Ram Giri at Auschwitz

“In 2006 I flew to Poland, to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, my version of hell. I knew if these skills worked for me there, in this horrendous place, they would work anywhere...

I was born into that trauma, into that dreadful terror and shame.  And so my normal state of mind was deeply riddled with fear and depression, self-doubt and shame. I wasn’t happy at all. I wasn’t free.  And this needed to change.”

Beginning in his teens, a series of powerful spiritual experiences opened his inner awareness. The deep yearning for Love, for freedom, for the realization of his true nature arose. It guided him to India in the early 70’s where he became a direct student of the legendary Neem Karoli Baba – Maharajji, perhaps the greatest teacher of pure divine love in living memory, first made known in the West by Ram Dass, author of ‘Be Here Now’ and ‘Be Love Now’.

“From him I learned that this amazing unconditional divine love can actually be lived here in this world. It was an experience beyond what words can tell! It led to a lasting inner transformation. It awakened me in many ways. It was pure grace, an amazing gift, not because I deserved it, but simply because I opened my heart to it…Then I wanted to share this love that can work miracles, and it took almost 40 years for it to ripen in me.”

After Maharajji died in 1973, Ram Giri continued his Sadhana (spiritual path), meditating and living as a yogi and ordained monk in the Himalayas. He was a student of Anagarika Munindra and Sri Goenka, the acclaimed teachers of Vipassana meditation and became an accomplished practitioner of several traditions of Bhakti Yoga, meditation, Advaita Vedanta and mind-body healing. Ram Giri is an initiated Swami in the Giri order of sannyasins. Then, at the age of 23 while living in India, he was diagnosed with cancer and was advised to return to Europe where he experienced a miraculous healing.

In Europe, Ram Giri became a personal student of the great Tibetan leader H.H. the 16th Karmapa. His thirst to continue to feel the love and peace he experienced while being with his guru in India never stopped. Meditation and searching for the best ways to end suffering was part of his daily routine. He taught meditation to groups of people, which at the time in Europe was not common.

Later he was a founding member of Kashi Ashram in Florida, under the teachings of Ma Jaya, where he continued his very focused spiritual practice for 24 years, while married and raising two wonderful daughters.

Ram Giri holds a MA and a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology.  He is a licensed Mental Health Counselor, clinical Hypnotherapist and Addictions Specialist. Ram Giri has practiced and shared, for over 20 years, the gifts of therapy and of the world’s wisdom traditions with people from all walks of life who struggled with all kinds of problems.  He is an associate professor with Union Institute and University and a pioneer in the higher development of human consciousness.

Ram Giri has worked closely with one of his core teachers, Byron Katie, helping people around the world gain peace of mind with The Work of Byron Katie. He has also been closely involved with Ram Dass and Krishna Das (both internationally acclaimed leaders in the field of Bhakti Yoga and consciousness).

An engaging speaker, Ram Giri weaves together accounts of his own personal inner journey and his travels around the world with stories rooted in ancient wisdom to inspire in his audience an enthusiasm about their own spiritual quest. He has a great gift to make complex issues easy to understand – which empowers his listeners to reach for their own truth.

His extensive worldwide, inter-disciplinary experience led him into 12 years of research about which of the countless approaches to healing, happiness and self-realization are most effective and lasting.

“Today there are 1000’s of methods and skills for a better life. It can be fascinating and very confusing. To get free I needed to know which methods work best. I began to test the different techniques. Three skills passed the tests. Just three. They are easy to learn and simple to do. They can put an end to our suffering, quickly. They awaken us and reveal to us the great light and love of our being.

But, I had one more thing to do. In 2006 I flew to Poland, to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, my version of hell. I knew if these skills worked for me there, in this horrendous place, they would work anywhere, in all situations and with all problems. I practiced the 3 Skills in Auschwitz. In the end this resulted in an exhilarating realization of the absolute love that lies at the core of all of us. So paradoxical and so true. I am still so amazed – and yet it makes perfect sense that the light should become most visible in the darkness.”

His deep compassion, knowledge and over 40 years of extensive worldwide, inter-disciplinary experience allow him to inspire audiences to reach for lasting freedom from suffering with the most practical, profound and direct approaches to self-healing and wholeness.

This approach, HeartSourcing™, is a highly effective and concrete way to access the true essence of Self, while dissolving the stressful thoughts and emotions that hide the real and abiding joy of the spiritual Heart.  This path of HeartSourcing leads you directly to self-healing, self-love and self-realization. You are born to find this hidden treasure within you, and attain true fulfillment. It combines a set of powerful skills that are a vital help to manage the challenges of life and bring about the changes you seek with wisdom and integrity. Rooted in ancient wisdom and contemporary life the HeartSourcing Yoga guide seekers in their own personal practice on a highly direct path to self-realization.

“We have enormous undiscovered potential. But without realizing that, most people continue to suffer. This is no longer necessary today! We have been given new, highly effective approaches to resolve our own pain and in this way ease the pain of the world. It is time to awaken; we are all called. With the right approach and the willingness to practice we will become free. It can happen now, in this life. You can become a receiver and giver of grace.

It is in everyone; all have the potential to awaken. There are a simple set of steps: transform your unhappiness, fear, pain, and stress at the root. Learn to love yourself, others and life (or God). These gifts are already in you: this magnificent heart, this unconditional complete love, this integrity, balance and harmony. In you is the place of health and wholeness, sanity, refuge, the well that never runs dry. It’s the place where you’re already whole and enlightened. It is always there; you could not live for a second without it. But it is covered up by stressful thoughts and emotions.

So if you want to free yourself of all the trouble and tension in your life, you don’t need to look far. Look where the unhappiness, fear, pain, anger etc. is experienced: in you. Don’t keep getting lost in the 3 million things you can get upset about. Stay with the upset itself. It’s in you and there you can free yourself of it.  Then use the gifts, the skills, to set you free and taste the heart, your core, the indescribable gift.” ~ skillsforawakening.com

"Ramgiri, born Andreas Braun in the dark shadow of the Holocaust and World War II in Germany, had to deal with depression, fear, low self-esteem, with everything that stood in the way of his yearning for freedom and love. That yearning led to our first meeting in London in 1972. After that he traveled to the small temple in the Himalayan foothills to be in the extraordinary presence of our guru, Neem Karoli Baba Maharajji. As it did for me, that encounter changed him in the depth of his being. Maharajji helped him realize that pure, unconditional love can and does exist in this world. From that experience Ramgiri committed his life to sharing this love with others. From Maharajji’s example of serving others, and his association with Hanuman, the Hindu god of service and devotion, Ramgiri has never grown tired of helping others on the way.

Through decades of study in psychology and the wisdom traditions he has created a map that others can also follow to find fulfillment in one’s own heart. Gathering the best practices, he shares with us how we can aspire to peace of mind, emotional harmony and a loving heart. These skills have the power to awaken in us the love and wisdom that are the true qualities of each soul. Ramgiri calls these techniques HeartSourcing, and has worked to make them a direct and powerful route to the well of unconditional love inside each of us.

Rather than search in vain for fulfillment from external sources, Ramgiri takes us home into our own heart. HeartSourcing is a wonderful way to nurture yourself from your own inner core, so your love can shine into the world. Ramgiri’s loving soul shines through this book."

~ Ram Dass 2014, Maui, Hawaii, Introduction to HeartSourcing: Finding Our Way to Love and Liberation by
Ramgiri Braun

Top Photo ~ Ram Giri at Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland