The Beatles had met with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during a 1968 TM teacher-training course they attended in Rishikesh, India. After a bitter dispute, sparked by rumors of Maharishi sexually assaulting Mia Farrow[44], John Lennon was inspired to write the song "Sexy Sadie" ("what have you done? You made a fool of everyone") about Maharishi.[45] Whether the Maharishi's conduct with Farrow was sexual in nature is not clear. Mia Farrow's autobiography does not draw a definite conclusion: she describes "panicking" and fleeing after he put his arms around her in a dark cave, immediately after a private meditation session.[46] Word of the incident was given to the Beatles by "Magic" Alex Mardas, who portrayed it very negatively, devastating both John and George, who felt betrayed by the Maharishi.[47] Cynthia Lennon believed that Mardas invented the story to undermine the Maharishi's influence on the Beatles.[48][49] George Harrison, years later, commented on the contretemps, saying, "Now, historically, there's the story that something went on that shouldn't have done%u2014but nothing did,"[50] Paul McCartney, in his biography, likewise says that he does not believe the allegations and also attributes them to Mardas.[51]
The Beatles' song Across the Universe was beamed into space by NASA on February 4, February 5, Vlodrop time, 2008, and contains a reference to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's teacher Guru Dev. Other pop songs known to be about Maharishi include the Beatles' The Fool on the Hil
