Ra Un Nefer Amen (born Rogelio Alcides Straughn, on January 6, 1944) is the founder of the Ausar Auset Society, a Pan-African religious organization dedicated to providing Afrocentric based spiritual training to people of African descent.
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Ra Un Nefer Amen was born in the Central American country of Panama. His initial exposure to African culture came through his visits to the island of San Miguel where many enslaved Africans had escaped to after being brought to Panama in the 18th century by Spaniards to work in the gold mines. These Africans, of primarily East and Central African descent, have been able to maintain much of their traditional culture through the intervening period. It was the early experiences of this phenomenon that shaped his young self.
Amen attended Panama's Conservatory of Music when he was six years old. He arrived in the United States on May 30, 1960 to continue his formal musical training and graduated from the Brooklyn High School for Boys in Brooklyn, New York in 1961. Upon graduating, Amen continued his formal training at Juilliard Prep (Pre-College Division) and Mannes College of Music.[1]
Trained originally as a concert pianist, composer, and music theoretician, Amen passed on opportunities in the music industry to devote time to the spiritual education and uplift of African people. To accomplish this goal, he has written and published several books on the subject of ancient Egyptian philosophy and spiritual culture, most notably Metu Neter (Vol. 1 & 2) and the Metu Neter Oracle.
One of Ra Un Nefer Amen's early works, Meditation Techniquies of the Kabalists, Vedantins and Taoists provides specific instruction for student initiates. Instructions are provided for "moral laws" (pg. 16) or body-mind laws required for returning to a correct way of living, i.e., a way of living not deviated (see fall of man) or based upon unnatural conditionings. Adherence to these laws will produce in the practitioner an understanding of the Soul, Will and Consciousness (the three principles that constitute an exact knowledge of the Self). Returning to a proper way of living is a prerequisite bridge to be crossed through methods which include maintaining a proper diet. R.A. Straughn (as he called himself at the time of the book's publication in the late 1970s) pointed out, for example, that the most people eat a diet "severely low in fresh fruits" (page 20). Included is a specific regiment for Hatha Yoga techniques including postures Asanas and breathing exercises Pranayama including, specifically, a technique called Dhumo Breathing used for the purpose of cleansing the energy channels of the subtle body (see Nadis)).
The book describes the three states of consciousness from Yoga science which were perhaps first documented in Patañjali's Yoga Sutra's: Dhyāna, Dhāraṇā, and Samadhi. Emphasis is placed upon the ability to control these states of consciousness, and thus avoid "sowing" in to one's consciousness, the "seeds" of thoughts which enter without the operation of one's will (only to cause un-willed thoughts to return again later and thus increase the likelihood of producing action and a further binding to one's conditionings).
The book also includes an introduction to the Chinese I Ching Oracle--a method of Divination for providing answers to questions about one's path. The book warns practitioners not to use the I Ching improperly, and only ask questions which the student has made every effort to answer before submitting them to the I Ching (abuse of the I Ching will lead to answers which cannot be comprehended, appear nonsensical, or offer no value).
Ra Un Nefer Amen currently leads an international[2] following as the "Shekhem Ur Shekhem" ("Chief Priest and King") of the Ausar Auset Society headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1984 he was selected by the Ashanti King of Agogo, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, to host the first Durbar (royal reception) for an African king ever held outside of Africa. Thus, in October 1985 the Shekhem Ur Shekhem Ra Un Nefer Amen hosted the Durbar for Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Opoku Ware II.
In November 1985, Amen attended the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the Ashanti Confederacy, at the invitation of the Asantehene in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa where he was enstooled as an Omanhene of the Ashanti on November 15, 1985. During this visit Amen was also presented the Epoh Stool officially establishing an alliance between the Kingship of the Ashanti and the Kingship of the Ausar Auset. He was further conferred the position of Paramount King under the title of Odeneho (King of Kings). Additionally, Amen was enstooled by Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong as co-ruler of Agogo State in Ghana on November 18, 1985.
In his role as cultural liaison between African-Americans and the National Ghanaian House of Chiefs, the Shekhem Ur Shekhem, along with the Ghanaian community in the United States have sponsored Durbars for several other kings of Africa, including Togbi Adeladza V, King of the Ewe; Nii Aumgi V, King of the Ga; Nana Adodankwa III, King of Okuapemman, and others. In 1986, Ra Un Nefer Amen was given a formal reception by President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana as an official guest to the dedication of the Nkrumah Mausoleum Memorial in Accra, Ghana. In 1991, Amen was the official guest of the Oni of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse in Nigeria, where he was the sole African-American dignitary to the first Ile Ife Reconstruction Project. He was also received by the Emir of Kano, His Royal Majesty Alhaji Ado Bayero.