WEBVTT - Spiritual Bermuda Triangle 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:14.685 School of Humans. Listener warning, please be aware this episode 0:00:14.685 --> 0:00:26.045 contains sexual assault. The spiritual allure of Rishikesh, India is 0:00:26.085 --> 0:00:29.605 a draw for seekers, which in nineteen sixty eight included 0:00:29.645 --> 0:00:33.125 the Beatles, but this holy city is also where Ryan 0:00:33.245 --> 0:00:37.765 Chambers and Jonathan Spalen vanished. In this episode of Astray, 0:00:38.165 --> 0:00:41.725 we explore Rishikesh and the spiritual awakening that has kept 0:00:41.765 --> 0:00:45.605 to one Westerner here for nearly twenty five years. While 0:00:45.645 --> 0:00:49.085 she's been empowered as a disciple of her guru, some 0:00:49.645 --> 0:00:52.285 have been led down a path by their revered guru 0:00:52.725 --> 0:00:58.445 that's not only dangerous but deadly. But before we get 0:00:58.445 --> 0:01:04.565 to that, let's answer this is Rishikesh, the spiritual Bermuda Triangle. 0:01:05.565 --> 0:01:09.925 Shakesh was on the Ganges River, peaceful but spooky. It's 0:01:09.965 --> 0:01:13.005 just got a feeling to it that is just unexplainable. 0:01:13.125 --> 0:01:16.685 It's a spiritual Disneyland, you know. There's so much that 0:01:16.765 --> 0:01:21.725 you could fall victim too. There is no denying that Rishakesh, 0:01:21.725 --> 0:01:25.565 India makes a lasting impression on people, and for said Vigi, 0:01:25.765 --> 0:01:29.245 who you met last episode, and cannibal hunter Michael Jan, 0:01:29.725 --> 0:01:33.565 it has a conflicting effect in terms of those who 0:01:33.725 --> 0:01:37.405 really go missing without a trace. Yeah, there's only been 0:01:37.445 --> 0:01:41.085 a couple in twenty five years that I've heard of. 0:01:41.645 --> 0:01:44.605 It is not that, not the spiritual Bermuda Triangle. I 0:01:44.645 --> 0:01:48.925 promise Jan has a very different opinion. That is the 0:01:48.965 --> 0:01:52.605 Bermuda Triangle of missing people. Is that area? It's just 0:01:52.685 --> 0:01:58.325 a black hole. They just vanish, obviously, said Vigi defends Rishikesh, 0:01:58.725 --> 0:02:01.125 the city she left a life in California for at 0:02:01.165 --> 0:02:04.045 twenty four years old and has now lived for nearly 0:02:04.125 --> 0:02:09.165 twenty five years. She's there now surrounded by nature's soundscape. 0:02:09.965 --> 0:02:15.525 Rishikesh has been a holy city since the scriptures, and 0:02:15.605 --> 0:02:20.365 the original reason it's is explained in a whole variety 0:02:20.405 --> 0:02:29.525 of different historical spiritual stories and significances, the core having 0:02:29.565 --> 0:02:33.965 to do with the presence of the divine, the presence 0:02:34.005 --> 0:02:38.085 of the flowing river Gunga, the presence of the Himalayas, 0:02:38.165 --> 0:02:42.565 the presence of this sacred energy. But it's also a 0:02:43.005 --> 0:02:47.325 place in which, for thousands of years, because it is 0:02:47.405 --> 0:02:53.365 considered a holy city, saints and sages and rishi's and 0:02:53.565 --> 0:02:58.525 yogis have come and have meditated and have done spiritual 0:02:58.565 --> 0:03:04.205 practice and have attained enlightenment. Hindus are encouraged a pilgrimage, 0:03:04.445 --> 0:03:08.285 which means traveling to sites with religious significance as a 0:03:08.325 --> 0:03:12.485 deeper exploration of their devotion. Rishikesh is known as a 0:03:12.525 --> 0:03:14.525 pilgrimage town which has a lot to do with the 0:03:14.565 --> 0:03:18.285 sacred river Ganges or Mother Ganga as it Viji calls 0:03:18.325 --> 0:03:23.285 her that splits the city into the Ganga is holy. 0:03:24.245 --> 0:03:27.965 I mean, first of all, nature is beautiful. There is 0:03:27.965 --> 0:03:38.005 a reason that people always have gone to mountains, oceans, rivers, 0:03:38.085 --> 0:03:47.005 lakes for holidays, for stress relief. Then you add actual 0:03:47.285 --> 0:03:50.885 holiness to it, and you add the fact that this 0:03:51.045 --> 0:03:57.125 river is the physical form of a goddess. Ganga was 0:03:57.205 --> 0:04:00.445 a goddess, I mean still is a goddess living in 0:04:00.525 --> 0:04:04.445 heaven who took the form of this river on earth, 0:04:04.965 --> 0:04:10.245 in this river body for a very specific historical reason 0:04:10.765 --> 0:04:13.325 that I won't go all into now, but it had 0:04:13.365 --> 0:04:20.125 to do with bringing liberation to the departed souls who 0:04:20.125 --> 0:04:23.925 were the children of a great king. She was beseeched 0:04:24.765 --> 0:04:28.845 to come down on to earth and to with her 0:04:29.005 --> 0:04:33.525 water flow over their ashes and give them liberation. Mother 0:04:33.605 --> 0:04:37.085 Gunga or Gunga Ma is seen as the goddess of 0:04:37.205 --> 0:04:42.605 purification and forgiveness. She is the personification of the Ganges. 0:04:43.165 --> 0:04:46.965 So for Hindus, the road to salvation is in those 0:04:47.005 --> 0:04:51.605 sacred waters. This is why Hindus travel great lengths, some 0:04:51.685 --> 0:04:55.685 near death, others whose loved ones escort their corpses to 0:04:55.765 --> 0:04:58.725 be cremated on the banks of the river because they 0:04:58.765 --> 0:05:02.325 believe having their ashes thrown into the Ganges will in 0:05:02.485 --> 0:05:06.645 their reincarnation cycle so they can reach moksha, which is 0:05:06.725 --> 0:05:12.525 spiritual liberation. Moksha is what every Hindu desires and there's 0:05:12.565 --> 0:05:17.405 no faster route than Mother Ganga. The ghats of Aranasi, 0:05:17.685 --> 0:05:21.045 which is a city about seventeen hours from Rishikesh, is 0:05:21.045 --> 0:05:25.845 where most Hindu's track. But funeral processions followed by cremations 0:05:25.845 --> 0:05:29.565 of bodies wrapped in vivid colors adorned with strings of 0:05:29.605 --> 0:05:35.045 marigolds and other ornamentation lying the Ganges. That is their 0:05:35.605 --> 0:05:38.965 liquid cemetery. And so at one point I read about 0:05:39.005 --> 0:05:43.005 thirty thousand bodies per year are put into the gandas well, 0:05:43.245 --> 0:05:46.005 resent estimates place it at more like three thousand bodies 0:05:46.005 --> 0:05:49.725 per year. And the bodies yawned speaking of haven't been cremated. 0:05:50.205 --> 0:05:52.925 They're people who have either drowned or had a water burial. 0:05:54.925 --> 0:05:59.045 Water burials are banned in India for environmental reasons, but 0:05:59.125 --> 0:06:01.925 the practice still takes place because of the Hindu belief 0:06:02.445 --> 0:06:06.725 that unwed girls who are considered pure should not be cremated, 0:06:07.325 --> 0:06:10.685 and that a water burial ensures they will be reborn 0:06:11.005 --> 0:06:15.005 into the same family. Many of the other bodies floating 0:06:15.005 --> 0:06:18.445 in the Ganges, or men who have drowned or been murdered, 0:06:18.965 --> 0:06:22.005 and they don't just melt instantly, right, I mean, the 0:06:22.085 --> 0:06:25.965 body can be still there, you know, weeks later, you 0:06:26.005 --> 0:06:28.765 know what I mean, floating down and get caught, you know, 0:06:28.885 --> 0:06:30.885 on the side of the river and that sort of thing, 0:06:31.565 --> 0:06:33.605 and you know, and they get into brief fields and 0:06:33.685 --> 0:06:35.805 there'll be a bunch of bodies over there or whatever 0:06:35.965 --> 0:06:38.965 and dogs eating them. It's just unbelievable. You're just like, 0:06:39.165 --> 0:06:41.725 I can't believe this is real. And then you see, 0:06:42.005 --> 0:06:44.045 you know, a body floating down the river and there's 0:06:44.045 --> 0:06:46.045 a raven on its back picking on it while it 0:06:46.045 --> 0:06:48.725 floats down the river, you know, and there's kids swimming 0:06:48.765 --> 0:06:54.165 around the bodies, and it's just insane. Environmentalists are concerned 0:06:54.165 --> 0:06:57.765 over the increasing level of pollution caused by cremation and 0:06:57.925 --> 0:07:01.645 water burials and the Ganges. Since nineteen eighty eight, the 0:07:01.685 --> 0:07:05.165 Indian Court has directed that the practice of throwing corpses 0:07:05.285 --> 0:07:09.085 or semi burnt corpses into the River Gunga should immediately 0:07:09.085 --> 0:07:12.725 be brought to an end. It's ironic that a holy 0:07:12.805 --> 0:07:17.085 river where people flock to purify themselves as also the 0:07:17.125 --> 0:07:24.245 country's most polluted body of water. Jan and Subfiji, both American, 0:07:24.925 --> 0:07:28.645 have had very different experiences in India and therefore have 0:07:28.805 --> 0:07:32.765 conflicting opinions on the same city. I asked Jan about 0:07:32.805 --> 0:07:36.845 one of his stronger opinions. If rishiksh is a spiritual 0:07:36.845 --> 0:07:40.965 Bermuda triangle, what's happening to the foreigners who go missing there? 