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 youth interests were many: science,mathematics,music,composing,biking,drama and sports,and He brilliantly mastered all of these. His college education was momentarily interrupted by the partition of India in 1947,however He soon transferred to a college in Mumbai (Bombay). Much precious by household and teachers,He shocked everyone with thedecision to leave house a few months before graduation,saying,”I wish to read an open book of the world for my education.”
At the age of nineteen,without cash or any specific destination,He took the very first train to Calcutta. It was 1948. Refugees were pouring over the border of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) into West Bengal by the thousands every day. Living on a railway platform near the border of India and Bangladesh,He soon headed the whole volunteer corps there,working relentlessly 20 hours or more every day. After about 10 months,the flood of refugees subsided and He went back to Calcutta.
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Swami Amar Jyoti resided on the outskirts of the city in a quiet ashram and pursued symphonic music,sitar,spiritual research studies and prayer. He started to meditate and do yoga and participated in puja (traditional worship) at a neighboring temple of a popular saint. In a short while He “understood” His life work. Soon He retired to Himalaya where He resided in silence and meditation for about ten years,one-pointed onthe Goal of Liberation. Many locations of pilgrimage were visited during those years,walking on foot many miles every day. However a little cave at Gangotri,the temple town near the source of the Ganga River,was the location of His greatest spiritual disciplines,awakenings and,lastly,Illumination.
In 1958,taking initiation of Vidyut Sannyas (lit: “lightning”– a type 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 came down into the plains of India for His God-given mission to the world. The very first Ashram Gurudeva founded was Jyoti Ashram,under Ananda Niketan Trust,located in Pune,Maharashtra,India. Throughout the years after leaving house,His mother had actually never ceased searching for Him and awaiting His return. In answer to her prayers,He settled in Pune where she could be near Him.
In 1961,He accepted an offer by a follower to go to the United States. Once again,He took a trip unidentified,though He soon attracted many who had actually never seen such a holy man. Eventually He was encouraged to develop an Ashram,and Sacred Mountain Ashram was founded in 1974 followed in 1975 by Desert Ashram under Truth Consciousness,a nonprofit organization that works as an automobile for Gurudeva’s work in the United States.
The spiritual awakening on earth that Gurudeva exposes is the marvelous fate of humanity,once devoid of our restricted identity of self. Adoringly and ceaselessly,He continues to boost and purify each people for this awakening,for His way is the ancient relationship of the Master to the disciple,the candle lit directly from the burning flame of Truth. Prabhushri continuously advises us that we are at a development into a new age,where religious beliefs will be changed into direct awakening and communion with our Greatest Source. Like a mother whose love understands no bounds for her kid,the Master guides and nurtures the disciple on his/her own path to excellence,revealing in Himself the achievable Reality of God Consciousness.
After 4 decades spent in continually traveling,providing Satsang and Retreats,establishing Ashrams and assisting innumerable souls to higher consciousness,Gurudeva took Mahasamadhi– conscious release of the mortal body– on June 13,2001 in Louisville,Colorado. According to His desires,His Asti Kalash (urn containing Sacred Remains) was brought back to Jyoti Ashram by disciples from India. Within a year,a Samadhi Sthal in the form of a pure white marble pyramid was produced for permanent consecration. It has hence become a beacon Light,a location of pilgrimage and meditation for all who are blessed to get in there.
The commitment of the Samadhi Sthal was carried out during five days of intricate Vedic pujas and fire ceremonies gone to by hundreds of followers,from June 9-13,2002. At the end of the commitment,the Brahmin priest who led the pujas enunciated the following: “As long as the sun and the moon and the stars and water (symbolic of life) exist,might this Samadhi Sthal be the Illuminator of countless souls,and might You continue to guide and bless us.” Immortal Light– The Blissful Life and Knowledge of Swami Amar Jyoti
: A Bio in His Own Words is readily available from TruthConsciousness.org.