By Catherine Hornby
In a tent decorated with pots of roses, daffodils and orchids, the main leaders of the Maharishi's movement addressed an audience of hundreds, praising the life and works of the Indian mystic, who died overnight on Wednesday aged 91.
His funeral will be held in the Indian city of Allahabad on Monday, a spokesman for the group said.
Dressed in white robes and adorned with golden crowns and pendants, the main leaders or Rajas of the movement sat on red velvet seats on a podium, sometimes listening to the speakers, sometimes drifting off into deep contemplation.
"Consciousness-based education can bring invincibility to any student," said Ashley Deans, Director of the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, while showing slides of classes practicing meditation techniques.
Transcendental meditation, known as TM by its followers, involves reciting a mantra that practitioners say helps the mind stay calm even under pressure. It gradually gained medical respect over the decades as the Maharishi challenged Western scientists to investigate its health benefits.
In the audience, many women were dressed in traditional Indian saris, while most men wore light grey and cream suits. Indian music was played in between speeches as people drank herbal tea and watched slides of the Maharishi's life.
Many practitioners came to lay flowers at the gates of his residence on Thursday, a golden-yellow wooden building surrounded by gardens dotted with animal figurines and facing a circle of flags from all around the world.
Leaders said that though there was a deep sense of loss among practitioners, there was also a feeling that the Maharishi had been able to achieve what he wanted in his life.
"The techniques are now in place, and the science well-established, to irreversibly create a peaceful world."