0:07:41.565 --> 0:07:46.845 I think there's numerous reasons. One will be they just 0:07:47.325 --> 0:07:50.285 get lost and die somewhere. But then there's others that 0:07:50.485 --> 0:07:53.805 I think get caught up in let's say a dark web, 0:07:54.165 --> 0:07:59.725 and they either fall prey to some individual or something 0:07:59.845 --> 0:08:04.765 larger like a network of people. And another is they 0:08:04.805 --> 0:08:08.805 actually go often totally break and they're still living there 0:08:08.925 --> 0:08:12.525 thirty years later with no visa and no passports completely expire, 0:08:13.405 --> 0:08:15.485 and that's sort of thing. There's I think that's a 0:08:15.525 --> 0:08:19.885 small percentage there is no data to support this, so 0:08:19.965 --> 0:08:23.165 I would not say that Michael, producer in Kita, who 0:08:23.205 --> 0:08:26.125 lives in Delhi and has spent time in Rashikesh, has 0:08:26.245 --> 0:08:29.285 her own thoughts on Jan's claims. When I was speaking 0:08:29.285 --> 0:08:31.925 to people in Rishikesh, they said it would be much 0:08:31.965 --> 0:08:35.125 harder for a foreigner to be hidden because they would 0:08:35.165 --> 0:08:38.685 stand out, and also because Rishikesh is a small town 0:08:39.245 --> 0:08:42.565 compared to a city like Guaranasi, which is also frequented 0:08:42.605 --> 0:08:46.565 by foreigners. I was reading this two eighteen news item 0:08:46.685 --> 0:08:50.485 which said that between seventeen and eighteen thousand foreign to 0:08:50.725 --> 0:08:54.525 this visit Rishikesh every year. I don't think it would 0:08:54.565 --> 0:08:57.565 continue to see such a big number of people if 0:08:57.565 --> 0:09:00.525 it had been so scary, So I wouldn't really say 0:09:00.565 --> 0:09:04.845 that Rishikesh is the place from where people go missing 0:09:05.605 --> 0:09:08.485 education of the place where a lot of botners come. 0:09:09.285 --> 0:09:13.805 So seventy to eighty thousand turists visit rishi Cash per 0:09:13.885 --> 0:09:19.005 year and only two Ryan Chambers and Jonathan Spalen are 0:09:19.045 --> 0:09:23.125 mentioned in articles with headlines that identify rasha Cash as 0:09:23.125 --> 0:09:27.005 a town where tourists vanish, with one headline labeling them 0:09:27.605 --> 0:09:31.125 the Lost Boys of rasha Cash. But for all of 0:09:31.165 --> 0:09:35.525 those who are allegedly lost in Rasha Cash, there are 0:09:35.565 --> 0:09:40.405 others who have found themselves there. After the break, we'll 0:09:40.445 --> 0:09:44.805 hear from an American tourist to experience something other worldly 0:09:45.205 --> 0:09:48.325 when she visited Risha Cash in nineteen ninety six, and 0:09:48.445 --> 0:09:59.085 she hasn't left since. I felt like a veil was 0:09:59.165 --> 0:10:03.085 pulled off of my eyes, off of every way of 0:10:03.125 --> 0:10:08.365 knowing that I had, and I could see. This is 0:10:08.405 --> 0:10:13.885 Sadfigi describing her spiritual awakening in Rishi Cash. A spiritual experience. 0:10:14.205 --> 0:10:18.205 Mini seek in Rishikesh. Some find it, but for others, 0:10:18.645 --> 0:10:23.005 like Sadfigi, it finds them. And I could see a 0:10:23.125 --> 0:10:27.565 truth and a life and an existence of the divine 0:10:27.765 --> 0:10:33.205 of myself, of the universe that not only had I 0:10:33.245 --> 0:10:35.605 never been able to see, but I never could have imagined. 0:10:35.805 --> 0:10:41.485 And it absolutely transformed me. This was not an experience 0:10:41.565 --> 0:10:45.325 Sadfigi was anticipating. She wasn't a seeker. She was a 0:10:45.405 --> 0:10:48.525 Stamford grad on break from a PhD program in the States, 0:10:48.965 --> 0:10:51.125 and she chose to visit India because she knew as 0:10:51.125 --> 0:10:53.845 a vegetarian she couldn't go wrong. And it's holy cities 0:10:53.885 --> 0:10:57.525 that don't serve meat and consider cows to be sacred. 