trip to the Ashram became one of the most important periods in their illustrious career and changed their future (and the world’s) forever. You can listen to a majority of the songs they wrote while in India on their incredible album ‘The Beatles’, also known as ‘The White Album’, which you can learn more about and listen to on their website… or listen to the whole thing in reverse here!! Definitely a trip!!

Canadian Paul Saltzman was one of the lucky people to visit the Maharishi’s Ashram in Rishikesh while the Beatles were there and captured his experience on film with some incredible photos. Check out this video below for his story at a TEDx Talk and look at his website to see more of the photos and order his book.