In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman, 1978-1997
Sri Madhava Ashish was born Alexander Phipps, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1920, graduating from Chelsea’s College of Aeronautical Engineering. He served in India during World War Two as a Spitfire engine repairman, meeting the guru Krishna Prem during a visit to Almora in 1946. He immediately adopted Sri Krishna Prem as his teacher, and, at the death of the guru in 1965, took over the direction of the Mirtola ashram. At his death in 1997, he had written extensively on spiritual subjects and on farming reforms in northern India.Seymour B. Ginsburg was born in Chicago, IL, in 1934, and graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in accountancy and law. A founder of the predecessor business and the first president of Toys R Us, he was for many years involved in commodities trading. He met Sri Madhava Ashish while on a private visit to India in 1978. He was a co-founder of the Gurdjieff Institute of Florida, and currently divides his time between South Florida and Chicago.