Dada Bhagwan

Dada Bhagwan

Dada Bhagwan
Born Ambalal Muljibhai (A.M.) Patel
7 November 1908
Tarsali, Gujarat, India
Died 2 January 1988
Philosophy Akram Vignan
Quotation "May the world attain the Happiness that I have attained"

Dada Bhagwan (November 7, 1908 – January 2, 1988), born Ambalal Muljibhai Patel was a spiritual leader and the founder of the Akram Vignan movement.

Life

Ambalal Muljibhai Patel (A.M.Patel) was born in Tarsali, Gujarat, India, and raised in the Gujarati village of Bhadran by Vaishnav parents Muljibhai and Javerba Patel. A.M. Patel credited his mother for instilling within him an early appreciation of the values of nonviolence, empathy, self-less generosity, and spiritual penance.He was also influenced by the writings of Shrimad Rajchandra. He married a local village girl named Hiraba and was a contractor by profession. He claimed to have attained Self-realisation in June, 1958 at Surat railway station while sitting on a bench at platform number 3.

After A.M. Patel's Self-realization experience, a close relative began to address him by the spiritual name of Dada (a Gujarati term for "Revered Grandfather) Bhagwan (Lord). This became his spiritual name.

Dada Bhagwan formed a movement which he termed Akram Vignan. Unlike the step-by-step purification according to Jain principles, Akram Vignan promises instant salvation through the grace of Lord Simandhar Swami, for whom Dada Bhagwan serves as a medium. Flügel regards the movement to be a form of Jain-Vaishnava syncretism, a development analogous to the Mahayana in Buddhism.[1]

He lived in Baroda for about fifty years and later traveled to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Kenya and spread a doctrine known as Akram Vignan. He died at the age of eighty in the year 1988.

Dada Bhagwan is recognized as a spiritual leader within Gujarat, India.[2] He was portrayed in a 2011 independent film titled "Desperate Endeavors".[3] [4] [5]Also He was honored as Spiritual Scientist/Master of the 20th and 21st century in the Spiritual Science Museum. [6]

Akram Vignan Movement

After the death of Dada Bhagwan, the Akram Vignan movement divided into two groups. The larger group, called Dada Bhagwan Foundation was led by Dr. Niruben Amin until her death in March 19th, 2006.[7] Thereafter, and until the present, Dada Bhagwan Foundation is led by Deepakbhai Desai, Dr. Niruben Amin's spiritual contemporary and successor.[8][9]

To date, Dada Bhagwan Foundation has built nine "Trimandirs" (tri-temples) which feature idols of Simandhar Swami, Vishnu and Shiva.[10][11]

References

  1. ↑ Flügel, Peter (2005) 'Present Lord: Simandhara Svami and the Akram Vijnan Movement.' In: King, Anna S. and Brockington, John, (eds.), The Intimate Other: Love Divine in the Indic Religions. New Delhi: Orient Longman, pp. 194–243.
  2. ↑ "Dada Bhagwan Road".
  3. ↑ "Desperate Endeavors". Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Desperate Endeavors". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Desperate Endeavors". The Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Spiritual Science Museum - A creation of pyramid spiritual societies movement (India)".
  7. ↑ RENOWNED SPIRITUAL EXPONENT DR. NIRUBEN PASSES AWAY, http://jainsamaj.org/magazines/ahimsatimesshow.php?id=98
  8. ↑ The Florida Times Union. "2000 People Seek Self-realization". The Florida Times Union. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Archer, Rick. "Batgap interviews Deepakbhai Desai". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  10. ↑ DADA BHAGWAN FOLLOWERS BUILD SIMANDHAR SWAMI TEMPLE COMPLEX AT ADALAJ, Ahimsa Times, January, 2003 http://jainsamaj.org/magazines/ahimsatimesshow.php?id=60
  11. ↑ "Trimandir.org". Trimandir.org. Retrieved 10 April 2014.