“The clown-crowned Maharaja, Tony Nader, gave a lecture in a small room reminiscent of a rural community center, to an audience of 15-20 people sitting on plastic chairs, claiming to be “the UN’s sole keynote speaker.” In contrast, the UN live-streamed its official event on the webtv.un.org website, where Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke in the company of a diplomatic corps. Contrary to his claims, Dr. Tony Nader did not participate in this official event, nor was Transcendental Meditation mentioned”, according to the Hungarian blog tm.meditacio.hu, which covered Nader’s UN controversy.
Background
The UN's Official Event – Video Recording
Summary on webtv.un.org: An afternoon with members of the core group, the wider UN and diplomatic corps, and spiritual leader, humanitarian and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to mark the 1st World Meditation Day.
Tony Nader's Alternative Fake Reality – Why the Maharaja is lying?
On his own YouTube channel, Tony Nader describes his event as the official UN celebration. However, he does not mention the UN event with the diplomatic corps, where Sri Sri Ravi Shankar—who teaches Transcendental Meditation as Sahaj Samadhi—was the speaker.
About Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was once a student and Vedic pandit under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In the 1980s, he founded his own movement, Art of Living. "Gurudev" also participated in Maharishi's funeral ceremony and has spoken positively of his teacher, Maharishi. In modern terms, Ravi Shankar is a competitor of Tony Nader’s TM movement. For reasons unknown, Ravi Shankar does not mention his teacher in his organization’s materials or speeches, breaking with Indian traditions. There is no depiction of a guru-parampara (lineage of teachers) visible on his podium.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a clear example that the meditation practice known as Transcendental Meditation cannot be monopolized by a single organization, as Tony Nader's offshore raja-movement attempts to do with a double standard. Interestingly, Tony Nader and his offshore representation companies seem to have no issue with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar teaching Transcendental Meditation as Sahaj Samadhi or with the British organization Meditation Trust openly teaching TM, as mentioned in a previous article.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's mission and success—evident at the recent UN event—far surpass Tony Nader's. "Gurudev," despite being of Indian origin, does not don a golden clownish crown, does not proclaim himself a Maharaja, and does not require a million-dollar allegiance fee from his raja followers. Most importantly, he does not seek favor with Mahatma Gandhi’s killers, as Tony Nader did in 2024.
We hope Tony Nader will look to his fellow student, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, as an example to follow, though so far, we have seen no indication of this.
Comment by Raja Presston
Tony Nader, aka the Maharaja, was nowhere to be seen at the United Nations (UN) Meditation Day. Was he practicing the invisibility sutra? Or was he at another event organized by a few other countries in a private, semi-closed celebration without much fanfare or media attention? For sure, he was not at a United Nations event regarding meditation. Tony must have teleported over to that "nothing burger" event where he claims to be the sole keynote speaker on the topic of meditation. Way to go, Nader! Good job with your publicity. The UN must have figured out that Nader is joining forces with the RSS terror group, which blows up trains and commits similar acts. Or perhaps the UN just doesn’t care about the Raja Kingdom.