Swami Rama

Insert non-formatted text hereBorn in 1925 in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to a learned Brahmin family, Swami Rama was raised from early childhood in the Himalayas by a great yogi and saint of Bengal. He was ordained a monk in his early teens. He practiced the various disciplines of yoga science and philosophy in the traditional cave monasteries of the Himalayas and studied closely with many spiritual leaders. At the age of thirteen he began teaching Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in several monasteries. He received his higher education in Prayaga, Varanasi and at Oxford University, England. At the young age of twenty-four he became the Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham in South India, one of the highest spiritual positions in India. He renounced the dignity and prestige of this high office in 1952.

Swamiji subsequently lived in Germany, Holland, England and other parts of Europe studying Western psychology and philosophy before coming to the United States in 1969, on the instruction of his master, to present yoga and meditation to the West. In 1970 he participated in experiments at the Menninger Foundation that revolutionized medical theories of the relationship between body and mind. Among other feats of yogic control, Swami Rama demonstrated his ability to stop his heart from pumping blood for seventeen seconds, to voluntarily maintain production of various brain wave patterns, and to produce a 10-degree difference in temperature between adjacent parts of the palm of his hand, while monitored by a battery of instruments. Reports of this work have been documented in the World Book Science Annual, 1974, the 1973 Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook of Science, the Time-Life 1973 Nature Science Annual, as well as in numerous other publications.

In 1971 Swamiji established the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA, an organization devoted to the scientific and spiritual progress of mankind. Swamiji’s work in the United States continued for twenty-three years. His models of preventive medicine, holistic health and stress management have permeated the mainstream of western medicine. Swami Rama was the author of many books including, Living with the Himalayan Masters, Lectures on Yoga, A Practical Guide to Holistic Health, Book of Wisdom, Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, and many others.

In 1989 Swamiji established the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayas, to serve the millions of poor and needy people of the region. Swamiji left his body in November of 1996, but the seeds he has sown continue to sprout, bloom, and bear fruit. His teachings embodied in the words “love, serve, remember” continue to inspire the many students whose good fortune it was to come in contact with such an accomplished, selfless, and loving master.