Pandit Rajmani Tigunait - At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama

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also by PANDIT RAJMANI TIGUNAIT, PhD

BOOKS

The Pursuit of Power and Freedom: Katha Upanishad

Touched by Fire: The Ongoing Journey of a Spiritual Seeker

Lighting the Flame of Compassion

Inner Quest: Yogas Answers to Lifes Questions

The Himalayan Masters: A Living Tradition

Why We Fight: Practices for Lasting Peace

Tantra Unveiled: Seducing the Forces of Matter and Spirit

Swami Rama of the Himalayas: His Life and Mission

Shakti: The Power in Tantra (A Scholarly Approach)

From Death to Birth: Understanding Karma and Reincarnation

The Power of Mantra and the Mystery of Initiation

Shakti Sadhana: Steps to Samadhi

(A Translation of the Tripura Rahasya)

Seven Systems of Indian Philosophy

AUDIO & VIDEO

Sacred Link Freedom from Fear Conference

The Quest for Freedom and the Sacred Link

The Spirit of the Vedas

The Spirit of the Upanishads

Pulsation of the Maha Kumbha Mela

In the Footsteps of the Sages

Living Tantra Series

Tantric Traditions and Techniques

The Secret of Tantric Rituals

Forbidden Tantra

Tantra and Kundalini

Tantra and the Lotus of the Heart

Sri VidyaThe Embodiment of Tantra

The Himalayan Institute Press

952 Bethany Turnpike

Honesdale, Pennsylvania 18431 USA

www.HimalayanInstitute.org

2001 by Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the USA.

All rights reserved. No part of this book in any manner, in whole or in part, in English or in any other language, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Second Printing, 2001

Hard Cover ISBN-13:978-0-89389-211-1

Paperback ISBN-13:978-0-89389-212-8

E-book ISBN-13:978-0-89389-217-3

Creative direction and design by Jeanette Robertson

Electronic design and production by Julia A. Valenza

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tigunait, Rajmani, 1953

At the eleventh hour : the biography of Swami Rama / Rajmani Tigunait.

p. cm

Includes index.

ISBN 0-89389-211-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN 0-89389-212-2 (softcover : alk. paper)

1. Rama, Swami, 1925-1996. 2. Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science & Philosophy Biography. 3. Yogis India Biography. I. Title

BL1175.R28 T55 2001

294.5092dc21

[B] 2001024494

I HAD BEEN HEARING STORIES about Swami Rama since I was a child. They usually centered around his intense austerities, his association with the prince of Bhawal (who had returned from the dead), and his yogic powers. In all the stories, he seemed more like a hero in a fairy tale than a real person. For example, Agamachari, a great Sanskrit scholar from Banaras, once told me that when Swami Rama was a young man he did an intense meditation practice on the bank of the Ganga just across the river from Banaras, and a highly educated dwarf who had died ninety years earlier brought him milk and sweets every night. I found the story thrilling, but it seemed like a fantasy. Agamachari also told me that in those days Swami Rama was known as Bhole or Bhole Baba.