The Life, Times, & Discourse of Baba Rampuri
My website is a collection and an archive of more than half a century of my life as a Naga Baba of Juna Akhara. Much of what is represented here no longer exists, replaced by a post-modern virtual world. It was my great good fortune to be able to witness first hand and up close what I am sharing with you here, so that you may also have a glimpse.
Included are my many talks, lectures, interviews, and classes delving not only into the most authoritative accounts anywhere of the Naga Baba Tradition in Bharat and comprehensive Oral History, but into the specifics of Speech, Perception, and Consciousness.
I deconstruct the colonial representation of Bharat, in order to reveal some of Her secrets and secret histories.
I have vedic yajnas performed by master purohits on video, and in a series of sacred art, which includes many of Sri Lanka’s Visionary, Druvinka Puri’s, important paintings.
And then, you will find an archive of 35 years of Kumbh Melas, innumerable videos and photo galleries, including all the important events and all the illustrious sadhus of Juna Akhara who I have been privileged to call my gurus, uncles, brothers, and chelas.
Entering The Extraordinary World
During the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh Mela in 1971, on the banks of the River Ganga, Baba Rampuri became the first foreigner initiated into the mysterious & sometimes dangerous world of India’s most ancient traditional order of yogis & sadhus, Naga Babas, going back to the time of Adi Shankara, & before, to the Guru of Yogis, Lord Dattatreya.
The world of Hindu Mythology becomes alive as Baba Rampuri enters the portal of the Extraordinary World. He must learn the rules & obtain the protocols of knowledge in a sacred language.
Now, more than half a century later, you may have a granular glimpse, an authoritative inside perspective of the glory days of a proud Bharatiya tradition told by Baba Rampuri in his contemporary style.
Follow below to find our sections on 50 excerpts from his book, which you may find entertaining, amusing, maybe enlightening; Baba’s readings; book reviews of Sadhu; readers comments; & a link to Amazon.
Baba reads “Dream of Mirrors” from his autobiography
Baba reads “Dream of Mirrors” from his autobiography
Here is my collection of photos & videos of precious memories of many past Kumbh Melas.
You will find archives of Juna Akhara, our dhunis & our processions during which we take our Devata, Guru Dattatreya for the Shahi Snan – & most important –
our Gurus, legendary Naga Babas, guru bhais & chelas.
This is the Juna Akhara of my recent memories, a murti carved out of the granite of our Bharatiya sacred geography & Her ancient culture. I have not updated our hierarchy since 2013, & purposely so.
We all only temporarily occupy our various positions of duty and responsibility, so I want to focus on those duties & responsibilities & those who so magnificently represented them.
Meet my Juna Akhara.
Inside you will find the history, organisation, and functionaries of the Akhara, as well as many photo galleries and videos of the most renown & illustrious Naga Babas of the last half century. Many of the Naga Babas have seperate galleries.
Here is the section of my website where I have hundreds of videos of my discourse, storytelling, dhuni satsang, and interviews over a period of twenty years. Among these videos are the “banned videos” by YouTube, considered by them to be dangerous for public consumption.
I’ve included the well received speech I gave at Albert Hofmann’s Basel Symposium in 2008, “The Edge of Indian Spirituality;” the MasterClass on Sacred Speech in 19 parts; storytelling at my dhuni; the mystery of Multani Baba; and numerous interviews & conversations.
Yajna - The Sacrifice
Yajna Videos
A collection of my various yajnas over the years in Haridwar and in Goa, performed by master Purohits.
Druvinka Puri, High Priestess of Visionary Art
Visions of the High Priestess
Dreamscapes of the Sanatan Dharma — Druvinka Puri
23 videos of musical performances at my dhuni in Assagao, Goa, & in Juna Akhara during various Kumbh Melas.
Mahashivaratri is the occasion of several videos featuring Shiva Tandava Stotra. Baba Suryademah performs inside Juna Akhara during Kumbh Melas & is joined in Goa by Naveen Gandharva on tabla, his brother, Devanand on harmonium, Tritha Sinha performs vocals, Phillip Mecherova plays stand up bass.
Baba Suryademah plays both baglama and daf, & gives some outstanding solo performances. There are a few clips of Drupad Master Prem Kumar Mallik singing with Peter Pannke.
The Jangams are a musical bard jati descended from Mahabharata charioteers, Sutas. These wandering singers, largely from Haryana & Rajasthan, are devotees of Naga Babas, and follow us to melas, bhandaras, and all gatherings, where they sing their songs for us, entertain us, and receive dakshinas. They are keepers of great knowledge.
My Prose: articles, comments, & dialogs
A collection of my writings & comments over a twenty year period.
I participated in a conversation on my Facebook profile page between May 16-19, 2015, with the purpose to examine closely our own narratives about yoga, spirituality, mysticism, self-knowledge.
The goal was to use that “deconstruction” as an exercise in liberating our consciousness, by identifying our own innate structures & conditioning to understand ourselves & the world around us with much greater clarity. Let this be a contribution towards deconstructing consumer yoga.
About Baba Rampuri
“Your tool of knowledge is Speech, because its boundaries establish the possibilities of the world.” – Baba Rampuri
Baba Rampuri, author of “Autobiography of a Sadhu, a Journey into Mystic India,” and frequent commentator on Oral Tradition, Sacred Speech, and post colonial analysis, is an American expatriate, the first foreigner to be initiated into India’s largest and most ancient order of yogis, the Naga Sannyasis of Juna Akhara. He has lived in India since 1970, where he practices and teaches the oral tradition of the Sanatan Dharma, conducts sacred ceremonies and rites, hosts workshops and retreats, and has become an Indian citizen.
Illustrious Naga Babas
Macchendar Puri
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Amar Bharti
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Bir Giri
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