0:11:00.165 --> 0:11:03.445 It's nineteen ninety six and after getting settled at her 0:11:03.485 --> 0:11:07.005 hotel in Rishi Cash, twenty four year old sad Vigi 0:11:07.165 --> 0:11:09.605 wants to check out the city and put her feet 0:11:09.605 --> 0:11:12.525 in the river Ganges. So she walks a path through 0:11:12.565 --> 0:11:17.725 parmart Nikiten Ashram, surrounded by intricate gardens and embellished sculptures 0:11:17.725 --> 0:11:21.885 of deities, and continues down to the river. But the 0:11:22.005 --> 0:11:25.285 moment she sits on the banks of the Ganges, she 0:11:25.365 --> 0:11:31.405 feels something visceral and hears streamed down her face. She 0:11:31.525 --> 0:11:43.085 recognizes this place. She's not a tourist, She's home. We 0:11:43.125 --> 0:11:46.925 are seen as the core of who we are, pure 0:11:47.085 --> 0:11:51.765 and perfect and divine, and all of the suffering that 0:11:51.845 --> 0:11:57.485 we experience is due to the ignorant identification with the body, 0:11:57.645 --> 0:12:03.405 with the identity, and so enlightenment is really living in 0:12:03.445 --> 0:12:07.405 the light of the truth of who we are. Means 0:12:07.805 --> 0:12:13.085 I realize I'm not my body, I'm not my history, 0:12:13.325 --> 0:12:16.765 I'm not my identity, I'm not my title, I'm not 0:12:16.845 --> 0:12:20.245 my career, I'm none of those things. But not just 0:12:20.365 --> 0:12:30.445 realizing it intellectually, but actually having the experience of being soul, spirit, consciousness, 0:12:31.005 --> 0:12:33.805 and many of us have had it for a moment, 0:12:35.405 --> 0:12:40.005 a beautiful moment in meditation, a beautiful moment chanting God's name, 0:12:40.125 --> 0:12:46.805 a beautiful moment touched by grace. This was one of 0:12:46.845 --> 0:12:51.325 those moments that sand Vgi was experiencing along the Ganges, 0:12:52.285 --> 0:12:54.765 but she didn't have an understanding of what this meant 0:12:55.445 --> 0:13:02.685 until she met her Guru. Days after this experience, san 0:13:02.805 --> 0:13:05.245 Figi was walking her daily route down to the river, 0:13:05.845 --> 0:13:09.765 but when she entered Parmashnikiten Ashram, she heard someone say, 0:13:10.445 --> 0:13:13.845 you must stay here. She looked around for the person 0:13:13.845 --> 0:13:17.525 who had spoken, but no one was there. She heard 0:13:17.525 --> 0:13:25.565 the voice again, louder, you must stay here. Okay, she 0:13:25.765 --> 0:13:28.645 was hearing things. Logically, it didn't make sense to hear 0:13:28.685 --> 0:13:31.485 a voice with no person or object like a phone 0:13:31.485 --> 0:13:36.165 attached to it, right, But she hears the voice again 0:13:37.005 --> 0:13:39.725 and looks up to see a sign that says office, 0:13:40.325 --> 0:13:44.445 the office to the Ashram. Listening to the voice, she 0:13:44.565 --> 0:13:50.765 walks in. Eventually, Satviji meets with the president of the Ashram, 0:13:50.925 --> 0:13:56.205 Pooja Swami chittanand Saraswati or Swamiji and hopes you will 0:13:56.245 --> 0:13:59.045 allow her to stay at the ashram, and he does. 0:14:00.445 --> 0:14:03.045 He ends their first meeting assuring her that when she 0:14:03.085 --> 0:14:07.405 gets back from her trip to the mountains, Nikitin Ashram 0:14:07.565 --> 0:14:11.405 is her home. When sad Vigi leaves him, she has 0:14:11.445 --> 0:14:15.885 another unexplainable experience, like the voice she heard days before, 0:14:16.845 --> 0:14:20.445 but this one was hard to ignore. As she reaches 0:14:20.485 --> 0:14:22.685 the turn to leave the ashram and walk back to 0:14:22.725 --> 0:14:27.525 the hotel, she freezes. Literally she cannot move. It's like 0:14:27.565 --> 0:14:31.605 someone crazy glued her feet to the ashram path once again, 0:14:31.765 --> 0:14:35.045 said Vigi's rational mind tries to make sense of this. 0:14:35.685 --> 0:14:38.685 Where her legs asleep? Had she contracted some sort of 0:14:38.725 --> 0:14:45.565 disease that paralyzed her tetanus polio. Eventually she realizes logic 0:14:45.765 --> 0:14:53.685 is invaluable in this situation. This was something else. Then, 0:14:53.885 --> 0:14:56.445 kids playing tag on the path nearly run into her, 0:14:56.485 --> 0:15:01.405 so she instinctively steps backward, dodging them. She steps backward. 