The timeless message of life and death. Knowing the true nature of death. On truth, fear, and resistance PRABHUSHRI SWAMI AMAR JYOTI — A...
The timeless message of life and death. Knowing the true nature of death. On truth, fear, and resistance PRABHUSHRI SWAMI AMAR JYOTI — A Brief Biography In 1960 a silent and radiant Holy Man, dressed in the ochre robe of a sannyasin (wandering monk) descended from the heights of Himalaya and began traveling the length and breadth of India in pilgrimage, living on alms and the providence of God through His fellow man. Walking on a road in South India one day, He was offered a ride by a humble and reverent man on his way to a religious conference in Madras in honor of the Dalai Lama after His exile from Tibet. The Holy Man agreed to accompany him to the gathering of learned abbots, monks and pundits and, without having said but a few words to his host, was given a special seat among those who had gathered to speak. In another city of South India, the Holy Man was asked to give Satsang (spiritual discourse), for the first time in His life, and in English, at the Vivekananda Teacher’s Training College in Tiruchirappalli. His name was Swami Amar Jyoti. Prabhushri Swami Amar Jyoti was born on May 6, 1928 in a small town in northwestern India, not far from the banks of the Indus River. His parents named Him Rama. Much beloved by family and professors, He shocked everyone with the decision to leave home a few months before graduation, saying, “I’d like to read an open book of the world for my education.” At the age of nineteen, without money or any particular destination, He took the first train He found, eventually arriving in Calcutta. It was 1948. Refugees were pouring over the border of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) into West Bengal by the thousands each day. He chose to leave the company to become a volunteer for the refugees and soon headed the entire volunteer corps there for about ten months. He continued to pursue humanitarian service and spiritual enlightenment before retiring to Himalaya where He lived in silence and meditation for about ten years, one-pointed on the Goal of Liberation. Many places of pilgrimage were visited during those years, walking on foot many miles each day. But a small cave at Gangotri, the temple village near the source of the Ganga River, was the place of His greatest spiritual disciplines, awakenings and, finally, Illumination. In 1958, taking initiation of Vidyut Sannyas (lit: “lightning”—a form of monasticism that is Self-initiated) at the holy site of Badrinath of Himalaya, and taking the name Swami Amar Jyoti (Swami—Knower of the Self; Amar Jyoti—Immortal Light), He descended into the plains of India for His God-given mission to the world. The first Ashram Gurudeva founded was Jyoti Ashram, under Ananda Niketan Trust, located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. In 1961 He accepted an offer by a devotee to visit the United States. Eventually Prabhushri was persuaded by the sincerity of His American disciples to establish an Ashram, and Sacred Mountain Ashram was founded in 1974 followed in 1975 by Desert Ashram under the nonprofit organization Truth Consciousness Samadhi mid rangeAfter four decades spent in continually traveling, giving Satsang and Retreats, establishing Ashrams and guiding innumerable souls to higher consciousness, Gurudeva took Mahasamadhi—conscious release of the mortal body—on June 13, 2001 in Louisville, Colorado. If you would like to learn more about buddhism, spirituality, and/or the mission of Swami Amar Jyoti visit us at: http://truthconsciousness.org/ To receive updates about new publications of wisdom from Swami Amar Jyoti, subscribe to our mailing list here through: http://truthconsciousness.org/join-our-newsletter/ Less
