SI30. A Rare Important And Revealing John Lennon Handwritten Letter, Written In Rishikesh, India While In The Midst Of Composing Most Of The Songs That Would Later Appear On “The White Album”.
Description
In February of 1968 The Beatles with their wives and girlfriends took a journey to an ashram in Rishikesh, India in search of spiritual enlightenment. Having recently been a key influence for and the leading figures of the magnificent and colorful ‘Summer of Love’ following the release of their masterpiece album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, The Beatles were on top of the world, but even so they knew that a change of some sort was needed. The band was invited to the ashram by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who they had met with previously in August of 1967 in Bangor, Wales while attending a weekend seminar on Transcendental Meditation. That trip that was cut short by the sudden and unexpected death of the band’s manager Brian Epstein, a tragic event which left The Beatles now in even more of a need some answers. This all coincided with The Beatles denunciation of drug use in favor of Transcendental Meditation, so off to Rishikesh they went.
While in India, John and George stayed the longest, with Ringo leaving after 10 days and Paul staying roughly 5 full weeks before heading home. In between marathon meditation sessions, long daytime walks, meals, group sing alongs and quite a bit of songwriting (Lennon said that he wrote 15 songs while in India – more than Paul and George combined), John took some time to answer a few letters he had received at the ashram. Of the few responses he sent out (mainly to friends), this one really stands out because of the content of the letter is absolutely incredible – it’s unquestionably one of the best Lennon handwritten letters in existence. He goes into some detail about The Beatles purpose for going to India, religion – with John quoting Jesus and confirming his own personal obligation to Christianity, also talking about Transcendental Meditation as it relates to religion and through it how one can actually be ‘experiencing God’.
John writes in full, with the ‘we’ and ‘us’ references in the first paragraph relating to The Beatles:
Dear Beth, Thank you for your letter and your kind thoughts. When you read that we are in India ‘searching’ for peace etc, it is not that we need faith in God and Jesus –we have faith them; It is only as if you went to stay with Billy Graham for a short time – it just so happens that our guru (‘teacher’) is Indian – and what is more natural than for us to come to India – his home. He also holds courses in Europe and America – and we will probably go to some of these as well – to learn – and to be near him. Transcendental Meditation is not opposed to any religion – it is based on the basic truths of all religions – the common denominator. Jesus said ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ – not in some far distant time – or after death – but now. Meditation takes the mind down to that level of consciousness which is Absolute Bliss (Heaven) and through constant contact with that state – ‘the peace that surpasseth all understanding’ – one gradually becomes established in that state even when one is not meditating. All this gives one actual experience in God – not by detachment or renunciation – when Jesus was fasting etc in the desert 40 days & nights he would have been doing some form of meditation – not just sitting in the sand and praying – although meditating is a form or prayer. I hope what I have said makes sense to you – I sure it will to a true Christian – which I try to be with all sincerity – it does not prevent me from acknowledging Budda – Mohammed – and all the great men of God. God Bless You – jai guru dev. with love, John Lennon
Ending with “jai guru dev”, the mantra that John sang repeatedly in his beautiful composition “Across The Universe”, the letter was written out by John in black fountain pen on one sheet of stationary for the Maharishi’s own “Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation Of India”. The stationary sheet was made so that it folds down into its own envelope, which John hand addressed a fan (Beth Dewer, from Surrey not far from where John lived at the time) who wrote to him at the ashram expressing her concerns for The Beatles and their newfound interest in studying Transcendental Meditation under the Maharishi and how it would potentially clash severely with Christianity. The return address John wrote on the envelope was simply “Rishikesh India Maharishi’s Ashram”. There is a tear along the fold line on the bottom third of the page, otherwise in good condition.
This spectacular handwritten Lennon letter will come with a Special Limited Edition copy of Paul Saltzman’s book “The Beatles In India”. Here is a link to see some of the fabulous pictures (all contained in the book) that Saltzman took while sharing time with The Beatles in Rishikesh in 1968.
Postmarked March 25, 1968, the letter is quite lengthy with a lot of writing done by John which is very detailed and revealing, written during a really key period in the history of The Beatles. The Beatles journey to India to study Transcendental Meditation and being there without any outside interruptions, phone calls or business related distractions was an extremely fertile situation for their songwriting, and while there meditating their songwriting blossomed in a way it never had before. This was in fact the band’s most productive period and without India, there absolutely would be no “White Album” as we know it.
There aren’t many truly amazing John Lennon Beatle era handwritten letters out there and of those they rarely ever come to market, as most are tucked away in collections and unavailable. This letter and certainly is one of best of them, ranking way up there with the ‘cream of the crop’ for content, length of writing, and the time frame during which it was written as it relates to what was happening at that moment. Here is a rare chance to own and extremely scarce piece of John Lennon’s handwritten thoughts about Transcendental Meditation and religion, with several references to Jesus and God….SOLD