April 27, 1967
The Beatles, mourning the death of their manager Brian Epstein yesterday, have cut short their weekend of mediation at Bangor and drove back to London early today...
Before getting into the cars the Beatles and their companions were handed flowers by "disciples" of the Himalayan mystic Maharashi Mahesh.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said today that there was no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death yesterday of 32-year-old Mr. Brian Epstien, at his London home.
Mr. Epstein, the man who launched the Beatles on the road to fame, was found dead yesterday afternoon by his housekeeper who became worried when she could get no reply from his locked bedroom.
Since Friday the four Beatles, together with John Lennon's wife, Cynthia, Pattie Harrison and her sister Jennie Boyd and Jane Asher had been meditating at the feet of the Maharashi Yoga.
Just before the news yesterday afternoon of Mr. Epstein's death, two of them described how much more relaxed they were after the result of their meditation.
Paul McCartney confirmed the Beatles were no longer going to take drugs. "You cannot keep on taking drugs forever," he said. "You get to the stage where you are taking 15 aspirins a day without having a headache.
"We are looking for something more natural. This is it.
"It is not wierdy or anything, it is dead natural. Meditation will be good for everyone, it is something which one does normally anyway."
And Ringo Starr said: "I hope the fans will take up mediation instead of drugs."
Earlier, the four Beatles and their companions had all been initiated into the society. Paul said: "There is no black magic or anything like that about initiation.
"At the moment I am finding what I am searching for by mediation, I hope I will get more out of mediation, so I will have no need for drugs..."
And so Sunday afternoon there was a social call for Paul McCartney from his father, Mr. Jim McCartney, his stepmother and his seven-year-old stepsister, Ruth, who had travelled from Gayton.
~TIMES