Donovan, the Scottish voice of flower power in the 1960s, joined the Beatles in India, who learned Transcendental Meditation to cope with the pressures of fame.
Hits from Glasgow rock and folk singers through the decades mellow yellow It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 and championed this form of mindfulness as a way to purge negative thoughts.
He is now an evangelical, saying the same Eastern techniques can ease the burden on young people stressed out by social media.
Last week, on his 78th birthday, he returned to Scotland to open a new center for transcendental meditation, the Peace Palace, in Edinburgh’s impoverished Niddry neighborhood.
Meditators believe their mindfulness can influence neighborhoods and reduce crime.
“People are actually getting sick and making bad choices based on the thought patterns they’ve adopted,” he says.
“When you meditate, you get to the place where natural healing begins. Just like when you cut your finger and keep it clean, trauma can be repaired, but you have to let it begin.” not.”
Born in Maryhill, Donovan accompanied John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison on their 1968 trip to India. This visit had a great influence on his music, including his hit songs. hurdy gurdy man It had an Indian sound and a Beatles sound.
But it also helped introduce Transcendental Meditation to a broader Western public. Harrison, who died in 2001, remained a lifelong believer in the practice. Donovan, on the other hand, said he has “always been a peaceful guy.”
“If you’re coming from a rough town like Glasgow, that doesn’t make sense,” he explained. “But my father was a very powerful and peaceful man, and he encouraged me to write poetry.
“Has it changed my life dramatically? No. But it has helped me get through the wild tours I’ve been on faster. And I meditate before I go on stage.” ” he said.
Peace Palace, an off-white building in the south of the Scottish capital, is the newest center of the Maharishi Vastu community. They follow Transcendental Meditation, which is credited to Hindu religious leader Maharishi Mahesh. Although today it is considered secular, it can still be a spiritual experience for believers.
Donovan and David Ley, head of the Scottish Transcendental Meditation movement, at the Peace Palace.
Mindfulness, a simple, secular form of meditation, is gaining momentum in schools, but some students find it boring.
As the “Ambassador of Transcendental Meditation for Stress Free Schools,” Donovan would like to see it used in classrooms, but schools receiving state funding may be reluctant because of its religious connotations. I say there is.
The Maharishi Foundation established a school in West Lancashire “based on the principles of consciousness-based education” to teach students Transcendental Meditation.
Donovan said he has seen “extraordinary results” from the practice with students with ADHD. “Does it help you concentrate? No, it just releases the stress that’s there.”
The Peace Palace building was purchased over 10 years ago for £250,000. The inside is now golden.
This is today a Hindu puja ceremony with flowers, incense and Sanskrit chants dedicated to Guru Dev, the Beatles’ Transcendental Meditation teacher, mostly by elderly people but some by young people. It’s the color of the chair he sits on.
The carpet, walls, and leaders are all dressed in neutral colors. Donovan also wears a golden tunic.
Trying to explain Transcendental Meditation is like trying to describe the taste of water, Donovan said, sometimes in the style of the Scottish Bob Dylan.
The Glasgow rock and folk singer’s hits include ‘Mellow Yellow’ and ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’.
david redferns
However, he describes his own personal experience as having a feeling of “falling” inside him. Believers believe the benefits of Transcendental Meditation extend to work, relationships, emotions and mental clarity, and persist beyond the practice, Donovan argued. He likens it to white cloth being soaked in yellow dye until saturated.
He currently practices twice a day for 20 minutes each. It involves sitting and repeating a mantra. A meaningless secret word given to me by my training teacher. You can practice this technique alone or in a group.
David Rae, 76, from Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, leads the Scottish Transcendental Meditation movement and is a trustee of the Invincible Scotland Trust, which built the Peace Palace through donations, savings and rented flats. .
He currently lives in a room on the first floor of the Peace Palace. The palace is home to at least seven “hardcore” believers in Transcendental Meditation, with one room reserved for a live-in teacher, and more regular students spending a few nights there to learn the ropes. become.
Mr Ray explained that the development had been delayed due to “increasing” construction costs, but he hoped to build more. “Next stop is Glasgow,” he joked during the opening ceremony.
The Edinburgh center will host open days, alternative medicine consultations and refresher courses for people who have studied meditation in Scotland over the past 50 years.
At the top of the building was a metal ornament called a kalasha, which shone in the May sunlight.
Believers believe that this feature connects them with the universe. The building faces east, as it is believed that the sun’s energy is most nourishing when it rises. Residents meditate in the morning sun overlooking King Arthur’s throne.
Just a stone’s throw away is Nidri, an impoverished area that experienced violent riots on Bonfire Night in 2023. The residents of the Peace Palace believe that their presence will help.
• A meditation trial improved students’ working memory.
Ray, who has been an intermediary since 1973, said: “Residents aim to hold group meditations at fixed times each day, which ultimately benefit the wider community through a phenomenon called the ‘Maharishi effect.’ It will bring about it.”
“Maharishi found [that] A small number of meditators can have a big impact on the community around them, and scientific studies have shown that crime rates and accidents decrease when groups gather to meditate. ”
Traditionally, it cost a week’s wages to learn Transcendental Meditation. His overnight or full day stay at the Maharishi Foundation’s Peace Palace in Suffolk costs up to £259 for the most luxurious night and £109 per day. Revenue in 2020 was £61,238.
“Why build a peace palace?” Donovan asked. “Go to a big city raped and torn apart by the Industrial Revolution and destroyed by pollution everywhere.
“Is this a place where someone can say, ‘This building was built for the possibility of turning a disaster into a wonderful future for our future children?'” That’s why Maharishi built these palaces. ”
