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Papaji
Sri H. W. L. Poonja (; born Hariwansh Lal Poonja; 13 October 1910 (or later) in Punjab, British India – 6 September 1997 in Lucknow, India), known as "Poonjaji" or "Papaji" , was an Indian sage. Biography Early life At the age of eight, he claimed he had experienced an unusual state of consciousness: Meeting Ramana Maharshi However, rather than giving another vision of God, Ramana pointed him in the direction of his own self: Transformation He found that he could no longer bring his mind to think of God, do japa or any other spiritual practice. He asked Ramana for help and was told that this was not a problem, that all his practice had carried him to this moment and it could be left behind now because it had served its purpose. When telling Ramana about the story of his search of the Self; Poonja recognised this as the same state he experienced when he was eight years old, but this time it was permanent. Teaching others Poonjaji met two other men "who convince ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Godman
David Godman (born 1953) has written on the life, teachings and disciples of Ramana Maharshi, an Indian sage who lived and taught for more than fifty years at Arunachala, a sacred mountain in Tamil Nadu, India. In the last 30 years Godman has written or edited 16 books on topics related to Sri Ramana, his teachings and his followers. Biography Early life David Godman was born in 1953 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. His father was a schoolmaster and mother a physiotherapist who specialised in treating physically handicapped children. He was educated at local schools and in 1972 won a place at Oxford University. It was sometime in his second year there that he became interested in Ramana Maharshi after reading about his teachings in a book that had been compiled by Arthur Osborne. Godman has said: Life and work in India Godman first visited the Tiruvannamalai ashram of Ramana Maharshi in 1976. For eight years, between 1978 and 1985, he was the librarian of the ashram. In the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gangaji
Gangaji ( ; born Texas, 1942) is an American born spiritual teacher and author. She lives in Ashland, Oregon, with her husband, fellow spiritual teacher Eli Jaxon-Bear. Early life Gangaji was born Merle Antoinette Roberson (Toni) in Texas on June 11, 1942, and grew up in Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Mississippi she and her young family moved to San Francisco. After a divorce“The End of All Excuses” by Gangaji. she sought to change her life via political activism and spiritual practice. She took vows, practic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eli Jaxon-Bear
Eli Jaxon-Bear (born Elliot Jay Zeldow, 1947) is an American spiritual teacher and author. He lives in Ashland, Oregon, with his wife and spiritual teacher Gangaji. Before he met his teacher, Sri H.W.L. Poonja, in 1990, Jaxon-Bear was best known for his work on the spiritual dimension of the Enneagram. Following his meeting with Poonjaji he continued to teach, carrying his teacher's message of spiritual liberation to the West. Early life Jaxon-Bear was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1947. In 1965 he was part of a group of students who went to Montgomery, Alabama, to take part in the civil rights marches. Later he wrote of this experience, "Getting on the bus represented a much deeper commitment than simply enduring a few weeks of dangerous adventure. Finally, I had to give my life fully to getting on the bus for freedom without a thought of getting off." He graduated in 1968 from the University of Pittsburgh and became a community organizer in Chicago and Detroit. He was arrested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Cohen (spiritual Teacher)
Andrew Cohen (born October 23, 1955) is an American spiritual teacher of neo-Advaita. He has been credibly accused of physically and psychologically abusing his students, and demanding money and extreme devotion from his students. Biography and beliefs Cohen was born in New York City into an upper-middle class secular Jewish family. Cohen recounts that his life was changed by a spontaneous experience of " cosmic consciousness" at the age of sixteen. At 22 years of age and after pursuing a career as a jazz musician, he began a quest to recover his earlier spiritual experience. He eventually met H. W. L. Poonja in 1986, a student of Ramana Maharshi, who taught that no mind effort is needed to attain enlightenment "because it is merely the realisation of what one already has". At their first meeting, Cohen realized that he "had always been free". He claimed that Poonja declared him his heir, so Cohen began to teach as a neo-Advaita teacher, and gathered a community around him. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neo-Advaita Teachers
Neo-Advaita, also called the Satsang-movement and Nondualism, is a New Religious Movement, emphasizing the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego," without the need of preparatory practice. Its teachings are derived from, but not authorised by, the teachings of the 20th century sage Ramana Maharshi, as interpreted and popularized by H. W. L. Poonja and several of his western students. It is part of a larger religious current called '' immediatism'' by Arthur Versluis, which has its roots in both western and eastern spirituality. Western influences are western esoteric traditions like Transcendentalism, and " New Age millennialism, self-empowerment and self-therapy". Neo-Advaita makes little use of the "traditional language or cultural frames of Advaita Vedanta", and some have criticised it for its lack of preparatory training, and regard enlightenment-experiences induced by Neo-Advaita as superficial. Teachings The basic practice of neo-Advaita is self-inquir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and '' jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala and the 63 Nayanmars was aroused in him, and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" where he became aware of a "current" or "force" (''avesam'') which he recognized as his true "I" or "self",David godman (7 May 2008), ''Bhagavan's death experience'' The Mountain Path, 1981, pp. 67–69. and which he later identified with "the personal God, or |
