PREM PRAKASH was born in America and has been a yogi his entire adult life. During his first pilgrimage to India in this lifetime, he was granted a beautiful vision of the Divine Mother at an ashram outside of Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganga River. Since then, he has tried to live his life in Her presence, as a child participating in the lila of the Divine Couple.
Prem Prakash has received initiation from several gurus belonging to authentic lineages. He is the author of many books, magazine articles, essays, poems, and songs. In addition to being a yogi, Prem Prakash is also a woodsman, carpenter, mechanic, and champion powerlifter. He approaches relationships in the bhavana the emotional mood of friendship.
Prem Prakash has received recognition for his contribution to the transmission of yoga from India to the Western world, including being awarded the title "Yogi Raj" by the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition. He lives at the forested Kailash Ashram, home of the Green Mountain School of Yoga, in Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.A.
SOWMYA AYYAR is an American-born ethnic Indian who has traveled extensively across India, exploring its landscapes, traditions, and philosophies. Through deep engagement with people, places, and practices, she seeks to understand the essence of her foremothers' spirituality. Her work highlights the contributions of spiritual women, bridging their wisdom with the modern world.
Sowmya holds a B.S. in Sociology (Santa Clara University, USA), an M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Innsbruck, Austria), an M.A. in Environmental Security (United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica), and a PGDM in Social Innovation Management (Amani Institute, Bangalore, India). She is also a trained yoga teacher. Currently, Sowmya is a PhD Research Scholar at the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University, where she explores the intersection of spirituality, gender, and peace. In her free time, she immerses herself in the Divine Feminine, Shakti, through creative arts, spirituality, and nature.
While I was a little boy, I had a repeated experience. A heavyset, bearded man would come at night while I was lying in bed and take me up in the air in a chariot of sorts, like a hot air balloon. He would show me the world and indicate how I was to live my life. I was not to tell the grown-ups because they would not understand or believe me.
Once I went to the movies with my mother and there was a scene that reminded me of my nocturnal journeys. I trembled and cried, confusing my mother. It was a number of years later that I saw a photograph of that bearded man, Neem Karoli Baba. I was amazed he existed, and his influence on me has continued through my whole life.
Neem Karoli Baba was known by several names and frequently called, "Maharaji," a not uncommon colloquial, Indian title which is used in many contexts and literally means, "Great King." Like many of Maharaji's devotees, I never met him while he was in his Twentieth Century physical form. However, as those who did meet him will agree, and as Maharaji himself stated, it is not necessary to meet him physically to have his darshan, his communion. Jesus said, "I will be with you till the end of time." Maharaji was also such a being: he is accessible to us anywhere, anytime, forever.
When the Westerners first met Maharaji in the early 1970s, there was no information on him available outside of India. Ram Dass, one of his earliest American devotees, first drew attention to Maharaji in the Western world through his public talks and, eventually, his book of collected stories about Maharaji, Miracle of Love, published in 1979, years after Maharaji left this world in 1973. All we knew about Maharaji were tidbits of his life and activities. Interestingly, it turns out even the Indian devotees who spent significant time with him knew little about him because he was so immune to any sort of publicity or self-aggrandizement. Maharaji's life continues to be filled with mystery. In a sense, every devotee has a unique biography of him in their life.
After Miracle of Love was published, I procured a copy and was overwhelmed. I devoured the book, reading and re-reading the stories innumerable times. Some struck me more forcefully than others, but this has evolved over the decades. I read the book so many times that, to my surprise, eventually I was able to recall every story in the book. I might also add that, interestingly, after each reading I would find myself ravenously hungry. Perhaps this is not surprising, as Maharaji was known to take delight in feeding everyone massive amounts of prasad, consecrated food.
A bit more than 20 years ago, I was given a copy of of the original, typewritten compilation which had been winnowed down into Miracle of Love. I read this original text and figured it would be something that would sit on my personal shelf.
Some twenty years later, I enjoyed the great opportunity to work with Mr. Rajendra P. Jain, the noted publisher of Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House, in New Delhi, one of India's premier publishers of books on Indian spirituality, on some of my writings. At one point, Mr. Jain approached me about writing a book on Neem Karoli Baba. I politely declined as I couldn't think of a way to approach such a project.
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