Baba Hari Dass

Baba Hari Dass (Devanagari: बाबा हरि दास) (26 March 1923 – 25 September 2018) was an Indian yoga master, silent monk, temple builder, and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions of dharma and moksha.

He was classically trained in the Ashtanga of Patanjali (also known as Rāja yoga), as well as Kriya yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.

Hari Datt Karnatak was born on 26 March 1923 in the town of Almora in Uttarakhand, India.

He was the fifth of seven children of his parents of five brothers and two sisters, followed by a younger brother and a sister.

His family was of a Kumaoni Brahmin Karnatak lineage.

Hari Datt was born in the lunar month of Chaitra, in Shukla Paksha (Rama Navami).

Hari Datt grew up in the lower Himalayan region of Kumaon, which includes Dunagiri (also called Dronagiri), the birthplace of modern-day Kriya Yoga and the temple of Shakti.

Known since the Mahabharata War, the Kurmachalam region encompasses Almora district and Udham Singh Nagar district.

Early in life he listened to stories told by older people about siddha yogis Sombari Baba Maharaj, Gudari Baba, Suri Baba, Khaki Baba, Aughar Baba, and several other saints of that region.

His parents were devotees of a saint of Kumaon, Hariakhan Baba Maharaj, who was known to visit Almora.

On a journey to Haldwani in 1929, Hari Datt received his first Darshana with the sage Sombari Baba Maharaj.

Darshana is viewed as experiencing the presence of a highly revered person, which can awaken the latent potential for spiritual growth or intellectual understanding.

American poet Gary Snyder, a Zen Buddhist practitioner, stated, "It's a gift; it's like there's a moment in which the thing is ready to let you see it. In India, this is called darshan. Darshan means getting a view."

Hari Datt's early childhood years were marked by sadness and the feeling of separation: "When I was small, about five-six years old, I began to feel unhappy and sad inside. That sadness would be enhanced at the sunset in the Himalayas... A feeling of separation would come, and I would feel like I was closed in a box where it is dark. The dome of the sky and the earth at night would make me feel like I was inside the box. 'How can I get out of this box?' was my constant question."

His parents were puzzled by his strange behavior of leaving the house early in the morning and refusing to go into the house.

He also didn't like to go to school to learn reading and writing.

His father, a Sanskrit scholar, and tough disciplinarian, forced Hari Datt to memorize Sanskrit grammar and prayers.

In 1931–1932, his father died at age 56 of a heart attack, an event which shook the whole family, but also brought Hari Datt a sense of relief.

With the pressure lifted, Hari Datt was free to do anything he wanted.

However, he assumed more responsibilities by helping his mother in farming, taking care of the cows, and threshing grain.

Also, he had to go to school and do homework.

He was attracted to the freedom that monks had in their lifestyle, unburdened by an excess of clothing or work, and who did not have to attend school.

"Whenever any monk would come to the village temple, I would go to see them, I started living like a monk."

His mother came home one day to find him sitting, wearing only a loincloth, with wood ash smeared all over his body.

She said, "Son, there is no happiness in the world, there is no peace in household life. I know you are very attracted to monk life but that is not an easy task either."

Hari Datt had several conversations with his mother about God, soul, and peace.

His view of the surrounding world as a restraining box, made of earth as the bottom, and the sky as the top, induced him to weep.

Deciding this had to be lifted, he made his conviction known to his mother, asking her to release him from the confinement of "this box of earth and sky."

To that, she said, "I can't".

He replied, "I'm going."

At the age of eight, Hari Datt was initiated into Brahmacharya.

"I was initiated at the age of eight and would do my practices every morning and night before eating food."

Baba Hari Dass took a vow of silence in 1952, which he upheld through this life.

Although he did not speak, he was able to communicate in several languages through writing.

His literary output included scriptural commentaries to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita, Samkhyakarika, and Vedanta Panchadasi, collections of aphorisms about the meaning and purpose of life, essays, plays, short stories, children's stories, kirtan, mantras, and in-depth instructional yoga materials that formed the basis of a yoga certification-training program.

Upon his arrival in North America in early 1971, 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, and in Canada at Salt Spring Island and in Toronto.

He was an early proponent of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of health and healing, and helped introduce the practice to the United States.

In an annual rendition of the Indian epic Ramayana, he taught performing arts, choreography and costume making.

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.

To the local population of Nainital and Almora, Baba Hari Dass was also known as Haridas (lit "servant of Lord Hari"), Haridas Baba, Chota Maharaji (literally "little great king"), or Harda Baba.