page_title: Baba Hari Dass
section_title: Sri Ram Ashram
hierarchical_section_title: Baba Hari Dass / Teaching to learn (1971-2018) / Sri Ram Ashram
caption_attribution_description: Sri Ram Ashram, Shyampur, India
context_page_description: Baba Hari Dass, born in Almora near Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, India, was a yoga master, a silent monk, and a commentator of Indian scriptural tradition of Dharma and Moksha. He was classically trained in Ashtanga Yoga – Raja Yoga of Patanjali, as well as Kriya Yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra Yoga, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.
  Born into the 13th generation of a Kumaoni Karnatak Brahmin lineage, in the lunar month of Chaitra, in Shukla Paksha, he belonged to a traditional family and was one of several siblings. He was an author, playwright, martial arts teacher, sculptor and builder of temples. Upon his arrival in the US in the early 1971, he and his teachings inspired the creation of several yoga centers and retreat programs in California and in Canada. His extensive literary output includes scriptural commentaries to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Samkhya Karika, and Vedanta, collections of wisdom aphorisms about the meaning and purpose of life, essays, plays, short stories, children's stories, kirtan mantras, and in-depth instructional yoga materials that form the basis of a yoga certification-training program.
context_section_description: Baba Hari Dass in his travels through India encountered many abandoned children who were in need of home and a caring place. As a young boy Baba Hari Dass witnessed the mistreatment of children at an orphanage he visited with his friend. Prompted by that experience and using the proceeds from his yoga books and generous donations, "he established a loving home for children in need". One of his students, Ma Renu, inspired by the teachings of selfless service (karma yoga) traveled to India to launch in 1984 Sri Ram Ashram, a children's home, school, and medical clinic in rural location of the northern state of Uttaranchal.
  The Ashram, now located near Haridwar (Shyampur village) was established in 1987. From its inception, the focus became to support orphaned and destitute children. Some children find their way to Sri Ram Ashram by being brought and left at the entrance gate, or by being found abandoned in streets of towns, or rural places. After medical evaluation those children are brought into the new surroundings with care and loving attention. In 1987, Sri Ram Vidya Mandir became a nationally accredited school, which educates children, Nursery through 12th grade standard, from both the orphanage and nearby villages.
caption: kids getting sweets, Sri Ram Ashram, Shyampur, India
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