0:15:03.005 --> 0:15:07.325 It's then she realizes she can't take one step out 0:15:07.325 --> 0:15:10.405 of the ashram, but she can move back in the 0:15:10.445 --> 0:15:15.485 direction from which she came, So she walks back to Swamiji, 0:15:16.205 --> 0:15:20.125 the president of the Ashram and also a revered spiritual 0:15:20.205 --> 0:15:26.845 leader who would eventually become her guru. The word guru 0:15:27.285 --> 0:15:31.645 literally means the one who removes the darkness and brings light. 0:15:32.605 --> 0:15:35.845 So the guru is the one who removes the darkness 0:15:35.845 --> 0:15:41.085 of ignorance, of that ignorant way that we identify as 0:15:42.285 --> 0:15:48.165 the body, as our stories, as our dramas, as our careers, 0:15:48.205 --> 0:15:52.925 as our titles, as our histories, as our races and 0:15:53.045 --> 0:15:59.165 religions and socioeconomic statuses and sexual orientations, and all the 0:15:59.245 --> 0:16:05.645 ways that we use to define ourselves. It's ignorance, meaning 0:16:05.765 --> 0:16:11.485 it's true, but it's true on such a superficial level 0:16:11.565 --> 0:16:15.085 of existence that the minute that we start dropping deeply, 0:16:15.805 --> 0:16:18.765 we realize that it's not true at all. It's no 0:16:18.885 --> 0:16:22.005 more true than saying I am the sorry that I'm wearing. 0:16:22.845 --> 0:16:26.645 So the guru is the one who removes that darkness 0:16:26.725 --> 0:16:31.885 of ignorance and brings light. A sorry is the traditional 0:16:31.885 --> 0:16:35.925 Indian war draped around, said Vigi. So she's basically saying 0:16:35.965 --> 0:16:40.085 that these labels we identify with and are identified by 0:16:40.245 --> 0:16:44.325 are meaningless and as a disciple of her Guru, Swamigi 0:16:44.925 --> 0:16:48.565 said Vigi has shed these labels of identification. So the 0:16:48.685 --> 0:16:52.085 word disciple is a bit more official than devote it 0:16:52.165 --> 0:16:57.445 obviously includes devotee. Disciples are also devoted, but they've also 0:16:57.485 --> 0:17:02.205 taken some kind of official initiation through which they have 0:17:03.405 --> 0:17:08.365 made the Guru their guru, and they have declared themselves 0:17:08.525 --> 0:17:13.285 disciples of that Guru. It's been nearly twenty five years 0:17:13.565 --> 0:17:17.045 since Sadvigi heard the voice that told her she must 0:17:17.085 --> 0:17:20.285 stay and palmart Nikate Noshram on the banks of the 0:17:20.325 --> 0:17:23.725 Sacred River Ganges, and from looking at all Sadvigi has 0:17:23.765 --> 0:17:27.165 contributed as a disciple of her Guru, it seems like 0:17:27.205 --> 0:17:31.005 it was the right decision. Her devotion to Swamigi and 0:17:31.125 --> 0:17:35.565 to her spiritual and humanitarian service is not only a calling, 0:17:36.365 --> 0:17:41.045 but it's been an extremely positive experience for her. So 0:17:41.365 --> 0:17:44.685 the cost of enlightenment looks pretty different in Savigi's case. 0:17:45.605 --> 0:17:48.965 And I guess i'd ask is enlightenment even a goal 0:17:49.045 --> 0:17:53.885 for her or for the holiest of the holy gurus. 0:17:54.245 --> 0:18:00.125 Simply calling oneself for Guru and simply dawning orange or 0:18:00.165 --> 0:18:03.725 white robes does not actually make one an enlightened being. 0:18:04.365 --> 0:18:09.445 And interestingly, in order to be a Gurdu, you don't 0:18:09.525 --> 0:18:13.405 even actually have to be an enlightened being. I mean, 0:18:13.445 --> 0:18:17.125 you could be a smart being, a wise being a 0:18:17.125 --> 0:18:22.405 beautiful being who is able to remove someone's darkness and 0:18:22.565 --> 0:18:28.125 bring them light without necessarily having to be fully awakened 0:18:28.125 --> 0:18:34.245 and enlightened yourself. And in those cases, the dilemma becomes 0:18:34.365 --> 0:18:41.765 that when we are still slaves in some ways, or 0:18:43.285 --> 0:18:48.965 under the control of our own ignorance or our own 0:18:49.085 --> 0:18:54.365 desires or our own egos, then you throw the right 0:18:54.445 --> 0:19:01.125 temptations in someone's lap, and if they