1. H. W. L. Poonja @ Hari Wansh Lal Poonja was born on 13 October 1910 in Gujranwala Punjab, although he spent most part of his spiritual teaching life in Lucknow.
2. His mother was sister of Swami Rama Tirtha, thus he had a religious inclination right from his childhood.
3. Popular as "Poonja ji" or "Papa ji", he was a jivanmukta 'Liberated from traps of life while being alive', Yogi, who taught 'Self-Enquiry', as the basic instrument of self discovery or self realisation, which is the key to lasting mental peace.
4. He joined the British army, got married and had two children. During his army days he was infatuated with Krishna bhakti, but he had to live a dual life then, as per his version of the story. He also for some time imagined himself as Krishna's Gopi, and did pass through some delusional and hallucinating phases. I think he did some cross dressing too, but that too was a part of his journey of self discovery. His search till now was external.
5. His spiritual inclinations then took him towards Budha and his methods, but ultimately his journey took him tó Raman Maharishi, where his voyage turned inwards. Now he realized that answers, truths, peace and whatever else that he seeked, lay with in him, and any outwards movement was useless.
6. Papa ji became famous as an adhyatmik Guru, who taught Sahaj Yog, and philosophy of Advait. His method of self enquiry was evolved from his Guru, Ramana Maharshi's method.
7. He earned a living to support his family, via meeting with seekers and imparting them spiritual insight. He attracted quite a few foreigners.
8. In 1953 he met Henri Le Saux, also known as Swami Abhishiktananda, who was an Advaita Vedanta and Christianity scholar. Swami Abhishiktananda wrote about their meetings and correspondences in his diary.
9. In the late 1960s H.W.L Poonja formed a new family with his Belgian disciple, Ganga Mira and they had a daughter named Mukti. In 1966 he kind of went incognito and spent a lot of time in the Himalayan foothills.
10. At last Poonja ji settled in Lucknow where he received visitors from all around the world.
11. His better known students are Mooji, Gangaji, Arjuna Ardagh, Catherine Ingram, Ganga Mira, Isaac Shapiro, Madhukarji, Sam Harris and Dolano etc.
12. Andrew Cohen, who later distanced himself from Poonja ji, was his student aswell.
13. David Godman, an other seeker moved to Lucknow in 1992, and stayed with Poonja ji till 1997, the year of Papa ji's demise. David became Papa ji's biographer. He published a number of books on him, including, 'Papaji's Interviews', and a title famous as 'Nothing Ever Happened', a three volume 1,200-page biography.
14. Papa ji died on 6 September 1997. Famous teachers in Pune and Pondicheri have followed similar ways, but Papa Ji's USP was extreme simplicity.
15. His core teaching can be summed as
'When there are no ripples in the lake, you can see your face.' His core statement is, 'Nothing Ever Happened'. This is his MahaVaKya.
16. Papa Ji's journey can be summed up as, 'From Wonderment to Krishna, from Krishna to Budha, from Budha to Ramana Maharishi, to Silence and then Bliss.
17. In this video late Papa ji makes us realize, how short the long journey of realization can be.
18. This is not a satori moment, but a real spiritual 'Moment of Truth'. Enjoy the video and enjoy a great moment of transcendental communication between a Guru and his Shishya.
✒ ✒ Guru Balwant Gurunay.⚔ ⚔
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