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In February 1968 the four Beatles flew to Rishikesh, in the Himalayan foothills, to study Transcendental Meditation with an Indian teacher most of the world had only just heard of. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had a physics degree from Allahabad University, more than a decade as secretary to his own teacher, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, and a technique he had been teaching since 1955: a mantra repeated silently for about twenty minutes, twice a day. By his death in 2008 the movement said some five million people had learned it. He spent his last years in Vlodrop, a village in the Dutch province of Limburg, on the German border. His books set out the theory behind the practice. This guide covers his eight key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 8 key books · 1955–1997 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s best-known books are The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963), his main statement of the teaching behind Transcendental Meditation, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967), a translation and commentary on its first six chapters. Start with The Science of Being and Art of Living; read on for the full list, the Beatles story and the questions about TM as a religion.
Where to Start with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
If you want his core teaching
→ The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963) — the theory behind Transcendental Meditation, in his own words.
If you want his reading of scripture
→ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967) — the Bhagavad-Gita, chapters 1 to 6, with Sanskrit text.
If you want a short 1960s introduction
→ Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968) — the Bantam paperback of 1968.
If you want the movement’s own history
→ Thirty Years Around the World (1986) — his world tours from 1957 to 1964.
8 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Books, in Order
Beacon Light of the Himalayas
A 33-page souvenir of the Great Spiritual Development Conference held in Kerala in 1955, published under the name Bal Brahmachari Mahesh Yogi. It contains a message to what it calls a “peaceless and suffering humanity” and three lectures he gave in Kerala. It is often cited as his first publication, although Transcendental Meditation is not named in its text.
The Science of Being and Art of Living
His main book, dictated from 1962 and first published in India in 1963. It describes Being, a field of pure consciousness he identifies with bliss, as the basis of life, and Transcendental Meditation as the way to experience it. A revised edition came out in paperback from Signet in 1968, and the book has been published in fifteen languages.
Love and God
A short book on love and devotion, first published by his Spiritual Regeneration Movement in Oslo in 1965. Maharishi International University Press reissued it in Santa Barbara, California, in 1973.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita
A translation of the first six of the Gita’s eighteen chapters, with the Sanskrit text and a verse-by-verse commentary, published in 1967 and by Penguin in 1969. In the preface he calls the Gita “the Scripture of Yoga” and says the commentary’s purpose is “to restore the fundamental truths of the Bhagavad-Gita”.
Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
A Bantam paperback published in May 1968. The preface, by his early American follower Charles F. Lutes, recalls a gathering in the Sequoia National Forest where the Maharishi set out plans for meditation centres in major cities, a training academy on the Ganges and years of world travel.
Thirty Years Around the World
The movement’s own account of his first years of teaching abroad, from 1957 to 1964, the years of his first world tour, which began in Rangoon in 1959 and took him to Hawaii and the United States. It was published in 1986 by Maharishi Vedic University Press in Vlodrop, the Netherlands.
Maharishi’s Absolute Theory of Government
His theory of government based on what he called natural law, published in 1992 by Maharishi Vedic University Press in Holland, the year the Natural Law Party was founded. Later editions followed in 1993 and 1995.
Celebrating Perfection in Education
His book on education, published in 1997 by Maharishi Vedic University Press in India.
In What Order to Read Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Read The Science of Being and Art of Living first: everything else assumes its vocabulary of Being, transcending and the stages of consciousness. Then read the Bhagavad-Gita commentary, which grounds the same ideas in scripture and shows how he read the Vedic tradition of his teacher.
Meditations and Love and God are short and can be read at any point. Keep the later books, from Thirty Years Around the World to the theories of government and education, for after the core teaching; they are mostly published by his own presses and are written for the movement.
A reading path
1. The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963)
2. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967)
3. Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968)
4. Thirty Years Around the World (1986)
Everything Else Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Published
Beyond the 8 key books: 7 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Movement books and programmes
4
4 books · 1975–1986
- 1975Inauguration of the Dawn of the Age of EnlightenmentMaharishi International University Press
- 1977Creating an Ideal Societya global undertaking; Maharishi European Research University Press
- 1978Enlightenment to Every Individual, Invincibility to Every NationMaharishi European Research University Press
- 1986Life Supported by Natural LawAge of Enlightenment Press
Later Vedic University books
3
3 books · 1994–1996
- 1994Maharishi Vedic University: IntroductionMaharishi Vedic University Press
- 1996Maharishi’s Absolute Theory of Defencesovereignty in invincibility
- 1996Maharishi Forum of Natural Law and National Law for DoctorsMaharishi Vedic University Press
The years · 1918–2008
Quick facts about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
- Known for
- Bringing Transcendental Meditation from India to the West from the late 1950s, and teaching the Beatles in Rishikesh in 1968
- 1918
- Born in India (year disputed)
- 1955
- Begins teaching his meditation technique
- 1975
- On the cover of Time
- 1992
- Natural Law Party founded
- 2008
- Dies in Vlodrop, the Netherlands
- Born
- 1917 or 1918, India; his passport gives 12 January 1918
- Birth name
- Mahesh Prasad Varma, in most accounts
- Education
- Physics degree, Allahabad University, 1942
- Teacher
- Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (Guru Dev), until 1953
- Founded
- Transcendental Meditation, taught from 1955; Maharishi International University, 1974
- Died
- 5 February 2008, Vlodrop, the Netherlands; cremated at Allahabad
The red mark is 1963: The Science of Being and Art of Living, his main statement of the teaching.
How Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Wrote: Dictated Teaching
Most of his books began as speech. The Science of Being and Art of Living was dictated from 1962 and recorded on tape in 1963; many later titles are lectures, conference addresses and course material, edited and published by the movement’s own presses in India, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States.
He taught in the name of his teacher, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, and the scholars of religion Cowan and Bromley note that he claimed neither special divine revelation nor supernatural personal qualities. His method in the Gita commentary is the traditional one: Sanskrit text, translation, then commentary verse by verse.
From the 1970s his vocabulary moved toward science and administration: “creative intelligence”, “natural law”, theories of government and defence. For teachers and writers on meditation in a similar vein, see Authors like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Frequently asked questions about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Who was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi?
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was the Indian teacher who developed Transcendental Meditation (TM) and spread it around the world from the late 1950s. Born in 1917 or 1918, he studied physics at Allahabad University, served his teacher Swami Brahmananda Saraswati until 1953, began teaching in 1955 and founded Maharishi International University in 1974. He died in Vlodrop, the Netherlands, in 2008.
What is a maharishi?
A maharishi is a “great seer”: the Sanskrit word combines maha, great, and rishi, seer or sage. It is a Hindu title for the highest order of sages, usually given by admirers rather than adopted. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is the person most often meant by it in the West.
Is Transcendental Meditation a cult?
Whether TM is a cult is disputed, and the answer depends on who is asked. The TM organisation describes it as a non-religious meditation technique and requires no belief. Scholars have classed the movement as a new religious movement, some critics and former followers call it a cult and have written of a controlling leadership and a financial business, and a 1997 report for the Berlin Senate included it. In Malnak v. Yogi a US federal court ruled in 1977 that the TM course taught in New Jersey public high schools was religious, partly because of the puja ceremony to Guru Dev, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this in 1979.
How many books has Maharishi Mahesh Yogi written?
More than twenty books are credited to him, and a 2017 archive catalogue counted 170 publications by or attributed to him, many of them booklets. This page covers eight key books, from Beacon Light of the Himalayas (1955) to Celebrating Perfection in Education (1997), and lists seven more.
What are Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s books in order?
Beacon Light of the Himalayas (1955), The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963), Love and God (1965), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967), Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968), Thirty Years Around the World (1986), Maharishi’s Absolute Theory of Government (1992) and Celebrating Perfection in Education (1997). For reading order, start with The Science of Being, then the Gita commentary, then Meditations.
Where should I start with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi?
The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963), his main statement of the theory behind Transcendental Meditation. Follow it with his Bhagavad-Gita commentary (1967).
What is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s most famous book?
The Science of Being and Art of Living, first published in 1963 and later in fifteen languages. His translation and commentary Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967) is the other title most often cited.
What happened between the Maharishi and the Beatles?
The Beatles met the Maharishi in August 1967 and went to his ashram in Rishikesh, India, in February 1968. Ringo Starr left after about ten days and Paul McCartney after about five weeks; John Lennon and George Harrison left on 12 April 1968 after Alexis “Magic Alex” Mardas told them the Maharishi had made sexual advances to women on the course, and Mia Farrow later described an unwanted embrace. Lennon wrote “Sexy Sadie” about him, first titled “Maharishi”. Harrison and McCartney later said they believed nothing had happened, and McCartney visited him in the Netherlands in 2007.
Is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi still alive? When and how did he die?
No. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died on 5 February 2008 at his residence in Vlodrop, the Netherlands, of what his spokesman Bob Roth called “natural causes, his age”. He had announced a week earlier that he was stepping down and retreating into silence. He was cremated with state honours at his ashram in Allahabad, India.
Was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi enlightened?
That is a claim of faith that cannot be checked, and accounts differ. The TM movement and his followers present him as a master of the Vedic tradition of his teacher, and the source behind his Indian state funeral called him “a recognised master in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta”. The scholars Cowan and Bromley note that he claimed neither special divine revelation nor supernatural personal qualities, and some traditional Hindu teachers disputed his right to teach meditation at all.
Footnotes
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — Wikipedia
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — Encyclopædia Britannica
- Malnak v. Yogi — Columbia Global Freedom of Expression
- John Lennon and George Harrison leave Rishikesh — The Beatles Bible
- Maharishi dies at home in Vlodorp — DutchNews, 2008
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi bibliography — Paul Mason
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The purpose of this commentary is to restore the fundamental truths of the Bhagavad-Gita.”
— Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, preface to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita (1967)
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