Gangaji ( ; born Texas, 1942) is an American born spiritual teacher and author. She lives in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

, with her husband, fellow spiritual teacher Eli Jaxon-Bear.

Early life

Gangaji was born Merle Antoinette Roberson (Toni) in Texas on June 11, 1942, and grew up in Mississippi. After graduating from the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

she and her young family moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. After a divorce“The End of All Excuses”
by Gangaji. she sought to change her life via political activism and spiritual practice. She took

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

vows, practiced

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and l ...

and

Vipassana ''Samatha'' (Pāli; sa, शमथ ''śamatha''; ), "calm," "serenity," "tranquillity of awareness," and ''vipassanā'' (Pāli; Sanskrit ''vipaśyanā''), literally "special, super (''vi-''), seeing (''-passanā'')", are two qualities of the ...

meditation, helped in a Tibetan-Buddhist-style meditation center, and began a career as an

acupuncturist Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...

in the

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gover ...

. Unfulfilled by her seemingly successful life, in 1989 she and Eli Jaxon-Bear moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...

Papaji

At this time she met Andrew Cohen, a spiritual teacher and student of Sri H.W.L. Poonja, also known as Papaji. Impressed by Cohen’s "enormous confidence", she returned to California to sit with him for two months. In the meantime, Eli, who had become her second husband, met Papaji in India. Struck by the letters she received from Eli, Gangaji herself traveled to

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the List of million-plus urban agg ...

, India to meet Papaji in 1990. In her autobiography ''Just Like You'' she wrote, "The extraordinary event in this life was that I met Papaji. Until then I looked everywhere for the transcendental or the extraordinary, but after meeting Papaji I began to find the extraordinary in every moment." Papaji gave her the name Gangaji, and asked her to share what she had directly realized with others.

Teaching

Gangaji currently writes and tours as a teacher. She holds that the truth of who you are is already free and at peace, which can be realized simply by ending one’s search.

"I invite people to just stop and be still. And in that you discover who you are, because once you discover who you are, you can stop fragmenting into pieces. I know that in any one day there are moments where there is nothing going on, but we link up what is happening from thought to thought without any space. We overlook the spaciousness that it is all happening in."

Gangaji uses a personal form of inquiry to aid in the realization of 'direct experience':

"I use inquiry as a way of getting the mind to turn inward to the silence. It could be the question, "Who am I?" Or it could be "What am I avoiding in this moment?" Or, "Where is silence?" "What is needed in this moment, right in this very moment, what is needed for true peace?" "What is needed if this was my last moment on earth?" Rather than sending the mind outward to gather information or experiences, it is really sending the mind inward to question our basic assumption of who we think we are."

In facing strong emotions such as fear and anger, or in dealing with traumas which keep people locked in personal misery and unable to experience freedom, Gangaji teaches "direct experience," or meeting whatever emotion is present. For example, she says, "Fear is about survival. When you drop under that and experience the fear without trying to change it, just letting it be, then it becomes still. When you open your heart to fear, rather than trying to fight it or deny it or even overcome it, then you find it is just energy."

Gangaji Foundation

Since 1993 Gangaji’s work has been supported by The Gangaji Foundation, a non-profit headquartered in

. Its mission statement states: "The Gangaji Foundation serves the truth of universal consciousness, and the potential for the individual and collective recognition of peace inherent in the core of all being. It is the purpose of the Gangaji Foundation to forthrightly and respectfully present the teaching and transmission of Gangaji. The Gangaji Foundation produces events, publishes books and videos, hosts a website and runs several outreach programs including a prison program.

Personal life

In October 2005, Gangaji's husband, Eli Jaxon-Bear, admitted to Gangaji that he had had a three-year affair with an adult female student and executive director of his organization, the Leela Foundation. After a brief separation, Gangaji and her husband reconciled their marriage in December 2005. At the student’s request, the information about the affair was not made public at that time.Denempont, Barbara
Letter from Boards of Leela & Gangaji Foundations
The Gangaji Foundation, October 10, 2006. In January 2006, Gangaji and her husband merged their foundations, continuing to teach together and separately. In October 2006, Jaxon-Bear disclosed his extramarital relationship to the Gangaji Foundation's board of directors and staff. For a time Jaxon-Bear stopped teaching. Both he and the Gangaji Foundation held open meetings with the stated purpose to heal whatever wounds may have been experienced in their spiritual community.Ashland Daily Tidings : Spiritual leaders' split leads to consolidation of groups :: October 14, 2006
In addition Gangaji, and eventually she and her husband, held retreats on the subjects of disillusionment, betrayal, and relationship. In 2007 Jaxon-Bear was diagnosed with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, anem ...

