Baba Hari Dass

[3] Upon his arrival in North America in early 1971,[4] Baba Hari Dass and his teachings inspired the creation of several yoga centers and retreat programs in the United States in Santa Cruz County, California,[5] and in Canada at Salt Spring Island and in Toronto.

Baba Hari Dass devoted himself to helping others, with an emphasis on selfless service (karma yoga); In 1987 he opened Sri Ram Orphanage for homeless children in Haridwar, India.

A regimented daily schedule included six hours of sleep, rising at 4:00 a.m., walking a mile in the dark to bathe in a river regardless of the season or weather conditions, a teacher-guided group study of homework and preparation for exams.

[35] Another sannyasin who attracted Hari Datt's attention was Udasi Baba, credited by adult followers as possessing supernatural powers over ghosts or curing sickness, and who lived in a cremation ground.

In more recent times, a vairagi-renunciate from Ayodhya, Sita Ram Dass Baba, renovated, cleaned the fort place and started regular temple worship of the deity of Hanuman.

After that temple visit their worries about school progress weren't entirely relieved, partly because they believed they failed to satisfy the tough expectations of Sita Ram Baba who, they thought, may have been angry with them.

"[55] In 1964, Bhagavan Das met Baba Hari Dass near a temple called Hanumangarhi, Nainital, and later wrote: "The sadhu was a muni, a yogi whose practice of austerity includes complete silence.

"[24] In 1983, David C. Fuess (a writer for The Wall Street Journal), observed about Baba Hari Dass: "Babaji had not spoken for twenty-nine years and communicates by a means of a small chalk board.

[65] The same publication included two articles in 2002, Karma Yoga Awards and Saving Young Lives, that described how Baba Hari Dass donated proceeds from his books to the Sri Ram Foundation that was set up to help destitute children in India.

[67] He had established a local following and was considered an adept teacher, a leader and builder in several building and karma yoga construction projects at Hanuman Garhi and Nainital Ashram temples.

Excessive hoarding of goods and secret dealings to cover for Neem Karoli Baba's sudden appearances and disappearances in order to create an impression of yogic powers (siddhis) were also contentious issues.

Cases, which point to abuses, Mukerjee interpreted as needed for the grace of his guru to manifest, so that others, including "Bhabania and Haridas", could benefit from, and that "we can understand reasons for the hard treatment.

[94] As the daughter of a First Nation father (Ute tribe) and as a longtime student of Baba Hari Dass, Jeannine Parvati Baker's midwifery philosophy was one of earth-based values and non-harming principles.

That book, viewed as significant contribution to the public knowledge in the United States and Canada about yoga and Baba Hari Dass as a master yogi, was re-edited after "eighty thousand copies"[96] were already distributed.

In 1972, as interest grew, several events were organized that included demonstrations of yoga asanas, shatkarma, and mudras (Lama Foundation in New Mexico, Coconut Grove in Florida, and Santa Cruz in California).

[102] His experiences and skills in designing, building and management of Kainchi and Hanumangarh ashrams in Nainital, India, took a new form when the Hanuman Fellowship was created in 1974[103] in Santa Cruz, California.

Regular classes in the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, satsang events, Ramayana play, martial arts, sport activities with annual Hanuman Olympics and retreats provided rich holistic background in learning.

The aim of such approach was that social contact and interaction while working together would translate into other areas and would support coherent functioning of the multi-purpose facility "where a spiritual aspirant could come to learn yoga and find peace."

Around those ideas similar projects were created at Salt Spring Centre of Yoga (1974) in Canada, in Vancouver, BC, and in Pacific Cultural Center in Santa Cruz, California (1989).

Conceived as an alternative bhakti yoga tract, the site serves local residents and can accommodate visitors from the wider community of the San Francisco Bay Area in daily visits.

"[111] Bonnie Greenwell, while working on her PhD in Transpersonal Psychology (Energies Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process) was allowed to study "the unpublished manuscripts of the Jnana yoga teacher Baba Hari Dass.

For example, Tantric Bhairavī Chakra Sadhana and The Vairagī Ritual is a circular yoga sādhana performed with an equal number of men and women that employs yantras to invoke the various forms of Devi, or Durga as the supreme Being in the Shaktism tradition.

[120] One of his students, Ma Renu, inspired by the teachings of selfless service (karma yoga) traveled to India to launch in 1984 Sri Ram Ashram,[121] a children's home, school, and medical clinic in rural location of the northern state of Uttaranchal.

[127] Some authors, evaluating various opinions about the origin of Yoga, state that "It can certainly be argued that the germs of yogic thought can be found in embryonic form in the (middle period) Vedic literatures themselves, the Aranyakas and Brahmana texts"[128] (most likely between c. 1500–1200 BC).

[130] However, scriptural research may have to be evaluated in addition to localized Yoga traditions that rely on the word of mouth transfer of yogic knowledge and are centuries older in duration than indicated by the theoretical speculation.

In 16 October 2013, after physical examination, it was announced by his medical team that Baba Hari Dass "had a dramatic neurological change that has affected his mobility, stamina, and expression",[138] and "his physicians have conducted all appropriate tests and have not found any treatable cause."

[141] The Santa Cruz Sentinel published a front-page obituary titled "Silent monk Baba Hari Dass, who inspired thousands at the Mount Madonna Center, dies at 95": Baba Hari Dass, the spiritual leader and silent monk who inspired thousands out of the Mount Madonna Center north of Watsonville, died Tuesday morning in his Bonny Doon home.

"[142] His departure from the physical form (mahāsamadhi) took place during the month of Bhadrapad following Purnima (full Moon), on the first day of Krishna Paksha Pratipada as per Lunar Indian calendar system.

[143] Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote: "About 1,500 people gathered Sunday morning at the Mount Madonna Center to commemorate Baba Hari Dass, the silent monk, teacher and guru...

"[145] His ashes were immersed in the Ganga at Har Ki Pauri, in Haridwar, one of the holiest sites in India, on 19 November 2018, with special puja and arati, on auspicious day of Ekadashi.

Location of Kumaon and Almora
Location of Kumaon in India
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Gurukul education setting. Food is served by students, and eaten after prayer.
The shatkarmas - six preliminary purifications used in Hatha yoga.
The shatkarmas - six preliminary purifications used in Hatha yoga
Jageshwar temple complex in Almora
Jageshwar temple complex in Almora
Baba Hari Dass - silent yogi
Baba Hari Dass - silent yogi writing on a chalkboard, c. 1976, California
Baba Hari Dass and Ma Renu, watching annual volleyball competition at Mount Madonna Center, July 1998
Mount Madonna Center, California, Baba Hari Dass, September 2013
Shiva Lingam, Ganesha temple, Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple; Mount Madonna Center, CA, 2014
Children getting sweets, Sri Ram Ashram, Shyampur, India
Baba Hari Dass with children, Mount Madonna Center, May 2008
Ramayana backstage costume preparation, 2003
Ramayana theatrical production, costume preparation, 2003
Baba Hari Dass, silent yoga master
Baba Hari Dass, Mount Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA, c. 2006
Baba Hari Dass Shraddha ceremony
Baba Hari Dass Shraddha ceremony, 7 October 2018