Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, dies at age 91
Associated Press Writer

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles whose beaming, bearded face became an icon of 1960s hippie mysticism, has died at his Dutch home. He was thought to be 91.

He died Tuesday, just three weeks after telling his followers that his work was complete and retreated into silence. Over 50 years, he had parlayed his meditation techniques into a global empire that he controlled by video links from his headquarters on the forested grounds of a former Franciscan monastery in the Netherlands.

"He had been saying he had done what he set out to do" and he wanted to dedicate his remaining days to studying the ancient Indian texts that underpin his movement, spokesman Bob Roth said late Tuesday.

"It is a very poignant time because Maharishi is so beloved by millions of people," said John Hagelin, one of his closest advisers.

Funeral details were still being worked out Wednesday, but Hagelin said Maharishi's body is expected to be flown to India in the coming days.

Maharishi's teachings helped gain medical respectability for the ancient Hindu practice of mind control that he called transcendental meditation, or just TM.