Gangaji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gangaji, born Merle Antoinette ("Toni") Roberson in Texas in 1942, is an American teacher or guru who regularly gives Satsangs around the globe. She is said to have attained self-realization in 1990 after an encounter with Poonjaji, a disciple of Ramana Maharshi, who sent her back to the West to teach.

1 Development
2 Self-realization
3 Gangaji today
4 Teachings
5 Resources
6 External Links

Development

In 1972, Toni Roberson Varner moved to San Francisco with the intention of exploring deeper levels of her being. In her quest for truth, she took the vows of a Bodhisattva, practiced Zen and Vipassana meditation, and helped facilitate a Tibetan Buddhist meditation center. Between 1981 and 1987, she practiced as an acupuncturist, and worked in a clinic in San Francisco. Despite her success, she still had a deep longing for fulfillment, and she prayed for a teacher.

Self-realization

In 1990, her second husband, Eli Jaxon-Bear, traveled to India in search of an enlightened teacher. Through a mysterious set of cirumstances he met Sri H.W.L. Poonja, or "Papaji," in Lucknow. Six weeks later, after receiving Papaji's transmission, he returned to the U.S. to bring Toni to meet with Papaji. In this encounter, she says, the fulfillment she had sought was revealed to her. Papaji gave her the name "Gangaji," after the river Ganga (Ganges), and sent her back to America to teach. He said that she had, "the purity, nobility and satvic nature to carry this transmission to the West." Gangaji has described contracting an illness and high fever while in India, which preceded her experience of realization.

Gangaji today

Gangaji and Jaxon-Bear live in Ashland, Oregon. They used to give teachings together, there and around the world. Jaxon-Bear no longer teaches.

On Sunday, October 1, 2006, Jaxon-Bear revealed to the Gangaji Foundation's Board of Directors that he breached the sanctity of the teacher/student relationship by initiating an intimate relationship with one of his students, who is also a teacher in the Leela School. This relationship lasted for three years.

Teachings

Gangaji traces her student-teacher lineage through Advaita Vedanta, and her teaching focuses on the central tenet of Vedanta, i.e., that humanity's true nature is not the body, not the mind, but forever free awareness. The title of her first book, "You are That!," refers to the Hindu concept Tat Tvam Asi. Although this may be where she draws her inspiration from, Gangaji does not focus on, or limit her dialogue to, Hindu concepts, having written books on Jesus and Rumi.