Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development Corp. (MHOED) is a for-profit real estate developer

Real estate development

Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...

 associated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...

 and his Transcendental Meditation movement

Transcendental Meditation movement

The Transcendental Meditation movement is a world-wide organization, sometimes characterised as a neo-Hindu new religious movement, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s...

. First founded in Malibu California in 1988, it has sought to build utopian projects in the U.S., Canada, and Africa with a long-term goal to "reconstruct the entire world", at an estimated cost of $100 trillion.

The US arm planned to work with developers to build 50 "Maharishi Cities of Immortals" in the US and Canada. The Canadian arm bought and renovated the Fleck/Paterson House in Ottawa in 2002. A subsidiary purchased land to build Maharishi Veda Land theme parks in Orlando, Florida and Niagara Falls, New York. The Dutch arm negotiated with the presidents of Zambia and Mozambique to acquire a quarter of the land in those countries in exchange for solving their problems.

Founding

Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development Corp. was founded in Malibu, California in 1988 by its first president, money manager Monty Guild

Monty Guild

Montague "Monty" Guild Jr. is the founder and CEO of Guild Investment Management located in Los Angeles, California. He was an analyst at a bank and hedge fund from 1968 to 1970. In 1971, Monty Guild Jr. founded Guild Investment Management in Southern California. He holds a B.A...

. Other officers included Neil Paterson

Neil Paterson (politician)

Neil Paterson is a politician, former leader of the Natural Law Party of Canada, a senior official of the Transcendental Meditation movement, and majority owner of Global Gold Corporation.-Personal life:...

, Richard Rubin, Jonathan Rudney, developer Curtis McDonald, and architect Henry Clark. It was initially financed by Guild, who donated his shares to Maharishi University of Management

Maharishi University of Management

Maharishi University of Management , formerly known as Maharishi International University, is a non-profit, American university, located in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that includes the practice of the...

.

City of Immortals developments

MHOED announced in 1988 that it planned to build 50 low-density "Maharishi Cities of Immortals" across the U.S. and Canada. Each City of Immortals development would include a pond or lake, a Maharishi elementary school

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment is an independent, non-denominational, college preparatory school located in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.The school was founded in 1974, received state accreditation in 1986 and began single-gender classes in 1989...

, a for-profit Maharishi Ayurvedic health clinic, a festival hall, and an organic vegetable garden. The walled and gated developments would include from 100 to 200 homes. The lots would be 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) or larger and an equal amount of space would be devoted to common areas, like parks, lakes, and gardens. Internal combustion vehicles would be parked at the perimeter and only electric carts or bicycles would be used inside the development. The individual homes would be built using Maharishi Sthapatya Veda

Maharishi Sthapatya Veda

Maharishi Sthapatya Veda is a set of architectural and planning principles assembled by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi based on "ancient Sanskrit texts" Maharishi Sthapatya Veda architecture is also called "Maharishi Vastu" architecture, "Fortune-Creating" buildings and homes, and "Maharishi Vedic...

 (MSV) specifications with non-toxic materials and natural ventilation. According to a prospectus, "the quality of energy produced by the sun promotes the success of the activity being performed in that room." MSV design principles say that, with proper placement and orientation, one naturally feels hungry in a dining room and sleepy in a bedroom. According to developer, Curtis McDonald,"What we are striving for is a complete restructuring of the world and we want to begin with the large cities in the U.S. With the Maharishi's Cities of Immortals, our plan is to establish a new way of life, to eliminate all the unhealthful aspects of the way our communities are currently being built."
Guild planned a 29-city tour to recruit developers. The proposal was that the company would not own or build the development, but would advise the developers on MSV design and planning principles, and provide sales support, including celebrity endorsements, for 2.5% of the construction costs, plus 1% of the retail costs, plus a sales commission. Half of the profits would go to financing Ideal Villages in the Third World

Third World

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

. The homes were expected to cost at least 10% more than comparable properties in normal developments. In the San Francisco area, the representatives said that homes prices were expected to be between $300,000 and $1 million, depending on land costs. At a later presentation in Canada, prices were predicted to be from $130,000 to $150,000. A developer attending a presentation said a home with the listed amenities would cost several times that amount. One announcement said that the developments would also include subsidized homes.

The areas where developments might be built included Malibu, Houston, Austin, Toronto, Hartford, Connecticut, and Denver. In 1989, it announced that it had signed contracts with developers for projects in eight of those cities, and was on the verge of signing contracts in seven more. A parcel near Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 was described as a 30-home prototype. It was adjacent to a development built in 1981 called "Radiance" which was mostly populated with TM practitioners. However after two and a half years the project remained stalled for a lack of financing. Construction was begun at a site owned by MHOED on Mount Shefford near Bromont, Quebec

Bromont, Quebec

Bromont is a city in southwestern Quebec in Canada, 75 kilometres east of Montreal on Autoroute 10, bordering the Eastern Townships at the base of Mount Brome . The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 6,049....

 in June 1991, and 30 of the 100 lots were reported to have sold. Prospective home owners supplied details about their occupation and precise birth location, date and time so that the MSV designers could properly customize the building for its intended resident.