haven't really done 0:19:01.245 --> 0:19:08.525 their sodna, if they haven't really done their work, absolutely 0:19:08.605 --> 0:19:15.125 you sometimes see them falling prey to desires or abusing power. Fortunately, 0:19:15.165 --> 0:19:19.365 by God's grace, it's not that common at all. Four 0:19:19.485 --> 0:19:22.485 or five of them who over a period of twenty 0:19:22.565 --> 0:19:26.805 or thirty years have had big scandals are the ones 0:19:26.845 --> 0:19:30.565 we think of. The thousands of them who have been 0:19:31.765 --> 0:19:38.725 divinely bringing along people on the path to spirituality are 0:19:38.765 --> 0:19:43.885 not those who make headline news. There is one influential 0:19:43.925 --> 0:19:47.805 guru who has made headline news even after death due 0:19:47.845 --> 0:19:51.525 to one scandalous allegation, but in large part because of 0:19:51.565 --> 0:19:56.485 his tremendous success and the celebrities who have flocked to him. 0:19:57.125 --> 0:20:00.365 This includes the Beatles who traveled to Rishikesh in nineteen 0:20:00.445 --> 0:20:03.605 sixty eight to be in the presence of the Maharishi 0:20:03.885 --> 0:20:12.405 Mahesh Yogi, the father of transcendental meditation. Though Rishikesh has 0:20:12.485 --> 0:20:16.005 always been known as a spiritual mecca in India, the 0:20:16.045 --> 0:20:18.045 Beatles put the holy city on the map in the 0:20:18.045 --> 0:20:22.245 West when the Guru Maharishi invited them to India for 0:20:22.285 --> 0:20:27.085 their own spiritual awakening. Mahreshi invited the Beatles to come. 0:20:27.445 --> 0:20:31.645 It was probably the most creative time for the Beatles. 0:20:32.205 --> 0:20:35.565 This is Richard A. Cook the Third or Ricky for short. 0:20:36.005 --> 0:20:39.085 His mother, Nancy Cook de Harera, was a publicist for 0:20:39.125 --> 0:20:42.765 the Maharishi and was tasked with decorating the stark Ashram 0:20:43.085 --> 0:20:46.605 and preparation for their celebrity guests. The group got the 0:20:46.725 --> 0:20:51.725 VIP treatment, mattresses on the beds, curtains, mirrors, They even 0:20:51.765 --> 0:20:56.325 had working toilets. Rickie was staying at the Maharishi's ashram 0:20:56.485 --> 0:21:00.205 when the Beatles visited in nineteen sixty eight and witnessed 0:21:00.245 --> 0:21:06.845 a pivotal moment in music history. I think they wrote 0:21:06.925 --> 0:21:09.845 thirty songs while they were there. I can remember them, 0:21:10.165 --> 0:21:13.885 you know, at lunch and a breakfast sort of jamming, 0:21:14.165 --> 0:21:16.725 you know, at the dining room table, you know, with 0:21:17.245 --> 0:21:21.605 spoons and salt shakers and brooms, whatever they could put 0:21:21.645 --> 0:21:24.405 their hands on. One of my all time favorites, the 0:21:24.445 --> 0:21:27.845 White Album, came out of The Beatles Stay in Racia Cash. 0:21:27.925 --> 0:21:31.285 In the Beatles anthology, Paul McCartney shares why they decided 0:21:31.325 --> 0:21:34.725 to flee their consuming fame in the West for spiritual 0:21:34.765 --> 0:21:38.805 retreat and Racia Cash. He says, yeah, well, it's great 0:21:38.845 --> 0:21:41.925 to be famous, it's great to be rich, but what's 0:21:41.925 --> 0:21:45.485 it all for? What's it all for? Is a question 0:21:45.525 --> 0:21:48.525 they hope the Maharishi could help them answer. But by 0:21:48.605 --> 0:21:51.885 leaving what George Harrison's wife Patty Boyd quotes in her 0:21:51.925 --> 0:21:55.845 memoir as a steady diet of weed and acid, stumbling 0:21:55.925 --> 0:22:00.605 daily through a mind boggling hysterical swarm of paparazzi and fans, 0:22:01.085 --> 0:22:06.565 to the slow inhale and exhale of the mont based meditation, 0:22:07.525 --> 0:22:10.365 they were able to find their own answers, which, in 0:22:10.365 --> 0:22:13.325 a way we all got to experience through the music 0:22:13.365 --> 0:22:17.365 they created the Maharishi's as From overlooking the Ganges River 0:22:17.765 --> 0:22:21.485 by Maharishi's house, there's like not quite a cliff, but 0:22:21.525 --> 0:22:23.605 almost the cliff, and you look straight down onto the 0:22:23.605 --> 0:22:27.285 Ganges and also all of Rishikish was very beautiful and 0:22:27.365 --> 0:22:31.445 at that time the My