The Beatles were at Rishikesh, India, in 1968, to attend an advanced Transcendental Meditation (TM) training session at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The trip came six months after The Beatles first met the Maharishi, in August 1967. Their adoption of him as their guru attracted wide attention and is credited with changing attitudes in the West about Indian spirituality.

They arrived together at the ashram in February 1968, along with wives, girlfriends, and managers, and followed by reporters. Ringo Starr left after only a short stay. Paul McCartney stayed several weeks.

John Lennon and George Harrison left abruptly in April, possibly due to rumors of inappropriate behavior by the Maharishi. While there, the musicians wrote many songs which were later recorded on The Beatles (White Album), Abbey Road and Let It Be. The Beatles were interested in Eastern influences for their music and had been using drugs in an effort to expand their consciousness.

At the suggestion of Pattie Harrison, George Harrison's wife, they attended a lecture at the London Hilton on Park Lane, presented by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, on 24 August 1967. The Maharishi had announced his imminent retirement, so it was expected to be his last public lecture. The Beatles were given front row seats at the lecture and were invited to meet the Maharishi afterwards.

During the ninety-minute meeting he invited them to be his guests at an upcoming training retreat. The next day, the group went to the retreat at the campus of a teaching college in Bangor, Wales, along with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull and around 300 others, where they learnt the basics of TM. While there, they announced at a press conference that they were giving up drugs (apparently referring to psychedelics but not marijuana).

The Maharishi told them privately to avoid involvement with the "Ban the bomb" movement and to support the elected government. Although meant to be a 10-day series of seminars, their stay was cut short by the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, on 27 August. The Maharishi helped ease their shock by convincing them that Epstein was still with them and that their good thoughts would help his journey.

Curious to learn more, the Beatles made plans to attend an initiator training programme at the Maharishi's new ashram in India in October. However, the Beatles postponed their trip due to their commitment with the Magical Mystery Tour film and soundtrack. In the meantime, they often visited with the Maharishi in London.

Now publicized as "the Beatles' Guru", the Maharishi went on his eighth world tour, giving lectures in Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Canada, and California. He spoke to 3,600 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City in January 1968, and the Beatles sent a large flower arrangement to his suite at the Plaza Hotel. After thousands of would-be meditators thronged the lobby the Maharishi was not allowed to stay there again.

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