Creating these cities globally was projected to cost $100 trillion. It was hoped that at least a hundred would be built around the world.

An architect, who was invited to one of the promotional lunches, questioned the need for low density suburban developments. Some TM practitioners were concerned about what they saw as "elitist and secretive elements" to the plans, including the elaborate security.

Maharishi Veda Land

Maharishi Veda Land International (MVLI) was a wholly owned subsidiary created to finance the construction of Maharishi Veda Land themes parks being promoted by magician Doug Henning

Doug Henning

Douglas James Henning was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.-Early life:...

. Henning was a director of MVLI and the president and chairman of Maharishi Veda Land Canada. The MHOED loaned $4 million in seed money, at 11% interest. The MVLI was seeking to arrange $230 million in equity, $438 million in debt, and $60 million in sponsorships from corporations. Various locations for the parks were proposed, and properties were acquired in Orlando and Niagara Falls. The parks were seen as complementing the Cities of Immortals, and they might have been co-located.

Other activities

In the 1990s MHOED began buying old hotels in U.S. city centers, purchasing over a dozen by 1994.

The Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development Corp. Canada purchased the historic Fleck/Paterson House in 1992 in Ottawa for its Canadian headquarters and a subsidiary, Maharishi Vedic Education Development Institute. It spent a reported $3 million to purchase and restore the 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) house, which had fallen into ruin. The restoration was praised in the press and received the "adaptive use award of excellence" from the City of Ottawa. Four suites were available to the public as a bed and breakfast

Bed and breakfast

A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...

. It sold the house in 2002 to the Algerian Embassy for $2.9 million, a record price for a heritage home in Ottawa. Helen Foster, then the group's director, said they were planning to spend $6 million to build a 63000 square feet (5,852.9 m²) Maharishi Peace Palace

Maharishi Peace Palace

Maharishi Peace Palace is a type of pre-engineered building designed to house the educational and meditational activities of the Transcendental Meditation movement. Each Peace Palace is built using standardized plans compatible with Maharishi Sthapatya Veda design principles.In 2000, Maharishi...

 to house the movement's operations.

Zambia and Mozambique

"Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development Company" (Mahedco), a company based in the Netherlands headed by Jacques Uijen, approached Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

's President Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...

 in 1990 with a proposal to solve the country's dire problems and to rid it of "evil and diseases". In the plan, 1000 Zambians would receive training from the TM movement and oversee the creation of utopian farming communities that would be turned over to Mahedco. The agreement covered 18 million hectares (44 million acres), 23% of the country's land surface and half of its arable land. Kingsley Chinkuli, the Home Affairs minister, granted Mahedco "the right to select those Zambian families which will live on the land". News of the agreement came out a year later, just prior to an election, and became a significant campaign issue. Kaunda admitted that the agreement existed, but denied that he went in for Transcendental Meditation himself and described the agreement as an "experiment" and a "necessary catalyst" for change. After objections from his cabinet ministers, Kaunda agreed to alter the agreement to start with a 2000 acres (8.1 km²) pilot project, though if successful it would grow still to the same size incrementally. The net worth of Mahedco was reported at the time to be $26,000. A Zambian newspaperman was quoted as saying, "The whole thing is madness." The Maharishi said that he would abandon the effort if Kaunda lost the election, which is what happened.

Mahedco then sought a similar arrangement in neighboring Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

, where President Joaquim Chissano

Joaquim Chissano

Joaquim Alberto Chissano served as the second President of Mozambique for nineteen years from 6 November 1986 until 2 February 2005. Since stepping down as president, Chissano has become an elder statesman and is called upon by international bodies, such as the United Nations, to be an envoy or...

 had become a TM practitioner. It wanted the right to develop nearly a quarter of the land, 20 million hectares. By one account it would only be allocated "unused land". It intended to plant various crops and to rebuild the country's infrastructure and health system. Chissano signed a 50-year contract which would give 40% of the profits to the Mozambique government. The government denied it when the negotiations became public in 1994.

A 2006 prospectus for the RAAM

RAAM

RAAM, or Raam is a bearer bond and local currency issued by Stichting Maharishi Global Financing Research , a charitable foundation based in MERU, Holland. It is also the "global development currency" of the Global Country of World Peace...

 currency/bearer bonds, issued by Stichting Maharishi Global Financing Research of MERU, Holland

MERU, Holland

MERU, Holland, is a residential and office complex which includes the residence of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a capital of the Global Country of World Peace, a campus of Maharishi European Research University , and other institutions of the Transcendental Meditation movement. It occupies the...

, lists Paul Gelderloos as the chief executive of Mahedco starting in 1990. The prospectus says that Mahedco "was responsible for the implementation of poverty removal programs in third-world countries and also launched several enterprises in Holland." Girish Govindji Momaya is described as the head from 1989 to 1991 of Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development in New Delhi. The prospectus says that the Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development Foundation (MAHEDFO) had long term liabilities of 1.6 million Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

s in 2004.