Baba Hari Dass was a silent monk whose life of discipline, yoga, and love inspired people around the world. Babaji (Baba means “Father” and ji means “respected”), was first and foremost a master yogi, having practiced the disciplines of yoga from childhood.
Babaji was born near Almora, India in 1923. He left home at the tender age of eight to begin his study and practice of yoga, that is when he met a young boy who lived at an orphanage. The boy told Babaji that the man who ran the orphanage beat the children. At this point, Babaji decided he would one day create a home for abandoned and destitute children where they would be treated with love and respect.
Before coming to the USA in 1971 at the request of several young students, he completed the traditional vows of a Vairāgī Vaiṣṇava (renunciate in the philosophical tradition of qualified non-dualism). It is from this classical grounding that Babaji taught ancient scriptures of Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, Bhagavadgītā, and Sāṁkhya Kārikā as well as the philosophy and practices of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jñāna Yoga, and Tantra Yoga throughout the USA and Canada.
Although Babaji lived in the USA until his death on September 25, 2018, Babaji never forgot his self-chosen promise to create a loving home for children in India. Beginning in 1983 Babaji came to India with his American students, searching for a suitable location. In 1984 Sri Ram Ashram and the Anath Sishu Palan Trust were established outside of Haridwar, Uttarakand. The first child was welcomed in 1987 and a children’s school, Sri Ram Vidya Mandir was started in 1994. Babaji traveled annually to spend time with the children and provide for their every spiritual, emotional, educational, and physical need.
Remarkably, Babaji took a vow of silence in 1951 and never spoke again. At first it was a 12-year vow but at the end of the 12 years he decided to continue this austerity because it brought him peace and inner silence. Often asked why he practiced such an intense austerity, he said that it kept him from saying any bad things, kept him from fighting, and quieted his mind. He taught by writing answers to formal questions on a small chalkboard, meeting countless people informally, demonstrating yoga practices, authoring spiritual books, and most profoundly by his example of love, still mind, boundless energy, discipline, and peace.
In addition to teaching the vast science of yoga, Babaji was an accomplished author, builder, philosopher, sculptor, proponent of Ayurveda (the ancient Indian system of health and healing) and was conversant in several languages. Babaji and his teachings inspired Sri Ram Ashram and Shri Ram Vidya Mandir (Nursery – 12th School) in India, Mount Madonna Center and Mount Madonna School in California, and Salt Spring Center and Salt Spring School in British Columbia as well as countless students and individuals around the globe.
Babaji left his mortal frame peacefully on September 25, 2018. His physical presence is missed by the children of Sri Ram Ashram and by all those who knew and loved him. Throughout his life and even now, Babaji exemplifies the profound teaching:
I am not the body
I am not the mind
I am the Self