Sri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanes ...

Madhava Ashish (1920–1997) was a Scottish-born naturalised Indian

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

, mystic, writer and

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

, known for his services to Indian agriculture. He was the head of the Mirtola Ashram located in the village of same name, near

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

, in the Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. He published several articles on the topics of agriculture and ecology of India. He was also the author of four books, ''What is Man?'', ''Man, The Measure of All Things'', ''Man, Son of Man'' and ''An Open Window''. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 1992 for his contributions to the agriculture sector in India.

Biography

Sri Madhava Ashish was born Alexander Phipps, on 23 February 1920 at Edinburgh to a Colonel working in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

and his early schooling was at

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

and

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...

. Later, he studied aeronautical engineering at

Chelsea Polytechnic Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educat ...

and joined

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

to be based at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

, Surrey. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started in 1939, Phipps was deputed to India, at a glider manufacturing unit near

Dum Dum airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is an international airport located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and is the aviation hub for eastern and northeastern India. It is located approximatel ...

, Kolkata where he is reported to have been engaged in the repairs of

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

engines. The turning point in his life reportedly came when, on a vacation in 1944, he had the opportunity to visit

Sri Ramana Ashram Sri Ramana Ashram, also known as Sri Ramanasramam, is the ashram which was home to modern sage and Advaita Vedanta master Ramana Maharshi from 1922 until his death in 1950. It is situated at the foot of the Arunachala hill, to the west of Tiruva ...

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...

, at

Tiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...

and known to have come under the influence of the renowned Indian

sanyasin ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

. When the war ended the same year, he stayed on in India to continue his spiritual searches. Assisted by Esther Merston, the author of ''Village Life By the Ganges'', he moved to Mirtola Ashram, a spiritual base at the foothills of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, near

Almora district Almora is a District (India), district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the w ...

, in the Kumaon valley. Since then, the

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

, founded in 1929 by Sri Yashoda Mai (full monastic name: Sri Krishna Sevika Sri Sri Yashoda Mai Vairagini) (married name: Monica Devi Chakravarti) (née Monica Roy) (1882-1944) and Sri Krishna Prem (1898-1965), remained his home till his death in 1997. At the ashram, Phipps submitted to the way of life there, turned into a vegetarian

Vaishnav Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

sanyasin, and practised meditation. He also took up the name of Madhava Ashish. When, Sri Krishna Prem, then head of the ashram, died in 1965, he became the head and oversaw the management of the institution till his death. He also involved himself with ecological and environmental issues and started experimenting with agricultural techniques which he passed on to the local farmers. Under his stewardship, the ashram became self-sufficient with own agricultural, dairy and poultry farming. His work is also known to have influenced the government to introduce agriculture as a subject of instruction in the schools in the region. He wrote several articles on agriculture and preservation of ecology. He also wrote three books, ''What is Man?'', ''Man, Son of Man'' and ''An Open Window'' and co-authored ''Man, the Measure of All Things'', along with Sri Krishna Prem, the

he succeeded as the head of Mirtola Ashram. The book was started by Sri Krishna Prem but Ashish completed it and the book narrates the life and times of

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...

, the co-founder of the

Theosophical Society of India The Theosophy Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. The designation 'Adyar' is sometimes added to the name to make it clear that this is the Theosophical Society headquartered there, after the American section ...

. His involvement with agriculture and ecology earned him memberships in many committees of the Planning Commission of India. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the

in 1992. Five years later, Ashish died on 13 April 1997, succumbing to cancer, which had been troubling him for some time, and was succeeded as head of the ashram by his disciple Sri Dev Ashish. He left behind an unfinished book, the biography of his mentor, Sri Krishna Prem. His life has been the subject of many writings and ''Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff'' recounts the experiences of Seymour Buddy Ginsburg (b. 27 Au gust 1934), an American businessman and the founder president of

Toys R Us A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...

, US based children's goods retailer, had with Ashish, during his visit to Mirtola. ''Guru by Your Bedside: The Teachings of a Modern Seer'' is a

Penguin India Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

publication by Satish Datt Pandey (b. 1930), a biographical account of Ashish which includes details about Mirtola and its spirituality.''A Way Within - Seven Year's In A Himalayan Ashram'' by Madhu Tandan published by Speaking Tiger in December 2023 is a personal account of her stay in Mirtola under Sri Madhava Ashish's tutelage, following his 'soil to soul' philosophy, where every experience was viewed as an opportunity to grow.

Bibliography

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Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

Further reading