Baba Rampuri
Baba Rampuri, born William A. Gans (July 14, 1950), also known as Baba Ram Puri -ji is an American born Sadhu. He claims to be the first westerner to become a Naga Sadhu, having been initiated in 1970. He is the author of the 2010 Destiny Books published book Autobiography of a Sadhu: A Journey into Mystic India, originally published in 2005 by Harmony/Bell Tower as Baba: Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Yogi, and now released by Amarpuri Wellness in 2016 as Autobiography of a Sadhu: An Angrez among Naga Babas which has also been translated into German, Russian, Czech, Croatian, and Serbian. He was initiated into the religious order the Naga Sannyasis after traveling to India on a spiritual quest from his native California in 1969, at the age of 18. Like many Sadhus, he has stopped using his birth name since his initiation, refuses to give it, and is unwilling to talk about his past. He is Shri Mahant at Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara (The Sacred Juna Akhara of the Ten Names). Background Baba Rampuri was born William A. Gans on July 14, 1950 in Chicago where his father was a dental surgeon, possibly Jewish. His family moved to Beverly Hills, California in 1953. 1960s and 1970s In 1969, at the age of 18, after experimenting with psychedelics, and viewed as a dropout, Gans left his prosperous family and headed for India to find himself, and as a spiritual quest. Although he returned to the United States after this visit, he went back to India in 1971 and has not returned to his native country. He claims to be the first foreigner to be initiated into India’s ancient order of yogis and shamans, the Naga Sannyasis, during the Allahabad Maha Kumbh Mela in 1971. His guru is Swami Hari Puri Ji, son of Pir Sandhya Puri Ji), also known as Hari Puri Baba Ji, Baba Ji, and Guru Ji. 1980s In 1984 he founded the Hari Puri Ashram in the Himalayan foothill town of Hardwar. He divides his time between his ashram in Hardwar, Ujjain, and Goa. 2000s In 2004 he was admitted to the Council of Elders of Datt Akhara in Ujjain, Central India, and has become the special envoy of its Pir (usually the title of a Muslim Sufi leader, but it is also the title of the abbot of Datt Akhara in Ujjain. He hosts an international camp at the Kumbh Mela (the most recent being the Ardh Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 2007), as well as retreats, teachings, and initiations in India, and abroad. In 2007 he was part of the documentary "India Trip" by film-director Lev Victorov (Moscow). 2010s At the 2010 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar Rampuri was honored with a permanent seat in the Juna Akhara Council and given the title Antahrashtriya (trans. 'International') Mandal (trans. 'World Circle') ka Shri Mahant. He was interviewed in the 2013 National Geographic documentary on the Kumbh Mela. He now runs, along with his children, the Baba