Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti is a hindumonk in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. He has been living as a traveling monk since he was 17 years old and has spent most of his time in Colombia where there now are many ashrams, temples, organic farms, vegetarian restaurants and Yoga schools. We, his diciples, affectionatly call him Gurumaharaj and it simply means that he is a very nice Guru.

Srila Gurumaharajas own presentation...

"All Glories to Srila Prabhupada my eternal spiritual master.
All Glories to the supreme Lord Sri Krishna who is the Supersoul in everyone's heart and who has taken me to the feet of my spiritual master and to many other spiritual guides as well.

By the way, let me welcome you. I want to serve my spiritual master and he requested me to serve all others who he will send to me. I am ready for that. Whoever you may be, we have met here by the will of providence. That means it is your Karma to meet me and it will be my Karma if I get to meet you. Karma means reactions for our past activities and desires. Or it is by divine intervention for us to meet here on Cyberspace. Then it would not be Karma, it would be the mercy of God. Well, let me tell you something about my path which brought me to become a monk and to be here with you on the Internet.

I was born in Germany just a few years after the second world war in 1953. Living in a tiny village of ten houses or so I was closely connected to nature. With my senses going crazy and with a world full of problems like the Vietnam war I quickly reached the conclusion that I did not belong to this place. At 15 I became a vegetarian. Here is a list of people who influenced me more or less, one after the other to show you how my inner development took place:

My mother through her kindness, tolerance and simplicity.

My paternal grandfather for being eccentric and dedicated to music.

My maternal grandfather for showing me that living in the past was useless.

My father for showing me that belief in God was not a sure thing.

Carl Orff through his simple music.

My uncle Nino who taught me that authorities are only real if they behave properly.

The Christian priest who failed to answer my questions during Christian education.

Karl Marx for his search for justice.

Marcuse, Bloch and other leftist ideologists who shaped the student mood of my early rebellion.

Che Guevara for what I considered a valiant step against corrupt systems.

Laotse for giving me hope again in a different reality.

The Beatles, Moody Blues, Quintessence and Pink Floyd for their sounds which made a difference for a while.

All the commune members who shared life with me and who did a great job of teaching me that real love cannot be found in simple physical relationships.

All the friends who wasted their lives on drugs thus saving me from going the same path.

The musical HAIR that connected me to the Mahamantra and saved me from military service.

Herman Hesse who gave me the word Govinda and a secret hope.

All those who stressed that the human form of life had the purpose to obtain self realization and not just sense gratification.

Many Yogis who I met to realize that Yoga without devotion to God will not give me the love I need.

The Lord in my heart who saved me from being a fool to kill my body.

My friend Wolfgang, who was with me every step in the search for a real spiritual path, except the last one to surrender to Srila Prabhupada.

Jaya Gauraji my first temple president as a young Brahmacari (attempt of a celibate monk). He was too sincere to forget.

Srila Prabhupada, the person I never repented of accepting as the captain of the ship of my human body to cross the dangerous ocean of material existence. He explained the most important thing to me which nobody previously had been able to address in any sensible way; Why do I suffer so much? Young and innocent, why do I feel horrible about this world and all its violence, etc.? He answered:" Because you have been a rascal. You gave sufferings to others in your past lives and now you are getting the reactions." What a relief. Finally a clear and positive picture . Something to be done to not continue in this ignorant position of egotism. And he told me to become a revolutionary of the truth, the soul, and the service to the real benefit for all suffering people. He denounced the consumer society, atheistic dialectical materialism. Communism and Capitalism. He gave hope through simple living, High Thinking, Praying, and serving with ecological wisdom. Use technology for serving the purpose of God alone. Not to create more sufferings for others. Otherwise we want to live in Vrindavan , the place of nature, love to all living beings and deep absorption in the divine couple of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna who are the origin of everything.

I wanted to go to India to meet a spiritual master but my father kept me in Europe, because he denied me a passport and I was yet under 18. Reading books of India's Yoga tradition was important after my faith in political organizations or hippy consumerism had crumbled.
George Harrison was on the right track. When he sang the Mahamantra on the radio it was clear for me. I got to find this teacher.
I arrived at the temple one night at 9 PM after an odyssey of trying to hitchhike to Paris. Dusseldorf, a broken building declared unlivable by the government.
Hippies had broken the door and two young devotees had occupied the top space under the roof establishing a little temple.
"How long you want to stay?" the devotee asked me. "A few days," I answered, but a voice told me from within, this will be much longer then you think.

Now at the age of just 18 I had found a monastery without roots in the west. All was new. We, the way we dressed, the music, the master, the food, the books, the daily routine, the haircut, the time to get up, in short everything.
And I loved it. Those who did not come inside were rather suspicious of us and our way of behavior, but those who shared a few days with us became friends at least. And many wanted to learn about the Yoga of Love. I did not understand much, but soon I had to sit down and explain to others. How to change your life?. How to stop taking drugs? How to form a sane relationship with the family? How to give up smoking? How to get strength to live? How to stop your girlfriend from getting an abortion? How to get or use money wisely?

