Maharishi & Me: Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles' Guru

Written by Susan Shumsky

Narrated by Laural Merlington

Susan Shumsky is a successful author in the New Age/Spirituality field, writing books on meditation, intuition, prayer, auras, chakras, and the like. But in the 1970s, she was one of only a handful of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s personal attendants and administrators, in India, Switzerland, and elsewhere. Following the teachings of Maharishi displaced Susan’s devotion to the hippie lifestyle, as she learned about meditation and grew spiritually self aware.

Maharishi died in 2008 at the age of 90, but his influence continues throughout the Western World as a result of the spiritual movement he founded: TM (Transcendental Meditation). Other books have been written about the guru, but this is the only one to offer an insider’s view of life and learning in Rishikesh—including the time when the Beatles came to learn at the feet of the Maharishi—as well as behind-the-scene stories of other celebrity disciples. The author lived in the spiritual leader’s ashrams for 22 years, and served on his personal staff for seven of those years.

Susan shares: “Merely by being in his presence, we disciples entered an utterly timeless place and rapturous feeling, and, at the same time, realized the utter futility and insanity of the mundane world.”

Susan grew from a painfully shy teenage seeker into a spiritually aware teacher and author in her own right. Maharishi & Me is an honest and dynamic exposé about an imperfect person and his dysfunctional organization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Feb 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543655605

Susan Shumsky

Susan Shumsky, D.D. has authored twenty books in English, released thirty-six foreign editions, won forty-one book awards, and done 1,300 media appearances. A rare insider, she was on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s personal staff for six years and lived in his ashrams for twenty years.

Reviews for Maharishi & Me

[Lina Carrese · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is what, for me anyway, a great narrator sounds like. She narrated a Susan Shumsky masterpiece. The writer and narrator comes together in this wonderful audiobook about a young, impressionable girl who goes to India for a few weeks and ends up staying 22 years. The reason, her guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Transcendental Meditation movement. The honesty and passion Susan exhibits, her trials & triumphs, but most of all, her growth. As an astute student of her guru’s tough love approach, Susan Shumsky goes from a person desperate for Maharishi’s attention, to an evolved soul, liberated, confident and a prolific writer of books so inspiring, her guru, who has passed, is shining happy smiles down to his beloved disciple.

[Mark · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. It goes back and forth about things, but for the most part is a good book about the insides of TM.

[bemislibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you are looking for inside information on the Beatles and transcendental meditation, look elsewhere. If you are interested in learning about the social settings, in which the technique was first popularized, read this book. Author Shumski describes her introduction to the Maharishi’s teaching styles. She explains how it changed her approach to life and self-actualization. This is only one of several books she has written on mediation, intuition, affirmation, prayer, and spiritual healing. The author has a Doctor of Divinity degree from Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysical, which is accredited by the American Alternative Medical Association and the American Association of Drugless Practitioners but does not qualify for traditional accreditation that universities like private and state universities, community colleges, and other secular institutions qualify for.Laura Merlington, narrator, has recorded over one hundred audiobooks including works by Margaret Atwood and Alice Hoffman. Her voice is pleasing and her pronunciation clear and easy to understand. While Merlinton give a five star performance, the material is only worth three stars.