Here's a link to a brief biographical sketch of Sri Krishnaprem. http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9910/ET17-4959.html
my wife studied him in university, and i remember reading all about him. krsnaprem is an inspiration to western vaisnavas all around. how he met his guru (i think her karmi name was monika something then later sri ma?) and how he became her disciple. fascinating, and definately controversial for that time....
I had previously read a couple of paragraphs about Sri Krishnaprem in a book about Vrindavan, by an SP disciple...I've forgotten the title. Black Bill brought him up a few weeks ago and gave me the title and source for a book about him: Yogi Sri Krishnaprem by Dilip Kumar Roy. I've since ordered and started reading this; it's quite fascinating. Have you heard any other stories of westerners who traveled to india and took up the life of a sadhu, say pre-1930?
not really, i can tell u the only success of a gaudiya sannyasi who went to englan in the 30's and initiated an english woman- vani devi dasi- she remained krsna conscious, practiced in her home by chanting and worshipping the deity, but thats all i kno of western devotees aside from sri krsnaprem. ill ask my wife, she might kno.... her academic background is in this.
The sannyasi was Bon Maharaja, right? I think there's an account in Srila Prabhupada-Lilamrta about two SP disciples who called on this lady in maybe the very early 70's and she wouldn't open the door from them because they didn't have a letter of intro from the Gaudiya Matha. What was your wife's field of study...?
Sister Nivedita might interest you spook, although from a different lineage: http://www.hinduwomen.org/biographies/nivedita.htm
Bill, thanks again for a link to a very interesting story. I'm very familiar with the Ramakrishna Mission and Swami Vivekanada...and definitely consider them authentic and one of the great pioneers in bringing Indian spiritual culture to the west. When I read about persons such as Sister Nivedita and Sri Krishnaprem, who completely stepped out of their own cultural and religious milieu in an era when it was unheard of to do so, I think about this Gita verse in particular, Text 44 from Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, Ch. 6: "By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles — even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures."
One person everyone here would be extremely interested in is a very beautiful gentleman named Arthur Osborne. He was a great devotee of Sri Ramana Maharishi and lived in his company for many years. His son Adam invented the first portable computer. He spent his life in near anonymous service to bhagawan, he was founder and editor of the magazine Mountain PAth, which even today is the ramana ashram's official magazine. He was a wonderful writer, a poet, an intellectual with heart. Be Still, It is the Wind That Sings is a cllection of his writings that is available online from arunachala.org. Another great western devotee was Paul Brunton who wrote a Search in Secret India.
i am also gonna read up on sister nivedita. and spook my wifes field of study was south asian sudies (religion, political science and history) she of course, specialized in religion, focussing her research on vaisnava women (from many lineages- like pishima , gangamata goswamini, girija devi, jahnava ishwari, mirabai-who wasnt in a lineage per se and andal devi from the sri sampradaya) and their worship. she enjoyed her years of study very much.
Some months back, our friend Chief Cowpie posted a longish item about Sister Nivedita to the hare krishna thread in philosophy and religion - I've tried searching the thread, but nothing comes up. If you're reading this Chief - could you post it again in this forum?? Or supply a link to your previous post?
BTW- Dilip Kumar Roy, known to his disciples as Dadaji, has written other books of great interest - 'Pilgrims of the Stars', written along with his daughter-disciple Ma Indira Devi, is one I recommend. In it, the author tells of his own life, and of his meetings with many great spiritual personalities of both India and the west, including Ramana Maharishi, Sri Aurobindo, and Bertrand Russell. Ma Indira too tells her story of how she met Dadaji, and of her many visions and experiences.
And that reminds me - Sweet Mother, born Mira Alfassa, Sri Aurobindo's yogic partner, who effectively ran the Pondicherry ashram from the 1920's onward, was also of western origin. She was born in France in the 1870's to mixed turkish and egyptian parents, but was brought up in French culture, and received a materialist type of education, attaining high levels of proficiency in mathematics, painting and music. She was a visionary even from early childhood. This link is about the only brief summary of her life I can find - but there is lots of stuff about her on various sites. http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/The_Mother Sweet Mother aged around 90.
