Swami Rama

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Swami Rama, born Brij Kishore Dhasmana in 1925 in northern India, was an Indian yoga teacher and guru. He moved to the United States in 1969, taught yoga at the YMCA, and started the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Illinois in 1971. The institute’s headquarters later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1977. He became famous for claims that he could control his body during yoga nidra, a deep relaxation practice, and he wrote many books about yoga and meditation, including Living with Himalayan Masters.

Rama said he was raised in Himalayan monasteries and that he earned degrees from several universities, but some followers questioned parts of his story and some claims could not be verified.

In the 1970s he built a network of centers in the United States, Europe, and India, and founded a large medical facility in Dehradun to help poor people in the mountains.

In 1971 scientists at the Menninger Foundation studied his yoga nidra abilities and reported remarkable control of brain waves, and even a momentary stop of his heartbeat. He also demonstrated unusual body temperature changes. The media called him a star of autonomic control, though he cautioned that spiritual growth should not rely on supernatural feats.

Swami Rama wrote many books on yoga and meditation. His best-known work is Living with Himalayan Masters, an influential autobiography.

From the 1970s, there were repeated accusations of sexual abuse by students. In 1997, a former student won a lawsuit against him for multiple sexual assaults that occurred in 1993, receiving a large settlement. Swami Rama died in 1996, aged about 70 or 71.