Swami Rama of the Himalayas
Swami Rama was born in 1925 in Toli Village in the state of Uttar Pradesh which is now in the State of Garhwal, India. Swami Rama born in a Brahmin family was raised from early childhood in the Himalayas by a great yogi and saint of Bengal, who lived in the foothills of the Himalayas and was known as Bengali Baba, or simply Babaji. Babaji was a yogi of immortal wisdom and one of the greatest masters of the Himalayas. Swami Rama became 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. Swamiji 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 this high office in 1952.
On the instruction of his master, to present yoga and meditation to the West. Swamiji lived in Germany, Holland, England and other parts of Europe studying Western psychology and philosophy before coming to the United States in 1969. In 1970 he participated in experiments at the Menninger Foundation that revolutionized medical theories of the relationship between body and mind. Among the feats of yogic control, Swami Rama demonstrated his ability to stop his heart from pumping blood for seventeen seconds, voluntarily maintained production of various brain wave patterns, and produced a 10-degree difference in temperature between adjacent parts of the palm of his hand, while monitored by various instruments. Swami Rama submitted himself as research subject to scientifically prove the validity of yogic techniques. The results of these experiments gave the researchers much insight into the nature of the involuntary systems of the body and how they might be regulated voluntarily by other people as well.
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 USA 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, Transalation of Japji Sahib and many others. In 1989 Swamiji established the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Garhwal region of India , to serve the millions of poor and needy people.
Swami Rama believed in, and taught the realization of spiritual truths, in the inner chamber of one's own being. He never asked to be followed or worshipped, or for any change in culture, or for or any conversion of religion. Rather, he encouraged self-awareness through practices of yoga meditation and contemplation, with an attitude of self-reliance. Swami Rama was one of the rare yogi’s of the 20th century. Swami Rama sacrificed a life of simplicity and serenity in the Himalayas to come out into the hustle and bustle of our modern world for the benefit of others. Swami Rama taught and served wherever he went, as an emissary of the Himalayan masters, often independent of any particular worldly organization.
After accomplishing so much around the globe, on the evening of November 13, 1996, Swami Rama consciously dropped his body, entering into Mahasamadhi. Swami Rama was in his apartment on the campus of the Himalayan Institute Hospital near Dehradun and Rishikesh, India. Since then Swami Rama lives in the heart and memories of millions of disciples and people who met and changed their life forever. Swami Hari is one of the fortunate enough and blessed to carry the vision of Swami Rama’s dream of developing the poor and underdeveloped region of Garhwal through various projects he has undertaken.
Swami Rama having been born in the Himalayas and spending many years with his own and other masters in the ancient cave monasteries, studied and taught medical and spiritual subjects in leading universities around the globe, participated in numerous scientific experiment, having lived a life of a householder with a wife and a son, Swami Rama did accomplished a lot in this life and will always be remembered as one of the yogi’s who introduced yoga to the west and his contribution to science.