Love was there Donovan, the Beatles, 0:22:31.885 --> 0:22:34.765 Mia Farah was there for some of that time, and 0:22:34.845 --> 0:22:37.805 you know it's amazing. I mean they would be on 0:22:36.725 --> 0:22:40.285 the on a barge and the Banjees by full moon 0:22:40.405 --> 0:22:43.445 and they would be jamming. You know, nobody recorded any 0:22:43.485 --> 0:22:47.245 of this. The Beatles wrote a song about me. For 0:22:47.365 --> 0:22:49.405 those of you who are fans of the White Album, 0:22:49.805 --> 0:22:52.805 you might know Ricky by a name John Lennon bestowed 0:22:52.845 --> 0:22:55.805 on him. You know, I never really connected with with 0:22:55.885 --> 0:22:59.325 John Lennon. He was taking LSD, you know, in the 0:22:59.325 --> 0:23:04.445 bungalow next to me. I'm meditating. Months later, my sister says, 0:23:04.485 --> 0:23:06.445 you know, I think there's this on the radio that 0:23:06.565 --> 0:23:09.525 it sounds like you, you know, And it was Bungalow Bill. 0:23:10.365 --> 0:23:14.085 The song starts with a catchy refrain, Hey, Bungalow Bill, 0:23:14.365 --> 0:23:17.845 What did you kill Bungalow Bill. The song was Lennon's 0:23:17.845 --> 0:23:21.205 commentary on an audience he observed with Ricky and the Mahaishi. 0:23:21.765 --> 0:23:24.325 Ricky shared with his holiness that he had recently shot 0:23:24.325 --> 0:23:28.485 a tiger on a hunt. The Mahaishi was disappointed, calling 0:23:28.525 --> 0:23:33.805 the tiger's death life destruction. Ricky left that audience altered 0:23:34.285 --> 0:23:37.685 and ultimately swapped his gun for a camera. He's now 0:23:37.725 --> 0:23:43.165 a renowned photographer living in Hawaii. He signs his emails Aloha, Yeah, 0:23:43.165 --> 0:23:45.965 he's figured something out. You know, I was a young 0:23:46.045 --> 0:23:48.565 meditator at that time. To meditate eight hours in a 0:23:48.685 --> 0:23:52.565 day is almost like torture. I mean, it's not an 0:23:52.565 --> 0:23:55.205 easy thing to do. You know. All of the attention 0:23:55.285 --> 0:23:58.445 has gone to all these celebrities, but really what was 0:23:58.485 --> 0:24:03.725 going on there was meditating and Mahareshi literally teaching the 0:24:03.765 --> 0:24:09.245 bug Lagita. It was, I would say, an intense course, 0:24:10.245 --> 0:24:13.565 not only just in meditating, but also in learning. The 0:24:13.605 --> 0:24:17.285 bugvud Ghita, a seven hundred and one verse Hindu scripture, 0:24:17.885 --> 0:24:21.725 is one of the most important religious texts and Hinduism. 0:24:21.805 --> 0:24:26.005 The word Ghita means song and Bugfud means God, so 0:24:26.125 --> 0:24:31.725 Bugfudgheita translates to song of God. And it was intense, 0:24:32.205 --> 0:24:35.805 not only the learning but the meditating. Of all the beatles, 0:24:35.845 --> 0:24:39.005 Harrison and Lenin were the most committed to their meditation practice. 0:24:39.525 --> 0:24:43.325 Harrison reportedly said the meditation buzz was better than drugs. 0:24:43.845 --> 0:24:45.925 It was a way for him to connect with God, 0:24:46.525 --> 0:24:49.485 which is something Lennon said me a Pharaoh's sister, Prudence, 0:24:49.805 --> 0:24:52.845 who locked herself in her room and meditated around the clock, 0:24:53.405 --> 0:24:56.645 was trying to connect to He was quoted as saying 0:24:57.085 --> 0:25:00.285 Prudence was trying to find God quicker than anyone else. 0:25:00.845 --> 0:25:03.885 That was the competition in Maharishi's camp. Who was going 0:25:03.925 --> 0:25:08.805 to get cosmic first. I assume cosmic means enlightened. I 0:25:08.805 --> 0:25:11.125 don't know if Prudence ever reached it, but the Beatles 0:25:11.125 --> 0:25:13.485 did write the White Album song Dear Prudence about her, 0:25:13.685 --> 0:25:16.885 and she got something else extremely valuable out of her 0:25:16.885 --> 0:25:20.685 meditative time there. Prudence was literally taken from a psycho ward. 0:25:21.525 --> 0:25:26.605 She had had a huge trauma from bad experiences with LSD, 0:25:27.245 --> 0:25:30.805 and literally I think Prudence was healed by the time 0:25:30.885 --> 0:25:34.805 she left Mahreshi. But John Lennon had a very different 0:25:34.845 --> 0:25:38.885 experience than Prudence. In meditation. He hit