About Prabhuji
His Holiness Avadhuta Shri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja, who is respectfully and lovingly called “Prabhuji” by his disciples, devotees, followers and friends, is a religious philosopher, a mystic, a yogi and a realized spiritual master in several of the main yogic paths, especially, hatha, raja, bhakti, jñana, and tantra.
Prabhuji dedicated most of his youth to the study and practice of different religions and spiritual paths. After years of study, he realized that this experience was a mysterious initiation given by existence itself; he knew that what he received was only the seed of this wisdom, which he had to continue revealing through spiritual practice and meditation.
His spiritual interest led him to travel to many countries in search of association with religious or spiritual personalities who could offer him some information and guidance about his early transcendental experience. He journeyed throughout his homeland for two years. At the age of twenty-one, he expanded his horizons to other South American countries, going as far as Brazil. Later on, he traveled to places and cultures so distant for him, such as Europe, the Middle East, India, Canada, and finally the United States, where he has settled until this day.
Throughout his thirty years of searching, he studied and practiced different spiritual paths, such as Christianity (Catholicism, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witnesses), Judaism (Talmud, Hassidism and Kabbalah), Buddhism (Thera-vada, Mahayana, and Tantric), Taoism, Santeria, Tantra (Dakshinacara and Vamacara), western philosophy, yoga, (karma, bhakti, hatha, raja, kundalini, mantra, and jñana), Hinduism (Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism), among others.
He met spiritually advanced beings, thinkers, philosophers, pastors, rabbis, priests, roshis, Kabbalists, yogis, tantrikas, gurus, devotees, mystics, shamans, guides, and masters of different traditions, lines, paths and religions. He has delved into Zen through his interest in martial arts, particularly the Shotokan style of Karate. In India, he learned meditation with the venerable Medhananda, a monk from Sri Lanka who follows Theravada Buddhism.
Prabhuji received personal guidance and instruction from great spiritual masters of their time such as Swami Vishnu Devananda, Swami Swaroopananda, Swami Mahadevananda, Tamala Krishna Goswami, Narahari das Babaji, Swami Swahananda, Swami Krishnananda, Krishna das Babaji, Sant Keshava das, Swami Viditatmananda, Swami Dayananda, and others.
In 1986, he received initiation personally from His Holiness Swami Vishnu Devananda, founder of Shivananda Ashram, with the name Ramakrishna. After an extensive period of practice and study of Hinduism, he was initiated as sannyasa within the sacred order of renounced life in 1995, with the name of Swami Ramakrishnananda Saraswati, directly from His Holiness Swami Jyotirmayananda, disciple of His Holiness Swami Shivananda Saraswati. He later confirmed his vows within the Vaishnava tradition with a sannyasa initiation by His Holiness B.A. Paramadvaiti Maharaja.
Despite his advancement and progress, Prabhuji did not feel fully realized. In 1996, in Rishikesh, India, he had the grace of meeting his spiritual master, His Holiness Avadhuta Shri Brahmananda Babaji Maharaja, disciple of His Holiness Avadhuta Shri Mastarama Babaji Maharaja of Rishikesh, who initiated and accepted him as a personal disciple.
After meeting his spiritual master, Prabhuji dedicated himself to an intensive meditative sadhana for several months. It was on an August afternoon in 1997 when Prabhuji completed the process that began in his childhood, being graced with the revelation of his authenticity.
Over the years of searching, learning and studying, Prabhuji became certified as a guide, instructor, teacher and master of yoga, and has been credited with various titles by renowned organizations such as Shivananda Yoga Vedanta, Jiva Institute for Vedic Studies in Vrindavan, Prana Yoga Ashram, Swami Shivananda Yogasana Research Center in Tamil Nadu, Ma Yoga Shakti Mission, Yoga Research Foundation, Integral Yoga, Patanjala Yoga Kendra, Rishikesh Yoga Peeth, Vrindavan Institute of Vaishnava Culture and Studies, and Aham Brahmasmi Yog Mandir Trust of Rishikesh, among others.
He has also been awarded titles such as Yoga-shiromani, Krishna-bhakta and Yogacarya, personally from His Holiness Swami Vishnu Devananda; Yoga-ratna, granted by His Holiness Swami Jyotirmayananda Sarasvati; Bhaktivedanta and Bhakti-shastri, obtained directly from His Holiness Shri B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami Maharaja; and many other titles, such as Pracarya, Yoga-pravina, Veda-vidyalankara, and many more.
The message of Prabhuji, called “Sakshi Yoga,” is the synthesis of the spiritual path that this great master went along throughout his life.
In 2003, he founded the Vishwa Dharma Mandalam mission with the objective of preserving and distributing the teachings of Sakshi Yoga. Later in 2010, he established the Ramakrishnananda Institute of Hinduism, an online institute with the purpose of teaching and spreading Hinduism.
In 2011, in recognition of his transcendental state, his spiritual master initiated him into the sacred order of Avadhuta Babaji, giving him the name of Avadhuta Shri Ramakrishnananda Babaji Maharaja.
Along the years, Prabhuji has received the support, respect, appreciation and official recognition from prominent Hindu religious authorities.
In recent years, Prabhuji has completely retired from public life due to his health problems, and he lives secluded in a contemplative life of prayer and meditation in the Ramakrishnananda Ashram, located in the Catskill Mountains, in New York State, U.S.A. In this heavenly place, surrounded by forests and creeks, he shares the direct experience of his true nature with sincere seekers who visit him in search of advice, guidance and instruction.
Pranati Mantra of Prabhuji
nityaṁniṣkāma-yogītattvasyavettā ’vadhūtaḥ
sānandāgresthitoyaḥśrīrāmakṛṣṇābhidhānaḥ
nityaṁtṛptonakāmaiḥsaṁsāra-bandhairnayuktaḥ
brahmānanda-prapūrṇastvāṁtaṁguro ’haṁnamāmi
“I offer my reverences to you, Avadhuta Shri Ramakrishnananda! Always established in supreme ananda (bliss), you are named for and protected by Sri Rama and Sri Krishna. O Knower of the Truth, you are the ever-satisfied, desireless yogi. Free of all attachments to the material world, you are perpetually overflowing with the bliss of Brahman.”
tantremantrecavedeyasyāstipūrṇādhikāraḥ
bhūtātmānauvyatītyaprāptaṁpadaṁyenasiddham
bhedānbhittvāhyaśeṣānsvasminsthitoyovareṇyaḥ
īśāvāsyaṁ hi yasmaiviśvaṁguruṁtaṁnamāmi
“O excellent master of all Tantras, mantras and Vedas, you have attained the state of perfection. Having abandoned all sense of partiality, you have transcended matter and spirit and become situated in your own Self. O most beloved and venerated, the one who perceives the Lord everywhere in this world, to you I offer my humble reverences.”
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