Founder and Master
Amrita Baba
Amrita Baba (lit. Deathless Father), or just ”Baba” is an enlightened master bringing a message of love, compassion, and peace. He is here to show us our divine and perfect nature through his darshans or transmissions of blessings.
Baba was born and raised in Finland. He is a Western man who has had very common experiences in his life, just like everyone else. He grew up in a non-religious family in Eastern Finland where many people still suffer and pass on war traumas from the Second World War. Anxiety, trauma, and self-medication with alcohol are still common in this area but especially so when Baba was still growing up. From very early on, he got his share of this cultural trauma which set his feet on the spiritual path when he was just a few years old.
In the midst of insecure family life, Baba was blessed with spontaneous Darshans – blessings coming in the forms of visions – since he was just a small boy. When he felt the immense pain and suffering around him, he would go and sit at his bedside, say prayers and do yogic practices that no one had taught him. Every time the room would light up with immense blessings and become filled with the energy of clarity and pure love. These Darshans happened because he was visited by his masters – gurus - from his past lives, including Jesus Christ, Padmasambhava, and Babaji, to name a few. This happened a few times a week and lasted throughout Baba's childhood and up until his teenage years.
As a teenager, Baba was an aspiring musician and spent countless hours learning how to play the guitar. At 23 years of age, after having become a music producer, he finally realized that he wouldn't find the answers he was looking for from music and partying. Consequently, he quit music and sold his studio to dive deep into meditation and spirituality.
At 24 years of age, Baba learned Zen Buddhist meditation and started to practice it 8 hours a day. This lead him to travel to Japan and live in a temple for a year. While living in Japan he was accepted as a heart disciple of zen master Terayama Tanchu Sensei, who was widely known and highly respected. Baba continued his study with Terayama Sensei until his passing in 2007.
After his years in Zen, Baba started to practice tantric yoga in the Hindu tradition. At this point, his karma had ripened for the Darshans with his past life gurus to start happening again. Baba would receive tremendous blessings and sit for hours on end simply because the energetic currents were so strong. His body would become completely still as if frozen when these Darshans took place. He would receive wonderful blessings and teachings in meditation for 8 hours or more each day. All this happened in Finland where Baba supported himself and his wife at the time, by working with disabled people, as well as giving shiatsu-massage treatments, and teaching meditation.
From early 2004 until his initial awakening into the nondual nature of mind in 2011, Baba kept meditating 8 hours or more every day. He refers to this period as his ”retreat years”.
In late 2008, Baba was asked to teach by his gurus, as well as by his friends. Little by little, the teachings that Baba was receiving from his gurus, turned into what today is known as Amrita Mandala. Amrita Mandala is the name of both a method and a community of practitioners.
Through his own study and daily practice under the guidance of his masters, Baba formulated a method that he has written and spoken openly about since he started teaching. He has spoken freely about his personal experiences and failures in his everyday life, as well as in spirituality, and has shared his practices, techniques, and methods in a transparent manner, with the hope that this would benefit others as much as possible. Over the years an international community – a sangha – has formed around Baba and his teachings. Amrita Mandala Sangha has members from all over the world and includes both men and women of all ages.
What is unique about Baba's teachings is that his students report the same awakening and healing experiences Baba himself has had. That his students can systematically generate the very same realizations is due to the countless hours Baba has spent in formulating a method and system that can be followed by anyone willing and ready to do so.
As a method, Amrita Mandala starts from the unawakened state and, by going through a number of stages, ends up in the fully enlightened state. Baba's method consists of therapeutic practices for healing traumas, physical yoga practices, mantras, dancing, singing, meditation, open discussion, a detailed map of the spiritual path, and most importantly, the practice of guru yoga. Amrita Mandala Sangha has practitioners of all the different stages of the path. Furthermore, as of late 2022, twelve of Baba's students have gone through the system and attained full enlightenment. Some of these enlightened students are spiritual teachers while others have decided to keep their own jobs. All of this shows the preciousness and immense value of having a step-by-step method and effective practices to follow.
In his Darshans, Baba shows the nature of the enlightened heart and mind and introduces attendants to their own enlightened nature.
Also learn about Master Mindfulness, an updated method of secular mindfulness created by Baba and taught by his students, https://mastermindfulness.fi/