From a little confused kid, quickly I had to learn how to help others. And repeating what I was hearing and reading seemed to have a miraculous effect. People wanted to "join" the 2 room Ashram with its only water supply six stories down, from the tap in the bath house in the back, in the middle of European winter.

It was as sweet as honey and as hard as severe austerities. And every day we went out to tell others about our spiritual master and path. 4 AM we got up and started our chanting of the Mahamantra. Then we sang songs to Govinda and read the books with the guidance of anyone of us as the lecturer. Then we cooked and cleaned the temple. Then we ate the Prasadam which is Karma-free spiritual foodstuff and it tasted incredible! Then around 11 AM we went out to distribute our few little magazines and to invite people to visit us and to donate to our ashram. I had concluded previously that money was really the reason for hate and greed and I still had the hippy ideal of being able to live without it. But Jaya Gouraji told me. "Money is only energy. We have to use it for the pleasure of the supreme, not against anyone and not for personal sense gratification. If people will give a donation to our temple and we use it honestly for spiritual activities it will be for their spiritual benefit." I was a bit skeptical but soon I realized the truth of this instruction. Those who happily helped in our activities turned out very happy and enthused to change their own lifestyles. I could not believe it. We even got a car donated by one young boy.
Then we heard that our spiritual master would soon come to Paris. Expectation went from one extreme to the other. It was a great enthusiasm all of us had to go to Paris and to meet our Guru in person. Wild imagination and hopeful prayer. Was it possible to meet someone like Lord Jesus in person? Was it possible to be taken by him to get out of this world? Did he have all the mystic powers? Could he solve the problems of this world? Could he remove our doubts, lust and difficult to control passions? Would he accept me? It was a mix, powerful enough to start something impossible.

I went to Berlin before to learn from Vasudevaji how to paint for Krishna. Alas, my talents again foiled my painting service. Here I was in the divided city and we had to make plans how to preach on the other side of the wall.
Then we went to Paris and what I had hoped came true more intensely then I had thought. "Tell everyone about Krishna. Make that the mission of your life." Srila Prabhupada's words still sound in my memory. Eight days of bliss. dancing, Prasadam and daily classes. And then, my initiation day came.
I tell you my friend, it was like a little kid being given three thousand presents at the same time! I did not know how to jump higher. I met my real friend. I met my father of the soul. I met my revolutionary of love. I met the scholar of the truth who valiantly defied materialistic society while never turning anyone away unhappily. I felt like having reached home. Real home. Life without a Guru is like a house without a roof. I found that roof over my head, I who had been so sad about this world of violence and apparent injustice. He gave this a new turn, a turn to become an activist to help solve the problem instead of remaining a passive culprit of the world as it is. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Whatever you do not give away is what you are going to loose. I did not want to lose anything, much less my love and my heart. Now I found someone to give it to. But he was to leave a few days later, so I had to imbibe everything very fast. Live for others, not for yourself. If you like and you want, be a monk for this whole lifetime. Vedic sages have recommended this. I did not know what to think. But I am happy. He was the person I can serve because he did not have any hidden motives behind his campaign.

Wow. That was a lot to introduce myself to you. I hope I did not bore you. Well I am not bored. And really, I wanted to take you with me right now to Paris to experience the same I was allowed to experience. Because if you would meet Srila Prabhupada you would properly understand why after 35 years from 1972 to 2007 I am still calling him my spiritual master and still aspire to become his real servant.
Another thing, he told me that we always have to be humble to not commit many mistakes. I admit that has not been easy. As a matter of fact sometimes when I saw that in his family someone did not behave properly and had to be stopped or exposed, I had to defend my Guru's legacy with strong words. But that is another story and you would only benefit from reading about that if you yourself dedicate your energy to form part of a spiritual community. Otherwise there is so much nectar in spiritual life, literature to read for the rest of your life, tasks to be done which start from living in the jungles of Ecuador and creating a wonderful retreat all the way to making CD-ROMs with the message of Krishna and his Bhagavad Gita. . Even though I am a simple insignificant follower of my spiritual master, I had the chance to learn a lot and sometimes I feel the urge to write about it to benefit my fellow friends and ashram inmates. Srila Prabhupada in his infinite kindness sent me on missionary activities in many countries. Some of them I still visit and try to serve his devotees there who have kindly requested me to be somewhat involved in their lives. I have also accepted some students after his departure. Let me tell you about that phenomena.

Actually it is my heart's desire to take everyone to my own spiritual master. He is the backing I have for all my service attempts. But people must have someone to trust, to serve, who personally looks after them. That is who we call a siksa (instructing) Guru in our tradition. And that person has to be a real surrendered servant of his Guru. Otherwise the connection is interrupted. This is not a formal connection. It is heart to heart. Only if someone feels that Krishna is really coming to me through this or that devotee, then he can follow him and maybe he will discover his spiritual master. This is all in the hands of the almighty. No system can legislate or interfere in the personal spiritual relationship of anyone with his spiritual master.