Neo-Advaita
Neo-Advaita, also called the Satsang-movement and Nondualism, is a New Religious Movement, emphasizing the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego," without the need of preparatory practice. Its teachings are derived from, but not authorised by, the teachings of the 20th century sage Ramana Maharshi, as interpreted and popularized by H. W. L. Poonja and several of his western students. It is part of a larger religious current called '' immediatism'' by Arthur Versluis, which has its roots in both western and eastern spirituality. Western influences are western esoteric traditions like Transcendentalism, and " New Age millennialism, self-empowerment and self-therapy". Neo-Advaita makes little use of the "traditional language or cultural frames of Advaita Vedanta", and some have criticised it for its lack of preparatory training, and regard enlightenment-experiences induced by Neo-Advaita as superficial. Teachings The basic practice of neo-Advaita is self-in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mooji
Mooji (born Anthony Paul Moo-Young, January 29, 1954) is a Jamaican spiritual teacher based in the UK and Portugal. He gives talks (satsang) and conducts retreats. Mooji lives in Portugal, at Monte Sahaja. Biography Mooji was born Tony Paul Moo-Young in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1954. His mother migrated to the UK as one of the windrush generation when he was one year old. He was raised by his father and his mother's cousin (who became his father's lover and had more children). Mooji's brother Peter went on to become one of Jamaica's top table tennis players. Mooji's father died when he was eight, and he was raised by a strict uncle until he moved to London to be with his mother as a teenager. By age 30, Mooji was working as a street artist supporting his wife and child. In 1985, Mooji's sister, Cherry Groce, was shot and paralysed during a police raid on her home, sparking the 1985 Brixton Riot. In 1987, Mooji had an encounter with a Christian which began his spiritual quest. Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madhukar (author)
Madhukar (Sanskrit, literally: "Beloved, sweet like honey"; born 4 November 1957, in Stuttgart) is a German author, teaches Advaita. He established the Yoga of Silence and Madhukar - Enlighten Life. Life Madhukar grew up in Stuttgart, West Germany. He studied economic science and philosophy and worked as a TV journalist after his graduation. In the early eighties Madhukar travelled for several years through Asia and studied with the Tantric-Buddhist Dzogchen-Master Namkhai Norbu. He experienced what he calls a "spontaneous Kundalini-enlightenment." In 1992, while staying in India, he met with spiritual teacher H.W.L. Poonja, a disciple of the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. Present activities Since 1997 Madhukar passes on his knowledge in worldwide events and retreats, traditionally called Satsang (sat = truth, sangha = community). His retreats are focused on self-enquiry (Atma vichara) with the question: “Who am I?” and dialogues on nonduality. Madhukar emphasizes tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-enquiry
Self-enquiry, also spelled self-inquiry (Sanskrit '' vichara'', also called '' jnana-vichara'' or '), is the constant attention to the inner awareness of "I" or "I am" recommended by Ramana Maharshi as the most efficient and direct way of discovering the unreality of the "I"-thought. Ramana Mahirishi taught that the "I"-thought will disappear and only "I-I" or self-awareness remains. This results in an "effortless awareness of being", and by staying with it this "I-I" gradually destroys the vasanas "which cause the 'I'-thought to rise," and finally the 'I'-thought never rises again, which is Self-realization or liberation. Etymology Vichāra (Sanskrit: विचार) means deliberation; its root is वि (prefix to verbs and nouns it expresses) – चर् (to move, roam, obtain knowledge of). It is the faculty of discrimination between right and wrong; it is deliberation about cause and effect, and the final analysis; it is also the enquiry into the nature of the At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus. The word ''Hindu'' is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as '' Sanātana Dharma'' ( sa, सनातन धर्म, lit='the Eternal Dharma'), a modern usage, which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another endonym is ''Vaidika dharma'', the dharma related to the Vedas. Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1913 Births
Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the war. * January 13 – Edward Carson founds the (first) Ulster Volunteers, Ulster Volunteer Force, by unifying several existing Ulster loyalism, loyalist militias to resist home rule for Ireland. * January 23 – 1913 Ottoman coup d'état: Ismail Enver comes to power. * January – Stalin (whose first article using this name is published this month) travels to Vienna to carry out research. Until he leaves on February 16 the city is home simultaneously to him, Hitler, Trotsky and Josip Broz Tito, Tito alongside Alban Berg, Berg, Freud and Jung and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ludwig and Paul Wittgenstein. February * February 1 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