with the Mahari 0:25:39.085 --> 0:25:43.485 she called an iceberg or a deep seated wound. I 0:25:43.565 --> 0:25:47.045 think what Maharishi discovered during that time is people were 0:25:47.765 --> 0:25:52.165 meditating too much, too soon, and it brought up too 0:25:52.285 --> 0:25:56.085 much sort of psychological sort of He called it barnacles 0:25:56.205 --> 0:26:00.245 things that were sort of in your consciousness, deep seated wounds, 0:26:00.965 --> 0:26:04.445 maybe even from other lifetimes. Mari, she called it an iceberg, 0:26:05.005 --> 0:26:07.725 But I think the iceberg. The important thing about an 0:26:07.725 --> 0:26:11.085 iceberg is it's much larger than you think it is. 0:26:12.245 --> 0:26:15.525 What do you mean, You've just sort of opened the 0:26:15.525 --> 0:26:19.405 door to it. You You're you're taking a little bit 0:26:19.445 --> 0:26:23.365 at a time and that and with Marishi's being there 0:26:23.405 --> 0:26:26.525 watching over you, you're going to meditate your way through. 0:26:27.285 --> 0:26:30.925 What happened with John Lennon is he bolted when he 0:26:31.045 --> 0:26:33.965 hit it and when you actually look at the year 0:26:34.045 --> 0:26:37.285 that he went through afterwards, it was horrible. I mean, 0:26:37.325 --> 0:26:40.645 he got arrested for drugs. I mean, just one bad 0:26:40.685 --> 0:26:44.205 thing after another. He you know, he left his wife 0:26:44.365 --> 0:26:46.885 for Yoko. I mean that was just it was a 0:26:46.965 --> 0:26:50.525 very challenging year afterwards. So that means he stayed in 0:26:50.565 --> 0:26:54.325 that level of consciousness or whatever sort of that darkness 0:26:54.365 --> 0:26:57.365 that he was in. He stayed with it rather than 0:26:57.405 --> 0:27:01.205 coming through it. Rickie is touching on something we discussed 0:27:01.245 --> 0:27:05.885 in episode two about the dark side of meditation. Even 0:27:05.925 --> 0:27:08.605 the Maharishi picked up on the fact that some people 0:27:08.645 --> 0:27:13.125 who meditate too much too soon. Dredge up past trauma 0:27:13.325 --> 0:27:17.045 or icebergs, which aren't necessarily bad if you have an 0:27:17.085 --> 0:27:20.965 experienced practitioner to help you through it. For John Lennon, 0:27:21.045 --> 0:27:24.085 that practitioner would have been the Maharishi, but he and 0:27:24.125 --> 0:27:28.485 the Beatles left before he could work through it. It's 0:27:28.485 --> 0:27:31.645 been reported that the Beatles fled Rishi Cash because the 0:27:31.685 --> 0:27:35.765 Maharishi was accused of sexual misconduct by a female follower 0:27:36.245 --> 0:27:40.525 and allegedly also by Mia Farrow. Rickie denies these allegations 0:27:40.525 --> 0:27:44.405 against the Maharishi. Rickie says that these allegations were created 0:27:44.445 --> 0:27:47.005 by a member of the Beatles entourage who was called 0:27:47.565 --> 0:27:51.445 Magic Alex. At the time, he was an electronic whiz 0:27:51.525 --> 0:27:56.485 inventor that Lennon called the Electric Guru, but according to Ricky, 0:27:57.045 --> 0:28:00.365 he was also the Beatles drug connection. There's a whole 0:28:00.405 --> 0:28:03.445 bunch of intrigue and there was a person named Magic 0:28:03.485 --> 0:28:07.205 Alex who was sort of the drug connection for the 0:28:08.165 --> 0:28:11.725 Beatles before he even came to India. It's been alleged 0:28:11.845 --> 0:28:15.125 that the sexual abuse allegations were spread by Magic Alex 0:28:15.365 --> 0:28:18.125 because he was jealous of the influence the Maharishi had 0:28:18.165 --> 0:28:21.485 over lenin. And though these allegations are rumored, to be 0:28:21.565 --> 0:28:24.165 why the Beatles fled Rishi Cash and cut ties with 0:28:24.205 --> 0:28:28.365 the Maharishi. It's not why they left. I mean I 0:28:28.365 --> 0:28:30.725 remember being at the gate when they were all all leaving, 0:28:31.245 --> 0:28:35.085 and what people don't realize is that Maharishi actually had 0:28:35.085 --> 0:28:39.405 made a mistake and the Beatles wanted to do a 0:28:39.525 --> 0:28:42.805 movie on the life story of Maharishi. They head of 0:28:42.885 --> 0:28:47.805 Maharishi's world organization, Charlie Louts in Los Angeles, signed an 0:28:47.805 --> 0:28:52.405