Anyhow, I am such an insignificant soul. I cannot call myself a devotee of Krishna, but I pray that by the causeless grace of my spiritual master I may become a real devotee one day. Then somebody may ask me: "How do you dare to accept disciples if you are in such a beginner's position?" Well, it is really a long story and Internet readers have little time. But I had to see that after my spiritual master left this world, some of my brothers did not exactly behave too well and I had to either decide to take responsibility on my own shoulders or to stop preaching. That was not what my Guru had enthused me to do. But I had many doubts anyway. When you tell others about your spiritual master they become immediately curious. Where can we find such a family, such a spiritual protector, and relationship? Well if you have no answer for that they will leave very unhappy. If a very advanced devotee is in the vicinity and he really inspires you as well, it is the right choice to help him and to bring new souls to him for his guidance. But if nobody is close who opens his heart to the people or to you, do not trust him very much. Then you have to make a very big decision.

I was really troubled. But in Colombia where I was living at that time, there was no guidance and protection from any of my Godbrothers or other older devotees for the young Vaisnava community which I had had the fortune to participate in establishing. I went to India to get more clarity. There I met with Krishna's Grace again. I tell you, there is no limit to divine grace. I have personally experienced that. When everything looked real gray without my Srila Prabhupada, I met his Godbrother Srila B.R. Sridhar Goswami Maharaj. There are so many things to say about him, but Iíll make it short here. He encouraged me to take the risk of personally guiding others in their spiritual life with the protection of all the previous teachers of our Sampradaya (Initiation school).

He also accepted my renunciation and mercifully gave Sannyas Ashram initiation to me. That means he spoke that holy mantra in my ear which tells us about the highest goal and gave me the Name Bhakti= Love , Aloka= Light, Paramadvaiti= Highest oneness of the divine couple Radhe Krishna in the form of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

A lot of name for a fool like me. Well this is what weíd like to become and to serve. The names we get from our spiritual masters always show us the way for our soul search. He also told me to go on serving the mission as my spiritual master had already explained to me and to help people by publishing spiritual books. We have been doing a bit of that over the years, but it is just a small beginning. - Books in Spanish - Books in German -

The list of people who influenced me did not stop growing after I became a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Harijan Maharaj inspired me by his humorous way of untiring service in South America. Srila Atulananda became my dear friend and his poetry has accompanied us ever since in the sweet kirtans in German. Walter Eidlitz and his Vaisnava teachings really lifted me up and are still with us in his books which are also translated to many languages. . Friedrich Rueckert has inspired me, how he learned Sanskrit without a teacher making the first German - Sanskrit Dictionary and translated the Vedic Verses into the most beautiful German poetry. . And last but not least, Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Goswami the President of the Visva Vaisnav Raj Sabha - World Vaisnava Association has at the advanced age of 101 shown me not to give up under any circumstance. I had the chance to serve him as the secretary of that confederation of Vaisnavas and some of their Missions. He is so great that words cannot describe it. His sweetness and humility will be a guiding star for me for the rest of this life (I pray).

I am now trying to serve all my friends and I must admit that the Internet comes in handy for that. It is of course, a problem as well, because the time I spent before speaking personally with everyone locally I have to share sometimes with the letters and questions presented via E-mail. But it feels so good to be able to be close to those who are physically on the other shore of the ocean. Actually I do not think that airplane-flying Sannyasis are a good invention. It is only the incredible service of Srila Prabhupada which created a need to visit Vaisnavas in such distant places. But we hope that future Sannyasis can dedicate themselves more to local regions where traveling can be done in simpler ways.

I am very happy to say that my spiritual master has blessed me with many beloved souls ready to renounce worldly egotisms, and help me in this difficult task of serving Vaisnava Yoga communities in many places. And to all the other devotees who have risked their hearts and souls for helping me to serve my Gurudeva, both Godbrothers and those who consider themselves my disciples, I am telling you here and today that Srila Prabhupada came to me through all of you. I will always try to serve you properly. I cannot say anything adequate to express my gratefulness for your existence.
I pray for you to get the infinite grace of Krishna Prema and Radha Dasyam, love for God and compassion for all suffering souls, happiness in this life, and strength to follow your vows and aspirations.

Now you know a little bit about my life and my feelings. Sannyas means one becomes a public person. Renunciation is compared to civil suicide. But this is good for serving others and for loving many souls. Marriage is a great love for a particular family. But Sannyas is the love for many people. That is possible at a certain stage of personal evolution. It shall not be artificial, otherwise it will be dangerous.

I will dedicate some links on this page to projects in our family.
You can also contact me in order to present a question to be answered here for all. If you have a private question you can send it to my secretary. Forgive me if my answers are delayed up to three month. That is because I disconnect sometimes for months from the Internet and visit far of places with difficulties for any technology.

I wish you so much success on your spiritual journey. Do not lose the practice of doubting, to guard yourself from the untruth. On the other side, be ready to also doubt the doubting itself when you reach the crucial point of having your divine prayers answered. When the call reaches you from the infinite world you should be ready to jump into the arms of goodness divine (Visuddha sattva). "

//Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti