George Harrison wrote "Not Guilty" in 1968 following the Beatles' Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India. As the Beatle who had been most interested in attending teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's course, Harrison felt responsible for his bandmates' experience there. Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney had each left the ashram early and returned to England, while Harrison and John Lennon stayed on, only to then depart hurriedly after hearing of alleged impropriety between the Maharishi and a female student. In an interview with "Billboard" editor Timothy White in 1999, Harrison referred to "the grief I was catching" from Lennon and McCartney post-India, and explained the message behind the song: "I said I wasn't guilty of getting in the way of their career. I said I wasn't guilty of leading them astray in our going to Rishikesh to see the Maharishi. I was sticking up for myself …"