Gangaji ( ; born Merle Antoinette Roberson in Texas, 1942) is an American Neo-Advaita spiritual teacher and writer.

Early life

Gangaji was born Merle Antoinette Roberson in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 1942, and grew up in Mississippi. After graduating from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

, she married her first husband and had a child, then became a teacher in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. The couple moved to California and later divorced. Gangaji became interested in spirituality, then met and married her second husband, Eli Jaxon-Bear. For a time, the two operated a

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

Dharma center overseen by Kalu Rinpoche. Gangaji and Jaxon-Bear went to India where she met H. W. L. Poonja, better known as Papaji. Afterwards, Gangaji devoted herself to teaching

satsang Satsang () is an audience with a satguru for the purpose of spiritual or yogic instruction. The ''satsanga'' is a gathering of good people for the performance of devotional activities. Meanings The word is derived from the Sanskrit ''sat'' mean ...

Teachings

Gangaji holds satsangs which are strongly influenced by

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

and Papaji. She started the Gangaji Foundation, which sponsors live events and publishes her books and other media. A video of Gangaji teaching about peace was used in the video game '' The Witness''.

Personal life

In October 2005, Gangaji and husband Eli Jaxon-Bear separated after he admitted to a three-year affair with an adult female student. The two reunited three months later, and also merged their foundations.

Bibliography

Books

* * * (with Roslyn Moore) * * *

Chapters

* *

References

External links

Gangaji Foundation
{{Authority control 1942 births Living people American spiritual teachers American spiritual writers Neo-Advaita teachers New Age spiritual leaders Religious leaders from Oregon Women mystics Writers from Ashland, Oregon