, a severe form of blood cancer. After undergoing extensive treatment he made a partial recovery. In January 2008, he reestablished the Leela Foundation and resumed teaching on his own and with Gangaji.

Bibliography

Books

* ''You are That!'' (1995), * ''Freedom and Resolve'' (1999), * ''Just Like You, An Autobiography'' (2003), * ''The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance'' (2007), * ''Hidden Treasure: Uncovering the Truth in Your Life Story'' (2011), * Freedom and Resolve, Finding Your True Home in the Universe (2014)

Articles and chapters

* Ed Shapiro, Deb Shapiro. "Be the Change: How Meditation Can Transform You and the World", Sterling Ethos (2009), * Brent Kessel. "It's Not About the Money: Unlock Your Money Type to Achieve Spiritual and Financial Abundance", HarperOne (2008) , pp. 39, 77, 155. * Rita Robinson. "Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening", O Books (2007), Language: English, , pp. 209–231. * Science of Mind (July 2005), Media Review of The Diamond in Your Pocket * LA Yoga (March 2005), "Sitting Down with Gangaji" * Mail Tribune (Medford/Ashland, OR, Dec. 31, 2004), "New Age Haven Attracts Gangaji" * Sacred Pathways (June/July 2004), "Uncovering Self-Betrayal on the Way to Serve Love and World Peace" * Pathways (Washington, DC, Spring 2004), "The Awakening Power of Two Simple Questions" * New ConneXion: Journal of Conscious Evolution (Portland, September/October 2003), "Already Immortal" * Spirituality and Health (Summer 2001), "Satsang with Gangaji" * The Light Connection (San Diego, January 2001), "The Choice is Yours" * Albany Advertiser (Albany, NY, March 30, 1999), "Interview with Gangaji" * Southern Crossings (Australia, March/April 1999), "Satsang with Gangaji" * Utne Reader (July/August 1998), "God with a Million Faces" * Nova Magazine (Australia, December 1998), "True Romance: The Relationship with Truth" * Science of Mind (April 1998), "Your True Self: An Interview with Gangaji" * Evergreen Monthly (Seattle, June 1997), "The Limitless Nectar of Being" * The Santa Fe Sun (March 1997), "From Trance to Self: Interview with Gangaji" * Yoga Journal (May/June 1994), "A Conversation with Gangaji" * Caduceus (Issue 47), "The Search for Happiness" * Oasis Magazine

Audio and DVD compilations

* A Love Secret Spoken, CD, * Being In Peace, CD, ; DVD, * Beyond Practice, CD, ; DVD, * Facing Death, CD, ; DVD, * Freedom & Desire, CD, ; DVD, * Innocence, Trust and Self-Betrayal, CD, ; DVD, * Laughing All the Way Home, DVD, 7-81887-0500-3 * Love & Gratitude, CD, ; DVD, * Open, Unprotected, and Free, CD, ; DVD, * Revealing Strategies of Ego, CD, ; DVD, * Spiritual Traps, CD and DVD * Standing In The Truth Of Who You Are, CD and DVD * Still In Awareness, CD, ; DVD, * The Findhorn Retreat Set, CD and DVD Set * The Gift of Retreat, CD, * The Heart Broken Open, CD, * The Invitation, CD, * The Jewel in Disillusionment, CD Set, * The Moment of Choice, CD, ; DVD, * The Truth Alive in You, CD Set, * The Ungraspable Offering, CD, ; DVD, * Unraveling the Knot of Suffering, CD, ; DVD, * Untouched By Any Power, CD, ; DVD,

Notes

References

* Downing, Jerry N. (2000) ''Between Conviction and Uncertainty'' * Shapiro, Ed and Deb. (2009) ''Be the Change: How Meditation Can Transform You and the World'', Sterling Ethos,

External links

Gangaji Foundation
{{Authority control 1942 births Living people American spiritual teachers American spiritual writers New Age spiritual leaders Writers from Ashland, Oregon Women mystics Religious leaders from Oregon Religion in the Pacific Northwest Neo-Advaita teachers