Meet our Trustees and Chief Executive

The current Trustees of Maharishi Foundation are: Graham Orr, Miss Jemima Pitman, David Clark Rae, Prakash Shrivastava, David Emrys Hughes, Gwyndaf Evans and Keith Parker.


Dr Peter Warburton

Dr Peter Warburton is Chief Executive and Custodian of the Maharishi Foundation registered charity in the UK. He is also Chairman of the David Lynch Foundation UK. Dr Warburton has his master's degree from Cambridge University (physiology and sociology) and his PhD in political science. He is a Member of the UK Institute of Leadership and Management. Over the past four decades, Dr Warburton has trained 3,000 teachers of Transcendental Meditation from all over the world, and has worked on the development of numerous publications and courses on Transcendental Meditation and its application in different areas of society. He has worked with leaders of government, education, and industry in many countries to implement Maharishi's programmes.

Helen Evans is a Trustee of the original charity, SRM and works closely with Maharishi Foundation. She has been a Transcendental Meditation teacher for more than 30 years. Having trained as a schoolteacher, she taught Science before teaching Transcendental Meditation. She has continued to teach in schools, teaching Literacy and Numeracy skills, alongside teaching Transcendental Meditation all over Wales and also in Cambridge, Cornwall and Sussex. She has been the Welsh National Director for eight years and runs the National Transcendental Meditation Centre in Cardiff.

Graham Orr has recently been appointed Chairman of Maharishi Foundation having previously been a Trustee representing Scotland for over 5 years. Graham taught Transcendental Meditation throughout eastern Scotland prior to moving to the pioneering Maharishi European Sidhaland project in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. In his professional life, Graham has travelled widely as a supply chain professional working in South Africa, Australia and Europe. He is currently embarked on a major software re-engineering project.

David Rae is national director of Maharishi Foundation's operations in Scotland, where the charity is separately registered with the Scottish Charities' Regulator, and was appointed trustee in 2007. David was already chairman of an associated Scottish charity, Invincible Scotland Trust. He is also a director of Ayur-Veda Ltd, a rapidly expanding charitable UK healthcare company. He is a very experienced teacher of Transcendental Meditation and related programmes, having participated in several overseas projects. He has a keen interest in the built environment and is actively involved in creating an innovative planned community in Edinburgh using Vedic architectural principles. He managed a grade 1 listed mansion in Buckinghamshire for five years and has also worked for a major London Housing Association. He has a Master's degree in Fine Art from Edinburgh University and a postgraduate qualification from the University of London Institute of Education. He has a keen interest in enhancing local cultural values and traditions through the implementation of Consciousness-based Education.

Regular review of the Charity

Maharishi Foundation was founded in 1975 and currently has eight Trustees.

There are regular reviews by the Trustees of all aspects of the Charity and its subsidiaries including:

  • Careful monitoring of numbers taking courses, products and services sold, and financial assistance given to those on low incomes
  • Benefits for schools and other organisations that adopt Maharishi's programmes
  • Consideration given to offering grants to other charitable institutions whose objects are similar to those of the Charity and support the restricted funds of the Charity. Twice-monthly conference calls are held with teachers of Transcendental Meditation throughout the country to review teaching numbers and successes
  • Regular reviews of the Charity's Register of Risks and financial and other controls
  • An induction training programme for new Trustees

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Why insist on Maharishi Foundation® teachers?

Approved teachers have been certified by Maharishi Vedic Institute®, a professional self-regulating body that maintains the standards of teaching throughout the UK.

Transcendental Meditation has been taught in the UK since 1959 when Maharishi Mahesh Yogi first visited the country. Maharishi Foundation in the UK is affiliated to a worldwide network of non-profit organisations authorised by Maharishi to train and certify teachers.

Maharishi Foundation not only provides courses to learn Transcendental Meditation but also a complete multi-year follow-up programme with a full range of advanced techniques and courses designed by Maharishi for the fullest possible development of consciousness. No other organisation or individual in the UK is authorised to teach Transcendental Meditation, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.